At the bottom of this piece, you’ll find my (current) ranking of every movie I saw this year. Thanks for indulging me!

The Farewell

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found myself more and more affected by stories that touch on family, death, and the passing of time. I’m very lucky (in a way), as I’ve experienced very little loss throughout my life- But I know that when that day comes, it will hit me like a truck. Seeing The Farewell was the closest I’ve ever been to experiencing that feeling, and as such I’ve felt more grateful and thankful than ever before.

The Farewell is a film based on a short autobiographical story that director Lulu Wang wrote for This American Life in 2016. When her grandmother is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, Wang’s family elects to keep her from discovering the results- The Chinese believe that a person’s physical health is linked to their mental and emotional health, and such disastrous news would no doubt prevent their grandmother from fighting off the cancer. Instead, the family plans a wedding as an excuse to have everyone fly back to China and visit their grandmother one last time.

This brilliant backdrop sets the stage for an emotional journey about clashing cultures, family values, and moral quandaries- not to mention loss and love. If any of these subjects interest you, I can’t recommend this film enough (as long as you’ve got an ample supply of tissues at the ready).

The Farewell is available to stream via Amazon Prime, to rent online, or from your local Redbox.

Booksmart

Growing up, I missed the boat on most all of the big Judd Apatow coming-of-age comedies of the time. I found myself watching Full Metal Jacket in friends’ basements more often than Step Brothers- which, still, was undoubtedly mentally scarring in completely different ways. I’ve only recently been snaking my way through the Hangovers and Anchormans of the last couple decades, and I pretty much always finish these movies feeling disappointed- “If I was just a little younger, or a little more dumb, I probably would have loved this.”

Enter Booksmart, a movie that feels more modern, relatable, and certainly hilarious than anything similar I’ve seen over the past few years. The main characters, two high school seniors on the cusp of graduation, suddenly realize that they’ve been wasting their adolescence studying to get into good schools, while all their peers have been partying and also getting into good schools. The pair vow to spend one night out before they graduate, chasing after what they’ve always wanted so they can prove to everyone else just how cool and fun they are.

I don’t want to draw easy comparisons to a movie like Superbad (even if the stars of both movies are siblings! In real life!)- This movie is more than just a “woke” or “all female” version of one of those comedies. But, if that’s what gets you to go see it, then sure, it’s like if Superbad came out in 2019. Pontificating about what makes a comedy is a waste of time anyway- If you like this premise, check out this movie; It’s totally worth the time. (And, hey, if you still aren’t sold, you can watch the first six minutes on YouTube yourself).

Booksmart is available to stream on Hulu, to rent online,or from your local Redbox.

Pain and Glory

What do you know about Antonio Banderas? The first thing I probably ever saw him in was Spy Kids, as the family’s father, “Gregorio Cortez.” Ask anyone else and they probably also know him as Zorro, right? Or maybe Puss in Boots from Shrek 2? His voice is undoubtedly iconic- The way he speaks sounds like honey, or maybe molasses, poured straight into your ears. But what else do you know about him?

It turns out that back in the ’80s, at the beginning of his career, he made a lot of movies with a guy by the name of Pedro Almodóvar. These movies were really radical considering when and where they were created- At the time, Spain was encountering a counterculture movement, “La Movida Madrileña” (or “The Madrid Scene”), thanks to the fall of Francisco Franco’s dictatorial reign. Love, gender, and sexuality were an important part of all these projects, and the pair worked to help bring each of these films to life, before Banderas left to work in Hollywood.

You don’t need to know any of this to really appreciate Pain and Glory- In case it isn’t clear, I’ve never seen any of Almodóvar’s other films, and I’m not terribly familiar with the majority of Banderas’s past work. But I realized that all of the corny, over-the-top performances I have seen from him are all just a small part of his wide-ranging career- He has this whole other Spanish life full of groundbreaking performances that I’ve never even considered. So I hope you’ll believe me when I say that Antonio Banderas absolutely crushes it with his performance in this movie.

Apart from a collaboration in 2011, Pain and Glory marks the first time he and Almodóvar have worked together for nearly thirty years- and the film’s story reflect this. Banderas portrays a film director who, while reflecting on his declining life and career, decides to rekindle his working relationship with the actor that starred in his most significant movie. In doing so, he’s forced to reconcile with his past; Viewers are whisked through various reflections upon motherhood, substance abuse, love, resentment, regret- All culminating in an incredibly powerful story about everything life has to offer. This movie blew me away. If any of this interests you, I highly recommend checking out this film.

Pain and Glory is currently available to rent online.

Parasite

Okay, if you don’t end up watching any of the other films I’ve spoken about here, please go see this one. I really don’t blame you if you’ve skimmed through all the movies I just listed and thought to yourself, “Meh, I dunno if any of these work for me.” I totally get it. Go watch this movie instead. It’s a thriller, so I don’t want to jump too deep into specifics, but let me try and give you the basics:

The Kims are a very poor family, constantly struggling to make ends meet. Their son, Ki-taek, meets up with an old friend, Min-hyuk, who asks him to take over his job as an English tutor while he starts his first semester at college. Even though Ki-taek only has a cursory understanding of English, Min-hyuck insists on his help- He’s really into the girl he’s been teaching, and wants to have someone he can trust as her tutor, until she graduates from school. “Just fake it,” Min-hyuck says; “This family is so gullible.”

From that point on, I was hooked. And throughout the rest of the movie, I’m on the edge of my seat- Because, as is the case with every thriller, there’s so much more going on. The movie surprised me at every turn, and as the plot continues unfolding, I found myself more and more aghast. Everything about it is fantastic- The writing, the pacing, the tension, the acting, the visuals. Without a doubt the most unique film I’ve seen all year. I just can’t wait to tell you all about it! But first, you have to see it.

Parasite is available to stream on Hulu, or to rent online.

Honorable Mentions

I saw a lot of other great movies this year that are all pretty well known, so I don’t have much to say about them. Nonetheless, I still want to give them the stamp of approval, so here’s some additional favorites from the year that I recommend:

• A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: More insightful than I expected it to be- Certainly about much more than “just” Mr. Rogers. You can rent it online or from Redbox.
• Doctor Sleep: A sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name. Way, way better than it had any reason to be. It’s available to rent online or from Redbox.
• Knives Out: Fantastic, original, modern “whodunnit” with an all-star cast. Brilliantly executed. You can find it to rent online, or at Redbox.
• Apollo 11: Just a straight-up fantastic documentary about the moon landing, using only never-before-seen footage from NASA themselves. It’s on Hulu right now, but you can also rent it online or from Redbox.
• Jojo Rabbit: Hilarious farce about a member of the Hitler Youth growing up in Nazi Germany during the Third Reich’s impending doom. Very funny and very clever- It’s just a pity that most of the movie’s best jokes are in the trailer. If this concept interests you (and you trust my judgement!), check it out! You can rent it online or from Redbox.
• Marriage Story: Beautiful film about what makes love work- and what happens when it stops working. You can see it on Netflix.

2019 Movie Ranking

Here’s my ranking of every movie I’ve seen this year (so far!)- Thanks for putting up with me as I’ve talked all about them throughout the year! (And I hope you’re ready for more in 2020 and beyond)

1. Parasite
2. Pain & Glory
3. The Farewell
4. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
5. Marriage Story
6. Little Women
7. 1917
8. Avengers: Endgame
9. Doctor Sleep
10. Booksmart
11. Spider-Man: Far From Home
12. Apollo 11
13. Knives Out
14. Jojo Rabbit
15. Midsommar
16. Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood
17. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
18. Toy Story 4
19. Bombshell
20. Hustlers
21. Us
22. The Lighthouse
23. Zombieland: Double Tap
24. The Amazing Johnathan Documentary
25. Shazam!
26. Aladdin
27. Diego Maradona
28. Ford v Ferrari
29. Lucy in the Sky
30. Brittany Runs a Marathon
31. The Peanut Butter Falcon
32. Waves
33. American Factory
34. Joker
35. The Irishman
36. Honey Boy
37. Captain Marvel
38. High Flying Bird
39. Rocketman
40. Pokémon Detective Pikachu
41. Gemini Man
42. Always Be My Maybe
43. Little Woods
44. HΘMΣCΘMING
45. Where’d You Go, Bernadette?
46. Blinded by the Light
47. Frozen II
48. The Nightingale
49. Ad Astra
50. Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened
51. Late Night
52. Knock Down the House
53. Someone Great
54. The Laundromat
55. Judy
56. Midway
57. John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum
58. Richard Jewell
59. High Life
60. The Dead Don’t Die
61. Cats
62. Charlie’s Angels
63. Stuber
64. The Lion King
65. Men in Black International
66. Tall Girl

Though I’ve played video games all my life, some of my most formative gaming memories center around playing on PC nearly a decade ago. Team Fortress 2 connected me, not only to a community of players, but also a community of custom content creators, who expanded upon the base gameplay of the title in ludicrous ways. The Humble Indie Bundle provided me with unique, original, independent video games created by inexperienced developers with (sometimes) great ideas. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the PC Gaming Wiki, which dedicated itself to fixing neglected PC games and have them perform at their best. These experiences formed the friendships I have today, and the interests I continue harbor throughout my everyday life.

It’s clear that the internet has influenced every facet of our lives, and video games are no exception. Thanks to the web, anyone can create, modify, repair or preserve games. Community involvement has been essential to the success, or even just the existence, of a myriad of video game franchises.

Earlier this week, Google revealed the results of their Project Stream beta, which completely upends the way we view video games today. Rather than purchasing hardware (be it console or PC) to play games, all one needs to use Google’s Stadia is a wi-fi enabled gamepad. Thanks to the speed of the internet, and the impressive ingenuity of Google’s engineers, games can instead be rendered within Google’s massively powerful data center, with the video feed displayed on the internet-connected display of your choice.

Stadia provides the games industry some major benefits, alongside major concerns for what the future holds. For example, today’s console manufacturers (Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft) all sell their hardware at a loss- The profit for these companies instead comes from video games, multiplayer subscriptions, and digital purchases. The possibility of eschewing this altogether is, understandably, an extremely enticing endeavor. Plus, the concept of leaning on the resources of a data center versus a cheap home console allows the scope of games to expand exponentially, with little overhead required from developers. Additionally, publishers can say goodbye to video game piracy as game data is locked behind Google’s servers, rather than discs or hard drives.

But it’s also clear that some of my fondest gaming experiences could evaporate entirely with Stadia’s impressive technology. Without access to game data, then community mods, game repairs, and preservation, are likely a thing of the past without express acceptance from developers and publishers. Games will change as services like Stadia become standard.

And that’s the key- It’s clear that services like Stadia are the future of gaming, for better or for worse. As internet speeds improve, latency shrinks, and gaming becomes more expensive, it’s only a matter of time before at-home hardware like PlayStations and gaming PCs become niche, boutique devices, while streaming becomes king. Stadia and its potential competitors have plenty of drawbacks that today’s hardcore gamers will wholly reject- For example, Stadia’s input latency stands staunchly opposed to everything competitive and eSports-related. [a] But as that gap inevitably closes, it’s hard not to see streaming services like Stadia as a clear win for publishers and developers- At which point customers will have no choice but to buy in.

Stadia won’t be the de facto standard in one, five, or even ten years- With Google’s recent track record, it’d be a surprise to see it last long at all. But Stadia shows us a glimpse of what the future holds, with or without a major player like Google — game streaming on today’s internet with Google’s hardware. Even if Stadia becomes another OnLive blip in gaming history, we can’t ignore how Sony, Nintendo, and Valve are all buying into game streaming with their own similar technology. If not Google, who will be next to take the reins? We can’t ignore what’s coming- Instead, we need to start accepting how games may change. Those fond memories of video games I harbored a decade ago are of the past; How will we help new players create equally fond memories as the medium transforms to something wholly different than we once knew?

[a] Latency is, in this case, the time it takes for input (say, a button press on a controller) to change what’s seen on-screen (say, a character jumping). Latency is extremely important to competitive games, where every millisecond matters when it comes to reaction time. Data can very quickly travel from a controller, to a console, then to a TV; With Stadia, data has to travel from a controller, to a wireless router, though the internet, then back across the internet, back to a TV, leading to worse latency. Longer latency times may be fine for some games, but can be a major wrinkle for eSports titles, since that time can be the difference between a win and a loss. Jump back.