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30 January 2020
This article is a look at my favourite films of 2019. |
MY TOP 37 FAVOURITE FILMS OF 2019
37. JALLIKATTU
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Kinetic, feverish action sequences. Deafening sound design. Stylish camerawork. Intricate crowd choreography. Hollywood, give director Lijo Jose Pellissery a gig already.
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36. LORO
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The sheer volume of nudity got depressing. It feels intentional, to show exploitation and inequality. Director Paolo Sorrentino returns to form, after the disappointments of THE YOUNG POPE and YOUTH, with a scathing political/societal analysis. I saw the 151-minute version, but I would love to watch the 204-minute project. Nobody directs a party scene like Sorrentino.
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35. FAMILY ROMANCE, LLC
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Paying for a family/friendship experience, by customers needing an emotional connection. Moving and with Herzog's humour. The ending shows him to still be a movie master, looking at life through a unique lens.
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34. BOOKSMART
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A cross between SUPERBAD and CLUELESS. Filled with jokes and incident, but the usual bromance/romance genre clichés rear their head. Still, actor Olivia Wilde delivers an energetic, stylish directorial debut. Give her a blockbuster.
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33. GIANT LITTLE ONES
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A growing pains movie continually subverting genre expectations. It was empathetic, humanistic, and mixed tones deftly.
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32. KALANK
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A three-hour Bollywood epic. Progressive about marriage, compassionate about society, and with stunning dance sequences. A little clunky in places, but easily forgivable.
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31. BEN IS BACK
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An excellent drama about addiction. One of Julia Roberts's most powerful performances. Few films touch on the mother-son bond.
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30. BEANPOLE
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The aftermath of the Second World War in Leningrad. Narratively dazzlingly, each scene is layered with revelations and emotion, while also circumventing anticipated outcomes. Sophisticated stuff.
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29. THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON
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Shia LaBeouf reminds of how agreeably he can conjure a leading role. Zack Gottsagen has spot-on timing. On the surface, it is hard not to be swept along by the winning camaraderie. But the film does not hold up to deep scrutiny.
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28. IN FABRIC
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All the cast are game. They deftly skate across the eerie, the bizarre, and the laughable.
[To read my full review, click here.] |
27. THE REPORT
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To watch alongside:
-THE LOOMING TOWER -TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE -STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE -VICE, etc. A powerful examination into the sanctioned use of torture. |
26. THE DUDE IN ME / THE MAN INSIDE ME
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Part body-swap comedy, part gangster actioner. On the surface entertaining fluff, below looks at darker subject matter on bullying across society. The ending has such a neat bow, perhaps too neat, yet unusually I'm not complaining.
(The film looks to have changed its name from THE DUDE IN ME to THE MAN INSIDE ME. I’m not convinced either title goes to the premise of a gangster in high school?) |
25. VICE
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The first fantastic film of 2019. The team behind THE BIG SHORT, which examined the financial crash of 2008, turns to government. They make another doozy that is both laugh-out-loud funny and blood boiling. Christian Bale is extraordinary as Vice President Dick Cheney.
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24. THE LAUNDROMAT
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If you weren’t already a socialist before, you might become one after watching Netflix’s film starring Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas. As witty, intelligent, and star-studded a dissection of the Panama Papers, as THE BIG SHORT [2015] is to the 2008 financial crash.
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23. PHOTOGRAPH
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Gently humorous. Chastely romantic. Burgeoning love across social boundaries. After THE LUNCHBOX, director Ritesh Batra is proving how adept he is at portraying the tension of passion. (By the way, Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s character’s shirts are so stylish.)
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22. LARA
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A German anti-WHIPLASH, from the perspective of the narcissistic teacher. Worth the seven year wait for director Jan Ole Gerster's sophomore narrative feature.
[To read my full review, click hLaraere.] |
21. EVERYBODY KNOWS
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A kidnap thriller touching on so many issues.
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20. GLORIA BELL
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An unnecessary remake, but thanks to Julianne Moore I liked it even more than the original.
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19. MONSOON
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Unhurried rumination on a myriad of topics, coupled with a quietly engaging travelogue of Vietnam. The film is visually arresting without being ostentatious. At 85 minutes, it’s too short, which is also a compliment.
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18. BIRDS OF PASSAGE
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An epic cautionary tale set over decades. A gripping thriller about the involvement of indigenous clans in the Columbian drug trade. The attention to detail mesmerises, as we watch in horror as culture is eviscerated in the wake of greed.
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17. PARASITE
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The rich cannibalising the poor, and the poor eating the poor. Impressively, the film segues from the humorous to the upsetting in a blink of an eye. This is how to make socially conscious cinema!
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16. MID90S
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Not only does MID90S have emotional power, it actually feels and looks like a movie from the 1990s. What a debut from Jonah Hill!
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15. MIDSOMMAR
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An epic 147-minute horror movie. I prefer the theatrical version to the director's cut. The oppressive brutality reminds of APOCALYPTO. It is THE WICKER MAN slowed down and ramped up.
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14. GLASS
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This is how you make a superhero franchise. The final part to UNBREAKABLE and SPLIT is a gripping conclusion. Cinematography, direction, score, etc. combine in exhilarating fashion. The only quibble: If only the action sequences went on longer.
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13. BETWEEN TWO FERNS: THE MOVIE
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This is so fudging hilarious! Zach Galifianakis's interview with Keanu Reeves in particular will have your jaw on the floor. Along with THE BREAKER UPPERERS, a contender for Netflix's funniest comedy movie so far.
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12. THE CLIMB
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What a comedy! The camerawork is unbelievable. The scene orchestration is sublime. Avoids the usual bromance formula, for something sadder and less mawkish.
[To read my full review, click here.] |
11. CORPORATE ANIMALS
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Incompetence and passive-aggressiveness on a team-building excursion. Hilarious. So many jokes. So many targets.
[To read my full review, click here.] |
10. LUCE
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A brilliant film about race. A drama so enthralling, it is almost a thriller.
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9. THE WHISTLERS
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A compelling exercise in the crime genre, which keeps you guessing until the final smile. Refreshing to have all the characters devoid of innocence and moral superiority.
[To read my full review, click here.] |
8. QUEEN & SLIM
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A different kind of lovers-on-the-run thriller. A racist cop interrupts a first date. Pounding political ire, romantic chemistry, and sharp dialogue. Imagine BEFORE SUNRISE if the couple were being hunted across a nation.
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7. THE LOST OKOROSHI
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An imaginative Nigerian film about a crisis of the spirit and culture. A social critique wrapped in a winsome comedy.
[To read my full review, click here.] |
6. AD ASTRA
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A precise premise in a rare atmosphere of resignation and curiosity. At times pulse-pounding, poetic, melancholy, epic. I've not been a fan of director James Gray’s movies and his oeuvre's pseudo-1970s filmic vibes, but this has reached its apotheosis here.
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5. THE FAREWELL
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Grief, guilt, and a wedding. A gripping family dramedy. Humour skilfully underpins the sadness, and vice versa.
[To read my full review, click here.] |
4. THE KING
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Exhilarating. This feels weighty. The dialogue is mellifluous. The acting filled with gripping solemnity. The score skilfully both anchors and drives proceedings.
[To read my full review, click here.] |
3. THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO
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The best film of 2019. In the Venn diagram of gentrification and race, this begins at the intersection. Witty, sensitive, stylish, heartbreaking. It is both intimate and grand.
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2. EMA
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Intricate and mesmerising. Attention-grabbing lead performances - especially Mariana Di Girolamo. Just drops you in on a couple verbally tearing strips off each other, which is offset by striking visuals and a pulse-quickening score.
[To read my full review, click here.] |
1. JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 - PARABELLUM
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Art is pain. Absolutely exhilarating. I've been waiting my whole life for an action movie this relentless. It is so violent I spent the runtime wincing.
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