As a holdover while I'm working on longer posts, I thought I'd go over my five favorite movies of 2019:
5.) IT CHAPTER TWO
Not as scary as Chapter One but with a lot of visual thrills and a ton of heart, the second part of Andy Muschietti's adaptation of Stephen King's novel is a worthy successor to the 90's miniseries and one of the best King movies.
4.) DETECTIVE PIKACHU
This one was a big surprise for me, because I expect less than nothing from most video game adaptations and Pokemon isn't the most narratively rich universe in gaming, but this was an adorable adventure with AMAZING visuals (Rime City's neon-soaked nighttime market full of creatures is a highlight) and the cutest private eye in movies, voiced by Ryan Reynolds basically playing himself but cuddlier.
3.) TOY STORY 4
A thousand and one things have been said about this masterpiece, the (probably) final film in Pixar's legendary series, better than I could ever express them, so I'll say this: I sobbed at the ending. I've grown up with these toys. Now it's time to say goodbye. Great job, Pixar.
2.) AVENGERS: ENDGAME
ENDGAME was never gonna get everything right-how could it, even with Marvel Studio's seemingly unending supply of consistent movie magic?- but as the denouement of a 22-FILM SAGA, it's as satisfying and epic a conclusion as anyone could hope for. Every character gets their due (except Black Widow, but that's a story for another day), Robert Downey Jr. delivers his finest performance as Tony Stark, the embattled former asshole billionaire who's sacrificed everything and made many mistakes trying to save the world, and Captain America gets a happy ending. I walked out the theater with the biggest grin.
1.) ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD
Quentin Tarantino's fairytale ode to the Hollywood that was (or maybe never was) is maybe his magnum opus. It gives us Leonardo DiCaprio at his semi-sleazy best as washed-up-but-still-got-it western actor Rick Dalton, and Margot Robbie in a brief but magical role as Sharon Tate, one of the tragic victims of the Manson family murders, who'd just started a promising acting career when she was killed. But it's Brad Pitt's scene-stealing turn as the impossibly cool (and perhaps narratively unreliable?) stuntman Cliff Booth, and his sweet bromance with Rick, that make this movie my favorite of the year. A lot of love for old Hollywood, that goddamn end sequence involving the Manson killers, and one of the sweetest and saddest final shots in any film. ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD is a modern classic.
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