Call it history in the making, part two. Lo giving us what 50 years old looks like and her pole solo. “Parasite” Céline Sciamma is always exceptional, but she’s at the top of her craft here — sophisticated, intelligent, and emotional filmmaking and storytelling. Best of 2019. “Uncut Gems”: The second most heart attack inducing film of the year. It Will Blow Your Mind”, “Hollywood’s Big Office Slump May Point to Bigger Issues”, “Men Are in Trouble and Hollywood Wants Help”, Ira DeutchmanProfessor of Professional Practice, School of the Arts Film Program, Columbia University, “Parasite” Men. An epic crime saga with an understanding of how societies evolve – by confluence of everything from the external forces of globalization to the personality trait of a specific individual – that is worthy of Tolstoy or Coppola. Share Tweet Submit Pin. 25 Great Psychedelic Movies That Are Worth Your Time. While Andrew is no longer there, Music Box continues to release some of the finest foreign films around, and the Georgian/Swedish film “And Then We Danced” is no exception. But why wait that long when first-rate cinema is opening every month? Taste of Cinema 2019. “Apollo 11” – Fascinating, thrilling and the best IMAX experience of the year. But “The Art of Self-Defense” manages to clarify the filmmaker’s intriguing vision by stuffing it into a remarkably unnerving character study that winds its way to one of the greatest punchlines in recent movie memory. Read the full review here. I had to take a break from binging because it is so intense and way too possible. “Portrait of a Lady on Fire”: My crazed, obsessive fandom for this film is my worst-kept secret. 7. In the process, it arrives at a deeper understanding of the underlying impulse, while delivering an emotionally resonant narrative with plenty of cute animals to spare. 9. Read the full review here. Because it was true. Zombies x 2: “Zombie Child” (Bertrand Bonello) & “Atlantique” (Mati Diop) “Hustlers” Read the full review here. The acting was brilliant and the screenplay and the cinematography were all excellent. This year’s respondents include programmers, publicists, and distribution executives. “Watchmen” Most of my year is spent watching films submitted to the Toronto International Film Festival, some of them yet to be released. “Fleabag” – Hot priest! Read the full review here. Anchored by a bravely loathsome and unhinged Elisabeth Moss in the lead role, Perry’s film boasts one of the year’s very best supporting casts (including Eric Stoltz, Agyness Deyn, and Amber Heard), and it puts them all to great use in the service of a difficult but extremely rewarding story about the strength we get from the people in our lives. “The Giverny Document” (single channel) Want to gripe about our choices or suggest others from 2019 in independent film? Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. The 20 best films of 2019, from Burning to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. My post-programming season treat: Season 3 of “The Crown.”. And thank goodness now more people know this case of injustice that have impacted these five boys who are now known as The Exonerated Five. To make it not necessary to have seen the series and to lay the groundwork for an obvious sequel. It was a true moment. Olivia Wilde’s feature directorial debut transforms Katie Silberman’s episodic script into a relentless stream of hilarious antics rooted as much in the authentic chemistry of its two leads as their zany misadventures. A complete list of Independent movies in 2019. “Diego Maradona”: Asif Kapadia is a wizard at making thrilling, tragic films using archival material. BEST NEW THRILLER MOVIES!!!! Booksmart (2019) If you liked Superbad, you will love Booksmart. Every glance and gesture matters in Celine Scaimma’s gorgeous feminist masterpiece. 17 Disturbing Horror Movies You Will Never Watch Again. A lot of them. An unexpected and truly bizarre thought might — no, will — occur to most viewers during “Hail Satan?,” though the lightning bolt of an idea is sure to strike different people at different points of Penny Lane’s provocative, hilarious, and latently enraging documentary about The Satanic Temple. “Varda by Agnes”, Kim Yutani Director of Programming, Sundance Film Festival. “Beanpole”: An incredibly mature, accomplished film by a talented young master, Kantemir Balagov, who is only just beginning his career. “Watchmen”, My favorite Latin American films of the year (some are from last year, but they were released—or premiered—in the U.S. this year), Honorable mentions (alphabetical): “Atlantics,” “Booksmart,” “Burning Cane,” “Clemency,” “Diane,” “Give Me Liberty,” “Honey Boy,” “Honeyland,” “Midnight Family,” “Queen & Slim.”, Anne HubbellVice President of Motion Picture, Kodak; Co-Founder, Tangerine Entertainment. “Midsommar”: Ari Aster’s dazzling, singular film freaked me out. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! “Joker”: Amazing intersection of violence and mental illness. “Midnight Family” This list of course features a huge hole this year due to the passing of Mark Urman. We all forgot that J. Stories were so diverse and so rich – there was so much to choose from. 2019 was the year that Netflix movies came of age, and ageing actors were made young again. At the end of every calendar year, critics rank the best movies of the past 12 months. The years fly by in a blur, especially when you spend most of them in a darkened cinema. The Best Movies of 2019 by ThomKubK | created - 21 Jan 2019 | updated - 6 hours ago | Public A list of my favorite Films and TV series of 2019 Refine See titles to watch instantly, titles you haven't rated, etc. Just a fun romp. Hope that changes. “Dolemite Is My Name” The result is a ripe and bloody act of self-reflection so personal that it can feel like Billingham made it only for himself — that he’s standing between us and whatever he’s smeared on screen. “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” This film captured those moments of us as the audience who was being underserved and had an appetite for these fun films. “Hustlers”: Maybe if Constance Wu and Jennifer Lopez had been men playing boxers instead of women and strippers, reactions to Hustlers might have been a little less timorous. 10. His letter ties the object to a century-plus shadow organization convinced that the South won the war, and the bemused pair decide to take the object to a pawn shop. I have worked on over 250 documentaries over the years – but there is something special about “For Sama” and these filmmakers and this family. “Honeyland” If you’ve seen the film, you know this scene involving a baby. Although it’s difficult to narrow down to only 10, my list covers my favorite women-directed films of the year. “Invisible Life”: Karim Ainouz’s elegant film reinvigorates melodrama — a complete pleasure to be enveloped in this world. Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” and “Atlantics” for their incredible sensitivity. The 19 Best Movies of 2019. -On Off-Broadway there were two astonishing productions: A Hollywood retro “Magic Flute” by the Komische Oper Berlin (part of Mostly Mozart Series at Lincoln Center) “Why?” (at Theater for a New Audience), where Peter Brook at 94 and Marie-Helene Estienne show us how it’s done with three actors and a bare stage. NOW-2019. Whew. “Apollo 11”, Jeff DeutchmanEVP of Acquisitions & Production, NEON. Hu had reportedly been feuding with his financiers, who wanted to cut the running time in half. “Honey Boy” “Harriet” “A Marriage Story” Oh my. “The Iron Orchard” That’s exactly what Assayas wants you to think. Read the full review here. “Pavarotti”: I fell in love with the man, the music, and the incredibly sorrowful/joyful talent. 3. 50 Indie Movies You Need to See Before You Die By Matt Barone , Brenden Gallagher , Greg Topscher , Jason Serafino , Jennifer Wood , Ross Scarano , … Read the full review here. But it made me cry. This sort of dark, jagged storytelling won’t settle with viewers who require every emotional beat to be telegraphed upfront, and regardless, the movie pushes the limits of its appeal over the course of 104 minutes. You have your Avengers: Endgame, Game of Thrones, John Wick and so on. It must have received a theatrical release of one week or longer in New York or Los Angeles, or become available on a digital platform, within the 2019 calendar year. “Atlantics” Eddie Murphy, Wesley Snipes and the whole ensemble cast really brought their game and made this film fun, heartwarming and inspiring. “Roll Red Roll” In a year where Disney films dominated 80% of box office revenues, it’s been easy to feel discouraged about the medium’s future. One of the most important and misunderstood films of the year. Here are the top ten best independent films of 2019. “Shadow” “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” “1917” Final Day at the Masters Tournament with Tiger Woods, -“The Good Fight” is the best show on television, -“Oklahoma!” the best show of the year on Broadway. Completely by herself on an 11-meter yacht without any connection to the outside world except for the boat’s radio, she’s sailing to Ascension Island, a volcanic speck located halfway between West Africa and Brazil. Female Asian American Filmmakers Make Their Mark 2019 Independent movies, movie release dates. Get The Latest IndieWire Alerts And Newsletters Delivered Directly To Your Inbox. Even worse: when it does so by name. Even if Hu had every intention of writing his will on-screen, there was surely more to him than can be divined from his work. As one of the co-directors of the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival since 1997, I have seen so many of our films and filmmakers come through. Not a potential future double feature. “Fosse/Verdon” – Worth watching for Michelle Williams alone, but extra entertaining if you know and love all the musicals. Independent films created numerous film movements across the world that were always rebellious to the mainstream mentality. Jordan Peele’s 2017 debut “Get Out” was a landmark in African-American storytelling, broke box-office records, and served as a representational wakeup call to the film industry — but it wouldn’t have carried so much weight if it weren’t also such a gratifying viewing experience. Provided with a flexible criteria for their lists, participants singled out a range of media — from television to theater and beyond — providing a unique window into the way many of the movers and shakers in film culture experienced the year as a whole. “Chernobyl” – The sobering story of government’s greed and disregard for its citizens. Maybe she will get nominated…. The best comedy of its kind since “Superbad,” Wilde’s slick, unpredictable romp can sometimes feel like several movies at once. TV Shows. His name was Hu Bo, and he was 29 years old. Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! I love the script and every performance in this film. A master still at the top if his game having a blast with his tried and true favorite genre. 2019 gifted us a bounty of audacious dramas, documentaries, comedies, thrillers and action-adventures. And it was my true honor this year to work with WellGo USA on the release of Takashi Miike’s “First Love.” I’ve been in love with Miike since the flying and singing uvula in “Happiness of the Katakuris” opened the movie. “Rolling Thunder Revue” www.tasteofcinema.com/2019/the-10-best-indie-sci-fi-films-of-the-21st-century “Marriage Story” “First Love” marked a return to form for Miike, revisiting his famed Yakuza suspense yarns with an edge of your seat twisting and thrilling plot, and enough laughs and gags to remind you he was having a ball while making this film. The format for this developing resource is simple: Any movie reviewed by IndieWire that has received a B+ or higher makes the cut. 3. (Wondering where the American version is? Below is a list of the best little-known/indie movies that spans across all genres. The “E-Team” and “Born Into Brothels” filmmaker has always been concerned with shining a light on those in need of help (or common decency), and for his third feature, Kauffman turns his interest toward a threatened animal population and the humans trying to save them. And Olivia Wilde for making this funny, raunchy, honest coming-of-age flick. 2019 was so great as I had the honor of working together with this legendary filmmaker Michael Apted on his ninth chapter of his “Up” series. This Article is related to: Film and tagged Year in Review 2019. I accidentally fell into this one night and was hooked for the whole season. Here are the best movies of 2019 to watch, from crowd-pleasing blockbusters to … (Of course, I searched where to source Iodine tablets.). Loved it to the last bee sting. Read the full review here. “Parasite” – Bong Joon Ho is at the top of his game with this tense, timely, social thriller. 2. The 20 Worst Movies Ever Made. Read the full review here. Ava DuVernay’s “When They See Us” For a man, that might seem like a bit of bravado; for a woman, it drifts closer to an act of defiance. “Euphoria” (Peter and Maria Hoey / For The Times) Chronicling the reckless fall and tentative rise of punk rocker Becky Something — lead singer of the band Something She — “Her Smell” is told across five long scenes that stretch over 10 years, each of the vignettes unfolding in real time, and most of them set in the snaking bowels of a concert venue’s backstage area. Independent movies are the films that, mostly, populate the Academy Awards every year — and there's a reason for that. The Best Movies of 2019. From the opening minutes of “The Biggest Little Farm,” John Chester makes it clear his utopian vision is going to fail. It’s tempting to think of “An Elephant Sitting Still” as a suicide note written with blood in a dirty patch of hard snow. “Rocks”: Gonna tell my kids this was “Little Women.”. Copyright © 2021 Penske Business Media, LLC. Amanda Sherwin led many a successful Oscar campaign at THINKFilm, helping notch close to a dozen nominations in just seven years. His memory will always be inextricable from his movie (and vice-versa), but it would be painfully reductive to conclude that one of those things is able to explain the other. “Heimat is a Space in Time” A compelling mix of literal walking tour — “Remember My Name” features Crosby ambling straight up to Joni Mitchell’s old house in its first act, and good luck not feeling chills with that one — and interviews with Crosby and his contemporaries, the effect is a full-bodied one. 2. Taryn Egerton deserves every bit of attention he’s getting, but I also adored Jamie Bell as Bernie Taupin. This is a hard one for me, because when was it not 2019? Joana VicenteExecutive Director & Co-Head, Toronto International Film Festival. Each year, IndieWire reaches out to a range of figures from the independent film community to give them the opportunity to single out some of their favorite movies from the past 12 months. Within two years, there were nearly a dozen other remakes, including versions made in Spain, South Korea, France, Hungary, China, and India, with still more films planned in Poland, Germany, Qatar, and Sweden. “Synonyms” You could help but be moved. “The Irishman”: You don’t have to commit murder to feel the profound, solitary regret Scorsese offered to us like a sacrament. Cameron BaileyArtistic Director & Co-Head, Toronto International Film Festival. Facebook. Finding an intersection between inspiration and nostalgia, Blinded By The Light celebrates the universal power of art and how it can expand someone’s worldview. An appropriately furious portrait of oppression that finds beauty in the possibility for intersectional struggle. The most perfect visualization to date of Thom Yorke’s music, Netflix’s “ANIMA” finds a way to tunnel out and escape from the oppressiveness that people tend to associate with the slippery rock star. And to top things all off, he treats us to his vintage animation. Another fave film from TIFF, “Hustlers,” took me there. Combining Paul Schrader’s dire urgency with Roy Andersson’s droll brand of despair — to cite two other filmmakers whose work has wrestled with the maddening, quixotic idea of a single person trying to redeem an entire planet — Erlingsson has created a winsome knickknack of a movie that manages to reframe the 21st century’s signature crisis in a way that makes room for real heroism. Alex Ross Perry’s work has always had the courage to be profoundly unpleasant, but none of his previous stuff can prepare you for the incredible sourness of “Her Smell,” which is one of the most noxious movies ever made before it hits bottom and tunnels out through the other side. 5. My list largely reflects what hit hardest during that glorious, five-month binge watch. Groundbreaking, intelligent and important. “Parasite”: Genius film. In the process, it gives audiences exactly what they want by delivering what they least expect. “American Factory” And to see the actual concert in that raw footage was phenomenal. In his phenomenal new “High Flying Bird,” a Promethean sports drama that hums with the verve and purpose of Steven Soderbergh’s very best work, that system is the NBA. Then you add director Edward Watts on top of that to help shape the film and story – it’s a perfect combination. 2. Read the full review here. “And then We Danced” “The Farewell” Beanie Feldstein follows in the footsteps of brother Jonah Hill as a lovable dope, while Kaitlyn Dever invigorates the “smart-ass teen” trope with renewed depth. For more information on each entry, follow the links to full reviews. … Sole honorable mention goes to those leading the charge to ensure theaters across the country, small and large, are allowed to screen the films that made many of us cinephiles in the first place. Working with him – thanks to BritBox – from Telluride to the New York Film Festival to Heartland to Mill Valley to Doc NYC and more was incredible. A lot of the time, they are the best films of the year. 6. While “Tigerland” takes some time to find its footing, kicking off with an odd kid-voiced monologue that attempts to spell out the historical meaning of the tiger (sample line: “the holiest of all the animals, and they controlled the destiny of all mankind”) and then looping together two seemingly different stories, Kauffman eventually finds connections that go far beyond the superficial. Co-starring Robert Pattinson as a death row inmate who’s sentenced to a lifetime of space exploration, this perseverant meditation on the end of human existence is a hypnotic voyage straight into the heart of the void, as Denis goes to the ends of the known universe to reaffirm that she’s one of the most exciting filmmakers on the planet. If you thought Tarantino did a great job of re-creating 1960’s Hollywood, feast your eyes on the job the production design team did in transporting us to the oil-boom era of 1920’s Dallas. But the film, like Billingham’s photography, is all the more powerful for its refusal to tidy up, explain itself, or try to glom some kind of retroactive grace onto an impoverished existence that was defined by boredom and neglect. In the 21st century, indie films are getting seen by more people than ever alongside mainstream offerings. Such vulgar things become virtually unavoidable in any movie that’s about the modern world, but the transience of social media remains hard to reconcile with the timelessness of great cinema. What's on TV & Streaming What's on TV & Streaming Top Rated Shows Most Popular Shows … It’s a musical séance for the hope that we keep searching for as a country and then losing along the way. “Tigers Are Not Afraid” and “One Cut of the Dead” for giving an entirely new perspective on genre while somehow simultaneously defying it. Closing night brought first timer Andrea Walter and her debut feature “Empty By Design.” And then this year, the first trans Filipina filmmaker, Isabel Sandoval, premiered her film “Lingua Franca” at the Venice Film Festival. Avant-garde or coming-of-age, comedy or drama, indie films cover all genres. Women in front of the camera, behind the scenes and in real life being bold and brave. It may have taken filmmaker Joanna Hogg several decades to realize that her own box of darkness was actually a beautiful gift, but she unwraps it with the care and tenderness of someone who understands its true value. “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” 2019 was an outstanding year for women in film. “Proxima”: 2019 helped me imagine a future where films like Alice Winocour’s astronaut story would be common entertainment, and not arthouse test cases for the relevance of women’s lives. 11. I can only hope I can be as strong and committed as these three are. “The Souvenir” So here we go. The one exception applies to films that received awards-qualifying runs in 2018 but proper theatrical releases in 2019. “Dolemite Is My Name,” “When They See Us,” and “The Irishman” for filling my queue with studio-caliber work that no studio would dare finance. “Uncut Gems” This is in no particular order: 1. “Cold Case Hammarskjold” Because Adam Driver is the best performer today. “Richard Jewell” 10. “Watchmen” – This show is EVERYTHING! Season 2 of “Pose” First-time actress Violet Nelson blew it out the water. “The Good Place – I binged all seasons this year. Release Calendar DVD & Blu-ray Releases Top Rated Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Showtimes & Tickets In Theaters Coming Soon Coming Soon Movie News India Movie Spotlight. This ongoing list is proof that there’s plenty worth celebrating all year long. 4. Read the full review here. we have seen set to come out in 2019. Additionally, we reserve the right to include some films that were produced at studios if they encapsulate an independent sensibility. 8. Really tough to reconcile the art, the artist and audience complicity. I was working in the local record store when this album came out and they were flying off the shelves. Zia Anger’s transmedia performance is a triumph of vulnerability and easily the best “browser thriller” ever made. Artistic Director, Film Independent, These are “Impressive Narrative Feature Directorial Debuts of 2019” 9. Former VP of Publicity Alex Klenert led the PR efforts for this Texas-based film, scoring a major coup by getting an extensive write-up for the film in “The Current Cinema” in The New Yorker. The latest film in a proud tradition of Bay Area gentrification narratives that includes Barry Jenkins’ “Medicine for Melancholy” and last year’s “Blindspotting,” Joe Talbot’s funny, heartfelt, and achingly bittersweet debut feature tells Jimmie’s story with the perspective of someone who lived it — and the pain of someone who can’t bear to leave their hometown behind. Here are my 10, in alpha order: “Atlantics” The only element of Nisha Ganatra’s charming comedy “Late Night” that feels even slightly fantastical is easy enough to overlook when faced with the full force of the crowdpleaser: that a woman isn’t just a network late night talk show host, but that’s she’s been one for nearly three decades. Let us know in the comments, but remember the rules: Just because a big festival hit isn’t on the list doesn’t mean it won’t show up once it hits theaters. “Clemency” A litter of Pekingese the size of double-decker buses. The 30 Greatest Westerns In Cinema History. All rights reserved. In “Ray & Liz,” photographer Richard Billingham recreates his old memories (real or imagined) as though each moment were a shard of a broken mirror that he’s trying to piece back together with his bare hands. In many respects, the mesmerizing “High Life” is a first for writer-director Claire Denis: the first of her films to be shot in English, the first of her films to be set in space, and the first of her films to follow Juliette Binoche inside a metal chamber that’s referred to as “The Fuckbox,” where the world’s finest actress — playing a mad scientist aboard an intergalactic prison ship on a one-way trip to Earth’s nearest black hole — straddles a giant dildo chair and violently masturbates. Blinded By The Light. Not because the fans have stopped buying tickets, but rather because the old white men who own the teams want to feel as though they own the young black players, as well. “Jojo Rabbit”: Mileage varied, but I found Waititi’s latest to be a suitably savage take-down of organized hate, from someone who had to learn to laugh at it. 5. “Rolling Thunder Revue”, Gina DuncanVice President, Film and Strategic Programming, Brooklyn Academy of Music. What great actors. By David Edelstein, Alison Willmore, and Bilge Ebiri. Movies Lists Netflix. Paul Thomas Anderson’s film only wears a veil of dystopian uniformity so that it can fling it off and touch the tender spots underneath; so that it can find something and lose it and find it again. Read the full review here. “American Factory” Dan Berger rose from intern at THINKFilm to president of Oscilloscope Laboratories in record time, and with acquisitions like “Midnight Traveler,” it’s easy to see why. Finally, this concert film from the legendary Aretha at age 29 was released and stunned me. A bitter and mesmerically beautiful documentary that focuses on a single beekeeper as though our collective future hinges on the fragile relationship between she and her hives. “37 Seconds”: A beautiful bait-and-switch from Japan’s Hikari: Come for the sexy high concept, stay for the deep insight into a young woman on the cusp. They are the real deal and this film is, too. 5. Jacqueline Lyanga Loved isn’t the right word. “Little Women” – Greta Gerwig brings her insightful, lively, confident writing and directing to a bonafide Hollywood holiday movie. Read the full review here. Incidentally, Shults and his film not only won the Audience Award at the Key West Film Festival, but he also rocked a mean “Don’t Stop Believin'” at the late-night karaoke that followed our closing reception. And even if “An Elephant Sitting Still” can be read as one man’s self-immolating act of surrender, to do so would be to ignore the film’s compellingly fraught relationship with the politics of survival in a no-hope nation. “The Souvenir” – Joanna Hogg’s personal movie quietly captures the beauty, pain and nostalgia of art school in the 1980’s and a tragic first boyfriend. “Rocketman”: My sentimental favorite. First things first: Bi Gan’s “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” has nothing to do with the Eugene O’Neil play of the same title, but that’s not the only misdirection in play. Lo at 50 It’s also why Olivier Assayas’ sly and delightful “Non-Fiction” (née “E-book”) feels like such a lark at first — like a master filmmaker clearing his throat between more significant projects. 2019 was an amazing year for viewing and for myself personally, work-wise. Eaton’s startlingly intimate documentary “David Crosby: Remember My Name,” the singer and guitarist finally uses his words to tap into something long-necessary: genuine self-reflection.