Top 10 best movies 2019

Notes: Basically, it was some kind of modern version of ‘Kramer vs. Kramer’ but while this fairly outdated movie only scratched the surface of this topic, this movie however went so deep, giving such a thoughtful and well balanced analysis on the subject. Above all, the biggest strength of this movie was to properly developed both sides of the equation displaying how devastating the whole process can be. I mean, it did make sense that Nicole wanted to get back to Los Angeles but it did make just as much sense that Charlie wanted to keep his whole family in New York. I did help as well that Scarlett Johansson gave here the best performance of her career so far (Adam Driver was also pretty amazing though). This movie also provides the best explanation on why most relationships are actually pretty much doomed to fail nowadays. Indeed, basically, the main reason why Nicole and Charlie eventually got a divorce was because they both wanted it all. Indeed, to make it work, one of them should have been able to sacrifice their own wish, Nicole could have stayed in New York or Charlie could have dropped his work and go to live in Los Angeles but neither of them wanted to let it go. But to have it all is just a massive pipe dream which crushes so many couple like the one displayed here. And, yet, this amazing movie shows how messy we are but also that our messy nature makes us, human beings, actually quite fascinating to behold.

Notes: I can imagine that, if you are not familiar with Bong Joon Ho's work, the constant changes of tone can be rather overwhelming. However, as far as I'm concerned, I always thought it was so bold and I don't know many directors who can so easily blend a drama, with a comedy, a thriller and a social satire. This mix was pretty much irresistible and I loved the way the Korean director kept setting the audience on the wrong foot. On top of that, it was also a great critic on our current way of life in which the gap between rich and poor is getting only bigger. Basically, even if they are geographically close by, the two extreme sides of our society seem to live in two completely different worlds with barely no connection or communication between them whatsoever. Eventually, the only thing that didn't really work for me were the massive switch the 'poor' family kept doing during the whole duration. Indeed, when they would be together, they would always all act like some pathetic and hopeless drunks but, from the moment there would be with the 'rich' family, they would suddenly completely change their behaviour, manners and speech in such a drastic way that it would make any professional spy like James Bond really jealous. I mean, if they were all such mighty con artists, how come they lived in such terrible conditions? Anyway, even if it wasn't a complete home-run, I really loved this really wild and bold directing effort from Bong Joon Ho.

Notes: The tricky thing is that it is in fact a really predictable story and, yet, it was still quite fascinating to behold and easily one of the best love stories I have seen in a very long time. To be honest, eventually, we don’t learn much about these two young women after all but, from the very first moment they met each other, there was such a massive chemistry between them. Obviously, Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel should be praised as they both delivered such strong performances, especially since their characters usually didn’t say what they thought but used mostly only their eyes. The fact that I have always been fascinated by Art, especially painting, made me enjoy this movie even more, even if the portrait was basically only an excuse for these 2 girls to spend as much time together as possible. The interesting thing about this doomed love story was that, even though it might seem tragic, somehow, because it did last only a few days, the memory of these few passionate days will always remain perfect, pretty much like the story of Orpheus and Eurydice which was read by the characters during this movie. Finally, it was also a tale about freedom, or at least, the yearning for freedom. Indeed, from the moment Héloïse’s mother left them, for the very first and maybe also the last time in their lives, they could enjoy the freedom of being themselves without any social boundaries, even Sophie the servant. I also wonder what to make of the fact that all the male characters have been removed or erased and maybe it was also linked to this feminist idea of freedom as men are mostly responsible for most of the literal and figurative shackles in every women’s lives.

Notes: Well, pretty much like with ‘Infinity War’, I have to admit that the damned thing turned out to be much more enjoyable the 2nd time around. I remember the first time I saw it though. Of course, like anyone else who had been following the MCU for more than a decade by then, I was really eager to see this massive conclusion but I was expecting something more mind blowing at the time. Eventually, the only thing that still bothered me now was how they handled Captain Marvel. Indeed, I’m still amazed by how little impact she eventually had. Seriously, I thought she would be a major player to stop Thanos but she showed up only for a couple of scenes after all and, in spite of Brie Larson’s effort, it must be Marvel’s most underused and underwhelming character so far. Fortunately, a part from that, the rest of the movie was just so damned entertaining though. Hell, even the time-travel gimmick which seemed lazy and rather lame the first time around didn’t bother me at all anymore. In fact, it almost seemed to make more or less sense now (it still did create some major plot-holes though). Anyway, it was pretty awesome to see these iconic characters going back to such iconic moments in the MCU, seriously, it felt as if they were doing some kind of medley of their greatest hits. On top of that, pretty much like 'Infinity War', it was obviously a massive blockbuster. Indeed, the action scenes were, as expected, really badass and the final battle was the biggest one I have seen since 'The Return of the King'. Finally, there was maybe a dozen of really emotional punches and it was an incredibly rewarding movie on this level, giving a proper send-off to the most important Avenger among other things. Eventually did Thanos and the Infinity Stones really require more than 5 hours of running time? I doubt it but these 2 movies were still pretty awesome after all.

Notes: I think it’s pretty awesome that, in France, someone could manage to deliver such an edgy surreal and mature animated feature. Sure, the content might be too dark for some viewers but I thought it was actually extremely refreshing. On top of that, even though some might not be impressed by the quality of the animation, I thought it was really cool that they went for some hand-drawn animation. However, what was above all enjoyable was this really surreal story. Indeed, at first, I was wondering how they would tell a whole story over a severed hand and, eventually, it wasn’t really surprising that they would go for some flashback scenes but I was amazed by how efficient it turned out to be. The interesting thing is that this surreal tale was actually taking place in a hyper realistic setting. Indeed, they didn't give us the typical glamor version of Paris but a much more realistic version with some grey landscapes, dirty metros and people being generally unfriendly with each other (the first encounter between Naoufel and Gabrielle was such a fine example and the scene was so pitch-perfect). Eventually, you don’t learn much about Naoufel which could be frustrating but I think you learned enough and this lack of information and context did make his character even more intriguing and it was pretty much the same thing with Gabrielle. Eventually, it has been a while since I have seen such a poetic movie with so many intricate layers.

Notes: Basically, it turned out to be a very classic murder mystery but I still really enjoyed it though. Above all, I think was very well written and it was probably by far the smartest script delivered by Rian Johnson so far. Indeed, it seemed that the clue around Harlan Thrombey’s sudden death was given fairly early on but, obviously, the whole thing turned out to be slightly more intricate than that. Furthermore, there was such a great cast involved (Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, LaKeith Stanfield, Christopher Plummer, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell) and they were all game, especially Daniel Craig who definitely delivered here one of his best performances. It’s too bad that Blanc was disappearing from time to time when they would focus on some other characters because the guy was so much fun. Concerning the rest of the characters, most of them turned out to be barely developed after all but I guess it was rather inevitable with a big cast like this one. Eventually, the only thing that slightly did bother me was the whole gimmick around Marta puking each time she tells a lie. Indeed, I thought it was actually rather weak and the fact that she was one of the very few characters who actually knew almost everything made it rather easy for Benoit Blanc to eventually crack this case. Anyway, even if the damned thing was maybe nothing really ground-breaking, it was still seriously entertaining.

Notes: Eventually, I think it turned out to be Quentin Tarantino's most challenging movie so far which was not necessarily a bad thing, in the contrary, but I wish this challenge would have been more rewarding. I mean, I really liked it but it just never left like a real home-run to me. Still, on the technical side, it was just a marvel to watch. Indeed, Tarantino went very far in the mood and the details to create a believable version of Hollywood at the time. On top of that, Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio were both pretty good and I was above all impressed by DiCaprio who gave here actually one of his best performances. However, what the main point was probably the nostalgia that Tarantino has for this time and place but, if you don't share this feeling, well, there are so many references that you will either miss or even won't care at all. On top of that, even if it is something you probably should expect from this director, the whole thing was pretty random. Indeed, in 'Pulp Fiction', you had also such seemingly random mess but every single scene did end up being crucial, which wasn't really the case here. Still, I have to admit that I never saw coming the twist at the end as Tarantino used the same trick he did with 'Inglourious Basterds', rewriting history in the process, but it was actually pretty neat and it worked better this time around. Anyway, if it didn't completely win me over, it was still a really bold project, much more interesting than all these remakes, reboots and sequels that you get to see nowadays at the movie theater.

Notes: To be honest, it was not completely sold by this movie. Indeed, from the moment you see these two men showing up on this shore, you actually pretty know how it will all end. To make things worse, nothing much really happened afterwards, except seeing the two characters switching between being more or less friendly with each other and vastly antagonizing one another. Still, there is no denying that this movie was quite impressive to behold. First of all, there was the visual aspect. Indeed, the damned thing did look quite amazing and even though black-and-white movies are not so rare nowadays, here, it perfectly fit the story and the tone chosen by Eggers. Then, the whole thing was seriously minimalistic, there were basically only two characters but the two actors involved both delivered some very strong performances, in fact some of the best performances of their respective careers. For Willem Dafoe, it is quite amazing that, after a career going over more than 4 decades and more than 100 movies, the guy still can come up with such powerful stuff and a couple of the speeches/soliloquies he made were just simply amazing and unforgettable. Concerning Pattinson, he had to face a Dafoe at the top of his game and he actually managed to be pretty much just as convincing as his colleague was. For the people still making fun of him because, 10 years ago, he did show up in the ‘Twilight’ franchise, well, if the guy keeps impressing like this, he might actually become one of the most interesting actors of his generation.

Notes: Like many other heralded movies released in 2019, even if I really liked the damned thing, it didn’t really blow me away though. The point was that, sure, it was indeed visually and technically impressive. However, even though the story was decent enough, to be honest, it was nothing really original or amazing. At least, the plot wasn’t as ridiculous as it was in ‘Saving Private Ryan’ (a movie with an amazing intro but otherwise seriously overrated). Indeed, everything happening was fairly realistic but, again, there was nothing really ground-breaking about these 2 soldiers involved in some seemingly impossible mission to bring a crucial message. Furthermore, pretty much like Christopher Nolan with ‘Dunkirk’, Sam Mendes chose a realistic approach regarding his characters but, while this approach definitely has its merits, it also has its downside. I mean, on one hand, you really feel that you are dealing with some average soldiers, that they could be anyone, the boy-next-door, yourself, your brother,… However, on the other hand, you do end up with some ‘average’ characters who were barely charismatic and who didn’t have any real distinctive features or personalities. Still, there is no doubt that the visuals by Roger Deakins (easily one of the best cinematographers at work nowadays) were just so impressive and it is possible that I would have enjoyed this movie more if I had seen it on the silver screen and not at home.

Notes: I have been following Pedro Almodovar's career for more than 20 years so it was really neat to see his last directing effort with my film club. Well, it turned out to be his most autobiographical movie so far and you might wonder what really happened and what was made up. Still, even if it was not as over-the-top as some of his previous movies, it was still slightly too messy for my taste. Indeed, there was a mix of various storylines dealing with drug addiction, his career, his youth, his health issues, his relationship with his mother and with an actor with whom he had a feud for 3 decades. Some of them were really interesting and some of them, well, not so much. Eventually, there was enough material to make at least 3 different movies and I think it would have better worked for me if the whole thing would have been slightly more focused. Still, the Spanish master has a unique directing style, his very own narrative approach, and it made the whole thing quite spellbinding to behold. Finally, it is such a treat to see Antonio Banderas working again with Amodovar, after all these years in Hollywood, and he probably gave here his best performance so far.