2019 Movie Rankings: 110 through 101
Hello friends, Day 8 of the 2019 Movie Rankings Countdown is here. Over the course of the next 11 weekdays, leading up to the 92nd edition of The Academy Awards, I will be revealing my rankings for all 185 new movies I watched this year.
RANKINGS SO FAR:
Bottom 15 (171-185)
170-161
160-151
150-141
140-131
130-121
120-111
Get us to the double digits, baby! We are now in the "D" letter grade movies and inching closer to the halfway mark of the rankings. I bought high on a lot of these movies and think some folks may disagree with me. So here we go, the movies ranked 110 through 101...
110) The Kid (58/100): It's a solid directorial debut for Vincent D'Onofrio with this Billy the Kid release, but man oh man does the screenplay derail this movie. Regardless, the movie is pretty well-acted and features some fantastic shots that liven up the movie. I'd love to see D'Onofrio direct a movie with more fluidity and weight inside of the story.
109) Shaft (58/100): A relative swing and a miss, the 'Shaft' soft-reboot is marred by weird character choices. There is fun to be had, but it all feels tightly put together. So many moments in the movie involve the main cast with relatively "forced" chemistry that makes everything feel uneven and awkward.
108) Brightburn (58/100): The premise and the idea of this dark Superman-esque story are incredibly intriguing but 'Brightburn' isn't able to establish enough of an identity to separate itself from the pack. I can really admire the effort of a comic book movie that isn't a direct property of the Marvel or DC universe, but a movie this dark just simply needs to say a lot more. Going along the lines of a movie like 'Logan', which has strong characters, would have done this movie plenty of favors.
107) Five Feet Apart (59/100): Here's a movie I thought I would really dislike! It certainly falls victim to classic tropes of this genre...
...but I am a huge fan of Haley Lu Richardson, especially in this movie. I will actually use this blurb to hype up another movie from the actress called 'Columbus'. She teamed up with John Cho for the 2017 movie that I thoroughly enjoyed. When it comes to gorgeous cinematography and emotional acting, 'Columbus' was one of the best from that year.
106) A Dog's Journey (59/100): Another one of these movies!?
No, this is actually not related to the movie I discussed yesterday at #115, it is a sequel to the 2017 movie 'A Dog's Purpose'. As "animals narrate the story" movies go, this is not the worst thing I have seen, and dog lovers will enjoy it, but… we gotta stop making these movies.
105) After the Wedding (60/100): A rather interesting mystery story setup…
…but the strong cast of Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams and Billy Crudup (absolute fucking king, who is probably the only good part of the series 'The Morning Show') isn't enough to carry it through the finish line. You just simply have to pack a bigger punch when it comes to a story like the one in 'After the Wedding'.
104) Happy Death Day 2U (60/100): Is it crazy that I expected more from this horror-comedy sequel? There was a bit of light shock to the style and story that played out with the first movie, so it might have been unfair to raise unreasonable expectations. Packed with more humor than the first movie, the 'Happy Death Day' sequel tried to dive deeper into the new and weird angles, but it might have bitten off a bit more than it could chew.
103) Black and Blue (60/100): This movie, absolutely, does nothing different than any movies like it that have come before this one… but it isn't all that bad.
'Black and Blue' isn't a movie that you should watch expecting to be blown away and that's fine because the moments of action and performances from Naomie Harris and Tyrese Gibson are wildly entertaining.
102) The Art of Racing in the Rain (61/100): There is a lot to here but, in the end, 'The Art of Racing in the Rain' forces the issues far too much trying to get tears streaming down the face of moviegoers. What is it with (the dashing) Milo Ventimiglia ('This Is Us') and movie sand series in the "cry porn" genre?
101) Velvet Buzzsaw (61/100): BIAS ALERT! I don't think I have disliked a Jake Gyllenhaal movie since that 'Prince of Persia' disaster…
'Velvet Buzzsaw' is fucking bananas and I would venture to guess that most people will disagree with my thoughts on the movie. Written and directed by Dan Gilroy, the same guy who did 'Nightcrawler', one of the decade's most underrated movies, there is no doubt that this should have been a better movie, but I was still hooked by its insanity.
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Here are the rankings so far in picture form…
We've done it! We have reached the end of the 200's and 100's and will finally dive into the Top 100 Movies of 2019 on Monday. After the weekend we will hit up movies 100 through 91 and a reminder that, in the meantime, you can still rate all of the movies released on a scale of 0-100 below. Make sure to subscribe (click here) to Lights Camera Barstool to enjoy our twice-a-week movie podcast…
Give your rating for all 2019 movies:
January: https://goo.gl/forms/tyUaQnv8QgMyHfcf1
February: https://goo.gl/forms/N98XcvIy3SukhrIw2
March: https://goo.gl/forms/4QbmSMj6wK0feMZ13
April: https://forms.gle/uRUg5xPyfsE8bk9B6
May: https://forms.gle/cdBDBdjNcHZ93sog6
June: https://forms.gle/z3cK9LSRCzNCwxYS8
July: https://forms.gle/8i1B8dMgSADefyU5A
August: https://forms.gle/4ywzQC6BNR818YDU9
September: https://forms.gle/an7c9p5dV1TZHwNK9
October: https://forms.gle/wjyrNUxbX8MYVLHUA
November: https://forms.gle/yVJjxeuNspX2GNjSA
December: https://forms.gle/uCYmh7uMtxE99Vj88