These are the 2019 Endy Award Nominees, wherein I pretend to give out maneki-neko statues to the best movies, performances, etc of that year in film. Awards for many other years can be found in the Rankings & Awards Index. Eligibility is determined by imdb date and by whether or not I’ve seen the movie in question. The winners are highlighted in bold. And the Endy goes to. . .
Month: December 2019
Movies of the 2010s
1. Oki’s Movie (Hong Sangsoo, 2010)
2. The Midnight After (Fruit Chan, 2014)
3. Baahubali (SS Rajamouli, 2015/2017)
4. Ash is Purest White (Jia Zhangke, 2018)
5. Liz and the Blue Bird (Naoko Yamada, 2018)
6. Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2014)
7. Yourself & Yours (Hong Sangsoo, 2016)
8. The Assassin (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 2015)
9. Paterson (Jim Jarmusch, 2016)
10. The Grandmaster (Wong Kar-wai, 2013)
11. The Day He Arrives (Hong Sangsoo, 2011)
12. Amanda (Mikhaël Hers, 2018)
13. Romancing in Thin Air (Johnnie To, 2012)
14. Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons (Stephen Chow & Derek Kwok, 2013)
15. Meek’s Cutoff (Kelly Reichardt, 2010)
16. The Missing Picture (Rithy Panh, 2013)
17. Blackhat (Michael Mann, 2015)
18. Blind Detective (Johnnie To, 2013)
19. Claire’s Camera (Hong Sangsoo, 2017)
20. The Irishman (Martin Scorsese, 2019)
21. Blackkklansman (Spike Lee, 2018)
22. A Silent Voice (Naoko Yamada, 2016)
23. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (Isao Takahata, 2013)
24. The Grand Bizarre (Jodie Mack, 2018)
25. Asako I & II (Ryūsuke Hasmaguchi, 2018)
26. Don’t Go Breaking My Heart 2 (Johnnie To, 2014)
27. Let the Bullets Fly (Jiang Wen, 2010)
28. Arabian Nights (Miguel Gomes, 2015)
29. The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011)
30. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (Paul WS Anderson, 2016)
31. Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami, 2010)
32. Dawson City: Frozen Time (Bill Morrison, 2016)
33. Wolf Children (Mamoru Hosada, 2012)
34. Grass (Hong Sangsoo, 2018)
35. A Touch of Sin (Jia Zhangke, 2013)
36. Bad Genius (Nattawut Poonpiriya, 2017)
37. Support the Girls (Andrew Bujalski, 2018)
38. Little Women (Greta Gerwig, 2019
39. The Wind Rises (Hayao Miyazaki, 2013)
40. Shin Godzilla (Hideaki Anno, 2016)
41. Dusty Stacks of Mom (Jodie Mack, 2013)
42. Mother! (Darren Aronofsky, 2017)
43. La última película (Raya Martin & Mark Peranson, 2013)
44. Fourteen (Dan Sallitt, 2019)
45. 120 Beats per Minute (Robin Campillo, 2017)
46. Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller, 2015)
47. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2010)
48. Night is Short, Walk on Girl (Masaaki Yuasa, 2017)
49. SPL 2: A Time for Consequences (Soi Cheang, 2015)
50. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
51. Hill of Freedom (Hong Sangsoo, 2014)
52. Mountains May Depart (Jia Zhangke, 2015)
53. Hanagatami (Nobuhiko Obayashi, 2017)
54. Cemetery of Splendour (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2015)
55. Love in a Puff (Pang Ho-cheung, 2010)
56. Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade, 2016)
57. Journey to the West (Tsai Ming-liang, 2014)
58. The Last Jedi (Rian Johnson, 2017)
59. Drug War (Johnnie To, 2012)
60. Like Someone in Love (Abbas Kiarostami, 2012)
61. The Other Side of the Wind (Orson Welles, 2018)
62. Happy Hour (Ryūsuke Hamaguchi, 2015)
63. Our Time Will Come (Ann Hui, 2017)
64. Lincoln (Steven Spielberg, 2012)
65. First Love (Takashi Miike, 2019)
66. Romance Joe (Lee Kwangkuk, 2011)
67. Girl Walk//All Day (Jacob Krupnick, 2011)
68. Lynch: A History (David Shields, 2019)
69. Long Day’s Journey Into Night (Bi Gan, 2018)
70. National Gallery (Frederick Wiseman, 2014)
71. Your Name. (Makoto Shinkai, 2016)
72. The Royal Road (Jenni Olson, 2015)
73. Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011)
74. Love & Friendship (Whit Stillman, 2016)
75. A Home with a View (Herman Yau, 2019)
76. The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies, 2011)
77. Hypernormalization (Adam Curtis, 2016)
78. On the Beach at Night Alone (Hong Sangsoo, 2017)
79. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)
80. Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)
81. Phoenix (Christian Petzold, 2014)
82. Mistress America (Noah Baumbach, 2015)
83. Stray Dogs (Tsai Ming-liang, 2013)
84. The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese, 2013)
85. Resident Evil: Retribution (Paul WS Anderson, 2012)
86. List (Hong Sangsoo, 2011)
87. K-On! The Movie (Naoko Yamada, 2011)
88. Transit (Christian Petzold, 2018)
89. Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (Johnnie To, 2011)
90. If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins, 2018)
91. Damsels in Distress (Whit Stillman, 2011)
92. Crosscurrent (Yang Chao, 2016)
93. Carlos (Olivier Assayas, 2010)
94. Jauja (Lisandro Alonso, 2014)
95. Kaili Blues (Bi Gan, 2015)
96. Maison du bonheur (Sofia Bohdanowicz, 2017)
97. Bacurau (Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2019)
98. Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
99. The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
100. Ace Attorney (Takashi Miike, 2012)
101. Aquarius (Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2016)
102. 24 Frames (Abbas Kiarostami, 2017)
103. A Quiet Passion (Terence Davies, 2016)
104. Mekong Hotel (Apichatpoing Weerasethakul, 2012)
105. The Forbidden Room (Guy Maddin & Evan Johnson, 2015)
106. Pitch Perfect (Jason Moore, 2012)
107. Our Sunhi (Hong Sangsoo, 2013)
108. The Crossing Part One (John Woo, 2014)
109. Things to Come (Mia Hansen-Love, 2016)
110. Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse (Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey & Rodney Rothman, 2018)
111. Rogue One (Gareth Edwards, 2016)
112. By the Time It Gets Dark (Anocha Suwichakornpong, 2016)
113. A Matter of Interpretation (Lee Kwangkuk, 2014)
114. Little Forest (Yim Soonrye, 2018)
115. Silence (Martin Scorsese, 2016)
116. Cold War (Paweł Pawlikowski, 2018)
117. Marriage Story (Noah Baumbach, 2019)
118. A Hidden Life (Terrence Malick, 2019)
119. Camera falls from airplane and lands in pig pen—MUST WATCH END!! (Mia Munselle, 2014)
120. No. 1 Chung Ying Street (Derek Chiu, 2018)
121. Legend of the Demon Cat (Chen Kaige, 2017)
122. Three (Johnnie To, 2016)
123. The Hedonists (Jia Zhangke, 2016)
124. The Case of Hana and Alice (Shunji Iwai, 2015)
125. Pompeii (Paul WS Anderson, 2014)
126. Sunset Song (Terence Davies, 2015)
127. The Dead Don’t Die (Jim Jarmusch, 2019)
128. Wuxia (Peter Chan, 2011)
129. Ex Libris: New York Public Library (Frederick Wiseman, 2017)
130. Murmur of the Hearts (Sylvia Chang, 2015)
131. In Another Country (Hong Sangsoo, 2012)
132. The Three Musketeers (Paul WS Anderson, 2011)
133. Nobody’s Daughter Haewon (Hong Sangsoo, 2013)
134. Hit 2 Pass (Kurt Walker, 2014)
135. In this Corner of the World (Sunao Katabuchi, 2016)
136. The Age of Shadows (Kim Jiwon, 2016)
137. Angels Wear White (Vivian Qu, 2017)
138. 77 Heartbreaks (Herman Yau, 2017)
139. John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection (Julien Faraut, 2018)
140. Non-Fiction (Olivier Assayas, 2018)
141. Night Across the Street (Raúl Ruiz, 2012)
142. Unstoppable (Tony Scott, 2010)
143. World of Tomorrow (Don Hertzfeldt, 2015)
144. Highway (Imtiaz Ali, 2014)
145. Uncut Gems (Josh & Benny Safdie, 2019)
146. MS Slavic 7 (Sofia Bohdanowicz & Deragh Campbell, 2019)
147. Shirkers (Sandi Tan, 2018)
148. Bisbee ’17 (Robert Greene, 2018)
149. Pumpkin Movie (Sophy Romvari, 2017)
150. Downsizing (Alexander Payne, 2017)
151. Train to Busan (Yeon Sangho, 2016)
152. Hit the Night (Jeong Ga-young, 2017)
153. Peterloo (Mike Leigh, 2018)
154. Soulmate (Derek Tsang, 2016)
155. Moonlight (Barry Jenkins, 2016)
156. The Coffin in the Mountain (Xin Yukun, 2014)
157. Mysteries of Lisbon (Raúl Ruiz, 2010)
158. Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charle Brown (Frank Molieri & Andy Beall, 2011)
159. The Lighthouse (Robert Eggers, 2019)
160. Thomas Mao (Zhu Web, 2010)
161. Parasite (Bong Joonho, 2019)
162. The Last Poems Trilogy (Sofia Bohdanowicz, 2016)
163. I Am Not Your Negro (Raoul Peck, 2016)
164. A Bride for Rip Van Winkle (Shunji Iwai, 2016)
165. Bad Black (Nabwanna IGG, 2016)
166. Chasing Dream (Johnnie To, 2019)
167. 1987: When the Day Comes (Jang Joonhwan, 2017)
168. Tremble All You Want (Akiko Ohku, 2017)
169. The Village of No Return (Chen Yu-hsun, 2017)
170. Rolling Thunder Revue (Martin Scorsese, 2019)
171. Jupiter Ascending (Lana & Lilly Wachowski, 2015)
172. The New King of Comedy (Stephen Chow, 2019)
173. Yellowing (Chan Tze-woon, 2016)
174. 607 (Liu Jiayin, 2010)
175. The Shallows (Jaume Collet-Serra, 2016)
176. To the Wonder (Terrence Malick, 2012)
177. What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire? (Roberto Minervini, 2018)
178. Dolemite is My Name (Craig Brewer, 2019)
179. Everybody Wants Some!!! (Richard Linklater, 2016)
180. Port of Call (Philip Yung, 2015)
181. Go Away Mr. Tumor (Han Yan, 2015)
182. Office (Johnnie To, 2015)
183. Obvious Child (Gillian Robespierre, 2014)
184. When Night Falls (Ying Liang, 2012)
185. Viola (Matias Piñeiro, 2012)
186. Noah (Darren Aronfosky, 2014)
187. Life without Principle (Johnnie To, 2011)
188. Hard To Say (Lee Kwangkuk, 2013)
189. Sully (Clint Eastwood, 2016)
190. Let Your Heart Be Light (Sophy Romvari, 2016)
191. Martin Eden (Pietro Marcello)
192. Faces Places (Agnès Varda & JR, 2017)
193. The Wasted Times (Er Cheng, 2016)
194. Love and Goodbye and Hawaii (Shingo Matsumura, 2017)
195. Last Letter (Shunji Iwai, 2018)
196. The Crossing (Bai Xue, 2018)
197. Horse Money (Pedro Costa, 2014)
198. Love Education (Sylvia Chang, 2017)
199. Hermia & Helena (Matías Piñeiro, 2016)
200. Hahaha (Hong Sangsoo, 2010)
201. The Mermaid (Stephen Chow, 2016)
202. Ex (Heiward Mak, 2011)
203. In Jackson Heights (Frederick Wiseman, 2015)
204. Jeux de plage (Aimi Natsuto, 2019)
205. 88:88 (Isiah Medina, 2015)
206. It’s Such a Beautiful Day (Don Hertzfeldt, 2012)
207. Four Ways to Die in My Hometown (Chai Chunya, 2013)
208. Deadwood: the Movie (Daniel Minahan, 2019)
209. At Berkeley (Frederick Wiseman, 2013)
210. The Florida Project (Sean Baker, 2017)
211. Memories Look at Me (Song Fang 2012)
212. Elle (Paul Verhoeven, 2016)
213. Gallants (Derek Kwok & Clement Cheng, 2010)
214. Carol (Todd Haynes, 2015)
215. Knight of Cups (Terrence Malick, 2015)
216. Weathering with You (Makoto Shinkai, 2019)
217. Gone with the Bullets (Jiang Wen, 2014)
218. Tokyo Tribe (Sion Sono, 2014)
219. Sixty Six (Lewis Klahr, 2015)
220. Before We Vanish (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2017)
Books of 2019
Here is a ranked list of the books which I finished reading in 2019:
1. The Power Broker, Robert Caro
2. An Elemental Thing, Eliot Weinberger
3. My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Otessa Moshfegh
4. Lust, Caution, Eileen Chang
5. Red Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson
6. Dubliners, James Joyce
7. Nineteen Ways of Looking at Wang Wei, Eliot Weinberger
8. Saga of the Swamp Thing, Book Two, Alan Moore
9. Murder on the Orient Express, Agatha Christie
10. We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson
11. The Far Side of the World, Patrick O’Brian
12. Pieces of the Frame, John McPhee
13. Murder at the Vicarage, Agatha Christie
14. Marvels, Kurt Busiek
15. Karmic Traces, Eliot Weinberger
16. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Muriel Spark
17. A Field Guide to Getting Lost, Rebecca Solnit
18. Astro City, Vol 1, Kurt Busiek
19. Tender Buttons, Gertrude Stein
20. Peril at End House, Agatha Christie
21. Trick Mirror, Jia Tolentino
22. The Abundance, Annie Dillard
23. Twilight of the Gods, Stephen Hyden
24. The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller
25. Oranges & Peanuts for Sale, Eliot Weinberger
26. Fables Vol 1, Bill Willingham
27. Marvel Comics: The Untold Story, Sean Howe
28. Dreyer’s English, Benjamin Dreyer
29. Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud
30. A World to Win: the Life and Work of Karl Marx, Sven-Eric Liedman
31. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Alan Moore
32. How to Do Nothing, Jenny Odell
33. Treason’s Harbour, Patrick O’Brian
34. Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue, John McWhorter
35. Saga of the Swamp Thing, Book One, Alan Moore
36. Your Favorite Band is Killing Me, Stephen Hyden
37. The Ionian Mission, Patrick O’Brian
38. Dreaming the Beatles, Rob Sheffield
39. Working, Robert Caro
40. The Revolution was Televised, Alan Sepinwall
41. Fables, Vol 2, Bill Willingham
42. A Billion Voices, David Moser
43. The Reverse of the Medal, Patrick O’Brian
44. Lord Edgware Dies, Agatha Christie
45. Turn Around Bright Eyes, Rob Sheffield
46. The Letter of Marque, Patrick O’Brian
47. Reinventing Comics, Scott McCloud
48. Murder at Hazelmoor, Agatha Christie
49. Mystery of the Blue Train, Agatha Christie
50. The View from the Cheap Seats, Neil Gaiman
51. The Mother Tongue, Bill Bryson
52. Poirot Investigates, Agatha Christie
53. The Wicked + The Divine: Year One, Kieron Gillen
54. Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?, Agatha Christie
55. The Seven Dials Mystery, Agatha Christie
And these are the books I am currently in the middle of reading, ranked by how long I’ve been reading them:
1. Middlemarch, George Eliot
2. Against the Day, Thomas Pynchon
3. Fourth World Omnibus, Jack Kirby
4. Coming into the Country, John McPhee
5. The Path to Power, Robert Caro
6. A Distant Mirror, Barbara Tuchman
7. Ducks, Newburyport, Lucy Ellman
8. My Life in Middlemarch, Rebecca Mead
9. Heir to the Empire, Timothy Zahn
The Best Older Movies I Saw in 2019
An annual tradition here at The End, this is a look at my favorite film discoveries of the year, any movie more than a few years old that I saw for the first time in 2019. Previous years include: 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006. I watched just over 300 films this year, 76 of which qualified for this list, and these are 50 of my favorites.
1. Chan is Missing (Wayne Wang, 1982)
2. A Silent Voice (Naoko Yamada, 2016)
3. Street Angel (Yuan Muzhi, 1937)
4. Desperately Seeking Susan (Susan Seidelman, 1985)
5. The Story of Woo Viet (Ann Hui, 1981)
6. Made in Hong Kong (Fruit Chan, 1997)
7. Dusty Stacks of Mom (Jodie Mack, 2013)
8. From the Queen to the Chief Executive (Herman Yau, 2001)
9. War and Peace (Sergei Bondarchuk, 1966)
10. Suzhou River (Lou Ye, 2000)
11. Durian Durian (Fruit Chan, 2000)
12. From Beijing with Love (Stephen Chow & Lee Lik-chi, 1994)
13. My Name Ain’t Suzie (Angie Chen, 1985)
14. K-On! The Movie (Naoko Yamada, 2011)
15. Taxi Hunter (Herman Yau, 1993)
16. The Secret (Ann Hui, 1979)
17. The Case of Hana and Alice (Shunji Iwai, 2015)
18. Memories of Murder (Bong Joonho, 2003)
19. The Slumber Party Massacre (Amy Holden Jones, 1982)
20. Yellow Earth (Chen Kaige, 1984)
21. The Untold Story (Herman Yau, 1993)
22. Cry Me a River (Jia Zhangke, 2008)
23. The Horse Thief (Tian Zhuangzhuang, 1986)
24. Little Cheung (Fruit Chan, 1999)
25. Between the Lines (Joan Micklin Silver, 1977)
26. Romance of Book and Sword/Princess Fragrance (Ann Hui, 1987)
27. Red Sorghum (Zhang Yimou, 1987)
28. Buddha’s Palm (Taylor Wong, 1982)
29. The Illegal Immigrant (Mabel Cheung, 1985)
30. Starry is the Night (Ann Hui, 1988)
31. Bullet Ballet (Shinya Tsukamoto, 1998)
32. The Untold Story III (Herman Yau, 1999)
33. The Legend of the Stardust Brothers (Macoto Tezuka, 1985)
34. Useless (Jia Zhangke, 2007)
35. Springtime in a Small Town (Tian Zhuangzhuang, 2002)
36. The Spooky Bunch (Ann Hui, 1980)
37. The Twin Bracelets (Huang Yu-shan, 1991)
38. Slumber Party Massacre II (Deborah Brock, 1987)
39. Public Toilet (Fruit Chan, 2002)
40. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (Tommy Lee Wallace, 1982)
41. Long Live the Missus! (Sang Hu, 1947)
42. Woman Demon Human (Hunag Shuqin, 1987)
43. Sleepaway Camp (Robert Hiltzik, 1983)
44. Shaolin vs. Lama (Tso Nam-lee, 1983)
45. Puppy Love (So Jing-man, 1985)
46. Troublesome Night 3 (Herman Yau, 1998)
47. Dong (Jia Zhangke, 2006)
48. Maximum Risk (Ringo Lam, 1996)
49. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Joe & Anthony Russo, 2014)
50. Howard the Duck (Willard Huyck, 1986)
The End of Cinema 