t’s a remarkable educational experience for anyone eager to go back to the basics. “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. 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. And on top of that, Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY Releasing put this in theaters and on Netflix – championing the voice and vision of indigenous filmmakers and stories. Copyright © 2021 Penske Business Media, LLC. “Jojo Rabbit”: It turned from seemingly anti-semitic to generously all inclusive. Hu had reportedly been feuding with his financiers, who wanted to cut the running time in half. Get The Latest IndieWire Alerts And Newsletters Delivered Directly To Your Inbox. 10 Ways 2020 Changed the Film Industry, from Streaming Wars to Film Festivals, Screen Talk’s Christmas Movie Guide: Everything You Need to Know About the Best New Releases This Week, Here’s What Critics Groups Can Tell You About This Year’s Weird Awards Season, How ‘Gunda’ Captured the Hypnotic Images and Vivid Sounds of a Pig’s Life — Toolkit, The Art of ‘Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets’ Is Not Its Manufactured Setup – Toolkit, ‘Dick Johnson Is Dead’: Kirsten Johnson Made Cinema Magic Out of Embracing the Unknown, 35 Must-See New Movies to See This Fall Season, The 7 Best Movies New to Netflix in January 2021, ‘Shadow in the Cloud’: Roseanne Liang Turned a Max Landis Script Into Her Own Feminist Monster Movie. 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. 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. Talk about meteoric rise! But it made me cry. “Midnight Family” Read the full review here. Acting is fantastic, Ava DuVernay nails it and Bradford Young’s cinematography is exquisite. Read the full review here. First published on Tue 3 Dec 2019 01.00 EST. Keep your eyes on Ty Roberts, a director to watch for his next film, “12 Mighty Orphans.”. In the process, it gives audiences exactly what they want by delivering what they least expect. Read the full review here. A refreshing film that embraces the past, in both story and craft. “Rocketman”: My sentimental favorite. Peele’s second outing as writer-director confronts the ridiculously high expectations of its predecessor by pivoting to a broader canvas of ideas about the nation’s fractured identity. By Eric Kohn, Kate Erbland, David Ehrlich. “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” “Amazing Grace” Steven Farneth went from intern to sales agent to standing on the stage at the Oscars last year as one of the producers of “Green Book” (but that story is nothing compared to him giving up a perfect game he was pitching in college to defend a teammate). Set in the Victorian era but progressive in almost every major aspect of its narrative and design, Laika’s fifth feature may lack the weight and urgency of the studio’s previous work, but it reaffirms the studio’s commitment to a future that comes in all shapes and sizes. 50 Indie Movies You Need to See Before You Die By Matt Barone , Brenden Gallagher , Greg Topscher , Jason Serafino , Jennifer Wood , Ross Scarano , … 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. A true artist. The acting was brilliant and the screenplay and the cinematography were all excellent. “The Nightingale” “Dolemite is My Name” “Chernobyl” – The sobering story of government’s greed and disregard for its citizens. A film that needs to be in more conversations. “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” and “Uncut Gems” for their pure innovation. (In no particular order) Really tough to reconcile the art, the artist and audience complicity. Here are my 10, in alpha order: “Atlantics” 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. “Parasite”: Genius film. Interviews with leading film and TV creators about their process and craft. Read the full review here. TV Shows. 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. Read the full review here. 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. A decade after solidifying her improv-heavy approach with “Humpday,” Lynn Shelton has delivered another endearing misadventure about bored, wistful people compelled to gamble on a reckless proposition. “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. The one exception applies to films that received awards-qualifying runs in 2018 but proper theatrical releases in 2019. 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. 3. 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. It’s a treat. I was working in the local record store when this album came out and they were flying off the shelves. Assembled from an immaculately restored motherlode of 16mm vérité footage shot by Howard Alk and David Myers (much of which Bob Dylan left to rot on the cutting room floor when he was done editing “Renaldo and Clara”), and sprinkled with a fairy dust of unlabeled fiction, “Rolling Thunder Revue” is a mythic story of self-invention. An artful fable that examines what it really means to save the world, Benedikt Erlingsson’s “Woman at War” is the rarest of things: A crowd-pleaser about climate change. 2. 2019 Independent movies, movie release dates. More than anything — and regardless of gender — such proud self-sufficiency is a privilege in a world where help is seldom offered to those who need it most. Forget it, digital phonies, great theater is as natural and exciting and dangerous and beautiful as breathing. And thank heavens more people will get to take in the stunning “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” a love story that brims with passion and feelings unable to be constrained by conservative mores of the time. 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. In no order for the first one, and I’ve worked on a few of these and gleefully confess my bias. Snapchat. Because it was true. Below is a list of the best little-known/indie movies that spans across all genres. Keep the same brilliant story of coming of age and sexual identity, but replace the idyllic Italian countryside and safety of parental support with the working class areas of Tbilisi and the prospect of being ostracized by friends and family for discovering one’s true identity and you have “Danced.” Oh, and then throw in some of the most gorgeous and intense dance scenes ever. I spend a good chunk of my day trying to turn young people into cinephiles, and the short-sightedness of locking great films in some sort of imaginary vault is so counterproductive as to honestly boggle the mind. Beychella — as it was destined to be known — was live-streamed by 458,000 people, watched by 43 million more on YouTube over the months that followed, and almost immediately dubbed as the definitive pop culture event of the year. And to top things all off, he treats us to his vintage animation. “Parasite” “Clemency” What else is there to say? 2. Zia Anger’s transmedia performance is a triumph of vulnerability and easily the best “browser thriller” ever made. This list of course features a huge hole this year due to the passing of Mark Urman. Having worked on the documentary from Ken and Sarah Burns, “The Central Park Five,” it was amazing to see this narrative version and see how the conversation and dialogue that was being generated across generations and cultures at the water cooler was so impactful. No matter how silly it gets, “Booksmart” never sacrifices the authenticity of its two leads. Whew. “Rolling Thunder Revue”, Gina DuncanVice President, Film and Strategic Programming, Brooklyn Academy of Music. Read the full review here. 4. “The Farewell” For independent film lovers, the Sundance Film Festival is the most important event of the year. “Hustlers” It slaps. “Les Miserables” A German emergency doctor named Rieke (Susanne Wolff) takes a well-deserved vacation from her long nights of saving lives, and flies to the sunny rocks of Gibraltar in order to fulfill one of her forever dreams. Imagine if Danny Boyle’s “Steve Jobs” was about Courtney Love in the mid-’90s, and you’ll have a pretty good sense of how this raw punk epic has been structured. Read the full review here. 6. And then there’s “The Irishman,” which helped me grieve a loss in my own life, and face the persistence of loss. “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” – My favorite movie of 2019! Loved it to the last bee sting. “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. 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” 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. For more information on each entry, follow the links to full reviews. “Yeah, I got a huge regret about the time I wasted, smashed,” Crosby says straight to the camera, and that’s putting it mildly. You have your Avengers: Endgame, Game of Thrones, John Wick and so on. Read the full review here. 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. “Apollo 11” – Fascinating, thrilling and the best IMAX experience of the year. Every glance and gesture matters in Celine Scaimma’s gorgeous feminist masterpiece. This year’s respondents include programmers, publicists, and distribution executives. 2019 was the year that Netflix movies came of age, and ageing actors were made young again. “Marriage Story” “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”/”Hustlers”/”Knives Out” for quality, unhurried escapism at the movies, very welcome in a dreary 2019. 3. 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. With his wife Molly, a culinary writer, the filmmaker abandoned their Santa Monica home to launch a sustainable farm an hour outside the city. 2. Not a potential future double feature. “Booksmart” – I love these girls! Read the full review here. I went in thinking it would be a silly comedy about strippers and was treated to a full-on story with J. The Museum of Modern Art, “Parasite” 4. Long may it reign. “Honey Boy” Note: to see if each film is available for you to stream on Netflix or elsewhere, click on the title to be redirected to the movie page. 2019 was an amazing year for viewing and for myself personally, work-wise. The 19 Best Movies of 2019. Oh my. “Joker”: Amazing intersection of violence and mental illness. … A great example of unique, exciting storytelling from way outside of Hollywood. “Liberté” Note: While some films on this list were released by studios, they were initially developed as independent projects. A master still at the top if his game having a blast with his tried and true favorite genre. Ava DuVernay’s “When They See Us” Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Refine See titles to watch instantly, titles you haven't rated, etc. Here are the best movies of 2019 to watch, from crowd-pleasing blockbusters to …