You Could Be a Font: 19 from 2019

Another year, another couple homewrecked, another layer of calcification, another foot away in ironic distance, I mean, another foot into my obsession with Stephen Sondheim’s Company. But you knew that! I don’t think I could wrap-up 2019 better than this piece about alienation, displacement, Sondheim in pop culture, and why “Being Alive” haunts us, with thanks to my wonderful Paste editor Dom Sinacola. (Don’t worry, I’m not completely devoid of self-awareness when it comes to my Company content. At this point, it’s sort of a bit. But! I did write/finish my Company screenplay, which I had been talking about doing for five or so years. So, I’m very proud of that.) 

(An aside about the title of the post: I know it comes from a not not creepy guy in Hustlers, but I think being compared to a font is just so delightful. I love fonts!)

Anyways, I could drive a person crazy; until then, here are my favorites from 2019:

The List

19) Knives Out / Uncut Gems // Directed by Rian Johnson/The Safdie Brothers

18) High Life / The Grand Bizarre // Directed by Claire Denis/Jodie Mack

17) Late Night // Directed Nisha Ganatra rd Linklater

16) Marriage Story / Where’d You Go, Bernadette // Directed by Noah Baumbach/Richard Linklater

15) The Nightingale // Directed by Jennifer Kent 

14) Greta / The Lighthouse / The Good Liar // Directed by Neil Jordan/Robert Eggers/Bill Condon

13) Parasite / Greener Grass / Ready or Not // Directed by Bong Joon-ho/Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe/Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett

12) Child’s Play / In Fabric // Directed by Lars Klevberg/Peter Strickland

11) One Child Nation // Directed by Nanfu Wang and Lynn Zhang

10) So Pretty / Chained for Life // Directed by Jessie Jeffrey Dunn Rovinelli/Arron Schimberg

9) Under the Silver Lake / Jawline // Directed by David Robert Mitchell/Liza Mandelup

8) American Factory / Dark Waters // Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert/Todd Haynes

7) Little Women / Portrait of a Lady on Fire / Wild Nights with Emily // Directed by Greta Gerwig/Céline Sciamma/Madeleine Olnek

6) Synonyms / Diamantino // Directed by Nadav Lapid/Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt

5) A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood / Sorry Angel // Directed by Marielle Heller/Christophe Honoré

4) Honey Boy / The Goldfinch / Gemini Man // Directed by Alma Har’el/John Crowley/Ang Lee

3) The Beach Bum / Hustlers // Directed by Harmony Korine/Lorene Scafaria

2) The Farewell // Directed by Lulu Wang

1) Knife + Heart // Directed by Yann Gonzalez

 

Everything else kind of ranked can be found on my Letterboxd.