Best & Worst of 2019
It's time once again for the annual look back at the year in film!
Every year we count down my picks for the worst movies of the year and then the best movies of the year. Before we do let's see if we can make any sense of the year. First of all, it was staggering how many solid films were largely ignored by audiences in the theater during the first 6-8 months of the year! Long Shot, Booksmart, Blinded by the Light, The Farewell, Fighting with My Family, Late Night - all of these should've been breakout certifiable hits and none but Long Shot broke $25 million domestic. Long Shot made $30 million domestic on a $40 million budget - and I bet hardly any of your friends are talking about it. Blinded by the Light also basically bombed making only $11 million domestic from a $15 million budget. Audiences preferred seeing movies like The Intruder, Aladdin, Ma, Men in Black International, Anna, The Lion King, Hobbs & Shaw, and 47 Meters Down: Uncaged over these wonderful gems. I guarantee they were way better than all of those other films.
So, that was crazy...
If we look at box office and the highest-grossing of the year we see that, once again, Disney wins with 6 movies in the Top 10 - two are from Marvel Studios and one is from Pixar. Warner Bros. is the only other victor with 2 films: Joker and IT: Chapter Two. What's interesting about those is they are both R-rated movies. I can't remember the last time there were R-rated films in the Top 10 of the year. As a matter of fact, in the Top 25 grossing films of the year there are only 3 films that aren't a sequel, a remake, a superhero movie, or based on some other intellectual property: Us, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and Knives Out. Last year there was only two: Bohemian Rhapsody (#14) and A Quiet Place (#15).
Diversity was a mixed bag this year in terms of box office. There were several movies with diverse casts or leads, including the previously mentioned overlooked movies. Only Hustlers, Hobbs & Shaw, Us, and Aladdin (such as it is) featured non-white leading characters and broke $100 million. Miss Bala, Charlie's Angels, Shaft, Black and Blue, Stuber, 21 Bridges, Queen & Slim, Little, Harriet, Ma, Gemini Man, What Men Want, Escape Room, Dora - even usual box office titan franchise Terminator - all made less than or just above $50 million. Granted quality may have been a factor for most, as all but four of those films (Dora, Harriet, Queen & Slim, Terminator: Dark Fate) received bad to mediocre reviews. After all, diversity isn't everything; why go see a movie if it looks like shit? Although, they did flock to see Aladdin, so who the hell knows?
With all of that said, let's dive into...
The Worst
5. Pet Sematary
A remake of one of Stephen King's most thematically interesting stories isn't such a bad idea. The original 1989 Mary Lambert adaptation is a minor classic in the King canon. But this film isn't how you do it. It's like the creators felt some sort of pressure to mix things up and made what was once a somewhat faithful adaptation of an interesting morality play into something closer to the ill-advised early '90s sequel with a new ending that disappoints.
4. The Kitchen
The Kitchen is not an awful movie. It's also not a very good one - especially when one considers the talent in front of the camera: Melissa McCarthy, Elisabeth Moss, and Tiffany Haddish. They play a trio of women who try to take over the mob in Hell's Kitchen, New York. This should've been at the very least a step down from Goodfellas. But it was worse than that with inexplicable character motivations, an ending that lands with a thud, and a general sense of a shrug. Haddish is a stand-out, but McCarthy disappoints, partially due to an undercooked part. Overall, The Kitchen is a forgettable dud that only hit theaters four months ago, but you probably forgot existed at all.
3. Isn't It Romantic?
The idea of Rebel Wilson leading a comedy that skewers the romantic comedy genre should be hilarious and razor sharp. That was, unfortunately, not the case here. We got a watchable, but poorly conceived script that ultimately wastes the talents of everyone involved - and a brilliant idea.
2. Rocketman
A film about Elton John chock-full of his '70s catalogue with a few visually transporting scenes from the director who finished Bohemian Rhapsody?! I should be eating this up with relish! Instead, I was left baffled. Taron Egerton, bless him, does everything he can and is certainly NOT to be criticized or blamed. The script tosses off songs willy-nilly and expects the direction and choreography to dazzle us so we don't notice how much of a mess they've made of John's life and songbook. It is visually dazzling to be sure. But it's all about as hollow as The Greatest Showman, making for one of the year's biggest letdowns.
1. Ma
Octavia Spencer and Tate Taylor must be really good friends. And Spencer must be really hard up to play something other than the wise &/or sassy black woman. There is no other explanation for the existence of Ma, a movie that feels okay if you absolutely lack a brain. A good horror villain can be one who seduces you into their web and then goes in for the kill/crazy, which Spencer's title character clearly aspires to be. But they also have to have some sound logic to their behaviors if that's how they are - and their third act must be accelerated, intense, but also make a lick of sense. I have no idea what the hell Ma is thinking during most of this movie - but especially during the third act. There are no indications that she wants to die. Yet it would only take the likes of Barney Fife to make her a prime suspect in all of the madness that takes place near the end and arrest her ass. And what the hell is Missy Pyle doing here? Even she deserves better!
Dishonorable Mentions:
Brightburn,
Dark Phoenix,
The Lion King,
Toy Story 4,
Glass
The Best
So now it's time to count down the best of the year. I have seen 67 films this year. Every year there are a handful of films I have yet to see before crafting this list. Granted most of them wouldn't end up on the list anyway, but take it all with a grain of salt. I have yet to see 1917, Ford v Ferrari, Harriet, Honey Boy, Honeyland, Pain and Glory, Queen & Slim, and Waves.
10. Joker
Joker is a divisive film. Some feel it condones violence and villainy in the world. Some see it as a literal origin story of DC Comics' famous Bat-villain. It is neither of those things.
Joker is a fascinating character study that uses the characters we've known and loved from the Batman mythology to represent themes and ideas about the Trump era, a time when the 1% benefits without consequence, those who need help are subjugated and disposed of by a decrepit healthcare system, and an economic system that keeps those who are struggling to improve their situation down.
Joker is not a perfect film and its flaws are worthy of quibbling. But Joaquin Phoenix's performance is everything to this film and outweighs any legitimate issues one may have with it. It's also too fascinating a project to dismiss or ignore.
9. Little Women
Why bring Louisa May Alcott's 1868 novel to the screen in 2019? Because it has some of the best character ensembles ever written. And now is the time to bring such female characters to life on screen. Jo March is a feminist well before it became a word that would be demonized and politicized by conservatives. In a time when a woman was worth little more than her beauty and marriage prospects, she wanted to be a person, willing to grow old alone if it meant she could be who she wanted to be: a published writer.
Little Women is a story about family and the tension between having to grow up and be your own person and being part of or creating a family. It's about women achieving whatever dreams they want out of life - becoming a writer, an artist, a musician, or even a mother and wife - and not letting society or life getting in the way. In 1868 it was a story ahead of its time. Today it's perfectly relevant, moving and inspiring.
8. Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood
Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood is not Tarantino's masterpiece. It is, however, like most of his films, one of the best films of the year. Tarantino's tale is one where success is just outside of reach for its characters. Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) lives right next to one of the hottest directors of the moment. He, momentarily, was on a list for the lead part in The Great Escape. He left a TV gig to pursue a movie career and is back to guest spots on TV shows. Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) is the stunt double of the star. A star who can't quite hit the level of success and notoriety that most actors working in Hollywood dream of. Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) is the girlfriend of one of the moment's hottest directors. Her latest flick is a James Bond knock-off with Dean Martin. And then there's the Manson Family. A group of them is one door away from infamy and notoriety. To say anything more would give away the film's third act, it's most conventionally thrilling and brutal moments. Tarantino balances his film with tension and delight. We don't know what's going to happen to Cliff when he crashes the ranch the Manson Family is living on. We do delight in Tate's joy upon hearing an audience react to her scenes in her latest flick. Both scenes are among the best the film has to offer in a movie that luxuriates in the company of its characters without any need to get to the next plot point. It's a lovely experience from a really good movie.
7. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Marielle Heller is an interesting talent on the rise this decade. Her debut Diary of a Teenage Girl was a funny, uncomfortable, and mesmerizing look inside the mind of a teenager coming of age. Can You Ever Forgive Me? was a bristly look at a real life antiheroine trying to keep her head above water once an opportunity arises that got Heller a little more notice. So, her take on Mr. Fred Rogers, a childhood hero to many generations, was going to be intriguing. And it certainly was. Her first stroke of genius was to create something Mr. Rogers never could: an engaging episode for adults (he tried an adult series, which failed). By making the film an episode of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood for adults Heller was able to paint a real world answer to a question that lingers on the back of every adult's mind: "Okay, all of this kindness is great for kids, but can it really apply to adult life?" By focusing on the personal struggles of a journalist Rogers once met and affected in the late '90s, Heller communicates to the adult audience Rogers' messages of love and how we all need a little more of it in our lives, especially of ourselves.
6. Knives Out
Was there a more delicious film this year than Knives Out, a film dripping with cynicism and wit? That's not to say the film is cynical. The characters certainly are. Many of them act like they mean well. Many of them are simply self-absorbed pricks. But those who do mean well, when push comes to shove, they're more interested in their own self-preservation - or at least the preservation of their creature comforts - than anyone else's. This is the surprising heart of Rian Johnson's whodunit. It has a conscience concerned with far more than who killed who. To say anything further might spoil the film and its discoveries. But a film as twisty as Knives Out is full of surprises. It's biggest surprise is just how relevant to our current era the story actually is.
5. The Farewell
The Farewell tells the true story about a family who learns their grandmother is likely to die of cancer in three months. They keep this information from her, as is often the case in Chinese culture, and instead gather around her for a fake wedding to say their last goodbyes. Rising star Awkwafina, who had a stellar 2018 with Crazy Rich Asians and Ocean's 8, stars as one of the grandchildren. The film mostly takes place from her perspective.
The Farewell is a beautiful and emotionally-rich film with wonderful female voices - as a matter of fact, with the exception of Tzi Ma (Rush Hour, Arrival), who plays one of the sons, most of the best performances in the film comes from the women: Shuzhen Zao, who plays the sweet and clueless grandma, Awkwafina, and Diana Lin, who plays Awkwafina's mom and the matriarch's daughter-in-law. They prevent events from becoming too broad and too morose, offering light emotional complexities and humor.
The Farewell is one of the great family dramas and the best of the year.
4. The Last Black Man in San Francisco
The Last Black Man in San Francisco is small in its scope. It's simply about a man who fights to one day own the house he thinks his grandpa built 70 years ago. Yet it is one of the most aesthetically beautiful and fascinating films of the year. It's also one of the year's most criminally overlooked films. Maybe because it doesn't have much in the way of star power (Danny Glover has a supporting role, but his star has faded perhaps too much to draw attention from people under the age of 30). Maybe it's because it's a directorial debut of someone nobody has ever heard of (Joe Talbot, nephew of former Leave It to Beaver actor and documentary producer Stephen Talbot), loosely based on the leading role's (Jimmie Fails) life experience. Whatever the reason, it is a shame more people have yet to discover this gem. The first 10 minutes alone is some of the best filmmaking of the year and can't be described in a way to do it justice.
The Last Black Man in San Francisco is visually and emotionally fascinating and worthy of anyone's time.
3. Avengers: Endgame
In terms of event blockbuster filmmaking there is no film that beats Avengers: Endgame this year.
The Avengers (2012) - making a handful of superhero movies and bringing them together in one film - was a risky experiment to begin with. It invented the idea of a shared universe of films. It worked and was a huge hit in 2012. Many tried afterwards to replicate it (Universal Monsterverse, DCEU, etc.) and most failed. In the meantime that film would introduce a villain who wouldn't pay off until a two-part cliffhanger seven years later. After so much build-up it can be tough to live up to expectations. Well, Marvel Studios with the Russo Bros. at the helm certainly did that. Maybe some could quibble about details here and there, but nothing of great significance.
Endgame gave us a blockbuster where the heroes - not just one, but many - lost and are dealing with the results of that loss, some of which were personal. It features some of the best acting in the superhero genre, particularly by Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey, Jr., and Jeremy Renner. It changed some of our characters irrevocably and retired others. And, for the first time in a long time, we have no idea what is about to happen next with a superhero franchise.
Endgame was an extraordinary and unique experience that comes around so infrequently these days. One of the best of the year.
2. Parasite
The Haves. The Have-Nots. I can't speak for Korea, but this decade certainly has fractured the two in America. It's resulted in a handful of films about the two. This tale from South Korean director Bong Joon Ho provides a twisty, nasty, and different take on the divide. Where in the States the poor would be the sympathetic and the rich would be evil, in Korea the poor are depicted as those who've had enough of living in squalor and will do anything to take advantage of the naive and innocent rich to get a taste of what they have. It's fascinating, incredibly written, and full of surprises. I don't think we've seen a Best Picture contender from Asia since 2000's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (heck, I think Roma may have been the only other foreign film). But with Parasite we have a contender that deserves the nomination - and especially the win for Best Foreign Film. It is incomparable. It is just short of perfect. And I can't even explain why without giving away spoilers! Bong Joon Ho (Memories of Murder, Mother, Snowpiercer) has always been a director worth everyone's time and appreciation. He might have outdone himself with Parasite.
1. Marriage Story
In a year full of movies about the Trump era (the 1%, immigrants, the struggling 99%) how surprising is it that the best film is the most personal and intimate? Noah Baumbach, a man who has made a career out of privileged white people problems, has managed to finally make a film that connects no matter who you are. Yes, the main characters are fortunate enough to afford the legal fees attached to their divorce - but it still completely drains their accounts and is at times absolutely exhausting. Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver give lifetime high performances here that aren't just dramatic tears and screams, rather small behaviors and looks in reaction to just about everything the other is doing. I don't know if either have actually experienced a real divorce, but you believe here that they are divorcing.
Marriage Story is one that could take place in any city in the world within any class or any race - and it does every day. The incredible thing about this story is that through everything the couple goes through there is always love and respect there. It is possible to want different things out of life and to still respect each other. Watching this divorce evolve makes some of us feel lucky to have what we have, some of us feel envious of what they have, and all of us feel something no matter what. There is no film this year that matches the power behind the performances, the direction, and the story of this un-marriage.
Honorable Mentions:
Hustlers,
Booksmart,
Blinded by the Light,
Spider-Man: Far From Home,
Apollo 11,
Hail Satan?
That just finally puts the year 2019 to bed! Be sure to check out the upcoming episode of The Movie Lovers that looks at the year as a whole and counts down our favorite films from the year. That should be posted soon!
What do you think are the best films of the year? Comment below!