They Shall not Grow Old took us back to WWI with an amazing use of film restoration.
Here’s the best film releases (Streaming/DVD/Blu-ray) of the year in order of their home release date. Last year I marked my 10th year of making such lists public and this year we mark the end of the first decade of the 21st century. What a crazy ride it’s been!
In my opinion, 2010-2019 unfortunately saw a major decline in quality films while at the same time seeing an increased output. More films were made and available more widely due to technology but quantity never means quality. We’ve all had the conversation about Hollywood factories of production cranking out more reboots, comic book films and over-amped action and horror. Still some filmmakers give us quality work that could be lost in the noise. One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that certain films that have received high critical praise are movies that I think are average at best. Are my expectations too high? Am I more impatient to suffer the glacial pacing that makes so-called art films? Am I a cranky old man? Who knows? These are just matters of opinion after all. I just hope the next decade in film gives us more human connection less of the same old retreads. Quality filmmakers are still out there fighting the odds to get unique stories told. Happy Holidays!
Here’s the flicks I liked best this past year:
| 1. Mission Impossible -Fallout | December 4, 2018^ |
| 2. Roma+ | December 14, 2018^ |
| 3. The Wife | January 29, 2019 |
| 4. The Sisters Brothers | February 5, 2019 |
| 5. Can You Ever Forgive Me? | February 19, 2019 |
| 6. Green Book | March 12, 2019 |
| 7. Stan & Ollie | March 26, 2019 |
| 8. Vice | April 2, 2019 |
| 9. They Shall Not Grow Old*+ | May 5, 2019 |
| 10. Us | June 18, 2019 |
| 11. Avengers: Endgame | August 13, 2019 |
| 12. Rocketman | August 27, 2019 |
| 13. Wild Rose+ | September 19, 2019 |
| 14. Toy Story 4 | October 8, 2019 |
| 15. David Crosby: Remember My Name* | October 22, 2019 |
| 16. The Farewell+ | November 12, 2019 |
| 17. The Irishman | November 27, 2019 |
^=Missed my list last year since I published early
+=foreign
*=documentary
Rain Film 