A review of the reviews
Think 2019 was a good year for films? See how your opinions compare to the year’s 10 best-reviewed movies by critics of The Arizona Republic.
You hear the same complaint annually — this just wasn’t that good a year for movies.
Except that it was, and it almost always is. If you like good movies, then it stands to reason that you love great ones.
And that’s what we’re offering here: the 10 best-reviewed movies by the critics at The Arizona Republic. Of course, reviews, like rankings, are subjective. So you may like one more than another. But if you’re looking for something to stream or see in a theater, you’re safe here. Not a dog in the bunch.
“Parasite” (5 stars): Bong Joon Ho looks at class division and warfare through two families at either end of the wealth spectrum in his nearly perfect movie. The entire cast is terrific, but Kang-Ho Song and Yeo-jeong Jo especially so. What a fantastic freak-out of a film. — Bill Goodykoontz
“The Irishman” (5 stars):Martin Scorsese’s film about a mobster (Robert De Niro) looking back on his life isn’t a thrill ride like “Goodfellas.” Instead, it’s a meditative film about a man’s life and losses. Throw in Al Pacino and an understated (and brilliant) Joe Pesci and
you have one of Scorsese’s best, in unexpected ways. — Bill Goodykoontz
“Too Late to Die Young” (5 stars): Chilean director Dominga Santiago’s dreamy coming-of-age story is a subtle, slow-burning stunner. It’s about a young woman growing up in an intentional community (like a hippie farming commune) after the fall of the dictator Augusto Pinochet. But there is little context or backstory. Instead, the viewer is a silent observer, gleaning precious details one at a time, as teenage Sofía (Demian Hernández) renegotiates her place in the only world she has known. Hard to describe, and impossible to forget. — Kerry Lengel
“A Hidden Life” (5 stars): Terrence Malick has made a transcendent film, a moral meditation of a real-life Austrian man named Franz Jägerstätter, played by August Diehl, who conscientiously objects to Hitler at profound personal cost. It’s less a story than an experience, a spiritual journey made accessible through light and sound. Malick doesn’t transcend cinema. He sanctifies it. — Barbara VanDenburgh
“John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum” (4.5 stars): John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is on the run in the thrilling third installment of the riotously fun franchise. It’s clear there’s enough gas in the tank for as many John Wicks as there are Bond films. I hope they get to make them. Set a John Wick movie in every major city on Earth. When we run out of cities, build more on the moon. — Barbara Vandenburgh
“Knives Out” (4.5 stars):Director Rian Johnson assembles an all-star cast, including Chris Evans, Toni Collette and Ana de Armas for this modern and humorous mystery that rejiggers all the tropes and trappings of a whodunit in a fun and frothy lens. The tone isn’t quite the slapstick royale of cult classics like “Clue” or “Murder by Death” but a darker, tightly wound comedy conjuring a mix of “To Die For” and “Greedy” that wryly smiles as it spins you on a merry-go-round of deceit. —
“The Lighthouse” (4.5 stars): Director Robert Eggers, who constructed an enthralling puritanical glimpse at supernatural terror in 2015’s “The Witch,” again combines folklore, isolation and madness in this nightmarish setting. Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe work and live together in a 19th century lighthouse, fending off boredom and madness. Theirs is the grimmest living situation committed to memory since Joan Crawford and Bette Davis duked it out in “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” — Garrett Mitchell
“The Reports on Sarah and Saleem”(4.5 stars): Palestinian director Muayad Alayan delivers a taut, Hemingway-esque thriller about a Jewish Israeli woman and an Arabic Muslim man (Sivane Kretchner and Adeeb Safadi) whose casual affair has consequences far beyond their fears. The lead actors have full command of the camera (including in steamy sex scenes), but they get strong support from Ishai Golan as Sarah’s husband, David, and Maisa Abd Elhadi as Saleem’s wife, Bisan, whose seeming submissiveness hides a smoldering fire. It’s hot stuff, and Alayan handles it with the practiced skill of juggler casually flicking torches in the air. — Kerry Lengel
“Honey Boy” (4.5 stars): Screenwriter Shia LaBeouf plays a version of his own father in this bittersweet memoir about his dysfunctional Hollywood upbringing. Richly layered and subtly disturbing, it is carried by great performances, including Lucas Hedges and a young Noah Jupe as LaBoeuf ’s alter ego at ages 22 and 12. — Kerry Lengel
“Uncut Gems” (4.5 stars): Adam Sandler is great — yes, that’s “Adam Sandler” and “great” in the same sentence — as a jeweler and degenerate gambler looking for a big, and possibly life-saving, score in the Safdie brothers’ latest. It’s kind of like a filmed nervous breakdown, but in the best possible way.