Each new film course that starts promises the cinephile community a unique journey of twelve months full of nervousness, great expectations and pleasant surprises as gigantic as the equally inevitable -and undesirable- disappointments.
Once the first quarter of 2019 is over, we can already outline a solid selection with those that are becoming the best films of the year, and that is precisely what we bring you next: a list in which we list the most anticipated films of the season and from which we will extract the tapes that, in our opinion, stand out over its competitors .
On a monthly basis we will update the article as new release dates are announced and we can judge which films deserve to climb to the category of best films of 2019. For now, we leave you with the results that we have given the first bars of the year until 10th May.
The best films of 2019
‘The vice of power’ (‘Vice’)
Direction: Adam McKay
Cast: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, Jesse Plemons
Release date: January 11
Oscar winner to the best makeup and hairdressing, and moral winner of the statuettes for the best montage and best leading actor -unfairly lost to ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ -, ‘The vice of power’ was the first big premiere of this 2019. round tape and necessary to understand our current geopolitical situation, with a free direction of all kinds of complexes and ties, and with an interpretation of Christian Bale that transcends the makeup layers and that is worth -never better said-its weight in gold.
‘Glass’
Direction: M. Night Shyamalan
Cast: James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Sarah Paulson, Anya Taylor-Joy
Release date: January 18
The oversaturated market of superheroic productions developed in large studios and protected by gigantic marketing campaigns and multi-million dollar budgets has not been able to capture the essence of the original medium with as much purity as M. Night Shyamalan has done with its modest -and fantastic- ‘Glass’. An authentic wonder that closes the trilogy started in 2000 with ‘The protege and that makes us think who the hell needs Marvel and DC when we have the Indian director.
‘The favorite’
Address: Yorgos Lanthimos
Cast: Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Hoult, Joe Alwyn
Release date: January 18
‘The favorite’ is probably the big loser of the Oscar 2019 awards ceremony, in which she won only the most deserved statuette for the best leading actress in recognition of the impeccable work of Olivia Colman ; but this does not mean that the latest from Yorgos Lanthimos is one of the biggest releases of the year. The Greek continues to be one of the most unique filmmakers on the current scene but has managed to soften his style to make it digestible for a wider audience without losing a bit of personality along the way, leading to an exquisite rarity.
‘Jack’s house’ (‘The House that Jack Built’)
Address: Lars Von Trier
Cast: Matt Dillon, Bruno Ganz, Uma Thurman, Siobhan Fallon Hogan
Release date: January 25
That Lars Von Trier does not leave indifferent is nothing new, but even those of us who are cured of fright and accustomed to their excesses did not expect at all the levels of genius and aggressiveness that many consider to be the best work of the Danish author. A savage and nauseating descent into hell -literal- in which Von Trier, personified through a brilliant Matt Dillon, atones for his sins and loudly proclaims his most controversial opinions while signing a master class in the history of art and, step, of cinematographic realization.
‘Creed II: The Legend of Rocky’ (‘Creed II’)
Direction: Steven Caple Jr.
Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Dolph Lundgren
Release date: January 25
After the splendid resurrection of the ‘Rocky’ franchise conducted by Ryan Coogler in the spin-off premiered under the title of ‘Creed’, the director’s departure to tackle the continuation of Adonis Creed’s adventures set many as a jug of cold water. But the work of Steven Caple Jr. has ended uprising as an exemplary sports drama that shines equally in both its most intimate moments and when it turns to transmit all the epic of boxing during simply spectacular matches. We may not see Balboa and company again on the big screen, but with a farewell of this caliber, we could not ask for more.
Winner of the deserved Oscar to the best supporting actor and the best original script , and of the not-so-deserved statuette for the best film , ‘Green Book’ may not be the typical feature film precooked and calculated to the millimeter to please the audience and generate good sensations thanks to his well-intentioned message, like any good feel good movie worth his salt. But behind this façade hides a canonical road movie with which Peter Farrelly gives a great lesson on how to squeeze the dynamics between characters to elevate a good movie to the category of an instant classic.
‘Alita: Angel of combat’ (‘Alita: Battle Angel’)
Direction: Robert Rodriguez
Cast: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Jackie Earle Haley, Ed Skrein
Release date: February 15
This huge blockbuster could only have been possible by unifying the efforts of an artisan narrator like Robert Rodriguez and a visionary like a teacher James Cameron. It can not be argued that the script of this coming-of-age cyberpunk circulates in more than commonplaces, but the film manages to overcome this small flaw to provide a cocktail of spectacle, technology, and emotion that translates into a film simply revolutionary and that marks new horizons in the industry.
’70 binladens’
Address: Koldo Serra
Cast: Emma Suárez, Nathalie Poza, Hugo Silva, Bárbara Goenaga, Daniel Pérez Prada
Release date: March 8
The first great Spanish premiere of 2019 has come hand in hand with a Koldo Serra who, after delighting us with his return to the big screen after ten years away from her with the fantastic ‘Gernika’ , returns in style with a thriller of exemplary robberies, rolled and written with neurosurgeon precision and interpreted with verve by some Emma Suárez and Nathalie Poza unpayable. A tense film, entertaining and full of surprises that shows the best side of the Spanish industry.
‘Pain and glory’
Address: Pedro Almodóvar
Cast: Antonio Banderas, Asier Etxeandia, Penelope Cruz, Leonardo Sbaraglia
Release date: March 22
If we used to talk about Lars Von Trier and his ‘La casa de Jack’, we could catalog the new Pedro Almodóvar as a kind of dark side of the Danish film. Because the Manchego, winner of the Oscar for the original script of ‘Talk to her’ , has completely undressed his soul in a fabulous exercise of self-fiction , projecting his image on a particularly inspired Antonio Banderas that rounds out an honest, intense and heart-rending testimony.
‘We’ (‘Us’)
Direction: Jordan Peele
Cast: Lupita Nyong’o, Elisabeth Moss, Winston Duke, Tim Heidecker, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
Release date: March 22
After Jordan Peele rose to the Oscar for the best original screenplay for that cathedral of horror films that is ‘Let me out’, many of us feared we were facing a new case of a one-hit wonder. Fortunately, the New Yorker’s new work shines again resplendent, consolidating it as a contemporary master of horror thanks to its handling of tone and atmosphere and a social component that has nothing to envy the best George A. Romero – and this is much tell.
‘Shazam!’
Direction: David F. Sandberg
Cast: Zachary Levi, Jack Dylan Grazer, Mark Strong, Asher Angel, Grace Fulton
Release date: April 5
After having lost almost all the faith in the DC Universe after linking two disappointments like ‘League of Justice’ and ‘Aquaman’, it was not a hard one for the solo adventure of the formerly known as Captain Marvel. Luckily, the surprise has been gigantic, because of the two hours of ‘Shazam!’ They have managed to do the opposite with their protagonist: to become a child during the screening. And all thanks to a family comedy cocktail, first class action and a certain nostalgic point with a lot of heart that place it among the highest of the filmography of Detective Comics.
‘Leto’
Direction : Kirill Serebrennikov
Cast : Irina Starshenbaum, Teo Yoo, Roman Bilyk
Release date : April 26
Almost by surprise, the Russian filmmaker Kirill Serebrennikov brings us from his native Russia one of the great films of the season. A ‘Leto’ that, set in the repressive Leningrad of the early 80’s, pays tribute to the ill-fated Viktor Tsoi in a biopic that escapes those clichés, common places and academicisms so typical of the contemporary genre . A fantastic monochromatic musical orgy, vindicating as the Sex Pistols, pompous as Lou Reed, energetic as the T-Rex and as brilliant as the great rock legends that their protagonists idolize as they struggle to find their place in a world that seemed have no space for them.
‘Avengers: Endgame’ (‘Avengers: Endgame’)
Direction: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo
Release date: April 25
It may be that ‘Avengers: Endgame’ has not reached the levels of impact and surprise of its predecessor ‘Infinity War’ , but this superheroic delight of three unpayable hours will be remembered as one of those film milestones that, as happened in its moment with the legendary “I am your father” from “The Empire Strikes Back”, we will yield to future generations with nostalgia and enthusiasm . An authentic festival that puts the best point and followed imaginable to 11 years and 22 movies together with the most powerful heroes on Earth, which, at this point, are already like home.
Mudassar Hassan brings 8 years of experience in helping grass roots, mid-sized organizations and large institutions strengthen their management and resource generating capacities and effectively plan for the future. He is also a mentor and professional advisor to artists working in all disciplines.
He is also the gold medalist from Abbottabad University of Science and Technology in the Bachelors of Sciences of Computer Science and recently Graduated from the University of Bolton with Masters in International Management.
