As we end the decade, 2019 closes out with another year of strong #films – overall a very memorable, complex, diverse and evolving 10-years of #storytelling.
Evolution Leads to Revolution
A decade of huge industry shifts included new distribution channels and the proliferation of streaming platforms for the direct-to-consumer (DTC) market.
These considerable changes in the film industry continue to affect smaller, more character driven films as the box office reacts largely to action genres, franchises and sequels (…interesting NYTimes piece). If smaller or indie films are green lit, this sometimes pushes their distribution into limited release and/or streaming-only, allowing consumers to watch with a when-you-want, how-you-want model, but dramatically limiting the film's profits. Consumers benefit in the content wars with many platforms to choose from. Most produce excellent original content in films and episodic series, along with a library of licensed US content along with international releases.
In this revolutionary year in the streaming market, Netflix, Hulu and Prime have been joined by Disney+, AppleTV, and for art house fans, The Criterion Channel, with more high-profile streaming services on the block. The questions – how much can the industry support, and to how many unique services will consumers subscribe.
Other 2019 film industry topics in discussion included:
Women in Film, behind the indie scenes: 3% gain with a long way to go.
How SVOD (subscription video-on-demand) changes acquisition: Bigly.
Exhibitors respond to above NYT piece: Perhaps Hollywood is broken.
On With the Show
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As with previous years, my list is not necessarily made up of the most popular choices, but of films that educated me, transported me, or intrigued me through original storytelling. In reviewing the films that were standouts for me this year, I noticed a recurring theme. Many films inhabit, or refer to the past to inform the present and look to the future.
With nearly 140 films watched, there are many films yet to see including Her Smell, Pain and Glory, Uncut Gems, Birds of Passage, The Irishman, Diane, Portrait of A Lady on Fire and American Factory.
In alphabetical order, here is my #BestofFilm2019 list. Look for the honorable mentions below the top 10. As always, my list may be amended. Enjoy!
Apollo 11 | Todd Douglas Miller, Director
As someone who has always been fascinated by the space program (and would happily sign up for an orbit or two if it weren’t outrageously expensive), this documentary was a wonder to experience. Featuring rare and never-before-seen footage, I was struck by two things: The first, by how humble Neil Armstrong was given this extraordinary opportunity; and two, by how relatively primitive many aspects of this first moon mission were. Thrilling and at times terrifying, Miller crafts an excellent slice of history.
The Farewell | Lulu Wang, Director + Writer
With a terrific lead performance from Awkwafina, the film centers around a Chinese family whose grandmother is dying. Tradition dictates that they don’t tell her, which doesn’t sit well with her American-born granddaughter. Wang directs a multi-generational cast to perfection, exploring facets of the immigrant vs native and traditional vs modern experiences. Funny, heartbreaking and sad, the film succeeds in being a universal story about the complexities of family.
High Life | Claire Denis, Director + Co-Writer
From provocateur Denis, her first English-language film is set in the cold reaches of space where a father and his baby are the only survivors of a dangerous mission. The mystery unravels in a non-linear way, and folds in on itself until its final moments. More dystopian than not, it’s a haunting and anguished tale of intimacy and an elliptical journey of memory. The cast is first rate, led by Robert Pattinson. There may be a hint of influence from Tarkovsky’s Solaris.
The Last Black Man in San Francisco | Joe Talbot, Director + Co-Writer
Poetic and beautiful, this film feels like a parable about the effects of gentrification and one man's mission to find ‘home.’ With gorgeous cinematography and a mournful score, this is a terrific debut film for Talbot and Jimmie Fails, co-writer and star, loosely based on their own lives. The film feels equally lived-in and otherworldly, and the problems around displacement in the city, particularly in the African-American community, are undeniable.
The Lighthouse | Robert Eggers, Director
Stunning cinematography and expert performances from Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson (again) make their characters’ descent into madness darkly funny. Trapped on a tiny island with no rescue in sight, the two characters separated by age, experience and outlook clash at every turn. Intensely atmospheric and claustrophobic, Eggers’ follow-up film to The Witch builds on his original storytelling, unique vision and themes of outcasts and exile.
Midsommar | Ari Aster, Director
As in his previous film, Hereditary, Aster puts an original spin on the horror genre, grounding its characters with real-world problems. Midsommar focuses on a group of grad students, two of whom are a couple veering on a split, invited to a unique Swedish festival that happens every 90 years. Set mostly in broad daylight, it’s beyond creepy and sinister, and may be the scariest break-up movie ever. Like Lady Macbeth, Florence Pugh turns in another fine performance.
One Child Nation | Nanfu Wang + Jialing Zhang, Directors
This powerful documentary examines China’s one-child policy initiated in 1979 and in place until 2015. Filmmaker Nanfu Wang, who immigrated to the US, returns to her village to examine her family’s past. What she learns about the causes and effects of the one-child policy is horrific. This is a tough film to watch, unearthing a collective trauma and exposing the dangers of aggressive government intervention, but it’s so well told both personally and historically.
Parasite | Bong Joon Ho, Director + Co-Writer
When a film can turn on a dime, several times over, and still seamlessly hold together, it's in the hands of a master filmmaker. Joon Ho’s film, on the surface about the haves and the have-nots in contemporary South Korea, is part social satire, part social commentary, part black comedy, and part horror. A series of polar opposites – it’s funny and brutal, depicting living or survival. The title is apt and to say anymore would ruin it. Go experience Parasite.
The Souvenir | Joanna Hogg, Director + Writer
Set in 1980s London, the film is an emotional roller coaster about an innocent film student entangled in a toxic relationship with an older writer. I’m a big fan of Hogg and this is her most personal film to date, recounting the painful process of coming of age and finding one’s voice as an artist. It’s a quiet, devastating and frustrating drama beautifully realized through strong performances from Honor Swinton Byrne, daughter of Tilda in a supporting role, and Tom Burke.
Transit | Christian Petzold, Director + Writer
Petzold follows his terrific earlier films, Barbara and Phoenix, with this haunting allegory about asylum seekers trapped in a Fascist state. Unrestrained by time and place, the dreamlike narrative sneaks up on the viewer – confusing what we’re told versus what we see – much like the characters. The temporal plane is fluid making the film all the more familiar and current. A superb lead performance from Franz Rogowski gives the film its beating heart.
Don't Forget
Rounding out my best of 2019 list, the honorables include: Arctic, Ash is Purest White, The Brink, Climax, The Dead Don’t Die, Fast Color, Gloria Bell, Hail Satan?, Marriage Story, and Wild Rose.
In closing out the decade, the best films of 2019 equal the years past. Check out my best-of-film lists from 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2015, and see what you think of this decade in film. Take a look at my #202Ooscar winners predictions before Oscar night.
What films made your best of 2019 list?
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