Top 10 Movies of 2019

I'd call 2019 a slightly below-average film year. I only gave one film my maximum rating (4 stars, 5 Yaps or an "A," depending on where you were reading it). In retrospect there are two others I would retroactively raise to that level.

What can I say, I'm a stingy critic.

After the top seven or eight movies, though, things drop off pretty sharply. I've been somewhat underwhelmed by many of the concussion picks, including "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood," "Parasite" and "Little Women." None of them even made my "also ran" list that comes after the Top 10.

If there's a theme in this year's picks, it's that I went for smaller films over the higher-profile "Oscar bait" or big-budget ones. A lot of films where women or people of color are the center of the story and/or on the key creative team. I'm pleased by that, though I certainly am not one to favor films purely because of identity politics.

So here's my list of the very best, the contenders and a few disappointments.

Top 10

1. Late Night -- I seem to be virtually alone in loving this film starring and written by Mindy Kaling, with Emma Thompson giving the performance of the year as an acerbic late-night TV host. Vivid female characters and a compelling story about a particular niche industry. It sort of mislays the boyfriend character, but maybe that's not such a bad thing.

2. Harriet -- Another film that received respectful reviews and very good box office for an indie, but somehow got overlooked by nearly every critic. Cynthia Erivo is terrific as Harriet Tubman in a film by Kasi Lemmons that refuses to treat a historical figure as anything less than a complicated, flesh-and-blood person.

3. Ford v Ferrari -- A wonderful movie in the "best sports story you never heard of" mold like "Hoosiers." A charismatic American car builder and a Brit loner racer join forces to vie for the crown at Le Mans. Great action scenes, but the relationships and terrific acting from Christian Bale and Matt Damon put it over the top.

4. The Last Black Man in San Francisco -- I saw this one very late in the awards season, and if I'd been aware of it earlier I would have pushed it harder for awards. A film like no other, as two men contemplate their love/hate relationship with their home city and their families -- whether through bloodlines or the ones they made on the streets. Haunting, poetic, singular.

5. Just Mercy -- This one isn't on anyone's awards radar because of its late release -- it won't hit most theaters until mid-January -- and that's a shame. In many ways it's a conventional courtroom/legal drama about a falsely convicted murderer, but superb performances make the day. Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx, Rob Morgan and Tim Blake Nelson all should get Oscar noms.

6.  Portrait of a Lady on Fire -- I can't pronounce any of their names, but actresses Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel are amazing as a painter and her muse in this riveting love tale set in the 1800s. Nobody directed a film better this year than Céline Sciamma. This one stays with you.

7. Marriage Story -- It may sound like a "Kraver v. Kramer" reboot, but this layered look at divorce from Noah Baumbach features a pair of great acting turns by Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver, as well as very good supporting turns from Laura Dern, Alan Alda and Ray Liotta. There's a lot of lawyering but the film is less concerned with the legal stuff than the effect it has on the heart.

8. 1917 -- Yes, Sam Mendes directing this World War I drama in one long take is a gimmick, but it's a good gimmick. It serves to heighten the intensity rather than just existing for its own sake. Two no-name actors traverse a hellscape of trenches and strewn bodies to try to commit one good deed.

9. Bombshell -- Really, the first #MeToo movie. Charlize Theron should get an Oscar nomination playing Fox News star Megyn Kelly as she carefully negotiates an atmosphere of sexual harassment and depravity. Margot Robbie, Nicole Kidman and John Lithgow are top-notch, too.

10. Richard Jewell -- Despite its glaring (and easily avoidable) flaw, Clint Eastwood's latest is still a compelling look at how the media scrum of the early 24/7 new cycle age nearly destroyed an innocent man who was actually a hero. DOA at the box office, alas.

The Very Good

I always include a tally of the films that contended for my Top 10 list. Listed alphabetically.

Abominable -- One of the best animated film of the year, doomed by being the third yeti movie of 2019.
The Aftermath -- Completely overlooked post-WWII love triangle with Keira Knightley, Jason Clarke and Alexander Skarsgård.
Avengers: Endgame -- A fitting wrap-up to the first generation of Marvel movies.
Captain Marvel -- My pick for the best superhero flick this year.
Jojo Rabbit -- Brash, original, funny, occasionally quirky for quirky's sake.
Joker -- Another off-kilter powerhouse turn from Joaquin Phoenix.
Honey Boy -- Made me respect Shia LaBeouf again.
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World -- I say the Dragon series is the GOAT animation franchise, especially after the lackluster and totally unnecessary "Toy Story 4."
Knives Out -- A fun twist on the whodunit genre with a wonderful ensemble cast.
One Child Nation -- The best documentary I saw this year; you think you know the issue and then find out you don't.
Pain and Glory -- Not enough love for Pedro Almodovar's latest.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker -- Many quibbles, but I have never not loved a Star Wars movie.
Sword of Trust -- Beautiful little indie comedy that should lay to rest any question about Marc Maron's acting ability.
The Two Popes -- The rarest of animals: a deep cinematic exploration of religious faith.
Us -- I thought Jordan Peele's "Get Out" tremendously overrated, but "Us" is the rare horror film that actually unnerved me.

The Underwhelmed

Some of these I actually liked, but just found they punched way below their touted weight. Others I actively loathe.

Apollo 11 -- I didn't learn one new thing I didn't already know, other than spacemen are boring on the radio.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood -- Classic good-not-great drama. *Interesting* choice to make Fred Rogers a supporting character in his own movie.
Booksmart -- All the right people love this flick, which just isn't as funny or original as it seems to think it is.
Dumbo -- Occasionally I still hear Colin Farrell's awful cowboy accent in my nightmares.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters -- All these modern makeovers seem to forget these are supposed to be cheesy movies.
It: Chapter Two -- What an epic faceplant. How Not to Sequel.
The Lion King -- Why? ... Why?
Little -- Congrats to Hollywood's youngest executive producer, which will be a good epitaph after her and this aggressively awful comedy are forgotten.
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood -- Quentin Tarantino shoots great scenes, but three decades in still doesn't know how to string stories together.
Rocketman -- Wants so desperately to be as good as "Bohemian Rhapsody." P.S. Freddie Mercury had a better voice and story.
Uncut Gems -- An exercise in annoyance. I don't see Adam Sandler's performance as breaking any new ground. The talents of the Safdie brothers continue to elude me.

Review: "Late Night"

"Late Night" operates as a good companion piece to "Bookmart," which came out just a few weeks earlier. Both are about female relationships, how they can be so important and so complicated. The first movie centered on high school kids, while "Late Night" looks at a professional conflict between an older Millennial and a younger Boomer.

It's written, produced and stars Mindy Kaling as a youngish new writer for a legendary late night talk show host played by Emma Thompson. Kaling's script has television rife through its DNA, but I guess that's not too objectionable since it's about a TV show. It begins wickedly sharp and funny, and grows surprisingly sentimental as it goes along.

The movie starts out aiming for laughs, and gets them, and then shoots for the heart, and nails that, too.

I liked Kaling as Molly Patel, who's added to the roster of writers after it's pointed out that "Late Night with Katherine Newbury," on the air for 27 years, doesn't have any female writers. She's wholly unqualified for the job, working in quality control for a chemistry plant in Pennsylvania, but she's got a nose for funny and for what's true.

Thompson is the real revelation as Katherine. It's a fierce and amazing performance. Katherine is domineering and often downright nasty. On Molly's first day, she's astounded to discover that most of the writers have never actually met their boss before. Too harried and contemptuous to learn their names, Katherine assigns each of the writers numbers so she can call on them more easily, and shoot down their ideas.

It's a role that reminds me a lot of Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada," though Kaling's script and director Nisha Ganatra grant Katherine a lot more interior real estate to explore. In fact, about halfway through it stops being Molly's story and really becomes Katherine's.

I loved how the two women talk to each other. Molly is a bit of a wallflower but not afraid to stand up for herself. When Molly expresses her qualms about being seen as a token diversity hire, Katherine brazenly tells her that's exactly what she is. But then she advises her to go earn her place.

Katherine's show has become tired, out of touch, favoring chats with authors or intellectuals instead of cracking topical jokes. Think David Letterman during the last years of his show: still funny, but you got the sense he was coasting and more than a little annoyed at having to chat up celebrities and entertain audiences.

Early on we learn that the new network president (Amy Ryan) wants to push Katherine out. This propels her to try to reinvent herself, get a little more personal and political. Molly acts as her Svengali, urging her to get out of the studio, connect with people and do fun bits that can go viral.

Reid Scott and Hugh Dancy play Tom and Charlie, lead writers on the show who resent Molly's presence but gradually start to warm up. There's even a budding romance with Charlie, though the movie misplaces his character in the second half.

Denis O'Hare is a solid presence as Brad, Katherine's dependable right-hand man; John Lithgow plays Katherine's eternally supportive husband, Walter, who can see past the casual cruelty to the person underneath; Ike Barinholtz is a hot young insult comic who is held up to Katherine as the wave of the future, much to her revulsion.

One of the most interesting things about "Late Night" is its portrait of showbiz and the types of neurotic personalities that thrive there. Katherine treats her staff like cattle, firing people on a whim, and they in turn crave any scrap of attention from her. "We're not here because you're nice. We're here because you're good," Brad says.

This is a movie that works as both an insider's view of TV comedy and as a character piece about two women clashing and connecting. We instinctively like Molly, and just as instantly loathe Katherine. But by the end we understand what makes these women tick and feel less impulse to judge them, but simply embrace them as they are.