Top 10 Movies of 2019
1. Prospect
Although technically a 2018 movie, Prospect received the majority of its release in 2019 and therefore qualifies in my book. Also, it’s way too good to ignore. Notable as Pedro Pascal’s other space western this year, Prospect is immersive, lived-in, clapped-out science fiction. Every space suit and weapon and piece of breathing apparatus looks like it’s held together with sticky tape and a positive mental attitude. Taking its influence from the Strugatskys, body horror and a Soviet cosmonaut aesthetic, a father (Jay Duplass) and his daughter (Sophie Thatcher) land on an alien world in search of a lucrative, living (?) element that could buy them out of poverty. Intelligent, thrilling science fiction that could not be more ‘my cup of tea’ if had had one sugar and a packet of Hob Nobs. Superb.
2. JoJo Rabbit
Taika Waititi’s wonderful comedy drama made me belly laugh with its silly humour and then cry with its serious moments. A potential minefield with both the subject matter and the switching tone, it all works perfectly, leaving us with a movie that’s well intentioned, funny and sad, but above all, absolutely delightful. I can’t wait to re-watch it.
3. Burning (Beoning)
Lee Chang-dong’s intense, deliberate mystery is one of those films that sets up shop in your brain and just won’t budge. The methodical plot becomes slowly more irresistible and it would not work at all without the excellent performances from Ah-in Yoo and Jong-seo Jun, but special mention has to go to Steven Yeun (The Walking Dead) as smug, unbearable rich kid Ben. Loosely based on the Haruki Murakami short story, Barn Burning, but also incorporating some Columbo-esque detective prowess, Burning extrapolates the 20 page yarn into two and a half hours of head spinning, thought-provoking mystery.
4. Parasite (Gisaengchung)
Bong Joon-ho’s riveting class-war thriller is a movie completely deserving of all the accolades, as a family living on the breadline ingratiates themselves into the lives of a rich Seoul household. It’s also a cracking black comedy that takes us in some very unexpected directions. Although there is a clear way to interpret Bong’s opinion here, particularly if you’ve also seen The Host and/or the brilliantly unsubtle Snowpiercer, it asks you to question who the ‘parasites’ are.
5. Midsommar
A nice bit of folk horror brightened up the middle of the year with Ari Aster’s Midsommar, which plays it weird and gets away with it. Midsommar doesn’t terrify you, instead it s-l-o-w-l-y builds its creeping dread until suddenly, like the characters themselves, you realise you’re slap bang in the middle of something distressing. Like Hereditary before it, Aster keeps no secrets and telegraphs everything that is to come, if you are inclined to look out for it. Yet there is still room for surprise as the self-absorbed tourists come a cropper underneath the midnight sun.
6. Joker
For once DC’s eternal quest to rip the all joy from their movies worked in their favour, as Joker heavily riffs on King of Comedy and is grim and utterly nihilistic. Not a fun watch, but undoubtedly a good one. It’s important to note that Joker never glamourizes character or behaviour and the suggestion that it might be some sort of incel rally cry is no more credible than suggesting Judas Priest could make you want to shoot someone, or that videogames incite violence. The thin ice of that argument leads directly back to the PMRC or the Video Nasties list. That said, Joker is a tough view, with no silver lining and no concession to niceties. A sign of the times, as the world goes into the bin? Or is it simply that the only way to finance a movie with exploitation grade misanthropy in 2019 is to attach it to a superhero property?
7. Hobbs & Shaw
I’ve pretty strongly disliked every film in the garbage Fast & Furious franchise, from its Point Break rip-off opener to its overloaded Bond rip-off later chapters. So I absolutely did not expect Hobbs & Shaw to be SO much fun. It’s basically a knuckleheaded re-tread of John Woo’s Mission Impossible 2, and although it’s perhaps a little bit too long in the final third, The Rock and The Stath and a very charming Vanessa Kirby ensure the banter is funny, the tone is light and a solidly good time is had.
8. John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
Third time’s a charm for John Wick, a series which I like very much, but perhaps don’t LOVE as much as others. For me, Parabellum is the best one. It’s got everything you’ve come to expect from the series but sits just that little bit higher this time around, courtesy of a frenetic opening 20 minutes, that includes a wince inducing knife fight, assault by library book and a bloke getting beaten up with a horse. Factor in a couple of doggos joining John Wick and Halle Berry in the fisticuffs, and Yayan Ruhian and Cecep Arif Rahman from the Raid movies as a couple of deadly assassins and I think my point is proved. Best of the three.
9. Piercing
Although based on a novel by Ryu Murakami, Piercing really reminds me of a different book – Tim Krabbe’s horrifying novella The Vanishing (aka The Golden Egg), as it puts you right inside the head of a person with a sinister intent. Family man Reed (Christopher Abbot) plots and then proceeds to enact, the murder of a sex worker (Mia Wasikowska). Things get weird and take an unexpected turn and it’s all told with a striking visual style (including some miniature work Wes Anderson would be proud of), that makes for a really dark and original horror movie.
10. Crawl
Alexandre Aja’s Crawl is a tense, horror thrill ride. With Haley (Kaya Scodelario) rescuing her injured father Dave (Barry Pepper) from the basement of their family home as a hurricane sets in. The jeopardy comes from the dual prong attack of ferocious ‘gators and a race against the clock to beat the angry weather. Crawl is not as seedy as Aja’s back catalogue suggests it might be. It doesn’t revel in the gore and nudity of Piranha 3D, and it doesn’t try to mess you up like The Hills Have Eyes. Instead, Crawl is a more sophisticated affair – or at least it’s as sophisticated as an alligator attack movie can be - by ramping up the tension and delivering a serious reptile rampage.
2020 vision
I’m not including the things I caught at film festivals this year, as they will all likely see general release in 2020. But with that in mind, I would strongly encourage looking out for Ant Timpson’s black comedy Come To Daddy starring Elijah Wood, feel-good comedy drama Sword Of Trust with Mark Maron, the claustrophobic psychological horror of Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s The Lodge and Richard Stanley’s HP Lovecraft mindbender The Color Out Of Space starring Nicolas Cage.
