My 10 Best Movies from 2019
I love stories. It doesn’t matter what form they come in: novels, movies, television, autobiographies, or whatever. And I always love when I know – and usually I will know pretty quickly – that I’ve connected to a story. Then it’s just a case of sitting back and enjoying the adventure. Growing up in the 1980s, it was the blockbusters that did that for me. They were story-based, and the action complemented what was going on. Now it seems the opposite. Blockbusters are action-based, and the stories complement what’s going on. Well, they try. Too often, they feel like some loose thread woven around the action to link it together.…
Respecting Property
Two of my favourite recent movies placed in long-running franchises are Logan (2017) and Joker (2019). Logan tells the story of an older Wolverine, now struggling with health, and trying to take care of Professor Xavier, who’s suffering from dementia. Joker is a possible origin story for arguably the most recognisable comic-book villain there is. Both stories sit in well-defined, well-populated franchises. Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine has appeared in six X-Men movies, cameoed in one other, and appeared in three Wolverine-only movies. Although X-Men has been (softly) rebooted, the universe largely remains the same: same characters (just with younger actors), same feel, and the same type of adventures. Writer/director James Mangold…