My Six-Month Film Awards: 2019

With the year half over, it’s time to take stock of what the cinema has offered us so far. And while I haven’t had the time or money to see everything I’d hoped to, I’m actually doing much better than last year; so far I’ve seen 38 films on the year, whereas last year I’d only seen 25 by this point.

What follows, of course, are what I think to be the best of them. Films I’ve reviewed individually are linked to via their title. All other films that I’ve reviewed thus far can be found here.

Picture:

1. Apollo 11
2. Dragged Across Concrete
3. Toy Story 4
4. The Souvenir
5. High Life
6. The Last Black Man in San Francisco
7. Booksmart
8. Climax
9. Slut in a Good Way
10. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum

Very, very similar to last year; again there are 6 **** films, and they even earn the same numerical scores as last year; an 88 followed by five 87s. That said, Apollo 11 would’ve been #2 last year and Dragged Across Concrete would’ve been #4 or 5. It’s still a solid start to the year, and there are another 10 ***½ films after John Wick, which will be listed at the bottom. So even if the box office returns have been problematic, I’m fairly happy with the films themselves, if not ecstatic.

This is an odd list in one regard, though: I’m not sure when I last had a G-rated film in my top 10, let alone two – let alone when I last had a G-rated film as my #1. The other 8 films are all rated R, of course.

Director:

1. Claire Denis, High Life
2. Gaspar Noé, Climax
3. Joe Talbot, The Last Black Man in San Francisco
4. Joanna Hogg, The Souvenir
5. S. Craig Zahler, Dragged Across Concrete

A very solid list, and I could’ve easily gone with Harmony Korine (The Beach Bum) instead of Zahler. Denis has been making films for decades, but High Life is the first I’d seen; it impressed me considerably.

Actor:

1. Tory Kittles, Dragged Across Concrete
2. Matthew McConaughey, The Beach Bum
3. Jimmie Fails, The Last Black Man in San Francisco
4. Deng Chao, Shadow
5. Robert Pattinson, High Life 

You could argue that Kittles really belongs in Supporting, but to me he’s one of the three leads, along with Vince Vaughn (#7 on my list) and Mel Gibson (#9). And for those wondering where Taron Egerton is, he’s my #6.

I want to specifically mention Chao’s dual performance in Shadow; I wasn’t fully aware until after the fact that it was indeed him playing two separate characters, so effective was his performance .

Actress:

1. Emma Thompson, Late Night
2. Beanie Feldstein, Booksmart
3. Honor Swinton Byrne, The Souvenir
4. Elisabeth Moss, Her Smell
5. Tessa Thompson, Little Woods

It sucks having to pick between Thompson and Feldstein, both of whom are wonderful, but Thompson is truly convincing as a veteran talk-show host, no mean feat even for as accomplished a performer as herself. It’s a very strong list, and the next five on my own list all merit mention: Lupita Nyong’o in Us, Kaitlyn Dever in Booksmart, Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir in Woman at War, Octavia Spencer in Ma, and Charlize Theron in Long Shot.

Supporting Actor:

1. Tom Burke, The Souvenir
2. Jonathan Pryce, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
3. Skyler Gisondo, Booksmart
4. Jonathan Majors, The Last Black Man in San Francisco
5. Jack Dylan Grazer, Shazam!

There are probably those who’d argue Burke and Pryce should be considered leads, but I think they belong here. Either way, they’re both fantastic and it’s a tight race between them.

Supporting Actress:

1. Romane Denis, Slut in a Good Way
2. Billie Lourd, Booksmart
3. Isabelle Huppert, Greta
4. Agyness Deyn, Her Smell
5. Christina Hendricks, Toy Story 4

Another tight race; many would go with Lourd and I wouldn’t argue with them. But neither she nor Denis would even make the top 5 in lead; this is easily the weakest of the acting categories.

And yes, I now rate voice acting alongside live-action performances; if I didn’t, my #5 would be Tilda Swinton, playing the mother of her daughter’s character in The Souvenir.

Non-Binary Performer:

1. Asia Kate Dillon, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum

Dillon was good enough to merit a nomination, and as I have no wish to disrespect their self-identification, I’ve created this category. It remains to be seen how much I’ll be able to expand it before the year is out.

Ensemble:

1. Dragged Across Concrete
2. Slut in a Good Way
3. Booksmart
4. Shazam!
5. Her Smell

I didn’t care much for Her Smell, but the acting was quite good (and it was well-crafted, too – it earns a total of five nominations from me). The amazing ensemble in Concrete must take top honors, however.

Original Screenplay:

1. Dragged Across Concrete
2. The Souvenir
3. Booksmart
4. Slut in a Good Way
5. The Last Black Man in San Francisco

This is a damn strong list, strong enough that High Life and Late Night both get bumped. And yes, Us makes my list, but it’s at #9 – I had very mixed feelings about the film and the writing is largely why.

Adapted Screenplay:

1. Toy Story 4
2. Shazam!
3. Shadow
4. Avengers: Endgame
5. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum

This, on the other hand, is a much weaker list; Shazam! would be #7 in Original. I fully expected Toy Story 4 would be my winner, but it’s not even a competition.

Cinematography:

1. Climax
2. The Beach Bum
3. The Last Black Man in San Francisco
4. The Souvenir
5. Sunset

Benoît Debie takes the top two spots; he won my year-end award for Spring Breakers and probably would’ve won or come close for Enter the Void had I been doing my awards that year.

Editing:

1. Apollo 11
2. High Life
3. Toy Story 4
4. The Beach Bum
5. Bolden

Apollo 11 is all about the brilliant assembly of the archival footage – there’s no new footage or newly recorded narration whatsoever, making its exceptional quality all the more impressive. But the brilliant time-shifts in High Life, the fascinating associative structure of Bolden, and the gripping pace (despite its epic length) of Dragged Across Concrete (my #6) are all worthy of praise.

Production Design:

1. Dumbo
2. The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
3. Shadow
4. Aladdin
5. The Last Black Man in San Francisco

You can’t say Tim Burton doesn’t know how to make a good-looking film. Kudos, however, to the fascinating contemporary work in Last Black Man – the house at the center of the story is especially effective.

Costume Design:

1. Shadow
2. Dumbo
3. Rocketman
4. Aladdin
5. The Man Who Killed Don Quixote

Ample competition, but the gorgeous monochromatic costuming in Shadow impressed me the most.

Makeup:

1. The Dead Don’t Die
2. Us
3. The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
4. Shadow
5. Captain Marvel

Dead wins this pretty handily, what with all the great zombie makeup on display.

Score:

1. The Last Black Man in San Francisco
2. Apollo 11
3. Us
4. High Life
5. Toy Story 4

Another tight category, and I’d like to give the Apollo score another listen to see if it reclaims the #1 spot.

Song:

1. “Anthem”, Us
2. “Willow”, High Life
3. “The Dead Don’t Die”, The Dead Don’t Die
4. “Shotgun Safari”, Dragged Across Concrete
5. “The Ballad of the Lonesome Cowboy”, Toy Story 4

Again, I had mixed feelings about Us, but what it did well, it did extremely well.

Sound Mixing:

1.  John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
2. Godzilla: King of the Monsters
3. Her Smell 
4. Climax
5. Apollo 11

This category and the next one had some worthy contenders, but the amazing sounds of John Wick can’t be denied. It probably helps that I saw it in a top-line auditorium with the sound thundering all around me, but it’s the best soundscape I’ve encountered all year.

Sound Editing:

1.  John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
2. Godzilla: King of the Monsters
3. Apollo 11
4. Climax
5. Her Smell

This is a tighter category than Mixing, as both Wick and Godzilla earn 10s from me, but I give Wick the edge.

Visual Effects:

1. Godzilla: King of the Monsters
2. Pokémon: Detective Pikachu
3. Dumbo
4. Avengers: Endgame
5. Shazam!

Long live the King.

Because of time constraints I won’t include all the usual statistics, but I will note that the best film not to receive any nominations is Woman at War, a very good film, but it doesn’t get higher than 7th in Score and 8th in Actress and Original Screenplay.

Update: Now that time permits, I’ll add a few statistics just to round things out:

Most nominations: The Last Black Man in San Francisco, with 8 (Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Production Design, Score).

Most wins: Dragged Across Concrete and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum each win 3 awards; Concrete wins Actor, Ensemble, and Original Screenplay, while Wick wins Non-Binary Performer, Sound Mixing, and Sound Editing.

Most nominations without a Best Picture nomination: Shadow and Her Smell each get 5; Shadow has Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Production Design, Costume Design, and Makeup nominations (winning Costume Design), while Her Smell has Actress, Supporting Actress, Ensemble, Sound Mixing, and Sound Editing nominations. It’s odd that they tie because Shadow is my #11 film and barely misses Best Picture, while Her Smell is my #33 film and doesn’t come anywhere near a nomination.

Weakest film to earn a nomination in any category: Aladdin, with its nominations for Production and Costume Design. They’re well deserved, but the film itself isn’t that good.

And now, my ranking of the 38 films I’ve seen so far this year:

1. ****: Apollo 11 – 88
2. Dragged Across Concrete – 87
3. Toy Story 4 – 87
4. The Souvenir – 87
5. High Life – 87
6. The Last Black Man in San Francisco – 87
7. ***½: Booksmart – 86
8. Climax – 86
9. Slut in a Good Way – 85
10. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum – 84
11. Shadow – 84
12. Shazam! – 83
13. Avengers: Endgame – 82
14. Late Night – 82
15. Bolden – 81
16. Rocketman – 80
17. The Beach Bum – 80
18. Woman at War – 79
19. Captain Marvel – 78
20. Little Woods – 77
21. ***: Us – 76
22. Pokémon: Detective Pikachu – 75
23. The Mustang – 75
24. The Man Who Killed Don Quixote – 74
25. The Dead Don’t Die – 74
26. Dumbo – 74
27. Godzilla: King of the Monsters – 73
28. Long Shot – 72
29. The Image Book – 72
30. Greta – 72
31. Sunset – 71
32. Tolkien – 70
33. Her Smell – 69
34. Wild Nights with Emily – 69
35. Aladdin – 68
36. Ma – 65
37. **: The Chaperone – 54
38. Serenity – 46