2019 Top Ten List

Here is the 2019 list of my favorite films. Again, note a 2019 film for me is based on when it opened in the Dayton or Columbus area, and has to have played theatrically during 2019. Which means 1917 is not eligible until 2020, but my first film won a 2018 Oscar.

10. If Beale Street Could Talk. Director Barry Jenkins delivers his follow-up to the Best Picture winning Moonlight. Somehow this film did not get as much notice even though it is almost as good. Based on a novel by James Baldwin, this film personalizes the way prejudices of the world causes hurt to the African-American family unit. I am eager to see what female lead Kiki Layne does next.

9. The Mustang. The arthouse film that slipped through the cracks. Based on a real program at a few western US prisoners, the film shows one quiet prisoner, clearly haunted by his past, who bonds with a horse in the program. The film's strength is in its quiet beauty.

8. Marriage Story. I most appreciate how this film shows how demanding divorce can be, even though it does not take sides. It is acted to the hilt by Adam Driver, Scarlet Johansson, and Laura Dern.

7. Booksmart. The funniest movie of the year. I expect to see a lot of great work from the future from this cast. As well as director Olivia Wilde, who shows a lot of ability with her first feature film.

6. Waves. I think one reason this film got overlooked by audiences is that its power cannot be described well without using spoilers. Let me just say this look at how a tragedy transforms a suburban family hit me hard. I especially liked the performances of the two teenagers in this family, portrayed by Taylor Russell and Kelvin Harrison Jr.

5. Midsommar. The cinematography makes this film. This may be the brightest film I have ever seen, and the way the film mines horror out of brightness instead of darkness. I found the effect hypnotic.

4. Knives Out. Writer/Director Rian Johnson brings us the joys of an old fashioned whodunnit with some subtle social commentary to stir it up a little more.

3. Amazing Grace. My vote for the greatest singer of the 20th Century is Aretha Franklin. This film documents her at the height of her abilities, recording a gospel album in 1972.

2. Little Women. When I saw this the first time, I noted how much better Amy is portrayed than in precious versions. The second time I noted how much better Beth is portrayed than in previous versions.

1. Parasite. The Oscars got it right this year. With plot twists I never saw coming, some interesting social commentary, and a cast who plays this to the hilt, this was the most purely entertaining film of the year.

2019 Top Ten List (runners-up)

And now to unveil my annual top 10 films of the year. Same format as previous years: I rank my choices for the top 10, and then an alphabetical list of the ten runners-up. Films are eligible for this list if they first played a theater in 2019 in Columbus, Springfield, or Dayton. This means "2019" films that did not get here until 2020 will be eligible for next year's list, such as 1917 or Just Cause. Meanwhile, two films eligible for 2018 Oscars are in my 2019 top 10.

A word about Netflix. If it played a theater, it is eligible for me. If it did not play a theater, it is not eligible. A theater in Columbus did play The Irishman, Dolemite Is My Name, Marriage Story, and The Two Popes, among others. (Klaus and I Lost My Body did not play until 2020.) American Factory did play Dayton in 2019, so it is eligible, but just missed my top 20.

Before listing my top 10, here are the runners-up, in alphabetical order:

Avengers Endgame. To wrap up all the storylines it did, and actually stick the landing, is a truly amazing feat. Who would have thought a superhero movie would be this perceptive about mourning?

Better Days. This was a hit in its native China, but is relatively unknown here. This is a much more honest look at the effects of high school bullying than I have ever seen in an English language film.

Dolemite Is My Name. The main failing in truly capturing the ragtag charm of Rudy Ray Moore's films is that Eddie Murphy really is too charismatic to play him. But that is my main criticism of one of the funniest films this year.

The Farewell. Sure it captures the difference between American and Chinses culture. But really this film is for everyone who has a grandmother.

A Hidden Life. It's a bit too long, but only Terence Malick could have made this film. His style captures the mindset of an Austrian who during World War II refused to swear loyalty to Hitler.

JoJo Rabbit. Another approach to Adolf Hitler is this comedy which shows the emptiness in the hatred that drove him through the eyes of an innocent boy.

Pain and Glory. Antonio Banderas delivers his best work ever while essentially playing the film's writer-director Pedro Almodovar.

Rocketman. Usually jukebox musicals are not this good. It helps that Elton John's music is better than most.

Toy Story 4. Who would have thought there was this much good material left in the Toy Story franchise?

Western Stars. Bruce Springsteen perform his new album live. It's that simple. But he's one of the best musical storytellers alive.

My Best Picture ballot

The Oscars have a preferential ballot, where members vote by ranking their choices for the categories. If I were a voter, this is how I would vote for Best Picture this year. Last year, I thought four out of eight nominees were undeserving. This year, six I completely endorse, two I understand, and only one do I think is flat out wrong.

1. Parasite. Who, or what, is the parasite? Is the rich family taking advantage of the poor, or is the poor family taking advantage of the rich? It's a comedy, a thriller, a horror film, and sometimes all three at the same time. I never knew where the film was going. Director Bong Joon Ho has delivered the film of the year, one that still has me mulling it over two months after I first saw it.

2. Little Women. The first time I saw it, I was impressed how much better Amy is defined than in other versions. The second time, I was impressed how much better Beth is defined than in other versions. Writer-director Greta Gerwig has taken a 150-year-old story and made it as vital as ever before, despite many other film versions.

3. Marriage Story. Writer-director Noah Baumbach has presented the story of a divorce in a way that both parties are right, and both are wrong. Instead of taking sides, I felt sorry about the process.

4. Jojo Rabbit. It sounds impossible. A child in Nazi Germany with Adolf Hitler as an imaginary friend sounds like it would be horrible. Writer-director Taika Waititi finds a way to make a film which is both funny and heart-wrenching, and a lesson that prejudice is not natural, it is learned.

5. 1917. The single take feel, which sounds like a gimmick, actually places the viewer into World War I unlike any other war film. This makes it a film that is experienced rather than watched.

6. Ford v. Ferrari. It is technically well made, very entertaining reminder of what Oscar movies used to look like. Now it is considered a rarity in Hollywood. The racing scenes are as involving as any movie sports sequences ever.

7. The Irishman. There are great sequences. There are great performances. I don't think the 3 1/2 hours run-time is justified. Seeing it in a theater, I felt the run-time. I think it takes too long to get going and too long to wrap up, and that places this below six films that I think are more deserving.

8. Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood. This is 2/3 of a great film, with the portion around Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, about aging movie guys trying to figure out where they stand in late '60s Hollywood. But the other third of the film, featuring the Manson family and Sharon Tate, uses those characters only as symbols for something or other and provide no insight into their existence. I still recommend the film, but it is more flawed than the films above.

9. Joker. It's a middling film with a middling director and containing a great lead performance by Joaquin Phoenix. All I got from this film is that its makers wanted is for everyone to feel miserable about life and everything it contains.

My Oscar ballot

If I had a ballot, this is how I would vote.

Best Picture: Parasite

Best Actor: Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory

Best Actress: Saoirse Ronan, Little Women

Best Supporting Actor: Joe Pesci, The Irishman

Best Supporting Actress: Florence Pugh, Little Women

Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 4

Best Cinematography: 1917

Best Costumes: Little Women

Best Director: Bong Joon Ho, Parasite

Best Documentary Feature: American Factory

Best Documentary Short: In The Absence

Best Editing: Ford v Ferrari

Best Make-up and Hairstyling: Bombshell

Best Original Score: Little Women

Best Original Song: "Into the Unknown" from Frozen II

Best Production Design: Parasite

Best Animated Short: Hair Love

Best Live Action Short: The Neighbor's Window

Best Sound Editing: Ford v Ferrari

Best Sound Mixing: Ford v Ferrari

Best Visual Effects: Avengers: Endgame

Best Adapted Screenplay: Little Women

Best Original Screenplay: Knives Out

Men In Black International (2019)

Seriously, did anyone making Men In Black International watch the original Men In Black? It contains Will Smith's finest comic performance. It also contains a fine comic performance by Vincent D'Onforio as the villain, and the been there, done that attitudes of Tommy Lee Jones and Rip Torn also add to the comedy.

Not with this installment. Whoever called the shots on this film -- word is, it isn't director F. Gary Gray -- decided this series is known for its action. The sort-of finished product has lots of non-descript action and very little of what passes for comedy. Tessa Thompson throws herself into her lead performance, but she has little support. The presence of Emma Thompson only reminds me that Men In Black 3 is a lot better than this.

For all the handwringing at the absence of Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith from this episode, it is director Barry Sonnenfeld, who directed the first three, who is truly missed. Suddenly Men In Black 2 doesn't seem so bad anymore.

Grade: D+

2018 Top Ten

10. You Were Never Really Here. The comparisons with Taxi Driver are obvious, Except Joe (Joaquin Phoenix) is good at violence. He tries to do the right thing but is haunted with what he has seen. The violence is staged by director Lynne Ramsey in a way which gives no pleasure to the viewer. Kinda like in Taxi Driver.

9. The Hate U Give. Not just for Amandla Stenberg's star quality performance, but how the film so deftly shows how some African Americans have to nullify their attitudes to be accepted in a white dominated society.

8. A Quiet Place. Nothing intellectual here, just an acknowledgement that the theatrical experience was truly memorable. The creatures in the movie respond to sound, and you could hear a pin drop in the theater as no one wanted to make a sound.

7. Phantom Thread. Director Paul Thomas Anderson is an acquired taste, but he intrigues me every time. I was enraptured by his portrayal of a rigidly ordered man (Daniel Day Lewis) whose order collapses under the weight of his marriage.

6. Hearts Beat Loud. Just pure joy. Nick Offerman plays a record store owner who enjoys playing music with his daughter. Kiersey Clemons as the daughter is the discovery here, and the music is genuinely fun as well.

5. Leave No Trace. Director Debra Granik is best known for directing Winter's Bone, which was nominated for four Oscars. I think this is better. The portrayal of a father and daughter who live off the grid had an emotional pull that Winter's Bone did not quite achieve, and performances by Ben Foster and Thomasin McKenzie which pulled me in to the film.

4. Free Solo. The story of the first climb of a 3300 foot rock face in Yosemite with no safety equipment. The film is brilliant in getting the viewer to get to know the climber, Alex Honnold, and the climb, so that in the end when he makes the climb was more intense than any fictional action scene in years.

3. Won't You Be My Neighbor. If you love Mr. Rogers, this documentary of his life and philosophy will remind you why. You will need tissues.

2. A Star Is Born. The great showbiz tragedy with more life than I imagined. Holds up next to the 1937 and 1954 versions, which is saying a lot. You will need tissues.

1. Roma. It feels like an Italian neorealist classic. But there is amazing invisible use of effects to recreate 1970 Mexico City. The other films on this list are incredible. This is the one stone cold masterpiece. I have loved director Alfonso Cuaron's films before -- both Gravity and A Little Princess topped my lists of those years. Cuaron is at the absolute top of his game here, and at a level few directors ever reach.

2018 Top Ten (runners up)

Time to unveil my annual list of the best movies. As usual, my list is made up of movies which opened theatrically in 2018 in Columbus or Dayton. While all of this year's Oscar nominated best pictures actually opened in 2018, If Beale Street Could Talk and Cold War did not and will be eligible next year. Meanwhile, a Best Picture nominee and an Oscar winner from 2017 will be mentioned. Before listing my top ten, here are ten runners-up that just missed.

Annihilation. A truly unnerving film that takes its science fiction seriously.

BlacKkKlansman. Spike Lee delivers his best film since 4 Little Girls.

Black Panther. Marvel's best film to date.

Deadpool 2. The skydiving sequence was the loudest I laughed all year.

Eighth Grade. There is a reason this won the writers guild award for original screenplay.

A Fantastic Woman. Last year's Oscar winner for foreign film is the best treatment of transgenderism I have ever seen.

Juliet, Naked. I am a sucker for Nick Hornby's writing, and his continued look at men who haven't  quite grown up.

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Mission Impossible -- Fallout. The last 45 minutes were the best sustained action of the year.

Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse. Endlessly original and witty, Oscar got animated feature correct.

Three Identical Strangers. The most unique story in a documentary this year.