Films about Mister Rogers, Aretha Franklin, whistleblowers and Shia LaBeouf: The best of 2019 arts and entertainment included these 10 cinematic standouts.
1. Pain and Glory: The first of two filmmakers-examining-their-own-lives entries on this list is Pedro Almodóvar's depiction of how a stalled artist gets unstuck. Antonio Banderas, at peak handsomeness, is outstanding as a restless director who'll try anything to recover from creative torpor.
2. Parasite: Bong Joon-ho's suspenseful satire, about a have-not family that works its way into the lives of a family of haves, is a visual and storytelling triumph. The additional good news is that if you're just hearing about Bong, his "Memories of Murder," "Mother" and "Snowpiercer" are great, too.
3. The Irishman: Longer than a double-feature of No. 6 and No. 10 combined, Martin Scorsese's 3½-hour tale of mobsters and their divided loyalties doesn't waste a second.
4. The Report: Adam Driver has generated awards talk in the excellent "Marriage Story," but he's even better in Twin Cities native Scott Z. Burns' taut, intelligent thriller, playing a real-life hero trying to uncover evil doings in the CIA.
5. Little Women: Greta Gerwig's movie is both a sterling adaptation of a classic novel and an empathetic look at the lot of women, big or little, 150 years ago. And today?
6. Honey Boy: A terrible idea on paper, former child star Shia LaBeouf's score-settling story of his poor-little-rich-boy career is gut-wrenching and compassionate in its execution. Extra degree of difficulty: LaBeouf contributes an understanding performance as the dad who sponged off him.
7. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: Tom Hanks' work as Mr. Rogers is stunning, but all of director Marielle Heller's risky decisions pay off in a gentle drama about dealing with anger.
