Top 10 Films of 2019

For the past few years, it has been hard for me to come up with a handful of films worth listing as the year’s best. But that certainly wasn’t the case for 2019. Truly, in any other year, any of the top six movies ranked below could be hailed as my favorite of the year. I thought 2019 was a fantastic year for film, and of the 141 new theatrical releases I saw this year, here were a few of my favorites.

10. Midsommar

Directed by Ari Aster

Ari Aster’s new nightmare of a film didn’t didn’t fully click for me on first viewing. Too long, too slow, a bit too up its own ass. But upon rewatching it last week, I was stunned how much it resonated with me. All of my earlier annoyances had turned into genuine appreciation. I saw the craft of Bergman and Kubrick, let alone a perfect performance by Florence Hugh. Midsommar was definitely my biggest about-face film of the year. (Also, anyone else wish Aster would expand the first 11 minutes of this movie into a feature film? There’s a terrifying domestic drama in there.)

9. Uncut Gems

Directed by the Safdie Brothers

Uncut Gems is a great mix of polished filmmaking and gorilla-style energy. The Safdie Brothers know how to immerse their audience in an urban nightmare and never let us up for air. Their casting choices (many of their performers are non-professional actors), fluid camera work, pulsating score, and distinct editing helped make Uncut Gems one of the most manic movies of the year. Where’s Adam Sandler’s Oscar nomination?

8. 1917

Directed by Sam Mendes

One of the great journey films of recent years. Emotionally gut-wrenching, visually stunning, pure spectacle. There are passages of 1917 (particularly the nighttime Écoust-Saint-Mein sequence) that will be remembered as some of the finest work Mendes and legendary cinematographer, Roger Deakins, ever captured on film. I won’t be surprised if this wins the Best Picture and Best Director Oscars this year. (Side note: Why is this movie being marketed as a one-take film? It clearly cuts to black halfway through the movie. I mean, it… cuts.)

7. Ford v Ferrari

Directed by James Mangold

Ford v Ferrari fucks. It’s a classically structured, endlessly entertaining buddy movie that doesn’t asked much of its audience, and ends up working in every way. Christian Bale’s charisma is everlasting, and Matt Damon’s tearful admission at the film’s end is some of his finest work yet. Oh, and is there anything Tracey Letts can’t do?

6. Parasite

Directed by Bong Joon-ho

Was there a film from 2019 with a more unique tone than Parasite? Fun, brutal, and completely of its own, Parasite is Bong Joon-ho’s distinct masterpiece. It’s also one of the best films I’ve ever seen that details the differences in class structure. For people who don’t take in a lot of foreign films, just remember Bong Joon-ho’s remarks during his recent Golden Globe speech, “Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.” That’s damn right.

5. The Irishman

Directed by Martin Scorsese

I loved it. I loved all of it. The performances, the relaxed pacing, the visual effects – none of it bothered me, all of it excited me. What an odd thing it was to watch all of these former tough-guy actors play characters who are left with nothing. What’s the saying, that the longer a story goes, the closer it is to ending in tragedy? The Irishman posits a notion that Scorsese’s other gangster movies haven’t, which is: What was the point of it all? I’ll be very interested to see how The Irishman stacks up in Scorsese’s filmography 20 years from now.

4. Climax

Directed by Gaspar Noé

Abandon all faith, ye who enter here. Gaspar Noé’s new mind fuck made for one of the most visceral movie-going experiences of the decade. I’m a steadfast admirer of Gaspar Noé’s unique brand of terror, and with Climax, Noé immersed us in a drug-fueled fever dream that was sensory overload in the best, most hyperbolic way. Also, the dance sequence near the beginning of this film was my single favorite movie scene of the year.

3. Ad Astra

Directed by James Gray

I don’t expect anyone to like Ad Astra as much as I did, and here’s why. I honestly cannot recall the last time I identified with a film character’s emotional journey as profoundly as I did with Brad Pitt’s in this film. I saw so much of myself in Pitt’s Roy McBride, that it was genuinely uncomfortable to watch. McBride’s transformation from a numb, hollow shell of a man to a person of unique empathy is something I truly identified with. I mean shit, in my own, much smaller way, the film I released this year was an attempt to highlight a similar emotional journey. Ad Astra is a deeply reflective work that I won’t soon forget. 

2. Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

Directed by Quentin Tarantino

(First off, I cannot believe I’m ranking this movie second, but more on that in a bit.) I absolutely, feverishly, wholeheartedly loved everything about Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. It’s Tarantino’s ultimate hang movie, where complex sequences of great peril (like the Spahn Ranch scene) are equally as compelling as Brad Pitt’s Cliff Booth cruising home on Hollywood Boulevard. Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood establishes a world I felt the need to revisit five fucking times in the theater. This is one of the best pop culture auteur films I’ve ever seen; I envision myself rewatching it annually, just to delight in its world.

1. Waves

Directed by Trey Edward Shults

Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood was my movie of the year. It just was. I loved Tarantino’s film, and I knew nothing would beat it. So imagine my complete and utter dumbfounded shock as I sat in an 11:15 a.m. Saturday showing of Waves in November, and had my heart completely fucking ripped out. It’s impossible for me to talk about Waves without overstating its impact, but I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to fully explain what this movie did to me. It tapped into my heart and made me… better. It made me view aspects of my life differently, and it certainly makes me look at my filmmaking style with a whole new lens

There are two factors to Waves that help make it one of my favorite films of all time (yeah, no bullshit.) Emotionally, I understood, identified with, and accepted the choices every character made in this movie. They weren’t all choices I agreed with, but I believed everything these characters stood for, which caused me to break down and sob no less than four times while I watched the film. Creatively, the raw energy of the film (captured by cinematography, editing, music, performance, and more) is unmatched in recent cinema, and something I have been dying to make myself.

The very act of watching Waves has made me a fuller person, and a more adventurous filmmaker. Not since Steve McQueen’s Shame, a film of enormous importance to me, have I loved a film so intensely so quickly. I will never forget Waves, for Waves, to me, is life.

Ten More I Loved

More Best Of 2019 Lists

Top 10 Actress Performances of 2019

Top 10 Actor Performances of 2019

Top 5 “Rotten” Films of 2019