Favourite Films of 2019

My favourite films each year are simply the films I loved. They may not be the “best” and they certainly aren’t part of any consensus, rarely matching up with the films the critics award or the films which topped the box office, especially this year where so many of the films the pundits are falling all over themselves to love (The Irishman, Once Upon a Time In Hollywood), or the films which sold the most tickets (mostly from Marvel), are films I appreciate but had little to no emotional connection to. No, these on this list are the films I loved the most this past year,  and will enjoy the most year after year as I return to them each time growing richer for the experience. I share them with you because I want to share my love of these films, not to argue about whether they are “good” or not, a pointless exercise as there is really no such thing. If you love a movie, love it. Don't let others tell you you shouldn't. Instead I present the 10 films that for me made going to the movies such a wonderful experience in 2019.

Booksmart

I was sore from smiling and laughing the first time I saw Booksmart but it was the overwhelming joy in the film which kept me smiling as I left the cinema and as I rewatched it over and over, shared it with friends and family, and remembered its most charming moments. It is a tribute to friendship and love and iGen’s first great “coming-of-age” movie like each generation has had before it. It is an idealistic look at the high school experience, a love letter, the heart signature in your year book. Booksmart is a pure cinematic joy.

 

Glass

The Unbreakable series has never been for the masses. Its unique take on the experience of loving comic books and superheroes specifically is like nothing else, even in this age where comic books stories and superheroes dominate screens. This conclusion to the epic was everything I wanted it to be. I watch it and I am thrilled and moved and melancholic. I understand it is not a movie for most audiences, none of these 3 films were. They were for a very specific audience of which I am very happy to be a part.

A Hidden Life

While I generally appreciate writer/director Terrance Malick’s approach to film making, generally his movies lose me somewhere along the way. This was the first time I was gripped from beginning to end. His portrait of a real man (and woman) and their real life heroic struggle brings all his masterful, impressionistic film making techniques and paints a picture of overwhelming beauty. Gorgeous and harrowing A Hidden Life is a triumph about a real triumph.

 

J’ai perdu mon corps

In a year I felt the large animations studios let me down thank goodness for this beautiful, poignant, bizarre love story about loss. Beautiful hand drawn animation and a haunting story make for one of the most gorgeous and unique films of the year. I love a movie that makes you contemplate its ending, giving you many possibilities on how to understand what you just witnessed. Hands down the best animated film of the year (I couldn’t resist).

Joker

Sure I have other polarizing movies on my list but this is likely the most divisive. A phenomenon, it became a target for those who couldn’t embrace it. While much of its strength lie in deconstructing the dominate pop culture movie genre of its time, for me my love of this film comes from a combination of its visual style and its unreliable narrator format. I can’t get its haunting moments out of my head. It is about getting into the mind of a villain, someone terrible, which is an uncomfortable and complicated, especially if we accept that we may not be seeing a truthful representation of the series of events. It makes us ask who we sympathize with and why, and are we being played a joke on.

Little Women

Writer/director Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of the classic novel may be my favourite take on this story, her approach is both, well novel, and essentially faithful.  Grounded by a strong cast and liberated by an unconventional narrative structure, Little Women explores the hearts of the March family in new ways. It is a beautiful film in all meanings of the word. Gerwig made me fall in love with these little women all over again.

Man Running

This personal film about self-doubt just touched me in ways no other film did this year. Perhaps it was the personal connection as a runner and a Calgarian, which made a special place for this specific story, a challenging story about finding a way to live with yourself and look in the mirror again. Writer/director Gary Burns has returned after quite a hiatus to deliver one of the most satisfying films of the year.

The Nightingale

If you want to know how to find inspiration in a dark and disturbing story, watching The Nightingale is a good way to find out. But it isn’t the hard tragedy of the tale which drew me in, it was writer/director Jennifer Kent’s powerful story telling talent and her beautiful visuals which made this story of feminine strength so raw and powerful.

Queen & Slim

Don’t let the stylize slickness of this road movie fool you, there is a brave rawness and honesty in this update of a classic trope into a very of-the-moment story. From writer Lena Waithe’s poetic script, to director Melina Matsoukas’ hot creative visuals, to the cast’s rich layered performances, Queen & Slim is a treat that explores real American tragedy with a boldness and style that eschews defeat.

Each of these were films which I love but my favourite of the year is a film that I kept coming back to and couldn’t shake, a film which touched a nerve for me as no other did, a film which I believe is underrated, terrifying, and completely engrossing;

Us

I believe writer/director Jordan Peele surpassed his more critically admired film Get Out with this follow up. Horror is a genre which I find rarely reaches great heights but when it does it can be something terribly powerful. Us is one of those films, the first horror film I’ve ever had top my list of favourites of the year. It is one of the most powerful deconstructions of American racism I have ever seen and it is horrifying as it should be. It is also completely engaging as any good horror movie should be. It leaves my blood chilled and is centered by one of the most incredible performances I have ever see from an actor.  I knew when I saw it early in 2019 that it would be the film to beat this year and no film was able to do that for me.

Honorary mention:

Star Wars Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker

The final chapter in the main Star Wars saga is once again dividing fans, critics, and general audiences. While the film was not what I was expecting or what I was likely dreaming of, I have come to see on multiple viewings, that it fulfills my wishes for the series which is the most influential for me in being a movie lover. I haven’t read one critique which isn’t “It wasn’t what I wanted it to be.” I let go of that and just let it tell me the story it was going to tell and I loved it and keep loving it and I know that no matter what I will keep enjoying it for years to come.

For me 2019 won’t go down in history as one of the better years in cinema. But there were some wonderful movies this year as I mentioned and a number of other films which deserve honorary mentions as well as I truly enjoyed them and will return to them again in the future as well. If you get a chance to see any of these, take the chance:

1917, All is True, Atlantique, The Death & Life of John F. Donovan, Doctor Seep, The Farewell, Fighting With My Family, The Grizzlies, I’ll Take Your Dead, Knives Out, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Motherless Brooklyn, Parasite, Rocketman, Shazam!, Waves, Wild Rose.