I've not done so much critical writing over the past year, but that doesn't mean I won't be able to throw a few words at the movies I've seen from this year. 2019 was, for me at least, a great improvement over 2018, which lacked quality movies on the high end (I didn't give a single 10/10 that entire year).
Okay, now to the movies.
How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
The final installment in one of the best trilogies of the past 20 years, Hidden World is exactly what you'd want it to be, and makes you pretty emotional by the end.
Us
Though it doesn't match Get Out, Us is still an intriguing, imaginative horror movie with some interesting twists, a clever script, and very good performances -- particularly by Nyong'o.
Dragged Across Concrete
Possibly my favorite S. Craig Zahler so far, which is saying a lot. Great across the board.
Guava Island
A short movie with an odd blend of drama and music by Donald Glover, but overall worth a watch.
Shazam
Not nearly as fresh and exciting as many people seem to think, but it's ultimately a competent and entertaining superhero movie that isn't afraid to let things get silly instead of perpetually dour like so many others do.
The Curse Of La Llarona
I love horror movies. Even a lot of crappy, trashy ones. I didn't like this one. Next.
Possum
An eerie little psychological thriller that definitely leaves you feeling unsettled if you're patient enough to let it grab ahold of you.
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile
Zac Efron does a great job but the movie is very distant, by the books, and lacking that edge that makes the best serial killer movies so captivating.
Avengers: Endgame
I liked it better when half the universe was dead. The Avengers is over and this movie makes me glad for that.
Detective Pikachu
This is a poorly made movie with bad animation and awful performances, but the idiot child inside me still found it entertaining enough.
John Wick Chapter 3 - Parabellum
Chapter 2 was one of the best action movies I've ever seen, but this one just took the craziness too far and it didn't work out for me. Disappointing but pretty fun.
The Standoff At Sparrow Creek
As a big fan of whodunnits and bottle dramas, this one let me down on both fronts. Unmemorable characters, mediocre writing, very forgettable overall.
Cold Pursuit
Sort of what you'd expect from Liam Neeson crashing Fargo. Funny, filled with memorable moments and strong characters. Surprisingly good.
Happy Death Day 2U
More of a sci-fi movie than horror, this is one of the most entertaining sequels of the decade. It has tons of fun with the concept and satisfies in every way possible.
Lords Of Chaos
While certain moments work (almost shockingly well), this is one of the most watered down and upsetting movies of the year. It's pretty much trash.
The Hole In The Ground
I feel like I've seen this movie 50 times before, and no, it still doesn't interest me. Predicable and uninspired.
Midsommar
It might just be The Wicker Man again in a lot of ways, but it's the specific dramatic character moments that really sets this one apart. A great drama, first and foremost, not just another horror movie.
Deadwood
Finally Deadwood fans can feel fulfilled. And it was totally worth the wait. Absolutely wonderful and satisfying conclusion to one of the greatest TV dramas of the 2000s.
The Beach Bum
More a compilation of scenes and moments than a narratively fulfilling movie, McConaughey does a great job in the lead role and manages to make it work well enough.
Toy Story 4
Toy Story already had a satisfying finale, but this one works, too. It's good.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
My biggest complaint about Godzilla 2014 was how it needed more big monster fights. This one had more big monster fights. I am satisfied now.
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
One of the most entertaining and wonderful movies of the year. Great performances by actors I don't care about, a fantastic sense of time and place, and a very effective, subversive script. Loved it from beginning to end.
Apollo 11
Probably the most ambitious way to tell the story of Apollo 11, this documentary may do a great job at putting the viewer in the passenger seat throughout this historical event, but does so in a way that makes you wonder what you're doing sitting next to all these people in the first place.
Missing Link
Easily the weakest Laika animated feature so far. It's exactly what you'd expect, lacks originality and charm. Very bland, which upsets me to say, since I love stop motion animation.
Shadow
Probably the best Yimou Zhang movie since House of Flying Daggers, Shadow has a very distinctly grey color palette, but features all the great cinematography, set design, and costumes I've come to hope for in the wuxia genre.
High Life
I fell asleep briefly at one point because I was so bored, and woke up, wishing I had stayed asleep. Did not enjoy. Hated, in fact.
The Isle
I saw a movie called The Isle. It tried to be a folk horror movie, but it didn't succeed. It was fine, I think, but I don't seem to remember anything about it.
Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark
This is probably a good horror movie to introduce kids to the genre. But for a seasoned fan, this felt like kiddie stuff. Also, way too much CG. Give us some more practical monsters, please.
Under The Silver Lake
One of the most ambitious, sprawling, and messy movies of the year. It was a huge disaster, and I kinda loved it.
Climax
Gaspar Noe irritates me as a filmmaker, but what he does here is so simple and so effective, I can't help but to love it.
Pet Sematary
If I were a hack film critic I'd write something about how some things should stay dead, but I'll instead just say I much prefer bad movies to have a sense of humor, like the original two Pet Sematarys -- even if only by accident. This was horrible.
Hagazussa
Another folk horror movie trying to emulate The Witch, but this one had all the style and subtlety in the right place. I just had a hard time getting sucked into it. Definitely needs to be rewatched.
Ready Or Not
Comparisons to You're Next are definitely warranted, but while the screenplay is sloppy and derivative, it's still worthy of a rental for fans of horror.
Ad Astra
A massive space epic that doesn't seem to have gotten the praise it deserves. Wonderful pacing, performances, and sense of scope. Among my favorites of the year.
Joker
Simple but effective. Joaquin Phoenix is an insanely good actor, and he's rarely been better than he is here. For fans of superhero movies as well as psychological dramas.
Nightmare Cinema
It's usually not a good thing when you can only remember one segment of an anthology movie...
The Head Hunter
Jordan Downey, the guy behind the Thankskilling movies, doing a fairly subdued viking-y monster hunter movie. Definitely not a classic, but I enjoyed it quite a bit and hope it can find a bigger audience.
Belzebuth
It kind of reminded me of that horrible Deliver Us From Evil movie. I think the lesson here is that police procedurals and horror just don't mix too well unless you really know what you're doing.
The Lighthouse
The Witch is one of my favorite movies of the past few years, but Robert Eggers may have topped it already with this follow-up. I've desperately wanted to watch it again since leaving the theater.
Tigers Are Not Afraid
Sort of like Pan's Labyrinth in it's blend of fantasy and real world conflict, but nowhere near as powerful or visually appealing. Very competent and engaging enough, but not great.
Rocketman: Mad Mike's Mission to Prove the Flat Earth
A surprisingly fun and interesting documentary about what the title describes. One of the more entertaining docs I've seen in quite a while.
One Cut Of The Dead
I was tired of zombie movies, but this movie totally blew me away. Possibly my favorite of the year. Don't watch trailers, don't read about it, just watch it -- unless you can't stomach over-the-top gore.
Dolemite Is My Name
Basically Ed Wood but for Rudy Ray Moore. I wasn't totally sure about it at first, but I've grown to kind of love this movie. Welcome back, Eddie Murphy.
Doctor Sleep
What a weird follow-up to The Shining. I couldn't recommend this movie, it's too big of a mess, but it's an interesting sort of cornball disaster that's hard to look away from. I still don't know if it's garbage or not. Probably is.
Knife + Heart
Giallo isn't gonna make any sort of decent comeback if this is the best we can get from the genre. It's fine enough, but I was pretty bored by it and couldn't stand the characters. It looks good, though.
I Trapped The Devil
A very simplistic Twilight Zone-esque concept that sadly slips up in the final act and doesn't really leave you feeling very satisfied. Should have been a short film.
The Farewell
One of the sweetest movies of the year, in a weirdly dark sort of way. It's funny, emotional, and Zhao Shuzhen is absolutely terrific.
Spider-Man: Far From Home
So bad. I hate this movie and frankly found it to be one of the most insultingly stupid things I've seen from a major release in quite a while. I'd rather watch Transformers 15.
Booksmart
Every now and then we get those super run of the mill comedies that people praise for dumb reasons. Bridesmaids, Lady Bird, and now Booksmart. It's fine.
To Dust
I still can't tell if this was a comedy or not, and it's that tonal weirdness that gives it it's appeal. It's one of the better movies of the year that I couldn't recommend to almost anyone.
Gwen
Another another The Witch clone, but this time it sucks and doesn't have much of a point. The acting feels disingenuous and the story doesn't go anywhere. No clue why it was so well received.
Crawl
It had all the potential to be a middle of the road garbage B-grade creature feature, and that's exactly what it was. I wasn't totally bored, but I wasn't too impressed.
The Mustang
An effective prison drama with a great lead performance and a subject matter that I find incredibly lifeless. It works in spite of itself.
Knives Out
The best whodunnit murder mystery in ages, and one that never shies away from making its lack of mystery it's own sort of mystery. Amazing cast, script, and execution.
The Irishman
You can't digitally de-age body movement. De Niro is bland, the direction is unfocused, and the whole thing just feels like a bad impression of a classic Scorsese movie.
The Report
Zero Dark Thirty and Adam Driver blended together, kinda. Torture bad, CIA seedy, etc. Not a bad movie, but you don't need to see it to know exactly what it has to offer.
The Souvenir
Every critic is in love with it, and I'm that holdout who just doesn't get the appeal. Bland, lifeless, uninteresting. Maybe it's got a lot to offer, but I didn't see it.
The Nightingale
A movie with almost sickening oversimplification of nearly every character. The lead performance is cartoonish, and I got nothing out of this but mild frustration at the fact that it kept going, with an ending drug out for about 30 minutes too long.
Marriage Story
A powerful family drama with fantastic performances and a nuanced screenplay. It hit me emotionally and worked just as well during the more comedic moments. It tells its story efficiently and effectively. Very very good.
Klaus
Sort of like Romeo and Juliet meets buddy cop movies meets romantic comedy. It's every cliche you've ever seen all rolled into one, but manages to work due to lovely animation and simple, direct storytelling.
Smoke And Mirrors: The Story Of Tom Savini
A very amateurish documentary focused on the life and career of Tom Savini. For a fan of the man himself it worked for me, but doesn't dig deep enough to stand out as a particularly well-researched or creative project.
Rocketman
A by-the-books sort of biopic that only stands out in ways that make it slightly less tolerable (see: irritating young actor singing "Bitch is Back" in musical sequence as example). Egerton is good, but that's pretty much all I got from it.
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