16 January 2019 movies top ten
I’m not great at keeping track of upcoming movies, so I’ve used this list from Jacob Hall as a jumping off point to come up with my own top ten most anticipated films of 2019. They are in reverse order from Jacob’s list, with my ranking in parentheses, one being my most anticipated.
Jacob Hall:
25 - Flarsky (8)
23 - Detective Pikachu (5)
16 - Shazam (10)
15 - Joker (7)
14 - Velvet Buzzsaw (9)
7 - Jojo Rabbit (3)
5 - Us (6)
3 - Knives Out (1)
2 - Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2)
1 - Star Wars: Episode IX (4)
My rankings are made purely based on director/writer. Rian Johnson’s Knives Out at number one, Tarantino at 2, and Taika Waititi 3. I have zero doubt I will love these films. With those three helming, it’s a sure thing. Plus their amazing casts, I don’t know what else to tell you. These are three films I’ll probably try to avoid trailers for.
I loved both Episode VII, in the way it felt familiar and Star War-sy, and Episode VIII, with how crazy and different it felt for a Star Wars film so I can’t wait to see what JJ does with IX.
Detective Pikachu just looks so crazy, leaning in to some of the Japanese sensibilities, while bringing some American adventure tropes to the table. Then there’s Us from Jordan Peele. Its going to be tough to follow-up_Get Out_. Us looks a lot more like a straightforward horror, which kept it from being included with my top three, but I’m still hopeful he has some great twists in store for us.
Joaquin Phoenix would probably top my best actor list at the moment with Daniel Day-Lewis retired. Him as the Joker, directed by Todd Phillips, and I think Scorcese is a producer on the film as well? This might just be crazy enough to work.
Flarsky sees Seth Rogan teaming up with Johnathan Levine again. They previously teamed up for 50/50 and The Night Before, both underrated movies. Levine also did Warm Bodies, again, underrated, as well as Snatched… Well no one bats 100%… This time they will be joined by Charlize Theron, Alexander Skarsgard, Andy Serkis, and Randall Park.
Lastly, we have Velvet Buzzsaw, which I wrote a bit about with the trailer last week, and Shazam, which just looks like a blast. As a huge Chuck fan, it’s fantastic to see Zachary Levi play Shazam.