The List: David Stratton’s top 10 movies of 2019

From an eye-popping doco about the moon landing to Tarantino’s ode to Hollywood, 2019 has some unforgettable films.

David Stratton's top 10 filsm of 2019

Apollo 11

Eye-popping original NASA footage, much of it never seen before, provided the basis for Todd Douglas Miller’s riveting documentary about the first moon landing in 1969.

Burning (Beoning)

One of two South Korean films in my top 10, Lee Chang-dong’s Burning is a drama loosely based on Haruki Murakami’s short story Barn Burning and involves a would-be novelist and his fatal involvement with a flighty young woman and an arrogant, wealthy man who might be her lover.

The Irishman

Martin Scorsese’s 3½-hour masterwork offers a solution to the mysterious disappearance in 1975 of corrupt Teamsters Union boss Jimmy Hoffa (a great performance from Al Pacino). A miraculously de-aged Robert De Niro is at the top of his form as Hoffa’s bodyguard, as is a creepy Joe Pesci as a mafia boss, but the blend of suspense, black wit and nostalgia makes this an unmissable experience.

The King

A remarkable reworking of the story
of Henry V, Falstaff and the Battle of Agincourt, without recourse to Shakespeare’s text, this is a great achievement from David Michod (who directed and co-scripted) and Joel Edgerton (who co-scripted and is excellent as Falstaff). Fine performances from Timothee Chalamet as Henry and Ben Mendelsohn as his father, Henry IV, bring distinction to this Australian-US co-production.

Marriage Story

Director Noah Baumbach confirms his role as a chronicler of contemporary American family life with this beautifully controlled drama about a couple — Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson — who are drifting into an expensive and painful divorce.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Quentin Tarantino’s affectionate exploration of life in Hollywood in 1969, the year Sharon Tate (played by Margot Robbie, picture below) was murdered, plays tricks with the audience and, as a result, upsets some viewers. But this smart, well-acted movie is one of the director’s best.

Pain and Glory (Dolor y Gloria)

Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar’s most personal film stars Antonio Banderas, in a great performance as a sickly film director whose past begins to haunt him.

Parasite (Gisaengchung)

The top prizewinner at the Cannes and Sydney film festivals, Bong Joon-ho’s bitter black comedy about two families, one poor the other rich, overflows with invention.

Sorry We Missed You

British director Ken Loach, now in his early 80s, has been doing some of his best work lately and this troubling film about Britain’s working poor and the gig economy is one of his best.

Stan & Ollie

A guilty pleasure to round out my
top 10 — this delicious movie deserves its room at the top largely because of the perfect impersonations/performances of American actor John C. Reilly and English actor and comedian Steve Coogan as Laurel and Hardy; they look and sound and move like the great comedians, and the film does them justice.