Top 20 Films Of 2019: Part 2

Now to the Top 10, and fair warning, Number 1 is an obvious choice, but so what, it’s my damn list.

10: Klaus

Put this in as one of the year’s biggest surprises, taking on the Santa mythos and giving it a fresh coat of paint and an utterly gorgeous art-style, Klaus delivers a heart-warming tale of tolerance and friendship with enough humour and some real tear-jerking moments to really stand out. There’s nothing like watching the penny drop when you realise you’re basically watching the Batman Begins of Santa Claus and nothing that will get your heart better than the final 10 minutes

9: Frozen 2

I’ve made it no secret that I absolutely adore the first Frozen, finding it to be one of the most refreshing films in the Disney library and one of the best depictions of sisterly relationships I’ve ever seen. While the sequel isn’t as fresh, it’s still a wonderful experience watching Elsa and Anna expand upon their universe and lore whilst building on what made the first film work so well. While it doesn’t have a Let It Go in it’s song catalogue, the likes of Into The Unknown, Lost In The Woods and Show Yourself are still great musical pieces for the Disney film to love, plus I’ve still not gotten over that suicide reference in Anna’s song, fuck Disney got real dark.

8: The Irishman

It’s been a hell of a road, but we finally got Martin Scorsese’s gangster epic this year on Netflix, and it was easily worth the wait. Across it’s insane 3 and a half hour run-time, spanning several decades, we follow Frank Sheeran, his relationship with the Italian mob and his friendship with Jimmy Hoffa. De-Niro feels right at home as the Scorsese lead with Pesci in a surprisingly minimalist yet no less terrifying performance and Pacino still chewing the fuck outta the scenery as Hoffa and loving every minute of it, we’ll never get a trio like this again and we’re lucky to have done so here. It’s a slow, methodical piece that pits a man looking back on his life and questioning if he made the right choices, at times rough, at others depressing, this is Scorsese’s swan song for the gangster film, showing what happens to the survivors and the sad life they live before their final breath. If you can find the time then absolutely put in the effort for this one.

7: 1917

Much has been touted about the One-Take style of the film and for good reason, it’s very fucking impressive, but more than that, this is a war film that really hones in on the hellish nature of it all, sending two young men into the thick of it and following their every move might seem excessive but it works in spades here, building tension with every step and never letting you tear away from their mission. Hell the third act alone from the burning church all the way to the finale is what solidified it here on this list for the beauty of it alone never mind the masterful way it’s put together.

6: Booksmart

I saw Booksmart on a whim thanks to a free ticket and I walked out wanting to gush about the whole thing. More than just the female Superbad, Booksmart captures the teenage zeitgast for the 2010s in the same way that Superbad and American Pie and Breakfast Club did for their decades and deserves to be remembered as much as them. When I wasn’t laughing my ass off at the incredibly dirty humour or whatever the hell Gigi was doing because my god was she the best character i’ve seen all year, I was finding myself upset and uncomfortable in the best way possible watching best friends Amy and Molly struggle to deal with the ridiculousness of their night. Seriously, the pool scene knocked me flat on my ass and I loved it for that.

5: Doctor Sleep

Mike Flanagan made the list last year when I put Haunting Of Hill House on for no other reason than wanting to sing its praises some more, this year he makes it again with his best film to date, and another Stephen King adaptation. I’ve seen The Shining a number of times and enjoyed it without ever really getting it, with Doctor Sleep I not only have a better understanding and appreciation of The Shining, but I’ve got a hell of a follow-up, focussing on Danny Torrence and his attempts to move passed his trauma at the Overlook only to get caught up with Rose The Hat (a very good and very scary Rebeccas Ferguson) and forced to face The Overlook again. It might not be as scary as The Shining and the third act might just be all member-berries, but I’ve been in for Flanagan’s brand of horror for years and I love what he’s done here. And yes I loved seeing The Overlook again, sue me.

4: Midsommer

Much like Jennifer Kent, I’ve been wanting to see Ari Aster’s follow-up to the masterpiece that was Hereditary, and Midsommer ranks up there as another winner. Aster puts a ton of layers into this, it’s a cult movie, it’s a break-up movie, it’s a drug trip, it’s a tale of grief and the importance of empathy, it’s a goddamn mess and I’m tripped out every time I see it. Watching this group of students justify their own shitty behaviour all whilst lone girl Dani (Florence Pugh giving her best performance in a year filled with her great performances) struggles to break free from the gaslighting and emotional abuse. It’s easily the most beautiful form of an ugly film I’ve ever seen, mixing in grisly murder with a stunning colour palette and proves that Aster is a voice to remember when it comes to horror.

3: Joker

I’ve mentioned before that I initially wrote off Joker as a bad idea until I saw the intense praise and Oscar buzz. Holy shit was this film so much more than I expected it to be, The Joker’s always been a case of ‘One bad day’ can turn a good man bad, but watching Arthur Fleck go through one bad life, it’s no wonder he loses his fucking mind. The film is utterly relentless in how it pummels Arthur into the ground, bringing out the very worst in Gotham and in society with Batman still too young to help. Phoenix deserves every bit of praise he’s given for making Arthur so pathetic, so tragic and so brutal as he dons the clown make-up, he delivers on all fronts to not only take the Joker character into a new realm, but make it his own and I do hope we see him again someday.

2: The Lighthouse

Following in the steps of Kent and Aster, I’ve wanted to see what Robert Eggers did for horror next after The VVitch, the answer, he went batshit fucking crazy. The Lighthouse is a film that I’m going to be calling sheer bloody perfection for the next few years whilst also telling people not to watch it, it’s too strange of a tale, too bloody, too sexual, too drunken, too eldritch and yet that’s what I love about it. I love the claustrophic feeling I got watching Winslow and Wick lose their minds from isolation, I loved the questions raised by how much of what we’re seeing is actually happening, I loved Pattison and Defoe playing off each other, Pattison as the secretive young gun and Defoe as the maddening boss with easily the year’s best monologue where he curses Winslow out for not liking his cooking. It’s a film that shook me to my core amongst fart jokes and seagull murdering and one I cannot wait to see again and catch everything I missed.

1: Avengers: Endgame

Infinity War made Number 1 last year, and now Endgame makes it this year, I’m so goddamn predictable. When you look at it, Endgame is not perfect, it’s too long, it undercuts emotional moments with silly jokes, it has a weird relationship with time-travel and it has an odd pay-off for the arcs of Hulk and Thor. And yet, I still put as my number one movie of 2019 in spite of those flaws, this is the final chapter in an 11 year journey and they absolutely nail the landing for sheer awesomeness alone, whether it’s revisiting the past with new context or that final hour of pure fanboy brilliance, from the Hammer grab to the Portals to “I am Iron Man”, that whole finale puts this film at the top of the list but everything that came before it is why it’s such a powerful moment and why it deserves to be recognised as the best film of 2019