So 2019 was the single best year for film since I've had this blog. So many fantastic movies have come out this year and making this list was hard. So here we go. These are my ten favorite movies of 2019!

10. Toy Story 4 (dir. Josh Cooley) and How to Train You Dragon: The Hidden World (dir. Dean DeBlois)

I cheated and I know I cheated. In the past I've had absolutely no ties on my ten of the year lists. It's called a ten of the year list after all and sacrifices have to be made. Hear me out here though, Toy Story 4 and How to Train Your Dragon The Hidden World both resonated with me in the exact same way and I like to group them together when talking about the best films of the year. In 2010, Toy Story 3 and the first How to Train Your Dragon came out. I was 12 years old in 2010 and both of those films really resonated with me. Toy Story 3 still continues to grow and shape me as an individual and it is my single favorite film of all time. The first How to Train Your Dragon is also one of my favorite movies. I was super hyped about How to Train Your Dragon 3 and it delivered for me in every aspect a movie could. It was a perfect conclusion to a trilogy that means a lot to me. The animation is absolutely stunning and the depth of the characters was explored even further then past installments. A lot of the film just took its time and let the visuals tell its story. I just wanna leap in The Hidden World and live in it. It's absolutely fantastic. Toy Story 4 is a movie I didn't want. Toy Story 3 concluded perfectly, why on Earth should we have another installment? Well, the filmmakers behind this proved why this story needed to continue for what is hopefully the last time. Unless they have a good idea for Toy Story 5, who knows? Toy Story 4 feels more like an Epilogue then an actual Toy Story film. It focuses more on Woody and a new cast of characters which I know some people took issue with. I think it just distinguishes it from the trilogy that came beforehand in a really clever way. It feels different but its also still Toy Story. The ending of this thing resonates in the same way Toy Story 3 did and gave me a conclusion I didn't know I needed right now but I really did. It's a fantastic movie and while I'd probably watch one of the films in the trilogy to get my Toy Story fix, I'll certainly revisit this one several times in the future as well.

9. Avengers Endgame (dir. Joe and Anthony Russo)

Another film franchise that certainly has shaped me the last ten years are the Marvel movies. I remember seeing the first Iron Man movie with my dad in theatres in 2008 and I haven't missed one yet. It's easy to be in the film space and be pompous when it comes to the MCU or superhero movies in general- but I'm sorry these films are so cool. Are some kinda repetitive and underwhelming? Yeah for sure, but I'd say a handful of the MCU movies are actual great pieces of filmmaking. I'd include Avengers Endgame on that list. Avengers Infinity War was an honorable mention for me last year and I was questioned a lot about that. That movie was fun but it was a whole let of set up for what is one of the best conclusions to a film I've ever seen. I love when a big blockbuster franchise can infuriate its audience and that moment in Infinity War was incredible. The rest of the film was pretty good. Endgame is a fantastic well rounded film all around. The way this film subverts expectations from its opening is fantastic. The first about hour of this film is like a Y the Last Man comic and I absolutely adore it. It's a poignant look at loss and having to reconcile your mistakes. In the 2nd half, the film becomes more typical and a greatest hits album but it's still SO MUCH FUN and the ending is incredible. Seeing all these heroes battle is a sight to behold and the emotional crux of the whole story is fabulous. This is a comic book film with real stakes and consequences and I felt that. I haven't revisited this film since I saw it in April, but I will never forget the theatre experience for this. Everyone was hollering and clapping and it is the exact reason we go see movies in the first place. "I love you 3,000"

8. Knives Out (dir. Rian Johnston)

This movie is such a blast. Knives Out has easily one of the tightest screenplays of the whole year. Rian Johnson could have just retired filmmaking after the violent backlash on The Last Jedi and I'm so glad he didn't. I'm in the camp of people who absolutely adore The Last Jedi and I believe this might actually be his best film. I love a good whodunnit film and he's made maybe the single best one of all time. The cast is stacked and all of them have a memorable role and are a great piece in this crazy puzzle. Daniel Craig is a revelation in his role and Ana De Armas is a superstar in the making. It's also a movie with a political message that tells its message in a very tasteful manner. This film is ultimately about the power imbalances in our society and it is a movie about the rich eating the poor. All of the different characters in this film are on opposing political parties illustrated in a discussion at a visitation early on in the film. In the end they all come together for one reason, they want the inheritance. They all want the money and they disregard the caretakers feelings when it comes to capitalistic greed. Even though the caretaker herself needs the money since her family is living in the states illegally because they can't afford to be legalized citizens. It's captivating the way Rian is able to weave a powerful message into a film you could easily just take at face value. Even if you take nothing else away from this film- it's still a great movie you can get a group of friends together to watch. Rian continues to subvert audience expectations with this film. He takes an idea of a typical murder mystery and twists it on its head by letting us in on more then we should know and then twisting what we know altogether. It's a wild ride and I'm anticipating a future installment of this film. Glad to know original filmmaking in 2019 can still do as well and be as good as Knives Out.

7. The Lighthouse (dir. Robert Eggers)

The Lighthouse is the same type of euphoria I felt watching Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining". This is certainly one I could see being even higher on my list with further rewatches because the experience of watching this film is unlike any other. I haven't quite figured it out yet and I love that so much. Robert Pattison and Willem Dafoe give two of the best performances on film this year. The type of physical acting they do here is absolutely bonkers and Dafoe has some of the single best monolouges I've seen in a movie in a very long time. This movie is able to perfectly balance it's horror with its absurdist humor. It feels like such a trip. This movie feels like stumbling onto adult swim and watching a bumper that's hard to explain to any of your friends the next day. The way this film plays with its aspect ratio and striking black and white cinematography is absolutely gorgeous. It's a film with amazing production design. I really want to know where they filmed this film and what the filmmaker did to make this come to life the way it did. Robert Eggers is a genius behind the camera. I loved his last film The Witch and I think this film is even better then that one. If you take nothing further away from the Lighthouse then just two men going mad, it's still a great look on what overwork and isolation can do to the human mind and soul. I felt like I was going mad as I watched this film and it was such a memorizing experience. I love the whole vibe of this movie and it's so easy to take a psychological thriller like this and make it really pompous and overindulgent. Robert Eggers never does that once and just gives us an incredible mind boggling film I'm still trying to dissect to this day. It hasn't left my mind since I saw it. I'd say it might just be the single best horror film of the 2010's.

6. 1917 (dir. Sam Mendes)

I knew I had to see 1917 before making my ten best of the year list. I held off last year for If Beale Street Could Talk and that ended up making my 2018 list. Sometimes, you get a gut feeling something is gonna be great and i had a lot of hope for this one. Sam Mendes is a fantastic director and Roger Deakins is the best living cinematographer and the two of them together make gold. Skyfall is their last collaboration and it's easily my favorite James Bond movie but what they've done here is just incredible. 1917 feels new in the way Fury Road or Spider-Verse did. It feels like a new way to tell a story we've probably heard before and they do everything they can to make you feel like you are on the battlefield with these soldiers. It's as engrossing and intense as any film I've ever seen and it is one that you MUST see in theatres to get its full impact. I'd say it's easily the best war film since Dunkirk if not even more effective then Dunkirk in a lot of ways. What Roger Deakins is able to do with the cinematography is amazing. He is just unmatched and he's showing off at this point and I just love it. The sets and the way they were able to build all these trenches is wild to think about. Just shooting this movie and having to have everyone in the right spot at the right time must have been so stressful but they pulled it off. It is also a great movie to show the consequences and dangers of war and how people die and there are real stakes when dealing in war. It isn't just some game some people think it is- it's real and it's awful. It's a harrowing journey and as a pure filmmaking feat, it might be the single best filmmaking of the year period.

5. Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood (dir. Quentin Tarantino)

I'm really surprised by this pick and placement for a number of reasons. For one, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was easily my favorite film of the Summer and I was obsessed with it. I blasted the soundtrack in my car all the time and I even have the poster for it in my room and it's right above my head as I type. I was expecting Once Upon a Time in Hollywood to get into my top 3 at least but looking back on all the movies there were several movies that made a big impact on me and these top 5 I can consider all timers. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood will always remind me of my trip to California this Summer since I got to see the set of Bounty Law when I was down there. Also, after seeing Hollywood in LA and how grimy and dirty it was to see a personified purified version of Hollywood on the big screen was something I geeked out over. I'd have a watch party with this film, La La Land and Shape of Water as three films that encapsulate the feeling of movies with a capital M. Ones that celebrate the art form but also have something a little more subversive to say. I'm not even 100% on board with Tarantino and his filmography. This year I've earned a lot more respect for him as a filmmaker and person but I still think he is somewhat problematic in some of his views and I don't even love Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs. I guess this is the movie is what I was expecting Pulp Fiction to be when it was hyped up for me. This movie is a love letter to the glory days of Hollywood. Was Hollywood always a corrupt and manipulative place it is now? Yeah and this movie shows that. Yet this film is a celebration of the joys of film and a time of innocence that was lost after the Manson Murders. Something that has haunted Tarantino for his whole life and the way he reexamines that whole event is brilliant. It's a soft and somewhat intimate movie with real warmth for all its characters. They are problematic in the way Tarantino's other characters are but they are also well rounded and you feel their own struggles and burdens that the industry has put them through. It also has my single favorite production design of the whole year. Seeing Sharon Tate go into a theatre to watch one of her own films and see people react to it. Just one of my single favorite sequences of film of the whole year- and maybe even ever.

4. Parasite (dir. Bong Joon Ho)

I saw Parasite over the Summer because I got a screener for it and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I saw the acclaim start to build for it online and escalate and I knew that I had to see it again. So fortunately I got to see it on the big screen and this movie is a big screen experience. Parasite is nothing short of a revelation and if we talk about dissecting the simple functions of filmmaking and storytelling- Parasite is by far the best film of 2019. Heck, it's now number one on Letterboxd Top 250 overtaking THE GODFATHER. This should prove the fact that everyone can get together and bond over the fact that this movie is a masterpiece. This is the tightest screenplay for a film I've maybe ever read. It's up there with the best of Alfred Hitchcock. The film starts as a comedic satire on the class system and then turns into a complete bonkers thriller and it is so subversive in all the right ways. Bong Joon Ho is one of our greatest filmmakers of our time. This is his Magnus Opus, it's hard to think where he will go after this but I'm hyped to see. Look, if you are waiting for an American remake of this so you don't have to read subtitles, you're being stupid. In his acceptance speech at The Golden Globes, Bong stated that once you overcome the subtitle barrier you will be introduced to so many more amazing films. He's right, this year I've seen more foreign films then ever before and I've discovered some wonderful art that has inspired my own work. This film is on the top of that list. It's a perfect movie that is as entertaining as it is intense as it is heartbreaking. You feel the whole human condition with Parasite. The fact this is only my number 4 just goes to show how much my top 3 connected with me this year.

3. Jojo Rabbit (dir. Taika Waititi)

So this top three is really tight. These are undeniably three of my all time favorite movies and ones I'll cherish forever. Also, ranking the three was really hard and in my eyes they could all be tied. However, I'll rank them because this is a list after all. All of this is to say that Jojo Rabbit any other year could have easily STOLEN my number one spot. It is an excellent film and the best comedy of the last ten years. If you followed me this fall, you probably know I was hyping this film up and it met all my expectations I had for it. This is a brilliant and biting film mocking the Nazi regime. It reminds me of Bojack Horseman in a lot of ways. The film starts and we mock and laugh at the Nazi's because their ideologies are obviously stupid and we know that. As the film continues, it lets us know more and more that their ideology is also the result of the death of millions of jews. The film is funny until it stops being funny and the way it is able to juxtapose this is absolutely brilliant. This is the best work Taika has done yet and if you've followed my page this year you will know that his films have made my best of the year lists every year he released something. The way this film was able to mock the Nazi party and deconstruct what they were is pretty brilliant. This film shows just how exactly someone could buy into an ideology this wicked and cruel. These kids are brainwashed and wired to believe things about Jews that are obviously ridiculous and unjust. The way the Elsa, the Jewish girl was able to develop a relationship with Jojo by telling him everything he wants to hear was such a fascinating look on the things we tell ourselves to believe ideologies that don't make sense. Jojo Rabbit is an emotional journey of self growth. To see this fascist kid slowly realize his ideas have been wrong and what he has known was wrong is a really eye opening thing to see for anyone who's had their world changed view even slightly.

2. Little Women (dir. Greta Gerwig)

1. Marriage Story (dir. Noah Baumbach)