5 Off My Head: Siri Says 2019

We are indeed still filling in the final few gaps in my "Siri Says" series -- this is where I ask my phone to give me a number between 1 and 100 and then I take that number and I pick my five favorite movies from the year that corresponds. Thing is we left the "Siri" part in the dust awhile back when the remaining numbers got down below fifteen, because waiting for Siri to say a number that hadn't been used before took ages. So now I have the remaining years written on slips of paper and I choose one at random, and yet I still use Siri in the title? Sue me for fraud if you must! Anyway today I chose the number "19" and since there's no chance in all of the depths of hell that I'd have anything to say about the movies of 1919 -- my apologies to Yankee Doodle in Berlin! -- I will be regaling us with my five favorite films from three years ago. (Here is a list of 2019 movies if you need a refresher -- a lot has happened since then!)

And yes I have already posted by five favorite movies of 2019 on the site -- indeed I listed my Top 25 that year! So this will only be interesting if anything has changed, and (drumroll please) I am sorry to tell you the list of movies in my top five has not changed. But wait! The movies themselves have maybe not changed, but (drumroll please) the order of them has a little! Chaos! Sanctus! Dominus! Sanctus! Dominus! Dogs sleeping with cats et cetera! Okay maybe not but whatcha gonna do, we got a space to fill. And I do think it's a little interesting to see what's shifted in three years time's estimation. No? Well without further dreadful ado I give you...

My 5 Favorite Movies of 2019

5. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

(dir. Marielle Heller)

-- released on November 22nd 2019 --

4. Midsommar

(dir. Ari Aster)

-- released on July 3rd 2019 --

3. The Last Black Man in San Francisco

(dir. Joe Talbot)

-- released on June 7th 2019 --

2. Portrait of a Lady on Fire

(dir. Céline Sciamma)

-- released on December 6th 2019 --

1. The Lighthouse

(dir. Robert Eggers)

-- released on November 1st 2019 --

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Runners-up: In Fabric (dir. Peter Strickland), Sorry Angel (dir. Christophe Honoré), Little Women (dir. Greta Gerwig), Knife+Heart (dir. Yan Gonzalez), End of the Century (dir. Lucio Castro), Peterloo (dir. Mike Leigh)...

... The Nightingale (dir. Jennifer Kent), Pain and Glory (dir. Pedro Almodóvar), Invisible Life (dir. Karim Ainouz), Transit (dir. Christian Petzold), Us (dir. Jordan Peele), Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (dir. Quentin Tarantino)

What are your favorite movies of 2019?

Peterloo Promise To Love You For Ever More

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As I wrote up my favorite 25 movies of 2019 a few weeks ago (yes it feels like years ago, why do you ask) I realized, as I went to link to my reviews, that there were a few of them I never properly reviewed. The end of the year crush takes its toll, and time was scarce -- remember what it was like for time to be scarce? The past two days I haven't gotten out of bed before 10:30. 

Anyway! One of the movies I loved but never reviewed was Mike Leigh's Peterloo, which was one of the movies I made sure to cram in before making my list, and the one I was most glad to have taken the time for. It's brilliant, it's devastating -- it feels epic and yet you can at the same time feel it closing its vice like grip on you as it rolls along, as the horror of what's to come makes itself unavoidable. For a film shot mainly in wide shots it's somehow so claustrophobic you almost can't take it by the end. It's a tremendous accomplishment from one of our greatest living filmmakers and I urge you to use some of your quarantine time to tackle it -- it's streaming on Amazon right this second!

All that said anything I might've written wouldn't have been half as vital to understanding and appreciating this profound film as what the ever fine folks at Seventh Row have come up with -- their latest e-book is a deep dive into Peterloo, with interviews with the costume designer, the editor, the cinematographer, a couple of the actors (Rory Kinnear!), and of course Mike Leigh himself, plus a couple of critical pieces that slap the film into its historical context -- I wish I'd had this all on hand when I scoured the Peterloo Massacre's Wikipedia page after seeing the film!

And here's the deal! Because we're all trapped at home the book will only be 99 cents tomorrow! So go watch Peterloo on Amazon and then go buy Seventh Row's book. Or vice versa, whatever, I don't own you. My point is there, I just filled one of our now endless empty string of afternoons with actual honest to blog excellence. You're welcome.

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Pantys 19: This Is The End

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And they're off! Crumpled on the floor! Our Golden Trouser Awards aka The Pantys for 2019 have now concluded. And just in time before the world's ended, how convenient. You can click the above link for everything, but I'll round it up again here for y'all, category by category, as well.

Here are my 10 Favorite Actors of 2019

Here are my 10 Favorite Actresses of 2019

Here are my 13 Favorite Gratuities of 2019

Here are my 15 Favorite Horror Movies of 2019

Here are my Favorite Movies of 2019, #25-11

Here are my Favorite Movies of 2019, #10-1

Alright I'm tired, I'm done. Thanks for listening

and everybody have a safe, fine weekend.

Pantys '19: Fave Films, Part Two

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Well, we've done it! Our 2019 Pantys are coming to a close today with this, our favorite 10 movies of last year. I'll do a round-up post later today to help you find links to everything that's come before, but before we get to this specific list let me first summarize what I posted on Monday, my numbers 25-11 favorite films...

25. Parasite

24. The Mustang

23. Transit

22. Us

21. The Irishman

20. Piercing

19. To Dust

18. Atlantics

17. This Is Not Berlin

16. The Nightingale

15. Invisible Life

14. Peterloo

13. Waves

12. High Life

11. Pain and Glory

And now, what we've all -- and by "we all" I mean "me" because thank god I am finally done with this and can move on to the year that is 2020 properly -- been waiting for, it's time for the other 10. One more quick note first, though -- when I gave you My Favorite Horror Films of 2019 earlier this week the Top 4 of that list was missing, because I didn't want to spoil this list. So you'll see a note alongside the four Horror Films on this list where they fall on that other list, as well. That said, here we go...

My 10 Favorite Movies of 2019

10. Little Women

(dir. Greta Gerwig)

Indelible moment: Beth by the sea

9. Knife+Heart

(dir. Yann Gonzalez)
(this is my #4 horror film of 2019)

-- read my review here --

Indelible moment: Cruising Part II

8. End of the Century

(dir. Lucio Castro)

-- read my review here --

Indelible moment: We met before
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7. Sorry Angel

(dir. Christophe Honoré)

-- read my review here --

Indelible moment: Three in the bed

6. In Fabric

(dir. Peter Strickland)
(this is my #3 horror film of 2019)

-- read my review here --

Indelible moment: Sale at Dentley and Soper's

5. The Last Black Man in San Francisco

(dir. Joe Talbot)

-- read my review here --

Indelible moment: First and last performance

4. Portrait of a Lady on Fire

(dir. Céline Sciamma)

-- read my review here --

Indelible moment: Singing by the sea

3. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

(dir. Marielle Heller)

-- read my review here --

Indelible moment: Bedside Photograph

2. Midsommar

(dir. Ari Aster)
(this is my #2 horror film of 2019)

-- read my review here --

Indelible moment: A pair of jumpers

1. The Lighthouse

(dir. Robert Eggers)
(this is my #1 horror film of 2019)

-- read my review here --

Indelible moment: Fonda Me Lobster

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No doubt there's no surprise on that last one, ye barnacles and deck-swabbers alike, given how I've been calling The Lighthouse my favorite film of the year since I first saw the movie in October -- the marrow-deep love was immediate and complete. But that's given me a lot of time to wonder why this movie about two wacky dudes trapped on one wacky island, out of all the movies of 2019 that speak to our political and cultural moment, was The One for me, above all of the others. 

Well as I argued in my review I personally choose to read and enjoy the film as a a gay male love story -- a fucked-up love story obviously, but love, my loves, is fucked up. In its wackadoodle symbolic way The Lighthouse is, for me, just as specific about what it means for two men, with all that turbulent masculine baggage attached, to make a home together, as is Paul Thomas Anderson's Phantom Thread about the same subject just for the straights. I mean I love Phantom Thread and saw all of that in Phantom Thread too, but with The Lighthouse it gets to be all dudes playing out the push pull power dynamics of a long-term commitment. I like that.

But then, like my favorite movie of the entire last decade -- I never officially made that list but do you really think that'd be anything except Call Me By Your Name? -- The Lighthouse is also just a movie that swallows me whole and carries me away from this world, and I like want and need that too. The look, the sound, the dialogue, the sweat and the fervent masturbation -- when I watch these movies there is nothing in the world but these movies. Cinema isn't just an escape, but what a goddamned escape it can be.

Pantys 19: The Gratuities

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Well it wouldn't be MNPP without some ogling of the menfolk, now would it? We've already taken stock of our favorite male and our favorite female performers of the year, but what about their butts? Butts, bits, in betweens. What's the movies without sex? Even David Cronenberg knows that. That said some years I've gone way overboard with listing the year's Gratuities -- I mean look how I went all out in 2010 and in 2011 -- but this year I'm keeping it, like the rest of this year's Pantys, somewhat under control. My 13 faves (I couldn't narrow it down to 10, I just couldn't) and then 10 runners-up. It's still a lot of naked guys, y'all. And let's get on 'em!

My 13 Favorite Gratuities of 2019

Aaron Taylor-Johnson, A Million Little Pieces

-- see more here --

Juan Barberini and Ramon Pujol,

End of the Century

Tom Mercier, Synonyms

Robert Pattinson, The Lighthouse

Jack Reynor, Midsommar

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There is life before seeing this picture of Chris Evans & Alessandro Nivola & Michiel Huisman on the set of Red Sea Diving Resort, and there is life after, and I never want to go back to that horrible Before place ever ever again (pic via https://t.co/QbwjXcQNW2) pic.twitter.com/TpFxcQhv8w

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) September 30, 2019

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Chris Evans, Michiel Huisman and 

Alessandro Nivola, Red Sea Diving Resort

-- see more here -- 

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Felix Maritaud, Sauvage / Wild

Naoki Kobayashi, Earthquake Bird

-- see more here --

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Andrew Garfield, Under the Silver Lake

-- see more here --

Jake Gyllenhaal, Velvet Buzzsaw

-- more here and here --

César Vicente, Pain and Glory

Kelvin Harrison Jr, Waves

Florian David Fitz and Matthias Schweighöfer, 

100 Things -- see lots more here --

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10 Runners-up

Taron Egerton & Richard Madden, Rocketman

Christopher Abbott, Piercing 

Matthias Schoenaerts, The Mustang

CM Punk, Girl on the Third Floor

Zac Efron, Extremely Wicked...
Shia LaBeouf, Peanut Butter Falcon

Carloto Cotta, Diamantino

Juan Pablo Olyslager, Temblores

Matthew McConaughey, Serenity

Vincent Lacoste and Pierre Deladonchamps, Sorry Angel

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What were some of your faves in 2019?

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Pantys '19: Performers, Part Two -- Actresses

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Earlier today I shared with you my ten (well really twenty, with the runners-up included) favorite performances from actors in 2019. Now the time's come for my ten (well twenty really, with the runners-up) favorite performances from actresses coming out of 2019. That's how things work, see? Amazing. 

And no, sidenote, I don't really know anymore why I'm splitting these things up by gender in the year that is 2020 (not to mention even using the word "actress"), except it gives me a good way to split this into two lists and thereby include twice as many names -- I try to do my "Actor to Actor" series when I can manage my time well enough since it sidesteps all this, but this year we're falling to the old standby due to time constraints. So Actors and Actresses it is. Yadda and yadda, in no particular order I give you...

My 10 Favorite Actresses of 2019

Elisabeth Moss, Her Smell

Fatma Mohamed, In Fabric

Lupita Nyong'o, Us

Florence Pugh, Midsommar 

Yeo-jeong Jo, Parasite

Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Dolemite is My Name

Marietta Subong, Ode to Nothing

Adèle Haenel, Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Alfre Woodard, Clemency

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10 Runners Up

Isabelle Huppert, Frankie

Octavia Spencer, Luce

Mia Wasikowska, Piercing

Taylor Russell, Waves

Mary Kay Place, Diane

Julianne Moore, Gloria Bell

Noémie Merlant, Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Aisling Franciosi, The Nightingale

Marianne Jean-Baptiste, In Fabric

Molly Shannon, Wild Nights With Emily

What were your favorite Actresses of 2019?
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