Our favorite movies from 2019 – AL.com

It’s Oscar week, so that gives us one more chance to reflect on the 2019 film year. Here are our 10 favorite movies from another wonderful season on the silver screen, plus five films that deserve special consideration for their contribution to the overall film culture this year even if they didn’t crack our list.

1917

Director Sam Mendes and cinematographer Roger Deakins’ World War I epic’s impressive array of bells and whistles certainly go a long way in giving us a wholly unique sensory experience at the multiplex, but none of it would work if the story didn’t. Thankfully this “men on a mission” war flick clicks not just because it tricks us into thinking it flows in one continuous shot, but because it’s genuinely moving and makes you feel for the young men risking their lives as well as the people anxiously awaiting their return home once they’ve been to hell and back.

Avengers: Endgame

What more could you want after 22 trips in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Kevin Feige, the Russos and the immensely talented cast and crew delivered an unprecedented finale to an unprecedented build, a feat we’ll likely never see again on such a scale. Perhaps the most unbelievable part: Everyone seemed satisfied with the end result. Yes, even Twitter. Especially Twitter, for that matter. In 2019, that’s a miracle onto itself. Since 2008, Marvel promised something bigger and better for their long-suffering fans who stayed through every 10-minute closing credits sequence in hopes of a tiny nugget that would quench their thirst for just how they’d piece together the Infinity War puzzle. Through smart scripts, heartfelt performances and dazzling action, they stayed true to the story and task at hand in delivering something truly epic, and some popcorn with extra butter.

Ford v Ferrari

Director James Mangold did the impossible in 2019: He hired two A-list movie stars to deliver a delightful sports film that made a lot of money and cruised to a best picture nomination and overwhelming support from just about everyone who saw it. How in the world did this or any film manage not to polarize the nation on sight? We can get behind this beautifully filmed piece of racing history thanks to the likable leads, but more so because of the simplicity of its storytelling that reinforces the idea that we want to see our heroes in cars go real fast and cross the finish line first. A movie we could recommend to literally anyone. Take your parents, if you haven’t already.

Joker

While not the biggest fan of Todd Phillips’ “Joker,” I admire its ambition & consider it the “Movie of 2019,” similar to how Time names its Person of the Year. It encapsulated and divided the year more than anything else. Add the $1 billion gross and the fact that it is beloved by so many, “Joker” won 2019. Again, not among my favorites, nor do I consider it among the “best” films of 2019, but I have no problem with its best picture nomination for those reasons. I know several people who loved it and others who hated it, and many who hate it without even having seen it. Hopefully it continues to open the door for other genre films to earn similar recognition and influences studios to take more risks on modestly budgeted, character-based projects, though I fear they’ll learn the wrong lessons from its success.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

This trilogy never stood a chance, did it? Not even the most beloved and successful film franchise of all time could withstand the darkest side known as Twitter, a never-satisfied cesspool of pre-judgment that convicted the finale of movie crimes well before it finally hit theaters. We understand why “The Last Jedi” (a film we like) divided the masses, especially lifetime “Star Wars” fans keen on maintaining the galaxy’s status quo, something “The Force Awakens” did with aplomb. We welcomed J.J. Abrams’ return to guide the conclusion to as smooth a landing as it could possibly muster, and boy, did he do the best he possibly could thanks to thoughtful explanations to the series’ biggest mysteries, just the right kind of fan service that should have us pumping our fists instead of whining into our phones and terrific action sequences that saw Abrams simply doing what he does best in the thick of it. The fact that this was more poorly reviewed than “The Phantom Menace” and “Attack of the Clones” goes to show it was all built to fail. And that’s a shame. Because “Rise of Skywalker” rules.

10. The Irishman

Martin Scorsese has potential. The kid can make a movie. But he obviously needs help from acting upstarts Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Al Pacino, as well as editing prodigy Thelma Schoonmaker who helped weave together a 3.5-hour crime saga this bunch could have done in their sleep. We see big things for this crew. Look, we had every reason to think this could end up a bit sleepy and bloated, and perhaps that’s true in spurts, but the bulk of “The Irishman” reminded us all just who runs Hollywood. Netflix? OK sure, but Martin Scorsese seemingly stepped back into the wheelhouse of fast-paced and violent gangster stuff, only to bring us a more meditative look at mortality, sin and regret.

9. Richard Jewell

One of the best depictions of a Southerner in years, Clint Eastwood’s drama finally makes a star out of scene-stealing actor Paul Walter Hauser, who falls right in line with the few actors we trust to play Southerners in movies and TV, without once embarrassing the region with silly accents and stereotypes. If you’ve ever seen an interview with the real Richard Jewell, which you likely have if you watched the news since 1996, he’ll sound like any other Southerner you come across every day down here. Hauser crafted an actual human being on screen steeped in honesty, manners, faith and a penchant for doing the right thing. In the face of adversity, he puts others ahead of himself whether it’s saving lives in the aftermath of the bombing or hosting investigators rummaging through his home for evidence that might incriminate him. Those virtues aren’t necessarily Southern by definition, but we appreciate that familiarity on the big screen. He handles Jewell with immense care, as much as any better-known actor has in Eastwood’s recent work, including Bradley Cooper in his passion project “American Sniper.”

8. Parasite

Bong Joon-ho’s hilarious and equally bleak satire on social class might exhaust you with its feverish pace and handful of twists and turns, but it hits such a raw nerve that you can’t help but identify with its themes. A brilliant ensemble cast (especially Park So-dam and Chang Hyae-kin) navigate Bong’s wonderful and brutally honest vision that seamlessly blends drama, comedy and even horror and somehow managed to connect with American audiences in ways international films rarely do, perhaps all the way to an historic (and deserving) best picture Oscar. The dynamics of the rich and poor speak to everyone.

7. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Every Quentin Tarantino film feels like its own love letter to movies, but he went above and beyond with this 1969-set character study, his latest piece of revisionist history that sought to adjust our focus on the tragic murder of Sharon Tate by the Manson family. He did so through the unlikely eyes of Hollywood has-been Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his stuntman and best bro Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) whose respective journeys reflect a shift in American culture, as Los Angeles becomes no country for old men when hippies, peace and love roll into town. Tate (played beautifully by Margot Robbie) rolls with the change, with Tarantino paying thoughtful tribute to her legacy and reminding us all that hers deserves more than a horrifying tragedy. For nearly 2.5 hours, Tarantino delivers his most focused and nuanced filmmaking since “Jackie Brown” with a series of showcases for DiCaprio and Pitt until it nearly flies off the rails with a wacky and wholly out-of-place finale. Thankfully, he regains its composure, keeping its eye on the ball with a sad and beautiful moment of what could and should have been for Sharon Tate.

6. Knives Out

The universal and joyful acceptance of this whodunit must have felt especially good for writer/director Rian Johnson, who caught a heap of noisy and unnecessary ridicule after his efforts in a galaxy far, far away. He tuned it out with a brilliant and wholly original murder mystery that hits you with some unexpected political commentary guided by his terrific cast including Daniel Craig, Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Plummer, Don Johnson and a star-making turn from Ana de Armas as a nauseated nurse with a heart of gold. Johnson laughed his way to an Oscar nomination and a $155 million box office haul, proving audiences crave brand new stuff from world class filmmakers in a world of franchise overload.

5. Midsommar

Note: Do not piss off Ari Aster. Got it? Good. With 2018′s instant horror classic “Hereditary,” we already knew we had something special with this young writer/director in his debut, but we had no idea he’d follow it up with an even grander and more terrifying sophomore effort just a year later. A deeply grieving woman (a superb Florence Pugh) travels to Sweden to visit a rural hometown’s fabled mid-summer festival, as things get weird and violent (and weird) fast. All you really need to know is you will not come out the person as you go into Ari Aster movies moving forward, and that movies are just as if not even more frightening when set in the daytime. Look, we all deal with grief and break-ups differently. Some just do it with bear suits, psychedelic drugs and fire. The most fully realized cinematic vision and immersive experience of 2019, perhaps.

4. Uncut Gems

We’re still catching our breath after Josh and Benny Safdie’s latest whirlwind New York City adventure, this time through the eyes of jeweler and compulsive gambler Howard Ratner, played to perfection by Adam Sandler in what many consider a career-best performance. He makes bets that get him into big trouble with the wrong people, and he deserves all the horrible things coming his way, so why are we rooting for Howard? Someone find out how the Safdie brothers mix raw adrenaline into their film stock because few filmmakers create anxiety with as much ease as they do with each film they make (see “Good Time”). Watching their movies feels like you’re driving on the interstate at 100 miles per hour with an empty tank with no exit for gas in sight. We do not recommend “Uncut Gems” if you have high blood pressure.

3. Marriage Story

Divorce happens. We know the statistics. It gets ugly, too, especially when you least want it to in Noah Baumbach’s look on the inside of one you simultaneously root against and understand. Adam Driver and Scarlett Johannson play a couple on opposite ends on the relationship spectrum, as they desire to live on opposite coasts while struggling to keep their family intact through a series of uncomfortable misunderstandings that prove it’ll happen to those who never thought it would in their house. You root for the couple to patch things up and get frustrated by problems that seem less relatable as the film goes on. At the center of it is their child, the person they created and lose sight of caring for as the process rolls on. Their lawyers — played perfectly by Laura Dern, Alan Alda and Ray Liotta — bring them down to the prize fight nature of the struggle where low blows are allowed and encouraged. Divorce seems inevitable sometimes, but if you can help it, preserve the love you did have before it’s too late.

2. The Farewell

Lulu Wang’s poignant dramedy follows a Chinese family who discovers their grandmother has only a short while left to live and decide to keep her in the dark, scheduling a wedding to visit one last time before she dies. The premise and trailer alone were heartbreaking enough, but Wang and the perfectly assembled cast add so much humanity to the pathos that we manage to get through it all in one piece, much like our experiences when a loved one passes away. Comedian and rapper Awkwafina plays Billi, a Chinese-American woman who struggles with the news, especially confused by the family’s decision to withhold the prognosis from her Nai Nai (Shuzhen Zhao, in one of the best performances of the year). But her grandmother’s own strength and sheer positivity breath life and renewed confidence into Billi to not only replenish her professional ambition but renew her faith in life and family, everything that makes it all worth it.

1. Little Women

We’ll admit that where you are emotionally in your life could dramatically affect how you soak in Greta Gerwig’s gleeful adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved novel, but that’s technically true for any film. Raising a daughter (in my case) certainly colored my perspective, but nonetheless, this costume drama that feels anything but rigid will rock you either way. Gerwig’s ambitious structure and other narrative choices breath new and rich life into the material, making it a wholly present tale fit for a time when discussions on gender politics rage on and films like this can inform and entertain. Flanked by composer Alexandre Desplat’s lovely musical score and Yorick Le Saux’s idyllic cinematography — not to mention an A-plus ensemble with Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Timothée Chalamet, Tracy Letts and others — Gerwig’s treatment is both emotionally devastating and enriching, leaving wanting the world for the children you raise, and mainly that they have a say in what it is they want.

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