10 Best Films of 2019

by Philip Price

10. Ready or Not

​Brutal to its core with as much blood as a Tarantino feature, “Ready or Not” fuses that tricky tone of violence and irreverence into a wild, 90-minute experience. This isn't anything you haven't seen before, especially if you keep current with the horror genre, but it is so aware of what it is and so expertly crafted to be the best version of itself that everything about it feels original and raw.

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9. The Last Black Man in San Francisco

​“The Last Black Man in San Francisco” is truly about this sense of history and this need to honor places and people who have become myths in their own right as their stories have been reconfigured as they've been passed down; the myth becoming more and more layered and further and further from the truth as it goes from one generation to the next. This abstract, dreamlike presentation of the past not being the best indicator for what should dictate one’s future. A film to be experienced almost more than it is to be discussed.

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8. Dark Waters

“Dark Waters” is not only compelling and exquisitely crafted but is terrifying as hell. A true wake-up call to a nation that has subscribed to the fact everything they consume probably causes cancer in one way or another. It's a shame this will get overlooked come awards season and not because it deserves the prestige (though it does), but because it won't be afforded the publicity that would garner more interest from the average movie-goer. It's a shame more people won't see this because I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I did.

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7. Booksmart

Much of the perspective on this seems to be focused on how it and its stars will be perceived down the road and what “Booksmart” will come to represent in their careers. Whether it be the one that introduced them to the world, the one they'll never get away from, or the one that may not be their best or biggest but will always be most people's favorite. Sure, “Booksmart” is likely to become any and all of these things just as it will undoubtedly become a staple of sleepovers for the current generation of high-schoolers, but the magic is in why it will become these things: the characters themselves.

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6. Joker

Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix have intentionally crafted as gritty, raw and grounded a movie as any film inspired by comic books has dared to be and in that type of portrayal there is inherent shock to be found, but while “Joker” and its screenplay wrestle with what exactly it's trying to say it stands to make a statement about how this product of certain circumstance inspires a man to become what he believes necessary to remedy others from those same, undesirable circumstances. That's not to say he's right, but what is maybe most unsettling about the film and Phoenix's performance is that Arthur believes he is.

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5. Parasite

The calculated blend of drama, comedy, satire and unbelievable tension that is “Parasite” give way to scenarios in which the rich and poor see the same circumstances with vastly different perspectives; one recognizing what is being done to them as a con or crime while the other viewing it simply as a means to an end...survival, in other words. Director Bong Joon-ho ultimately alludes to the fact that the poor-no matter the lengths of their tactics or the subtleties of their actions-still find themselves figuratively buried if not literally, by the world and by the ramifications of their actions.

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4. Avengers: Endgame 

The culmination of eleven years and twenty-two films worth of story, “Avengers: Endgame” brings to a conclusion one of the greatest experiments in cinematic history and does so with as much grace and satisfaction as one might hope or expect a single moment to capture. That isn't to say there aren't a few hiccups along the way, but what is here to complain about feels so quaint in comparison to what the film gets right that they hardly seem worth mentioning.

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3. Once Upon a Time ... In Hollywood 

As someone who's never visited California or more specifically, Hollywood, and as someone who wasn't born until nearly two decades after the year in which “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” place there were no personal nostalgic ties to what is very clearly a very nostalgic movie for its writer and director. I love the movies as in "the movies", sure, both for their fascinating behind the scenes processes as well as certain aspects of the business, but it isn't necessarily any one thing in Hollywood that makes it special. Rather, it’s the effect each of these elements have on one another; the meticulous re-creation of 1969 informed and enhanced the performances of these fictional characters which were in turn heightened in the context of the film by the real-life events that writer/director Quentin Tarantino weaves through his narrative so as to create a sense of familiarity while still holding tight to the destination he's driving towards. Ultimately, this stands as one of Tarantino's best, most introspective works as it delivers the feeling one wants to leave the theater with after having experienced a Tarantino flick while the experience in and of itself is something of an unexpected and surprisingly soulful one.

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2. Knives Out 

With “Knives Out,” writer/director Rian Johnson reels you in under the guise the mystery is to be one thing, but the real mystery here isn’t what you suspect it to be and in breaking through this anticipated belief early on Johnson allows himself to not only deliver on the promise of a good “whodunit”, but layer in his characters and their revelations with pertinent commentary as to the sense of entitlement certain people feel.

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1. Uncut Gems

​What is maybe the best aspect of the exceptional “Uncut Gems” is the fact that yes, this is very much Adam Sandler doing something outside of his standard routine, but this isn't Sandler playing serious simply for the sake of proving he can in fact act when the material calls for it. No, this isn't sad or depressed Sandler simply for the sake of being taken seriously, but instead writer/directors the Safdie Brothers have somehow lured the Sandman into giving both a layered, physical performance while also remaining one that plays off the inherent charm and charisma Sandler naturally possesses. Moreover, he's used perfectly here. So perfect in fact, it's hard to imagine anyone else in this role besides Sandler. “Uncut Gems” is not necessarily what one might think of as a rewarding experience, but it bears so many gifts and moments to cherish throughout that the stress inherent to them feels like little more than the price one must pay for such a high.