My 26 Favorite Movies of 2019
I watched a lot of movies this year. Some new, some old, and some I’ll revisit over and over again.
Myriad factors contributed to my movie-watching habits in 2019.
First, I traveled a lot for work, and I often sat on flights which stretched well into double-digit hours, which allowed me the space and time to dive into the vast world that is the Plane Movie. Sure, maybe CGI-filled spectacles (namely, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and Pokémon: Detective Pikachu), but nonetheless, it helped knockout a few movies I didn’t have the time to catch. (Unrelated: The time in the air also allowed for a late dive into the Phoebe Waller-Bridge hype. I’m excited to watch her write for the big screen with No Time To Die next year.)
Second, I really tried to spend time with myself and find comfort in solidarity. I’m aware of how self-aggrandizing that sounds, but just a couple years out of college, the Adult World chose to press itself most firm by spreading my closest friends across the country. Thusly, I made it a point to carve out time to myself and away from my phone. Few situations allow excusable distance from one’s phone the way two hours in a dark theater does. Movies also provided the satisfaction of completion. I’m not one to jump at the chance to watch six seasons and 78 episode of who knows what without a lot of pandering. With the exception of franchise-inclined films, going through the full beginning-to-end with a piece of work was small but important mental reward. To spend 135 minutes with Adam Sandler speed-walking and charming his way through New York City’s Diamond District or join a journey with Jessie Buckley playing a Scottish woman with Nashville Dreams is to enjoy the spoils of the medium. In short, endings are wonderful.
Las Vegas, though well-earning of its Entertainment Capital of the World title, is on the outside looking in when it comes to movies. Films released in “Limited Cities” often take a couple of weeks and sometimes a full month before spilling into Sin City’s movie theaters. That meant waiting until Marriage Story hit Netflix some time after a short run in actual cineplexes. I did my best to quench my growing thirst to watch the year’s catalog. Though I felt I spent plenty of time with 2019’s movies, I also tried to backtrack and make up for gaps in my movie memory. I didn’t make it to every new movie I wanted to see, though I’ll try to check off more from my to-watch list as the Oscars loom, but I found the indexing of my viewing habits fulfilling. Although I love my day-job, I’m eager to dive deeper into the world as well as what 2020 brings.
(I ranked the 2019 movies I watched in the last year. The rankings are only in order of what I enjoyed the most. I’m certainly in no position to critique 2019’s offerings. Below that, included older movies I finally got around to watching this year.)
Viewing Stats:
Theater: 19 (11 using AMC Stubs A-List)
On a plane: 14
Streaming service: 41
26. The Art of Self-Defense
A weird, twisted, funny movie. Jesse Eisenberg is at least always mostly good in every movie, and that convoluted assessment sticks in this small movie.
25. Pokémon: Detective Pikachu
I mean, I wasn’t going to not like a live-action Pokémon movie.
24. Triple Frontier
Bad, but like, also good? Triple Frontier never pretended to be anything but what it sold itself as, and I mean that in the most complementary way possible.
23. The Two Popes
Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce fill this movie circling around change and compromise with humor. Laughing during the movie felt a little strange given the context around the movie’s topic, but the performances themselves were what you’d expect from these two.
22. Wild Rose
I’m excited at the prospect of Jessie Buckley singing “Glasgow” at the Oscars.
21. The Laundromat
There’s a moment Meryl Streep confronts an office full of people in a dream sequence that made me howl.
20. Honey Boy
An interesting performance from Shia LeBeouf, who plays his own father with the intensity you’d assume.
19. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
I enjoyed it, but it definitely felt like it was cracking under the weight of concluding the Skywalker Saga while also taking the time to unnecessarily jab at The Last Jedi. Rian Johnson’s preceding installment is the real winner here. I’m buying all the John Boyega stock, as well.
18. 1917
Absolutely thrilling, especially the first half of the movie. The whole one-shot of the movie made me feel more anxious than anything about what I might be missing in lieu of the technical aspect, but it was exhilarating as a whole.
17. Joker
Joker felt like it thought it had a lot to say about the world as it is, but it kind of didn’t. That said, Joaquin Phoenix is incredible and contorted his way into what is surely another iconic performance as Bruce Wayne’s nemesis.
16. The Last Black Man in San Francisco
A distinctly beautiful and quiet movie that feels like a meditation on the city until it pops with booming emotion.
15. Ad Astra
Brad Pitt in space contemplating a relationship to his father made for a slow burn that maybe didn’t ever get bright, but surely felt needed.
14. High Flying Bird
Fast, fun and a sweet flipping of expectations from Stephen Soderberg.
13. Waves
Probably the most fun from a technical aspect of a movie I watched this year. Trey Edward Shults did whatever he wanted within the sandbox to tell the story, and it took good advantage of its medium.
12. Ford vs Ferrari
Movies! Sometimes, a loud story about Old America and Striving To Be The Best is just a fun time, and when Matt Damon and Christain Bale are involved, it’s hard to say no.
11. Spider-Man: Far From Home
Protect Tom Holland at all costs. I’d say the same about Zendaya, but she seems like she’ll be just fine. Also, a really fun, crazy-eyed performance from Jake Gyllenhaal.
10. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Tom Hanks and Mr. Rogers. It could not have possibly gone wrong.
9. The Farewell
I’m eager for Lulu Wang’s next film already after this beautiful and heartfelt debut. Also, excited to watch Awkwafina’s career unfold in various directions.
8. Avengers: Endgame
Endings are great, especially when they land. If Game of Thrones and Star Wars showed us anything, it’s that concluding a massively relevant and important piece of culture is difficult and often unsatisfying. Thank goodness for the MCU.
7. Her Smell
Alex Ross Perry did his best Mike D’Antoni and told his James Harden, Elisabeth Moss, she could isolate at the top of the key over the course of two hours, 15 minutes, and five acts telling the story of a rock star burning bright and burning out in a blink. Her performance as Becky Something was my favorite of the year.
6. Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood
Who doesn’t love a good hang? A sweet movie by Tarantino’s standards featuring a couple of guys (Leonardo Di Caprio, Brad Pitt) being dudes together and on their own.
5. Booksmart
Genuinely hadn’t laughed in a theater more over the course of an hour-and-a-half than I did watching Booksmart. The cast immediately charmed me, and I want all of them to have fun and successful careers — but mostly Beanie Feldstein, Billie Lourd and Kaitlyn Dever.
4. Parasite
I couldn’t not think about Bong Joon-ho’s hit for a solid three weeks after watching it. Images, ideas, sequences and over-the-head metaphors saturated the movie, and it was a masterful thing to watch.
3. Little Women
Not only did Greta Gerwig recall Saoirse Ronan and Timothée Chalamet to star in her follow-up to Lady Bird, she added Florence Pugh AND Laura Dern AND Meryl freaking Streep. Put that combination of creators into any sort of story, and I’m inclined to enjoy it. Gerwig put together a wonderfully balanced rendition of a classic story while threading her own humanity in it. Also, Chalamet is charming as all hell as Laurie.
2. Uncut Gems
The Safdie brothers are such bullies to their viewers, but in such an endearing way that is similar to the way they construct their main character manned by Adam Sandler. I felt the similar chaotic energy in Good Time, but with a whole lot more Kevin Garnett into the mix as well.
1. Marriage Story
Adam Driver, Scarlett Johanssen and Laura Dern give beautifully grounded, explosive and lived-in performances pulling the right heartstrings to sew up the tears it caused throughout its story. Quiet but loud, naturally heartbreaking but loving, Noah Baumbach delivered a devastating movie that I cannot help but enjoy rewatching.
*Apologies to The Irishman, Knives Out, Queen & Slim, Frozen 2, Toy Story 4, Richard Jewell, Bombshell, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, The Lighthouse, Midsommar, The Souvenir, Us, Pain and Glory, and Jojo Rabbit. I intend to watch most of you, but Real Life has gotten in the way so far*
New to Me (in no particular order):
The Favourite
Good Will Hunting
Minding the Gap
The Big Sick
The Martian
When Harry Met Sally
The Godfather
Frances Ha
Inglourious Basterds
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Steve Jobs
The Meyerowitz Stories
White Christmas
Rounders
Brooklyn
Theory of Everything
If Beale Street Could Talk
Mystic Pizza
Burnt
Lion
No Country For Old Men
Vice
Good Time
Chef
Hidden Figures
Edge of Seventeen
Zodiac
The Squid and the Whale
Kicking and Screaming
While We’re Young
Ocean’s 8
Christopher Robin
Candy Jar
Widows
Robin Hood (2018)
Bride Wars
Aquaman
Taxi Driver
Bumblebee
