My Top 5 Films of 2019

Just like it was a great year for music, 2019 was a fantastic year for film. Whether referencing supermassive blockbuster smash hits or strong independent showings, there was an abundance of quality movies over the past year. While I haven’t yet been able to view all of the movies I would have liked to from the past year (Parasite, Knives Out, etc.), today I will be listing and explaining my top 5 films of 2019. Let’s get into it.

Honorable mentions: Avengers: Endgame, Once Upon A Time In… Hollywood, Spider-Man: Far From Home

5. Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker: This was easily my most anticipated film of the year, and luckily for me, it lived up to my expectations. While this film is some receiving negative critical feedback, audiences across the world seem to find it a fitting and appropriate endings to one of the most beloved sagas of all time. Without spoiling anything, I was happy with how J.J. Abrams was able to pull story components from both the OG and prequel trilogies to put a bow on the final, feel-good episode. Fantastic performances and amazing visual effects landed this film at the #5 spot on my list.

4. Us: The follow up to one of my favorite films of all time, Jordan Peele’s Get Out, was just as captivating and artistically expressive as its predecessor but in different ways. This film functions as both an entertaining horror / slasher movie and a poignant social commentary about wealth inequality and oppression. I have seen this movie at least four times at this point, and every view is just as enjoyable as the last. Fingers crossed that Lupita Nyong’o isn’t snubbed during awards season after her incredible double performance here.

3. The Irishman: Martin Scorsese assembled the ideal mob movie cast for this outstanding film. It stars Robert de Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino… what more could you ask for? This is authentic cinema at its finest, which feels appropriate after Scorsese’s recent harsh criticisms about eye-candy films such as Marvel’s Avengers series, yet ironic as it was released on Netflix. This film gives a different perspective on mob life than the one offered from films like The Godfather or Goodfellas, and in doing so, differentiates itself as one of the more unique films released in recent years. I highly recommend this movie.

2. Marriage Story: What a heart-wrenching masterpiece. Noah Baumbach clearly had a vision of what this film’s purpose was from beginning to end, and its execution is masterful. Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson both give career performances as they depict a marriage falling apart, and a family trying to stay together. This movie is intensely intimate, heartfelt, honest, and captivating, all while remaining jovial enough to avoid becoming downright depressing. I think in most years this would likely take the #1 spot, but thanks to the next film on this list, Marriage Story will have to stay the runner-up for 2019.

1. Joker: All I can say is “wow”. Still. This film completely redefines what a comic book origin story can look like. The hype before this movie had me wondering what would differentiate Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of the infamous Batman villain from the late Heath Ledger’s masterclass performance, and I was pleasantly surprised by the direction Todd Philips took this movie. Joker is a complete reinvention of Arthur’s character, while simultaneously critiquing the way we view mental illness as a society in an incredibly poignant and tasteful manner. This film deserves all of the praise, recognition, and awards that it gets. This is a must-see and my favorite movie of 2019.

Assembling this list was quite a challenge, and I’m sure it would have been even more difficult if I have been able to see all the films on my watchlist from this year. I’m just grateful that there are so many creative individuals coming together to tell such incredible stories. Which films did you enjoy most this year and why?

02/13/2020 Revision: This has changed a lot since then. The current top five is 5) Marriage Story, 4) Joker, 3) Portrait of a Lady on Fire, 2) 1917, 1) Parasite.

Movie Review: Joker

Heath Ledger’s portrayal of Batman’s most infamous nemesis was widely heralded as a masterful performance after the 2008 release of The Dark Knight. Time has been kind to that film, and after Jared Leto’s failed attempt to recapture the magic that was Ledger’s haunting and larger-than-life Joker, fans were sure that there would never be another performance of this character that could compete with what Heath Ledger was able to do on-screen. While I’m not here to compare and contrast Joaquin Phoenix’s 2019 performance with Ledger’s in 2008, I’m confident saying this new take on Joker is unique enough to stand on its own as a masterful character piece in an incredible movie.

I truly didn’t expect director Todd Philips and company to take the direction they did with this film. Without spoiling too much, this is an entirely different take on Arthur Fleck as a character. Instead of cool and charismatic, Phoenix’s Joker is broken and hurt. Instead of the character’s iconic laugh being maniacal and strong in its intention, it was pained and weak in its impulsivity. Watching Arthur being beat down by life almost led me to feel sympathy for him, but in the end, I couldn’t help to root against what the cruel world had led him to become.

Joker works both as an incredibly well-delivered origin story and as a commentary on the darkest sides of ignored mental illness. I intensely disagree with the narrative that this film inherently promotes violence. This film instead encourages us to treat each other kindly despite our differences, and demonstrates the negative consequences that come from treating those who have less or are not as privileged in a rude way, in the most shocking fashion possible.

I can’t give enough praise to this film. Any awards that Joker can be nominated for, it should immediately be in the conversation to win. This movie thrives stylistically and thematically, and Phoenix gives a career-defining performance. This is a must-see, incredible movie with only minor problems that I would have to spoil to explain. Great stuff, albeit very, very unsettling.

SCORE: 9/10