As I did last year, I offer, in my 2019 Top 10 list,* below, my 5 favorite fiction films and 5 favorite documentaries, in alphabetical order. I pull these from the 2 separate lists I already published at Hammer to Nail, where I am lead film critic. I will soon, on my blog, publish a longer list, with additional runners-up and honorable mentions. There were plenty of excellent movies to see this year, featuring great diversity of subjects, directors and actors. I very much enjoyed some of the big blockbusters of 2019, among them the many Marvel offerings and rousing action-adventure stories, but none of those cracked my Top 10. Here is what did. Since I have previously reviewed all of them, I hyperlink the titles to those reviews (whether on this site or on Hammer to Nail). Enjoy!
- The Brink
- Cold Case Hammarskjöld
- Jojo Rabbit
- Los Reyes**
- Maiden
- Marriage Story
- The Nightingale
- Pahokee
- Parasite
- Transit
*Special shout-out to Us (Jordan Peele) – check out Film Festival Today writer Patrick Howard’s excellent review – as an 11thchoice. I did not get to review it (since Patrick did), but included it in my Top 10 list of fiction films over at Hammer to Nail. It is, like Parasite, a searing indictment of modern capitalism, embedded in a gripping horror-film structure.
**Though this list be in alphabetical order, Los Reyes may in fact be my absolute favorite film of the year. A documentary about two stray dogs living in the oldest skate park in Santiago, Chile, it combines stunning cinematography and evocative audio to create an indelible, life-affirming tale of the bonds of friendship. Yes, it’s the perfect movie for animal lovers, but also for anyone who appreciates profound storytelling.
Christopher Llewellyn Reed
Chris Reed is the editor of Film Festival Today. A member of both the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic, Chris is, in addition, lead film critic at Hammer to Nail and the author of Film Editing: Theory and Practice.