We’re now halfway through the year. Can you believe it? Jeez, this year’s feeling like it’s been going on forever. So, it’s about time to do one of these lists, so we can distract ourselves from the hellscape that is the world in 2019. Oh, and there’s been lots of really great films released this year so far, so here are 25 of my favorites. Keep an eye out for anything you might have missed, and give them a look!
Before I kick off the list, I wanna mention a couple honorable mentions: Fast Color, Captain Marvel, The Kid Who Would Be King, Glass, The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, and To Dust.
And I should also note that despite reaching a hundred movies now in my 2019 view count, I still haven’t gotten the chance to see some movies that either weren’t released near me, or I simply haven’t gotten to them yet, and plan on doing it soon. Notable ones that I’m trying to catch up on are: The Souvenir, High Life, Ash Is Purest Life, Amazing Grace, Her Smell, An Elephant Sitting Still, Non-Fiction, Shadow, The Last Black Man In San Francisco, Climax, The Dead Don’t Die, 3 Faces, Photograph, Dogman, Knife + Heart, Diane, The Wild Pear Tree, and The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. I’ll definitely be caught up before I make my final end-of-the-year list.
If you want to see where you can find these films, you can visit JustWatch.com to see where these movies are available. So, without further ado, here are my favorite films of 2019 so far, in alphabetical order…
Apollo 11
Space movies have always been my jam, so I suppose a documentary featuring never-before-seen footage of all the work that went into the Apollo 11 mission is something that was probably going to appeal to me regardless of how the execution was. That said, I spent so much of this film in awe of what I was looking at. Not only because the footage is legitimately stunning, looking like it might as well have been filmed yesterday, but the craft and the intelligence and determination of what you see on screen is just that awe inspiring. While the theater is ideal for a film like this, you should still watch it on any format you can find. It’s an incredible documentary in the purest sense of the term.
Avengement
Outside of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Avengement features some of the best action I’ve seen all year. Granted, it’s nowhere near as ambitious as the new John Wick, this is still a fairly low budget DTV action flick, but in terms of delivering brutal and intense hand-to-hand brawls, nothing has quite matched this scrappy little movie. Scott Adkins and filmmaker, Jesse V. Johnson, are working at their absolute best here, and that’s saying a lot since their collaborations have been pretty uniformly terrific. If you want to see Adkins beat the absolute hell out of some eccentric British gangsters for 90 minutes, this will more than satisfy you.
Booksmart
It’s a shame that Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut hasn’t made much of a mark in the box office, but hopefully, that won’t stop the film from being discovered by more and more people over time, especially with lists like this, where I’m sure it will appear in many of. This is just a really rock solid coming-of-age comedy with delightful lead performances. It does everything you would want with a genre like this, and it does it with style and inclusivity. If this is still playing near you, I urge you to check it out.
Dragged Across Concrete
I feel like with director, S. Craig Zahler, I’m just waiting for that shoe to drop where I have to say to myself, “yeah, guess I don’t feel very comfortable supporting him from now on,” but until something like that happens, I’ll be enjoying his particularly nasty, unflinching, and idiosyncratic brand of modern exploitation filmmaking. I had my reservations with the film, but when it works, man…it really, really works. I love how the film is willing to take its time, letting you hang out with some really bad people before launching them into a bloody and intense standoff. As a director, it’s easily his most accomplished yet, and I cautiously look forward to whatever depravity he has in store next.
Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga
Despite the film being more of a coming-out story than an actual romance (which I can see being a disappointment for some), this film is such a huge leap forward for Bollywood, and I was so thoroughly delighted by it. In many ways, it is so quintessential Bollywood fluff, but in using some familiar tropes and formulas, the film ends up giving legitimacy and normalcy to same-sex love in a way that I found far more refreshing than if the filmmakers went full tragedy porn instead. I was so happy, crying tears of joy by the end of it, and I hope it marks the beginning of more stories like this being explored in mainstream Indian filmmaking.
Family
It sounds like a long lost 90s comedy – an abrasive workaholic is forced to take care of a weird child, but with an R-rating, some sharp humor from writer/director, Laura Steinel, and stellar lead performance from Taylor Schilling, the film works wonders with what little is has. This is a damn funny movie, the lines are delivered fast and ferociously, the whole juggalo connection is a ton of fun, and it brought some real heart to the central relationship. There’s not a ton to say about it, its pleasures are simple, but expertly executed.
Fighting With My Family
Another really funny movie that happens to feature the word “family” in the title, this time courtesy of Stephen Merchant. While I certainly can’t speak to the film’s accuracy of the story of Paige, it’s an effective use of the rise-to-fame formula that works because Merchant brings a light touch along with a sense of grit and love for the characters and the sport. The film is full of great actors, all of whom are easily able to elevate straightforward material into something more complicated and compelling, and it results in one of the best crowd-pleasers I’ve seen this year so far.
Gully Boy
My other Indian film, and following Fighting With My Family, it’s another rise-to-fame movie, this one being very loosely based on a couple of rappers from the slums of Mumbai. This movies bursts with energy from frame one, and it never lets up. It’s one of the few movies I’ve seen recently that feel genuinely radical, the songs are fantastic, and Ranveer Singh’s performance is amazing. For the longest time, this was my favorite movie of the year. It still is up there, and it’s easily one I won’t be forgetting about anytime soon. Even if you don’t normally watch foreign films, or Indian movies for that matter, this is one I would feel totally comfortable recommending to just about anyone.
Happy Death Day 2U
I liked the first Happy Death Day, I liked it fine. It’s a fairly serviceable Groundhog Day riff with an incredible lead performance from Jessica Rothe, who really should be in more movies now because she’s just that good. The sequel on the other hand, is honestly one of the best horror sequels I’ve seen in a while, and the funny thing is it’s not even a horror movie this time around. Leaning on the comedy, and bringing a sort of 80s college hijinks vibe was such a brilliant move on writer/director, Christopher Landon’s part. This movie is just so much fun in all the ways some of those old college movies were. It’s irreverent, but has a strong emotional arc. It’s deeply weird, but so efficient and committed to the bit that I was charmed from the get-go. What a surprise this ended up being.
High Flying Bird
I’m not a sports person in any way shape or form, much less a behind-the-scenes-of-sports kinda person, but when you get a director like Steven Soderbergh, a writer like Tarell Alvin McCraney, and a cast including the likes of André Holland, Zazie Beetz, Bill Duke, and Kyle MacLachlan…I mean…how can I not be intrigued? This dive into the world of pro basketball is smart, thought provoking, and full of big ideas and ingenious plotting; you’ll quickly forget that the whole thing was shot on an iPhone.
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
This is my favorite film of the year so far. An action extravaganza that is unlike anything I’ve seen since Mad Max: Fury Road. These movies keep getting better and better, and the wild thing is I would describe the first one as perfect. Keanu Reeves is a treasure, and the work from him, director, Chad Stahelski, and the stunt team should be applauded. Watching this made me giddy like a child, and that doesn’t happen often. I can’t wait to watch this one again and again until Chapter 4 comes out.
Leaving Neverland
Somehow having a movie on this list featuring Mel Gibson as an abusive cop is apparently way less controversial than the Michael Jackson documentary. Thankfully, I haven’t experienced much of the fandom’s fury like other critics in that regard. While I don’t necessarily think the doc is one that will 100% turn over a skeptic, I still found it to be a profoundly unsettling experience that only furthered my belief in the victims, especially with them speaking for themselves openly and honestly about what happened when they were young, and how it affected them as they got older. It’s a very demanding and exhausting four hours, but a deeply necessary one.
Check out the rest of the list on the next page!