MY LEAST FAVORITE FILMS OF 2019

They say you win some and you lose some. And that was certainly the case with some of the films I saw in 2019. Here is a list of a few films that did not manage to feel like winners to me:

"THE KITCHEN"

"The Kitchen" looked like it could have been an intriguing crime thriller due to the focus on the wives of an Irish-American mob. But this adaption of a graphic novel mini-series, with the film written and directed by Andrea Berloff, fails to generate a compelling or convincing narrative. After their husbands are arrested and sent to prison by the FBI, Kathy (Melissa McCarthy), Ruby (Tiffany Haddish) and Claire (Elizabeth Moss) are left to fend for themselves despite promises from the family they would be helped out. With few options, the women decide to create their own path in the family business. These talented actresses give it their all (including a standout performance by Margo Martindale as Ruby's racist mother-in-law) but they are unable to make this disjointed story work. This was definitely one of the big disappointments for me of 2019.

"DARK PHOENIX"

"Dark Phoenix" is an adaption of the "Dark Phoenix saga" from the X-Men comic book which became one of the popular story lines in the series from 1980. Simon Kinberg makes his directorial debut with this "conclusion" to the film series. And while he's had an extensive background with the cinematic versions of the mutant heroes, having written and produced "X-Men: Days of Future Past" and "X-Men: Apocalypse", you are left wondering what happened? In Mr. Kinberg's hands, "Dark Phoenix" is surprisingly listless and uninspired. During a mission by the X-Men to save astronauts stranded on a space shuttle damaged by a powerful solar blast, Jean Grey/Phoenix (a blank Sophie Turner) absorbs the full force of this energy in order to save her team's aircraft from destruction. But Jean survives with her psychic powers incredibly enhanced yet also becoming increasingly uncontrollable. Most of the cast returns from 2016's "Apocalypse" (including James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult and Jennifer Lawrence) along with the addition of Jessica Chastain as a shape-shifting alien who manipulates the troubled Phoenix. Yet none of them appear to be fully invested in this misguided endeavour. And despite a major re-shoot of the third act due to poor test screenings, "Dark Phoenix" remains a painfully average super-hero flick.

"THE DEAD DON'T DIE"

I am usually a big fan of the cinematic work by Jim Jarmusch with "Only Lovers Left Alive" and "Paterson" as recent faves. But the innovative writer/director's latest, "The Dead Don't Die" is an odd mixed-bag of horror and comedy that isn't particularly scary or funny. A small town becomes overrun by zombies and the small police force (recent Oscar-nominee, Adam Driver, in the least successful of the four films he appeared in last year, Bill Murray and Chloë Sevigny) must try to save the town before it's too late. Deadpan and leisurely paced, "The Dead Don't Die" never builds to anything remotely interesting or memorable with it's impressive eclectic cast (Danny Glover, Steve Buscemi, Selena Gomez, Iggy Pop, Tom Waits and Tilda Swinton) seeming to do nothing more than to pop up briefly to chat before moving on to another project.

"SERENITY"

"Serenity", a soggy mess of a noir thriller, was aiming to be sexy and mysterious yet only ends up being limp and confusing. A handsome fishing boat captain (Matthew McConaughey) is struggling to keep his business afloat. Enter his former wife (played by a lost Anne Hathaway), a cartoon femme fatale he hasn't seen in many years, arriving with an offer to bring an end to his financial woes. And it would only involve simply killing her wealthy, violent ogre of a husband (Jason Clarke) in exchange for a lot of cash. Sound perfectly reasonable, right? But then this standard-issue mystery drama makes a sharp left turn in to sci-fi territory. I must admit I have no idea what is going on in "Serenity" but I'm also certain that the film's writer/director, Steven Knight doesn't either.

"JOHN WICK 3"

When Keanu Reeves first appeared as John Wick, a former assassin forced to return to a life of organized murder after a trio of Russian gangsters steal his car and kill his puppy given to him by his late wife, this 2014 neo-noir revenge thriller was greeted with universal acclaim due to it's bold visual style, solid performances and breath-taking action sequences. I actually enjoyed "John Wick", finding it to be a well-paced and entertaining crime drama. This lead to "John Wick: Chapter 2", a more conventional follow-up which continued the story with Wick on the run after breaking a "blood oath" with an Italian crime boss who had allowed him to retire from the life as a hit-man. Now we have the third installment in the series, "John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum". And while this action-thriller has become the highest grossing film in the series and received plenty of positive praise, I found the latest film to have grown ridiculously excessive and relentlessly monotonous. "Parabellum" begins less than an hour after "Chapter 2" ended with Wick now a marked man and once again on the run after the unsanctioned killing of the Italian crime lord. The High Table crime syndicate declares Wick "excommunicado" and a fourteen million dollar bounty is placed on his head, leading to endless assassins coming after him trying to collect. Despite the intriguing addition to this brutal caper of Oscar-winners, Halle Berry as another former assassin who reluctantly comes to the aid of Wick and Anjelica Huston as the leader of a Russian crime family that Wick was once a member along with Asia Kate Dillon as "the Adjudicator" for the High Table, "John Wick 3" is an artless affair bogged down by a highly labored script that has the fingerprints of four different writers.