2019 EOTY Entertainment Lists

Film Comment
Best Films of 2019


AV Club Worst Films
The 20 worst films of 2019

AV Club TV
The 25 best TV shows of 2019

Slant TV
The 25 Best TV Shows of 2019

 

Synonyms is out on KG. And apparently has been since August lol I never check

 

It's really good.

Film Comment's best undistributed is always a great list too, one of my favorite local filmmakers is at number 4

Best Undistributed Films of 2019

 

How did you manage to see La Flor?

 

It screened here twice, once at the festival and another one off screening in April (which is when I saw it). I think it made its way to KG over the summer though.

 

I’ve given up hope of seeing Portrait this year. Oh well. It’ll definitely be on my list next year (I would imagine).

 

I wanna see Synonyms so bad, damn you KG folk

 

Well, there you go

 

Dope!

 

Slant:
The 25 Best Films of 2019
The 10 Best Horror Films of 2019
Slant’s Best Films of 2019: The Runners-Up and Individual Ballots

 

I hate ranking TV shows because there's always so much spillover from the year before and into the year after but for me there's no contest for #1, Watchmen was the best thing on TV in 2019.

 

yeah I always find it hard to do with shows that span seasons over separate years.

Glad to hear Watchmen was great! I stopped after episode 2 because it was so good I didn't want to wait every week. Will finally watch it some time this week.

 

Losing my mind at Sofia Coppola loving Bombshell

 

Reverse Shot just tweeted theirs out:

1. The Irishman (Martin Scorsese)
2. The Souvenir (Joanna Hogg)
3. Parasite (Bong Joon-ho)
4. Atlantics (Mati Diop)
5. Uncut Gems (Josh & Benny Safdie)
6. Transit (Christian Petzold)
7. A Hidden Life (Terrence Malick)
8. High Life (Claire Denis)
9. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Celine Sciamma)
10. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino)

 

This is the first time I've seen all the Reverse Shot films in advance. It feels a little less adventurous than previous years.

 

I think my favorites list is probably something like this

Parasite
Knives Out
Uncut Gems
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Little Women
The Lighthouse
The Irishman
John Wick 3
Marriage Story

Not necessarily in order, though those top three are definitely my favorites. There's still a bunch I need to get around to seeing. Honorable mention to Us.

Also, shoutout to Serenity for being one of the most WTF movies I've ever seen. Terrible, terrible movie, but I could not look away.

 

Movies:
1. The Lighthouse
2. Midsommar
3. Knives Out
4. Ad Astra
5. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
6. Avengers: Endgame
7. The Last Black Man in San Francisco
8. Jojo Rabbit
9. Marriage Story
10. John Wick 3: Parabellum

I have not had a chance to see 1917, A Hidden Life, or Little Women, which are the movies off the top that I could see making my top 10. Also, it didn't make my top 10, but I Lost My Body was the best animated movie I saw this year.

TV:
1. Dark [S2]
2. Watchmen
3. Mr. Robot [S4]
4. Chernobyl
5. Undone
6. Rick and Morty [S4-]
7. Fleabag [S2]
8. What We Do In The Shadows [S1]
9. Atypical [S3]
10. The OA [S2]

Other shows I greatly enjoyed: The Expanse [S4], The Mandalorian [S1], Unbelievable, Stranger Things [S3], Game of Thrones [S8], True Detective [S3], Barry [S2], The Boys [S1], Dead To Me [S1].

I watched a ton of TV this year and slacked on movies.

 

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
Ford v Ferrari
Avengers: Endgame
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Doctor Sleep
Knives Out
Ad Astra
Motherless Brooklyn
Us

Not seen some notable films either because they have yet to be released here in the UK or I never got the chance to watch them on release but this year has been great, several films not just defying my expectations but also becoming long term favourites. 35 films seen at the cinema (plus five re-releases) and 55 total from last year during last year but hopefully will catch up on those I have missed over the course of this year so that top ten might change.

 

I'm really surprised at the overlap between arthouse critics and more general critics in their lists. Part of it is because Tarantino and Scorcese have always been part of the rare group to appeal to both camps, but when you see a place like IGN calling Parasite the film of the year and Portrait of a Lady on Fire making more than the usual Slant/Film Comment/Reverse Shot lists, you know it is a unique year. Regular people are even watching a Noah Baumbach movie because it is on Netflix and the leads happened to be major characters in the biggest blockbusters of the year. The Lighthouse and Midsommar are also finding audiences. You can actually see a James Gray or Safdie brothers movie in a suburban movie theater. Little Women, which would have been awful from an Oscar bait director, is just the icing on top.

Maybe all is not lost. Maybe people are so tired of CGI and spandex that they are seeking other avenues for entertainment.

 

Many of my kids came back from break talking about Uncut Gems.


They did not like it

 

30. Queen & Slim
29. Ad Astra
28. Ford v. Ferrari
27. Blinded by the Light
26. Apollo 11
25. John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum
24. American Woman
23. The Dead Don't Die
22. High Life
21. Us
20. Dolemite is My Name
19. Knives Out
18. Waves
17. Everbody's Everything
16. High Flying Bird
15. The Beach Bum
14. Uncut Gems
13. Transit
12. The Last Black Man in San Francisco
11. The Souvenir
10. The Farewell
9. The Lighthouse
8. Atlantics
7. Midsommar
6. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
5. Marriage Story
4. A Hidden Life
3. The Irishman
2. Little Women
1. Parasite

Plenty I missed/hasn't been available to me yet.

 

A friend asked me about Parasite yesterday saying he heard it was good. I told him it was a 2+ hour South Korean dark comedy/thriller, and he seemed less interested. Still, it seems like a lot of the discussion and online discourse about these non-blockbuster movies has reached more general audiences.

I haven't compared to previous years, but there were a lot of blockbuster flops this year. Then again, maybe that's not the scales balancing out between blockbusters and non-blockbusters. Maybe it's just the scales tipping even more towards Disney, specifically.

 

I was thinking about that overlap a bit today. It’s been very interesting to see some mainstream/popular publication have the same film of the year as people I’ve long seen as avant guardists. It is amazing to see international filmmakers and strong North American directors enter popular online “discourse” in a way I can’t recall ever really seeing. Netflix has definitely played a role in it, the rise of a certain A24-spawned fandom and it’s online presence over the last couple years has surely been a part as well.

It’s made me feel optimistic but I remain somewhat wary. Most of these films are still accessible in a certain way (Parasite is, by my perspective, a popular film first and foremost, especially compared to other works that premiered alongside it at Cannes) and the approach people have taken still treads in that Oscar-centric conversation that I feel is often limiting. But I’m curious!

 

Part of me wonders if streaming has actually helped some of these films see success at the box office. I'd never seen a Sadfie Brother's movie before I caught Good Time on prime. After that, I told myself I'd have to catch whatever they did next in theaters. Though Uncut Gems being able to promote a cast of well-knowns like Sandler, KG & The Weeknd probably helped convince some people to see it as well.

 

2019 was arguably one of the best film years of the decade. Old masters came back with work that rivaled their greatest accomplishments, independent filmmakers began to get mainstream recognition, and new talent started to shine. It is a situation worth celebrating.

However, before the top ten is revealed, a bottom five is in order. One cannot appreciate the highs without suffering through the lows; one cannot eat in a fancy restaurant every night or win in every contest. This list is incomplete for multiple reasons; firstly, there was no need to sit through THE LION KING or STAR WARS 12 because there are things that are best moved on from at a certain point. If the list came out in a month, more likely there would be such films as BOMBSHELL, 1917, and CATS. All these lists are incomplete by definition, so here are the five most painful experiences



5. JOKER
DIRECTED BY: TODD PHILLIPS

Nerds have been trying to make their superhero films into something greater, partly to gain more cultural acceptance but also to validate their decision to live within the worlds of films made for children. The Christopher Nolan BATMAN films flirted with weightier political issues, but if you thought about their implications for more than a minute it fell apart pretty quickly. We had to have an R-rated X-MEN movie for some reason (remember that this is a character who wears yellow spandex and is made out of metal that makes him never die), and we are told that stuff like CAPTAIN AMERICA 2 is really a political thriller and not just a superhero movie. Why, in the same year that Scorsese proved he was still the reigning master of crime stories, did we have to watch a film that stole so liberally from TAXI DRIVER and THE KING OF COMEDY? The excuse that shading it with a comic book character is the only way to get funding falls apart pretty quickly when you look at so much good material came out this year and found an audience.



4. KNIVES OUT
DIRECTED BY: RIAN JOHNSON

Cinema is full of false prophets. The 2000's had many, from Jason Reitman to Lee Daniels. Usually these people are figured out sooner or later, as it becomes clearer and clearer that the aspects of their films that were excused as minor keep reoccurring. Johnson put audiences through tedious films like BRICK, THE BROTHERS BLOOM, and LOOPER, but then he began to be taken more seriously when he directed some of the better episodes of BREAKING BAD (made easier that he was able to join the show after it got over its bad first two seasons) and making the one STAR WARS film in the Disney batch to at least try and do something against the grain. Now he has the clout to indulge with large casts and creative freedom, and he makes the kind of whodunit that lacks the charm of something like CLUE. Everything feels so calculated and referential; it is enough to have flashbacks to the popularity of the odious HAMILTON.



3. WHERE'D YOU GO, BERNADETTE?
DIRECTED BY: RICHARD LINKLATER

Linklater had such a good run from 2011's BERNIE to 2016's EVERYBODY WANTS SOME!! that many may have forgotten that he is arguably the most inconsistent director working today. We are so used to people like Paul Thomas Anderson making major work on a consistent basis and people like Joe Wright making pointless garbage that it is fascinating to watch Linklater oscillate between some of the most touching and poignant works and really plain for-hire films. If someone had only seen his last two films and you insisted he is a genius, that person would stop talking to you.



2. THE TWO POPES
DIRECTED BY: FERNANDO MEIRELLES

How did Pope Francis become such a beloved figure, while the last Pope was compared to Emperor Palpatine? He remained with the church after it was revealed of the systemic abuse and coverup of children. He still opposes homosexuality, abortion, and allowing priests to marry. What he does have is a good public relations department, hiring Greg Burke in 2015 to carefully craft his image. The movie is essentially a commercial for the Catholic Church, arguing that this man is so modest and moral that it is okay to come back. Hopefully the donations they take from the poorest and most susceptible to manipulation covered all of the costs of this film.



1. JOJO RABBIT
DIRECTED BY: TAIKI WAITITI

The Holocaust was not a fun and quirky Wes Anderson movie. Everyone who made this should be brought up on charges.