These are our picks for the top 10 movies from 2019 that are worth your time
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences listed 344 films from 2019 as contenders for the upcoming Academy Awards. If we accept science fiction master Theodore Sturgeon’s dictum that “90 percent of anything is crud,” that leaves 35 films that merit our attention. More than two dozen stick in my mind, and I hadn’t seen everything at press time that may be award-worthy. (I saved “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” for a Christmas visit with my nephew.)
Some haven’t reached Charlotte yet. Some are in theaters now, and many can be found online in the ever-expanding cyberuniverse of entertainment. But they’re all worth your time.
(1) “1917”
Great war movies present the horrors of battle in a “you are there” way, and I’ve never seen one do that better. As two British soldiers cross France to warn a regiment about a German ambush, Roger Deakins’ fluid camera follows them in and out of danger thrillingly. The almost casually grim encounters with death show why many men came back from World War I (and every later war) with broken minds and spirits. See this on the biggest screen you can find.
(2) “Apollo 11”
After watching endless footage of the first moon landing as a high school sophomore, I figured I didn’t have much to learn about that occasion. But this documentary, released around the 50th anniversary of the event, puts together footage so meticulously and comprehensively that I felt stunned all over again. In a year when partisan politics are ripping the country apart, what a joy it was to be reminded of what Americans can achieve in unity.
(3) “Parasite”
South Korean writer-director Bong Joon-Ho celebrated his own 50th birthday this fall with his dark, occasionally violent comedy about a struggling family. Its members worm their way individually into the confidence — and eventually the house — of a rich, clueless and supercilious couple. Our sympathies lie with the interlopers, who do some good while taking over until circumstances threaten to unmask them. Yet who are the real parasites here?
(4) “Corpus Christi”
Poland’s nominee for best foreign film lets us ponder what Christian goodness means, and who’s entitled to communicate it. A reformatory school graduate, denied access to seminary for past misdeeds, goes to a small village and pretends to be a visiting priest. His blend of common sense and love surprises both him and the townspeople, who begun to heal after a terrible accident. Inevitably, though, someone who could expose him lands in town.
(5) “Marriage Story”
Don’t we recognize the worst of ourselves in the best movies about marital discord? I winced watching two actors at the top of their game, Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, bitterly baring their souls in Noah Baumbach’s comedy-drama. They play a show business couple torn apart by geography and artistic snobbery and united by their only son, over whom both want custody. Baumbach’s script ranks among the year’s most astute.
(6) “Weathering with You”
Only Japan regularly dares to submit animated movies as nominees for foreign film Oscars, but these mold-breaking projects often deserve special attention. This one, about a girl who can magically improve the weather at the expense of her own life force, asks big questions. The main one: Do personal concerns (including new love) matter more than social obligations, especially when society as a whole has abdicated its responsibilities?
(7) “Pain and Glory”
Spanish writer-director Pedro Almodóvar turned 70 this year and has entered a Federico Fellini-like late phase. Here he reflects on his life with wry humor and a touch of melancholy over the loss of childhood innocence and a young man’s creative energy. Antonio Banderas perfectly embodies the main character, a grizzled filmmaker; the supporting cast includes a host of Almodóvar regulars from recent decades, topped by Penélope Cruz.
(8) “Midsommar”
First-rate horror movies do more than scare us: They force us to confront flaws in our societies, as “Get Out” and “Us” did. In this case, Americans travel with a Swedish friend to his rural home for a summer festival. The placid environment becomes ever more bizarre, as writer-director Ari Aster shows why cults attract people who are willing to give up their individuality and repel — or destroy — those who aren’t. The last shot is the creepiest of all.
(9) “Booksmart”
Every critic should have an “ugly dog” movie he defends against audience neglect, and this qualifies for me in 2019. Actress Olivia Wilde made her feature debut with this intelligent, unexpectedly emotional look at two bright bookworms. The girls feel misjudged by their high school graduating class, spend one night trying to emulate the fun-loving “average” kids they’ve looked down on, then discover they’ve misjudged their classmates, too.
(10) “American Factory”
This documentary begins with hope: A Chinese glass company buys a defunct GM plant in Ohio and hires back many laborers. But cultures clash. Chinese supervisors call Americans lazy, inefficient and stupid, while workers learn bosses plan to rule as they did back home: mandatory overtime, low wages, unsafe conditions. This warning about the perils of the global economy ends with a sobering look at technology that makes all workers obsolete.
Honorable mention in alphabetical order: “Ad Astra,” “Edge of Democracy,” “The Farewell,” “Flannery,” “Ford v Ferrari,” “Jojo Rabbit,” “Knives Out,” “The Last Black Man in San Francisco,” “The Lighthouse,” “Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice,” “Little Women,” “Maiden,” “The Report,” “Temblores,” “The Two Popes,” “Us.”
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This story was originally published December 23, 2019 at 9:06 AM.