10. Knives Out
A lot of times when critics use the word “formula,” we mean it a not very nice way. But when I say that Knives Out resurrects the whodunnit formula from a sad grave of joyless Agatha Christie remakes, I mean it with all affection. Rian Johnson’s latest is the reigning crowdpleaser of the 2019 holiday season. It’s slick, stylish, utterly unapologetic popcorn fare of the highest caliber. With a starry cast of delightfully zany characters, including Daniel Craig as the drawling gentleman detective Benoit Blanc and a wonderful lead performance from Ana de Armas, Knives Out is a joy to watch, regardless of whether the twists take you by surprise or you see them coming from a mile away. A lot of great movies can be pretty heavy, and a lot of supremely entertaining fare doesn’t have all that much substance to it, but Knives Out hits that “have your cake and eat it too” sweet spot where art well and truly overlaps with entertainment. It’s a smartly made, brilliantly executed mystery that’s warmly familiar without feeling repetitive. The classic manor-set murder mystery set up is keenly self-aware—the victim of the hour is bestselling mystery author Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer)—without being smarmy. With a brain and a heart and a good sense of humor, Knives Out is the whole package. It features the best use of a donut metaphor this critic has ever seen and has sweater game so on point that the Irish manufacturers of Chris Evans’ scene-stealing Aran jumper had to add extra shifts to meet the increased demand. In sum, it’s a true cinematic delight from beginning to end. (Ciara Wardlow)
9. Ad Astra
Why do we look to the stars? For answers? For meaning? For purpose? James Gray propels his astronaut into the farthest reaches of space to find his father. Apocalypse Now: A Daddy Issue Odyssey. Along the way, Brad Pitt’s Major Roy McBride battles moon pirates, space apes, clueless governmental agents, and heaps of self-loathing. The film is wall-to-wall narration, existing in the cranium of a man who spent decades walling himself off from society due to a childhood hurt. He goes to space on orders, following A to B to C cuz that’s his job, and he’s a little curious to discover his dad’s fate. What he finds in the void is not what he was looking for, but it is an answer nonetheless. All we got is each other. That is not a reason to despair. To live and love is everything. That’s your meaning. That’s your purpose. You’re god damn right. (Brad Gullickson)
8. Booksmart
It’s difficult to confine the whimsical joys of Olivia Wilde’s debut Booksmart into just words, but if there’s one thing to say, it’s that we don’t deserve it. We don’t deserve the knock-out performances of Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever (as Molly and Amy, respectively), nor do we deserve the bumping soundtrack that rolls behind the pair as they set out on their quest to have the best night of their adolescent lives. Booksmart is like playing with slime, blasting music with the windows down, braiding friendship bracelets, or any other colorful piece of nostalgia from our youths. It’s the piece of comedic relief we needed in 2019, a year full of darker masterpieces. But it’s not all colors and fun. Booksmart is also great because it’s a testament to the harder times of high school, like fitting in, and saying goodbye when it’s time to move to college. Just like the fantastic parallels in its poster collection, Booksmart ranks among Superbad, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and Clueless as a dazzling coming-of-age high school comedy. (Fletcher Peters)
7. The Farewell
Charming, bittersweet, raw, and disarmingly funny, Lulu Wang guides us through an emotional gamut with The Farewell and leaves us all the better for it. Her semi-autobiographical drama centers a narrative that many families worldwide know all too well: a difficult diagnosis, a brave face worn to please, an in-between state of mourning before the moment actually comes. But what makes Wang’s film so special is how she dresses this universal story with the details of her own experience. Indeed, The Farewell is just as much a film about cultural boundaries as it is about grief, and is made all the more nuanced by how its protagonist, Billi (Awkwafina), grapples with these differences within her family and herself; she grew up American, her cousins emigrated to Japan at a young age, and her beloved Nai-Nai (the delightful Zhao Shuzhen) remains in China, just a phone call and a dysfunctional family reunion away. Through it all, Wang proves that she is one of the most impressive and exciting directors working today, weaving moments as gentle as a bird perched on a windowsill with ones as tense as a frenzied flock startled from a tree, all with ease. The film’s success at the box office makes her breakthrough here that much sweeter and cements The Farewell, overall, as one of the best, most important, and most cathartic films of the year. (Christina Smith)
6. The Irishman
The Irishman, or, I Heard You Paint Houses, with any luck, won’t be Martin Scorsese’s last film, but one gets the impression that this is the film his career has been culminating toward. It’s clearly in conversation with his gangster films — the intricacies of a criminal underground and the allure of joining rank is present, with a special emphasis on the regrets accumulated by doing so. The Irishman also goes for some of the deeper cuts and like the director’s early masterpiece, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, there’s a vested interest in the circumstances that women endure when they’re dependent on men and what goes into breaking out of those circumstances. The film’s monumental runtime of three and a half hours makes watching The Irishman an investment, but it’s one well worth it. This amount of time may sound like a lot, but the film’s meditation on aging and its reflection on a life lived is itself a reminder that its legends — De Niro, Pacino, Pesci, and Scorsese himself — won’t be around forever. I’ll happily take this three-hour-plus film, knowing one day I’ll be wishing for even a minute more of a Scorsese movie. (Anna Swanson)
Related Topics: 2019 Rewind
