2019 Movie Best-of List: How'd We Do?

The years just get crazier and crazier, don't they? Our theaters were filled with horrors, maniacs, and badly needed heroes – as always, holding up a mirror to the world we live in.

Having a look back at last January's 2019 preview, I can't help but notice that only about half of the films I ended up putting on my "Best of" list below were on my radar last January as being hotly anticipated. Meaning there were plenty of surprises this year that I wasn't expecting. Overall, it felt like a bit of a middling year, without nearly as many earth-shattering watershed moments as I was hoping for.

There are still quite a few top contenders for 2019 that as of this writing, I have yet to see, including 1917 (which I have a very good feeling about), Parasite, Marriage Story, Jojo Rabbit, Dolemite Is My Name, Knives Out,  Little Women, Ford v Ferrari, Bombshell, Judy, The Two Popes, Rocketman, Hustlers, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, The Farewell, The Lighthouse, and Just Mercy. 

That's a pretty big list, and my choices below may very well morph a bit, once I'm a bit more caught up.

But sitting here on New Year's Eve, as we prepare to turn the old page, these (links to full reviews below) are my top six that are giving me the most lasting impressions:

Us – Jordan Peele continues to weaponize the horror genre to make deft commentary on race, society, and the current state of life in America. Unsettling as hell, and hard to shake. 

Avengers: Endgame – A phenomenal, rip-roaring finale to this initial chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Many threads both epic and intimate are finally woven together, in a crowd-pleasing and emotional farewell to some truly iconic heroes.

Midsommar – For pure mind-rattling dread, it's hard to beat director Ari Aster right now. Midsommar is the polar opposite of what many folks will expect atmospherically from a horror film – which only serves to make it all the more effective. Unforgettably disturbing.

Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood – Can we really be nearing the end of Quentin Tarantino's oeuvre? If so, he's in no danger of wearing out his welcome – not with films like this. Some of the best work you're ever likely to see from Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, in an unrepentant love letter to the late nineteen-sixties. Sorry, Charlie. 

Joker – Probably my favorite film of the year – and the one I was most skeptical regarding. Thanks to the phenomenal work of director Todd Phillips, and a sure to be legendary performance by Joaquin Phoenix, Joker is an entirely new way of upending a comic book villain's origin story – equal measures heartbreaking and terrifying. An unflinching look at the outcome of trauma. 

Uncut Gems – A genuine sneaker wave, with an unlikely lead, Adam Sandler redefines his image in an off-putting, panic-inducing ride of compulsion and consequences. The most stressful time you'll have at the movies this year, and hypnotically unforgettable.

UPDATE!

Dolemite Is My Name – Just watched this phenomenal Eddie Murphy bio about the career of seventies cult comedian turned blaxploitation star Rudy Ray Moore, and it's utterly glorious! Murphy has never been better and it's easily the best comedy of the year. Currently on Netflix. Watch it!!!


There you have it – not nearly as big as a list as last year, when I picked eleven.

Honorable mentions to Toy Story 4 and The Irishman, with fond appreciation for Downton Abbey, The Lion King, Captain Marvel, Frozen 2, and Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker, plus big portions of both Alita: Battle Angel, and Terminator: Dark Fate. These were all plenty of fun in their own way.

This means it will very shortly be time for my annual look ahead at the 2020 films I'm most excited for – and that promises to be one heck of a list, as we step into the first year of the Roaring Twenties. So stay tuned!!!

Downtown Abbey: Armchair Comfort

I did not get to the movie continuation of Downton Abbey when it opened in theaters here this last September. However, having recently debuted on home video, it's actually a film experience that's perfectly timed for viewing during the holiday season.

Downton ended its televised run nearly perfectly, serving delightful departing resolutions to all the members of the Crawley household - both upstairs, and downstairs.

So when news broke of a film expansion that would further franchise Downton, loud came the cries of, "Is this movie necessary?"

Well, perhaps not "necessary," but a return to the comforting environments and challenges of Downton is welcome indeed. It's a genuine pleasure to spend time with these characters again, and it's a delight to see that making a feature film in no way tarnishes the gleam of the series, or the characters as we left them.

Set in 1927, the film begins with the arrival of news that King George V and Queen Mary (Grandparents to Queen Elizabeth II) will be visiting Downton during a royal tour of the English countryside (inspired by a similar visit made by the royals in 1912 to Wentworth Woodhouse). This of course sends everyone into a dither, as both the Crawley family and their servants, become intent on making sure they're seen at their absolute best.

Simply put, if you're a fan of the series (as I am), I can't imagine you not absolutely loving this film.
Everything people are fond of - and take comfort from - is there. The beloved characters, the splendid period detail, the machinations of plot, the manners and emotions - it's all right where it should be, and Downton achieves exactly what it's meant to - feeling like a larger, lavish, but absolutely fitting bookend to the TV series. It's by no means squeezing too much juice from the lemon. Series creator and screenwriter Julian Fellowes knows his characters well, and the cast slips back into their roles with engaging grace. Series veteran Michael Engler directs with a sure and lively hand, though there's a bit of over-reliance on sweeping drone shots of the Downton estate - kidding, who isn't? Engler does a marvelous job of controlling the tone, and letting the actors find genuine immediacy in their circumstances.

As always, the cast is first-rate. Tom Branson (Allen Leach) gets the lion's share of the Crawley family plot, and does a great job, comfortably wielding movie star charisma. Mr. Carson (Jim Carter), Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nichol), and Daisy (Sophie McShera), along with poor old Mr. Molesley (Kevin Doyle), enjoy rolling up their sleeves and mixing it up with the royal household staff, who mean to enforce their territorial prerogatives over the Downton maids and valets.

No surprise, however, that it's Tom Barrow (Robert James-Collier) who carries much of the emotional weight, with an interesting look at the beginnings of suppressed gay relationships determined to dream of a life beyond covert meetings in the shadows.

It's a hoot to see series favorite the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) lock antlers with a royal relative played by Imelda Staunton, making for a Professor McGonagall/Dolores Umbridge Harry Potter reunion! Amusingly, Staunton is also married to Jim Carter, who plays Carson!

These days, the phrase "fan service" has become something of a four-letter word. But for fans who've loved and struggled along with these characters since the series' debut in 2010, that a film has lovingly been made with every effort to actually please fans shouldn't be something that's scowled at. It should be cause for celebration.

At one point, Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) finds herself wondering if she's simply had enough of Downton, and wonders if she should just up and sell the place, when she's reminded that "Downton Abbey is the heart of this community," and that perhaps they should battle on.

Perhaps the same could be said for future cinematic outings. If they can approach each chapter with this much care and fondness, occasional visitations would be welcome indeed. I'd love to see a Downton chapter set another 12 years in the future, as the country enter World War II. After all, what could be more British than that?

Definitely recommended for any fan of the show. 

Uncut Gems: High Anxiety

Talk about your long shots. Six months ago, if you'd told me one of my favorite movies of the year was going to be an Adam Sandler picture, I'd have probably scoffed - maybe even snorted. But then again, I'd never heard of the Safdie brothers.

Goes to show, you should never dismiss. Because I'm here to tell you, Uncut Gems is flat-out one of the best films of the year, and Adam Sandler's a shoe-in for an Oscar nomination (when I first saw the trailer, I thought it was John Turturro). I'm unfamiliar with the previous films directed by siblings Benny and Josh Safdie (Daddy Longlegs, Good Time), so I was completely unprepared for the level of craft and energy they bring to this story of a hustling New York City jeweler's relentless descent into high-stakes gambling and moral chaos.

It's fitting that Martin Scorsese is one of Uncut Gems' Executive Producers, as the film has so much of that same raw Mean Streets energy and street character. Sandler is Howard Ratner, a fast-talking diamond district proprietor who reflexively turns every interaction into a possibility to score, upping the ante of risk with each deal he makes. The film reminds me of the early-nineties films of Abel Ferrara (King of New York, Bad Lieutenant). In fact, while it's supposedly set in 2012 (characters have cell phones and iPads), the vibe, music, and look of the characters all scream late-eighties/early-nineties. The soundtrack by Daniel Lopatin is particularly retro synth-heavy, giving the movie a hectic, Vangelis-meets-Times Square flavor.

Uncut Gems is an unmedicated anxiety attack. It's the most stressful experience you're likely to ever have in a theater. Howard is easily one of the most annoying characters you're ever likely to meet, but he's the shark who believes that he'd die if he ever stopped moving forward, constantly propelling himself into the next ever-tightening situation.

The Safties - along with casting directors Francine Maisler and Jennifer Venditti - deserve a special award for casting. The faces in this film! There are so many amazing and eccentrically real-life faces peppered throughout, which gives the movie a completely convincing street level quality. People look odd and dress badly. It's one of the most New York of New York movies I've seen in ages. The cast includes basketball player Kevin Garnett (who plays himself), LaKeith Stanfield, Idina Menzel, Julia Fox, Judd Hirsch, newcomer Keith Williams Richards, and the hypnotic Eric Bogosian, whose time-worn face projects incredible intensity and angst. Everyone is utterly fantastic and convincing.

Cinematographer Darius Khondji (Se7en, The Lost City of Z) does truly heroic work here, shooting between the drab glare of jewelry store florescents and a myriad of chaotic night environments. The camera - along with Howard - is in nearly constant motion, phenomenally edited by Ronald Bronstein along with Bennie Safdie. No other movie would dare plunge its camera deep into the inner molecular structure of a rare opal, and emerge in the midst of a colonoscopy.

If the film has a soul mate, it's Todd Phillips' Joker. Both films are remarkably well made, featuring protagonists inexorably sinking into fateful quicksand. They also both playfully evoke music and environmental details of eighties and nineties New York to an immersive and compelling degree, creating environments of nearly smothering moral decay.

The filmmaking craft on display here is absolutely top-shelf, and I can't wait to see what the Safdies have in store for us next. To sustain this escalating tone of anxiety and suspense for the entire running time is an incredible achievement, and I'll never look at Adam Sandler the same way again. Uncut Gems is a phenomenal film - but hard to take. When the lights come up, you're probably going to need some epinephrine - and a shower. Very highly recommended.