C. Redmond’s Top Films of 2019

By Christopher Redmond

Mailed on January 03, 2020

Dear Readers,

Keeping track of everything I watch helps me understand why consume so much in the first place. Like many people, I’m often just looking for entertainment/escape/distraction. I also want to keep up with the cultural conversation, and be a reliable source of recommendations. But as someone who makes TV for a living, I’m also always looking for inspiration, references, and even cautionary examples. And 2019 had a whole lot to love and learn from.

In a nutshell: foreign films dominate the top of my list, indicating once again how strong the movies are that make the leap to North American theaters. And since there was so much good TV this year, I decided to rank shows based on their channel/service. HBO and Amazon Prime have the highest batting averages for greatness, while Netflix still manages to take a disproportionately high amount of actual shows watched.

Also, the best comedy of the year was a (French) Canadian film. It had to make the list.

Here’s a full breakdown, based on having seen 205 movies and 501 episodes of television this year:

Top 10 Films of 2019

  1. Jallikattu
  2. Parasite
  3. The Farewell
  4. The Cave
  5. Uncut Gems
  6. Jojo Rabbit
  7. Marriage Story
  8. The Mustang
  9. Menteur
  10. The Art of Self Defense

Better Than Necessary

Joker
Dragged Across Concrete
Hustlers

Inexplicably Underseen

Ad Astra
Queen and Slim
The Laundromat

Foreign But Not Forgotten

The Wolf’s Call
Climax
The Wandering Earth

Overrated By Everyone Else

Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
The Two Popes
Her Smell

Unapologetically Awesome

John Wick 3: Parabellum
6 Underground
Hobbs vs. Shaw

Satisfying Sequels

Toy Story 4
Avengers: End Game
Spider-Man: Far From Home

Didn’t Disappoint

Knives Out
Us
Midsommar

A Little Horror That Went a Long Way

Countdown
Ready or Not
The Perfection

Extra Special Indies

Wild Rose
The Last Black Man in San Francisco
Upgrade

Docs You Can’t Knock

One Child Nation
American Factory
Diego Maradona

Wasted My Time Watching

Serenity
Cold PursuitThe Dirt
Backdraft 2
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Cruise
Happy Death Day 2U
Through Black Spruce
The Kitchen

This Year I Finally Saw (and Loved)

All the King’s Men (1948)
The Right Stuff (1983)
The Natural (1984)
Major League (1989)
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
Dave (1993)

TV SERIES WATCHED IN 2019
Ranked per channel/service

Amazon Prime

  1. Fleabag (S2)
  2. Catastrophe (S4)
  3. Jack Ryan (S2)
  4. Undone
  5. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (S3)
  6. Modern Love

Apple TV+

  1. The Morning Show
  2. For All Mankind

Crave

  1. Broad City (S5)
  2. Homeland (S6)
  3. Billions (S4)
  4. Killing Eve (S2)
  5. The Launch (S2)

FX

  1. Better Things (S4)
  2. What We Do In the Shadows
  3. Baskets (S4)
  4. Fosse/Verdon

HBO

  1. Chernobyl
  2. Succession (S2)
  3. Barry (S2)
  4. Euphoria
  5. Watchmen
  6. Veep (S7)
  7. Game of Thrones (S8)
  8. Insecure (S3)
  9. Mrs. Fletcher
  10. The Righteous Gemstones
  11. Silicon Valley (S6)
  12. Black Monday
  13. Big Little Lies (S2)
  14. The Loudest Voice

Network TV (NBC/FOX)

  1. Songland
  2. The Masked Singer (S2)

Netflix

  1. Mindhunter (S2)
  2. Unbelievable
  3. Money Heist (S3)
  4. Delhi Crime
  5. After Life
  6. Top Boy
  7. The Society
  8. Stranger Things (S3)
  9. GLOW (S3)
  10. Dark (S2)
  11. The Movies That Made Us
  12. Russian Doll
  13. When They See Us
  14. Black Mirror (S5)
  15. Living with Yourself
  16. The Spy
  17. Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee (S6)
  18. Black Earth Rising
  19. Criminal: U.K.

YouTube

  1. Cobra Kai (S2)
  2. Gourmet Makes

Yours truly,

Christopher

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