Favorite Films of 2019 (and some from 2018)

Garden Aglow. Idaho Botanical Gardens. December 31, 2019.

Happy new year! This holiday season I was fortunate to hear so much great winter and holiday music and was reminded of the “Lost Pleasures of Group Singing” and was even at an event where we sang the theme song to the Mr. Rogers T.V. show but I prefer this autotune remix version of Mr. Rogers’ “Garden in the Mind” via Austin Kleon.

Anyway, here are my favorite films of 2019–the ones that have stayed with me and in some cases, changed me. Some of these came out before 2019, but I saw them in 2019 so these are my favorite films I saw in 2019. And, there are a ton of films released last year that I haven’t seen yet but really, really want to so this list is what it is. And, most of the links here are affiliate links to Amazon–helps me keep up the website when you click. (Thank you!)

Most Fun Films of 2019

Zombieland: Double Tap

I love the film “Zombieland” and I hate zombie films. There’s only so much you can do to create narrative drama with such a stupid predator which is how films like “Zombeavers” end up almost working. Kind of. Also, it’s rare that a sequel lives up to the first, but “Double Tap” feels like a continuation of the road trip we started on with Columbus, Tallahassee, Wichita, and Little Rock so it’s a fun ride if you enjoyed the original.

Ready or Not

Another film I enjoyed way more than I thought, because I’m not into bloody horror films, is “Ready or Not.” Yes, the obvious metaphor that you marry into a family, not just your partner, seems heavy handed, but there’s a twist that gets at the relationship between our lovers and the consequence of being dishonest.

Always Be My Maybe [On Netflix]

This is a Netflix exclusive but so funny written by and starring Ali Wong and Randall Park. It’s the classic someone-made-it-and-is-back-in-town-and-runs-into-old-flame movie but Wong and Park know how to write and perform humor in a way that I find to be really meaningful. I mean, it won’t change your life meaningful, but it’s super fun entertainment.

Fighting With My Family

While this is actually a dramedy, it falls more toward a meaningful “fun” movie than films that change the way I think. It’s super charming about a young girl who “makes it” as a wrestler in a family of wrestlers. Based on a true story and really great feel good film.

Favorite Dramas of 2019

The Sound of Silence

Puns aside, this quiet film really affected me. I love Peter Sarsgaard and his portrayal of a professional who tunes the sounds and noises in peoples’ homes and work spaces is fascinating in its look at attention. He’s hired to tune a home that he can not tune and that’s how Michael Tyburski and Ben Nabors help us look into ourselves in relation to others and the world around us. I really love the cool color space of this film which helps me concentrate on the auditory world of the protagonist. I highly recommend this film if you like indie films that don’t necessarily “do much” in real time but their work begins and continues after having seen the film.

Woman at War

The director of the community chorus becomes an environmental activist which threatens the biggest desire in her life. Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir plays Halla and her commitment to this role physically is amazing. Oh, it’s an Icelandic film and I have a thing for stories of people in the North.

Never Look Away (2018)

I know, this film was released in 2018, but I saw it in 2019 and it’s another that affected me and kept my attention for a long time after seeing it. The story, loosely based on life events of a German artist, follows a German art student during WWII from East to West Germany and how his experiences with love and censorship influence who he is and how he paints. The acting in this film is fantastic and it’s beautifully shot.

Weirdest Films of 2019 That I’ve Watched Multiple Times

Under the Silver Lake (2018)

This may have been my favorite film of 2018 but that I saw in 2019. Andrew Garfield as Sam meets a beautiful girl in the swimming pool at his apartment building, there’s a mysterious dog killer, there’s the dude who found a clue in a graphic novel that’s only sold at one bookstore, there’s the elaborate codex hidden in the music of a recently released album, and these are what make logical sense. I have a high tolerance for surrealism and nonlinear narrative, but if you want to know who “really” wrote all of Nirvana’s songs...well, it may or may not be revealed in this film.

Starfish (2018)

Another indie film that was released in 2018, but I saw in 2019, “Starfish” follows a young woman processing grief for the loss of her best friend and this may be the day the world ends too. I’m not sure it’s a great film, but it’s a great story and I was really taken with the visualization of how we deal with grief.

The Last Black Man in San Francisco

This film, directed and written by Joe Talbot and based on a story by lead actor Jimmie Fails, is as intimate as we can get in cinema: personal stories told by the people who lived and imagined them. While this film is a drama, it is odd in that it’s clearly about one thing that I track through the film and also about something I feel but can not say what it is. I love when a film can make me feel something particular that I cannot otherwise express–much like a poem.

The Art of Self-Defense

I’m not recommending this film, it’s weird and goes off the rails in a “Fight Club” kind of way, but I will say that I really enjoyed the dark comedy in this one. Also, I love Jesse Eisenberg and it’s always interesting to see how Alessando Nivola inhabits characters that are only almost normal. Not sure what else to say on this one, watch the trailer, but beware that it doesn’t include the map to where the story goes.

Favorite Film of 2019

Joker

I know, it surprises me too, but I went into this film thinking I was seeing a DC Comic movie that was going to be somewhat entertaining and mostly tedious and I was so surprised. “Joker” empathises with the least among us and calls in to question our complicity as a society in creating monsters. I’m not recommending you watch this film. But if you’re willing to be changed, this film asks some questions about how we create culture that is more than timely.