Top 25 of 2019: 11-25

2019 turned out to be one of the best movie years since I started writing (mediocre) film critique many moons ago. In fact, I’d wager in that in seven years of Mad About Movies, this is probably the best set of films we’ve had the privilege of covering. I confess, I couldn’t have seen that coming when I watched blockbuster after blockbuster fall in the fake of Avengers Endgame and fail to reach anything resembling the magic I associate with big tentpole movies. Lo and behold, though, somewhere toward the end of July, 2019 found itself and the remainder of the year was outstanding. Making a top ten list is difficult even in bad years but a great year like this? Well, this is the kind of traumatic event they don’t warn you about in Part Time Movie Podcasting and Writing School. My co-hosts and I recorded our annual year-end wrap-up episode this weekend (releasing tomorrow) but as a precursor for the ten films I put on my final list, here are my picks for the rest of the best of 2019.

25. Doctor Sleep
In what was a sea of unnecessary and/or unwanted sequels this year, I couldn’t have guessed that Doctor Sleep, a sequel to The Shining, would be one of the few that broke through the malaise. Ewan McGregor is reliably excellent and the surrounding cast, including Rebecca Ferguson in a very slick-but-creepy role and newcomer Kyleigh Curran, add great depth to the events. It is the expansion on the world set out in The Shining, however, where the movie really excels.

24. Rocketman
The trailers for Rocketman made it look like the Across the Universe-Bohemian Rhapsody hybrid I very much did not want in light of the latter’s mindboggling success with both audiences and critics (not to mention Oscar voters) alike. While that recipe was, in fact, a good summation of the film, the stylized elements, headed by director Dexter Fletcher, worked far better here than it did in Across the Universe and Taron Egerton’s excellence put Rami Malek’s work as Freddie Mercury to shame. A couple of weak numbers here and there (particularly the opening 15 minutes) hampered the returns a bit for me but overall, this was a smashing success.

23. Us
The difficulty Jordan Peele faced in following up 2017’s Get Out cannot be overstated but Us is no sophomore slump. This had one of the most effectively terrifying trailers I can remember; so terrifying, in fact, that I refused to see the movie in a theater. When I caught up via streaming, however, I found the film to be less scary than anticipated but, in true Peele fashion, much more socially and culturally relevant. Even still, it’s Lupita Nyong’o’s unbelievably great work in a dual role that carries the movie to its highest heights.

22. Togo
I do not care for Willem Dafoe or dogs dying in movies (or in real life, to be clear) but apparently the combination of the two works for me. Togo tells a compelling story in a concise but sophisticated way, sets the record straight regarding a great injustice in Dog History, and, most importantly, puts a very good doggo on full display for all the world to see and compliment said doggo for what a good job he did. In related news, Balto is cancelled.

21. Abominable
Sasquatch/yeti/bigfoot content is very big in kid’s movies these days, but this is an Abominable household. Written and directed by Jill Culton (with a co-director credit for Todd Wilderman), this is a sweet, heartfelt movie with slightly different animation from the norm and great creature design on Everest (the yeti, duh). It’s a beautiful film and the scene in which our heroine rediscovers and plays the violin her father left behind is one of my favorites of the year.

20. Uncut Gems
I’m lower on this than my co-hosts and many of its bigger supporters but it’s still a very good and incredibly intense movie that explores several lesser-known worlds (the jewelry trade, sports betting) within a well-known one (Manhattan). Uncut doesn’t entirely land for me but Adam Sandler is genuinely terrific in what should have been an Oscar-nominated performance.

19. Spider-Man Far from Home
A smidge lesser than its predecessor (Homecoming) and perhaps suffering a bit from Post Endgame Syndrome, Far from Home is, nevertheless, a very good superhero movie featuring our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man doing fun things. I hope that non-Avengers Spider-Man films are allowed to be a little smaller in scale as Homecoming was a great respite from “End of the World Fatigue” but even on a larger scale, Tom Holland is great in both parts of his role and this movie serves as a strong stepping stone to the next phase of the MCU.

18. Honey Boy
Perhaps the second-toughest watch on my list (see the next entry), Honey Boy is nonetheless a well-crafted film that deserved a spot here despite the fact that I will likely never see it again. A semi-autobiographical film written by Shia LaBeouf about his life as a child actor starring himself as his drunk, abusive father, it’s hard to describe how difficult some segments of this film were to sit through. And yet, the combination of Alma Har’el’s direction and LaBeouf’s intense on-screen dynamic with newcomer Noah Jupe gives a sense of hope to the movie and you leave in a better place than you began, against all odds.

17. Marriage Story
Hoo boy. As difficult as Honey Boy is to get through, it pales in comparison to Marriage Story. Its opening scene is an absolute gut punch and Noah Baumbach’s writing and direction never lets up from there. The performances, highlighted by Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, are some of the best of the year and the delivery by both of them in the more difficult scenes adds to the weight of the film and the devastation that each scene leaves in its wake. It’s magnificent as a film and I will never, ever watch it again.

16. John Wick Chapter 3 - Parabellum
Perhaps strangely, given my love for and loyalty to the Fast and Furious series, I haven’t always been fully on board with the John Wick movies films. This one, though, hit the mark and re-cast the entire series in my mind. Parabellum adds intrigue to this universe by expanding upon the world in which it takes place (which is very stupid; that should not work in a movie about an assassin who goes on a rampage because someone kills his dog) without losing the ingredient that makes the movies work in the first place: Keanu Reeves doing extreme Keanu Reeves things. So, so stupid, and yet so, so fun.

15. Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker
I feel like I am in the vast minority in that I have liked/loved/enjoyed all of the Disney Star Wars movies and do not carry great angst toward any of them. Wait, no, stop, please stop hitting me with stones! I have qualms both big and small with Rise of Skywalker (which mostly relate to how it does and does not cooperate with Last Jedi) but for me, none of them overshadow the better elements of the movie. Daisy Ridley’s superstardom are on full display here and there are many, MANY scenes that stand out as triumphs. We used to live in a world in which the prequels were the last Star Wars movies and we did not know who Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, and John Boyega and now we do not live in that world and we are better for it. Also, on a personal note, any movie the rights the wrong inflicted upon Chewbacca by denying him a medal of bravery 42 years ago is a good one in my book.

14. The Peanut Butter Falcon
The second movie in this year’s Shiaissance to make my list, Peanut Butter Falcon is much more pleasant and easier to watch. Also, this might be controversial (controversial amongst the eight total people who saw both of these movies), but I think this was the better of his two very good performances on the year. I’m a sucker for the mentor-mentee/father figure/buddy-buddy trope but LaBeouf is exquisite as the mentor (of sorts) to Zack Gottsagen’s breakout performance as the mentee. I particularly love how gracefully the movie handles Gottsagen’s disability and uses him not as a plot device but as an actual character (shocking, I know). Peanut Butter Falcon is a misstep in the final five minutes from a top-ten film and one that I’ll watch many times over.

13. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
I love this series. While the first film came out before I had a child, this trilogy has become one of my kid’s favorites and I’m here for it pretty much anytime he wants to journey to the Island of Berk to hang out with Hiccup and Toothless. Hidden World was one of the more satisfying conclusions to a beloved series in recent memory and absolutely wrecked me in its final moments.

12. Just Mercy
I’m a bit biased here in that I’m well aware of the work that Bryan Stevenson (the man who Michael B. Jordan plays in the film) and his non-profit, the Equal Justice Initiative, take on each day but regardless, I found Just Mercy to be an outstanding film. Jordan is so perfect in this role and embodies all of the emotions that every viewer of this film ought to have. Jamie Foxx delivers one of his best performances as well in a sobering, subdued portrayal. Maybe the best thing about the movie, though, is writer-director Destin Daniel Cretton’s ability to illustrate the macro awfulness of our justice system in a micro setting. Just Mercy doesn’t let the audience off the hook easily and the camera lingers in spots where you might instead see a cut but Cretton makes his moves with subtlety and invites the audience to be outraged not just by an event that did happen but by something that is still happening, over and over, on a daily basis.

11. 1917
I feel a bit weird leaving this film outside my top ten as it is a masterpiece of filmmaking and one of the most memorable theater experiences I have ever had. It was just an incredible year for film, and I do wonder if in five years I will still appreciate this movie as a film and not just as an experience. Regardless, the quality of 1917 is unassailable and Roger Deakins’ cinematography will be used in film class for decades to come. George McKay and Dean-Charles Chapman do yeoman’s work in extremely important but thankless roles and it is their humanity, bad decisions and all, that keeps the movie grounded in reality even beyond the jaw-dropping camera work.