THE DRUNK MONKEYS
TOP 10 FILMS OF 2019
10. THE LIGHTHOUSE
Image copyright A24
The Lighthouse cements director Robert Eggers’s reputation as a master of black & white, period-piece horror. In his follow-up to The Witch, everything from the pent-up characters & small house to the narrow aspect ratio of the film used contributes to a cramped experience that suggests something floating just beyond what viewers can see. Escalating drunkenness/madness dovetails with a dive into the regretful secrets of the characters. Willem Dafoe & Robert Patterson stun the audience with the grit, guilt, & anger of their characters, who comprise a two-person show for the most part. I felt that this film was a warning, but what about? Following desire to ruination? Running from regrets? Don’t be surprised if you find yourself shouting NOOOOO as the characters destroy themselves. This could never end well.
Joey Gould, Poetry Editor
9. DOLEMITE IS MY NAME
Image copyright Netflix
Rudy Ray Moore is one of the most endearing, hilarious legends of independent cinema. A colorful, insightful, and deeply determined man in real life, Moore’s story is told with compassion and appreciation for his accomplishments and unique personality. Dolemite is My Name benefits from many powerfully-executed elements. The main one would obviously be Eddie Murphy as Moore, in what just might be Eddie Murphy’s best performance to date. When that man is awake, he’s as impressive and dangerous as a performer and actor as anyone else at any age. I will also be supremely disappointed in the Oscar voters, if Da'Vine Joy Randolph as Lady Reed doesn’t score Randolph a well-deserved nomination or win.
Gabriel Ricard, Captain Canada’s Movie Rodeo
8. THE FAREWELL
Image copyright A24
The Farewell is based on events from Lulu Wang’s own life; and, as real life does, the film stands outside of genre. The film mines uncomfortable humor from its central premise (a family decides not to tell an aging grandmother about a terminal diagnosis), but it’s not interested in shock, which makes Awkwafina an unexpectedly perfect center for the film. She’s not the boisterous showstopper of Crazy Rich Asians, but neither is she maudlin or mopey. She, like every other moment of this film, is real.
Matt Guerrero, Founding Editor
7. JOJO RABBIT
Image copyright Fox Searchlight Pictures
Satirizing the Nazis seems pretty straightforward. Yet it is in fact a comedic vehicle fraught with a certain amount of peril. For every Jojo Rabbit or The Producers, there’s stuff like Max. Taika Waititi’s Hitler, depicted as the imaginary of a young boy (Roman Griffin) at the tail-end of World War 2, is indeed the centerpiece for this clever, oddly spiritual attack on nationalism, the casual evil that surrounds the truly horrific stuff, and other topics of interest. At the same time, Waititi takes to heart the source material novel (Caging Skies) by Christine Leunens, and its contention that we must acknowledge these things with an attention to how ghastly they really are.
Gabriel Ricard, Captain Canada’s Movie Rodeo
6. GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS
Image copyright Warner Bros.
Despite the clunky connection to Legendry’s first Godzilla movie, released in 2014, King of the Monsters is one of the few pure pleasures of the summer movie season. It demands very little of you and rewards you with a spectacular series of monster brawls between Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, King Ghidorah, and the rest of the gang.
Humans? Yeah, there’s a bunch of them. Some of them, such as Millie Bobby Brown and Ken Watanabe, turn in good performances with paper-thin characters. Still, the show, and the world itself, belongs to the monsters. Mike Dougherty, who also directed the classic Trick ‘r’ Treat, turns in a decidedly glorious tribute to classic Toho Godzilla films, while simultaneously presenting something that stands well on its own.
Gabriel Ricard, Captain Canada’s Movie Rodeo
5. KNIVES OUT
Image copyright Lionsgate
Knives Out is as funny as it is socially conscious. While you weave through the cast of characters trying to guess who dun it, director Rian Johnson, is very cleverly commenting on rich, white America—with the longest running joke being that no one knows which South American country the nurse actually emigrated from. If you’re a self-proclaimed sleuth, you will be able to find some clues throughout the film to help lead you to the culprit. But what makes this film so brilliant, is that even the most experienced mystery viewers won’t see the twist of the knife coming.
Juliet Barney, Staff Writer
4. US
Image copyright Universal Pictures
Jordan Peele’s follow up to Get Out features a somehow even more fantastical plot anchored, again, to incisive social commentary. The strange world of the Tethered, composed of doppelgangers for every person in America, requires a giant leap of acceptance by an audience—which is why Peele smartly anchors his film to the stunning performance of Lupita Nyong’o in dual roles as both Adelaide and her Tethered self, Red, a unique creation built of stunted, subtle moments, penetrating glances, and a choked, guttural voice suggesting that Red hasn’t spoken for most of her life. It’s a performance unlike any other in the history of horror films, made all the more thought-provoking by the twist ending.
Matt Guerrero, Founding Editor
3. THE IRISHMAN
Image copyright Netflix
Based on a book with the much-better title of I Heard You Paint Houses, Martin Scorsese essentially put the band back together for Irishman. A cast of considerable singular talents, many of whom share decades of history among one another, comes together to tell the story of hitman Frank Sheeran (Robert DeNiro), union human deity Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino, in another career highlight), and other similarly sinister men of a very dark, sometimes confusing creed. Joe Pesci steals the show in a way that makes you wish he probably isn’t heading back to retirement. Despite a running time of nearly four hours, The Irishman is a riveting, unique crime epic that finds new ideas in Scorsese’s time-tested themes of guilt and the troubling potential of loyalty.
Gabriel Ricard, Captain Canada’s Movie Rodeo
2. PARASITE
Image copyright CJ Entertainment
It’s best to go into Parasite, the latest piece of mind-fuckery from Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho, knowing as little as possible about the plot, a hilariously escalating series of con-jobs. The film excels as black comedy, and dares to say something darker and more personal about class than either Snowpiercer or Okja. That is to say that the themes are more complicated in this film, but that, as often happens when extra layers are introduced to an argument, those themes become more opaque. What we are left with, once the veneer of the film is torn off, is impotent rage.
Matt Guerrero, Founding Editor
ONCE UPON A TIME … IN HOLLYWOOD
Image copyright SONY Pictures
This film is an eloquent love letter to the golden age of Hollywood while shying away from the romanticized aspects of the time. Though it may confuse true crime fans who are deeply invested in the Manson family story, it’s a wonderful bromance between two of America’s greatest actors. For those unfamiliar with the time (and the Manson family), do your homework—Tarantino doesn’t give much background. One minute you’re watching the characters be themselves, and the next, you’re watching them film an entire TV pilot in front of your eyes. Finally, the final 20 minutes torch your understanding of history.
Juliet Barney, Staff Writer