10) Knives Out
I really struggled with this spot on my list because I left out some great movies including several that are nominated for Best Picture but I had more fun watching Knives Out than almost any movie this year so it landed in this spot. In an interesting twist on the whodunit genre, Knives Out gives away a very large piece of the puzzle early on but only later does it reveal the exact circumstances behind how and why the death in question occurred. The cast is absurdly talented and each character feels very realized for a movie of this genre.
9) Uncut Gems
I was kind of late to join the party of those who were already celebrating the Safdie Brothers. I had heard from multiple people including my friend Travis that their previous film Good Time was excellent. I kept putting off watching it but I wanted to see it before Uncut Gems came out so I watched it and was blown away. Uncut Gems has the same tone which engenders the feeling of having a panic attack while watching. Adam Sandler is great as the jeweler and degenerate gambler Howard Ratner whose compulsive behavior take him further and further down the proverbial rabbit hole.
8) The Art of Self-Defense
The Art of Self-Defense is an incredible dark black comedy starring Jesse Eisenberg as a nebbish vulnerable man. After being attacked while walking home, he enlists in an adult karate class that becomes more serious and bizarre as the time goes on. I would recommend watching without seeing the trailer because it gives away far too much but it's a wonderful small movie that made me laugh as much as just about any movie last year.
7) Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
I love when Quentin Tarantino has a new movie and I hope the rumors of him retiring after his next movie are not true. That said, I can also acknowledge all of his movies since his long time collaborator and editor Sally Menke passed away (shortly after Inglorious Basterds) have been too long. I really enjoyed Once Upon A Time in Hollywood but couldn't help but think that it would have been better if the final cut was a little shorter. The performances by Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt are both great and the young actress played by Julia Butters is driving force behind just one of several incredible scenes throughout the movie.
6) The Lighthouse
Following up on the success of The Witch from 2015, director Robert Eggers goes in a somewhat different direction with The Lighthouse. Shot in black-and-white with a 1.19:1 aspect ratio, The Lighthouse feels like it was made in another era with the two leads Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe both turning in remarkable performances. It has been described as a psychological horror film and it's hard to classify but if you're looking for something very different then I strongly recommend you watch The Lighthouse.
5) Peanut Butter Falcon
We're currently in a renaissance for Shia LaBeouf who also wrote and starred in Honey Boy which was another tremendous movie last year. However, Peanut Butter Falcon was a much more pleasant viewing experience than Honey Boy which was at times painful to see the autobiographical struggles of LaBeouf's destructive family life as a child actor. Peanut Butter Falcon has LaBeouf befriend a young man with Down syndrome after he escapes from a nursing home. A modernization of the Huckleberry Finn stories, Peanut Butter Falcon was one of the most enjoyable movie-going experiences of recent memory.
4) Jojo Rabbit
The opening of Jojo Rabbit is so over the top and filled with slapstick humor that I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy it. It is above all else a comedy but it has wild shifts in tone and features nothing but German characters who inexplicably all speak English with varying degrees of bad German accents. The odds were against my enjoyment of the movie for the aforementioned reasons but the relationships between Jojo and the two female characters in the film have a striking amount of emotional resonance for a movie that also has a young boy talking to an imaginary Adolf Hitler. By the time it was over, I was surprised by how moved I had felt by a movie that started off so silly.
3) 1917
Easily the most stunning achievement in filmmaking from 2019 was 1917. Director Sam Mendes and cinematographer extraordinaire Roger Deakins pull off an incredible feat in making the audience feel as though the entire movie is one continuous two hour shot. Birdman employed a similar technique which was brought to another level in 1917 as it followed two soldiers travels during World War I. The story is very simple but the execution is flawless led by Deakins who shows that he's still world's greatest living cinematographer.
2) Midsommar
Full disclosure- Midsommar is not for everyone but for me it was near perfection. Writer-director Ari Aster who garnered acclaim for his previous horror film Hereditary returns to the genre for Midsommar which is a beautifully shot but deeply disturbing film. Florence Pugh, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress this year for Little Women, is tremendous as Dani. I won't detail any of the plot because it's best of you don't know what it is about but if you like the horror genre and don't mind some graphic imagery then Midsommar is the movie for you.
1) Parasite
Sometimes it takes years and numerous viewings for my opinion on a movie to shift. I very much enjoyed Parasite when I first saw it on Halloween of last year but my expectations were a bit off-kilter. I had heard from numerous people who I respect that it was the best movie of the year and to go into with as little knowledge about the plot as possible. I followed that instruction and for some unknown reason based on the title and the poster shown above, I thought it was a zombie movie. I'm not spoiling anything by telling you that it is not a zombie movie- at least not the kind that you might be thinking or I was expecting when I entered the theater. Parasite is one of the most original and metaphorical movies I've ever seen and after giving it about three months I went to see it in the theater again with a much greater appreciation for the layers of details and humor sprinkled throughout by visionary writer-director Bong Joon Ho.
Honorable mention:
Avengers: Endgame
Booksmart
The Farewell
Ford v Ferrari
Honey Boy
The Irishman
Joker
Long Shot
Marriage Story
Shazam!
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