BEEN to the cinema this year? Me too – here's 10 favourites from the past 12 months with a slight emphasis on great films that didn't necessarily find a wide audience, plus three of the worst ones you would do well to avoid for the rest of your days.
Dolemite Is My Name
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Wesley Snipes, Keegan Michael Kay, Mike Epps
Craig Robinson, Tituss Burgess, Da'Vine Joy Randolph
Director: Craig Brewer
NETFLIX'S Dolemite Is My Name finds Eddie Murphy in his best live action comedic form since Bowfinger. Stocked with a killer cast including a scene-stealing Wesley Snipes and based on the true story of 1970s comedian turned guerilla film-maker Rudy Ray Moore, this compelling tale centres on Moore (Murphy) as he battles to fund and shoot his 1975 blaxploitation classic, Dolemite. A top-drawer, laugh-out-loud addition to the 'films about making films' genre – which also includes the aforementioned Bowfinger, funnily enough.
Joker
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Francis Conroy, Brett Cullen
Director: Scott Phillips
BRILLIANTLY, Joker works as a gritty psychological thriller even for those ignorant of the Batman/DC universe – in fact it probably plays even better. Phoenix's very physical performance as a mentally unstable man who topples over the edge into violent mania/fantasy when cut off from medication and counselling only occasionally strays into distracting showiness, and the grimy mid-70s/early-80s New York inspired setting is tantalisingly evocative of its twin Scorsese touchstones Taxi Driver and King of Comedy.
Le Mans 66
Starring: Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Jon Bernthal, Caitriona Balfe, Tracy Letts, Josh Lucas
Director: James Mangold
MUCH better than it read on paper, based on a true story racing flick Le Mans 66 (AKA Ford vs Ferrari) delivers high-octane thrills with a tasty side of human drama. Bale and Damon excel as stoic racecar builder Carol Shelby and hot-headed maverick driver Ken Miles. Le Mans 66 pips Ron Howard's excellent Rush to take pole position in the notoriously treacherous genre of racing flicks. The less you know about the real life story it's based on the better, so keep away from Wikipedia until you've seen it.
A Bump Along The Way
Starring: Bronagh Gallagher, Lola Petticrew, Dan Gordon
Director: Shelly Love
A NOVEL role reversal up-ending of teen pregnancy drama tropes, this Derry-set comedy drama is an often laugh-out-loud funny affair stocked with well-drawn, believable characters spouting dialogue that crackles with authentic Derry colour and wit. Gallagher shines as unexpectedly expecting middle-aged mum, while Petticrew delivers a memorable performance has her mortified teenage daughter in this low budget, locally accented delight.
Midsommar
Starring: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper, Vilhelm Blomgren, Will Poulter
Director: Ari Aster
A MUST-watch for anyone planning a rural Scandinavian retreat or experimentation with naturally occurring psychotropic substances (or both) in the near future, this claustrophobic, psychologically testing folk-horror begins as something of an atmospheric, character-driven slow-burn before delivering a series of brutal shocks to the system as the creepy commune-set proceedings become increasingly unhinged. An equally memorable/disturbing follow-up to Aster's acclaimed feature debut, Hereditary.
Us
Starring: Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker
Director: Jordan Peele
GET Out writer/director Jordan Peele delivers another horror classic with Us, a wildly ambitious movie in which a nice Twilight Zone-esque set-up – a family's remote holiday home is invaded by a set of terrifying doppelgangers – gradually blossoms into an even wilder story involving government conspiracies and imminent apocalypse. It doesn't quite stick its twisty landing as deftly as Get Out, but great performances and deftly executed shocks/scares make Us one of the year's best chillers.
Sorry We Missed You
Starring: Kris Hitchen, Debbie Honeywood, Rhys Stone, Katie Proctor
Director: Ken Loach
THIS powerful age of austerity drama about 'zero hours' contract workers digs into similar social issues as Loach's previous film I, Daniel Blake, albeit without the feelgood defiance generated by Dave Johns' lead performance. Still, it's another essential snapshot of early 21st century Britain that feels even more timely now than when it first hit cinemas.
Eighth Grade
Starring: Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton, Emily Robinson, Jake Ryan
Director: Bo Burnham
A REFRESHINGLY 'real' American teen movie, Eighth Grade offers a funny, beautifully written snapshot of an intelligent, awkward 14-year-old (the excellent Elsie Fisher) attempting to navigate our pressurised social-media-dominated era. Writer/director Burnham's charming film will chime loudly with anyone who can remember being that awful in-between age.
Bait
Starring: Edward Rowe, Mary Woodvine, Simon Shepherd, Giles King
Director: Mark Jenkin
A UNIQUE looking (thanks to being shot on scavenged black and white 16mm stock) and sounding (thanks to all of its dialogue and sound effects being recorded in post-production) proposition, Jenkins' Cornish 'locals vs tourists' set drama plays like a dreamy homage to 1950s cinema given a fresh twist by modern non-linear storytelling sensibilities and a glowering, deadpan lead performance from Rowe as a gruff fisherman. Low budget film-making at its inventive finest.
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Richard E Grant, Dolly Wells, Jane Curtin
Director: Marielle Heller
RELEASED way back at the start of the year, Can You Ever Forgive Me earned
deserved Oscar nods for its superb leads – McCarthy won, Grant didn't, though both scooped Baftas – in this compelling based on a true story tale of author turned master forger Lee Israel (McCarthy) and her down on his luck accomplice, Jack Hock. In a year of great reality-based film-making, Marielle Heller's funny, poignant Can You Ever Forgive Me? is one people will be returning to for years to come.
THREE TO FLEE: A TRIO OF 2019'S BIGGEST STINKERS
EVERY year has its share of cinematic stinkers – and 2019 has certainly been no exception: here's a trio of truly terrible flicks you may want to avoid for all time...
Rambo: Last Blood
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Yvette Monreal, Paz Vega, Sergio Peris Mencheta, Oscar Jaenada
Director: Adrian Grunberg
THOSE hoping for the final instalment of the Rambo saga to be a gritty return to the franchise's roots in 1982's classic survival/revenge actioner First Blood really should have known better, because Last Blood plays more like a direct-to-DVD sequel to Death Wish. Sly's second most famous character deserved a better send-off.
Serenity
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Diane Lane, Jason Clarke
Director: Steven Knight
THIS wannabe-steamy erotic thriller was such a stinker that its most notable feature – an inventive/bonkers plot twist that would have even M Night Shyamalan raising his eyebrows – came as a welcome relief to audiences. Sadly, the film totally squanders this sliver of redemption in a spectacularly eye-rolling, groan-inducing manner. Should be re-titled Inanity.
Gemini Man
Starring: Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen, Benedict Wong, Douglas Hodge
Director: Ang Lee
DELAYED for decades until CGI caught up with this high-concept actioner about a cloned super-assassin, sadly the de-aging of star Will Smith was still very obviously computer generated to a highly distracting and frankly creepy degree, while human generated elements such as story and script also underwhelmed. A big waste of talent.
