Three Top-Ten (+1) of 2019

Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

The Irishman

Parasite

(They Shall Not Grow Old)

               These are three of the finest films I’ve ever seen. Full stop. The rest of the field in 2019 or virtually any other year doesn’t even come close, and that’s why my list is limited to these narrative features (plus one documentary).

                In Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood Quentin Tarantino has crafted an immersive recreation of a time and place that blurs whatever lines separate fiction, fantasy and memory.

Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman is a mature meditation on friendship, fatherhood and betrayal.

Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite is an uncategorizable tale of two families filled with surprises all the way through.

 (Peter Jackson’s They Shall Not Grow Old, made from restored and colorized BBC footage of soldiers in World War I with frighteningly realistic sound, is such a revelatory look back at The Great War that it must have some sort of recognition.)

I look forward to watching all of them again.

Honorable Mention

Ford v Ferrari

Shazam!

Bombshell

Knives Out

Us

Rocketman

Avengers Endgame

Dolemite Is My Name

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Best DVD and streaming releases

The Happy Prince

Deadwood: The Movie

The Highwaymen

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie

Books by Mike Mayo