It’s that time of the year again when the Internet comes together to hurl lists at you. Even more this year: it’s 2019, so we here at the Cabal of Critics™ have added Best of the Decade lists to social clickbait.
It’s been a fascinating year where the very notion of cinema has been challenged by its biggest names. After a few years of streaming giants Netflix and Amazon getting the heckles of the Cannes elite raised, no less a cinematic master than Martin Scorsese was quite vocal about his views on the state of mainstream cinema.
The debate was essentially a silly one: in a reductive nutshell, the argument is that blockbusters from the likes of Marvel’s output are not “real” cinema as they have no soul. Of course, there is a case to be had about the domination of the landscape by monoculture. Yet the proliferation of festivals, streaming options and alternative film sources mean we have more access than ever to the smallest corners of film world. To suggest there is one way of watching a film is both elitist and classist.
The simple fact is that movies and the way they are delivered are changing because the audience is as well. The current trend might be comic book adaptations and franchises, but there’s always been some version of this mega trend. What I hope that my list shows, one that includes both Marty and Marvel in my favourites from 2019, is that “real movies” are not just one thing.
So, here’s my Top 11 Films of 2019 – plus sub lists for documentaries and Asia in Focus. If it’s not on the list, either I haven’t seen it or it didn’t make the cut. Except for that one film you like: I’m specifically snubbing you.
The Top 11
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Girlhood director and My Life as a Zucchini screenwriter Céline Sciamma, the first woman to win the Queer Palm at Cannes, delivers a staggeringly powerful and evocative romance set against the backdrop of a remote island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century. Led by a pair of powerful performances from Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel, the absence of any overt score in this studied construction is all the more noticeable during that devastating final 20 minutes or so. Read the full review.
Pain & Glory
A transportive feature from Pedro Almodóvar: a magical and personal film, with liberal doses of comedy and pathos, shades of Fellini, and an idiosyncratic charm that will leave a smile lingering on your face. Not that I’m trying to tell you how to feel. Also: Antonio Banderas is at his peak here, in an award-winning performance. Read the full review
Avengers: Endgame
Certainly the biggest film of the year, in terms of sheer scale and box office taking, the finale to 22 films, multiple television series, and countless mixed-media tie-ins is a cinema-shaking conclusion to one of the greatest pieces of modern storytelling and world-building in the history of the medium. The only thing longer than that sentence is the film (and at least one other film on this list), and while it’s popular to hate on Marvel amongst the blog set these days, I’ll buck(y) the trend with my unabashed gushing love for this. (Yes, I cried several times, and that was just writing this capsule). Read the full review.
Parasite
The first South Korean film to win the prestigious Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, only a year after the Festival’s recognition of Japan’s sublime Shoplifters for the same award. While Bong Joon-ho’s work has been more nuanced or high-concept in the past – and the finale lingers a little too long – this film represents everything that is good about Korean filmmaking and will hopefully introduce more audience to its unique charms. Read the full review.
Midsommar
One of the most talked-about films of the year. Coming off the back of the cult success of Hereditary, director Ari Aster’s sophomore effort takes the obvious path from Utah to Sweden. An impeccably shot film is all about mood and symmetry, and probably doesn’t go quite where you expect it to. Unless you’ve been in some really messed-up relationships. Read the full review.
Monos
A completely immersive and harrowing experience. This is not one you watch so much as survive. Now I’m cold and west and waiting instructions. May we all think fondly of Shakira the Milk Cow as we journey through this life together. MONOS is not a film that you merely sit through and go about your day. Like the lead characters, it is a test of character and at times, an endurance test. Whatever your feelings, it is impossible to be ambivalent towards the film, and it might just be one of the true masterpieces of the year. Read the full review.
Promare
Describing the plot to a film like this is like trying to catalogue each element of a Jackson Pollock painting. One of the best animated films of the year, and also one of the most boundary-pushing pieces of anime in a long time. For the all of the seemingly chaotic shopfront, director Hiroyuki Imaishi and writer Kazuki Nakashima exhibit a very savvy awareness of the conventions of modern anime. So much so that they use all of them: the tropes, inside jokes, visual parodies, genre transitions, insane cutaways, and literal deus ex machinas. Read full review.
Little Women
Part of the Florence Pugh double feature of hits this year, what director and screenwriter Greta Gerwig has managed to do here is take Louisa May Alcott’s novel (or the two books if we’re being technical) and present them in a fresh way that plays with expectations. Cutting back and forth between the events of Little Women and the second book (sometimes published as Good Wives), it’s a modern spin with an impeccable cast. The finale manages to have its cake and eat it too, retaining Alcott’s expected denouement while acknowledging a sharply contemporary commentary on ‘traditional’ gender roles. Read the full review.
The Irishman
Martin Scorsese’s latest film has probably got more attention for his views on the state of mainstream cinema. Which is a shame for two reasons: it’s divided a community who have a shared love of movies, and it might just overshadow the content of his first Netflix film. THE IRISHMAN, as it turns out, is a masterpiece. Yes, it’s long. At 209 minutes, it’s very long. Yet bringing together all of Scorsese’s recurring themes and motifs, ones we’ve seen in Goodfellas and Casino in particular, this captivates for (almost) the whole thing. Read the full review.
The Farewell
Lulu Wang’s second feature is funny, charming, heartbreaking, and genuine, with a terrific performance from Awkwafina. This will be on a lot of “best of” lists this year and rightly so. At it’s heart, it’s a film about a daughter, a mother, and a grandmother as filtered through the lens of the Chinese-American experience. Read the full review.
Knives Out
One of those times when you should believe the hype, then forget the hype, clear your mind, and then open it to the possibility of fun. While I wonder how its twists and turns will hold up on a repeat viewing, I had too much of a blast the first time to really worry about that now. An old-school detective yarn from its My site. My reviews. My rules.
Asia in Focus
My Asia in Focus coverage has been going since 2010 on The Reel Bits, and this year delivered some amazing entries. Along with Parasite, The Farewell and Promare listed in the main list this year has offered up Wang Xiaoshuai’s So Long, My Son (China), Fagara (Taiwan), Hong Sang-soo’s self-reflective Hotel By the River (South Korea), Ash Mayfair’s sublime The Third Wife (Vietnam), the beautifully shot and moody Phuttiphong Aroonpheng film Manta Ray (Thailand), the magical realism of Makoto Shinkai’s Weathering With You (Japan), Bilal Kawazoe’s WHOLE (Japan), Lim Lung-Yin’s intimate Ohong Village (Taiwan) and more.
Documentaries
In a year when we had no less than that two documentaries on the Fyre Festival (Hulu’s Fyre Fraud and Netflix’s Fyre), it was a standout time for the facts, ma’am.
One trend that dominated was the non-intrusive documentary, where no narrative voice or talking heads interrupted the carefully restored footage. From the magnificent Apollo 11 archives to the powerful voice of Aretha in Amazing Grace, audiences enjoyed the feeling of being there. In Australia, The Final Quarter took this approach to the tumultuous final career years of footballer Adam Goodes, confronting Australia with its own racism and starting a national conversation in the process.
Journalist Stan Grant tackled the same subject in The Australian Dream, a film that doesn’t simply show us examples of racism in Australia, it conveys the feeling of being vilified by an entire nation. Mystify
The best of the rest: the next 11
If you’re making lists, something inevitably doesn’t make the cut. Yet if you’re also watching hundreds of films every year, it’s hard to limit yourself to an arbitrary Top 10 (or Top 11 in my case). So here’s some more.
Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart follows the formula of senior year/last party, the leads – and their sharp dialogue from screenwriters Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel, and Katie Silberman – is both honest and hilarious.
Marriage Story is equal parts emotionally raw and disarmingly funny in others, this isn’t an easy watch but one of those few times when the old marketing cliché of “telling it like it feels” applies. Plus: it’s a surprise musical!
Disney had a(nother) strong year with Toy Story 4, a charming and often straight up hilarious, it’s a little scarier than the previous entries – even for us big kids. While treading some familiar ground, it still brings us full circle and gives closure for at least one of the leads. The underrated Aladdin remake had its own energy and flavour, making it satisfying as a fresh pot of jam. Seedless, delicious, exotic jams.
In a stark contrast to last year’s Bohemian Rhapsody, the Elton John biopic Rocketman manages to transcend the pitfalls of the jukebox musical by weaving in the highs and lows of John’s life with magical realism infusing his most famous hits.
Then there’s the little films that could. Jim Jarmusch’s divisive The Dead Don’t Die effortlessly and instantly slides its way into the cult classics lists with its deadpan sense of humour, riffs on iconic zombie flicks, and meta-textual conversations with the audience. Indigenous Australian anthology Dark Place is a remarkable collection of perspectives that not only gets to the heart of (what Sarah Maddison would call) the “colonial fantasy,” but are ripping good yarns too. Completing the Florence Pugh 2019 Trilogy is Fighting With My Family, a seriously fun script that keeps the heart that was always evident in the 2012 documentary chronicling wrestler Paige and her family.
Finally, I couldn’t let this year go without mentioning three other films I enjoyed the hell out of. Hustlers gave me a new life goal to be a quarter of J.Lo’s fitness levels by the time I’m her age (which is not that far away). Fast and the Furious: Hobbs and Shaw proved Multiple trucks, a heavy duty chain, and a fully armed helicopter can’t tear The Rock apart. If this franchise is headed into space, we mortals are powerless to stop it. Lest we forget the most underrated superhero film of the year, Shazam! A pure joy from start to finish. Finding the right balance of tones, the latest DC film crafts a simple love letter (or at least pen pal appreciation) to an iconic character.
