Best Movies of 2019

Director: Nisha Ganatra
Her 6th Movie
My 1st movie watched from the director

Yes, it's full of cliches and it's sometimes dull, but I at least wanted to watch the whole thing... though the ending was bland, too. Hell, at least Emma Thompson was really great in it, a solid role for her.

Added to Lists:
Top Ten Performances - Emma Thompson (Honorable Mention)

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Locations: Midtown Manhattan, NYC, NY, USA

Director: Justine Triet
Her 5th Movie
My 1st movie watched from the director

The two female leads hold their own and make this movie worth watching, otherwise it's a plainly filmed and directed movie that doesn't have much new to offer. There are some effective moments but they don't add up to more than an average movie. Seems like a lot of potential lost, as it was directed by the same director as much-praised, "Anatomy of a Fall".

Added to Lists:
Top Ten Performances - Virginie Efira
Top Ten Performances - Adèle Exarchopoulos
Movies About Making Movies

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Location: Paris, France, Stromboli, Italy

The set up good, the acting good, the progression of action good, the ending fine enough; but the title quite misleading. There was little attention put on the bridges being closed and the effect that had.

Except for the part with the traveling dirt/dung beetles, this was a totally uninspired remake of an animated classic. Yes, it is gorgeous, yes it has nice moments. But what a missed opportunity to create something great.
Also, small little thing, when you have a song titled "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" it might be good practice not to distract the audience by having it NOT take place 'tonight'.

The one-child policy is such an interesting subject and there are so many ways this affected the people of China and the world, yet the documentary seems to focus only a couple aspects, likely to give us the most emotional impact; but I was left wanting more.

Long. I like the cast and the story is good enough, but all the scares weren't as creative as the first movie. It's not a bad movie, but the first movie would have been fine on its own even if I know it was far from concluding.

Director: Steven Soderbergh
His 30th movie
My 24th movie watched from the director

Soderbergh always plays with new formats, and his career is full of hits and misses because of it. With this one it actually kind of lies in between. Based on others' ratings maybe it's considered a miss, but I actually liked enough about it to come out enjoying it. I liked the approach to various stories and liked the two narrators (Oldman and Banderas), additionally liked their evolution and change in perspective in the story they're telling.
Sure it's uneven and the tone shifts are confusing and themes and moral messaging isn't always clear, having me questioning how such a veteran director couldn't find a better way to put this together.

Added to Lists:

Playing Bad is What I Do Best (Gary Oldman)


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Location: Lake George, NY, US, Nevis Island, St. Kitts & Nevis, and more...

I read the book "Orlando" earlier this year and my wife loves the book; so we though this would be a great one to watch. There really is very little about the book, it seems like she writes it overnight. True, it's more about the inspiration but it was still disappointing.

The two leads are very good and there is an effective, even if strange, chemistry between the two. It's ultimately a sad movie and one that never really lifts off. Plus, there are some strange VFX choices that aren't clarified and I was left wondering what they had to do with the plot.

Director: J.C. Chandor
His 4th movie
My 4th movie watched from the director

This alpha adventure goes so wrong and it's a trying journey to doing to the right thing. The five leads are all strong and Chandor does a good job of making them all their own character, making them none of them forgettable, even if this movie may not be memorable in the long run.
Why story takes a frustrating path the ending is satisfying.

Added to Lists:

Top Ten Performances - Pedro Pascal
Top Ten Performances - Oscar Isaac
J.C. Chandor - The Director of Losing Battles
The Heist Movie - Ranked
The Art of Creating a Team

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Location: Borders of Colombia, Brazil, and Venezuela

Director: Victor Kossakovsky
His 7th Movie
My 1st movie watched from the director

It's like "Chasing Ice" but less dramatic, less talking, and stats; but still says a lot with its imagery.

Added to Lists:
The World is Dying: Documentaries


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A very important and interesting subject, I'm just not sure it needed to be so long, even if the development of the story was important and effective.

Director: Tamara Kotevska & Ljubomir Stefanov
Their 1st movie
My 1st movie watched from the directors

Added to Lists:

Best Documentaries of the Decade - 2010s

Nice learning a little more about the wildcard of CSNY. Lived quite a full life and the emotional regret was effective.

This was not ever meant to be a great movie, but for as simple as it is it packs a lot of heat and so effectively paints a beautiful story of two hetero best friends living a depressing life right until the end. It's very Duplass, but not even directed by him/them.

Director: Dome Karukoski
His 8th Movie
My 1st movie watched from the director.

A nice background to one of the most beloved stories in literature. There isn't anything grand about it, but there are many lovely bits that add up to a worthy story. A story about friendship, love, adventure, and changing the world for better. All themes obviously found in Tolkien's work.

I was expecting more of the movie to be about the process for when he was writing, but I actually quite like that it was mostly all before he even put quill to paper.

Added to Lists:

Origin Stories
Top Ten Performances - Lily Collins

Director: Chad Stahelski
His 3rd Movie
My 3rd movie watched from the director

A slight improvement from the second one. The stunts, gunplay, and production design remain strong and the highlights. The supporting cast was a little stronger in this one, too. I really like then how the world expanded without feeling too outlandish.

Added to Lists:
The Third Movie of the Trilogy: Ranked


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Locations: Manhattan, NYC, NY, USA; Western Sahara; Casablanca, Morocco

Director: Asghar Farhadi
His 8th movie
My 2nd movie watched from the director

A movie like this depends so much on the performances, and damn they deliver. Farhadi knows how to advance a plot with beautiful control. The kidnappers' reveal isn't mind-blowing but it's believable and good enough. I found it interesting how this is a movie about a kidnapping but it's only have the story they're telling.

Added to Lists:

Top Ten Films - Asghar Farhadi
Top Ten Performances - Penelope Cruz
Top Ten Performances - Bárbara Lennie
Top Ten Performances - Javier Bardem (Honorable Mention)
Parents' Nightmares - 20 of the Best Kidnapping Movies

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Location: Madrid Suburbs, Spain

Not as clever and genre inspiring as the first, not that it was really expected; but still entertaining while being informative.

Director: Michael Flanagan
His 10th Movie
My 1st movie watched from the director.

I was completely entertained in this horror sequel. I my opinion a creatively successful horror sequel is about as rare as a morel mushroom in the Kalahari. Everything worked, something I did not expect, after watching a trailer that made it actually look pretty stupid - a big reason why it took so long to watch it.

Added to Lists:

Top Ten Performances - Rebecca Ferguson
Best Horror Movies
Best Horror Sequels

I'm really confused by the crazy low ratings for this. Natalie Portman is fucking great in this. The other performances a pretty solid, too. The pacing is spot on, the cinematography and production design is excellent, plus effective music and clever editing choices. Sure, the end is not remarkable, but this is a character study and it had me invested the whole way through.

Director: S. Craig Zahler
His 3rd movie
My 2nd movie watched from the director

Gibson and Vaughn make a memorable team, the dialogue is purposely filled with movie-speak, the characters are engaging, the violence is brutal... the violence is fucking brutal, but the violence is not excessive and not always seen, the ending is kind of brilliant.

Added to Lists:

Top Ten Performances - Mel Gibson
The Bank Heist Movie: Ranked
The Most Evocative Movie Titles
Movies Where the Protagonist Dies


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Location: Bulwark (Fictional)

Director: Annabel Jankel
Her 3rd Movie
My 1st movie watched from the director

This is a lovely story about a mother and son and about the mother's love for a doctor, both forced to hide their innate need for each other. A story benefitted from the female director.
(Spoiler) It felt like a common story that was going to end in a depressing way, but instead we are relieved to see both characters escape even if they can't be together, which is sad yes, but the tone is one of hope and so much love.

Added to Lists:
Top Ten Performances - Anna Paquin
My Favorite Sapphic Stories
My Favorite Sapphic Scenes
A Kiss to End the Movie

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Location: Unnamed town in Northern Scotland, UK

Director: Fernando Meirelles
His 8th movie
My 4th movie watched from the director

This movie seems to be all about the dialogue and acting. While those are the strongest aspects the production design, cinematography, and editing sneak in there and are all kind of great, making this pretty strong movie. While it's still no "City of God" I am happy to see Meirelles come out with a very entertaining movie.

Added to Lists:

Top Ten Performances - Jonathan Pryce
Top Ten Performances - Anthony Hopkins

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Location: Castel Gandolfo, Italy; Vatican City

Director: Rupert Goold
His 3rd movie
My 1st movie watched from the director

I knew what I was getting into before the movie began, but it didn't prevent me from falling for the performances, music, and tragedy. I rarely cry at movies these days, but somehow this one did it. Damn you, Judy!

Added to Lists:

Top Ten Performances - Renée Zellweger
The Story of Hollywood Through Movies
The Great Big List of American Biopics (In Subject's Chronological Order)
Top 25 Predictions of Future Stars - 2019 - Jessie Buckley

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Location: Covent Garden in London, England, UK; Beverly Hills, CA, USA

Director: Edward Norton
His 2nd Movie
My 2nd movie watched from the director.

This is a great throwback to the entertaining gumshoe genre we don't get exposed to anymore. The cast is impressive, the cinematography is mostly impressive, and the script ends up being impressive, even if I wasn't impressed with the movie overall after the first act, it impressed me in the end.

Added to Lists:
Top Ten Performances - Ed Norton
Alec Baldwin - The Best Supporting Actor of All Time?

Alex Gibney continues to prove he is the best documentarian out there. He continues to nail it with each documentary. They are mostly a statement on our society woes, and he does it again here: The freewheeling issues of Silicon Valley CEOs. The main subject here is a very interesting (for mostly the wrong reasons) person and the documentary relies on this, to fault which is why I didn't rate it even higher.
Gibney does such a good job with editing, graphics, archival footage, and, once again EDITING. This is so key in a documentary and he kills it.

Murphy is awesome in this biopic of a true artist in the most unartistic of ways.

Necessary viewing because of subject matter; but not wildly entertaining even with respectable performances.

Director: Greta Gerwig
Her 3rd movie
My 2nd movie watched from the director

High production value and a stellar cast takes the source material into a beautiful world. Gerwig adapts with a clear love for the source material but manages to modernize some of the themes, yet doesn't try to make it so wildly different that it gets ruined.

Added to Lists:

Batman: Ranked
Top Ten Performances - Saoirse Ronan
Top Ten Performances - Emma Watson
Top Ten Performances - Timothée Chalamet
Top Ten Performances - Chris Cooper (Honorable Mention)

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Location: Concord, MA, USA

Very important story. Innocent people on death row is a very tough subject and gets me very emotional. The performances are all solid, but Foxx shines the most with his commanding performance.