Best Films of 2019 - minus the P.C. cliches

Best Films of 2019

In no particular order.

I personally have found Tarantino's films to be getting increasingly self indulgent, stale and overlong, like The Hateful Eight. However, this year was an awesome surprise. Being a film buff and well attuned to the Manson Family Murders, I watched this with a mix of trepidation and reference picking pleasure. It was fresh. His cast always deliver and what a chemistry these two have. Best buddy movie of many years and possibly his best since Pulp Fiction.

I suspect this may have been more disturbing/refreshing to younger audiences more conditioned to superheroes movies. Naturally there's been many unhinged characters onscreen before but not quite in this genre, and not holding up the entire film. Personally I still prefer Heath Ledger's version and even the original Cesar Romero, but Phoenix is a first class actor and this is a very different beast. Great film.

Highly original. Highly disturbing.

Finally a film of maturity, that treats adults with respect. Doesn't pit the sexes against one another and play the same, dull stereotypical political correct game that has stifled Hollywood over the past number of years. A real class piece of work with extraordinary performances. Driver dominates everything he's in and Scarlett turns in her best work yet. Both deserve

Oscars.

Excellent direction and concept, riding off the coattails of Dunkirk. Not quite as good as that film but still a must see on the big screen.

I really enjoyed this. It was also fresh and left some scenes unexplained. The ending disappointed me, so when I read the studio would only green-light it if the director changed the ending, it made sense. They had the guts to make it but not to go all the way. A very good film. Unfortunately it could have been a great one.

Lots of twists and turns. Superbly entertaining. Beautiful shot and designed too. From Korea.

Australia rarely makes a good film, sadly, but this was very well directed and an important episode in Australia's involvement in Vietnam.

As usual, barely supported by the public. A shame. Our vets deserve to be recognised. God knows they were shunned for long enough. Exciting as an action/war film but it's no Platoon. Still, it's well worth your time.

The one and only film from it's 29 yo director who committed suicide. Very long, almost 4 hours and incredibly bleak, but there's a real poetry in it's simplicity. What a waste of an incredible talent. At least he left us this brooding masterpiece. A rarity from China.

Haters gunna hate. Fanboys and girls expect too much. Same was seen with Game of Thrones at the end. You can't please everyone and people expect too much. Criticise the franchise for being too close to the originals, but this is the best of them. Superbly made, with tight direction and great performances. The casting with the whole series was excellent. And its great to see old faces for one last time. I even found it quite emotional. The only film, aside from Rogue One, outside the original trilogy of any value. This series will continue to accrue fans. Star Wars isn't over.

Powerful, disturbing and difficult to watch but such an intense, unique atmosphere. Dynamite performances. I don't think I've seen Dafoe better than this.

An American is held hostage in South America by a teenage guerrilla gang. Like some other films here, it's inventiveness and originality plus cinematic class places it above the majority of rubbish put out by Hollywood today.

Freshness is the key word that sums up most of the above films. Films of quality and maturity. The Oscars have become a Tick the Virtue Signalling BoxFest. Reviewers are too scared to be honest in case they get 'branded' and that can mean the end of a career, whether justified or not. (Pretty much goes for any industry today).

I've stopped reading reviews. I've stopped watching Awards Shows. I've stopped watching trailers too. They ruin the narrative. Make up your own mind. You're an adult. You deserve to be treated like one. The best way to do that is ignore what anyone says. Be your own critic.

Sorry but The Irishman is completely overrated. It's getting accolades like a type of lifetime achievement award. I suspect that's all it really is. Scorsese is a great director. But this? While it's great to see such amazing talent on the screen, all of them have done far better things. It's like celebrating someone's 21st birthday when they're 43. Tedious and ridiculous. Passing DeNiro off as a 30 something looks silly. They can CGI his face but they can't hide his body's slow movements. The fight scene was laughable. Pacino was good but go back and watch Scarface, Good Fellas, Taxi Driver, Cape Fear or any other film from these legends. This one is a borefest.

Films I wanted to see but have been unable to.

Under the Silver Lake

A Hidden Life

A Beautiful day in the Neighborhood

Knives Out

Fast Color

Doctor Sleep was a disappointment. (From the Director of The Haunting of Hill House which was far superior. Track it down).

So was It Two. Awful.

So was The Beach Bum.

Gloria Bell was enjoyable but forgettable.

The Souvenir and In Fabric both self indulgent.

High Life, a joke.