BEST FILMS OF 2019: #30-21
HONORABLE MENTIONS: (alphabetically) All Good, dir. Eva Trobisch / Ash is Purest White, dir. Jia Zhangke / Black Mother, dir. Khalik Allah / Dark Waters, dir. Todd Haynes / The Edge of Democracy, dir. Petra Costa / Honeyland, dir. Ljubomir Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska / Invisible Life, dir. Karim Aïnouz / The Last Black Man in San Francisco, dir. Joe Talbot / Too Late to Die Young, dir. Dominga Sotomayor Castillo / Us, dir. Jordan Peele
30. End of the Century, dir. Lucio Castro
Presents itself to you as a deft study in gay yearning and missed connections before it blows itself up, trading decade hopping specifities of the gay experience for subtle surrealism and dream logic, calling into question everything that’s been presented to you to thrilling effect.
29. Diane, dir. Kent Jones
Starts off as a sturdy exploration of addiction, caregiving, family support systems, and aging before it morphs into something startlingly stranger, more formally ambitious, and vastly more interesting.
28. High Life, dir. Claire Denis
The cold, unforgiving, and profoundly isolating nature of space predictably turns out to be a perfect fit for Denis’ cinema, which could be described by the same words, making for a body fluid-soaked, occasionally impenetrable treatise on what it means to be alive and an undoubtable highlight in Denis’ oeuvre.
27. Waves, dir. Trey Edward Shults
Boldly exploratory and deeply moving, Waves feels as big as life can be. The enormity of feeling demands the maximal camerawork, the swell of its soundtrack, the verve and audacity of its storytelling. Shults is swinging for the fences, and maybe not every idea is a home run, but it’s gripping through and through.
26. The Farewell, dir. Lulu Wang
A buoyant memoir that doesn’t soften its edges, consistently proving itself to be more probing, intricate, and visually complex than you thought it was, yet pleasingly familiar and direct.
25. Marriage Story, dir. Noah Baumbach
Uniquely resonant, keenly understanding how the mechanisms of divorce can contort its participants into versions of themselves they don’t recognize, how resentment and admiration can exist alongside one another, and how good intentions aren’t enough, proving that Baumbach, when not collaborating with Gerwig, is at his best when he looks inward, exercising his personal demons.
24. Honey Boy, dir. Alma Har’el
A staggering, painfully lived-in confrontation with one’s own trauma that is surprisingly spirited and empathetic, delicately balancing admiration and resentment in what amounts to an indictment of not only Shia LaBeouf’s father but of Shia himself.
23. Leaving Neverland, dir. Dan Reed
A trying, though enormously moving rumination on the devastating effects of childhood sexual abuse and the culture of celebrity, unfurling slowly over four hours to craft a damning portrait of a severely damaged, manipulative star who leveraged his power to commit unspeakable acts. Remarkably clear and uniformly captivating.
22. Clemency, dir. Chinonye Chukwu
A staggering vivisection of state sanctioned execution with a deep well of empathy for its victims and perpetrators alike, zooming in tight on the horrors, indignities, and mundanities of lethal injection. Instead of offering easy answers and clear dichotomies of right and wrong, Chukwu lets its unanswerable questions fester until the crushing doubt and guilt are too much for Alfre Woodard’s Bernadine to bear. Grim, yes, but rewardingly prickly and provoking.
21. Midsommar, dir. Ari Aster
Aster delivers another mesmerizing study of grief, this time paying close attention to the power of ritual and community, where his images of pain and bewilderment are stranger, funnier, and more compelling.
55 notes
·
View notes
Favorite films watched in March 2020:
Inspirace (1948), dir. Karel Zeman
Foxtrot (2017), dir. Samuel Maoz
Too Late to Die Young (2018), dir. Dominga Sotomayor Castillo
Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda (2017), dir. Stephen Nomura Schible
24 notes
·
View notes