The 10 Best Movies of 2019
Before 2020 Stars, Let’s Review the Best Movies of 2019!
Well, 2019 is over and that means it’s time to sit back and reflect on all of the best movies of the year. I’ve had the chance to review a lot of really great films this year. While there were a few that I missed, that didn’t stop me from sitting down and wading through over 100 movie reviews that I wrote this year. Needless to say, narrowing down all the best movies of 2019 to a list of 10 was pretty difficult. Still, I managed to get it done. Just a reminder that Stars & Popcorn is a site that rates movies on cinematic quality as well as how enjoyable they are to watch, so you’re going to be getting a pretty eclectic assortment of films on this list. At the end of the day, I picked the movies that had the best combination of the two, and I think there’s probably something for everyone on this list. So, without further adieu, I present Stars & Popcorn’s Top 10 Best Movies of 2019!
10. John Wick: Chapter 3- Parabellum
2019 was the year of Keanu Reeves, and it kicked off with John Wick: Chapter 3- Parabellum. The franchise has a well-earned reputation for having incredible action sequences and yet, somehow, they keep getting bigger and better. Since he burst onto the screen in 2014, he’s become a pop culture phenomenon. John Wick 3 once more sees the hero taking on impossible odds as he continues to deal with the fall out of his puppy-inspired rampage from the first film. A lot of new characters expand the mythos of the world where the franchise takes place, reaffirming that there is still a lot left to discover. Typically, sequels never live up to the original, but John Wick 3 keeps the franchise going strong making it one of the best movies of 2019.
9. The Lighthouse
Director Robert Eggers’ follows up his breakout cult classic The VVitch with The Lighthouse, one of the craziest films of the year. It’s essentially a two-man show starring Willem Dafoe and Robbert Pattinson as lighthouse keepers who slowly lose their sanity after being confined together on a small island. Shot in black and white with a 1:1 aspect ratio (basically a square), every shot in The Lighthouse has a gritty feel with harsh contrast between light and dark. Egger’s also added a constant and forbidding fog horn blaring throughout, seeming to suggest that something terrible is always on the way. It’s a stressful film to watch, but damn if it isn’t one of the best movies of 2019.
8. Ford v Ferrari
I read once that car guys are the male equivalent of horse girls. Well, one of the best movies of 2019 is a special treat for all you motorheads out there. Carroll Shelby is a legend in the automotive industry, and Ford v Ferrari reveals the man behind the legend. The film pairs Matt Damon (Shelby) with Christian Bale (Ken Miles) to tell the tale of the men that beat Ferrari at the 1966 Le Mans race in France. No one thought the American car manufacturer could defeat the Italians, but if there’s one thing that America is good at its being number one. With an ax to grind and an immense amount of money to burn, Shelby and Miles hand the Italians the worst defeat they’ve seen since WWII. It’s an incredible movie with some of the best performances of the year. Definitely a must-see.
7. Jojo Rabbit
Who would have thought that in 2019 we would need to be reminded that Nazis are bad? Just in case there was any confusion of the subject, director Taika Waititi brought us the insane tale of a boy in the Nazi youth and his imaginary friend, Hitler. The film examines the notion that the root of hatred is ignorance as the young man slowly realizes that all the terrible things he’d heard about Jews can’t possibly be true. On top of that, his attempt to learn the truth and his exposure to a Jewish person actually convinces him that he doesn’t hate them at all. It’s a heartwarming tale about how easily hate can be defeated by love and understanding. It’s just a shame that we need to hear such a message again. Despite that, Jojo Rabbit is one of the best films of 2019.
6. 1917
1917 only got a limited release in 2019. So, I had to wait until the new year in order to see it in theaters. It’s a film that had gotten a lot of hype since it’s release and I have to say it deserves every good word that’s been said. Sam Mendes tells an incredible story that starts off small and intimate but quickly grows into an epic, as two soldiers are sent on a mission to deliver a message to a Colonel before he walks his troops into an ambush. Of course, there’s no such thing as easy in war and things go from bad to worse as they continue their journey. Of all the movies released in 2019, 1917 is the most visually impressive as it tells most of the story in a single shot. This means that everything about the film has to run like a well-oiled machine, which it does. It might be a late addition to this list, but 1917 is definitely one of the best movies of 2019.