Nico’s Favorite Movies of 2019
What started out as a somewhat lackluster year, has now turned out to be one of the best years in film since 2007. More movies of this year have cracked my Top 100 Movies of All Time list (which you should be able to see soon), than any other year of the past decade.
Unfortunately, I haven’t seen EVERY movie this year. I also haven’t seen a few movies that could potentially make the list (A Hidden Life, 1917, The Farewell, etc.). I will try my best to update this list if any other movies from the year end up needing a mention.
As my previous “favorites” lists have gone, I will not rank the movies in any particular order, but will have a Movie of the Year, ten of my favorite movies of the year, as well as honorable mentions.
Movie of the Year
Parasite | Directed by Bong Joon-ho
The best way to see any movie is to go in without any expectations, or knowing as little about the films as possible. Having watched some of Bong Joon-ho’s earlier films, I had preconceived notions of what Parasite would be like. His films tend to skew on the darker side, with hints of humor, horror, and mystery. Parasite has all of those elements, but the order they come in completely caught me off guard. The film itself is a wonderful surprise jam-packed with plenty of shocking surprises, big and small.
This family drama is a beautiful commentary on the division of classes in South Korea, a common theme in Bong’s films. While the film is quintessentially Korean, its story is universal and Bong’s most accessible to date. It should challenge your views on both those who have, and those who don’t, and our relationship with both.
It’s as beautifully shot as any other film this year, paced perfectly, and has some of the best performances of the year. It is Bong’s masterpiece, and hopefully, the catalyst for eastern cinema to gain more popularity in the west.
My Other Favorites
The Lighthouse | Directed by Robert Eggers
I may have given Parasite my award for Movie of the Year, but The Lighthouse is every bit deserving of the award as well. It’s an incredible achievement by director Robert Eggers, who continues to prove that he is one of the most exciting filmmakers today. With this being only his second feature length film, Eggers flexes his creativity to show he’s more than a great horror director. My first thought walking out of the film, other than the pure joy I felt from that movie simply existing, is that Eggers might be the next David Lynch. I don’t want to reduce him to that comparison, he’s doing things that are entirely his own, but his uncompromising approach to film making and surrealism is so well executed, that it feels like we’re seeing the beginning of a true master of cinema.
While being completely different from Eggers first film, The Witch, it very much feels like the opposite side of the same coin. While The Witch is ultimately a very feminine movie, The Lighthouse is (almost upsettingly) masculine. There’s a crassness to the setting and characters, that truly grasps the worst parts of men. This isn’t to say there aren’t more subtle or tender moments, but the constant looming dread of terrible behavior never allows the viewer to feel settled or trust the characters.
Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe deliver two of the best performances of the year. This could be seen as a negative, but the film often feels like a platform created only for powerful monologues. With lesser actors, that wouldn’t work, but with Pattinson and Dafoe, it’s never not compelling.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Let’s be honest, most love letters are terrible. Sure, you have those sweet letters written between couples separated by war, but more often, you have some obsessed prepubescent boy sending a letter to some girl he barely even knows. The problem with the latter, is that the writer isn’t in love with the person, but rather their idea of that person.
Tarantino is still that obsessed little boy, but Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is such an intimate love letter from someone who truly seems to know and understand the recipient. It’s a fantastic alternate history film that celebrates the immortality of the medium.
It’s great moment after great moment, with Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt being full-fledged movie stars. It’s a film that really has no lulls, but even its “slowest” moments feel like a loving homage to Hollywood, and gives you a true sense of space.
Marriage Story | Directed by Noah Baumbach
Being a fan of Woody Allen’s movies in 2019 has been quite complicated. Saying that Annie Hall and Manhattan are two of my favorite movies of all time often ends up bringing up a bigger discussion about Allen’s personal shortcomings rather than his artistic accomplishments. Thankfully, Marriage Story does a lot of what I love about some of Woody Allen’s best films, and gives us a platform to talk about some complex themes.
Marriage Story is, at its heart, a love story. Though it deals with the challenging subject of divorce, Noah Baumbach does an excellent job of not reducing the conflict to being about falling out of love. In fact, the movie does everything it can to show you why our characters truly love each other. It places you in the tough position of wanting the relationship to work out, but also allowing you to see why it won’t. That becomes all the more difficult when you take the amazingly sympathetic performances that Adam Driver and Scarlett Johanson deliver. What ultimately happens to our characters is really left up to the audience, which just further complicates our perception of the couple.
It’s a film that taught me something, and as a child of divorce, I feel like I can now see my past in a whole new perspective. Marriage Story might not have been my favorite, or what I deemed to be the “best” movie of the year, but it has a really great chance of being the most important film to me of the year.
The Irishman | Directed by Martin Scorsese
Not to be THAT guy, but I’m totally about to be THAT guy. The Irishman made its wide release on Netflix, but rather than watching it from the comfort of my own home, I drove two and a half hours away to watch it in a movie theater that same day. I’m so glad that I did.
The biggest discussion around Scorsese’s latest film, isn’t the uncanny de-aging of its stars, but its length. Some may think it’s too long, but the length of that film ultimately contributes to this unique sense of dread that not many films have captured before. The film has such a fascinating and almost obsessive view of mortality. We have characters constantly dealing with the question, “was it all worth it?” As my friend Pastor Jason Jordan stated “The Irishman is the book of Ecclesiastes.” He’s right. Ecclesiastes and The Irishman both deal with the “vanity of vanities” and the fleeting life that we either try to hold on to or completely take for granted.
Little Women | Directed by Greta Gerwig
Before I talk about Little Women, I have to make one thing very clear; I have never seen any previous adaptation of Little Women, nor have I ever read Little Women. While I’m sure the 2019 adaptation takes some liberties to tell its own story, I can absolutely see why these characters and this story would resonate and be so important to women. Greta Gerwig has done an incredible job of creating a world that I never really wanted to leave. Very quickly I was drawn into the lives of these characters, their families, their hopes and dreams, and their problems.
The cast is superb and they have incredible chemistry. Regrettably, this is actually the first film with Timothée Chalet that I have ever seen, and simply put; I get it now. To have him and Florence Pugh on screen together in 2019 is one of my favorite things I’ve seen all year. I hope this isn’t the last time we see them work together.
As the coziest and most charming film of the year, Little Women allowed me to experience almost every emotion I have in a very sincere and genuine way. The structure and jumping back and forth through the timeline may bother some, but I thought it works as a clever puzzle where the pieces fit perfectly together. Some scenes would have been powerful on their own, but juxtaposed with another moment in time, makes them even more effective.
Midsommar | Directed by Ari Aster
Much like the previously mentioned Robert Eggers, Ari Aster is another director that demands your attention. With an incredible debut in Hereditary, Midsommar is an equally twisted film that feels completely different. There’s a shock value that could have easily cheapened the experience and the story, but it works so well to invoke the trauma experienced during bad break ups.
“Joy” isn’t a word that many would associate with Midsommar, but I found it to be so bold and shocking that rather than recoiling into my seat, my eyes were glued to the screen, and I couldn’t turn away. A major contributing factor to that is its beautiful aesthetic. The film takes place primarily in the day time, invading what has typically been a respite for horror fans. Then again, to call it a horror, would probably be a bit of a misclassification. It’s a movie that I have a hard time recommending to many people, but if you’re in the mood for something truly twisted, Midsommar is a must watch.
Uncut Gems | Directed by Josh and Benny Safdie
The Safdie Brothers previous feature film, Good Time, is one of the most kinetic films I’ve ever seen. So hearing that Uncut Gems was an anxiety inducing ride, I had pretty high expectations going in. I’m not sure if it moves as quickly as Good Time, but the hectic moments are as tension-filled as any movie I have seen this year. All of this culminating to one of the wildest and most exciting endings this decade.
Adam Sandler delivers one of his best performances ever. The film taking place around Passover allows Sandler’s performance to work as our stand-in for the pharaoh pridefully doubling down after each plague. Sandler is supported by some excellent first-time actors and unknowns. Former NBA-All Star Kevin Garnett plays himself in maybe the most important role of the film, and does a spectacular job.
The films works so well as its own thing, but I may be even more excited for the potential of everyone involved with this movie, from the Safdie Brothers, to Kevin Garnett, and Julia Fox.
Jojo Rabbit | Directed by Taika Waititi
On paper, Jojo Rabbit could have been an absolute disaster. A satirical film based around a Nazi youth whose best friend is an imaginary version of Adolf Hitler probably should not have worked in 2019, but it did. Not only did it work, it works on every level.
It’s a film that isn’t afraid to push jokes past the point of comfort, it’s surprisingly sweet and sincere, and one of the more wholesome films of the year. In a world that is so polarized politically, Jojo Rabbit is an absolutely refreshing piece of social commentary. While Joker provides a cynical outlook on class, social, and culture warfare, Jojo Rabbit does an excellent job of focusing on what brings us together instead of what separates us.
Director/Actor Taika Waititi not only gives us a hilarious portrayal of Hitler, he also pulls great performances out of the child actors. Scarlett Johansson grounds the film wonderfully, and Sam Rockwell almost steals the show, but never takes anything away from the experience as a whole.
Dolemite is my Name | Directed by Craig Brewer
Eddie Murphy isn’t just back, he might be better than he’s ever been. If Dolemite is my Name came out in any lesser year, Murphy would have been a shoe-in for a Best Actor nomination from the Academy. Like Adam Sandler, Murphy has the ability to be extremely likable even when the character isn’t extremely likable.
Dolemite is my Name is a great look at blaxploitation films, and is truly inspiring. Similar to The Disaster Artist, it’s further evidence that audiences love to root for passionate people, even if they’re not completely capable. It’s a raunchy feel good story that hopefully finds itself into more homes through Netflix.
Honorable Mentions
While these movies didn’t quite crack my Top 10, they absolutely deserved to be mentioned. Who knows, depending on the day, some of these would probably top my list. For now though, these are the movie that I really enjoyed, but either for objective reasons or just personal preference, they fall lower on the totem pole for me.
If you’d like to read my thoughts on some of these films, you can see them at my Letterboxd account.
Ford V Ferrari
Apollo 11
Knives Out
Ready or Not
Joker
Under the Silver Lake