Tower ranks the 2019 films

[Tower]

19- Alita: Battle Angel

This film does its basic job, it has cool action scenes with really good special effects. The story isn’t incredible, but it’s fine and does its job. And unlike Captive State, this is a Sci-Fi movie that does have an interesting world, and had some thought put into it.

 

The film Certainly has faults though. There were parts that felt like something was cut out and the film jumps ahead in its character development. The ending is sequel bait of the worst kind. It’s one thing to finish the main story of the film but leave an opening for a sequel, like a lot of films do. But the ending here makes it feel as if all she really does is deal with some puppets while the real fight hasn’t really started trying to hype up Nova for a sequel that may never come.

[Tower]

18- The Lighthouse

This one was… different. The insanity of what goes on is certainly thematic with the main character, so it works better than if it just went randomly crazy. Willam Defoe was outstanding. Pattinson was good too, but did have some changing accents between his put on one and his normal one. The Lighthouse does a great job of creating a special atmosphere, and it lost me far less than this kind of weird and random kind of film usually does.

[Tower]

17- The Peanut Butter Falcon

Sweet, without becoming saccharine. Funny, but not riotously so. Having someone with something like down's syndrome can sometimes be quite annoying, but in this film it works well, and his connection with Tyler (Shia Lebouf) is great. This film is generally a good time with a relatively simple story that works well.

Edited January 31, 2020 by Tower

[Tower]

16- John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

There isn’t much to say about this film. Just like the other Wicks, the action is excellent. The plot works well in service of the action, and within the confines of the world it exists in. The world itself is the weakest part of the film, since it doesn’t really make sense if you give it much thought. But I can mostly overlook that silliness and just enjoy the ride.

Edited January 31, 2020 by Tower

[Tower]

15- Uncut Gems

The follow up film from the Safdie brothers to Good Time which was uh… a hidden gem. The two films share important similarities, with both being about the main character fucking themselves over more and more as the film progresses. However the reasoning changes, Good Time was about trying to help his brother, whereas Uncut Gems is about Sandler’s obsession with winning.

 

Sandler’s obsession does make the start of the film quite odd and confusing but it makes sense by the end, with everything falling into place in that last conversation with Garnet. All culminating in a great ending.

 

The film doesn’t quite have the intensity of Good Time, and the storyline with Demany doesn’t go anywhere, but the good parts more than make up for the negatives.

[Tower]

14- Arctic

A well executed survival film, which does a good job of keeping the viewer engaged despite a lack of dialogue. There’s a great bear scene, and the scenery is a good change of pace from the usual film. It’s slow in the good way, in the sense that it lets the viewer become engaged in the task at hand without jumping around too much or rushing through things.

[Tower]

13- I Lost My Body

Manages to combine the most WTF moments, with a severed hand battling a pigeon and rats, with some of the most heartfelt human moments. This film really got me to feel for Naoufel in a way very few films do. Love stories are rarely my favourite thing in films, but every so often one comes that really nails it, and this is one of them. 

 

The first hour or so is really incredible, the last part is still good but somewhat bloated. But if you haven’t seen this yet I highly recommend this hidden gem of a film, and I hope it could somehow win best picture at the Oscars.

[Tower]

12- Jojo Rabbit

Does a good job of combining a comedic parody of Nazism with WW2 drama. The comedy is really funny, with Taika, Rebel Wilson and Sam Rockwell all doing a good job. At the same time, the drama of Jojo growing up and his interaction with Elisa really gives the film an emotional heft.

 

If someone should be nominated for best supporting actress from this film, I would rather it be Thomasin over Scarlett, who I thought was the weakest part of the film.

[Tower]

11- I Am Mother

This is inherently the genre of film I like, but even so this gets a lot of things right. The story is thoughtful and interesting, with the plot branching in non-obvious ways. For a film made on a modest budget, it looks great. It’s not just the sci fi parts that work, but also the thriller part as well as the emotional aspects of the film, combined with the soundtrack and editing which give the film an intense feel.

 

My only important issue is with the daughter’s character. Her being special is such an important part of this film, and she certainly grows up in an unusual environment. And yet her behaviour and speech feel oddly normal. Great films about growing up in unusual environments like Room and Captain Fantastic have the children acting accordingly. The daughter just doesn’t feel unique enough, which left me wondering what it is that got her chosen over all the rest. If they nailed this part, this could have been a top 5 film for the year.

[Tower]

10- Rocketman

This film could have so easily been a boring and tedious slog, I have seen films with similar themes be that way. But Rocketman isn’t like that at all. it’s energetic with great pacing, helped by great transitions between scenes, and the whole thing is just done in such a creative way. Also I loved how in a musician biopic the music actually related to what was happening in the film at that time.

 

A shame the BO for this couldn’t be switched with the horrendous Bohemian Rhapsody, which fucked up everything that this film did right.

[Tower]

9- Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood

Not the kind of film I would normally like, it lacks a clear plot and feels aimless while watching it. If this were made by a different director, this is exactly the sort of thing I’m likely to be bored by. Luckily, this was made by Tarantino, and Tarantino knows how to make the whole thing work.The individual scenes were so good that I wasn’t terribly bothered about where it was going. Cliff meeting the Manson people, the fight with Bruce Lee, the climax. All great stuff. 

 

The first part felt a little long, but overall a great time in the cinema.

[Tower]

8- Wild Rose

The film takes the usual musician story and turns it on its head. Instead of chasing your dreams, this is about giving up on them. Instead of having anyone in the way of the hero achieving their dreams being a villain, here the main character is the villain. 

 

At the same time it’s a story of redemption, where Rose-Lynn goes from being such an incredibly unsympathetic figure at the start, to really turning her priorities around and becoming a very likeable figure by the end. All this was pulled off with a really great performance by Jessie Buckley, so watch this if you haven’t and remember to add her to your Boffy noms.

[Tower]

7- Ford V Ferrari

The name is a bit of a bait and switch, but the good kind. I was worried that this would just be the obvious sports story of where the finale is the hero gets way behind and overcomes the odds to barely beat the favourite in the last moment to overcome massive odds. Part of that is here, but this isn’t isn’t the main plot, it’s really about Ken’s struggle of being a pure racer versus a company man, which positions Beebe as the villain rather than Ferrari.

 

This film just doesn’t have any real issues. the acting is great, the comedy is funny and works as part of the story. The actual racing is well shot and feels intense, really managing to suck me in, despite not liking car racing at all. There were a couple of superfluous lines that were there to help viewers who weren’t paying attention but that was the only nitpicky problem I could think of.

[Tower]

6- The Last Black Man In San Francisco

I knew I would like this film right from the start, the first five minutes have more originality than most films will ever have. But then you get to this great story about a man trying to find a home through both the story of a house and his family. It manages to do this well, while telling the story of San Francisco in all of its weirdness (the scene with the naked guy noting the strangeness of the city made this point so well).

 

The climax with the theatre scene was excellent, and Johnathan Majors should have been nominated for best supporting actor (for everything but especially for this scene).

[Tower]

5- Joker

It’s amazing how powerful the superhero brand is, this film has no big action set pieces that are supposed to be found in a blockbuster, and if it was the same basic film but without the Joker references I really don’t think it would make a lot of money. But it did have the Joker, so it became a sensation, and deservedly so, because this film is fantastic. 

 

I never thought I needed a whole film just to see how joker became himself, but this film nailed it. It actually tells a realistic origin story for Joker. Part of how they did this is by willing to forego the usual things you would see in superhero film, and the other is with Phoenix and his sublime performance. Slow and brooding films can get boring (Pain And Glory…), but not this one.

 

As much as I like the film, it’s not perfect. We see Joker’s origin in terms of character and thoughts about society, but not in terms of his intellect. Yes, it could happen more in the asylum, but I would have liked to see something of the criminal mastermind he’s supposed to become. Also there were a couple of pin drops that seemed out of place.

 

Overall though the positives far outweigh the negatives.

[Tower]

4- Knives Out

Inserting really funny humour within a serious film without detracting from the actual story is really hard to pull off, and something that modern day films fuck up all the time (I’m looking at you Marvel… And for that matter The Last Jedi). Knives Out does exactly this and it does it perfectly.

 

The rest is great too. The characters are interesting, and the story is smart and goes in interesting directions, managing to be non-obvious without resolving it by just bringing a bunch of new information at the end that would make most of the film pointless. The plot strikes the right balance of having enough twists and turns to keep the story fresh and interesting, without going so crazy that I’d lose track of what’s happening or risk having me not be invested enough in the story to care about any changes.

 

The whole being sick from lying feels a little contrived, but it does lead to some good moments and really pays off in the end.

[Tower]

I saw another film after I started this, and it would have been number 15 had I seen it earlier.

Bonus (15) - Portrait Of A Lady On Fire

Hardly my favourite genre, but the combination of the unique sounds with the wonderful acting gives this a very film a very engrossing feeling, far more than I usually feel about a love story. The combination of intensity and charming moments really elevates this film. There were a couple of parts where it lost me, but I really enjoyed this one on the whole.

[Tower]

3- Parasite

Before even considering the themes, this film tells a great story in a very entertaining way. Half way through you might think you know where it’s going, but it has one hell of a twist that completely changes everything. Making the film feel fresh and entertaining for its entire runtime.

 

But the themes were also well told. The half basement living contrasted first with the mansion and then with the bunker. The smell being used to connect the father and the guy from the bunker. The film manages to talk about class without falling into the trap of becoming a one note heavy handed story, like say Titanic. The family start off so sympathetic with the fumigation and then later with the flood, but at the same time their actions get worse and worse as the story progresses.

[Tower]

2- Marriage Story

Damn, what a film, the way it made me care about a subject that I could easily get bored by and tune out. The film is layered and thoughtful, while still being really funny in the moments it was trying to be, with comedy that actually was actually part of the films rather than taking a break from the plot to make some jokes like some films. Having great acting performances is really important for a film like this, and both Johanson and Driver are fantastic. The lawyers are mostly great too, and while I did think the trial could have gone a little further with what it was doing, what we get is still great.

[misafeco]

17 minutes ago, Tower said:

The film manages to talk about class without falling into the trap of becoming a one note heavy handed story, like say Titanic.

Offtopic, but I don't think Titanic is a good example of a one note portrayal of the different classes. While it is taking the side of the poor people during most of the movie, it isn't black and white in my opinion. Most of the wealthy people on the ship is not portrayed evil at all. Kathy Bates's character (although she is "new money") is one major example. There is the old couple dying in each others arms. Multiple rich men refusing to take the women and children's place in the lifeboats and facing death like champs. Cal Hockley is probably the only unredeemable character. Even Rose's mother is portrayed as someone who is just out of touch with the reality and at the same time trying to preserve the good life of the family. Selfish, but not evil. I liked that there were heros and grey characters among the 1st class & 3rd class passengers and the crew as well.