These are our best movies of 2019 (with comments below). We each could have listed more but needed to cutoff somewhere. Please give us your feedback.
| Bill I | Bill C |
| Best Movies | 1 Gully Boy
2 Joker
3 Never Look Away
4 Queen and Slim
5 Blinded by the Light
6 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
7 Motherless Brooklyn
8 The Irishman
9 Uncut Gems
10 Booksmart
11 Badla
12 Yesterday
13 The Farewell
14 Richard Jewell
15 John Wick Chapter 3 - Parabellum
16 Knives Out
17 The Peanut Butter Falcon
18 Dark Waters
19 A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
20 Brittany Runs a Marathon
21 The Good Liar | 1 Parasite
2 Jojo Rabbit
3 Booksmart
4 Once Upon a Time In Hollywood
5 Uncut Gems
6 Pain and Glory
7 Good Boys
8 A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
9 One Cut of the Dead
10 Toy Story 4
11 Dark Waters
12 Queen & Slim
13 John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
14 The Irishman
15 Gully Boy
16 The Peanut Butter Falcon
17 Honey Boy
18 Waves
19 Avengers: Endgame
20 The Last Black Man in San Francisco
21 The Farewell |
| Best Documentaries | 1 Echo in the Canyon (2018)
2 Western Stars
3 The Apollo
4 They Shall Not Grow Old
5 Amazing Grace
6 Maiden | 1 They Shall Not Grow Old
2 For Sama
3 The River and the Wall
4 Apollo 11
5 Amazing Grace
6 Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of my Voice
7 Maiden |
Bill I’s Comments:
Gully Boy – Who knew there’s a rapping scene in India? Poor teenager dreams of winning a rapping contest and making it big
Joker – How does a young man turn into the maniacal joker? This shows how, fantastic from beginning to brutal end
Never Look Away – Epic story, great, based on a real life painter, starting as a young boy in Poland during WWII
Queen and Slim – Combination thriller, love story, social commentary; beautifully filmed, great use of music, and terrific acting
Blinded by the Light – Best use of music in film I can remember, thanks to Springsteen; based on real-life Bruce super fan growing up in a strict Pakstani immigrant family in dead-end middle class English town
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Tarrantino takes his time, Brad Pitt and Decaprio do their thing; based on Manson family but Quentin makes up his own fantasy ending
Motherless Brooklyn – Ed Norton tour de force as a PI in the 50’s NY, trying to track down who killed his long-time mentor (Bruce Willis)
The Irishman – Scorceses directs DeNiro, Pesci, Keitel, Pacino; how could it miss…it doesn’t
Uncut Gems – Adam Sandler as gambling addict jewelry hustler, Kevin Garnett terrific as himself
Booksmart – Terrific girl buddy story, last day of high school the nerds decide to cut loose
Badla- India, legal murder thriller
Yesterday – Beatles songs to a forgetting public
The Farewell – Don’t tell Grandma she’s dying, she’s doing fine
Richard Jewell – Great acting by the lead; Clint Eastwood directing
John Wick Chapter 3 – Parabellum – Non-Stop fun gunning, knifing, swording, karate, kung fun, judo…
Knives Out – whodunit, lots of fun
The Peanut Butter Falcon – Autistic young man buddies up to drifter
Dark Waters – Mark Ruffalo, as lawyer suing DuPont
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood – Tom Hanks does his thing; emotional story, well done
Brittany Runs a Marathon – Inspiring comedy
The Good Liar – Scammer gets scammed
Echo in the Canyon (2018) – Laurel Canyon music scene in the 60s
Western Stars – Bruce performs in a barn, tells his stories
The Apollo – Great documentary, combines history, social commentary, music and commentary from the artists
They Shall Not Grow Old – Actual footage from WWI
Amazing Grace – Aretha live, Stones in the audience
Maiden – All female crew races around the world
Bill C’s Comments:
Parasite – Class warfare told by a master (with subtitles)
Jojo Rabbit – Great Dramedy showing the need to push past stereotypes. While set during WWII this is very relevant today
Booksmart – Olivia Wilde scores in her directorial debut, coming of age comedy
Once Upon a Time In Hollywood – Another winner from Tarrantino. Good throughout but really comes alive in final act
Uncut Gems – Intense, gritty film from Safdie Brothers (watch Good Time also). Sandler is excellent in non-comedy role
Pain and Glory – Another excellent film by Pedro Almodovar. Semi autobiographical as he deals with aging and writer’s block.
Good Boys – Rude and crude comedy – a pre teen Superbad.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood – Mister Rodgers, but an equal focus on the magazine writer telling Mr. Rodgers story and need for forgiveness. Very touching.
One Cut of the Dead – Hilarious Japanese comedy about film crew filming a zombie movie. The comedy really picks up in the second half. Find this on Shudder
Toy Story 4 – Another winner from Pixar
Dark Waters – Corporate Lawyer realizes error of his ways as he represents small time farmer against Dupont
Queen & Slim – Bill says it all above
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum – Fun action thriller. Watch out for the dogs! I’m ready for #4
The Irishman – Great film from Scorsese reunited with some of his favorite actors
Gully Boy – Entertaining movie from India on the Indian hiphop scene
The Peanut Butter Falcon – Down Syndrome young man on the run to realize his dream of being a wrestler
Honey Boy – Who’d have thought there’d be two Shia Lebeouf movies on my list (see Peanut Butter Falcon above)! He wrote this autobiographical film of his life growing up as an actor (and plays his father). Noah Jupe is a revelation as the young actor (and he’s also good in Ford vs. Ferarri)
Waves – This movie is tough to watch (especially the 1st half) but is excellent about family going through trauma. I think this is what Scorsese means when he talks about ‘cinema’
Avengers: Endgame – For all those Marvel fans out there
The Last Black Man in San Francisco – Deals with impact of gentrification on minorities in San Francisco
The Farewell – Awkwafina is excellent in touching comedy about generational and cultural issues of Chinese family.
They Shall Not Grow Old – Great WWI doc using actual footage that is visually/audibly enhanced with current technology
For Sama – Impact of war in Syria on young family through family footage.
The River and the Wall – Five friends travel from El Paso to the Gulf of Mexico along Rio Grande on horses, bike, feet, etc. The movie shows the beauty of the different areas and explores the effects on people and habitats if a wall is built
Apollo 11 – Great movie using archival footage of Apollo 11 mission
Amazing Grace – Never before seen footage of intimate Aretha Franklin gospel concert at the peak of her skills
Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of my Voice – Rondstadt;’s career and personal life is explored. Currently on CNN
Maiden – First all female crew overcomes challenges as they enter round the world sailing race
