Top 10 movies of 2019

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Quentin Tarantino's tenth film is his best work since 2009's "Inglourious Basterds." Maybe that has something to do with the story, where he uses his revisionist style to tackle the Tate murders, placing Brad Pitt's heroic stunt man Cliff Booth and Leonardo DiCaprio's overworked western star Rick Dalton in the path of the Manson family on that fateful night in 1969. Tarantino's script and direction is glowing with inspiration, as are all the actors' inputs. It's also because of the subject matter, an era of Hollywood that is a gold mine both for Tarantino and us regular movie buffs. His films used to be criticized for glorifying violence, but since "Inglourious Basterds" he's worked around that by making sure that all the (always exaggerated, sometimes comically over-the-top) violence in his films are only directed at people that deserve it, like nazis, slave owners and, now, filthy hippie murderers. Clever.  

The Irishman

Martin Scorsese's career is one of the most influential of the last fifty years, making him one of the most important film makers of the 20th century. His latest epic "The Irishman" is kind of a return to form for Scorsese, and also a perfect cap on decades of big time film making. A lot has been written about the role of women in "The Irishman," and the success or failure of the digital de-aging of the actors, but I find no flaws in either aspect. This is after all a story told exclusively by an unreliable narrator, the Irish mobster hit man Frank Sheeran, whose claim about killing Jimmy Hoffa has been a subject of dispute in real life. On some level, the whole film works like the ramblings of an old thug looking back on his life, the family he didn't understand, his history of violence that is sometimes believable, other times not. Robert De Niro and Al Pacino do the best work they've done in years, and "The Irishman" is above all a funny movie. Not a comedy, but Pacino plays Hoffa with gusto and subtle humor and De Niro's oafishness is often hilarious. But that's the greatness of Scorsese's mobster movies, just look at "Goodfellas," "Casino" and even "Mean Streets" - he's always allowed you as a viewer to have a good time in the company of his violent, reprehensible underworld characters. I believe that's a key to the success of those films.   

Uncut Gems

In 2017, I lauded Josh and Benny Safdie's gritty thriller "Good Time" as a masterpiece with its intense acting, its score and its visual style that was reminiscent of American movies from the 1970's. Well, I might as well have been talking about "Uncut Gems," a stressful, race-against-the-clock, sordid slice-of-life about a gambling addict's final days trying to retrieve a precious jewel while being hounded by debt collectors. Adam Sandler has proven before that he can act quite well dramatically, but what he does here isn't that far removed from a bizarre and kinda menacing sketch. "Uncut Gems" is uncomfortable viewing - painfully entertaining and endlessly fascinating.   

Knives Out

2019 was a good year for funny movies, as evidenced by the three funny movies on this list. You can tell that everyone involved in Rian Johnson whodunnit masterpiece "Knives Out" had a good time. It's a riveting film, thoroughly entertaining from start to finish, with a proper twist and a good example of how important a well-written screenplay is. If you got a script as good as this, that's really all you need. That's why every performance feels so inspired, same as every other part of the film making. And credit to Johnson for casting almost all of his actors against type, especially Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Michael Shannon and Jamie Lee Curtis. Although ostensibly a parody of and homage to old school, Agatha Christie-like murder mysteries, "Knives Out" is also sneakily a very political film in what it has to say about immigrants in the Trump era.  

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote

If you aren't familiar with the facts, it's taken Terry Gilliam thirty years to realize his dream project. Finally, with the help of its star Adam Driver, the film was completed and released and it's better than I ever could have anticipated. It's wonderful to see how Gilliam-esque it is; the childish fantasy of "Time Bandits" and "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" is in it, but it is also evidently made by a seventy-nine year old film maker, particularly in the way Driver's character is an obvious alter ego for Gilliam. For the first time, he has put himself into his movie, doesn't that finally earn him the sobriquet of auteur?

The Lighthouse

In "The Lighthouse," Robert Eggers brings the same meticulous attention to period detail and artistic sensibility that he did to his debut "The Witch" in 2015. So what we get is a visceral portrayal of cabin fever and 19th century insanity presented with stunning black and white cinematography, an unusual aspect ratio that emphasizes the weirdness and the claustrophobia, historically accurate and at times incredibly lyrical dialogue spoken by two actors acting their balls off, topped off with hallucinatory images and eery effects that are very gothic, very Edgar Allan Poe, very psychological and theatrical. All in all brilliant, with all the aspects you need to make a film of superb quality.  

Toy Story 4

Who would have thought Pixar could ever surpass "Toy Story 3" back in 2010, both in terms of technique and story? Well, not me, that's for sure. But the latest, perhaps last, sequel's animation is truly jaw-dropping, to the point where I found myself occasionally forgetting that I was watching an animated movie. As befits the world of "Toy Story" it's got cute new characters, especially Forky, who only wants to be put in the trash where he thinks he belongs, plus the welcome return of Bo Peep, last seen in "Toy Story 2," in a surprising new action movie role. On top of all that, it's got the kinda fascinating villainess doll Gabby Gabby and her henchmen, a pair of sinister-looking ventriloquist dummies. All in all, "Toy Story 4" is not only an entertaining adventure for all the family, but also a moving and thought-provoking story about growing old and losing your relevance in a world that's changing fast.  

The Beach Bum

Matthew McConaughey stumbling around the beaches of Florida, often with a drink, spewing sex poetry, is the best stoner comedy since "The Big Lebowski." McConaughey's Moondog is a fascinating character - he's a representation of Buddhism in a way, particularly in his disinterest in wealth and materialism. Like in the way he inherits a fortune after his rich ex-wife's death and accidentally sets it on fire, all the while laughing his stoned ass off. But he's also got the assholishness and devil-may-care attitude of someone like Hunter S. Thompson. With "The Beach Bum," Harmony Korine shows a lighter, more comedic side than what we're used to (as does McConaughey), but it's just as avantgarde and weird as all of his previous films, and that turns out to be a winning combination of moods and concepts.

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie

In 2019 we had several highly satisfying sequels to famous TV series. First there was "Deadwood: The Movie," then the "Downton Abbey" film, and then, quite unexpectedly, "Between Two Ferns: The Movie" on Netflix. But the best TV show-cum-film was "El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie," which served as an epilogue to the TV series that finished in 2013 and finished Jesse Pinkman's story in a very gripping and pleasantly justifying way. What Vince Gilligan has done to make it as good as it is is he's given the film as much attention and passion as he did with the series, so it feels like a proper part of "Breaking Bad," albeit one that is slightly more cinematic and conclusive. As a fan, I'm thankful Gilligan spent as long working on it as he did, perhaps that's the reason it feels so complete.

Avengers: Endgame

The follow-up to 2018's "Avengers: Infinity War" suffers from the same flaws as "Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker," which is basically that it feels a bit rushed and not adequately thought through and worked out. Even with its three hour running time. But how can you summarize the year in film 2019 without including the finale of one of the biggest franchises and film series of the past ten years? What began back in 2012 with Joss Whedon's "The Avengers," although I think it began even further back with "Iron Man" in 2008, has now concluded, and what an epic conclusion! It's impossible not to shed tears at the death of Tony Stark, a really touching and superbly acted scene, particularly in the context of the character's sacrifice to bring back peace and all those that were lost in the previous film. The end of Captain America's story arc was equally touching. Maybe it isn't the best part of the twenty-some movies in the MCU, but it's a hell of a way to go.