2019 was a year filled with eclectic offerings in theaters; Shimbo provides a list of his top films with more than a couple surprises
2019 was an interesting year for film. While far from one of the best years, many of the best offerings were overshadowed by the culmination of Marvel Studios’ “Infinity Saga” and the closing of the Star Wars’ “Skywalker Saga”. But beneath the shade of tentpoles, there were a number of offerings that simply stood out and blew away the competition.
It might surprise some that one of the best-reviewed films of the year, Bong-Joon Ho’s Parasite missed my list. While I enjoyed Parasite for what it was, a parable about how wealth inequality makes opportunists of us all, I didn’t find it to be the revelation that many did.
Also just missing the list was director Joe Talbot’s The Last Black Man in San Francisco, a film that I found gripping and engaging as it stood in an unmistakable truth, but I simply didn’t find myself loving it, which is also OK, because at the same time, I look forward to what Talbot has in store for us next.
The third and final honorable mention goes to Edward Norton’s Motherless Brooklyn, a film that actually made the list until a late entry bumped it to what is essentially 11th place. Norton masterfully takes a standard detective yarn and opens it up with a mixture of contemporary issues and beautiful photography by cinematographer Dick Pope to deliver a passion project unlike many we’ve been treated to in recent years.
With that out of the way, I present what I feel are the 10 best films of 2019, and let’s be clear, some are blockbusters, but most are not, and each spoke to me both as a critic and simply a fan of film itself. It shouldn’t go without mentioning that three of the films on our list were released by Netflix, with one of the films being a strong contender for Best Picture at a number of upcoming award ceremonies. Ted Sarandos may have bet the farm on making Netflix a serious contender, and it may actually pay off.
So without further ado, please enjoy my Top Ten Films of 2019.
10) The Two Popes
Director Fernando Meirelles delivers a light and engaging portrait of two pontiffs who could not be more different and how fate and the realities of modern society force them together not only for the good of the Church, but in some ways, one another.
Much has been made about a pair of Englishmen (Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Price) portraying a German and Argentinian, respectively, but the pair shine as Popes Benedict XVI and Francis, but representation be damned in this case as Price embraces the role of the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, aptly matching the grace and gravity of a man bound to do good in this world as he also weighs his own personal sin. The film balances humor and solemnity in a way that is both compelling and infectiously entertaining.
9) Dolemite Is My Name
A true comeback film for Eddie Murphy, Craig Brewer’s autobiographical take on comedian Rudy Ray Moore is hilarious and poignant, giving Murphy a chance to be something he hadn’t been in some time: an underdog.
It’s not hard to place parallels between Murphy and Moore, because it’s near impossible not to recognize that if it weren’t for the low-budget fearlessness of Moore and his rag-tag crew of misfits, maybe young up-and-comers like Murphy would’ve never grown up to take the torch of black comedy and elevate it to the next level. This is clearly not lost on Murphy as he treats his subject with reverence and love, while reminding the audience just how much we missed him in his own prime.
8) Knives Out
They say revenge is a dish best served cold, but in the case of director Rian Johnson, the success of whodunit Knives Out on both a narrative and entertainment level more than makes up for any perceived missteps (at least from me) he made in 2016’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, showing that as a filmmaker, one doesn’t have to love everything he does, but there will always be something to love.
Here, Johnson’s best move is casting rising star Ana de Armas as good-hearted nurse Marta Cabrera and Daniel Craig as Foghorn Leghorn come to life, Detective Benoit Blanc. Coupled with is performance as Joe Bang in 2018’s Logan Lucky, Craig seems to be at his absolute best when sporting a Southern fried accent.
7) The Beach Bum
I get it, director Harmony Korine is an acquired taste, and of all the films on this year’s list, The Beach Bum might be considered by many the most peculiar entry, but it’s hard to deny the feelings of absolute joy that come from watching a man (Matthew McConaughey) drift through life with nothing but pure pleasure painted across his face.
The Beach Bum is not a film for which plot matters in any tangible way. The success of the film is found in the weirdness and the heart of an aimless lover of life whose only mission is to never, ever play it straight.
6) Uncut Gems
The film that ultimately bumped Motherless Brooklyn off the list, the Safdie Brothers’ Uncut Gems is an unlikely masterpiece that’s driven to completion by the surprisingly deft acting of one Adam Sandler. What Sandler pulls off in the role of diamond merchant Howard Ratner is nothing short of mesmerizing as he goes to practically any depth to feed his insidious gambling addiction.
The best way to describe Sandler’s performance as a perfect mixture of Jason Voorhees and any ill-fated camp counselor. Ratner is clearly a degenerate gambler who revels in his sickness, and as such, the film is best regarded as a horror film, one that made me, a connoisseur of the genre, squeamish with each decision and willful descent into another ring of hell until the film’s expected and, honestly, gratifying conclusion. Uncut Gems is a film that will revolt and exhilarate viewers, and after reflection, likely have you coming back for another viewing you might otherwise swear off. That’s powerful filmmaking.
5) The Lighthouse
Robert Eggers delivers a grizzled, salt-sprayed sea shanty that is dark, depraved and also funny with The Lighthouse. Buoyed by the performances of Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe as a pair of lighthouse keepers who succumb to isolation and ensuing madness amidst a cacophony of waves, farts and visions of sea creatures.
By choosing to shoot the film on black and white 35mm film and in a narrow aspect ratio. Eggers creates a vintage horror that delivers claustrophobic dread and dark excitement. The Lighthouse succeeds as a sinister fairy tale that might jar just about anyone when shown in a darkened room.
4) Ford v Ferrari
James Mangold’s Ford v Ferrari takes some of the high-octane themes first depicted in Steve McQueen’s Le Mans and manages to successfully expand the heart and drama into a film that manages to entertain even non-gearheads.
Matt Damon stars as designer and former racer Carroll Shelby, tasked by executives at Ford Motor Company to build a race car that could beat Ferrari. To do that, he enlists fellow driver and friend Ken Miles (Christian Bale) to create the ultimate machine. Miles’ pride and temper often get in the way, but the pair combine to create something special, which is perfectly conveyed on screen in a crowd-pleasing film that could easily be considered an instant classic.
3) A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
After the runaway success of 2018’s biographical documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor, it felt as if the life and times of public television children’s show host and modern saint Fred Rogers had been completely covered, but this Marianne Heller-directed film had something else in mind entirely.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is not a straight-up biography of Mr. Rogers, but rather an expanded adaptation of a 1998 Esquire profile piece written by Tom Junod. By focusing on Junod (known in the film as Lloyd Vogel, played by Matthew Rhys), Neighborhood instead treats audiences to the affect Mr. Rogers has on those he meets. Tom Hanks uses his everyman charm to wonderful effect here, creating an endearing portrait of a man whose entire raison d’être is kindness.
2) The Irishman
It may be the acme of hubris to proclaim Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman as his magnum opus, but considering the film’s three-plus-hour run time, it may be pretty close. Based on the autobiography, I Heard You Paint Houses, The Irishman is a sweeping and elegiac view of how organized crime can leave one hollowed out in the end.
Whether it’s a return to form performance from Robert De Niro as Teamster Boss/hitman Frank Sheeran, the retirement-breaking turn from Joe Pesci in one of his most understated and razor sharp performances or Al Pacino–who wraps up what could be his best decade as an actor–as ill-fated Teamster President Jimmy Hoffa, the film simply delivers in a way that closes the loop on his greater mafia epics Goodfellas and Casino.
1) Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Not only the hands-down best film of 2019, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, director Quentin Tarantino’s revisionist history love letter to both Hollywood and Sharon Tate is by far his most mature work. Instead of stylish gangsters and loquacious thugs, Tarantino’s subjects are simply working actors. Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt put in stellar performances as an actor past his prime and his loyal Stuntman Friday, both facing transitions, and yet struggling to stay true to what it is they love.
While Tarantino received criticism for the lack of lines co-star Margot Robbie had as Sharon Tate, she permeates the entire film with an almost ethereal presence as viewers await her fateful night as a victim of the Manson Family, only to be thrown a curve that might be Tarantino’s most memorable. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood may not end up as Tarantino’s best film, but as his career begins to wind down to its pre-planned conclusion, it quite possibly could be his most thoughtful.
Hashim R. Hathaway (Shimbo) is the host of the Never Daunted Radio Network, and proud father to NeverDaunted.Net. You can reach him on Twitter @NeverDauntedNow