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Ranking 2019 Best Picture Nominees

2019 was a great year for movies, but what I considered great myself is vastly different than what most critics and especially audiences considered amazing. So the Academy actually got it right when it comes to picking the most acclaimed films of the year, at least for the most part, but for me personally, I dislike quite a lot of these movies, so this slate is in my opinion very weak with only a couple of noteworthy exceptions.

9. Ford v Ferrari

This may sound like an exaggeration, but I personally find any BP ranking list for this year invalid if it doesn’t rank this one at the very bottom. Yes, Ford v Ferrari is the bottom of the barrel when it comes to the Academy picking the kind of middlebrow, ancient pictures that have no meaning or depth or relevance to them whatsoever. Bale’s performance here is incredibly annoying, the movie is overloud and frankly very dull in its entirety, and it’s simply the kind of dinosaur that had no business stealing this rare ninth spot from so many other more worthy films from this quite respected year in cinema.

8. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

The above movie is bad, but OUATIH is also quite mediocre. The movie works solidly if observed individually in segments and vignettes, but as a whole, it’s a pointless, incoherent mess. Tarantino simply did not know what he even wanted to with this story in the first place, so he put in as many ideas as possible into this tonal mess of a film. Even worse are Quentin’s quite frankly sexist and racist portrayals of Sharon Tate and Bruce Lee respectively. Thus, it’s the only not good movie in this director’s usually quite strong oeuvre, and the fact that many don’t realize that is hugely baffling to me.

7. Parasite

And now we come to the one choice that is the most controversial on my list – Parasite. This South Korean movie directed by Bong Joon-Ho is clearly beloved, it’s so admired actually that it received six Oscar nominations, which is momentous for a foreign movie. While I do get its appeal from the entertainment factor and its obviously resonant themes, the movie to me still felt like a giant mess, and a missed opportunity to tackle the 1% versus the 99%, the issue that another movie on this list tackled so much better. While the production design and the beginning are both excellent, the movie quickly devolves into a painfully unfunny, buffoonish endeavor that fails at both the thriller and the comedy fronts. It’s the most overrated film of 2019.

6. The Irishman

This is the section containing two okay, passable movies. The first one is The Irishman by Martin Scorsese. This is such a cliched Scorsese output, focusing on mobs and the gangster genre, that I personally never liked so it certainly wasn’t up my alley. I found the acting solid, though overly praised, and in particular the third act itself is actually excellent, moving and offering a fantastic message. But the first two acts are a never-ending string of tedious sequences, the entire film is long to the point of becoming ridiculous, and the de-aging special effects are absolutely horrible. It’s not a bad movie, but it’s far from great, and it only got in there due to the high respect that this director’s clearly always received.

5. Jojo Rabbit

I found Jojo Rabbit fun. It’s engaging throughout, and it’s not as offensive as I feared it would be. But still, it’s a questionable movie which simply did not work owing to its very poorly juggled mixture of tones as it jumps from comedy to tragedy and serious drama very unconvincingly. I actually preferred the dramatic scenes, especially those with the girl, and I found the Hitler scenes painfully bad, and the entire movie is mostly very unfunny, far from the best efforts of Taika Waititi who is otherwise much funnier and much more confident in his direction. It’s a respectable mess where he tried something new, but still mostly failed at it.

4. Marriage Story

Finally, only at the fourth spot do we get to the truly good stuff. Yes, Noah Baumbach got another winner here where he obviously channeled a lot of his own experiences, and created a very powerful dissolution of marriage story that is very dramatic and suitably difficult to watch at times. That argument scene remains the biggest showcase for the actors and the standout scene of the film as it escalates so realistically, and it’s very sad to watch. The acting is fantastic throughout with Adam Driver killing it in his very strong role and Scarlett Johansson delivering one of the greatest actress performances of the year. It’s a pretty good movie, but the first act is so annoying, the movie is too much tell and not enough show, and thus it was quite disappointing to me as I expected greatness from it honestly.

3. Joker

The score in Joker is the best of the year, and Joaquin Phoenix, though overly calculated, is obviously very memorable in the titular role. This one continues the tradition of films like ‘Logan’ in giving us a comics story done in a grounded, believable, lived in fashion, and it mostly succeeds at it. The film is a powerful drama about the 1 percent versus the 99 percent, and in that theme it is much better than ‘Parasite’. It is a film that has a lot to say about the society creating monsters instead of helping people that need help, and it’s quite powerful in how it has the ability to empower people to fight for justice. However, the musical sequences are to me unnecessary and terrible, the entire movie is way too calculated in approach and it’s obviously influenced by Scorsese’s movies, and thus not being as original as many claimed it to be.

2. Little Women

This is where we come to the great stuff, and the two films which are in my personal top ten list for the year. I hadn’t expected Little Women to be this great going into it, but I was quickly reassured. Gerwig infused a lot of energy, relevance and emotional intensity to this picture that does use time jumping a bit too often, but is also very engaging to watch throughout. I found its humor excellent, its romantic elements sweeping and its charm is through the roof. The technical aspects are uniformly spectacular while the casting was truly brilliant. The standouts include Saiorse Ronan in her career-best work so far and Florence Pugh who is a revelation in such a complicated, intriguing role.

1. 1917

And the obvious number one place for me has to go to this World War I masterpiece. Sam Mendes directed the hell out of this film, and the cinematography is clearly its crowning jewel. The one shot is brilliant, and the various angles accentuate the action on screen so well. The performances are strong, and the third act is overwhelmingly emotional. Some of the imagery is truly artistic, and there are a couple of scenes here that are simply unforgettable. 1917 isn’t just a technical achievement as it has a big heart too, and it’s conceptualized as such a terrific, dark adventure film, quite classical and cinematic in approach. I adored it to pieces, and it’s my third favorite film of the year. It’s one of the rare times where I agree with the Academy about bestowing so many nominations upon it.

Films That Should Have Been Nominated:

The Lighthouse – This one is the most unlikely choice because the Academy nominating a black-and-white indie movie would be almost impossible to happen, but still the enormous artistry at display here should not be underappreciated, and I continue to be baffled in particular with everyone snubbing the two actors here.

Knives Out – Knives Out could have been nominated in a lesser year with less competition, and it should have been nominated this year nonetheless. This is a classic, witty mystery that features tremendous characterization, direction and dialogue. It’s so polished through and through that it should have gotten more love by the Academy.

Queen & Slim – If this potent indie drama had been directed by a Scorsese or a Tarantino, it would have received a Best Picture nomination. That’s just a fact. But it was snubbed because it was directed by a first-time director. Still, Melina Matsoukas created such a powerfully emotional drama and a great romance that is one of the most underrated films of the year.

The Nightingale – The Nightingale is an Australian movie, but had it been American or concerned with their history, it would have easily landed a spot in the BP slate. It’s one of the strongest period pieces in recent memory as it tackles a very important, painful chapter in this country’s history, and is thrilling and dramatic throughout.

Us – I included Jordan Peele’s Us here because ‘Get Out’ was nominated for multiple Oscars two years ago. This one is almost just as good, and in particular its originality and ambition are to be respected. I am even more baffled by the snub of Lupita Nyong’o who was here so much better than she was in ’12 Years a Slave’.