Five Favorites From 2019
Movies are often at their best when they feel contemporary despite taking place in different time periods, other countries, or when the main characters are super soldiers and billionaire philanthropists. 2019 for many of us was a year of anxiety and uneasiness, and while it doesn’t seem logical to find such joy in films that are full of anxiety and otherworldly stakes, they were the ones I responded to the most. This year finds its characters and filmmakers being confronted with the anxiety of class, gentrification, growing old, and 8 foot tall purple, genocidal maniacs. I want to take the time to talk about five films that were crafted by true masters at the heights of their craft and actors and actresses giving truly incredible performances.
5. Marriage Story
It’s time we acknowledge Adam Driver as a true genius actor and the best of his generation. Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story is centered around Charlie (Driver) and Nicole’s (Scarlett Johansson) messy divorce and custody battle. As in everything that Baumbach seems to make, Marriage Story is quite autobiographical, Baumbach drawing from his experience with his parents divorce as a child and his own divorce to Jennifer Jason Leigh in 2013. A MacArthur Fellow stage director who is obsessed with himself his work and a very gifted film and television actress who has her own aspirations outside of living in New York and working under her husband. The couple is the key to the film, but Adam Driver’s performance is what I’ve been thinking about constantly over the last three weeks. The nuance and care put into even the slightest laugh, hand gesture, or frown coupled with explosive shouts, slammed fist, and bitter wails is what makes this performance the best I saw all year. It also must be said that Johansson is the best she’s ever been, seemingly channeling her own experiences into her performance. Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Laura Dern and Ray Liotta absolutely killing it as two high profile divorce attorneys. Marriage Story rules, Adam Driver is already a legend at only 36, and Randy Newman is a brilliant composer.
4. Uncut Gems
SANDLER! I am still reeling from the Safdie Brothers’ masterpiece Uncut Gems. If 2019 was a year filled with anxiety, Gems only serves to ramp up that anxiety to round out the year in film. Adam Sandler plays Howard Ratner, a jeweler in New York’s diamond district with a pension for audacious bets and getting punched in the face. A period piece of sorts, Uncut Gems takes place in the spring of 2012, centering around a series in the Eastern conference semi-finals between the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers and Howard’s big time bet on Kevin Garnett’s last great playoff run. There’s also an African opal, a brother-in-law come to collect, and The Weeknd (pre-haircut!). The Safdie brothers have a knack for chaos and motion in their film making, if 2017’s Good Time is unbelievably frenetic, Gems takes it to 11. Partnering with legendary cinematographer Darius Khondji (Okja, Lost City of Z, Seven) helps to simultaneously unleash Sandler and the Safdies, but also bring them in. There is constant motion, but it almost always hones in on Sandler’s face, keeping you locked in to his experience and reaction. A highlight of the film is the phenomenal supporting cast, ranging from Broadway and animated movie darling, Idina Menzel, to guys from Paramus, New Jersey that the filmmakers brought on because they knew they needed to be here to make the movie. Julia Fox is phenomenal in this film, as a love interest and maybe the only person who loves Howard unconditionally. Also, good Lord, Kevin Garnett. Garnett gives the greatest performance by an NBA player that’s been put on film, and I want to see him play himself in every movie from here on out. Hell, drop KG into things that would never fit, Little Women, The Eternals, Sonic the Hedgehog, I don’t care, I want KG everywhere. Go see Uncut Gems and don’t resurface your swimming pool.
3. Midsommar
Ari Aster has an affinity for inserting genre tropes into places you would least expect. His first feature, Hereditary, was a classical horror movie with a family drama in its midst, Midsommar is far less of a horror film and much more of a breakup story and an anthropological study. Midsommar centers around a group of grad students, though we experience it mostly through Dani’s (Florence Pugh) lens, who travel to Sweden to study European midsummer traditions. Where most films would go right, heading towards a typical slasher movie complete with hot young college kids hooking up and getting murdered, Midsommar goes left. The horror elements of the film mostly take place in the first half hour and the final half hour with mostly cultural anthropology in between; for some this can cause the film to feel like an arduous task, and I can’t blame them. Midsommar is a truly difficult film to watch, but is carried by its amazing visuals and Florence Pugh’s unreal performance. Pawel Pogorzelski’s (Hereditary) cinematography paired with Henrik Svensson’s production design creates a wonderfully colorful commune where the sun never sets. Pugh is an incredibly sympathetic protagonist that delivers one of the best acting turns I saw all year. Through the entire two and a half hour run time, we are centered on Dani and her experience, by the time the film closes our Mona Lisa smile matches her own. Midsommar is one of the most upsetting movies I’ve seen in a very long time, and I can’t wait to watch it 10 more times.
2. Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
It’s not often that I walk out of a movie and I find myself immediately longing to be back in the world of that movie. Once Upon a Time… is one of those films. There was initial buzz around the film that it was going to be Quentin Tarantino’s take on the Manson family murders and the “death of the 60’s”. Once Upon a Time is actually a love letter to old Hollywood at its core. Tarantino is so affectionate towards southern California and this era of film and television. Tarantino puts in so much effort to reference the work that he clearly loved growing up in California in the 60’s. People have been talking about Brad Pitt and Leonard DiCaprio each giving their own Oscar worthy performances, but I want to take a moment to talk about Margot Robbie. Robbie plays the late starlet Sharon Tate, giving a doe-eyed and kind performance. Robbie’s Tate is sympathetic and a joy to watch on screen; the scene where she wanders into a screening of her own film, The Wrecking Crew, is a beautiful moment in which Tarantino asks you to take a moment with this person whose life was cut so short. Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood cares so much about the people at the center of its story, with obvious exceptions. It isn’t often that I would call a Tarantino movie beautiful, but Once Upon a Time is absolutely beautiful. The performances, Robert Richardson’s (Kill Bill, Inglourious Basterds, The Aviator) cinematography, and the music all come together to make a wonderful film going experience. Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood is one of the years best, one of the decades best, and could sneakily be Tarantino’s best.
1. Parasite
Parasite is the film experience of the year. A slick, hilarious thriller and family drama, it demands your attention and you never want to look away for fear of missing another moment of auteur film making. For fans of Korean cinema, Bong Joon-Ho is not a secret, but for American audiences, he may be best known for his Netflix original Okja or the dystopian action thriller Snowpiercer. Parasite centers around two families, the Kim’s, a family living in poverty in a sub-basement in Seoul, and the Park’s, a rich family lead by a tech mogul and a stay at home mom living in a house straight out of Architectural Digest. Bong takes the time to draw as many comparisons between these two families as possible, the patriarch of one clan working under the other, the children of the Kim family serving as private teachers for the young Park children. Parasite feels like it is walking a tightrope for its entire 2 hour and 12 minute run time, at any moment the facade could crumble, the truth revealed, a family cast back into poverty. Two performances that ought to be highlighted are Kang-ho Song and So-dam Park as the father and daughter of the Kim family, respectively. They feel like the writer-directors of this scheme that the Kim family has crafted, creating identities and personalities for each member of the family to follow meticulously, complete with backstories, credentials, and scripts. I mentioned that this year was rife with films that feel contemporary to 2019, and Parasite may be the most contemporary. Whether it’s the class anxiety or the small moments of stealing Wi-Fi, Parasite and its themes speak to a feeling that most of the world can sympathize with. Seek out Parasite if it is still playing in theaters in your area, it is shot beautifully and watching films with great tension is an experience that is best had in a theater where you attention is undivided. Bong Joon-Ho is one of the very best, international cinema is extremely important, and the “Jessica” song is still stuck in my head.
In a year where Disney produced 80 percent of the top grossing films, it is easy to feel disenfranchised and pessimistic about film at large, but there was a host of wonderful films this year that don’t feature superheroes or animated genies. I want to give a quick shout out to a few movies that I highly recommend that didn’t quite cut it.
The Irishman
The Lighthouse
Ad Astra
Booksmart
Long Shot
John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
The Last Black Man in San Francisco
Knives Out
Waves
The Laundromat
Ford v. Ferrari
Thank you for reading. You’ll hear from me again soon.