Otter's 2019 Movie Roundup

Spoilers below, proceed with caution. Updated to include Little Women, which I hadn't seen at the time of the original posting. 

14. What Men Want
To paraphrase an opinion about this movie I saw somewhere on the internet: "Some movies are just meant to be watched in economy class on a United airlines flight."

13. Rise of Skywalker
This movie didn't take any time to breathe, with our band of adventurers hurriedly running from one MacGuffin to the next. It did teach us that the best way to survive in the Star Wars universe is to be thrown down a bottomless pit. How else to explain the survival of Luke (falls down a pit in Ep 5), Kylo (falls down a pit at the end of this movie), Darth Maul (falls down a pit after being chopped in half in Ep 1) and, of course, the Emperor (after falling down a pit in a Death Star that promptly explodes in Ep 6.) 

12. The Lion King
It's strange to watch a movie that I practically had memorized as a child with entirely different animation and ever-so-slightly changed dialogue and songs. Still might have been worth it to hear Beyonce say "Lions, attack!" 

11. Captain Marvel
Earlier this year, I reluctantly watched quite a few Marvel movies to give myself much-needed context for when I would reluctantly watch Avengers: Endgame. After this marathon, I decided that I do not enjoy Marvel movies with outer space. Captain Marvel supports my theory, with the earthbound bits being far more entertaining than the (deliberately but annoyingly) incomplete and ambiguous memories of Captain Marvel's time on some mystery planet.

10. Late Night
There is a better movie in here somewhere with interesting things to say about women in the upper echelons of male-dominated industries and dealing with a boss who is excellent at their profession but horrible to their subordinates. However, this is a movie that features not just one, but two, scenes where our plucky protagonist is fake-fired only for her domineering boss to be impressed by her talent and grit and immediately re-hire her.

9. Yesterday
This movie couldn't decide if it wanted to be a rom-com, a satire of the music industry, or a delightful fantasy. If you're going to give a movie such a wonderfully bonkers premise, lean into it and explore it for all its worth. 

8. El Camino
Did Breaking Bad need a sequel? No, honestly. But this movie was an interesting continuation of Jesse Pinkman's story and very much in the spirit of the show. 

7. Motherless Brooklyn
A little overlong and convoluted, but an interesting mystery. Plus, I enjoyed trying to recognize some landmarks since this movie was partially filmed in Troy, NY, not too far from where I grew up. 

6. Avengers: Endgame
Yes, it's pretty much impossible to do time travel without plot holes. There was some outer space and some not entirely convincing (or necessary) de-aging. But, I will admit to tearing up at the Cap's long-awaited dance.

5. Spider-Man: Far from Home
This has the least outer space of the 2019 Marvel movies. Thus, it is the best.

4. Uncut Gems
This movie drops you right into a frantic few days in the life of Adam Sandler's Howard Rather without any context or background and proceeds to show you every nerve-wracking, impulsive, short-termed decision he makes. I'm surprised he didn't get the "critically derided comedian goes serious/gritty" Oscar nomination. He would have deserved it. 

3. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
As my number one pick shows, I love a movie that has movie stars acting like movie stars. Leonardo DiCaprio is immensely fun as a fading celebrity, and Brad Pitt brings charm and pathos to his role as Leo's stunt double / driver / handler / only real friend. 

2. Little Women
I was only mildly excited when I first heard that Greta Gerwig would be helming a Little Women remake. Sure, I loved Lady Bird, but did we really need yet another Little Women adaptation? Gerwig takes this and makes it into one of the best elements of the movie: We all know what's going to happen, so why not find an entirely new way to tell the story? The exceptional cast helps this story feel new, and I'm especially exited to re-read the book with a new vantage point on Amy March.

1. Knives Out
I spent a few middle school summers reading every Agatha Christie novel I could find, so there was no way I was missing this movie. This was a wonderfully enjoyable and modern update to the "whodunit." Only complaint is that it suffers a little from the "Law and Order: SVU" rule (the most famous person did it!) 

Saurus's 2019 Movie Roundup

Happy New Year! Amazingly, I've watched more new movies this year than ever before, due to some combination of theater-hopping (please don't arrest me), movie nights with friends, a local film festival, and of course, beautiful beautiful streaming sites (thank you, beloved friends and family who permit me to use their accounts. You know who you are). Here is my ranking of the 31 movies I saw in 2019:

Skip these:
31. Greener Grass 
This was one of the 6 films I watched over a 2-day period at the Sidewalk Film Festival in Birmingham. Unfortunately this satire of Midwestern suburban politeness was too weird for me.

30. Men in Black: International
I like the leads, Chris Hemsworth and especially Tessa Thompson. I wanted this to work. Reader, it did not work. Not even a little.

29. Spider-Man: Far From Home

I know Alicia loved this one, but I really felt the 2h+ runtime. You know it's bad when halfway through the movie, you look down at your watch thinking, "When is this going to end?" Granted, I'm not an action or Marvel movie person. I would've much preferred the Breakfast Club version of Peter Parker and his misfit friends. A whole movie centering on Zendaya as MJ? Yes, please.

28. Wine Country

Again, a wonderful, promising cast. Again, a disappointing script. Sorry, Amy Poehler.

27. Between Two Ferns: The Movie

I liked this series a lot on YouTube but the movie was completely pointless. Some fun cameos though.

Okay but not memorable:

26. Frances Ferguson 

(Sidewalk) The dry humor of the unseen Nick Offerman's omniscient narrator was a highlight, but otherwise this black comedy, about a female teacher-turned-sex-offender whose life unravels, was a little lifeless.

25. Premature

(Sidewalk) Lovely and artsy coming-of-age story about first love, but also sort of predictable and forgettable.

24. Safe Spaces 

(Sidewalk) This primarily felt like a showcase for lead Justin Long. However, it's the women in his family who steal the show, including Fran Drescher and Lynn Cohen, who play his mother and grandmother, respectively.

23. Isn't It Romantic

I watched this movie on the plane. Let me say it is an excellent plane movie choice: entertaining enough and requiring no brainpower whatsoever. 

22. Late Night

As a big fan of Mindy Kaling and Emma Thompson, I really, really wanted this to be good. Like a lot of Kaling's other projects, however, the movie was pretty uneven: some parts really were really good (see: Emma Thompson's speeches). Others stunk.

21. The Perfect Date

I, like most women, am not immune to Noah Centineo's charms. If you can get past the basic plot of a white guy named Brooks Rattigan lying his way into his dream school (which is of course Yale), the romantic plotline is sort of charming when he's not being a dick. 

Technically good but pass: 

20. Chasing Happiness 

I don't know what prompted me to watch a documentary about the Jonas Brothers, when I'm not a huge fan of docs or the Jonas Brothers at the time (this was long before I attended their concert, which was incredibly fun and joyful by the way). I liked that it presented a cohesive narrative about the JoBros, but I admit I was probably also texting or online shopping while watching this on Prime.

19. The Nightingale 

(Sidewalk) This movie was very well-done but also extremely painful to watch in all its brutality. The three women sitting in front of me walked out of the theater during a particularly horrifying scene near the beginning of the movie. I'm glad I stuck with it but I'll happily never watch it again.

18. Toy Story 4

Toy Story 3 ended perfectly. That is all I'll say about that. 

Fun but could be better: 

17. Yesterday

I think we can all agree, the basic concept makes no sense and the filmmakers could have gone further with it. But watching Himesh Patel's take on Beatles classics makes up for all that.

16. Aladdin

You would think I'd be biased negatively given that the 1992 animated Aladdin is my favorite Disney movie. In fact I'm happy to take any Aladdin I can get, especially if it takes the form of the extremely attractive Mena Massoud. (The man is unrealistically beautiful, ok!) 

15. Good Boys

The end of this movie feels like a separate movie altogether, but I thought the cast delivered on both its ridiculous raunchy jokes and innocent sweetness. 

14. The Cat and the Moon

(Sidewalk) This coming-of-age story from Alex Wolff doesn't sound like much on the surface, but was surprisingly honest and understated in its portrayal of teenage... I won't call it angst. Let's say, grief, confusion, and resilience. 

13. Always Be My Maybe

I am quite obsessed with Ali Wong and over-the-moon thrilled about getting another Asian-American rom-com. The Keanu scenes were also immediately iconic. However, I didn't think Ali Wong and Randall Park's characters actually made sense together or seemed to even like each other that much, which is the lifeblood of a rom-com.

12. Someone Great

This is billed as a rom-com but is really an ode to female friendship, which I can always get behind. I thought the leads were all charming and every damn cameo was amazing (Michelle Buteau, Rosario Dawson, and Jaboukie Young-White, to name a few).

Very enjoyable: 

11. Paddleton

I watched this movie soon after Netflix released it back in February, so unfortunately I don't remember much other than it was good and heartfelt and you should just believe me on that.

10. Jojo Rabbit

This movie shouldn't work on paper, but Taika Waititi makes the shocking premise and abrupt tonal shift work beautifully.

9. Plus One

Give me a friends-to-lovers rom-com trope any day of the week. The leads have great rapport and Maya Erskine is a standout with her screwball sense of humor.

8. Brittany Runs a Marathon

Solid movie with a strong performance by Jillian Bell. I'm not sure why the word "unfussy" comes to mind, but maybe because no character or scene feels extraneous.

7. Knives Out

A friend may have had to drag me to see this movie but it was pretty great--a truly original whodunit with a fantastic cast that is only slightly outshined by ALL THE KNITWEAR.

6. The Peanut Butter Falcon

This movie will remind you that Shia LaBeouf, for all his Shia LaBeouf-iness, is in fact a talented actor. If you're really lucky, you may even be tricked into thinking he is hot for a few hours.

My top picks: 

5. Little Women

It's hard to make a story from the 1860s that's been adapted a million times feel modern and fresh but Greta Gerwig definitely succeeded. Not sure what is my favorite new bit: the shared androgyny of Jo and Laurie; the increased backstory and screen time given to oft-despised Amy March; the sweeping wide shots of the beach and rolling hills; Meryl Streep getting to be bitchy AF; or Emma Watson constantly dropping her American accent as Meg. Ha ha. 

4. The Farewell

I have a distinct memory of sobbing multiple times during the movie, looking around the theater and realizing that as (probably) the only 20-something Asian-American woman in that showing in Alabama, things were hitting me harder than most anyone else there. It's that powerful sense of recognition that reminds you at least one reason why representation in media is so important.

3. Booksmart

This reigned at the top of my list for months. I love a good coming-of-age story, and this one is full of heart and humor. Every character, from lead to random supporting minor, was a fully-fleshed, goddamn gem. If this is what an Olivia Wilde movie looks like, sign me up for many, many more. 

2. Marriage Story

The longer I thought about this movie, the more it inched its way up my rankings. Yes, this portrayal of the dissolution of a relationship gave us countless arguing memes and Laura Dern's angry feminist monologue, but it's surprisingly hopeful in depicting life after love (I do not apologize for quoting Cher).

1. Parasite

The twists and turns of this movie--I mean, holy shit. I was constantly surprised, taken aback, moved, etc. If you're reading this list it's because you're my friend and you've probably already watched this, so let's discuss Oscar odds!!