Marriage Story — Home — What’s Cool?

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.