“Every great film should seem new every time you see it.”
– Roger Ebert, Film Critic
Best Comedy Film: Booksmart
Runner Up: Knives Out
Best Foreign Language Film: Parasite
Runners Up: Birds Of Passage, Pain and Glory
Best Animated Film: Toy Story 4
Runner Up: How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
Best Horror Film: Us
Runners Up: Ready or Not, The Lighthouse
BEST MOVIES OF 2019
Runners Up
Ad Astra
Marriage Story
Queen & Slim
Ford v. Ferrari
Booksmart
Toy Story 4
Knives Out
The Lighthouse
Rocketman
The Peanut Butter Falcon
The Farewell
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
High Life
The Last Black Man in San Francisco
Us
TOP 5
Five:
UNCUT GEMS
Josh and Benny Safdie excel in unflinching filmmaking, providing an exhilarating viewing experience. And there’s no toning it down in this searing crime thriller about risking it all, while handing Adam Sandler one of his greatest film roles. He takes a gutsy gamble and it pays off handsomely. Sandler plays Howard Ratner, a charismatic New York City jeweler who has never seen a bet he didn’t like. He pushes his luck with every gamble made, and when they don’t go his way – he only goes bigger as his debts get deeper. You’re practically begging at the screen for him to stop.
This is an anxiety-inducing, palm-sweating marathon and the finish line is a crapshoot. Ratner, by any means necessary, must outrun a lifetime of bad decisions as the chase is constant by him and the enemies he’s made along the way. Of course, it all comes down to a bet on a basketball game. Win or lose, he’s going to do it the only way he knows how. The Safdies and Sandler know how to serve a unique taste of unequaled energy that leaves us bruised and breathless.
Four:
AVENGERS: ENDGAME
The wait is well worth it as Marvel‘s extraordinary superhero epic puts an end to a history-making era that’s lasted 11 years and 22 movies. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo change it up from Infinity War and present an intimate, character-driven story where even the mightiest of individuals must confront loss to once again reassemble. Whatever it takes. It’s what loyal fans all over the world fell in love with so many years ago.
Hardly any minute of the three hours feels wasted with too many super cool scenes to count. Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and the rest of the beloved heroes take a trip down memory lane filled with beautiful reunions, and the actors – who have made each their own – give all they have to make this spectacular saga’s conclusion an entertaining, thrilling, and emotionally exhausting cinematic experience. The laughs, cheers, and tears are what it’s all about. What the Russo brothers accomplish with their substantial story building is unprecedented and ends with a grand, gratifying goodbye.
Three:
1917
In what appears as one continuous take, director Sam Mendes delivers a groundbreaking, breathtaking WWI story where time is the greatest enemy. Two young British soldiers, Blake & Schofield, are given what feels like an infeasible task of delivering a message to prevent an attack on over a thousand soldiers – one of them being Blake’s older brother. The harrowing and heroic mission takes them through hostile territory where death awaits at every turn.
Dean-Charles Chapman is fantastic as Blake, but it’s George MacKay’s commanding performance as Schofield that you won’t soon forget. He’s astounding as he stays determined in beating the clock. While an unbelievable technical achievement, this tremendously tense trench warfare stunningly shows the chaos and fear surrounding the sacrifices made to save another. Incredible and immersive. One of the best war movies ever made.
Two:
PARASITE
A clever, cutting film that sharpens its story on a seriously insidious level with timely themes – brought upon us with a vicious indictment of the gigantic gap between the haves and the have-nots. Director Bong Joon Ho wants to make you laugh, and then stab you right where it hurts the most. He’s masterful at equalizing genres in order to be exceptionally effective when watching a perturbing home invasion thriller. Or, at least that’s what it appears to be at first. Something much more consequential comes out of hiding in this crying commentary on class. Greed, selfishness, total disdain for others – it’s all there at its filthiest. Phenomenal performances, stirring surprises, and a fearless filmmaker provide purpose to such a spellbinding, scathing social satire.
One:
JOKER
We thought we had seen it all when it comes to this incredibly iconic villain, and then Joaquin Phoenix shows up with his dancing shoes on to turn it all on its head. As Arthur Fleck, he’s a mentally ill man who puts on a happy face, but no amount of make-up can hide his sad eyes and negative thoughts. Feeling like you don’t exist must be frightening, and for Arthur – it leaves him with nothing left to lose. When he re-writes his tragedy into a comedy, there’s no going back. Phoenix’s transformation is one for the ages.
For all of the film’s provocation, the controversy it finds itself covered in is no surprise. The fake comic book world resembles one we recognize all too well. Society shapes each of us, for better or worse. And what we see with this unforgettable origin story is unarguably the latter. A person hindered and ignored and thrown to the wolves. Joker’s actions are inexcusable. Same goes for the way Arthur is treated that ultimately leads to the birth of the Clown Prince of Crime.
Who knew the director of Old School and The Hangover trilogy had this in him? Todd Phillips paints a bleak, beautiful picture that’s supposed to be uncomfortable and shocking to see. He’s brilliantly brought us a realistic, chilling story capable of giving us nightmares we desperately want to wake up from. It’s an exceptional kind of entertainment that explores issues civilization chooses not to confront. Is this serving as a wake-up call? That’s up to you. Either way, you won’t be able to look away from Phoenix’s astonishing performance. Delusional, daring and demented. And that laugh. That fucking laugh.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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