Top 15 movies of 2019

I would say that after 1999, 2019 was the most amazing year in cinema, from countries across all the continents (particularly Asian countries) gave exceptionally good movies. Excellent cinema came from all the genres be it animated, romance, drama and even horror.

When their are so many great movies it makes the job of picking the best of them is very difficult so some of the movies could not make the final cut hence some Honorable Mentions.

Honorable Mentions:

Ford v Ferrari

Joker

Gloria Bell

Midsommar

Honey Boy

Ride Your Wave (sincerely underrated anime)

Ying (Shadow) (China)

Ad Astra

Top 15 movies of 2019

15 Ash Is The Purest White (China)

Before from this the only ‘Jia Zhangke’ movie I saw was ‘Still Life’, and I liked that but when I saw this it seems the director has crossed himself. The movie gives accounts of criminal underground operations in China, the film is set in last few decades. The story spans over a period of 17 years the growth of ‘China’ can be seen parallel to the story in start the movie seems somewhat cliche but as the story progresses we go deep and deep inside the protagonists especially Zhao Qiao.

14 The Two Popes

This movie is based on true story of the current pope ‘Pope Francis’. The essential part of the movie is conversation between the two protagonists. Again the actors are extremely good, it is refreshing to see Antony Hopkins in such unique type of role role and Jonathan Pryce did not disappointed me at all I was fan of the actor since Game of Thrones and he lived up to the expectation, the plot is surprisingly thrilling and the cinematography is crisp the documentary like feel it gives is very unique.

13 Uncut Gems

I am a huge fan of Adam Sandler in serious roles since ‘Punch Drunk Love’, and god he is serious in ‘Uncut Gems’. I never thought this movie would be so thrilling ,I had an uncomfortable feeling throughout the movie from start to finish that too in a good way. The protagonists wants to be successful and in the pursuit of success makes high stakes bet the plot itself is heart pounding, the cinematography is very realistic which again adds to the thriller.

12 Jo Jo Rabbit

I love when Nazis are portrayed in a comedy setup. Jo Jo Rabbit is one of the most fresh comedies I have seen in many years, the performances by actors ‘Roman Griffin Davis’ and ‘Taika Waititi’ are phenomenal. The costume selection is exceptional, and cinematography is unique and the film is made to look like a children movie.

11 Dolor y gloria (Pain and Glory)

I can go on and comment on all the thing good in this movie but according to me the performances of the actors outshines all of them. This Spanish Drama will have you hooked to it emotionally, you will feel all kinds of things such pain, heartbreak as well as sometimes ,happiness.

10 Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

I decided to watch this movie ,well because of Tarantino and I was not disappointed. The film is funny and dramatic, but overall I think its Tarantino’s love letter to Hollywood, it has all the elements one can find in early Hollywood movies, the action, the stardom and the, glamour. The performance of Brad Pitt is extremely good and Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate is good too.

9 J’ai perdu mon corps (I Lost My Body)

We had many good animations this year, we had Toy Story, Klaus and The Magnificent Cake all of them were good but this trumps them all. It had one of the most unique storyline of this year. The movie is about a hand separated from its body, the movie follows the course of path taken by the hand in order to get his bod together. The way the hand is projected is so human like, we even feel sorrow ,sympathy and happiness for the hand.

7 Knives Out

Knives out is a classic ‘whodunnit’ but it is very different from other detective movies, it does not follows traditional storytelling the movie gives much of the information early on. Daniel Craig’s accent is unique and does not feel forced while all the other actors are in their best forms, the movie kept me in the edge of my seat entire time.

6 The Farewell

The Farewell is a very heartfelt movie which is based on a true story, The Farewell is also hilarious in a very subtle way, the plot of movie is engaging. The farewell is about a family which visits China for meeting the family’s oldest lady who they found is diagnosed with cancer, an information which rest of the family decides not to give the patient. The plot takes many funny turns and ends in a feelgood note.

5 The Lighthouse

The Lighthouse is one of the most unique take at horror I have seen, the story is very genuine ,no amount of extra jump-scares or music is used still it manages to scare the viewers. The lighthouse makes the simplest of plot and makes it interesting. The movie involves two lighthouse keepers who start very naturally but after some circumstances cant stand each other. The actors did good work so did the cinematographer.

4 Portrait de la jeune fille en feu (Portrait of a Lady on Fire)

Set in France in the late 18th century, the film tells the story of a forbidden affair between an aristocrat and a painter appointed to paint her portrait. The protagonist is to be married to a man she doesn’t want to marry. A female painter is hired to paint the portrait of woman to be married but only through memory, so the painter spends time with the woman in order to remember her face, from here movie takes many turns. The colors used in movie gives it a painting like feel.

3 Marriage Story

Now, Marriage Story does not has the most unique plot, its about a couple getting divorced, but the movie as far as craft is concerned the movie broke all the boundaries, the cinematography is exceptional, the editing is crisp and like never seen before and the performances of the leads could not have gotten better, sincerely at one fight scene the exchange of dialogue between two leads can be considered one of the best. The direction of the movie is extremely good which I did not expected when I decided to watch the movie. We feel for the characters we fell how its everybody’s or no one’s fault, the setting could not be more realistic.

2 Parasite

Parasite is a social commentary on the difference between social classes how they have different views about various situations. Parasite is a directorial epitome it cannot get any better I have seen Bon Joon Ho films before such as Snowpiercer, Host and Okja all of them were great but none of them were like it. Actors in this movie are masters of their craft, Parasite is unpredictable one cannot know the direction the movie is headed, it keeps you on the edge of seat. Parasite is hilarious, thrilling, dramatic and sometimes even scary.

1 The Irishman

I do not associate myself with the politics and controversies surrounding Martin Scorsese, but if I ever make list of my favorite filmmakers he would be pretty high on that list. I was excited for this movie a from long time it may not be for everyone but it was for me. The Irishman is the type of film-making which got me interested in cinema in first place. The Irishman has all the classic elements of Scorsese Italian setup, montages and crime world but in addition to it it talks about deep thing the movie is about loneliness, mistakes of past, about past itself, the movie is about conflict between choices and outcomes. I think I do not need to mention that the actors performances were phenomenal.