Staff Picks: Movie of the Year
As the year draws to a close, we turn to our faithful Geekade staff to tell us what they consider to be the ultimate winners (and losers) of the past 12 months. Join us as we look at 2019 with a critical eye, and please chime in with your own thoughts on a variety of categories.
Today, we ask the team…
What do you think was the best movie of the year?
Matt Raimo (WaveBack): Joker, hands down.
Dave Marconi (You Shall Not Pass Go): Avengers: Endgame, and anyone that says different is a liar or Martin Scorsese. It was everything we needed it to be and more. It delivered fan service while maintaining integrity for the series, something that three movies can barely do, let alone over 20.
Karen Randazzo (This Week’s Episode, The Think Tank): I saw more movies from this year than I thought I had, but still fewer than I wanted to. Shazam, Late Night, Captain Marvel, and Downton Abbey: The Movie were all fantastic, but for me, the only answer is Avengers: Endgame. Just so satisfying and worth every second of the long wait from the end of Infinity War. (Caveat: our deadline for this piece was before the release of Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker, so please don’t yell at me that I didn’t pick that.)
Dean DeFalco (Vest Lord, General Administrator): It: Chapter Two, hands down. [Avengers] End Game has got nothing on murder clown.
Alex Watley (Watts on Wrestling): It might be considered treason to not say Avengers: Endgame here, and honestly, that was my movie of the year until a month ago… But I have to go with JoJo Rabbit. Well written, great actors, hilarious, and it hits you right in the feels. Plus, anything that insults Hitler and makes fun of Nazis is already good in my book.
Brenda Cierech (Tardy to the Party, 31 Days of Horror): I didn’t have a chance to see many movies that came out this year, but of those I did manage to watch, I thought Us was the best. It was far from perfect, left audiences with a lot of unanswered questions, a bunch of stuff that didn’t make sense, and the kind of trickery that I absolutely loathe, but am unable to describe without spoilers. That said, when it was good, it was great. And it doesn’t hurt that I’m a sucker for doppelgänger stories. Of course, there’s also the final showdown between Adelaide and Red, which was absolute perfection. The music, the choreography, the acting, the editing—everything about it was magnificent.
Billy Ludt (Select Your Starter): Parasite.
Amy Ebeling (Editor-in-Chief): Her Smell with Elizabeth Moss. Anything that may or may not vaguely resemble Courtney Love, I’m all about.
Kris Randazzo (Stone Age Gamer, This Week’s Episode, WaveBack): Whoo boy. Best? That’s a tough one. I don’t get out to the movies much these days (darn kids!) but the few I’ve managed to see have been pretty killer. Captain Marvel, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and of course, Avengers: Endgame were amazing and fun. I had a ball bringing my kids to their first movies (Detective Pikachu for John and Frozen II for Ellie) and both of those were entertaining (especially Frozen II). So where does that leave me? Rise of Skywalker. It isn’t out yet, and I naturally haven’t seen it, but there’s no question that’s going to be my “best” movie of the year regardless of its actual quality. My internal build up for it has been just the purest of insanity, and if there’s one thing in this world that can top superhero movies for me, it’s Star Wars. So yeah, that’s my answer. I hope I’m right.