Sunday, January 12, 2020

Best Films of 2019

2019 was an interesting year for films. On one hand, the popular vote continued to go to massive superhero films, hailing primarily from Marvel, while on the other, the truly interesting and arresting stories came from either masterful storytellers, or storytellers influenced by masters of the craft. It was a year where I was dazzled and surprised by Olivia Wilde's "Booksmart", and where Tarantino's latest opus, didn't entirely convince me, but was nonetheless an entertaining endeavor. Overall it was a great year for films.

Parasite
Director: Bong Joon Ho
Director: Celine Sciamma

Booksmart
Director: Pedro Almodovar

Director: Martin Scorsese
The Report
Director: Scott Z. Burns

1917
Director: Sam Mendes

Other films also worth watching and mentioning include Greta Gerwig's "Little Women",  Jay Roach's "Bombshell", Mike Flanagan's "Doctor Sleep", Craig Brewer's "Dolemite is My Name" and Sebastian Lelio's "Gloria Bell".
TV shows worth investigating include Leslye Headland, Natasha Lyonne and Amy Poehler's "Russian Doll" and Susannah Grant, Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman's "Unbelievable".

Films that simply failed on multiple levels include Michael Bay's "6 Underground" (one of the worst features I've seen in years), Todd Strauss-Schulson's "Isn't it Romantic" and Luc Besson's "Anna".

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