THE SCREEN-SPACE BEST (AND WORST) FILMS OF 2019

Takeaways from the year in cinema include the forced retirement of some once-glorious franchise friends (Terminator Dark Fate; X-Men Dark Phoenix; Rambo Last Blood); the resounding indifference to remakes/reboots/rehashes (Charlie’s Angels; Pet Semetary; Hellboy; Shaft); and, the struggle faced by marketers when selling specialised content (despite pre-release hype and critical buzz, Midsommar sputtered to US$43million globally). Australia produced a legitimate homegrown hit with Ride Like a Girl (US$8.5million), but otherwise found the marketplace tough (Storm Boy, US$4million; Danger Close, US$2million; The Nightingale, a paltry US$0.5million, despite critical acclaim).

But there was much to feel optimistic about. Despite what the HFPA would have you believe, women directors have made some of the year’s best films (40% of my Top 30 are female helmed); Oscars 2019 recognised diversity (in their own baby-step way) when handing out the Golden Guy, even if Best Picture winner, Green Book, carried with it some ugly baggage; and, quite hilariously, the young, white male web-overlords freaked the f*** out when the CATS trailer dropped (apparently, if you’re going to prance around in tights and makeup, you better be in a Marvel movie). Anyway, here are our favourites of 2019 (with their Rotten Tomatoes % included, to show how much we really run with the pack on this stuff)…

10. KNIVES OUT (Dir: Rian Johnson; 130 mins; USA; 97%) Starved of ol’ fashioned star-driven ensemble romps, audiences and critics alike reacted to Rian Johnson’s ripping murder/mystery yarn as if a genre had been borne. Knives Out isn’t new cinema (seek out Sidney Lumet’s Deathtrap, from 1982, for starters), but it pulsed with a crisp freshness and giddy sense of fun the likes of which rarely survive studio suits interference.

9. HOMECOMING: A FILM BY BEYONCE (Dir: Beyoncé Knowles-Carter; 137 mins; USA; 98%) The vivacity and vision that Beyoncé displayed in staging her Coachella 2018 set is captured with a potency that leaves the viewer breathless in Homecoming. Her music, her motives, her motherhood – the icon stamps this moment in her country’s history as her own in a behind-the-scenes concert film that ranks amongst the best ever.

8. WORKING WOMAN (ISHA OVEDET) (Dir: Michal Aviad; 93 mins; Israel; 97%) “The piercing humanistic precision that Michal Aviad honed with her decades as one of the world’s finest documentarians serves her well..” Read the SCREEN-SPACE review here.

7. COLOR OUT OF SPACE (Dir: Richard Stanley; 110 mins; USA; 87%) The combination of talents is irresistible to the cult cinema crowd – be he brilliant or barmy, director Richard Stanley; author of the alien invasion source story, H.P Lovecraft; and the mad maestro himself, Nicholas Cage. The finished product is a B-movie fever-dream; a twisted, terrifying, exhilarating nightmare of family angst and parasitic world domination.

6. BOOKSMART (Dir: Olivia Wilde; 101 mins; USA; 97%) A coming-of-age teen comedy with heavy doses of blue humour shouldn’t feel so fresh, be so funny, or pack an emotional punch like Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut managed. With Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever (pictured, top; far left) inhabiting their co-lead roles and a thematic through-line in acceptance tugging at the heartstrings, Booksmart is so much more than the Superbad-for-girls the trailer promised.

5. WILD ROSE (Dir: Tom Harper; 101 mins; UK; 93%) The balance between dreams, talent and the roots that give them meaning have rarely been so acutely portrayed as in Tom Harper’s Wild Rose. As Rose-Lynn Harlan, the Glaswegian ex-con with a voice that fills the room and raises the roof, Jessie Buckley is a revelation; by the time she belts out ‘No Place Like Home’, her tears and triumphs bring emotions that only great rags-to-riches-to-rags stories deliver.  

4. ALICE (Dir: Josephine Mackerras; 103 mins; UK | France | Australia; 100%) In this story of a French woman cocooned by the façade of a dishonest marriage and her rise to independence, Josephine Mackerras has crafted a moving, funny, immediate #MeToo superheroine. As Alice, Emilie Piponnier (pictured, right, and top right) is the Australian director’s perfect foil; her emergence on-screen as a self-reliant, sexually energised woman in charge of her own destiny is the character arc of the year.

3. AD ASTRA (Dir: James Gray; 124 mins; USA; 84%) ‘Mr Serious Filmmaker’ James Gray tackling a science-fiction story (essentially Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, with added daddy issues) had us all intrigued; most critics liked it, audiences not so much (tapped out at US$130million globally). A dark reflection on legacy, masculinity and the pain of truthful self-discovery meant Gray was in his high-minded element, but he didn’t skimp on genre prerequisites (the year’s best VFX) and a subversive ‘movie star’ presence in Brad Pitt’s nuanced performance.

2. PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (PORTRAIT DE LA JEUNE FILLE EN FEU) (Dir: Céline Sciamma; 121 mins; France; 97%) How does the artist capture a subject who refuses to be observed, who refutes closeness of any kind? Writer/director Céline Sciamma painstakingly unravels the constraints of 18^th decorum and privilege to capture a physical and spiritual connection between two women, alone on an isolated Brittany island. Embodying the soaring, doomed romantic liaison are actresses Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel, whose performances connect as only the greatest of screen lovers can.

1. ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD (Dir: Quentin Tarantino; 161 mins; USA; 85%) “[Tarantino’s] heart is in this film, for the first time afforded as much input as his fan-boy passion and film culture knowledge…” Read the SCREEN-SPACE review here.

The next 20 (in no particular order; with their Rotten Tomatoes %, where possible) are also great, so please seek them out…:
REPOSSESSION (Dirs: Ming Siu Goh, Scott C. Hillyard; 96 mins; Singapore; N/A)
LITTLE WOMEN (Dir: Greta Gerwig; 134 mins; USA; 96%)
KNIVES AND SKINS (Dir: Jennifer Reeder; 112 mins; USA; 72%)
ROMANTIC COMEDY (Dir: Elizabeth Sankey; 78 mins; UK; 100%)
THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON (Dirs: Tyler Nilson, Michael Schwartz; 97 mins; USA; 95%)
ATLANTICS (Dir: Mati Diop; 106 mins; France | Senegal | Belgium; 95%)
THE GOLD-LADEN SHEEP AND THE SACRED MOUNTAIN (SONA DHWANDI BHED TE SUCHHA PAHAD (Dir: Ridham Janve; 97 mins; India; N/A)
UNDER THE SILVER LAKE (Dir: David Robert Mitchell; 139 mins; USA; 58%)
READY OR NOT (Dir: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett; 95 mins; USA; 88%)
KLAUS (Dirs: Sergio Pablos, Carlos Martínez López; 96 mins; Spain | UK; 92%
THE BEACH BUM (Dir: Harmony Korine; 95 mins; USA; 55%)
HUSTLERS (Dir: Lorene Scafaria; 107 mins; USA; 88%)
CAPTAIN MARVEL (Dir: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck; 123 mins; USA; 78%)
PARASITE (GISAENGCHUNG) (Dir: Boon Jong Ho; 132 mins; Korea; 99%)
TOY STORY 4 (Dir: Josh Cooley; 90 mins; USA; 97%)
THE REPORT (Dir: Scott Z. Burns; 119 mins; USA; 82%)
APOLLO 11 (Dir: Todd Douglas Miller; 93 mins; USA; 99%)
THE FURIES (Dir: Tony D’Aquino; 82 mins; Australia; 60%)
JOJO RABBIT (Dir: Taika Waititi; 108 mins; New Zealand | Czech Republic; 79%)
MOSLEY (Dir: Kirby Atkins; 96 mins; New Zealand | China; N/A) 

THE WORST FILMS OF 2019:
Todd Phillip’s Joker was a puerile, garish, tone-deaf shout-out to angry white males who responded en masse, as was the plan.
Disney plundered its vaults and manufactured a series of awful live-action/CGI abominations that reeked of cash-grab cynicism and stockholder pandering - the hideous Mary Poppins Returns and unnecessarily mean-spirited Dumbo; The Lion King was ok, but ‘not as bad as we expected’ is faint praise.
A lot of critics played the ‘its big, dumb, fun card’ in cutting slack to the idiotic brand-extension film, Fast & Furious Present: Hobbs & Shaw, while the more mature filmgoer had to contend with their own dire movie moments, in grotesque melodrama (Isabelle Huppert in Greta) and boomer privilege fantasy (director Rachel Ward’s insufferable Palm Beach).
The Worst Film of 2019, and by some measure, is Sony’s risible attempt to rekindle the MIB franchise, MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL. Directed by the utterly disinterested F. Gary Gray, this mish-mash of poor effects and grab-bag plotting hoped to exploit the chemistry generated by Thor Ragnarok co-stars Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth, but the film leaves Thompson clutching at thin air character-wise and Hemsworth…well, he’s no Will Smith. Handing this horror-show over to Kumail Nanjiani’s comic-relief CGI alien to salvage at the midway mark is testament to the vacuum of creativity on show.  

5 REASONS WHY A STAR IS BORN WILL WIN BEST PICTURE

When A Star is Born premiered at the 2018 Venice Film Festival, it took a lightning strike literally hitting the theatre to slow the momentum of Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut. The projector blew out, the cinema went dark for ten minutes, and then…the crowd roared when the musical drama lit up the screen once again. That audience would ultimately give the film an 8-minute standing ovation, an overwhelming response that was repeated at the film’s Toronto Film Festival screening a few weeks later. The film that Variety’s chief critic Owen Gleiberman called, “a transcendent Hollywood film,” was shaping as an Oscar evening lock; it would earn a whopping 8 nominations, including Picture, Actress, Actor, Adapted Screenplay and, of course, Song for ‘Shallow’ a smash hit for the film’s breakout star Lady Gaga.

However, the road to Academy Award triumph grew bumpy – Cooper had missed out on a Best Director nomination; Green Book surged during the voting period; Bohemian Rhapsody became a blockbuster, challenging for the ‘Musical of The Year’ crown; the community of Hollywood Guild’s (Writers, Cinematographers, Editors, etc) kept nominating, but then ignoring, A Star is Born.

The journey of A Star is Born is one of triumph in the face of odds and adversity (remember the lightning?). Which is why, when the Best Picture winner is announced at the 91^st Academy Award ceremony, A Star is Born will be lauded the best film of 2018. Consider these five compelling arguments for the film’s fairy tale finish…    

IT IS A TIMELESS STORY, SYNONYMOUS WITH BOTH OLD AND NEW HOLLYWOOD: The story of the down-on-her-luck singer discovered by a mega-star as his own celebrity is waning has been filmed three times, with each earning big box office and AMPAS adoration. William Wellman’s 1937 original, starring Janet Gaynor and Frederic March, earned seven nominations, winning for Screenplay; George Cukor’s 1954 classic starring Judy Garland and James Mason earned six nominations; and, in 1976, Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson fronted Frank Pierson’s blockbuster, a four-time nominee and winner for Best Song, the Streisand/Paul Williams hit ‘Evergreen’. Cooper succeeded at contemporising a classic Hollywood narrative; old AMPAS voters will respect that.

IT BRIDGES THE GAP BETWEEN THE INDUSTRY, THE CRITICS AND THE PEOPLE: A Star is Born ticks all the boxes across the key segments of a film’s life cycle. Cooper took creative risks by casting the largely untested box office pull of Gaga and brought the film in around the projected budget (US$37million); critics have been almost unanimous in their praise (it currently stands at 90% on Rotten Tomatoes) and it has been a fixture on most Best of 2018 lists; and, global audiences have turned out to the tune of US$445million (not including the blockbuster soundtrack and with home entertainment revenue to come).

IT DOESN’T HAVE AN ALBATROSS AROUND ITS NECK: In a year that saw some of the dirtiest campaigning in Oscar history, A Star is Born carries with it no ugly baggage. Peter Farrelly’s Green Book came under particular scrutiny, with the director’s past as a serial exposer of his junk (for comedic effect, but still…), the co-writer posting right-wing, racist comments and leading man Viggo Mortensen naively uttering a racially-charged word at a press conference all painting the well-meaning drama in a bad light; Bohemian Rhapsody director Bryan Singer’s alleged sexual indiscretions came to the fore during campaigning; and, BlacKkKlansman’s Spike Lee refused to court favour with the Academy by curbing his outspokenness. By comparison, the adorable public displays of mutual respect and affection between Cooper and Gaga (who will perform ‘Shallow’ live during the ceremony) have endeared them to audiences and voters alike. 

THERE IS A ‘CONFLUENCE OF COINCIDENCE’ AMONG NOMINEES THAT HAS CUT A PATH FOR IT: Green Book is stumbling, the Best Picture trophy it was on track to win now seeming a little to much praise for a film that earned good-not-great notices; Spike Lee will earn the Best Director trophy, taking his ultra-angry film out of the Picture race; Alfonso Quaron will take rightly Foreign Film and Cinematography categories, negating its Best Film slot; Vice, Black Panther, Bohemian Rhapsody are officially rank outsiders. What remains is a face-off between Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite, an arthouse hit that few outside the urban centres have seen (US domestic box office total – US$31million) or one of the biggest critical and commercial hits of the year. With AMPAS desperate to appear relevant to mainstream audiences (remember the ‘Best Popular Film’ fasco?), rewarding a four-quadrant hit like A Star is Born seems a no-brainer.

IT WILL AFFORD SAM ELLIOTT HIS TIME ON OSCAR’S STAGE: Elliott won’t win for Best Supporting Actor – Maheershala Ali for Green Book is the night’s odds-on shoe-in – so a Best Picture nod will get the 74 year-old onstage with his fellow cast and crew to share in the glory. When Cooper utters, “And, oh my God, working with Sam Elliott,” the room will go fucking crazy.