THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON
Easily, my favorite film of 2019… Why? Because it’s a beautiful, hopeful and simple story of friendship and family in the wake of challenges and loss. I loved this movie! Loved it! It made me laugh, smile and want to watch it all over again!
FORD V FERRARI
An inspiring film about friendship, innovation and pursuing an impossible dream. Christian Bale is excellent in his role as Ken Miles. The story, writing, direction and acting are all solid. I highly recommend the movie!
US
A haunting film about the duplicity of human nature and our greatest enemy, which is, “Us.” Featuring an amazing performance by Lupita Nyong’o in two roles, and written and directed by Jordan Peele, who also gave us 2017’s, “Get Out.” While the movie uses the presence of doppleganger’s to provide chills, it really makes us look in the mirror to face the reality that the scariest monster we do battle with is…US.
KNIVES OUT
A well-written, superbly acted “who-done-it” with Daniel Craig providing one of the year’s best performances, period.
ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE
A comedy about the complexity of modern relationships. The cameo by Keanu Reaves literally made me laugh out loud.
JOKER
A haunting exploration of mental illness. I wrote a full blog about it days after its release. NOTE: After reading interviews with director, Todd Phillips, I’ve now come to believe that while the movie paints a convincing picture of mental illness, that the joker, in the words of Todd Phillips, “is not a reliable narrator.” Discussions are already underway for a sequel. Should that occur, I would bet that the story spun in Joker will be revealed to be complete fabrication and that the Joker is simply a sadistic, sinister, murderous psychopath.
SHAZAM
A fun take on a 12-year old boy who by speaking the name of the wizard, Shazam, can instantly be transformed into an adult superhero played with brilliance by Zachary Levi. He not only has to battle a new arch enemy, but also has to navigate the complexity of being 12. This movie made me smile and laugh.
HOBBS AND SHAW
Yeah… We’ve seen this before… Several of the stunts are completely outrageous and totally impossible… The simple moral of the movie about the importance of working together has been done repeatedly, but this movie still made me smile. The stunts and action sequences are some of the best ever. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
AVENGERS: END GAME
A spectacle 10+ years in the making… While I am not a die-hard Marvel fan, I did find this movie entertaining.
SPIDER MAN: FAR FROM HOME
A fun, super-hero movie with an interesting story, solid writing and directing, great performances by Tom Holland, Jake Gyllenhall, Zendaya and Jon Favreau. A fun, popcorn movie!
BELICHICK & SABAN: THE ART OF COACHING
Produced by HBO and NFL films this conversation between two of the greatest coaches in history is full of insights into coaching, leadership and more. One of the best things I watched in 2019.
FREE SOLO
Technically, I believe the next two films were created in 2018, but I didn’t get to watch them until 2019. Free solo follows Professional rock climber Alex Honnold, as he attempts to conquer the first free solo climb of yosemite national park’s famed, El Capitan’s 900-metre vertical rock face. This documentary had me on the edge of my seat. While I’ll never understand the need to do this, my hat is off to Alex for his fearless courage.
IN SEARCH OF GREATNESS
Examining the athletic greatness of people like Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Jerry Rice, Pele and more. Is athletic greatness a matter of nature and the gene pool, or a matter of discipline and commitment? I didn’t want this documentary to end.
SHOWS THAT WERE VERY STRONG!
THE MANDALORIAN – DISNEY PLUS SERIES
I’m not a huge Star Wars guy, but I found this series to be captivating. The series was created and almost totally written by Jon Favreau, who has given us Iron Man, Chef, The Chef Show and more. This series follows a mysterious character known as “The Mandalorian” who grows to become a protector and father-like figure to a “Yoda type baby or child.” It is engaging, entertaining and addictive. I’ve watched it and will likely watch it again.
CHERNOBYL
An HBO mini-series that I watched on Christmas break about the nuclear accident at Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union in 1986. This study in self-protection, passing the buck and protecting the state at the cost of the citizens of that state is an important moral tale that must be remembered.