I thought 2019 was an excellent year for film. Not only did we get an excellent Quentin Tarantino film, BUT we also got an excellent Martin Scorsese film. Two of the best filmmaker of ALL TIME releasing masterpieces months apart, how often does that happen? A lot of film years this past decade have been decently deep, but pretty light on top. Take 2012 for example. I ranked the films that year and talked about a whopping 20. But what was the best film year, even in retrospect? I had Looper at the time and still feel strongly about it, but my top five were Life of Pi, Silver Linings Playbook, Argo, and Wreck-It Ralph. Seven years later, is there a consensus best film of the year? (and go fuck yourself if you say The Master you pretentious snob). Point is, 2019 is different. I think it's crazy top heavy this year. Not only were Once Upon A Time... in Hollywood and The Irishman instant classics, we had a great Awards Season of Sam Mendes' 1917 vs. Bong Joon-ho's Parasite, both excellent in their own right. So where do these films rank on my list? I just you're just going to have to read below!
10) Ford v Ferrari
Directed By: James Mangold
Starring: Christian Bale & Matt Damon
STARS: 3 out of 4
Why It's Great: Sometimes movie stars just need to be movie stars and charm the fuck out of the audience. We knew Matt Damon was the cream of the crop and his character Carol Shelby gets to smile and charm his way to both Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts) and our hearts. Christian Bale gets to play opposite Damon as the driver Ken Miles and he's equally as compelling. He doesn't need to gain or lose an unhealthy amount of weight and he even gets to use his real accent and proves he can act with Acting. Ford v Ferrari is just a charming, enjoyable experience and one I'm glad to have seen in the theaters. It's also another great notch in James Mangold's belt, because while he has some misses and a lot of *shoulder shrug emoji*, he now gets to add this Best Picture nominee to his other greats like 3:10 to Yuma and Logan to his resume.
9) Booksmart
Directed By: Olivia Wilde
Starring: Beanie Feldstein & Kaitlyn Dever
STARS: 3 out of 4
Why It's Great: I do get why the people behind Booksmart are a bit peeved when their film is called the female Superbad, but I do think it's the 2019 Superbad. Superbad came out when I was in college and I, like the rest of America, was swept away by it. I still fucking love the movie, but do understand that many of the jokes have not aged, and that movie as is would not be released by any major studio. But if a major studio were trying to capitalized on the success of Superbad in today's "woke climate", Booksmart would be the film released. Instead of the same white horny kid(s) at the center we have two horny women, one of which is gay. One of the main side characters is Black (Jessica Williams) along with one of the lead's crushes (who also happens to be the son of Cuba Cooding Jr). However, most importantly, no one in the film is mean. In the beginning of Superbad, one dude spits on Jonah Hill's character. Sure, some of the characters say some unflattering things about Beanie Feldstein's character, but it's mainly that she's not fun. The movie could have easily said things a million times worse. But that's what makes Booksmart so great. It takes 2019's sensibilities and is still able to mine laugh-out-loud humor that hold up upon rewatch. In an era of anti-bullying and demands for better representation in film, Booksmart is able to deliver AND still be gut-busting hilarious.
Directed By: James Mangold
Starring: Christian Bale & Matt Damon
STARS: 3 out of 4
Why It's Great: Sometimes movie stars just need to be movie stars and charm the fuck out of the audience. We knew Matt Damon was the cream of the crop and his character Carol Shelby gets to smile and charm his way to both Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts) and our hearts. Christian Bale gets to play opposite Damon as the driver Ken Miles and he's equally as compelling. He doesn't need to gain or lose an unhealthy amount of weight and he even gets to use his real accent and proves he can act with Acting. Ford v Ferrari is just a charming, enjoyable experience and one I'm glad to have seen in the theaters. It's also another great notch in James Mangold's belt, because while he has some misses and a lot of *shoulder shrug emoji*, he now gets to add this Best Picture nominee to his other greats like 3:10 to Yuma and Logan to his resume.
Directed By: Olivia Wilde
Starring: Beanie Feldstein & Kaitlyn Dever
STARS: 3 out of 4
Why It's Great: I do get why the people behind Booksmart are a bit peeved when their film is called the female Superbad, but I do think it's the 2019 Superbad. Superbad came out when I was in college and I, like the rest of America, was swept away by it. I still fucking love the movie, but do understand that many of the jokes have not aged, and that movie as is would not be released by any major studio. But if a major studio were trying to capitalized on the success of Superbad in today's "woke climate", Booksmart would be the film released. Instead of the same white horny kid(s) at the center we have two horny women, one of which is gay. One of the main side characters is Black (Jessica Williams) along with one of the lead's crushes (who also happens to be the son of Cuba Cooding Jr). However, most importantly, no one in the film is mean. In the beginning of Superbad, one dude spits on Jonah Hill's character. Sure, some of the characters say some unflattering things about Beanie Feldstein's character, but it's mainly that she's not fun. The movie could have easily said things a million times worse. But that's what makes Booksmart so great. It takes 2019's sensibilities and is still able to mine laugh-out-loud humor that hold up upon rewatch. In an era of anti-bullying and demands for better representation in film, Booksmart is able to deliver AND still be gut-busting hilarious.