The Movies of 2019
Wow… I actually saw every movie on my what I’m looking forward to list… and yet I still missed out on things like Doctor Sleep, the second Terminator 3 and two Shia joints… but mostly Honey Boy.
January
January’s winner is… Glass! I defended it on Spoiled Rotten’s first episode of 2019 and I think that most people are hard on this movie because they think M.Night was trying to do something that he wasn’t actually trying to do. Do I agree that the final show down is a bit underwhelming and Bruce’s David Dunn is somewhat sidelined throughout the film? Of course! But, you’re still left with great performances and a smart tale about believing in yourself despite being underestimated by everyone.
I watched the Kid Who Would Be King on a flight with a bad sound system and maybe that’s why Joe Cornish’s follow up to Attack The Block didn’t work for me as well as it did for others but it was a fun ride. Conversely, I watched Stan & Ollie on the flight back on the same horrible sound system and found it was worth sticking with it. The big stand out was the wives and how the commercials made me think they would be the inverse of the roles they actually played.
February
February’s winner is… High Flying Bird! No joke, this movie feels like a really great study on how athletes are commodified until you realize Steven couldn’t help but pull off an Ocean’s 11-esque heist right under your nose! The cast is amazing because it features Bill Duke, André Holland and the ever watchable and engaging, Zazie Beetz!
How To Train Your Dragon 3 was in the lead for this month until I watched High Flying Bird late in the game. The visuals were on point as usual, but, more importantly, I didn’t really believe there could be a satisfying conclusion to this trilogy… yet here we are, they stuck the landing! Fighting With My Family was a true delight. The trailers scared me off but the cast, and Stephen Merchant at the helm meant that I had to suffer through the horrible sound system on that infamous flight to give this movie a try.
Alita wasn’t horrible so it looks like I was right to be excited by the trailer way back when. The visuals were great and I enjoyed spending time with the character in the world that was built. LEGO Movie 2 didn’t live up to the awesome that was the original but it did have the gut punch of a sister storyline that made me re-assess how I treated my own sister. What Men Want delivered exactly what the commercial promised so since I was already on board there were no surprises and definitely no let down.
Isn’t It Romantic wasn’t particularly memorable but it was nice to see all the cool people who popped up in the cast… I think…
March
March’s winner is… Us! This one grew on me. I went from really liking it to loving it over the course of two viewings and the year to be honest. While it wasn’t as instantly great as Get Out, I feel that it was just as meticulously planned and did have elements of speaking to the black experience in America… or just the underrepresented in America.
Captain Marvel and Greta were both good but not as good as I wanted them to be. I don’t think Greta leaned into the crazy soon enough and I properly documented my thoughts on where Carol Danvers first outing fell short on episode 83 of Spoiled Rotten!
Triple Frontier has a great cast… and Charlie Hunnam. Also Charlie is pretty good in this movie. Which is a big deal for me to say. I don’t have a good reason why this movie didn’t really connect with me. I think I missed the part where the movie convinced me these guys had a real bond.
I wanted Triple Threat to be good but I guess I always knew it wouldn’t end up at the top of the list this year. Dumbo… oh boy! There is a storyline where Colin Farrell has half black kids. Or at least a half black daughter who he refuses to connect with but finds it easier to connect with his son who doesn’t present as half black. Oh and there’s an elephant who can fly. I get that people like to joke about how the movie is Tim Burton’s way to stick it to Disney and how they ruin everything by commercializing things but really I just care about how wild it is that there are mixed race children who are neglected by Colin in this movie. The movie isn’t good or else I wouldn’t have focused on that.
April
April’s winner is obviously… Avengers: Endgame! The talk of Hulk not hulking out enough or the time travel not making sense means nothing to me. Hulk brought everyone back to life… no amount of punching would make that storyline more satisfying, the time travel isn’t clean but it emotionally pays off. For more musings on this amazing movie please listen to episode 86 of Spoiled Rotten!
Someone Great and Little both worked better than I thought they would. Someone Great featured the death of a relationship I felt ok with by the end while not completely villainizing any one party. Little gave Marsai Martin opportunity to fully expand on her grown woman in a child’s body schtick while also giving us Regina Hall fierceness. Shazam was also a movie that had depth I didn’t expect. You can hear more thoughts on Shazam on episode 84 of Spoiled Rotten.
I never saw the original Pet Sematary but I did get to watch the remake with my amazing family at a Drive-In. That made sure that I had fun while watching the tepid film. On the other hand, I did watch GDT’s Hellboy films and while I think the new movie did a good job of distinguishing itself as something new, I didn’t think it came together properly. Listen to episode 85 of Spoiled Rotten for my full thoughts on David Harbour’s take on Hellboy.
May
May’s winner is… Booksmart! I understand the knee-jerk reaction to say it’s not like Superbad, but as someone who loves both movies, there are many similar story beats and character motivations. The reason that doesn’t make Booksmart a rip-off or a cheap imitation is because Beanie and Kaitlin’s characters are so well defined that the movie inherently feels unique and fresh.
John Wick 3 truly impressed me. I kind of like the first two movies, but when John murked people out with a book and the movie only got crazier from there, John Wick 3 became an instant classic for me. I was just really happy Rocketman wasn’t as hollow as Bohemian Rhapsody was. Same director but a different approach that gave Taron Egerton a chance to shine as a complicated genius. Plus, I’m already in the bag for movies about people performing music.
I’m a sucker for a funny love story so Long Shot worked for me as did the appearance of Boyz II Men in that movie. Randall Park getting to be a lead in a movie where he raps about beating up Keanu isn’t something I expected to see this year… or any year, but thanks to Always Be My Maybe, with the amazing Ali Wong, I got all of that and more! It was nice spending time with my friends in Deadwood but I wanted more. I didn’t expect to like Detective Pikachu but I really like Ryan Reynolds, and I found the mime and Psyduck to be amazing. Yes the “twist” is obvious and kinda makes the prospect of a sequel silly, but that’s a problem for the future of the franchise.
Ma has a scene where Octavia Spencer paints a black kid white and hisses “there’s only room for one of us” and no I’m not bringing this up as a hilarious plus. Also there’s a storyline where she’s got a kid locked up in her house in addition to the other kids she’s trying to capture. Also… the reason she’s targeting these specific kids truly blew my mind and I already knew what it was going in. I was hoping I was lied to I guess. Good thing we were at the drive-in. There is nothing interesting to say about Godzilla: King of the Monsters to me which is a bummer since I loved Skull Island. The Hustle felt uneven but I don’t want to hate on it and Aladdin didn’t work for me outside of “Friend Like Me” which was amazing.
June
June’s winner is… Toy Story 4! I didn’t think there was a reason to come back to this franchise but I have to hand it to Pixar, they made it worthy follow up to Toy Story 3. By bringing back Bo-Peep but also exploring wether or not Woody could ever truly be happy! Plus Key and Peele weren’t just great in the ads, they brought the funny consistently, as did Forky who had a much darker storyline than I anticipated when you realize he wanted to kill himself for most of the movie.
The Last Black Man in San Fransisco is interesting. So interesting, in fact, that it sticks with you weeks beyond your initial viewing. It took a while to hook me but the two leads, Jimmie Fails and Jonathan Majors, have a weird chemistry that just works and wins you over no matter how hard you try and fight it.
Late Night was pretty good. Solid in fact. I think it’s actually better than the trailer lets on as the focus is more about the relationship between Mindy and Emma and less about a classic romantic comedy. Who knew Shaft was a comedy? Certainly not Noah or me! You can listen to our immediate reaction to the movie after watching it on this bonus episode of Spoiled Rotten. Also Spoiler Alert! It is not a three generations of Shaft romp that the trailers, posters, and almost every piece of marketing suggests. You just get two Shafts for the majority of the movie. I like Men In Black so this year’s version was not good but I had enough fun… I guess.
I liked Anna but not as much as the woman who hooted and hollered all throughout the film behind me. I couldn’t, in good conscience, say I’m a fan of this movie when compared to her. Ben and I ranked the X-Men films on episode 88 of Spoiled Rotten and did a mini review of Dark Phoenix. It’s obviously not great considering the villain’s name is never said by a character facing the camera. Which says to me that they changed who she was and her name a couple of times and the movie is ambiguous about what her alien race can do or what they want. BUT It had its moments.
Child’s Play was not great despite having Aubrey, Bryan, and Mark in it.
July
July’s winner is… Spider-Man: Far From Home! Zendaya and Tom Holland were amazing in this movie, and more to the point, Jon Watts directed some great Mysterio sequences! If you want to hear more about why I love this movie, check out the spoiler review Ben and I did on Episode 89 of Spoiled Rotten!
July actually turned out to be a great month. Making it hard for me to choose. As you can see, my guy, Quentin, didn’t win the month but he came close, with Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood, as did Lulu Wang’s The Farewell! Once Upon A Time features great performances from the always dependable Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio. Margot Robbie, and anyone playing a real person, unfortunately, don’t have much to do since they’re only in the movie to represent things Brad and Leo want or feel. The Farewell also invited me into a world I’m not completely familiar with and truly made me re-evaluate my western assumptions about how to handle the potential death of a loved one.
A lot of people I try to tell about this movie turn their noses up at the mention of Jessie Esienberg. I like him so there’s that, but even if you don’t like him, The Art of Self-Defense features the stilted line delivery plus the dark and violent humour of a Lanthimos film. So yeah, there’s a lot to dig there. The only problem I really had was that it did seem to make a bit of a wiff on the main villain. Still a great movie overall but in a month like this it’s tough.
I LOVE THE LION KING… animated film. Which means that the new photorealistic animated film is not even close but also not a movie worth getting angry about. They gave Nala more to do, I liked the Scar details they added and Timon and Pumba were really dope. They obviously made the fatal error of not humanizing the animal’s faces but all the other stuff you love is there. Stuber was interesting but felt like they were stretching pretty thin by the end.
Midsommar did not work for me. I get that I’m alone in this. But the characters felt like they weren’t being true to themselves and were only making decisions the filmmaker needed them to. Also everyone kept saying this was a break up movie… I see how you can project that onto the movie but the couple in question are never once broken up and one of the participants in said couple doesn’t even know they’re in danger of being kicked out of the couple. Once you factor in the rituals and drugs it’s hard for me to agree that the events would have played out the same all things being equal. Making it just a creepy movie with a strong performance from Florence Pugh.
August
August’s winner is… Brittany Runs A Marathon! I’ve been a fan of Jillian Bell since Workaholics and even sought out her tv show! And every time I see her she does something great! Imagine my delight when I got to watch Jillian take center stage in a film and get to be more than the funny scene stealer. She got a whole arc. As Brittany attempts to lose weight You love her, you hate her, you want better for her all throughout the journey. It just works!
Ready or Not was a lot of fun! It has an amazing lead in Samara Weaving (yes she’s related to Hugo). I was with her emotionally every step of the way. Even though the movie is about a family that plays a deadly game of hide and seek, it definitely has some moments of genuine pathos but also some crazy violent kills and catharsis. Hobbs & Shaw wasn’t as good as Ready or Not but I had more fun with it than I thought even though it has many flaws. Find out what I didn’t like and what I loved with episode 91 of Spoiled Rotten.
Good Boys was fun but I can’t imagine ever revisiting it. Little kids swearing is fun and so is the message that friendship is hard work that won’t last for ever if you don’t allow for growth and different passions in life. However, I’m not sure all kids involved were able to actually carry the movie.
I wish, I wish, oh, how I wish that I had loved The Kitchen. I love the leads, I love the director (well the fact that she wrote Straight Outta Compton), and I love comic book movies. But this movie just never came together.
September
September’s winner is… Hustlers! I am not a Jennifer Lopez fan and yet here I am stanning a legend in this film that also stars the incomparable Constance Wu! There are shades of Good Fellas, which may be why I’m so hooked but I genuinely appreciate the touches here and there that helped elevate the experience of watching the film.
IT part one was pretty good if you ask me. And Yet I feel Chapter 2 might be better, only because it makes the adult stuff worth watching. An issue I thought this sequel would have but definitely avoided. Who knows maybe it’s not better. I definitely liked it though.
Ad Astra has a whole lotta potential. And yet once we get to the heart (literally the show down between father and son) of the matter it feels like the movie doesn’t really want to deal with it. This means there’s a very slow paced movie that feels like it’s about to lead to something then gets to it and decides to play what should have been the big pay off subtly and then with an actual explosion. Thus, shortchanging me on the verbal barbs that could have lit up the screen. The second Soderbergh film of the year didn’t work as well for me. Mostly because I’m confused as to how many roles Meryl was playing for how long and it’s a relatively short film that made me feel like it was going on for hours. I don’t mind 3+hour films but if your 97 minute film has me checking my watch every so often clearly something isn’t going right.
Between two Ferns went as well as you’d think a movie about a talk show set up to embarrass people could go.
October
October has a… TIE! As is usually the case when I do these things, I can’t pick a single winner for a certain month. This year October produced two great films, Jojo and Parasite! I haven’t been coy about my Taika Waititi love. I think he’s one of the best directors working today and so obviously I thought Jojo featured not just amazing humour, but, a great system of set up and pay off. All I have to say is the mother shoes! BRUH! As a big Snowpiercer fan and tepid admirer of Okja, as well as someone who was thoroughly underwhelmed by the Parasite trailer… I gotta say this film lives up to the hype. Watching the main family attempt to pull off their “heist” is truly fun and engaging plus like any good heist film there are some amazing hiccups that test our protagonists’ wits and the movie is A METAPHOR! So it’s smart and deep and all that good stuff.
Joker is good. I think that it’s got a great performance at the center and it looks amazing plus I enjoyed the score. I do feel like there are a couple of major flaws but you’ll have to listen to episode 93 of Spoiled Rotten to find out where I think the movie went wrong. The King was pretty good. I avoided watching it because… actually there was no good reason, but I’m glad I jumped in and got to see this take on Shakespeare.
If I were redoing my best Eddie performances list, Dolomite Is My Name would definitely appear. I can’t say it was one of my favourites of the month though. It has a great little engine who could message but I feel like if I don’t even remember performances from Craig Robinson and Mike Epps, there’s a problem with the movie. The movie felt mostly forgettable save for some great performances from Eddie, Snipes, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph. On the other hand, even my lack of enthusiasm for Ang Lee couldn’t dampen the great Will Smith performance and overall solid execution of an idea on Gemini Man. It’s not amazing but it just gets by. My enjoyment of most things Kevin Smith may have made me like Jay & Silent Bob Reboot more than I should have… and I didn’t particularly like it. Did they need to do another Zombieland? Certainly not, but did it remind me why I liked Jesse’s Columbus? You’re darn tootin! If you liked the first Zombieland, you’ll find something to enjoy with this second one.
I understand the appeal of El Camino but as a fair-weather Breaking Bad fan who definitely didn’t like Jesse Pinkman, this movie had a lot of obstacles it just didn’t clear for me. Plus I feel like no one thought the ending was in doubt so really this movie only works for people who wanted to spend more time with Aaron Paul. That’s perfectly valid. It just didn’t work for me. The Lighthouse is the first movie to genuinely make me go, “that was a good Robert Pattinson performance!” And yes I’ve seen Good Time. Before that I maintain that his appearance in Harry Potter was the only good performance by him THAT I HAD SEEN. He’s alright in The King and maybe he’s amazing in The Rover. There was no doubt Willem was going to show up and show out. But, at the end of the day, I just kept thinking, “Wow those guys did a great job in a movie that didn’t deserve it.” The Lighthouse feels like less than the sum of its parts.
November
November’s winner is… The Irishman! WHAT A MONTH! Pauline and I stayed in the movie theatres, and Pauline got to have her first (but far from last) experience with TIFF Bell Lightbox with Martin Scorsese’s team up of heroes we never thought we’d see on screen together, de aging, 3hour plus response to the MCU! I was worried that this movie may not live up to the great work of Marty because of its ultimate home of Netflix, but I could have watched 3.5 hours more of this film in a theatre. DeNiro, Pesci, Pacino, Romano, STEPHEN GRAHAM, and more all bring it in this movie about painting houses till you’re all alone!
Why couldn’t Knives Out, A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood, Waves, Marriage Story, and Queen & Slim all be in different months? They are all winners but just didn’t beat The Irishman. Let me explain why each movie didn’t win instead of listing all the reasons they’re amazing. Knives Out was a great twist on a murder mystery where even though I thought I had caught on, the movie kept me feeling like it was still one step ahead of me. My only complaint is that, unlike The Irishman, I felt that the great cast wasn’t used to its full potential. A Beautiful Day was well made down to using the same cameras to make all the Mr. Rogers interstitials look legit. but they couldn’t stick the landing for me. The last scene hints at something more to dig into and I resented the fact that I was teased that way without a trailer for the followup during the credits. Waves takes a big left turn about halfway through the movie and when the movie ended I felt like maybe there shouldn’t have been a turn and we should have been on that second road that whole time because that road had Taylor Russell driving the story and Taylor Russell is a true talent. Queen & Slim has Daniel Kaluuya showing us something different yet again, and an amazing introduction to Jodie Turner-Smith but the ending feels like a studio note instead of an organic and satisfying ending. Marriage Story has these two musical moments that I wouldn’t take out but also really drag. Otherwise I’m here for how fights play out and all the divorce lawyers are great.
Ford v Ferrari is really good considering I get mad at the fact that Matt Damon is a great actor and kind of a doo-doo person. But my boy Christian is great too as is Tracy Letts, Jon Bernthal and a smarmy Josh Lucas. Also why isn’t Caitriona Balfe in more things that I watch?
21 Bridges, American Son, and Motherless Brooklyn were all movies I felt could be disappointing but all came together better than I thought they would. A big plus for 21 Bridges is that it has the first Chadwick Boseman performance that Pauline actually likes but it also had a more engaging story than the trailers would have you believe. American Son is the best kind of Netflix movie for me. It’s like a play with some interesting twists and performances but more importantly it doesn’t outstay its welcome. It’s a mercifully short film that makes its point and gets out. Motherless Brooklyn was better than I thought it would be considering I don’t love Edward Norton and I knew he was directing.
The Report was not interesting to me and I found the time jumping was overdone. Granted I don’t like time jumping to begin with but there are examples of movies that time jump that I love… like The Irishman!
December
December’s winner is… Bombshell! The cast for this movie includes D’Arcy Carden and Kate McKinon, and Bridgette Lundy-Paine! And that’s who’s coming off the bench. What I’m trying to say is this cast is stacked with talent and I still had my doubts! Turns out that was all for not. I enjoyed how the film demonstrated how hopeless some of the Ailes victims must have felt. How even if you thought someone was your confidant you could still be made to feel isolated. But at the end of the day the fact that I didn’t see Megan Kelley as a completely horrible person was the true triumph of this movie… JK. It’s solid all around.
1917 is quite the achievement. Much like Birdman, the movie is made to feel like it’s all one shot but instead of actors trying to do something different, it’s kids in war trying desperately trying to deliver a message. It plays out in real time for the most part which creates a better sense of urgency and pace but I don’t love movies about war so it didn’t win the month even though I have to admit its a great movie with a couple of Game of Thrones actors for good measure!
I guess I’m supposed to love Uncut Gems. The truth is I think that it’s as well and intricately made as 1917 but instead of trying to create an epic adventure out of delivering a message, Gems tries to give the audience a heart attack from sustained stress from the first frame of the film to the last. Unfortunately, I feel it’s way too bleak of a movie for me. I’m a softy… sue me. Little Women didn’t grab me like Lady Bird but that’s the risk of adapting a beloved novel I have no connection to, Greta! You make a well made film that doesn’t really speak to me. The Two Popes was great when it was just about Anthony and Jonathan feeling each other out but I didn’t much care for the rest of the story which I bet was good for other people.
Oof… Rise of Skywalker. Not horrible but I spoke about what didn’t work for me on episode 99 of Spoiled Rotten. It was like no matter what information was brought up the characters didn’t change how they acted… almost as if they were on a ride… like a theme park ride. Jumanji was fun and hinted at a cool idea for the third sequel but I couldn’t get past how upsetting Jack Black and Karen Gillan’s version of Fridge was. It was like they decided to play a 90s stereotype of a black man instead of looking at what the actor in the movie they’re in is like. Also they did Bethany dirty. Once in the game, they act as if she didn’t have any growth from her first appearance in the franchise.
Alright now we know which 12 [13 actually] movies I can pick the top 5 from! So which movies were the top 5 in 2019?
Surprised? Me too. Well let’s get to the winner already!
I love this top 5. And I didn’t come by it easily this year. I thought for sure at one point I was going to have Far From Home in it or Bombshell, but here we are! 5 great movies that I will now try to wittle down to the best movie of 2019!
Us is great I love the themes it attacks in addition to the world it built for itself but unlike Get Out, I feel like some stuff is left a little too unclear for this movie to win the year. Endgame was a truly satisfying film. I felt like I got everything I wanted and things I didn’t even know I wanted while also getting to see all those cool heroes working together. But! Much like Infinity War, it isn’t a complete film, and I can’t help but knock points off for the fact that even the writers and directors can’t agree on how certain things work in this movie. Jojo Rabbit is another movie that attacks important themes and has the bonus of giving mostly unknowns a bunch of heavy lifting to do that they pulled off with flying colours! However, there is a confusing moment in the movie where people are being killed (who I am assuming are Nazis or rooting for the Nazis) and it feels like the movie wants me to feel sorry for them. Felt a bit “there’s good people on both sides” to me. Which isn’t really a point that needs to be proven at this time in our lives. Parasite is probably the closest to being the winner. But there was a moment during one of the final scenes where I kind of rolled my eyes with how over-the-top a certain character felt. The movie did a good job having highs and lows but this birthday party scene felt off to me. I minor quibble to be sure, but we’re talking about what the best movie of 2019 will be.
2019’s winner is… The Irishman. There’s something to be said about someone who is fully in control and has confidence in their story and their ability to tell that story. Marty’s latest movie certainly isn’t interest in pleasing fans or paying off stuff that was talked about online. This movie wanted to contemplate what the worth of a life of only following orders is and it didn’t care how long it took. Most people are watching this on Netflix which really means they’re watching in between rounds of insta stalking, mobile games and whatever else it is that people do on their phones now. This may be why I rank this movie so high. I watched it in theatres without any distractions. I’m not saying everyone who sees this movie in theatres loves it like I do but I feel like they had a better chance of loving it. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this post and I hope I have picked the winner for best film at the Oscars. Although I feel like its relationship with Netflix will stop that. A guy can hope though!
-YG