John's Worst of 2019

We will, over the next 48 hours, be having three separate posts sort of recapping 2019, as we turn our attention toward the end of the year.  However, before we get to the best, we must encounter the worst.  I generally liked 2019, and as someone who runs this blog for myself (I don't have an editor other than me), I can avoid movies that look truly egregious.  However, I didn't avoid every mistake this year, and the below five were definitely cinematic memories I'm hoping will erase soon (listed alphabetically)

Ford vs. Ferrari (dir. James Mangold)

The worst script of the year.  Impressive-looking car chases and sound design cannot make up for the fact that this is a tired ode to toxic masculinity, with listless leads & a plot overflowing with hackneyed cliche.  Josh Lucas is just excruciatingly bad.

Luce (dir. Julius Onah)

The year's ugliest, most problematic movie.  Not even talents like Octavia Spencer & Naomi Watts can rescue this convoluted plot, that somehow finds time to ensure that a woman lies about sexual assault & has us challenge our assumptions about a black man...but also end up having him ruin an innocent woman's life.  Messy & gross.

Men in Black International (dir. F. Gary Gray)

Of all of this year's uninspired sequels/reinventions, this stands out as the worst.  Tired, boring, and with terrible chemistry between the two leads, the film relies on your memories of the original cast without actually bringing back Will Smith & Tommy Lee Jones-hopefully this franchise retires so we can still remember why the first movie was fun.

Red Joan (dir. Trevor Nunn)

It takes a lot of work to take a fascinating story and a world-class actress & make them both dull as dirt, but that's what Trevor Nunn does with Red Joan.  Judi Dench has never been so misused (and yes, I saw Cats) as she is here, doddering around as a former Communist, but also one without enough screen time to keep the movie from being listless.

Richard Jewell (dir. Clint Eastwood)

 The only people giving Lucas a run for his money in terms of worst of the year are Olivia Wilde & Jon Hamm in Richard Jewell, a sloppy movie that borders on anti-government/media propaganda by the end of the picture.  Clint will always have made Unforgiven, but how many more sloggish late-life pictures can he make before he's forever tarnished his reputation?