Definitive List of Best Movies I Saw from 2019

People of the Face: Hey, I don't want to think about politics today, so here's a top ten list of movies I saw in the 2019 season. It was a great year for cinema.

1. Parasite - Not much more to say about this. The only movie I can think of in the last 10 years that deserved all the Oscars. Peak Hitchcock while going for something deeper.
2. A Marriage Story - Great directing + great acting + human story = Great movie. Heartbreaking without feeling manipulative.
3. Last Black Man in SF - Surreal, unique vision of a complicated story of gentrification that still makes you want to move to San Francisco
4. Portrait of a Lady on FI-RRRREEEUH! I can't remember a better filmed love story in the past decade. From the great opening scene there's a forward momentum that sucks you into the narrative and pulls you through without a wasted scene. The director does a brilliant job of making you feel the growing attraction of the two leads and showing the obstacles they face both in their relationship and daily life as two 18th century women without unnecessary exposition. In fact, there's so little dialogue that you almost don't need the subtitles. The camerawork in this film is about as perfect as can be.
5. Little Women - A great twist on a story told many times before, but never as well as Gerwig did here. Love the Adaptation ending. Florence Pugh /Saoirse Ronan for president
6. Uncut Gems - Butt still clenched
7. Knives Out - Destined to be one of those classics they show on TV ad infinitim. Even better than the movies it was riffing on like Murder on the Orient Express and Sleuth. Jamie Lee Curtis for Secretary of Defense
8. Us - Scary as hell, funny, ambitious, disturbing, might've been ranked higher if I hadn't seen it so long ago.
9. Midsommar - Even if I told you every shocking thing that happens in this movie ahead of time, you'd still be shocked. Some things in this movie hit a little too close to home for me (ritual murder)
10. Rolling Thunder Revue - The musical performances in this alone are worth the price of admission. Compelling evidence that Bob Dylan was a powerhouse performer. Strong Patty Smith and Joanie Mitchell scenes. Bonus: lots of early 70's man on the street Massholes
11. High Flying Bird - A smart, fast-paced, well-written movie centered on the racial politics of sport. Soderbergh shot it with an iphone, but he didn't skimp on cinematography

Honorable mentions: Apollo 11, The Lighthouse, Atlantiques, The Irishman

Not bad/worth seeing: The Dead Don't Die, Jojo Rabbit, 1917, Ad Astra, The Farewell, Hustlers