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defrogYou knew this was coming, right?
This is probably the most pointless Top 10 list I’ve done in a while, since I only managed to see eleven new movies, most of them on airplanes, as I don’t have a movie budget or a [insert streaming service here] account, and didn’t have much time to watch movies in any case.
So basically, we’ll just pretend this is a Top 10 list, but in reality it’s literally every new movie I saw in 2019 except one.
STANDARD DISCLAIMER: If yr favorite movie of 2019 isn’t here, it’s likely because (1) I didn’t get a chance to see it, (2) it hasn’t been released in Hong Kong yet, or (3) I did see it but didn’t like it as much as you did. Also, if some of these seem kind of old, it’s because their release date was 2018 for yr country, but 2019 for Hong Kong. Get me?
TOP TEN DEF FILMS OF 2019 ;)
1. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
A.k.a. “The Ninth Film By Quentin Tarantino”. I went in knowing almost nothing about it, apart from the controversy over the Bruce Lee scene, which is probably the least controversial thing about it (i.e. almost everything involving Sharon Tate and the Manson family). Anyway, the film is essentially Tarantino’s ode to 60s Hollywood movie-making and its associated pop culture, told by way of Rick Dalton, a TV action star trying to revive his career, and his stuntman and (arguably only) friend Cliff Booth. Like most of Tarantino’s recent films, it’s well-written, well-acted and probably too long. I still haven't decided how I feel about the ending – partly because Tarantino has done something like this before, and partly because it’s outlandish and over the top even by QT standards. But QT hasn’t lost his craftsmanship or his ability to get discussion groups going after the lights come up, so credit where it’s due. Not his best, but a welcome improvement over The Hateful Eight.
2. Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker
You can read the full (and hopefully spoiler-free) review here. The short version: it’s fun, and what loose ends do get wrapped up at least make sense technically, even if I’m not happy with some of them – particularly regarding the retconning of The Last Jedi and blatant fan service. The biggest problem is that JJ Abrams tries to jam way too much story into the allotted running time, so it feels rushed. All up, I feel the same way about TROS that I feel about Return Of The Jedi – it’s fun, entertaining and a decent wrap-up, but it’s also not as good as the first two films in the trilogy.
3. I Am Mother
A young girl in a sealed-off bunker is raised by a robot mother, who tells her the outside world was obliterated some time ago by a catastrophic extinction event – after which a mysterious woman from outside appears, and the girl learns the awful truth. It’s the set-up for dozens of post-apocalyptic robot vs human films, but writer-director Grant Sputore takes those familiar tropes and delivers something unexpected in a way that forces you to pay attention, which is a good thing. It's better than the marketing blurbs make it sound.
4. Still Human
This is a local (Hong Kong) small-budget film about middle-aged paraplegic Leung Cheong-wing (Anthony Wong Chau-sang) and his Filipino domestic helper Evelyn Santos (Crisel Consunji). Leung is cranky, bitter and difficult (in terms of both daily care and personality). Evelyn is new at the helper business, doing it only because she needs the money to divorce her abusive husband, but she has aspirations of her own. The film is mainly about the uneasy relationship between them. Although it is occasionally contrived and cheesy, it’s a landmark film on a number of levels – it’s the first decent role for Wong in ages after he was blacklisted for supporting the Umbrella protests in 2014 (and he’s great as usual), and it’s the first HK film ever to feature a domestic helper not only as a main character, but a three-dimensional human rather than a stereotypical caricature (with a great performance by Consunji). So while it may be a not-so-subtle riff on The Intouchables, the local twist makes it work.
5. Stan and Ollie
Laurel and Hardy biopic of that focuses on their 1953 road tour of the UK to prove they still have an audience as they struggle to get backing to film a comedy version of Robin Hood. By this time there was also some unresolved issues between them after the pair temporarily split in 1937 because Laurel didn’t want to renew their contract with Hal Roach. The story is okay but the main appeal lies in the amazing performances by Steve Coogan and John C Reilly as Stan and Ollie, respectively. It’s probably the most convincing portrayal of real-life people I’ve ever seen. And while Jon S Baird opts for gentle tribute over in-depth character study, it was arguably the right move to keep everything believable.
6. Alita: Battle Angel
I generally like Robert Rodriguez’s films, and this adaptation of the Japanese manga cyberpunk classic is no exception. Like a lot of people, my main issue is with Alita’s huge anime eyes, which never quite make it out of the “uncanny valley” for me. I get the ambition to preserve the original design of the character – which has never been done for a manga adaptation – but it seems out of place considering Alita is the only character getting that treatment. Apart from that, as CGI sci-fi flicks go, it’s actually a pretty good film overall.
7. Shazam!
When I was a kid, I watched the live-action Saturday morning version of Shazam (back when he was still known as Captain Marvel) and loved it. It’s amazing though that it never occurred to me that while Shazam looked grown-up, he was still basically a 15-year-old kid. The 2019 Hollywood version takes that idea and runs with it. The comparisons to Big are valid, but it's a twist that makes sense in the Shazam universe. And it was an arguably bold move to make this into a comedy instead of another dark gritty DCU film.
8. Captain Marvel
This is MCU Film #21, and the only one I saw in 2019. I never really followed either Captain Marvel or Ms Marvel in comic-book form, so it was a surprise to me that the story was connected to the Guardians of the Galaxy background (via the Kree/Skrull conflict). It was also nice that while they still insisted on making it an origin story, they used a different story structure instead of following the usual template. And Brie Larson really makes the character her own. So all up, it’s a solid MCU film with enough individuality to stand out from the pack.
9. The Wandering Earth
Chinese sci-fi blockbuster based on a novella by sci-fi writer Liu Cixin. The premise – the sun is dying, and humanity tries to save the Earth by literally moving it to a new solar system – seems loopy, but evidently the original story has a lengthy section explaining why it’s scientifically plausible and arguably a more practical idea than, say, space arks. Anyway, the premise is the least problematic aspect – it also borrows too liberally from other films (2001, 2012 and Gravity come to mind), and the angry-teen story involving the main character angle is overdone. But you can’t fault it for ambition.
10. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
Just like it says. It opts to build on the twist of the first film rather than trying to outdo it, which was probably the smart move. It’s entertaining enough, but is essentially more of the same without the surprises.
THE ONLY OTHER MOVIE I SAW IN 2019
Stockholm
Roughly based on the true story of the 1973 bank heist and hostage crisis in Stockholm that also led to the coinage of the term “Stockholm Syndrome”. Unfortunately, director Robert Budreau (who co-wrote the film) barely touches on this, opting instead to make a standard bank heist/hostage movie that barely acknowledges the most historically significant aspect of the real incident. To be sure, as bank heist/hostage films go, it’s alright, but it could have been so much more.
Hands up,
This is dF
This is probably the most pointless Top 10 list I’ve done in a while, since I only managed to see eleven new movies, most of them on airplanes, as I don’t have a movie budget or a [insert streaming service here] account, and didn’t have much time to watch movies in any case.
So basically, we’ll just pretend this is a Top 10 list, but in reality it’s literally every new movie I saw in 2019 except one.
STANDARD DISCLAIMER: If yr favorite movie of 2019 isn’t here, it’s likely because (1) I didn’t get a chance to see it, (2) it hasn’t been released in Hong Kong yet, or (3) I did see it but didn’t like it as much as you did. Also, if some of these seem kind of old, it’s because their release date was 2018 for yr country, but 2019 for Hong Kong. Get me?
TOP TEN DEF FILMS OF 2019 ;)
1. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
A.k.a. “The Ninth Film By Quentin Tarantino”. I went in knowing almost nothing about it, apart from the controversy over the Bruce Lee scene, which is probably the least controversial thing about it (i.e. almost everything involving Sharon Tate and the Manson family). Anyway, the film is essentially Tarantino’s ode to 60s Hollywood movie-making and its associated pop culture, told by way of Rick Dalton, a TV action star trying to revive his career, and his stuntman and (arguably only) friend Cliff Booth. Like most of Tarantino’s recent films, it’s well-written, well-acted and probably too long. I still haven't decided how I feel about the ending – partly because Tarantino has done something like this before, and partly because it’s outlandish and over the top even by QT standards. But QT hasn’t lost his craftsmanship or his ability to get discussion groups going after the lights come up, so credit where it’s due. Not his best, but a welcome improvement over The Hateful Eight.
2. Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker
You can read the full (and hopefully spoiler-free) review here. The short version: it’s fun, and what loose ends do get wrapped up at least make sense technically, even if I’m not happy with some of them – particularly regarding the retconning of The Last Jedi and blatant fan service. The biggest problem is that JJ Abrams tries to jam way too much story into the allotted running time, so it feels rushed. All up, I feel the same way about TROS that I feel about Return Of The Jedi – it’s fun, entertaining and a decent wrap-up, but it’s also not as good as the first two films in the trilogy.
3. I Am Mother
A young girl in a sealed-off bunker is raised by a robot mother, who tells her the outside world was obliterated some time ago by a catastrophic extinction event – after which a mysterious woman from outside appears, and the girl learns the awful truth. It’s the set-up for dozens of post-apocalyptic robot vs human films, but writer-director Grant Sputore takes those familiar tropes and delivers something unexpected in a way that forces you to pay attention, which is a good thing. It's better than the marketing blurbs make it sound.
4. Still Human
This is a local (Hong Kong) small-budget film about middle-aged paraplegic Leung Cheong-wing (Anthony Wong Chau-sang) and his Filipino domestic helper Evelyn Santos (Crisel Consunji). Leung is cranky, bitter and difficult (in terms of both daily care and personality). Evelyn is new at the helper business, doing it only because she needs the money to divorce her abusive husband, but she has aspirations of her own. The film is mainly about the uneasy relationship between them. Although it is occasionally contrived and cheesy, it’s a landmark film on a number of levels – it’s the first decent role for Wong in ages after he was blacklisted for supporting the Umbrella protests in 2014 (and he’s great as usual), and it’s the first HK film ever to feature a domestic helper not only as a main character, but a three-dimensional human rather than a stereotypical caricature (with a great performance by Consunji). So while it may be a not-so-subtle riff on The Intouchables, the local twist makes it work.
5. Stan and Ollie
Laurel and Hardy biopic of that focuses on their 1953 road tour of the UK to prove they still have an audience as they struggle to get backing to film a comedy version of Robin Hood. By this time there was also some unresolved issues between them after the pair temporarily split in 1937 because Laurel didn’t want to renew their contract with Hal Roach. The story is okay but the main appeal lies in the amazing performances by Steve Coogan and John C Reilly as Stan and Ollie, respectively. It’s probably the most convincing portrayal of real-life people I’ve ever seen. And while Jon S Baird opts for gentle tribute over in-depth character study, it was arguably the right move to keep everything believable.
6. Alita: Battle Angel
I generally like Robert Rodriguez’s films, and this adaptation of the Japanese manga cyberpunk classic is no exception. Like a lot of people, my main issue is with Alita’s huge anime eyes, which never quite make it out of the “uncanny valley” for me. I get the ambition to preserve the original design of the character – which has never been done for a manga adaptation – but it seems out of place considering Alita is the only character getting that treatment. Apart from that, as CGI sci-fi flicks go, it’s actually a pretty good film overall.
7. Shazam!
When I was a kid, I watched the live-action Saturday morning version of Shazam (back when he was still known as Captain Marvel) and loved it. It’s amazing though that it never occurred to me that while Shazam looked grown-up, he was still basically a 15-year-old kid. The 2019 Hollywood version takes that idea and runs with it. The comparisons to Big are valid, but it's a twist that makes sense in the Shazam universe. And it was an arguably bold move to make this into a comedy instead of another dark gritty DCU film.
8. Captain Marvel
This is MCU Film #21, and the only one I saw in 2019. I never really followed either Captain Marvel or Ms Marvel in comic-book form, so it was a surprise to me that the story was connected to the Guardians of the Galaxy background (via the Kree/Skrull conflict). It was also nice that while they still insisted on making it an origin story, they used a different story structure instead of following the usual template. And Brie Larson really makes the character her own. So all up, it’s a solid MCU film with enough individuality to stand out from the pack.
9. The Wandering Earth
Chinese sci-fi blockbuster based on a novella by sci-fi writer Liu Cixin. The premise – the sun is dying, and humanity tries to save the Earth by literally moving it to a new solar system – seems loopy, but evidently the original story has a lengthy section explaining why it’s scientifically plausible and arguably a more practical idea than, say, space arks. Anyway, the premise is the least problematic aspect – it also borrows too liberally from other films (2001, 2012 and Gravity come to mind), and the angry-teen story involving the main character angle is overdone. But you can’t fault it for ambition.
10. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
Just like it says. It opts to build on the twist of the first film rather than trying to outdo it, which was probably the smart move. It’s entertaining enough, but is essentially more of the same without the surprises.
THE ONLY OTHER MOVIE I SAW IN 2019
Stockholm
Roughly based on the true story of the 1973 bank heist and hostage crisis in Stockholm that also led to the coinage of the term “Stockholm Syndrome”. Unfortunately, director Robert Budreau (who co-wrote the film) barely touches on this, opting instead to make a standard bank heist/hostage movie that barely acknowledges the most historically significant aspect of the real incident. To be sure, as bank heist/hostage films go, it’s alright, but it could have been so much more.
Hands up,
This is dF
