Movies to Watch in 2019
With 2018 in the rear-mirror, time has arrived once again to list the movies I am looking forward to watching in 2019. Do note the list is by no means definitive, and will be revised as the year rolls on.
Velvet Buzzsaw (Feb. 1) - Director Dan Gilroy and Jake Gyllenhaal come together after Nightcrawler in this horror-thriller that has got me salivating just after reading its one-line premise: "After a series of paintings by an unknown artist are discovered, a supernatural force enacts revenge on those who have allowed their greed to get in the way of art."
Us (Mar. 22) - Get Out director Jordan Peele's upcoming psychological horror promises to upend the haunted house narrative for what appears to be another "thought-provoking popcorn movie."
The Woman in the Window (Oct. 4) - A. J. Finn's psychological thriller of 2018 gets a mainstream adaptation with Amy Adams in the lead.
The Lighthouse (tba.) - Robert Eggers, director of the atmospheric, disturbing supernatural horror The Witch, follows it up with a black-and-white dark fantasy period piece starring Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson.
I'm Thinking of Ending Things (tba.) - Charlie Kaufman, writer and director of movies such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Synecdoche, New York and Anomalisa, returns after four years with Ian Reid's 2016 horror thriller of the same name.
Ma (tba.) - "A lonely woman who befriends a group of teenagers leads to torturous consequences for the kids," goes the plot description, and if that doesn't intrigue you, I don't know what else will.
The Goldfinch (Oct. 11) - Donna Tartt's ginormous 2013 novel gets its cinematic take starring Ansel Elgort as Theo.
The Earthquake Bird (tba.) - Another thrilling mystery novel turns into film that will be streaming straight into our eyeballs via Netflix in 2019.
The Report (Jan. 26, Sundance Film Festival) - Formerly titled The Torture Report, writer of Contagion and Side Effects, Scott Z. Burns, makes his directorial debut with a dramatisation of Daniel J. Jones's painstaking efforts to make the damning "Torture Report" public, detailing CIA's use of enhanced interrogation techniques on detainees between 2001 and 2006 during the War on Terror.
Wounds (Mar. 29) - Babak Anvari, after his unnerving 2016 Persian film debut Under the Shadow, makes a full-fledged entry to Hollywood with a chiller starring Armie Hammer and Dakota Johnson.
Midsommar (Aug. 9) - Are you ready for more twisted mind-bending horror from Hereditary director Ari Aster? Because, I am!
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Jul. 26) - Quentin Tarantino's ninth film based on the Tate murders headlined by Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie.
Where'd You Go, Bernadette (Mar. 22) - Boyhood director Richard Linklater adapts Maria Semple's novel of the same name, with Cate Blanchett in the titular role.
In the Tall Grass (tba.) - If it's written by Stephen King, you can be almost sure it will be on the fast track to Movieville, and this 2012 horror novella written along with his son Joe Hill is no different. The logline? After hearing a young boy's cry for help, a sister and brother venture into a vast field of grass in Kansas but soon discover that there may be no way out.
Pet Sematary (Apr. 5) - One of Stephen King's most famous novels gets its second cinematic adaptation, and you know what? Reading this horror work even today gives me the chills!
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (Jan. 26, Sundance Film Festival) - The story of serial killer Ted Bundy narrated from the perspective of his girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer. Zac Efron plays Bundy.
Knives Out (Nov. 27) - Looper helmer Rian Johnson, fresh from directing Star Wars: The Last Jedi, crafts a a true-blue Agatha Christie-like whodunit, with Daniel Craig and Chris Evans in the lead.
Parasite (tba.) - After delivering uniquely compelling films such as The Host, Snowpiercer and Okja, Bong Joon-ho makes a drama about a family of four with unique characteristics. Make of it what you will!
The Lodge (Jan. 26, Sundance Film Festival) - A chilling psychological horror film from Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, starring Riley Keough, who has been raking up some serious indie cred with her work in American Honey, It Comes at Night, The House That Jack Built, Under the Silver Lake and Hold the Dark.
Avengers: Endgame (Apr. 26) - Of course, this list is going to be incomplete without the final instalment of Avengers. After all, who doesn't want to know what happened to MCU after Thanos snapped his fingers!
Others movies worth a mention: Ad Astra, The Truth, After The Wedding, Share, The Souvenir, Koko-di Koko-da, Divine Love, Cold Case Hammarskjöld, Bergman Island, The Good Nurse, I Was at Home, But…, Synonyms, Tremors, Waves, Fireflies, Impossible Monsters, End of the Century, Vivarium, A White, White Day, My Dear Friend, Monsoon, Sophia Antipolis, G Affairs, Particles, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Beanpole, Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains, Swallow, The Blue Flower of Novalis, Marriage Story, Only the Animals
Other movies that made their festival debut in 2018 but will release in 2019: Sunset, The Image Book (Jan. 25), Birds of Passage (Feb. 13), High Life (Apr. 19), Sorry Angel, Piercing (Feb. 1), The Wild Pear Tree, Transit (Mar. 1), Under the Silver Lake (Apr. 19), The Nightingale, In Fabric, The Mountain
Velvet Buzzsaw (Feb. 1) - Director Dan Gilroy and Jake Gyllenhaal come together after Nightcrawler in this horror-thriller that has got me salivating just after reading its one-line premise: "After a series of paintings by an unknown artist are discovered, a supernatural force enacts revenge on those who have allowed their greed to get in the way of art."
Us (Mar. 22) - Get Out director Jordan Peele's upcoming psychological horror promises to upend the haunted house narrative for what appears to be another "thought-provoking popcorn movie."
The Woman in the Window (Oct. 4) - A. J. Finn's psychological thriller of 2018 gets a mainstream adaptation with Amy Adams in the lead.
The Lighthouse (tba.) - Robert Eggers, director of the atmospheric, disturbing supernatural horror The Witch, follows it up with a black-and-white dark fantasy period piece starring Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson.
I'm Thinking of Ending Things (tba.) - Charlie Kaufman, writer and director of movies such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Synecdoche, New York and Anomalisa, returns after four years with Ian Reid's 2016 horror thriller of the same name.
Ma (tba.) - "A lonely woman who befriends a group of teenagers leads to torturous consequences for the kids," goes the plot description, and if that doesn't intrigue you, I don't know what else will.
The Goldfinch (Oct. 11) - Donna Tartt's ginormous 2013 novel gets its cinematic take starring Ansel Elgort as Theo.
The Earthquake Bird (tba.) - Another thrilling mystery novel turns into film that will be streaming straight into our eyeballs via Netflix in 2019.
The Report (Jan. 26, Sundance Film Festival) - Formerly titled The Torture Report, writer of Contagion and Side Effects, Scott Z. Burns, makes his directorial debut with a dramatisation of Daniel J. Jones's painstaking efforts to make the damning "Torture Report" public, detailing CIA's use of enhanced interrogation techniques on detainees between 2001 and 2006 during the War on Terror.
Wounds (Mar. 29) - Babak Anvari, after his unnerving 2016 Persian film debut Under the Shadow, makes a full-fledged entry to Hollywood with a chiller starring Armie Hammer and Dakota Johnson.
Midsommar (Aug. 9) - Are you ready for more twisted mind-bending horror from Hereditary director Ari Aster? Because, I am!
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Jul. 26) - Quentin Tarantino's ninth film based on the Tate murders headlined by Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie.
Where'd You Go, Bernadette (Mar. 22) - Boyhood director Richard Linklater adapts Maria Semple's novel of the same name, with Cate Blanchett in the titular role.
In the Tall Grass (tba.) - If it's written by Stephen King, you can be almost sure it will be on the fast track to Movieville, and this 2012 horror novella written along with his son Joe Hill is no different. The logline? After hearing a young boy's cry for help, a sister and brother venture into a vast field of grass in Kansas but soon discover that there may be no way out.
Pet Sematary (Apr. 5) - One of Stephen King's most famous novels gets its second cinematic adaptation, and you know what? Reading this horror work even today gives me the chills!
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (Jan. 26, Sundance Film Festival) - The story of serial killer Ted Bundy narrated from the perspective of his girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer. Zac Efron plays Bundy.
Knives Out (Nov. 27) - Looper helmer Rian Johnson, fresh from directing Star Wars: The Last Jedi, crafts a a true-blue Agatha Christie-like whodunit, with Daniel Craig and Chris Evans in the lead.
Parasite (tba.) - After delivering uniquely compelling films such as The Host, Snowpiercer and Okja, Bong Joon-ho makes a drama about a family of four with unique characteristics. Make of it what you will!
The Lodge (Jan. 26, Sundance Film Festival) - A chilling psychological horror film from Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, starring Riley Keough, who has been raking up some serious indie cred with her work in American Honey, It Comes at Night, The House That Jack Built, Under the Silver Lake and Hold the Dark.
Avengers: Endgame (Apr. 26) - Of course, this list is going to be incomplete without the final instalment of Avengers. After all, who doesn't want to know what happened to MCU after Thanos snapped his fingers!
Others movies worth a mention: Ad Astra, The Truth, After The Wedding, Share, The Souvenir, Koko-di Koko-da, Divine Love, Cold Case Hammarskjöld, Bergman Island, The Good Nurse, I Was at Home, But…, Synonyms, Tremors, Waves, Fireflies, Impossible Monsters, End of the Century, Vivarium, A White, White Day, My Dear Friend, Monsoon, Sophia Antipolis, G Affairs, Particles, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Beanpole, Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains, Swallow, The Blue Flower of Novalis, Marriage Story, Only the Animals
Other movies that made their festival debut in 2018 but will release in 2019: Sunset, The Image Book (Jan. 25), Birds of Passage (Feb. 13), High Life (Apr. 19), Sorry Angel, Piercing (Feb. 1), The Wild Pear Tree, Transit (Mar. 1), Under the Silver Lake (Apr. 19), The Nightingale, In Fabric, The Mountain
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