Disney and Pixar ended 2020 with another classic. Their latest animated movie, Soul was nothing short of incredible and might be one of their best movies in recent years. From start to finish I was hooked into the world Pixar created. I knew I’d love the movie based on the musical themes and the main character being a Jazz player, but the message and deeper meaning of the movie hit deep. Soul had me wanting more from the story and characters and the Pixar universe. I thought after their March release, Onward, it would be hard to follow up, but Pixar only doubled down by giving us a phenomenal film. From one of the animated movie plots, to the overall cultural relevance, to the overall message, I loved Soul and everything they did within the 110 minutes. It lived up to every single one of my expectations and was honestly surprised with how good it ended up being. Soul should be on your watch list entering 2021 and is a must watch for anyone who enjoys movies.

​Technically, 1917 didn't come out in 2020, but since it came out at the end of 2019 and wasn't featured on my top movies of 2019, it had to be included on this list. Not many movies, albums, shows or concerts leave me speechless, but WOW, 1917 is one of the best movies I have ever seen and probably will ever see. It is the epitome of what every war film should be, it's realistic showing of WWI and what being in the action would have been like had me on the edge of my seat and had my anxiety through the roof for two hours. There's very little I would change about 1917 and I honestly don't think you could have made a better war movie. My favorite aspect of the movie was that it's filmed to appear as if it is one long take. It was perhaps the best cinematically made movie I’ve ever seen and seeing it on the big screen only made the film more impactful.

​I said it when I first saw Tenet and I'll say it again, Tenet is the best movie of 2020 by far. Christopher Nolan’s latest film lived up to all of my expectations and blew the hype it received out of the water. TENET had me on the edge of my seat for nearly 3 hours and was phenomenal from the opening scene. From top tier acting, to an exciting/mind blowing plot, to near perfect character development and great action/fight scenes, TENET is one of the best action/thriller movies of the last 2 years. John David Washington and Robert Pattinson shined in their roles and Nolan picked a near perfect cast to fill out the rest of the film’s roles. TENET has everything you can ask for in a movie and should be the #1 movie on your watch list if you still haven't seen it.

If you like superhero movies and you haven’t seen the Joker yet….I really don’t know what you are doing with your life lol. Even though this movie may have been the most hyped up film of the year, or even decade. I’m a sucker for movies with a deep backstory that explore a character’s development, which was essentially all the Joker was. 
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Joaquin Phoenix's role as the Joker sparked a lot of controversy around “who’s the best Joker?” and while he may or may not be the best Joker the world has seen on screen, his performance was emotional, captivating, and top tier performance. I think if you threw any of the Joker’s (minus Jared Leto) the performance would have been nearly the same and overall, I really feel Phoenix is getting so much love as the Joker because of how the movie was shot, and the look into his past that we never really got before, more so than his actual portrayal as the Joker. If you honestly haven’t seen it yet, I’d say go rent it and watch just for the hype that it got. It’s certainly not the best superhero movie of all time, but it’s worth two hours of your time. 

The space voyage of Brad Pitt in Ad Astra was a remarkable display of what a modern SIFI and space exploration movie should resemble. While the movie was a little slow at times, it had a good balance of character/plot development to action and had enough positives to land it in my top 10 movies of the year. Ad Astra gave a different account and tale than most space/SIFI movies deliver, which increased my view of the film. Ad Astra had way too many highlights such as a strong narrative, great acting by Pitt and  the supporting cast, above average special affects and more.

​An actor’s ability to keep me connected and invested into the movie goes such a long way for me, and Pitt didn’t disappoint here. Brad Pitt was the only actor this year to be on my list twice and gave a very emotional and convincing performance. The story told by Pitt’s character. This isn’t Pitt’s best performance by any means, but its one worth watching if you haven’t yet. 

Knives Out was a brillant display of what a modern drama should be and uztilizes the “murder mystery” trope in a refreshing and unique story that is both dramtic and hilarous. Chris Evans, Lakeith Stanfield and Daniel Craig were phenomenal, exciting, clever, and hilarious and seemed as if they were all born to play these roles. Johnson definitely picked the perfect cast to deliver perhaps his biggest box office success. My only issue with the movie was the culprit was semi easy to guess, but how Johnson takes you the reveal with his twists and turns, really made up for it.

I thoroughly enjoyed Knives Out, the exciting and powerful cast of actors, brilliant story telling and setting the bar for what a murder mystery should be going forward. The 2 hour long movie was long enough to develop the plot, give the characters a strong likability and their own backstories/personality, but did not get boring or redundant. The movie really flew by and had me on the edge of my seat waiting to find out “who did it”. Go see it in the theaters, if you love dramas, and more importantly, murder mysteries, this film is a must see. 

​Knives Out might just be the best murder mystery I have ever scene, but whether you’ll enjoy it is a mystery you’ll have to solve for yourself.

Jojo Rabbit is a hilarious comedy that tastefully mixes an awful historical event with comedic dialogue and scenes. The “coming of age” story of Jojo is a story filled with witty humor and edgy scenes shaping each character and the outcome of the movie. Lasting less than two hours, the comedic drama of Jojo Rabbit was just funny enough to make a dark and depressing subject such as World War 2.
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Jojo Rabbit's satirical comedy that had me laughing out loud in the theater, along with an exciting plot with decent character development it made for a fantastic movie and the best comedy I’ve seen this year.  While the movie definitely isn't for everyone, it's’ dark blend of comedy with historical relevance made it very enjoyable and made the film just light hearted enough to not cross the line. 

US was Jordan Peele’s latest and greatest addition to his growing resume as one of the best young directors in the movie industry.  While no movie may ever live up to Get Out, US might get as close as possible. Peele decides to go with a pretty quiet cast in terms of their popularity before the film, and once again he struck gold. 

With a lot of the movies on this list, Peele gave us a classic movie with an original and exciting plot, an amazing climax and a movie that means so much more than the story tells. The comparisons to our modern society and themes of classism, racism, and more made US one of the most important movies of 2019.

​Peele has one of the brightest and best futures of any director right now and I am more than ecstatic to see where he takes his movies to in 2020 and beyond. US is surely the best horror/thriller film of 2019. 

​Wow, just WOW. Adam Sandler and Uncut Gems has been getting stellar reviews and has had so much hype around it, which usually turns me off to a movie, but it blew my expectations out of the water and is one of the best films I’ve seen all year. Adam Sandler gave perhaps the BEST performance of his career. 

While Adam Sandler was amazing as Howard Ratner, Lakeith Stanfield stole the show in his own right with his role as Demany. The supporting actor has been on fire this year and his performance in Uncut Gems was no different. If you are a fan of either of these amazing actors, Uncut Gems is a must-see movie for you.

Not only is this Adam Sandler’s’ BIG redemption, Uncut Gems is a refreshing addition to crime/drama genre and is one of the most entertaining movies of the decade. With an amazing cast, near perfect plot and climax, Uncut Gems and Adam Sandler is an emotional roller-coaster of riches, betting, basketball, jewelry and luxury.

The 9th film from Tarantino lived up to every ounce of hype it had from critics before its' release. Perhaps my favorite movie of the year, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood was one of the most brilliant films, I’ve seen this decade. I saw Once Upon A Time In Hollywood three different times in the theaters and have seen it twice more since its digital release last month. Each time I watch it, it seems to get better and better and the fact that it has the most re-watch-ability out of any movie this year, makes it truly special as a film.
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From the brilliant acting of Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, a slow burning, developmental and exciting plot, to an AMAZING climax, to a genius ending, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is one of the most creative and great movies of the year. Not many movies can be drop dead serious while also being extremely humorous, but Tarantino found a way to make it happen in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. Tarantino definitely did not disappoint and if you haven’t seen this movie yet, I STRONGLY urge you to head over to Red-box and pay the $1.00 to watch it. 

​Parasite and Bong Joon-Ho left me speechless after an astonishing two hour’s worth of suspense and brilliance. Although the movie is spoken entirely in Korean (with English subtitles), I hardly noticed a difference after being hooked instantly in Joon-How’s plot. The underlying themes and narratives only enhance how entertaining Parasite was.

I’ve never seen a movie quite like this before, from the film style, to plot line, the juxtaposition of the characters and their development throughout the movie. It’s already on my list to go see this again before it leaves the theaters. Parasite’s social commentary, film style, character development, relatability,  and its' originality made it one of one of the best movies I’ve seen in the past few years and it definitely deserves all of the praise it’s received so far. It left me wanting more from Joon-Ho and his characters, but satisfied me with an incredible ending. I’ll be disappointed if it’s not up for an Academy Award. 

Parasite made it easy to crown my first ever, MOVIE OF THE YEAR.

Rod Wave is one of the favorite up & coming rappers in the scene after Ghetto Gospel dropped. The heart and soul he pours out over these 14 tracks really speak to me and have one of the best messages of any album in released in 2019. 

​Favorite song: Cuban Links feat. Kevin Gates

Rico has been making waves the past few years and this year is no different. Anger Management had a super dope concept and as always, she hits the beats hard and delivers the best female bars in the game. She has some prolific features which boost this into the top 10. Her content does get a little stale for me, which is why she only comes in at #9 on my list. 

Favorite song: Again

It wouldn't be right to have a top 10 albums list without a Thugger album....coming in at number 8 is "So Much Fun". I really enjoyed Thug's project and thought while some songs are misses, it is one of the most complete projects of 2019. The album packed with a TON of features really made this one a dope album. 

Favorite song: Surf feat. Gunna

iann's debut project was really nothing special in terms of what it means to have a complete and fantastic project, but considering that this was all singles from earlier in the year, it was to hard to leave off my list. I love a ton of these songs and feel like he really shined on most of these tracks. iann dior will soon be a mainstream star and hopefully he can continue these hits into 2020.

Favorite song: Emotions

 The people's champion of 2019....DaBaby. I don't think anyone can disagree that he has had the biggest year in hip hop all around. He's been everywhere and gave us two amazing albums. While I think KIRK was a little mainstream, it has positioned him perfectly into 2020 with his fan base.  Baby On Baby might have the most hits of any album this year and to be honest, I don't think any track is a miss on this joint. I'm not sure how any hip hop fan can not like the guy at this point. 

Favorite song: Suge

I know I know...a lot of people REALLY hated Jesus IS King, but unfortunately for you, I really loved this album. From the samples, to blend of rap/gospel, this album made me feel right at home. I haven't heard Kanye rap and drop bars like he did on JIK in a LONG time. If this is the future of Kanye's music, I wouldn't be mad. 

Favorite song: On God

If you know me, you know Anderson .Paak is my favorite musician out right now. His past few albums have been absolute classics for me and have skyrocketed in their greatness for me. Every year he's dropped an album, he's had a top 2 or 3 spot on my list, but this year he feel down a little bit. Paak takes us back to a classic sound that many fans feel in love with, but I'm to stuck on his Venice and Malibu days to make this one AOTY.

​Favorite song: Winners Circle

Quick shout out to my guy Veli for all the work he's done with Mir the past few years to help him grow into the spotlight he deserves. The album is almost as good as it gets, perfect length, great & unique sound, great story and amazing purpose/message, not to mention it's catchy as hell. Also, cant forget to mention he's the only rapper who's been able to out rap DaBaby on a song....

​Favorite song: Hide The Money feat. DaBaby

Freddie Gibbs has been dropping near classic albums for almost a decade now....while nothing may live up to Pinata, Bandana came pretty close. Freddie might be one of the best and most underrated rappers in the game. With the flawless production from Madlib along with top tier features from Anderson . Paak, Pusha T, Killer Mike, & more, this has everything you want in an album and will be remembered as such. 
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Favorite song: Giannis feat. Anderson .Paak

Every year I grow more and more of a fan of the super hip hop boy band, BROCKHAMPTON. Like I said in the intro, no one album really blew me away, so any of these top 3 could really make the case to be #1. With that being said I LOVED this album. It's the most unique, diverse, and creative of any album released in 2019. The 12 track album hits you in your feels right off the bat and continues to blend in hits along the away. If you haven't checked the album out yet, I highly recommend you do yourself a favor and at least listen to my favorite song off the album below. 

Favorite song: SUGAR