These were my 10 favorite movies of 2019, a year when superheroes continued to dominate but when we also got prime slices of action, comedy and history – plus one of the most masterfully haunting horror films in a long while:
10. “Avengers: Endgame”
The 22nd film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the last entry of the Thanos saga, is like the season finale of the grandest TV series ever made — and it sticks the landing. Granted, the first 60 to 90 minutes consist of wallowing heroes and meandering plot threads. But once the time-travel journey begins with a “New York City, 2012” title card, boy does it ever kick into gear. All of our favorite characters — and some we didn’t realize would become favorites, like Karen Gillan’s Nebula – make a key contribution. The final battle is the cinematic equivalent of those comic-book splash pages of dozens of superheroes teaming up, interspersed with panels that zoom in on specific arcs. “Endgame” isn’t the best of the 22 films, but it pays off the work of the first 21 in competent and sometimes spectacular fashion. (Full review.)
9. “Under the Silver Lake”
Writer-director David Robert Mitchell follows “It Follows” (2015) with something even more layered and weird while still commenting on the fears and oddities of human existence. Andrew Garfield plays Sam, an unkempt but gradually sympathetic resident of the Los Angeles suburb who becomes obsessed with the disappearance of his neighbor (Riley Keough). The clue-gathering journey plays out like “Ready Player One” meets “Midsommar,” and the style from cinematographer Mike Gioulakis and composer Disasterpeace keeps a viewer in mesmerized fascination for the course of the two-hour-plus run time. (Full review.)
8. “Fast Color”
Director/co-writer Julia Hart and actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw give us the best grounded superhero film since “Unbreakable.” Indeed, if this was secretly an M. Night Shyamalan project I wouldn’t be surprised. It’s intensely character-based, though, as we meet three generations of women with superpowers; young Saniyya Sidney almost reprises her role from TV’s “The Passage.” Gorgeous New Mexico cinematography and colorful special effects evocatively contrast with the drought-driven apocalyptic setting. It all comes together as a fresh vision cleverly spun from story points we’re very familiar with in this superhero boom era. (Full review.)
7. “Joker”
Joaquin Phoenix doesn’t give bad performances, but this one is paired with an extra layer of intrigue by being the latest “what if” origin story for the most famous “Batman” villain. Directed by “The Hangover’s” Todd Phillips, of all people, this stylized 1981-set character piece has been interpreted many ways, which is totally appropriate for the Joker. I think it’s a message about the potential consequences of pushing mentally ill members of society to the side, as well as an illustration of the good anti-depressants can do for an individual. Other viewers see it as a critique of anti-depressants, and some rip the film for being a glorification of random mass violence. Whatever your interpretation, it’s a treat to get immersed in Arthur Fleck’s rise to madness via the latest great turn from one of our finest actors. (Full review.)
6. “The Perfection”
This Netflix horror drop benefits from zero advance knowledge of what you’re seeing. “Get Out’s” Allison Williams brings genre cachet to the role of sheltered cello prodigy Charlotte, who impulsively takes off across rural China with similar-minded Lizzie (Logan Browning). Steven Weber co-stars as an oddly oily music academy instructor. The first creepy element is Lizzie’s bizarre illness that leaves the young women stuck in the middle of nowhere, but “The Perfection” takes several more twists and turns (and rewinds and perspective shifts) before it reaches its gonzo finish line. (Full review.)
5. “Spider-Man: Far From Home”
The sequel continues from “Homecoming’s” smart notion of portraying Peter Parker (Tom Holland) as a teenager going through teen issues. While the stakes are nominally raised, the corny-in-a-good-way sense of adventure remains prominent on a field trip to Europe where Peter is joined by his best bud Ned (Jacob Batalon), Ned’s surprising new flame Betty (Angourie Rice), and his own crush MJ (the delightful Zendaya). We also get Martin Starr and J.B. Smoove as chaperones, Sam Jackson’s annoyed Nick Fury, Jake Gyllenhaal’s mysterious Mysterio, and an awesome role-reprisal at the very end. (Full review.)
4. “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood”
Quentin Tarantino’s lampooning of and love letter to the dawn of modern Hollywood is a wild patchwork of tales in 1969 Los Angeles. It never settles on one pace, genre, message or storyline, and two of its three main characters don’t even meet. Yet this hodgepodge is exactly right as we soak up some of the best production and set design ever put to film, wonderfully photographed by Robert Richardson. The cast is led by an on-their-game Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, but it goes much deeper. A notable scene-stealer is Margaret Qualley as a sexpot who leads us into the film’s most intense and bizarre (and based on real events!) sequence, at a hippie commune carved out of a disused Western backlot. (Full review.)
3. “Good Boys”
The team behind “Bad Teacher” comes up with another simple but ingenious conceit: Tell a coming-of-age type of story, but when the boys are only in sixth grade, experiencing situations, concepts, words and phrases they are too young to understand. The kids fill in the gaps with hilariously wrong assumptions, interpretations and pronunciations. Sometimes they guess right, though, and get a congratulatory fist-bump for guessing that French kissing involves the mouth. Jacob Tremblay (“The Room”) continues to prove he’s one of the best pre-teen actors out there; as Max, he leads trio of friends who embark on an adventure so crass and inappropriate that it makes “The Goonies” and “Stand By Me” seem tame. (Full review.)
2. “John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum”
The “Wick” films shift the idea of watching someone play a video game from something dull into something gleeful. All three films — but especially this one — are essentially a two-hour reel of top-shelf gun-fu choreography, with a plot where the twists and turns play out like a symphony. My favorite stanza here finds Keanu Reeves’ title character teaming up with Halle Berry’s fellow pooch lover to fight their way out of compound. Berry’s weapon of choice: her two well-trained attack dogs. It’s appropriate for a franchise that launched when bad guys made the mistake of killing Wick’s puppy. (Full review.)
1. “Midsommar”
Florence Pugh — who gives a different but equally great performance in “Fighting with My Family” (which just missed this list) — plays Dani, who is going through a rough patch in her relationship with her boyfriend. This parallels her (and our) increasingly weird experiences on a vacation to northern Sweden. Writer-director Ari Aster, who made this list last year with his debut “Hereditary,” delivers more pointed observations of how humans interact. But here he adds one of the strangest — and strangely chilling — settings in recent movie memory: The sun is out nearly 24 hours a day, yet this backwoods community’s bizarre behavior is straight out of the Dark Ages. (Full review.)
What are your 10 favorite movies of 2019? Share your list in the comment thread below.