The 2019 Films Of The Year

Much like with music, the last decade has been a sparkling one for film. The leaps and bounds that technology has given us has enabled filmmakers to go bigger and bolder than ever before but we've also seen a wider palette of Directors and stories being told thanks to the streaming platforms wading in.

2019 has been a particularly vintage year with some of history's finest Directors releasing seminal work. Interestingly, many of them seem to be grappling with their own legacy and mortality: Scorsese and Tarantino being two examples with both releasing films that feel immensely personal and reflective.

We've also seen amazing debuts, huge saga endings, plenty of superheroes and some very important and prescient true-life political thrillers.

So without further ado, and after the obligatory squabbles, in-fighting and more shuffling than a Vegas casino, I present The Brighton Film Club's 20 favourite films of 2019:

20. Eighth Grade

19. Toy Story 4

18. Yesterday

17. Captain Marvel and Spider-Man: Far From Home

16. Official Secrets and The Report (very similar and essential viewing)

15. El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie

14. Hustlers

13. Knives Out

12. Welcome To Marwen

11. The Favourite

10. Vice

9. The Irishman

8. Rocketman

7. Blinded By The Light

6. Green Book

5. Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise Of Skywalker

4. Marriage Story

3. Avengers: Endgame

2. Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood

1. Joker

I must mention a few fantastic feature-length Netflix music documentaries: Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese is well worthy of your time as are the brilliant Remastered series of films: Devil At The Crossroads: A Robert Johnson Story and The Two Killings Of Sam Cooke: A Sam Cooke Story are great.

The obligatory movies I was unfortunately not able to watch in time and may well have fought for inclusion include: High Life, Beautiful Boy, The Sister's Brothers, Vox Lux, Booksmart, The Dead Don't Die, See You Yesterday, iT: Chapter Two, The Goldfinch, Unicorn Store, Terminator: Dark Fate, The Good Liar, Doctor Sleep and Earthquake Bird. I'm sure there's many more, please comment with anything I've missed.

Lots of films hard done by not to make the top 20. Here's a few worthy of your time if you've exhausted those above: If Beale Street Could Talk, The Dirt, Little Monsters, Stuber, The Lion King, Glass, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, Mid90's, Good Boys, Ad Astra, Zombieland: Double Tap and Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil & Vile.