The Best of 2019: 39th Shadows Awards

As always, hacking down the list of some 500 movies I've seen this year to just 10 is tricky business. But it feels like a discipline that specifically goes with this job. I keep a running set of lists each year, and it gets seriously out of control - usually there are around 100 on each list! Note that each film listed here played in a UK or US cinema to a public audience in 2019, although some are yet to go on general release, if ever.

There are longer lists (top 50 films, for example) and a lot more on the website at 39TH SHADOWS AWARDS. My number one movie this year is one of the most bracingly original films I've seen in years - gripping, genre-defying and pointedly timely. Korean filmmaker Bong Joon Ho has made some great movies in his career, and this one is masterful, breathtaking cinema. It definitely deserves the attention it's getting in mainstream awards categories this year....

BEST FILM:

1. Parasite (Bong Joon Ho)
2. Pain and Glory (Pedro Almodovar)
3. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Celine Sciamma)
4. Wild Rose (Tom Harper)
5. Honeyland (Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir Stefanov)
6. The Irishman (Martin Scorsese)
7. 1917 (Sam Mendes)
8. Queen & Slim (Melina Matsoukas)
9. Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino)
10. I Lost My Body (Jeremy Clapin)

BEST FILM OF THE 2010s:

1. Leviathan (Zvyagintsev, 2014)
2. A Separation (Farhadi, 2011)
3. Boyhood (Linklater, 2014)
4. The Act of Killing (Oppenheimer, 2012)
5. Parasite (Bong, 2019)
6. We Need to Talk About Kevin (Ramsay, 2011)
7. Inception (Nolan, 2010)
8. Fire at Sea (Rosi, 2016)
9. Moonlight (Jenkins, 2016)
10. A Fantastic Woman (Lelio, 2017)

DIRECTOR:

1. Pedro Almodovar (Pain and Glory)
2. Alma Har'el (Honey Boy)
3. Bong Joon Ho (Parasite)
4. Celine Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire)
5. Sam Mendes (1917)
6. Melina Matsoukas (Queen & Slim)
7. Jennifer Kent (The Nightingale)
8. Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood)
9. Ladj Ly (Les Miserables)
10. Alice Rohrwacher (Happy as Lazzaro)

SCREENWRITER:

1. Celine Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire)
2. Lena Waithe (Queen & Slim)
3. Pedro Almodovar (Pain and Glory)
4. Bong Joon Ho, Han Jin Won (Parasite)
5. Agnes Varda (Varda by Agnes)
6. Susanna Fogel, Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Katie Silberman (Booksmart)
7. Anthony McCarten (The Two Popes)
8. Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski (Dolemite Is My Name)
9. Charles Randolph (Bombshell)
10. Joe Talbot, Rob Richert (The Last Black Man in San Francisco)

ACTRESS:

1. Jessie Buckley (Wild Rose, Judy)
2. Florence Pugh (Midsommar, Little Women, Fighting With My Family)
3. Renee Zellweger (Judy)
4. Liv Hill (Jellyfish)
5. Sarah Bolger (A Good Woman Is Hard to Find)
6. Baran Kosari (Permission)
7. Lupita Nyong'o (Us, Little Monsters)
8. Scarlett Johansson (Marriage Story, Jojo Rabbit, Avengers: Endgame)
9. Awkwafina (The Farewell, Jumanji: The Next Level)
10. Charlize Theron (Bombshell, Long Shot)

ACTOR:

1. Adam Driver (Marriage Story, The Report, The Rise of Skywalker, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote)
2. Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory, The Laundromat)
3. George MacKay (1917, Ophelia)
4. Tom Burke (The Souvenir)
5. Choi Woo Shik (Parasite)
6. Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote)
7. Daniel Kaluuya (Queen & Slim)
8. Robert Pattinson (The Lighthouse, High Life, The King)
9. Lucas Hedges (Honey Boy, Waves, Ben Is Back, Mid90s)
10. Eddie Murphy (Dolemite Is My Name)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

1. Laura Dern (Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy, Marriage Story, Little Women)
2. Julie Walters (Wild Rose)
3. Taylor Russell (Waves)
4. Karen Gillan (Avengers: Endgame, All Creatures Here Below, Jumanji: The Next Level, Stuber)
5. Da'Vine Joy Randolph (Dolemite Is My Name)
6. Allison Janney (Bad Education, Bombshell, Ma)
7. Tilda Swinton (The Souvenir, Avengers: Endgame, The Dead Don't Die, The Personal History of David Copperfield)
8. Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit, The King)
9. Riley Keough (Earthquake Bird, The Lodge)
10. Idina Menzel (Uncut Gems)

SUPPORTING ACTOR:

1. Noah Jupe (Honey Boy, Ford v Ferrari)
2. Bruce Dern (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, The Mustang)
3. Swann Arlaud (By the Grace of God)
4. Jamie Bell (Rocketman, Skin)
5. Wesley Snipes (Dolemite Is My Name)
6. Al Pacino (The Irishman, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
7. Baykali Ganambarr (The Nightingale)
8. Jonathan Majors (The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Out of Blue)
9. Richard Madden (1917, Rocketman)
10. Joe Pesci (The Irishman)

WORST FILM:

1. Rambo: Last Blood (Adrian Grunberg)
2. Black and Blue (Deon Taylor)
3. 6 Underground (Michael Bay)
4. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (Joachim Ronning)
5. Godzilla: King of the Monsters (Michael Dougherty)
6. Escape Plan: The Extractors (John Herzfeld)
7. Killers Anonymous (Martin Owen)
8. Ecco (Ben Medina)
9. Triple Frontier (JC Chandor)
10. Cats (Tom Hooper)

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N O N - F I L M   D I V I S I O N

TV SERIES: 

1. Fleabag (BBC)
2. Schitt's Creek (CBN)
3. The Mandalorian (Disney)
4. Years and Years (BBC)
5. Special (Netflix)
6. Call My Agent (Netflix)
7. Chernobyl (HBO)
8. Killing Eve (BBC)
9. Jane the Virgin (ABC)
10. The Good Place (Netflix)

SINGLE: 

1. Juice (Lizzo)
2. Circles (Post Malone)
3. Slide Away (Miley Cyrus)
4. Play God (Sam Fender)
5. Bad Guy (Billie Eilish)
6. Giant (Calvin Harris, Rag'n'Bone Man)
7. Own It (Stormzy, Ed Sheeran, Burna Boy)
8. Watermelon Sugar (Harry Styles)
9. Orphans (Coldplay)
10. Harmony Hall (Vampire Weekend)

London Film Fest: To the stars

It was another rainy day as the 63rd BFI London Film Festival continues to run at venues around the city, including the special pop-up cinema on the Victoria Embankment. I attended my first public screening today - these are always nice because unlike press screenings the filmmakers are in attendance to introduce the film and chat with the audience. And I'm a big fan of Lauren Greenfield! The other comments here are just brief paragraphs, as I haven't had time to write up full reviews yet. They'll be coming along when I get some time. But at the halfway point in the festival I wonder if I'll ever have a spare moment again...

The Aeronauts
dir Tom Harper; with Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones 19/UK ***
Thrilling aerial sequences are the main reason to see this 19th century British story, which is based on real events. It also offers a picturesque on-screen reunion for the always watchable Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones. But it's written and directed with so much period movie sparkliness that there isn't much real life to it, and there's certainly no tension in the narrative. Still, as far as unambiguous prestige movies go, this one is amiable and gorgeous.

Marriage Story
dir-scr Noah Baumbach; with Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson 19/US ****.
An almost forensic exploration of the end of a marriage, this drama is of course infused with sadness but thankfully never turns mopey or maudlin. This is perhaps due to writer-director Noah Baumbach's attention to detail, which gives the film the honesty of a singular story. So while it may not be hugely resonant to everyone, these characters and the way they interact is powerfully involving. And it's anchored by a particularly strong role for Adam Driver.

And Then We Danced
dir-scr Levan Akin; with Levan Gelbakhiani, Bachi Valishvili 19/Geo 1h45 ****
There's a lovely mix of personal emotion and societal outrage in this sensitive Georgian coming-of-age drama. Swedish director Levan Akin keeps the camera close to his protagonist, seeing events tightly through his eyes as the world comes into a bit brighter focus for him. What it says about the empty, fearful machismo in Georgia is very harsh, but at its core this is an engaging celebration of artistic freedom. And a bold statement of support for Georgia's LGBTQ community.

Tremors [Temblores]
dir-scr Jayro Bustamante; with Juan Pablo Olyslager, Diane Bathen 19/Gua 1h47 ****
Complex and very tough, this Guatemalan drama dives into an issue that is hugely contentious in this strongly religious culture, as a family refuses to accept homosexuality as anything other than a sin. Writer-director Jayro Bustamante presents this in a strikingly straightforward way that's deeply unnerving, subtly revealing the deeply hurtful hypocrisy and bigotry lurks under the surface of well-meaning people.

The Kingmaker
dir-scr Lauren Greenfield; with Imelda Marcos, Bongbong Marcos, Noynoy Aquino, Leni Robredo, Andy Bautista, Beth Day Romulo, Etta Rosales, May Rodriguez 
release UK Oct.19 lff, US 1.Nov.19 • 19/US 1h41 ****

Documentarian Lauren Greenfield has an uncanny way of finding enormous resonance in specific stories. Here she uses a series of interviews with former First Lady Imelda Marcos to explore both the Philippines' tumultuous history and how the post-truth era has sparked a global rise of strong, right-wing leaders. Made over five wild years, the film presents the material with a wonderful sense of irony.

"Perception is real, and the truth is not," Imelda says flatly about her notorious years in public life, dogged by accusations of corruption as indeed she and her husband stole billions from the Filipino people. But instead of recognising the poverty their actions caused, she sees herself as her nation's mother, and she wants to take care of the world too. As credentials, she cites her close friendships with world leaders like Mao, Fidel, Gaddafi and Saddam. So she's grooming her children and grandchildren to take power as representatives and governors in the Philippines (she's a congresswoman), and her family secretly helped put Duterte in office. 

Contradicting her tales of peace and benevolence, a range of interviewees recount firsthand stories of corruption, inequality, torture and murder during the Marcos regime. These things are being written out of the school curriculum at the moment, leaving children ignorant about what really happened, which of course doesn't bode well for the future. And the way she obscures facts with nice phrases is more than a little chilling. As is the way the Picasso and Michelangelo paintings mysteriously vanish from her walls.

Greenfield's cameras don't miss anything, and her photographer's eye makes sure it all looks spectacular. Without ever laying it on thickly, she is making a strong comment about why people blindly accept strongman leadership, ignoring the facts for lies that sound nicer. The world is heading into dangerous territory if people simply stop caring about the truth and accept any information that's put in front of them on Facebook. Oh, wait a minute: we're already there.

7.Oct.19 lff • Venice/Toronto/London

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Links:
Shadows LONDON FILM FEST homepage (full reviews will be linked here) 
Official LONDON FILM FEST site