Favorite Movies of 2019

Avengers: Endgame - My favorite of the year for all the action, the humor, the payoffs, the tears, and the feels. A remarkable end to a 21-movie series. Full review.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - The end of a 42-year journey with the Skywalker family. I truly enjoyed the film and appreciated all the emotional payoffs.

Hobbes and Shaw - Arguably the most entertaining movie of the summer and the year. This counts as my first Fast and Furious film. Loved this movie. Full review.

Knives Out - In terms of "I think that movie looks good" to the actual viewing of the film, this is a great film. Thoroughly enjoyed it, and it has sent me on a search for more whodunits (and inspired me to try and write one).

Spider-Man: Far From Home - Much like Chris Evans and Robert Downey, Jr. in their respective superhero roles, Tom Holland was born to play Peter Parker. And a dang good film that keeps reminding viewers the character is just a teenager.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse - An exhuberant movie full of fun, joy, and somber moments. My son who rarely likes all the superhero movies like I do really enjoyed this film.

Jumanji: The Next Level - Dawayne Johnson and Kevin Hart have great on-screen chemistry and I think I'd watch anything they're in. The fact that the ending serves up a nice message about aging is just icing on the cake.

Shazam - It only took something like eighty years for there to be big-screen adaptation of the original Captain Marvel, but the time was worth the wait. Everything you'd want from a Shazam movie is here, led by the incredibly charismatic Zachary Levi. Full review.

IT: Chapter Two - Both parts work well as a giant six-hour movie, but this second part brought the younger actors into the show more than I expected. The adult actors were all great, but this was my first time to see Bill Hader in a serious role. Wow. And that ending...

Older Movies I Saw in 2019

A Man Called Uve - My wife read the book, saw the movie, then watched it again as I saw it. Wonderful, wonderful film.

Jersey Girl - This was the year I decided to watch all of Kevin Smith's films in the lead-up to the new movie, Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. I watched all the movies cold--that is, without any prep or even without watching the trailer. I had known how Smith and star Ben Affleck dog this film over the years, but it proved to be my favorite Smith film to date. A wonderful story about a single, widowed father coming to terms with what is most important in his life: his daughter. All the feels, all the tears both times I watched it. When does this movie get a critical re-examination for how good it really is? Full review

Moments from Avengers: Endgame

There's a thousand memes with Sean Bean, from Fellowship of the Ring, where it's a paraphrase of "One does not simply walk into Mordor." To take that to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), one does not simply review Avengers: Endgame.

Seriously, what can anyone really say about this movie? For me, likely for most of us, Avengers: Endgame brought to a close a series of 21 movies over 11 years in an wonderfully emotional, thrilling, intimate, and beautiful way.

So I'm not really going to review the film, per se, just highlight some moments I really appreciated. The list is random and as they occurred to me.

Spoilers will be given...because how can you not?

Cap Stands Alone

In a movie full of epic scope, the image, in silhouette, of a battered Captain Ameria standing alone against the hoard of Thanos. There was a moment when I thought he'd say "I could do this all day" but it likely would have fallen flat. There will be long-lasting images taken from this movie and will become shorthand for sections of this movie. I suspect this will be one of them.

The Marvel Calvary

Immediately after, the radio in Cap's ear sparks to life with a voice. It's the Falcon.

And then...

In a movie franchise full of incredible set pieces, the arrival and re-emergence of all the heroes might rank as the best. Goosebumps rippled over my skin and the tears came. Heck, they came often in this film, but that's what I expected. That moment, when everyone returned to stand with Captain America...holy cow! If we waited 11 years and 20 movies to get Endgame, then we waited something like six hours (all of Infinity War and 2/3 of Endgame) for this moment, it was so worth it. My theater broke out in applause.

And then Captain America's call to action: "Avengers...Assemble!"

The Ladies Carve a Path

That moment, when Peter Parker relinquishes the Iron Man version of the Infinity Gauntlet and he questions how Captain Marvel will get the gauntlet to the time machine, and then all the female heroes descend and stand in one remarkable scene. If that doesn't end up a poster.... I wasn't the only one who said out loud "It's the ladies!" My theater erupted in applause as these warriors carved a path through the bad guys!

Stark's Last Words

Going in to the theater, I pretty much knew either Stark or Cap would sacrifice themselves for the greater good. I had an outside idea that it would be both of them, but having Stark basically pull a double-take on Thanos was brilliant.

And those last words: "I am...Iron Man." Again, perfection.

Stark and Parker Reunion

Months from now, when the DVD of Endgame is out, I'm hoping to learn a couple of film-making facts. One, did they purposefully edit Black Panther as the first hero to emerge as a direct nod to his groundbreaking movie? Maybe, but well deserved. But it's the second thing I'm really wondering: Did they re-shoot/add an extended version of Parker and Stark's reunion. In Infinity War, Parker's death hit really hard.

But I also liked that it was only Parker and Pepper Potts with Stark at the end. I didn't want all the heroes to line up to say good-bye. Like Stark himself said early on to Pepper, "It's always been you."

Stark Meeting His Dad

In a movie that literally had everyone in it, Stark meeting his dad was a natural. Just like Marty McFly telling his future parents about raising him, I loved that Howard asked Tony about being a father, and that he, Howard, already loved his unborn child. As a parent, I knew that sentiment as truth.

Stark's Ending Narration

More tears. Of course Robert Downey, Jr. had to have some of the final words. It was him that kicked off the MCU and he now draws the curtain closed on this incarnation of it. That he was talking to his daughter, a daughter who would grow up with him and, more importantly, that he would not be around to see grow up, was heart-wrenching.

As a dad, that really got me.

"I love you 3000." A last message to his beloved daughter.

Lang's Daughter

Speaking of daughters, the reunion of Paul Rudd's Ant-Man with his daughter, now aged five years was marvelously done. She thought him dead, and there he was on her doorstep, un-aged. He, not knowing what happened, seeing living proof in the form of his own child. And that they were there, with Hope, at the end.

The Extended Ending

Like Return of the King, a story this epic needed more than one ending. Glad to see them all.

But Steve's last scene, as an old man, having lived his life with his favorite girl, man that was the happy ending this film series deserved. A man who gave all for his country got rewarded in the most satisfying way.

And that last shot of the movie, with him and Peggy Carter, finally getting that promised dance back in 1945? Perfect ending to a magnificent movie.

A Call for More?

I rarely care about all the little details behind a franchise such as the MCU. I'm content with what I see on screen. And I'm of two minds about what I'm about to say. But how cool would an anthology of short stories and/or a comic series be just telling the six stories of Steve returning all those stones. The conversation he would have with the Ancient One. Steve in space with the Guardians. Steve in Asgard. It would be kinda cool.

But I'm also cool with each one of us making up those stories. I don't need to know everything, but this struck me.

Questions

I have a few, and they're minor.

When Steve returned the Soul Stone, does Nat return to life?

Loki, in 2012, took the tessaract...where? And is he now still alive in the MCU?

Peter Parker. Okay, so we have a five-year time jump, right? So how's he still in high school?

Also, he seemed to say something about being gone for five years. Where exactly were the heroes for five years? Like Stark faked out Thanos, did Doctor Strange somehow put a spell over all the heroes who would turn to ashes at the end of Infinity War?

Steve and his other life. So, he lived his life in our time, right? So he would have seen everything we saw in these 21 movies, right? So he'd be there to see Stark become Iron Man, or watch CNN as Captain Marvel made her presence known in the 1990s. So, he'd just let all that stuff go on without interfering because he knew all would be fine, right?

And what about kids?

Conclusion

Anyway, just a few random thoughts on what may well be the best movie of 2019.

Well, until Star Wars IX.

But that's the thing. The MCU I have consumed as an adult. I started with Star Wars as a child. There's likely going to be a push/pull dynamic between the two. Heart and head. They'll both be my #1/#2 movies of the year, but Rise of Skywalker already has a high bar to clear considering fan expectation. Now, it has competition on how to end a series.

Tune in Tomorrow...

For a different kind of New Year's Day.

Avengers: Infinity War - The Re-Watch

Like all folks looking forward to the new Avengers: Endgame movie this coming Friday, I rewatched last year's Avengers: Infinity War on Netflix.

We all know how good this movie is, so I won't bother recapping the film. If you're a fan of the movie, you know the best parts. All of it? Yeah, a case can be made that's this is the culmination of ten years of movie making.

When you first watch the film, you're all into the action and the team-ups. Iron Man and Spidey fighting together in New York. The Guardians and Thor. Captain America and Black Panther standing their ground in Wakanda.

But the second viewing brings home the human factors to a much greater degree. Wanda having to sacrifice Vision. Peter Parker's death. Thanos killing Gamora. Actually, the thing that stood out last year when I saw this movie the first time--it was Thanos's movie and he wins--is even more obvious now. When we keep writing the history of CGI characters who really tug at your heartstrings, Gollum and Thanos will certainly top the list.

Josh Brolin is magnificent in this movie as the villain. And, like the best villains, you actually see why he's doing what he's doing. He's got a point. It's harsh, yeah, but you can at least understand where he's coming from. I imagine he was on set speaking the lines, stuffed into one of those motion capture suits, so he was able to interact with the other actors. I've love to hear an interview from him talking about the process.

Now that we've all see the Captain Marvel movie, the tag ending where Nick Fury calls Carol Danvers is much more meaningful.

You only have about five days before Avengers: Endgame debuts. Oh, and I still trust Doctor Strange. He told Tony--and us--that all we saw in Infinity War was the only way to win. But if the Strange told us this was the only way, Thanos also spoke the truth about the cost of the victory. It costs him everything.

How much will Thanos's defeat cost the Avengers? We only have days to wait. I'm seeing the movie Friday night...and leaving social media Thursday night. I don't want to be spoiled. I'll have a review next week, and I'll provide plenty of spoiler warnings.