True That: My Top Ten Favorite Films Of 2019

Well, 2019 was a thing that happened. There was a lot of crap going on in my life this year and the world in general. But who wants to talk about that? Not me, there's enough depressing shit out there these days. Thankfully, there was a metric ton of good movies to take my mind off all that. So, let's get to it.

Honorable Mentions:

Steel Frontier (1995)- Mad Max mixed with a Spaghetti Western flick. Going in I wasn't expecting much. Then the PM Entertainment logo came up and my spirits lifted. Then I saw Kane Hodder, Brion James and Bo Svenson names come up in the cast and knew I was in for quite a treat. Has all the crazy action and insane stunts you could expect from a PM film. It's nice to know bad hair and mom jeans survived the end of the world.

Deadly Impact (1984)- An ‘80’s buddy cop action film by way of Italy. The story involves a hacker and his hot girlfriend?! Is that possible? Giovanni Lombardo Radice as one of the worst crooks ever who cosplays the Ninth Doctor. There’s a crazy chase scene with whimsical music as innocent motorists get into horrible accidents and are never seen again. Not even a shot of them comically stumbling out of their wrecked cars.This a fun, insane action flick.

Chamber of Horrors (1940)- A sharp little thriller from the UK. There's some fun characters and amusing dialogue in this one. Lilli Palmer plays a engaging plucky heroine who gets drawn into a odd murder mystery.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne (1981)- This was one weird and saucy flick. Black humor, art house shenanigans and sex abound. Since it's directed by Walerian Borowczyk, that really comes as no surprise. Besides the sexy antics there's rape and child murder, so it's not all fun and games. Weird, haunting, shocking and beautiful.

Death Nurse 2 (1988)- Death Nurse 2! Yes Virginia, there's a second one.Will there be more reused footage from Crazy Fat Ethel? Will the actors who died in the first come back as different characters? Will ice cream be served? Basically, yes to all three.

10) Deadliest Prey (2013)- A sequel/soft reboot of Deadly Prey. With a lot of the same beats. It manages to rehash the first film and remain just as insanely crazy as that one. It's got it all. Wooden acting, cheesy special effects, ridiculous campy action, and "hip" hackers that sound as if they were written by a 50 year old man. So much shooting and killing in this.

9) Mutant Hunt (1987)- I've really enjoyed the films of Tim Kincaid. Breeders. Bad Girls Dormitory and Riot on 42nd Street. Mutant Hunt is another winner in Kincaid's filmography. Basically Blade Runner  meets Terminator with no budget and lots more sleaze. A mad scientist gets his army of Dave Gahan cyborgs high on some kind of crazy future drug, sending them into an all out kill frenzy. And only the merc with the coolest name ever (Matt Riker!) can stop them.

8) Dancin': It's On! (2015)- I have the Cinema Snob to thank for turning me on to this one. It's by David Winters of West Side Story. And David A. Prior of Deadly Prey! Featuring freaking Gary Daniels. Plus some truly bad voice over work. The Room of dance flicks? Possibly. An amazing viewing experience.

7) The Big Clock (1948)- This was a hidden gem. A taut Hitchcock styled Noir. Featuring top notch performances from Ray Milland and Charles Laughton. There's a complicated plot, but it never gets bogged down. The movie moves at a brisk pace. Milland plays the troubled everyman to perfection. It was nice seeing  Elsa Lanchester here in a small, amusing role.

6) Phantom Lady (1944)- 2019 was a great year for discovering Noir gems. This is a low budget treat made during WWII. Director Robert Siodmak does a fabulous job here. With some truly beautiful shots. His use of light, shadows and music truly elevate this one above of it's B-movie status. 

5) The Conjuring 2 (2016)- This one hooked me on Conjuring universe dammit! So, much so I had to check out The Nun, which was just okay, but looked great. Anyway, growing up I was into paranormal stuff and read some books about Ed and Lorraine Warren. For me, their what make both of these movies. Their relationship and how they come to the aide of the family's oppressed by demonic forces. That what I feel The Nun was lacking. I'm on board for part three.

4) Roar (1981)- Roar! Holy crap! What a intense and crazy flick. The only thing that comes close is the Italian film Wild beasts. Imagine Night of The Living Dead with real zombies. That's basically Roar, but with people trapped by lions. Untrained lions that actually attack the cast and crew.

3) Shin Godzilla (2016)- What's worse? A destructive monster God incarnate or the politics hampering anybody from dealing with it? That's basically what Shin Godzilla is about. This is not your classic Godzilla. After spending some time watching every live action Godzilla film in 2019, I can say this was a refreshing change of pace.

2) Something Weird (1967)- Imagine if David Lynch dropped acid and time traveled back to the ‘60’s, met Ed Wood and decided to film a stage play about ESP, LSD and witchcraft. And threw in some Judo for good measure. You'd end up with this oddball masterpiece. People throw around "Has to be seen to be believed" a lot. But in this case, it's so freaking true.

1) A Night to Remember (1958)- This is "The" Titanic movie. Considering this was made when it was, how they not only manged to tell a multi-character tale of the sinking and made it look so amazing is staggering. I love the cutting back and forth between various characters. No tacked on romance here. There's an obvious sense of dread as you watch the inevitable come to pass. And see how this group of people rise to the occasion or fail miserably. Over two hours and I never felt it's run time. I was sucked in from the start and was disappointed when it ended. Not only that, but it stayed with me long after ending.   

2019 Films I watched-

Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019) Quentin Tarantino's epic tribute to 60's cinema.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)- An overstuffed, colorful monster romp. 
Haunting Inside (2019)- Solid low budget horror tale.
Devil's Revenge (2019)- Captain Kirk and Seven of Nine vs. demons.
Critters Attack! (2019)- Fun return of the Critters with a Stranger Things vibe.

More Honorable Mentions-

Rampage (2018)
Baby Driver (2017)
A Prayer for the Dying (1987)
Sleepless (2017)
Krampus (2015)
Running Scared (2006)
One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
The Fifth Cord (1971)
The Possessed (1965)
Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Wonder Woman (2017)
The Accountant (2016)
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)
The Legend of Tarzan (2016)
Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018)
Wind River (2017)
Monster House (2006)
Pink Angels (1971)
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)
Lucy (2014)
Venom (2018)
A Pistol for Ringo (1965)