User blog:Captain Ned Edgewalker/My Favourite Movies of 2019

Alright, hello.

Working at a movie theatre has its' upsides, the main one being free movies at my leisure (especially now that i'm a M A N A G E R with a super duper special free movie card). While I should have expected it in the beginning, working for Cineplex has dramatically deepened my love for cinema in many various ways.

So, for funsies, here's my three favourite movies that I've seen in 2019 along with a lil paragraph or two about why I loved the movie. All three of these movies can only be defined as excellent and could easily be classified as my number one favourite for the year, however since I'm a nerd and like ranking stuff that's how imma do it.

This blog is gonna be completely spoiler-free.

3. The Irishman
Martin Scorsese returns to form in the most fantastic of ways with his offering in The Irishman. The Irishman is the longest movie Scorsese has ever released, clocking in at massive three and a half hours of runtime. However, when I was watching this movie for the second and third time, it baffled me that this movie never, not once, felt as long as its runtime. There's not a moment throughout the movie where I was bored with what was happening, there's no filler. Everything Scorsese has put into the movie is ultimately important to telling the overall story, which simply makes it that more gripping. The story is also (allegedly) a true story, which adds to its' entertainment value.

Of course, one must talk about the performances in this movie by the three leads. Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci. Pesci returns to acting after retiring in 1999, after which he has only appeared in a few different films, usually as a cameo. Pesci is the stand out performance out of these three, who all offer dazzling performances that could all easily be worthy of an Oscar.

Without spoiling too much, De Niro plays Frank Sheeran, a mafia hit man who works for mob boss Russell Bufalino, portrayed by Pesci. Bufalino introduces Sheeran to infamous union leader Jimmy Hoffa (portrayed by Pacino). Sheeran becomes Hoffa's muscle to intimidate opponents of the teamsters union, and eventually becomes Hoffa's close friend and ally.

The Irishman is a fantastic movie that is worthy of all the praise that it has recieved. It was also released on Netflix, so unless you don't have Netflix, there's no good reason not to watch this movie.

2. Jojo Rabbit
Oh my god I love this movie so much. The brilliance of director/actor Taika Watiti is on full display for this outing, in what has to be one of the funniest and most creative movies I have ever seen.

Jojo Rabbit is the story of a young boy named Jojo, who is growing up in Nazi Germany. His imaginary friend and companion is none other than Adolf Hitler, portrayed by Watiti himself. Jojo soon finds out that his mother, who is portrayed by Scarlett Johansson, is harbouring a Jew in their own household.

I don't even know where to begin with this movie. The story told in Jojo Rabbit is such a creative one in so many ways. Managing to keep a story about a young boy indoctrinated by the Nazis and infaturated with Adolf Hitler light-hearted is a monumental task to say the least, and without a shred of doubt in my mind, Watiti pulls it off with flying colours. Jojo Rabbit offers a surprisingly deep story with gobs of dramatic depth to go along with the hillariousness of it all.

On top of this, Jojo Rabbit is bolstered by fantastic performances all-around, especially from Johansson and Watiti. Child actors are usually hit-or-miss, but Roman Griffin Davis never feels out of place and plays the part of Jojo wonderfully.

Jojo Rabbit is a must watch if it's playing in a theatre near you.

1. Joker
DC finally got it right.

One of the more controversial releases of the year, Joker isn't really a comic book movie at all. Joker is the character study of a man named Arthur Fleck, and his descent into madness.

Director Todd Phillips boldly demonstrates to the entire world with this outing that he is ready to take on projects with deep dramatic depth, after making his name with The Hangover trilogy. Joaquin Phoenix absolutely marvels in a performance that, in my opinion, at the very least should net him a Best Actor nomination at the Academy Awards. Phoenix's performance is so good, I would argue almost no other actor could have pulled this role off with the depth and excellence that Phoenix does.

Right off the bat, this portrayal of Joker has been compared to the famously outstanding performance of the character by Heath Ledger, although I think it is a mistake to compare the two. Ledger's Joker and Phoenix's Joker aren't the same character, despite sharing a namesake.

This movie isn't even really about the Joker character, and is instead an engrossing character study that takes a look into how someone like the Joker goes insane, and it is executed brilliantly.

Like everything else in this blog, Joker is a must-see if you haven't already.

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