I am not a fan of making lists. I love reading top ten and worst ten lists and whatnot, but I personally dislike making them. My main reason for pointing this out is because my opinion towards movies is always changing. This is why I usually like to wait a bit longer than most to come up with my year end list. I want to see what stuck with me, but I would need years to truly look back and see which films had a lasting impact on me. So no more waiting until February to get this list out. I will probably always wait until January, though.
These films stuck out to me this year for multiple reasons. Typically, this is a list of my favorite films, not a list of the “best” films. But “favorite” isn’t the right word this year, as I included more films that had a strong effect on me. This is basically because of one film (For Sama). I can’t call this list my “favorite” movies with that documentary on the list. I will never watch that film again, but it had such a strong impact on me that I had to include it on my list. So here’s my list of favorite and most effective films of 2019.
1 - Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood
There’s a moment in this film in which Margot Robbie, as Sharon Tate, watches her own movie in a theater (even though the footage she’s watching is of the actual Tate and not of Robbie playing Tate [confused yet?]). She has a look of sheer joy on her face as she watches the movie. It’s like she remembers what she loves about film as she sits there. I felt the same way watching this film in the theater, and I felt it again re-watching it at home. This is Quentin Tarantino’s love letter fairy tale to a Hollywood that no longer exists, and he perfectly conveyed the passion he has for that moment in time to the point that it made me nostalgic for something I never even experienced. I just enjoy being in the world of this movie when I watch it, and that’s what I’m looking for more than anything in a film, which makes this my favorite of the year.
2 - Parasite
Writer-director Bong Joon-ho does not make films that can be easily labeled, and Parasite is his masterpiece in that regard (and in general, too). Most people who mention this movie tell people to know as little as possible before watching it, and I agree, so I won’t give any details about the plot. I will point out that this movie’s first hour, while interesting and captivating, had me worried. Was I missing something? Then things change dramatically and Parasite really clicked with me. By the end I had experienced a funny, shocking, depressing, violent, frightening film that is entertaining while also making a profound statement about class.
3 - Portrait of a Lady on Fire
This is the first time I’ve had two foreign language films in my top ten. Something about having to read the entire movie takes a bit away from the experience. But this film and Parasite made me forget I was reading subtitles the entire time. Love stories typically don’t affect me all that much, but such a perfectly compelling relationship coupled with two of the best lead performances of the year made this one of my favorite films of the year. And the final moments of this film are perfect; the ending has stuck with me weeks after first watching it.
4 - Motherless Brooklyn
This is easily the outlier of my list. While this movie came and went without much fanfare, it stuck with me. It works for me on every level. Edward Norton did an amazing job of recreating 1950s New York. And his risky portrayal of someone with Tourette’s pays off. But more than anything, his decision to take a book set in the ‘90s and change it to the ‘50s and make it about corruption in the world of real estate was the boldest gamble. It didn’t work for most people, but it hooked me, and I loved every minute of it.
5 - For Sama
Generally, I have a “no documentary” rule for my top ten list because I like to reserve space on my list for films I simply enjoyed. But there’s a moment in For Sama that made me full-on sob, and a movie has never done that to me. As a documentary, it hits all the points a good film needs to: it’s important, personal, effective, informative, etc. As with most great documentaries, I think everyone should watch it. But it makes my top ten because it affected me in a way I didn’t think a film could.
6 - The Lighthouse
When done correctly, a movie that lends itself to both a literal and metaphorical interpretation can be incredibly satisfying, which is the case with The Lighthouse. It’s up to the viewer what is exactly happening (guilt-driven insanity, toxic masculinity boiling over, Greek myth, etc.), but no one can deny that writer-director Robert Eggers has created a unique, disgustingly beautiful film. What puts The Lighthouse over the edge are the amazing performances from Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe. Pattinson continues to make Twilight a distant memory in his career by giving his best performance yet. And Dafoe is perfect. No matter what interpretation you follow, it’s still enjoyable to watch Dafoe rant and rave like a drunken old-timey sailor.
7 - Jojo Rabbit
The premise of Jojo Rabbit (a young Nazi comes to terms with Nazism while having Adolf Hitler as an imaginary friend) is something out of a Mel Brooks movie, but somehow writer-director Taika Waititi made this story one of the funniest and most heart-breaking films of the year. Bolstered by a great lead performance by Roman Griffin Davis, Jojo Rabbit walks the razor thin line of comedy and tragedy, weaving seamlessly between the two. The sad fact that the subject of the dangers of fascism and indoctrination of youth is as timely as ever make this not only one of the most entertaining films of the year, but also one of the most important.
8 - John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
Sometimes I just want to see some unapologetic, awesome violence, and the John Wick series just keeps getting better. The expanded mythology has made for a fun and interesting world to visit, but the action is still the main draw here. Three films in, this series still makes me say “Oh shit!” while laughing at the over-the-top action. In my opinion, movies still primarily exist to take you away from the real world for a couple hours, and John Wick is one of my favorite distractions.
9 - The Irishman
Perhaps the best way to describe my love of this three-and-a-half hour musing about the mob is to point out that I’ve already watched it three times and plan on watching it again soon. I always find myself hypnotized by the worlds Martin Scorsese creates in his films, and The Irishman is no different. In many ways The Irishman is like Scorsese’s other mob movies because of the cast, the language (“friend of ours,” “some people, not me,” “it is what it is”), the sprawling story, the violence, etc. But the final moments of the film are different and much more self-reflective (for instance, De Niro’s self-reflection at the end of Casino is simply one line [“And that’s that.”] while it takes the last half hour of this film for him to come to terms with his life) than his previous work, and it made The Irishman a special movie for me.
10 - Ford v Ferrari
Everything in Ford v Ferrari just works. It is perfectly cast, the story is compelling, and the driving/racing scenes are riveting. I have a hard time coming up with anything specific to say about it. It’s simply a great, entertaining film. It is easily the most crowd-pleasing film on my list.
Honorable Mention:
On any given day, each of these films could make my top ten, they just didn’t today.
1917, The Beach Bum, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Uncut Gems, Midsommar, Dolemite Is My Name, Just Mercy, Richard Jewell
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