MOST ANTICIPATED FILMS OF 2019 (AWARDS EDITION)

[numbersix]

Oh my. While I spent the summer scraping together any old film to keep myself occupied, this final third of the year is full of exciting flicks.

Want to See: Little Women, It: Chapter 2, Terminator Dark Fate, Knives Out, By the Grace of God, Freaks, The Report
Already Seen and Liked: Monos, The Lodge, Parasite, The Lighthouse

10. Uncut Gems
Good Time was such a surprise that I have to see this follow-up.

9. Doctor Sleep
Not a massive fan of Mike Flanagan, but very curious about his take on the sequel to The Shining

8. The Day Shall Come
Chris Morris is a legend of subversive storytelling. Been waiting over a year for this.

7. Jojo Rabbit
Taika Waititi as an imaginary Hitler? Sure, why not!

6. Lucy in the Sky
I'm a big fan of Noah Hawley's TV stuff, so I have to see what this space movie is like.

5. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
I loved Girlhood so can't wait for this Cannes winner

4. A Hidden Life
Terrence Malick returns to some for of normal narrative. Yes please.

3. The Irishman
Scorsese reuniting some of his Goodfellas sounds great to me, even if I'll only be able to watch it at home

2. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Yeah, JJ will probably undo the more interesting stuff in The Last Jedi and make something predictable and derivative. But it's Star Wars, goddammit.

1. Atlantiques
Everyone was raving about this in Cannes. Again, it's another Netflix-only film but at least I'll get to see it.

[transformers2]

10.Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker
9.Joker
8.Uncut Gems
7.Knives Out
6.Ford v. Ferrari
5.Jojo Rabbit
4.Jumanjii: The Next Level
3.Rambo: Last Blood
2.Zombieland: Double Tap
1.The Irishman

Also excited for:
It: Chapter 2
The Day Shall Come
First Love
Gemini Man
Parasite
Jay and Silent Bob Reboot
Dolemite is My Name
Terminator: Dark Fate
Earthquake Bird
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Bombshell
1917
Just Mercy

Might see in theaters/on Netflix:
The Goldfinch
Hustlers
Ad Astra
Lucy in the Sky
Jexi
The Laundromat
The Lighthouse
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
Harriet
Motherless Brooklyn
Paradise Hills
Doctor Sleep
Charlie's Angels
The Report
21 Bridges
Dark Waters
Queen & Slim
Marriage Story
Black Christmas
Little Women
Clemency

Going to see just because of how fucking bizarre it looks:
Cats

[JohnErle]

JoJo Rabbit seems too audacious to miss, and Waititi has a good track record.

The Lodge is coming to VIFF so I just watched the trailer yesterday. It looks like my kind of flick. Extra Ordinary and Paradise Hills are also festival possibilities.

The Irishman is worth a look if it actually plays here, and I suspect it will since Roma had a long run downtown.

The Lighthouse and Ad Astra are both maybes, and I'm both intrigued and repelled by that trailer for the Joker. I loved King Of Comedy so this basically looks like a remake, and yet the trailer somehow works.

[numbersix]

The Irishman is the closing film in the London Film Festival. Should I fork out £25 ($30) to sit through over 3 hours of gangsta drama?

[transformers2]

I'm a cheap bastard, so I feel inclined to say no, but if getting the chance to see in a theater means a lot to you, go for it.

[JohnErle]

Can't you write it off as a business expense, Mr. Co-Producer Man?

Also, I forgot to mention that I've already seen Freaks and it's an interesting take on a tired genre.

[Chienfantome]

Alright let's do this !

Already seen and highly recommended : Parasite, By the Grace of God, Pain & Glory
Will see for sure : It, Monos, Gemini Man, Lucy in the sky, Motherless Brooklyn, Doctor Sleep, A beautiful day in the neighborhood, Knives Out. The Irishman and Uncut Gems, I would watch, if they were ever shown outside Netflix. Who knows, one day.

Top 10 most expected films of the season :

10. Ford Vs Ferrari
A solid director, a grat duet of actors, a good story, I can't stay I'm really excited about it but I'm sure it's gonna be a good film.

9. Dark Waters
Todd Haynes has had highs and lows, Far from Heaven and Carol for example are such beautiful films. Hope this is gonna be a good one.

8. Jojo Rabbit
Sounds crazy. And I love crazy.

7. The Lighthouse
The Witch was creepy as hell, can't wait to see what the director has in store for his new one.

6. Star Wars
Well I'm not excited as I used to be, but it's still Star Wars

5. Joker
I love the idea of Phoenix as the Joker, and the look of the first images.

4. 1917
I love war films. I hope this one is gonna add something to the genre.

3. Portrait of a lady on fire
Céline Sciamma has done great films, and this one has such a great word of mouth at Cannes.

2. A Hidden Life
Terrence Malick looks to be back at his best with a stronger narrative line.

1. As Astra
James Gray, yes please. Space adventure but with a lot on its mind ? Double yes, please.

[JohnErle]

Tickets for the Vancouver festival go on sale tomorrow and the (mostly) full lineup was announced today, so as always I'm open to suggestions from folks here. I know Chien will recommend the Malick and Parasite, but the latter is something I'm more likely to see. JoJo Rabbit, The Lighthouse, and The Lodge are tops on my list right now, and I'm curious about The Painted Bird. Has anyone seen that? I heard about the hubbub it caused in Venice so I'm not sure what to think. There's also a special presentation of Deep Red with one of the guys from Goblin doing a live score, so I'm hoping to see that, schedule permitting. The Special Presentations are the higher profile films that usually sell out pretty quickly, but there's a lot of other, more obscure films in the other streams that some of you may have more insight into.

https://viff.org/Online/

[numbersix]

Haven't seen The Painted Bird but I hear it's long and gruelling. It's playing the London Film festival next month but I might skip it, tbh.

Looking at Vancouver, I see On Cinema At The Cinema are doing a live show. If you like the work of Tim Heidecker or Gregg Turkington it's worth checking out.

I'm also hearing good things abour Bacurau, Blood Quantum (I loved the script), Synonyms, and The Wild Goose Lake.

Extra Ordinary is fun but uneven. Portrait of a Lday on Fire is excellent, and A White White Day is quite strong.

[Buscemi2]

Is Cinema at the Cinema that stupid Adult Swim show where they review movies they didn't even bother to watch?

[numbersix]

That's the one. Instead a narrative is formed around the Tim character's egotistical enterprises.

[Chienfantome]

Actually I won't recommend the malick, just because I haven't seen it !

One film I haven't seen yet but I would strongly recommend is Les Misérables, which I have heard great great things about from friends who saw it at Cannes.

Among those I have seen, my biggest recommendations are Parasite, of course, but also Amanda, a very delicate French drama that deals with post November 13 Paris and is such a moving film.
There are also two Korean films that are really good, Another Child and Birthday.

[JohnErle]

Thanks for the recommendations. I'll take a closer look at those you both mentioned.

The blurb for Blood Quantum made me think it could either be preachy and PC or bold and memorable. Hopefully it's the latter. Were they looking for co-production money when you read the script? I also read a bit about Portrait Of A Woman On Fire last night and it's now high on my list.

I think Les Miz is the closing gala so most people will be there to dress up, be seen, and hob-nob, so I'll probably pass. The live score presentation of Spinal Tap might be fun as well, even if I've seen it countless times.

[numbersix]

The live score presentation of Spinal Tap might be fun as well, even if I've seen it countless times.

That sounds amazing.

Yeah, Blood Quantum came to us for closing finance. I wanted to do it but ultimately the numbers didn't add up for us to do it. The script didn't read as preachy because it was so comic-booky, but who knows. We'll find out soon when the reviews come out of TIFF

[JohnErle]

I love Spinal Tap, but the music isn't really the main draw, so it seems a bit of an odd choice for a live score. It's also a widely available film, as opposed to Deep Red, which I've never seen before. I've been tempted to watch live score screenings before (Harry Potter, LOTR, Looney Tunes) but I've never gone yet. If someone puts together a live score screening of a John Carpenter film or Conan The Barbarian I'd be so there.

Have you heard anything about Boyz In The Wood?

It looks like most of the genre stuff I'd want to see will be playing at my neighborhood theatre, which is a big plus. They always do a separate genre weekend later in the year for stuff that VIFF was too posh to program and I've seen some amazing films there, ie. Tigers Are Not Afraid, Hagazussa, & The Lodgers.