I'm doing something different this year: I'm combining movies and TV in a single list. Feels just about right, given how three of the best things I saw onscreen were TV series/miniseries. The same personal rule once again applies: My list is, first, a rundown of favorites (because I am not my colleague Emil Hofileña ["Emil Reviews Things"], who somehow has the time and stamina to watch everything); and, second, a combination of the current year's new releases and the previous year's leftovers. If you're reading this on desktop or desktop mode, there's a sidebar to the right that lists every movie and TV show I saw this year. Now on to the list!
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1. Parasite (dir. Bong Joon-ho)
The perfect moviegoing experience.
2. Chernobyl (HBO; dir. Johan Renck)
A five-hour-plus nervous breakdown.
3. Fleabag, Season 2 (BBC Three; dir. Harry Bradbeer)
Short, sweet, rapturous and flawless. That first episode should be taught in film schools everywhere.
4. An Elephant Sitting Still (dir. Hu Bo)
A sweeping triumph of portraiture, both macro (the fucked-up 21st-century Chinese society at large) and micro (the lost and lonely inhabitants of this modern-day epic).
5. Edward (dir. Thop Nazareno)
Maybe it's just my biases as a doctor at play. Maybe it's really the best Filipino film of 2019. Take your pick.
6. Oda sa Wala (dir. Dwein Baltazar)
If you're not yet a Dwein Baltazar stan, then you're not doing drag.
7. Succession, Season 2 (HBO; dirs. various)
For starters: "Boar on the floor!"
8. Cleaners (dir. Glenn Barit)
A remarkably precise and tender love letter to a distinctly Filipino high school experience (by way of Damián Szifron's "Wild Tales"). This is exactly what it meant and felt like to come of age in the late 2000s.
9. Knives Out (dir. Rian Johnson)
Dictionaries should edit themselves to use this film in sentence examples of "fun."
10. The Favourite (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos); Shoplifters (dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda); By the Grace of God (dir. François Ozon)
A three-way Sophie's choice: The Greek and his blacker-than-black black comedy; the Japanese and his quiet, and quietly heartbreaking, exploration of family and poverty; and the Frenchman taking on the Catholic Church with machine-gun rhythm.
And now for my next 10--because despite the likes of "Joker," "Uncut Gems," "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood," etc., 2019, like the previous year, still offered an embarrassment of riches.
11. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (dir. Céline Sciamma)
Every frame is a painting. Every scene gleams with care and patience.
12. The Crown, Season 3 (Netflix/ dirs. various)
The strongest season so far. "Aberfan"? Josh O'Connor's "Hollow Crown" monologue? Charles Dance in that Montbatten episode? And look how the series has embraced its teleserye roots.
13. Marriage Story (dir. Noah Baumbach)
It's rightfully leading the Best Picture tally at present--and this isn't even Baumbach's best yet (that would be "Frances Ha").
14. Can You Ever Forgive Me? (dir. Marielle Heller)
Why didn't this win more awards last season?
15. Barry, Season 2 (HBO/ dirs. various)
If the Filipino word "baliw" were turned into TV, this is how it would look like.
16. The End of the F***cking World, Season 2 (Channel 4/All 4/Netflix; dirs. Lucy Forbes & Destiny Ekaragha)
Every episode kept below 25 minutes. (Short-form) storytellers, pay attention!
17. Sila-Sila (dir. Giancarlo Abrahan)
Theater people really are God's gift to the world. (P.S. Gio Gahol deserved that Best Actor festival prize.)
18. Catastrophe, Season 4 (Channel 4; dir. Jim O'Hanlon)
The discipline that this has. Every episode at/below 25 minutes, part II.
This is how I love my dose of mainstream.
20. Midsommar (dir. Ari Aster); Us (dir. Jordan Peele)
A tie between these two this *low* in my list, if only because as follow-up efforts, they feel *less* than "Hereditary" and "Get Out," respectively. Still brilliant, tho.
BUT WAIT--there's more. In alphabetical order, 10 more titles I'd recommend in a heartbeat to anyone who asks: Ad Astra (dir. James Gray); American Factory (dirs. Steven Bognar & Julia Reichert); Bacurau (dirs. Kleber Mendonça Filho & Juliano Dornelles); Elise (dir. Joel Ferrer); Isa Pa with Feelings (dir. Prime Cruz); Lola Igna (dir. Eduardo Roy Jr.); The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Season 2 (Amazon Prime Video; dirs. various); Metamorphosis (dir. J.E. Tiglao); One Child Nation (dirs. Nanfu Wang & Jialing Zhang); Russian Doll, Season 1 (Netflix; dirs. various).
* * * * *
My favorite performance of the year--heck, what should be the performance of the year--is MICHELLE WILLIAMS in "Fosse/Verdon." I suspect we'll be talking about her monumental, infinitely giving turn as Gwen Verdon for decades to come. Here are *20* more performances, from an ocean of great performances, that I can watch again and again and again:
- Louise Abuel (Edward)
- Carlo Aquino (Isa Pa with Feelings)
- Timothée Chalamet (Beautiful Boy)
- Toni Collette (Knives Out)
- Olivia Colman (The Favourite; Fleabag, Season 2)
- Charles Dance (The Crown, Season 3)
- Alessandra de Rossi (Lucid)
- Adam Driver (Marriage Story)
- Gio Gahol (Sila-Sila)
- Bob Jbeili (Lucid)
- Jennifer Lopez (Hustlers)
- Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll, Season 1)
- Lupita Nyong'o (Us)
- Josh O'Connor (The Crown, Season 3)
- Peng Yuchang (An Elephant Sitting Still)
- Joe Pesci (The Irishman)
- Brad Pitt (Ad Astra; Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
- Florence Pugh (Midsommar)
- Jose Javier Reyes (Ang Babae sa Septic Tank 3: The Real Untold Story of Josephine Bracken)
* * * * *
SEE ALSO:
The Year in Film (2018)
The Year in Film (2018)
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