In 2019:
Pope Francis became the first pontiff to visit the Arabian peninsula;
The Republic of Macedonia renamed itself the Republic of Northern Macedonia;
Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un met for the second time in Hanoi, Vietnam;
Disney bought 21st Century Fox;
Robert Mueller concluded his report into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives during the 2016 US Presidential election;
Scientists published the first image of a black hole;
A major fire engulfed Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France;
Theresa May resigned as British Prime Minister and Boris Johnson succeeded her;
Massive protests in Hong Kong erupted after the introduction of an extradition bill;
The US House of Representative approved articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump;
Archie Mountbatten-Windsor was born;
While Bob Einstein, Gene Okerlund, Carol Channing, Jonas Mekas, Dick Miller, Albert Finney, Frank Robinson, Bruno Ganz, Stanley Donen, Peter Tork, Katherine Helmond, Andre Previn, Luke Perry, Dick Dale, Seymour Cassel, Charles Van Doren, John Singleton, Peter Mayhew, Alvin Sargent, Peggy Lipton, Doris Day, Tim Conway, Grumpy Cat, I.M. Pei, Herman Wouk, Niki Lauda, Claus von Bülow, Bart Starr, Bill Buckner, Sylvia Miles, Franco Zeffirelli, Gloria Vanderbilt, Lee Iaocca, Ross Perot, Rip Torn, John Paul Stevens, Rutger Hauer, Harold Prince, D.A. Pennebaker, Harley Race, Toni Morrison, Jeffrey Epstein, Peter Fonda, Valerie Harper, Robert Mugabe, Diahann Carroll, Ginger Baker, Rip Taylor, Robert Forster, Harold Bloom, Michael J. Pollard, Shelley Morrison, Renee Auberjonois, Carroll Spinney, Juice Wrld, Danny Aiello, Don Imus, and Neil Innes died.
The following is a a list of my ten favorite films released in 2019:
10) Ordinary Love
Joan (Leslie Manville) and Tom (Liam Neeson) have been married for a long time. Their relationship survived the death of their daughter, but when Joan finds a cancerous mass on her breast, it stretches the limits of their marital bliss.
Manville is phenomenal. Joan’s pain (physical and existential) is palpable and searing. Neeson is excellent as the doting husband who struggles to be an effective caregiver.
It’s a beautiful film about the “for worse” part of the marriage vows. Joan and Tom’s relationship feels real, with the easy shorthand and gentle teasing which informs and inhabits the best marriages.
While incarcerated, Daniel has a deep spiritual awakening, but is denied entry into the priesthood because of his criminal background.
Upon release, he is innocently mistaken for a visiting priest and seizes the chance to fulfill what he believes is his destiny: he winds up taking over the parish, working to heal deep wounds caused by a drunk driving accident.
It’s a powerful example of what it means to be faithful and how we build artificial barriers which exclude people who want to serve. Faith is messy and rarely behaves the way we expect.
8) The Farewell
Offended she’s not invited to her cousin’s Chinese wedding, listless thirtysomething Billi Wang (Awkwafina) defiantly makes plans to go anyway, so her parents reveal the truth: they excluded her because her paternal grandmother, Nai Nai (Zhao Shuzhen) has been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. Her family has decided to go see her, but not tell her the extent of her illness. They excluded Billi because they didn’t think she could keep the secret.
This touching movie works because of the incredible work and delightful chemistry from Shuzhen and Awkawfna. I adored my grandmother and this film checked a lot of boxes for me.
It’s a poignant movie about growing old gracefully and how diagnoses shouldn’t define us. In a surprise twist, the woman who inspired the story, the real life Nai Nai, is still living six years after her diagnosis.
7) Joker
It’s 1981, and Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a mentally disturbed single man living with his mother, dreams of a career as a stand up comedian, oblivious to his lack of talent. Arthur’s mother (Frances Conroy) pampers him and seems to be suffering from her own mental issues.
He attains a modicum of infamy after talk show host Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro) shows a video of one of Fleck’s disastrous comedy sets.
Arthur plunges deeper into his paranoia and confusion. Attacked on the subway, he lashes out and kills his attackers. This taste of blood seemingly frees him from moral constraints.
I love the subtle references to De Niro’s earlier film The King of Comedy: the need for acceptance and understanding animate both films. I love the decision to make Thomas Wayne less saintly than the traditional comic book interpretation.
Some criticized the film for excusing incel behavior, but I saw the movie as an exploration of what drives people to these inhumane outlets; mental illness plus an uncaring society pushes people to the brink.
Phoenix has rarely been more fascinating; Zazie Beets is wonderful as a potential love interest for Arthur; and Frances Conroy is quietly heartbreaking as Fleck’s mother.
Todd Phillips was mostly known for directing raunchy comedies like The Hangover, but has a keen eye for outcasts. His decision to mirror Arthur’s unreliability by making it difficult to tell how much of the film takes place in Arthur’s demented mind was a masterstroke of storytelling.
6) Chernobyl
At first glance, a five hour miniseries about the Chernobyl nuclear disaster does not sound like riveting television.
However, by placing the onus of the storytelling on the bottom strata of the people involved, writer / creator Craig Mazan makes an insightful observation: history is big events, drama is the forgotten people dealing with historical events.
The coverup, the Cold War tension, the inability to admit weakness, rampant misogyny. Stellar performances from Emily Watson (always underrated), Stellan Skarsgard, and Jared Harris. It’s an all too timely reminder of the way external politics can dictate and influence internal policies in disastrous ways.
Having previously directed The Squid and the Whale, Noah Baumbach’s portrait of a disintegrating marriage is familiar territory. It doesn’t take a psychology degree to assume he has deep issues with his parents’ divorce.
This feels like Kramer vs. Kramer updated for the 21st century. Charlie (Adam Driver) and Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) were in love, but their marriage (like many) slowly deteriorated, little disagreements turned into huge rifts they were unable or unwilling to patch over.
Complicating things is their young son, Henry. Charlie wants to be in Henry’s life, but doesn’t want to leave New York and his theater career. While Nicole is insistent on moving near her mother in LA so she can pursue her own career in Hollywood.
Although they pledge to split up amicably, their eventual turn to lawyers, Nora Fanshaw (Laura Dern) and Jay Moratta (Ray Liotta) exacerbates the situation.
Driver and Johannson are great. Alan Alda, Martha Kelly, Merrit Wever, Wallace Shawn, and Julie Hagerty round out the incredibly talent supporting cast. While it won her an Oscar, I didn’t care for Dern’s performance; it felt more like a caricature than a real person.
Two scenes deserve special praise: Charlie’s Sondeim solo, and the scene where he punches a wall out of frustration and wishes Nicole would die, then immediately begs her forgiveness.
Every married person fears their marriage will devolve into something bitter and nasty, fearing our unguarded intimate moments will be used as ammo against us. This movie brings those fears to life.
This dramatization of the relationship between Benedict XVI (Anthony Hopkins) and the man who would replace him, Francis (Jonathan Pryce) is a lovely film exploring differing views on the role of faith and how God manifests himself to us.
Hopkins and Pryce give remarkable, memorable performances, which, to their enormous credit, never devolve into mimicry.
This microcosm of the traditionalist vs. progressive argument which dominates western religious institutions points to the way we should approach our differences, with respect and candor. Not trying to defeat our opponents, but instead seeing them as as fellow travelers searching for the truth, whose life experience has resulted in slightly different conclusions.
3) Doctor Sleep
Grown up Danny Torrance (Ewan Mcgregor), still dealing with the psychological scars caused by his traumatic childhood, turns to alcohol to cope but eventually gets sober and finds purpose in using his psychological powers (which he calls the shine) to comfort dying people at an elder home. His abilities connect him to Abra (a young girl blessed / cursed with the same gift).
At the center of this film is a group of vampires calling themselves the True Knot which searches for people with the shine to steal their energy (which they call steam). After the True Knot kidnaps and tortures Bradley (Jacob Tremblay), Abra convinces Danny to help her fight back against the group. Their struggle culminates at the Overlook Hotel where Danny confronts his past and uses the hotel’s powers to his advantage.
I know Stephen King had issues with the adaptation, and I’ve never read the source material, but I have a strong affection for Kubrick’s version of The Shining. Director Mike Flanagan wanted to bridge the gap between the visions of Kubruck and King, producing a hybrid sequel to both, expanding the original movie’s mythos and explains the nature of the Overlook Hotel.
Recasting iconic characters like the Torrances and Dick Halloran was risky, but Flanagan and his team succeeded. Carl Lumbly is great in the role Scatman Crothers originated, Alex Essoe is fine as Wendy, and Henry Thomas (of ET fame) is fantastic as the bartender / ghost of Jack Torrance. Thomas was a star of Flanagan’s breakthrough hit The Haunting of Hill House which I’m sure led to his casting.
I loved this movie, I love revisiting old friends, and I love Danny’s self-sacrificial arc.
After ten years and twenty movies, this is a satisfying conclusion to this chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. All the work done to establish these characters payoffs. As someone who grew up reading comic books, the coolness of this moment cannot be overstated.
The Time Heist is a brilliant story telling device, allowing us to revisit films we’ve seen multiple times, while managing to make them new and vibrant.
I love the arc of Iron Man and Captain America: the self sacrifice of the selfish reluctant hero, the selfish act of the selfless man. I love Iron Man’s response to Thanos and the closure Tony gets with his dad.
1) 63 Up
In 1964, the BBC commissioned a short documentary inspired by Ignatious Loyola’s maxim, “give me a child until he is seven, and I will give you the man.” Picking a cross section of British kids from the upper class to the lowest of working class neighborhoods, Seven Up! interviewed them about their dreams, aspirations, and thoughts on the world they inhabited. Every seven years since, Michael Apted has tracked down the fourteen participants and asked them to reflect on who they were and how different their lives diverged from their plans.
Most of them have willingly participated in this ritual examination of their lives (although they have all expressed some resentment of their association with the project).
Through the eyes of these random children, we’ve seen the devastating effects of mental illness, the snobbery of wealth and privilege, the struggles of being a single mom on disability. The participants have formed unlikely friendships. Their marriages have gone through struggles. They’ve experienced medical and financial hardships. and most of them are now grandparents. They’ve taught all over the world. They’ve survived cancer. One of them has died. It’s as close as we’re going to get to a documentary about the human experience, and each successive iteration is more poignant and touching than the last.