I was very unimpressed by 2018 as a year for movies, but the world of film redeemed itself in 2019, ending the decade with a bang. The top 4 movies on this list would land higher than anything else that's come out in the past couple years, and that's not even to mention how many things I felt belonged in the top 10 but couldn't quite land there. It was an amazing year for movies, and I'm hoping 2020 picks up where 2019 left off and gives us even more great things to watch.
Additionally, I feel it's worth stating as I usually would in this situation that this is not my attempt as an objective list of the best movies of the year. These are just my favorites. And there are going to be several big ones that won't appear here that most people would include. I haven't seen every movie, and I don't love every movie I see, so keep that in mind when going through this list. That being said, I have seen nearly 100 films from 2019, and there aren't many others that I really felt like watching.
To start out, I'm going to list 8 honorable mentions. These aren't necessarily the next 8 best movies of the year, but more ones that have stuck with me somehow and I feel like mentioning for whatever reason.
Honorable Mentions:
| Cold Pursuit
Directed by Hans Petter Moland |
This movie on the surface appears to be nothing more than yet another Liam Neeson action thriller about revenge or something but this time in the snow. And while that's definitely at least partially true, it's the sense of humor and strong supporting cast of characters that really makes this one stand out. Liam Neeson does a solid job in the lead role, but he almost seems incidental at a certain point. I was more won over by Tom Bateman's performance as a sleazy drug lord. It's definitely got a foreign vibe to it (being the first English-language film by this director explains a lot), but also feels like the kind of movie that would have come out 20-25 years ago. This is not an insult.
| Godzilla: King Of The Monsters
Directed by Michael Dougherty |
The biggest complaint I had about the 2014 reboot of Godzilla (other than a disappointing lack of rubber suits and miniatures) was the consistent absence of Godzilla himself until the finale. This movie, which has poorly written human characters and a load of boring and forgettable dialogue, knows that the monsters are the real highlight, and delivers some of the most awesome kaiju battles I've seen since Pacific Rim. Seeing Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, and of course King Ghidorah on screen once again was a real treat, and the visual flair and vibrant use of color made this one really stand out for me. It delivered in every way I expected, and I can't make any legitimate complaints about it that wouldn't seem inherently silly considering the subject matter.
| The Head Hunter
Directed by Jordan Downey |
After the chaotic messes that were the Thankskilling movies (the first of which I am a big fan), I was curious to see what Downey might do next. And the result was a bizarrely well-paced and character-driven story with a simple execution and lack of action. For a revenge movie to feature so little actual violence and instead focus heavily on the "after the hunt" aspect is definitely a difficult way to approach the subject of a movie of this sort, but it really worked for me. Very minimalist and effective.
| How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
Directed by Dean DeBlois |
The third and final chapter in the wonderful How To Train Your Dragon trilogy, and a testament to the value of maintaining a consistent creative team when working on sequels and franchises. These movies are all so consistently beautifully animated, well-written, and emotionally satisfying, never feeling like they have to resort to cheap tricks to win you over. There's wonderful variety in the visuals, plenty of great action sequences, and a sense of adventure that's remarkably absent in most other contemporary fantasy films. I couldn't have hoped for a better closer for this trilogy, and I am not ashamed to admit it had me tear up by the end.
| In Fabric
Directed by Peter Strickland |
Now this movie is hard to place. Deliberately bizarre and weirdly funny in the most unexpected ways, Strickland finds a sort of balance between horror and comedy that doesn't always work, but definitely leaves a strong impression. Narratively intriguing but somewhat vague in its intent, In Fabric isn't the kind of movie you can mindlessly watch, even when it's just being artsy for the sake of it. It looks great, offered a surprising number of laughs, and even if I can't say I totally got it I really enjoyed it in a totally bizarre, Lynchian sort of way.
| Possum
Directed by Matthew Holness |
The first feature film directed by the titular star of Garth Marenghi's Darkplace (a wonderful short-lived British parody series that more people need to see), Possum is about as far removed from the sarcastic tone of that show as you could possibly expect. Dark, subdued, and weirdly disturbing, this is the kind of horror movie you could recommend to only patient fans of the genre. That being said, this was a wonderful unknown psychological horror that I was totally sucked in by.
| Rocketman: Mad Mike's Mission To Prove The Flat Earth
Directed by Toby Brusseau & Michael Linn |
Regardless of how you feel about the flat Earth conspiracy and its conspirators, there is a lot to love about this documentary. I'm one of those people that doesn't care if I have fundamental disagreements with someone, if they have passion and energy for something, I find it infectious. There's an innocence and naivety here that was so engrossing and fun to watch, that it made me root for Mad Mike, whose passion for proving the Earth is flat and his technical proficiency make you wonder how someone so smart and resourceful would sink all their assets and time into something so pointless. But hey, who am I to judge? I watch thousands of movies with my time and don't have my name on a documentary -- or a rocket.
EDIT: I had written this segment before Mike died in a rocket-related accident. I feel the film has a little more impact now due to this event and felt it worth including in my write-up.
| Under The Silver Lake
Directed by David Robert Mitchell |
One of the most sprawling epics of the year, but wholly in a conceptual way rather than as one of those "BOOM BOOM EXPLOSIONS AND SPACE SHIPS BLOWING UP AND SUPERHEROES BWAHHHHHH" kind of things. There are so many ideas and plotlines going on in this massive and sloppy movie, with a great deal of stuff never even coming close to being explained. But that's okay. It's a totally original movie with a strong lead performance by Andrew Garfield, who's as good here as ever. I didn't know what to expect from this one, but I was so drawn in to this weird story and heightened reality, I never could have predicted what it might have been. Certainly not for everyone, but I really dug it.
These are in a loose order, with the top 4 in particular depending entirely on my mood at the time. Now to the actual top 25.
| 25. | Us
Directed by Jordan Peele |
Following up the tremendous Get Out was no small task for Peele, but even while this one didn't quite live up to the hype (and the incredible trailer) it still delivered in many satisfying ways. Lupita Nyong'o's dual performance is a major highlight, and is really unlike anything else I've ever seen. It's eerie, twisted, has plenty of memorable moments, and even a bit of humor thrown in for good measure. I didn't love this one as much as I was hoping I might (the final "twist" leaves much to be desired), but close to a year later I'm still thinking about it with some regularity.
| 24. | Jojo Rabbit
Directed by Taika Waititi |
Even Waititi at his worst is better than most other directors today, and this isn't exactly what I'd call "lesser Waititi". There is a definite Moonrise Kingdom vibe to this movie, with the sobering darkness of a Nazi Germany setting to offset the childlike lightheartedness. The acting all around is pretty great, the screenplay is strong, building off themes of growing up and also utilizing some wonderful reincorporation. While this movie didn't exactly hit me as hard as I hoped it would, it's still an emotional little movie that works in pretty much every way.
| 23. | Luce
Directed by Julius Onah |
Here is the kind of movie that an essayist could really sink their teeth into. Focusing on subjects involving race, identity, cultural and familial pressures/expectations, and obsession, what I found most fascinating about this movie ultimately was how well constructed and performed the main character of Luce was. A mysterious character study that went in all sorts of unexpected directions, this was one of the biggest surprises of the year for me. Kelvin Harrison, Jr. is an actor to look out for.
| 22. | Dolemite Is My Name
Directed by Craig Brewer |
The more I think about this movie, the more I tend to love it. Eddie Murphy may not look or sound much (or at all) like Rudy Ray Moore, but his energy and passion comes across here in a way that's oddly infectious. Written by the people who did Ed Wood, which I still consider to be one of the greatest movies ever made, this chronicling of the early career of the cult comedian-turned-actor hits all the right notes and leaves the audience incredibly satisfied. It knows when to veer away from reality and take a different approach, but never does so in a way that betrays the focus of the story or the characters within it. It's a lot of fun, has great music, loads of attention to detail in setting and costumes, and is just an overall very enjoyable experience -- particularly to fans of Moore, the Dolemite character/movies, or just movies about movies in general.
| 21. | Ad Astra
Directed by James Gray |
I don't usually go for big budget sci-fi movies like this, and went to see it in the theater basically on a whim. The result is one of the most well-paced, visually beautiful, bleak, and satisfying space movies I've seen in quite a while. Brad Pitt is terrific in the lead (2019 has been an excellent year for the actor) as he travels from location to location in an attempt to find his estranged astronaut father. It all sounds very lame on the surface, but there's a wonderful sense of progression in this movie aided by the visuals (color and hue changes often represent each location) that made it feel very brisk in pace, in spite of its slow and methodical nature. I enjoyed it quite a bit, even if it was ultimately a very simple story, and I think about it often.
| 20. | Happy Death Day 2U
Directed by Christopher Landon |
I didn't watch the first Happy Death Day when it first came out, because the promise of a PG-13 Groundhog Day slasher just didn't sound interesting to me. Well, I watched it earlier this year and wound up enjoying it a surprising amount, but didn't really see where they could go with a sequel. As it turns out, the sequel went in a far more science fiction direction, and it was even more entertaining this time around. Building off the events of the previous film, this sequel adds humor and some wild sci-fi time travel to the mix in an unexpected and thrilling way. I would say this is an improvement over the first one in pretty much every way, and I haven't been able to say that about many horror sequels in my life.
| 19. | Midsommar
Directed by Ari Aster |
A very long horror movie that let's the story and character drama be the focal point as opposed to just trying to make the audience jump. There are no jump-scares in this movie (Toy Story 4 has more jump-scares in it; this is not a joke), instead Ari Aster does what he did in Hereditary and does a great job at exstablishing the characters, giving them motivation, and throwing them into a very difficult situation with no real way out. Though Pugh doesn't reach Toni Collette levels, she's still a strong lead, and her performance following the fallout of the opening scene is definitely a major highlight. It may be derivative of The Wicker Man, but I liked it better than either version -- even though the 2006 remake is much, much more fun.
| 18. | Joker
Directed by Todd Phillips |
It should go without saying at this point, but Joaquin Phoenix is terrific in this movie, and his performance alone would be enough to recommend this movie. But what really strikes me about this one is how well it manages to function not only as a supervillain origin story, but as a character drama first and foremost. With a concise script full of great moments (and one very obvious twist, sadly) and dialogue, Joker is the kind of comic book movie that brings hope to the genre much in the same way as Logan a few years back. But it's probably slightly better movie, if you ask me.
| 17. | Climax
Directed by Gaspar Noe |
Probably one of the most grueling movies I've sat through all year. Gaspar Noe's films generally have a wild, untamed nature to them, and this one is no different. From what I've gathered, the entire movie was largely unscripted, with Noe basically only offering his actors rough guidelines and loose direction as to what they needed to say or do throughout the movie. A large portion of the movie is one continuous take, and the result is a twisted, morbid mess that is hard to look away from. It's often categorized as horror, which is hard to dispute, but if you go into this expecting a standard genre outing, you will probably not be too happy. Either way, I think it's terrific and I haven't been able to shake it for months now.
| 16. | The Farewell
Directed by Lulu Wang |
A tender and emotional comedy about family, highlighting a cultural aspect of Chinese life that most Americans can probably hardly relate to at all. I knew I would like this movie before I saw it, but I'm not entirely sure why. Either way, this one features one of my favorite performances of the year, by Zhao Shuzhen, as an elderly matriarch who is dying, but no one is willing to tell her. This was a lovely little movie that I wish more people went to see. We need a little more subtlety in our movies, guys. Support things like this, stop feeding the Disney machine.
| 15. | Honey Boy
Directed by Alma Har'el |
It's been a long road for Shia LaBeouf. I could fill entire posts on his tumultuous career and life outside of film, but while that all could be hugely entertaining to me, the main thing I want to talk about here is how he's seemed to succeed at turning this whole mess around and come out with some of the best material of his career in 2019. I wasn't sure if he'd be able to top his standout performance in Peanut Butter Falcon, but in this semi-autobiographical movie (wherein he plays a stand-in for his father), he did just that. It's an actor's movie, with relatively simplistic visuals and other technical aspects, but it manages to work due to the writing (LaBeouf himself wrote the screenplay) and performances, which are really across the board pretty fantastic. Sometimes movies don't need to push boundaries, they just need to hit the right emotional notes.
| 14. | 1917
Directed by Sam Mendes |
Everyone wants to talk about how impressive it is that the movie was presented as if it were one continuous take, but I still don't think that really is what sold me on this movie. Instead of feeling like a try-hard gimmick to get people into the seats (what normal moviegoer even cares about cinematography anyway?) this movie utilizes the uninterrupted shot to put the audience into the characters' shoes, and the results are quite remarkable from a dramatic perspective as opposed to a "look at how impressive" kind of thing. With the usual peaks an valleys of a narrative feature, there is a momentum to this story that is willing to step back every now and then, but usually ramps up the tension and doesn't really let go. It's a gripping experience with some wonderful use of lighting and obviously impressive cinematography. Very tense, strong acting, great visuals, and an overall genuinely immersive experience that most moviegoers will find satisfying.
| 13. | Shadow
Directed by Yimou Zhang |
Yimou Zhang's wuxia epics (House Of Flying Daggers, Hero, Curse Of The Golden Flower) generally have a vibrant look, and this one goes in the opposite direction, but still manages to be one of the best looking movies of the year. Almost entirely shot in greys and blacks, the cinematography, set design, costuming, and choreography are all fantastic, but it's not just the visuals that work here. The story is simple enough, but the characters are engaging, their motivations are clear, and by the end I felt totally satisfied with the whole experience. It's the best thing Yimou Zhang has done in years, and I hope he follows it up with more movies like this. I miss his wuxia movies.
| 12. | Deadwood: The Movie
Directed by David Milch |
Nearly 15 years after the HBO western was cancelled, we finally get a satisfying conclusion to the story. While certain characters are obviously omitted (RIP Powers Boothe) this movie manages to balance a very large ensemble cast and give pretty much every character a wonderful conclusion to their arc. Due to the distance in time between the show's final episodes and this, it also manages to stand alone as a singular entity, and not just feel like an extra long episode tacked on to the end. Everything about this movie is classic Deadwood, and it was great getting to see this all finally end. Granted, a good part of the reason this movie is so high on my list has to do with my love for the show, but I went into it with incredibly high expectations, and I am an easily disappointed person, so it's placement here is earned.
| 11. | Marriage Story
Directed by Noah Baumbach |
I've not been too big a fan of Baumbach in the past, with most of his movies feeling to me like a sort of Woody Allen-ified version of Wes Anderson, but this time it stripped away a good deal of that pretense and quirkiness and instead focused on the heartbreaking effects of a divorce and separation between two people who still genuinely care for one another. It doesn't devolve into cheap melodrama and cliches nearly as often as you might think, and the performances are so real and so layered that it truly feels like watching an actual married couple slowly unpeel their lives from one another. It's not nearly as dour and bleak as it seems, either, finding subtle humor in small places. Driver and Johansson are amazing, and this is one of the best dramas of the year largely due to their performances.
| 10. | Dragged Across Concrete
Directed by S. Craig Zahler |
Zahler might be one of my top 2 or 3 favorite directors working today based on the 3 movies he's made since 2015 (the other two being the western Bone Tomahawk and the prison drama Brawl In Cell Block 99), and this is probably my favorite he's done so far. With excellent lead performances by Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn (weird, I know), this feels like a throwback to those straight-to-video crooked cop dramas of decades past, but approaches the subject in a much more realistic way. Unlike more filmmakers who do throwbacks that just feel like stylistic rip-offs, Zahler makes old fashioned movies that are also entirely fresh and original. The screenplay has a massive scope, but makes every extra long scene pay off in a great way. It was one of the first 4 or 5 movies I saw from 2019 and it's still one of my absolute favorites.
| 9. | Uncut Gems
Directed by Josh & Benny Safdie |
A movie I would probably love even if solely for the fact that it's essentially tricking Adam Sandler fans into watching a real movie, Uncut Gems is so far beyond a standard Sandler vehicle, even comparing it to one feels like an insult. After the Safdies' wonderfully suspenseful and brilliantly acted 2017 film Good Time (starring a similarly maligned-yet-underrated actor, Robert Pattinson) I went into this movie fully expecting a fantastic transformative performance and a sharp screenplay, but still walked away surprised at just how good it all really was. The Safdie brothers are brilliant at creating tension, their gritty visuals aid the story and tone perfectly, and Sandler is the best he's ever been. Everything here works, even if the entire movie was basically a giant heart-attack worth of suspense.
| 8. | Birds Of Passage
Directed by Ciro Guerra & Cristina Gallego |
I was a huge fan of Guerra's previous film Embrace Of The Serpent from a few years back, so my expectations were pretty high on this one. And even though it didn't - nor could it possibly - totally live up to my hopes, what I got was still a genuinely fantastic and reserved film with great character work, a tight story, and all the technical flawlessness I could have expected. This isn't a showy gangster movie, but one that focuses more on the impact of the actions, particularly on the families of those involved. Power struggles, loyalties, tradition, and greed all come into play here, and the film never loses itself in the subtext. It's a wonderfully executed drama that knows just how long to let a scene or moment linger, and puts its characters and their development first.
| 7. | Knives Out
Directed by Rian Johnson |
After The Last Jedi came out and irritated the hell out of half the Star Wars fanbase, there was a great deal of backlash against Rian Johnson and his subversive attempts at undermining the Star Wars legacy (at least that's what has been said by many), but here it can't be argued that his desire to toy with audience expectations made for an incredibly entertaining and unique whodunnit. Murder mysteries generally have a sort of one-and-done appeal, due to the twist endings, but the way this movie handles that part of the story is so up-front and unique that I feel it would hold up to multiple viewings and even the most cynical of scrutiny. Add into that the amazing ensemble cast full of unique and flavorful characters and you've got yourself a satisfying movie with a wicked sense of humor, great twists, and a really cool looking set design. Loads of fun.
| 6. | Pain & Glory
Directed by Pedro Almodovar |
Almodovar has always been a very personal director. Most of his movies feel like they truly come from the heart, but while he usually has a deep affection for his characters, this is the first time that I feel like he really put himself in one of his films. Antonio Banderas is fantastic (playing Almodovar, essentially), and this might be the best performance of his career. A subtly funny and emotional performance that never feels over-the-top or showy, but instead comes across as not just a fully realized character, but a real person who just happens to be the central focus of a movie. The story bounces back and forth in time, but never loses focus or becomes confusing or messy, the music is wonderful - possibly the best musical score of the year - and the visuals are very effectively stripped down. This is one of the better films of Almodovar's career, which is fitting due to the personal nature of the story.
| 5. | An Elephant Sitting Still
Directed by Hu Bo |
There's a lot to unpack here, but I'll try to be brief. To sum it all up in a sentence, this is a 4-hour-long Chinese drama about 4 people going through one single day. It's very simply a movie about depression which is made all the more potent when you discover the director of the film itself committed suicide directly following post production of this, his one and only feature. With a washed out grey color palette and intimate cinematography, this movie puts you up close to its characters, never letting you (or the characters) breathe, suffocating you with their emptiness and pain. It's all very dark, and at times genuinely difficult to watch, but the overall effect is stunningly powerful. I doubt I will ever watch this again, but I have a feeling it will stick with me for a long time, as it's possibly the most soul-crushing depiction of depression I've ever seen on film.
| 4. | Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
Directed by Quentin Tarantino |
Quite possibly my favorite Tarantino movie, and that is saying something. Everything about this movie just looked uninteresting to me from the moment it was announced, but I was proven wrong from the moment the movie started. Not only did this movie thrill me in every way for 3 straight hours, but it inspired hope in me that classic cinema is still alive and well. It's the best DiCaprio has probably ever been, and same goes for Brad Pitt. Everything about this movie worked from me, and the way it blends real-life true crime details into the narrative is seamless and all the more jarring and wonderful when it takes a left turn on you. It's a wild, exciting, funny, and unique experience from start to finish. It may have irritated a lot of people, but those people are wrong: this was a masterpiece.
| 3. | Parasite
Directed by Bong Joon-ho |
Bong's filmography has always been fairly accessible for a foreign filmmaker, including several English-language movies as well as wonderful movies like The Host, but this is the movie that's really broken through and found a mainstream audience. Not only is it a hugely popular movie, but it deserves every bit of that attention, and an even larger audience. A darkly humorous and cynical film that never shies away from letting its "protagonists" be just as awful as anyone else, all the while making them fully sympathetic. Class warfare has been a popular subject in film these past few years, and this seems to be the crescendo of this particular movement, a movie that never paints the rich as evil, but instead just generally naive and out of touch, unaware of the simple human struggles everyone else faces. It's a dark movie that takes some genuinely unpredictable twists and turns, featuring a fantastic ensemble cast, a great screenplay, and just about every other thing I can say about it is something positive. Everyone loves it, and I think everyone is right for doing so.
| 2. | One Cut Of The Dead
Directed by Shinichiro Ueda |
As surprised as I was by several other movies this year, I was even more blown away by this little-known zombie cult movie. First off, don't look up trailers, clips, spoilers of any sort, because this is the kind of thing you'll want to enjoy completely blind going in. Secondly, if you find yourself uninterested in found footage style movies, don't worry, this movie has enough to keep you drawn in and has enough twists and turns to keep you entertained in spite of the use of this frankly overplayed method of filmmaking. And thirdly, don't be afraid to question what you're watching as you're watching it; take mental notes of the odd things that happen throughout. Believe me, it will pay off in the end. This is one of those rare movies that makes me feel like the horror genre will always be able to endure, and offered the most thoroughly fun and infectiously charming movie experience of the year for me. I hope this one finds a massive cult following, because it deserves to be seen.
| 1. | The Lighthouse
Directed by Robert Eggers |
The reason I was so hesitant to name Zahler my absolute favorite new director is largely due to how much I have loved both of Eggers' features so far. Not only is The Witch one of my favorite movies of the past 5 years (and arguably the best and most influential horror movie of that same time) but The Lighthouse just might be even better. It certainly feels more original and completely untampered by outside influence. Robert Pattinson's performance being frequently compared to Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood should be an indication of how fantastic he is, but Willem Dafoe still manages to steal the whole thing away from him. Their interplay is incredible and often quite funny, the cinematography and visuals are mesmerizing, and I really have a hard time thinking of actual complaints to make. This isn't standard horror - in fact, I'd barely even call it horror - but it's still one of the best things the genre has seen in ages. Certainly not for everyone, and boy am I glad I'm not everyone.
This movie on the surface appears to be nothing more than yet another Liam Neeson action thriller about revenge or something but this time in the snow. And while that's definitely at least partially true, it's the sense of humor and strong supporting cast of characters that really makes this one stand out. Liam Neeson does a solid job in the lead role, but he almost seems incidental at a certain point. I was more won over by Tom Bateman's performance as a sleazy drug lord. It's definitely got a foreign vibe to it (being the first English-language film by this director explains a lot), but also feels like the kind of movie that would have come out 20-25 years ago. This is not an insult.
The biggest complaint I had about the 2014 reboot of Godzilla (other than a disappointing lack of rubber suits and miniatures) was the consistent absence of Godzilla himself until the finale. This movie, which has poorly written human characters and a load of boring and forgettable dialogue, knows that the monsters are the real highlight, and delivers some of the most awesome kaiju battles I've seen since Pacific Rim. Seeing Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, and of course King Ghidorah on screen once again was a real treat, and the visual flair and vibrant use of color made this one really stand out for me. It delivered in every way I expected, and I can't make any legitimate complaints about it that wouldn't seem inherently silly considering the subject matter.
After the chaotic messes that were the Thankskilling movies (the first of which I am a big fan), I was curious to see what Downey might do next. And the result was a bizarrely well-paced and character-driven story with a simple execution and lack of action. For a revenge movie to feature so little actual violence and instead focus heavily on the "after the hunt" aspect is definitely a difficult way to approach the subject of a movie of this sort, but it really worked for me. Very minimalist and effective.
The third and final chapter in the wonderful How To Train Your Dragon trilogy, and a testament to the value of maintaining a consistent creative team when working on sequels and franchises. These movies are all so consistently beautifully animated, well-written, and emotionally satisfying, never feeling like they have to resort to cheap tricks to win you over. There's wonderful variety in the visuals, plenty of great action sequences, and a sense of adventure that's remarkably absent in most other contemporary fantasy films. I couldn't have hoped for a better closer for this trilogy, and I am not ashamed to admit it had me tear up by the end.
Now this movie is hard to place. Deliberately bizarre and weirdly funny in the most unexpected ways, Strickland finds a sort of balance between horror and comedy that doesn't always work, but definitely leaves a strong impression. Narratively intriguing but somewhat vague in its intent, In Fabric isn't the kind of movie you can mindlessly watch, even when it's just being artsy for the sake of it. It looks great, offered a surprising number of laughs, and even if I can't say I totally got it I really enjoyed it in a totally bizarre, Lynchian sort of way.
The first feature film directed by the titular star of Garth Marenghi's Darkplace (a wonderful short-lived British parody series that more people need to see), Possum is about as far removed from the sarcastic tone of that show as you could possibly expect. Dark, subdued, and weirdly disturbing, this is the kind of horror movie you could recommend to only patient fans of the genre. That being said, this was a wonderful unknown psychological horror that I was totally sucked in by.
Regardless of how you feel about the flat Earth conspiracy and its conspirators, there is a lot to love about this documentary. I'm one of those people that doesn't care if I have fundamental disagreements with someone, if they have passion and energy for something, I find it infectious. There's an innocence and naivety here that was so engrossing and fun to watch, that it made me root for Mad Mike, whose passion for proving the Earth is flat and his technical proficiency make you wonder how someone so smart and resourceful would sink all their assets and time into something so pointless. But hey, who am I to judge? I watch thousands of movies with my time and don't have my name on a documentary -- or a rocket.
One of the most sprawling epics of the year, but wholly in a conceptual way rather than as one of those "BOOM BOOM EXPLOSIONS AND SPACE SHIPS BLOWING UP AND SUPERHEROES BWAHHHHHH" kind of things. There are so many ideas and plotlines going on in this massive and sloppy movie, with a great deal of stuff never even coming close to being explained. But that's okay. It's a totally original movie with a strong lead performance by Andrew Garfield, who's as good here as ever. I didn't know what to expect from this one, but I was so drawn in to this weird story and heightened reality, I never could have predicted what it might have been. Certainly not for everyone, but I really dug it.
Following up the tremendous Get Out was no small task for Peele, but even while this one didn't quite live up to the hype (and the incredible trailer) it still delivered in many satisfying ways. Lupita Nyong'o's dual performance is a major highlight, and is really unlike anything else I've ever seen. It's eerie, twisted, has plenty of memorable moments, and even a bit of humor thrown in for good measure. I didn't love this one as much as I was hoping I might (the final "twist" leaves much to be desired), but close to a year later I'm still thinking about it with some regularity. 
Even Waititi at his worst is better than most other directors today, and this isn't exactly what I'd call "lesser Waititi". There is a definite Moonrise Kingdom vibe to this movie, with the sobering darkness of a Nazi Germany setting to offset the childlike lightheartedness. The acting all around is pretty great, the screenplay is strong, building off themes of growing up and also utilizing some wonderful reincorporation. While this movie didn't exactly hit me as hard as I hoped it would, it's still an emotional little movie that works in pretty much every way.
Here is the kind of movie that an essayist could really sink their teeth into. Focusing on subjects involving race, identity, cultural and familial pressures/expectations, and obsession, what I found most fascinating about this movie ultimately was how well constructed and performed the main character of Luce was. A mysterious character study that went in all sorts of unexpected directions, this was one of the biggest surprises of the year for me. Kelvin Harrison, Jr. is an actor to look out for. 
The more I think about this movie, the more I tend to love it. Eddie Murphy may not look or sound much (or at all) like Rudy Ray Moore, but his energy and passion comes across here in a way that's oddly infectious. Written by the people who did Ed Wood, which I still consider to be one of the greatest movies ever made, this chronicling of the early career of the cult comedian-turned-actor hits all the right notes and leaves the audience incredibly satisfied. It knows when to veer away from reality and take a different approach, but never does so in a way that betrays the focus of the story or the characters within it. It's a lot of fun, has great music, loads of attention to detail in setting and costumes, and is just an overall very enjoyable experience -- particularly to fans of Moore, the Dolemite character/movies, or just movies about movies in general.
I don't usually go for big budget sci-fi movies like this, and went to see it in the theater basically on a whim. The result is one of the most well-paced, visually beautiful, bleak, and satisfying space movies I've seen in quite a while. Brad Pitt is terrific in the lead (2019 has been an excellent year for the actor) as he travels from location to location in an attempt to find his estranged astronaut father. It all sounds very lame on the surface, but there's a wonderful sense of progression in this movie aided by the visuals (color and hue changes often represent each location) that made it feel very brisk in pace, in spite of its slow and methodical nature. I enjoyed it quite a bit, even if it was ultimately a very simple story, and I think about it often.
I didn't watch the first Happy Death Day when it first came out, because the promise of a PG-13 Groundhog Day slasher just didn't sound interesting to me. Well, I watched it earlier this year and wound up enjoying it a surprising amount, but didn't really see where they could go with a sequel. As it turns out, the sequel went in a far more science fiction direction, and it was even more entertaining this time around. Building off the events of the previous film, this sequel adds humor and some wild sci-fi time travel to the mix in an unexpected and thrilling way. I would say this is an improvement over the first one in pretty much every way, and I haven't been able to say that about many horror sequels in my life.
A very long horror movie that let's the story and character drama be the focal point as opposed to just trying to make the audience jump. There are no jump-scares in this movie (Toy Story 4 has more jump-scares in it; this is not a joke), instead Ari Aster does what he did in Hereditary and does a great job at exstablishing the characters, giving them motivation, and throwing them into a very difficult situation with no real way out. Though Pugh doesn't reach Toni Collette levels, she's still a strong lead, and her performance following the fallout of the opening scene is definitely a major highlight. It may be derivative of The Wicker Man, but I liked it better than either version -- even though the 2006 remake is much, much more fun.
It should go without saying at this point, but Joaquin Phoenix is terrific in this movie, and his performance alone would be enough to recommend this movie. But what really strikes me about this one is how well it manages to function not only as a supervillain origin story, but as a character drama first and foremost. With a concise script full of great moments (and one very obvious twist, sadly) and dialogue, Joker is the kind of comic book movie that brings hope to the genre much in the same way as Logan a few years back. But it's probably slightly better movie, if you ask me. 
Probably one of the most grueling movies I've sat through all year. Gaspar Noe's films generally have a wild, untamed nature to them, and this one is no different. From what I've gathered, the entire movie was largely unscripted, with Noe basically only offering his actors rough guidelines and loose direction as to what they needed to say or do throughout the movie. A large portion of the movie is one continuous take, and the result is a twisted, morbid mess that is hard to look away from. It's often categorized as horror, which is hard to dispute, but if you go into this expecting a standard genre outing, you will probably not be too happy. Either way, I think it's terrific and I haven't been able to shake it for months now.
A tender and emotional comedy about family, highlighting a cultural aspect of Chinese life that most Americans can probably hardly relate to at all. I knew I would like this movie before I saw it, but I'm not entirely sure why. Either way, this one features one of my favorite performances of the year, by Zhao Shuzhen, as an elderly matriarch who is dying, but no one is willing to tell her. This was a lovely little movie that I wish more people went to see. We need a little more subtlety in our movies, guys. Support things like this, stop feeding the Disney machine.
It's been a long road for Shia LaBeouf. I could fill entire posts on his tumultuous career and life outside of film, but while that all could be hugely entertaining to me, the main thing I want to talk about here is how he's seemed to succeed at turning this whole mess around and come out with some of the best material of his career in 2019. I wasn't sure if he'd be able to top his standout performance in Peanut Butter Falcon, but in this semi-autobiographical movie (wherein he plays a stand-in for his father), he did just that. It's an actor's movie, with relatively simplistic visuals and other technical aspects, but it manages to work due to the writing (LaBeouf himself wrote the screenplay) and performances, which are really across the board pretty fantastic. Sometimes movies don't need to push boundaries, they just need to hit the right emotional notes. 
Everyone wants to talk about how impressive it is that the movie was presented as if it were one continuous take, but I still don't think that really is what sold me on this movie. Instead of feeling like a try-hard gimmick to get people into the seats (what normal moviegoer even cares about cinematography anyway?) this movie utilizes the uninterrupted shot to put the audience into the characters' shoes, and the results are quite remarkable from a dramatic perspective as opposed to a "look at how impressive" kind of thing. With the usual peaks an valleys of a narrative feature, there is a momentum to this story that is willing to step back every now and then, but usually ramps up the tension and doesn't really let go. It's a gripping experience with some wonderful use of lighting and obviously impressive cinematography. Very tense, strong acting, great visuals, and an overall genuinely immersive experience that most moviegoers will find satisfying.
Yimou Zhang's wuxia epics (House Of Flying Daggers, Hero, Curse Of The Golden Flower) generally have a vibrant look, and this one goes in the opposite direction, but still manages to be one of the best looking movies of the year. Almost entirely shot in greys and blacks, the cinematography, set design, costuming, and choreography are all fantastic, but it's not just the visuals that work here. The story is simple enough, but the characters are engaging, their motivations are clear, and by the end I felt totally satisfied with the whole experience. It's the best thing Yimou Zhang has done in years, and I hope he follows it up with more movies like this. I miss his wuxia movies.
Nearly 15 years after the HBO western was cancelled, we finally get a satisfying conclusion to the story. While certain characters are obviously omitted (RIP Powers Boothe) this movie manages to balance a very large ensemble cast and give pretty much every character a wonderful conclusion to their arc. Due to the distance in time between the show's final episodes and this, it also manages to stand alone as a singular entity, and not just feel like an extra long episode tacked on to the end. Everything about this movie is classic Deadwood, and it was great getting to see this all finally end. Granted, a good part of the reason this movie is so high on my list has to do with my love for the show, but I went into it with incredibly high expectations, and I am an easily disappointed person, so it's placement here is earned.
I've not been too big a fan of Baumbach in the past, with most of his movies feeling to me like a sort of Woody Allen-ified version of Wes Anderson, but this time it stripped away a good deal of that pretense and quirkiness and instead focused on the heartbreaking effects of a divorce and separation between two people who still genuinely care for one another. It doesn't devolve into cheap melodrama and cliches nearly as often as you might think, and the performances are so real and so layered that it truly feels like watching an actual married couple slowly unpeel their lives from one another. It's not nearly as dour and bleak as it seems, either, finding subtle humor in small places. Driver and Johansson are amazing, and this is one of the best dramas of the year largely due to their performances.
Zahler might be one of my top 2 or 3 favorite directors working today based on the 3 movies he's made since 2015 (the other two being the western Bone Tomahawk and the prison drama Brawl In Cell Block 99), and this is probably my favorite he's done so far. With excellent lead performances by Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn (weird, I know), this feels like a throwback to those straight-to-video crooked cop dramas of decades past, but approaches the subject in a much more realistic way. Unlike more filmmakers who do throwbacks that just feel like stylistic rip-offs, Zahler makes old fashioned movies that are also entirely fresh and original. The screenplay has a massive scope, but makes every extra long scene pay off in a great way. It was one of the first 4 or 5 movies I saw from 2019 and it's still one of my absolute favorites.
A movie I would probably love even if solely for the fact that it's essentially tricking Adam Sandler fans into watching a real movie, Uncut Gems is so far beyond a standard Sandler vehicle, even comparing it to one feels like an insult. After the Safdies' wonderfully suspenseful and brilliantly acted 2017 film Good Time (starring a similarly maligned-yet-underrated actor, Robert Pattinson) I went into this movie fully expecting a fantastic transformative performance and a sharp screenplay, but still walked away surprised at just how good it all really was. The Safdie brothers are brilliant at creating tension, their gritty visuals aid the story and tone perfectly, and Sandler is the best he's ever been. Everything here works, even if the entire movie was basically a giant heart-attack worth of suspense.
I was a huge fan of Guerra's previous film Embrace Of The Serpent from a few years back, so my expectations were pretty high on this one. And even though it didn't - nor could it possibly - totally live up to my hopes, what I got was still a genuinely fantastic and reserved film with great character work, a tight story, and all the technical flawlessness I could have expected. This isn't a showy gangster movie, but one that focuses more on the impact of the actions, particularly on the families of those involved. Power struggles, loyalties, tradition, and greed all come into play here, and the film never loses itself in the subtext. It's a wonderfully executed drama that knows just how long to let a scene or moment linger, and puts its characters and their development first. 
After The Last Jedi came out and irritated the hell out of half the Star Wars fanbase, there was a great deal of backlash against Rian Johnson and his subversive attempts at undermining the Star Wars legacy (at least that's what has been said by many), but here it can't be argued that his desire to toy with audience expectations made for an incredibly entertaining and unique whodunnit. Murder mysteries generally have a sort of one-and-done appeal, due to the twist endings, but the way this movie handles that part of the story is so up-front and unique that I feel it would hold up to multiple viewings and even the most cynical of scrutiny. Add into that the amazing ensemble cast full of unique and flavorful characters and you've got yourself a satisfying movie with a wicked sense of humor, great twists, and a really cool looking set design. Loads of fun.
Almodovar has always been a very personal director. Most of his movies feel like they truly come from the heart, but while he usually has a deep affection for his characters, this is the first time that I feel like he really put himself in one of his films. Antonio Banderas is fantastic (playing Almodovar, essentially), and this might be the best performance of his career. A subtly funny and emotional performance that never feels over-the-top or showy, but instead comes across as not just a fully realized character, but a real person who just happens to be the central focus of a movie. The story bounces back and forth in time, but never loses focus or becomes confusing or messy, the music is wonderful - possibly the best musical score of the year - and the visuals are very effectively stripped down. This is one of the better films of Almodovar's career, which is fitting due to the personal nature of the story.
There's a lot to unpack here, but I'll try to be brief. To sum it all up in a sentence, this is a 4-hour-long Chinese drama about 4 people going through one single day. It's very simply a movie about depression which is made all the more potent when you discover the director of the film itself committed suicide directly following post production of this, his one and only feature. With a washed out grey color palette and intimate cinematography, this movie puts you up close to its characters, never letting you (or the characters) breathe, suffocating you with their emptiness and pain. It's all very dark, and at times genuinely difficult to watch, but the overall effect is stunningly powerful. I doubt I will ever watch this again, but I have a feeling it will stick with me for a long time, as it's possibly the most soul-crushing depiction of depression I've ever seen on film.
Quite possibly my favorite Tarantino movie, and that is saying something. Everything about this movie just looked uninteresting to me from the moment it was announced, but I was proven wrong from the moment the movie started. Not only did this movie thrill me in every way for 3 straight hours, but it inspired hope in me that classic cinema is still alive and well. It's the best DiCaprio has probably ever been, and same goes for Brad Pitt. Everything about this movie worked from me, and the way it blends real-life true crime details into the narrative is seamless and all the more jarring and wonderful when it takes a left turn on you. It's a wild, exciting, funny, and unique experience from start to finish. It may have irritated a lot of people, but those people are wrong: this was a masterpiece.
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