Last year at this time, I wrote the following statement:
"Aside from the handful of event releases (most of which came from Disney, whose utter dominance over the marketplace isn't being talked about as much as it should be), the heat has waned from theatrical movie-going."
In 2019, this was even more so. It was impossible not to talk about the giant mouse in the room. Check Box Office Mojo and the results are staggering; seven of the year's top 10 moneymakers were released by Disney or one of its subsidiaries (eight if you count Spiderman: Far From Home, which is part of Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe but released under Sony).
I'm far from alone in worrying about one company having this much power, even if they make solid decisions with their properties more often than not. Even more worrying is the extreme outrage fans of superhero movies and franchise movies feel when someone dares to question the choke-hold these "theme park" movies have on the marketplace. Martin Scorsese found that out the hard way.
In 2019 (and throughout the decade for that matter), the franchise was king of the box office, and that's probably never going to change. With Avengers: Endgame and The Rise of Skywalker, there was an overpowering sense you absolutely needed to pay up and go early to avoid being left behind in social media conversations. With anything else? Not so much. Low and mid-budget dramas, comedies, and more grounded action movies still enjoy releases into theaters, and some of them still turn a profit, but they just don't generate the attendance they once did.
Streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime are the new frontier for those kinds of movies, and perhaps that's for the best. Hell, even Disney leaped into the streaming game with the launch of Disney+. There has to be a place for non-blockbusters to thrive, and streaming is it. With something like, say, The Irishman or Marriage Story, would you rather A) drive to a theater and pay for a ticket (and maybe concessions) at only a specific time of day, or B) watch them whenever you like at home on an increasingly more affordable home theater setup? No one outside of die-hard movie buffs is going for option A nowadays.
Streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime are the new frontier for those kinds of movies, and perhaps that's for the best. Hell, even Disney leaped into the streaming game with the launch of Disney+. There has to be a place for non-blockbusters to thrive, and streaming is it. With something like, say, The Irishman or Marriage Story, would you rather A) drive to a theater and pay for a ticket (and maybe concessions) at only a specific time of day, or B) watch them whenever you like at home on an increasingly more affordable home theater setup? No one outside of die-hard movie buffs is going for option A nowadays.
Quality-wise, I consider this a very strong Top 10 and a vast improvement over 2018. No. 1 and No. 2 were so close that I flip-flopped back and forth many times before finally settling. As always, I present five runners-up in alphabetical order (consider them a tie for 11th place), followed by the Top 10 in reverse order, saving the best for last.
Runners-Up
Top 10
This time around, director Rian Johnson is unlikely to polarize anyone. He has followed up his uber-divisive Star Wars entry, The Last Jedi, with an absolute blast of a murder mystery. Every member of this all-star cast shines brightly, and the various twists and turns are guaranteed to delight. I know I say this every year, but more original mainstream genre films like these, please.
For a guaranteed pick-me-up, it was hard to do better in 2019. A coming-of-age story of a British Pakistani-Muslim teenager whose life is changed by the music of Bruce Springsteen, Blinded by the Light is an uplifting little gem that was sadly overlooked at the box office. Exploring similar themes of culture clash between parents and children as her better-known Bend it Like Beckham, director Gurinder Chadha cuts right to the heart with this one.
Adam Sandler: Oscar-worthy actor? Stranger things have happened this year. A gritty, anxiety-inducing thriller that would've been right at home in Martin Scorsese's repertoire, the Safdie Brothers knocked one out of the park. Uncut Gems is tense, uncomfortable, and not for everyone, but the adventurous moviegoer will be rewarded throughout, all the way to and through the improbable ending.
Darker than Uncut Gems, this absorbing period thriller set in Tasmania circa 1825 generated a lot of controversy on the film festival circuit for its extreme depictions of rape and murder. For me, the cruelty of such scenes was entirely the point in showing the depths to which men in power will go to subjugate those they consider "beneath" them. But the movie still entertains in the ways a revenge-based road trip movie should. She's only made two films, but with The Babadook and now this, director Jennifer Kent is someone to watch for.
As anyone who follows me on Facebook knows, I found the moral panic surrounding this movie to be one of the most idiotic controversies in years. But enough about that. Led by an astounding lead performance from Joaquin Phoenix, director Todd Phillips' Joker takes an iconic villain and fashions a pitch-black anti-hero character study. In the otherwise predictable realm of comic book movie universes, we've never seen anything like it. Its box office success shows we've only begun to scratch the surface of the unconventional directions we can take these characters.
Quentin Tarantino is back again on a Best Of movie list. But this time, he's toned down the violence in favor of comedy and thoughtful meditation on being a declining actor in a changing industry. Leonardo DiCaprio, as always, is fantastic, but Brad Pitt (playing the main character's stuntman) is the true highlight here. Rarely has a character been so easy to admire for his charm and swagger without descending into "asshole" territory. Tarantino's latest is a movie buff's paradise, and even those who don't fit that category should have one hell of a good time.
Martin Scorsese's mafia epic, clocking in at almost three-and-a-half hours, asks patience of the viewer early on, but stick with it as it builds and builds until it all culminates into a tale of immense power. Sit back and enjoy Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci operate on a level like you haven't seen them in ages. To date, this is the best movie released specifically for Netflix, and it's another bright feather in the cap of a legendary director.
Indie studio A24 has struck gold once again, this time with a phenomenally moving, beautifully shot family drama. Broken into two distinct pieces, Waves' structure may make it feel like it's two unrelated movies crammed into one, but I disagree. Both threads, when weaved together, form a complete drama. It's about insecurity, resentment, healing, and love. There are superficial similarities to the Oscar-winning Moonlight (a cast of black characters set in South Florida), but the similarities end there. As the world around us grows more bitter and nasty, a movie about forgiveness as powerful as this one hits a sweet spot so many of us crave.
Great films based on World War I are in vastly short supply when compared to their World War II brethren. But here is a new standard-bearer for cinema based on The Great War. Taking place during a time-sensitive mission embarked on by two British soldiers, Sam Mendes' jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring 1917 drops us deep into the heart of hell and strands us there for two hours. Shot in a manner that resembles a single take, the movie is by turns thrilling, emotional, and exhausting. See it on a large screen with the best sound system possible for maximum impact.
1. Parasite
This is the first time I have put a foreign film atop one of my year-end lists, and it's hard to think of a better candidate. Director Bong-hoon Jo (Snowpiecer, Okja) has hit a new high with an enthralling blast of a film that criss-crosses genres and rivets the attention from the first frame all the way to the end. The class struggle element of this movie is present and accounted for, but it never feels like a sermon. Instead, its themes only enhance the most entertaining time I've had in a movie theater all year. Just when you think you know where the story is headed.... you're probably wrong. Put aside any qualms you may have about watching anything in another language and see Parasite. It translates remarkably well, and it's the best movie of 2019.
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