The Skinny's Films of 2019: Our Writers' Top 10s

Thomas Atkinson

1. Transit (Christian Petzold)
2. Atlantics (Mati Diop)
3. Homecoming (Beyoncé)
4. The Irishman (Martin Scorsese)
5. High Life (Claire Denis)
6. The Souvenir (Joanna Hogg)
7. Bait (Mark Jenkin)
8. Zombi Child (Bertrand Bonello)
9. High Flying Bird (Steven Soderbergh)
10. Ash is Purest White (Jia Zhangke)

Honourable mentions: Amazing Grace (Sydney Pollack, Alan Elliott), Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino), Ad Astra (James Gray), Bacurau (Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juliano Dornelles), Us (Jordan Peele)

Alex Barrett

1. The Irishman (Martin Scorsese)
2. Birds of Passage (Cristina Gallego, Ciro Guerra)
3. If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins)
4. mid90s (Jonah Hill)
5. Ghost Town Anthology (Denis Côté)
6. Thunder Road (Jim Cummings)
7. Venezia (Rodrigo Guerrero)
8. Non-Fiction (Olivier Assayas)
9. I, Apostate (Jeremy Moss)
10. The Ghost of Peter Sellers (Peter Medak)

Honourable mentions: Bait (Mark Jenkin), High Flying Bird (Steven Soderbergh), The Report (Scott Z. Burns), The Fall (Jonathan Glazer).

Home release of the year: Mai Zetterling: Complete Filmworks (Mai Zetterling) – Studio S Entertainment; A Case For A Rookie Hangman (Pavel Juráček) – Second Run

GK Bartholomew

1. Manta Ray (Phuttiphong Aroonpheng) 
2. Eighth Grade (Bo Burnham)
3. Midsommar (Ari Aster)
4. Gloria Bell (Sebastián Lelio)
5. In Fabric (Peter Strickland)
6. Booksmart (Olivia Wilde)
7. Holiday (Isabella Eklöf) 
8. Burning (Chang-dong Lee) 
9. 3 Faces (Jafar Panahi) 
10. The Emperor of Paris (Jean-François Richet)

John Bleasdale

1. Parasite (Bong Joon-ho)
2. Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino)
3. The Lighthouse (Roger Eggers)
4. Marriage Story (Noah Baumbach)
5. The Irishman (Martin Scorsese)
6. Joker (Ari Aster)
7. Midsommar (Ari Aster)
8. Us (Jordan Peele)
9. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Celine Sciamma)
10. Knock Down the House (Rachel Lears)

Re-releases of the year: The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949), Singin’ in the Rain (Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen; 1952), The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)

Stinker of the year: Loro (Paolo Sorrentino)

Eleanor Capaldi

1. Captain Marvel (Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck)
2. Toy Story 4 (Josh Cooley)
3. Booksmart (Olivia Wilde)
4. Rafiki (Wanuri Kahiu)
5. Us (Jordan Peele)
6. Animals (Sophie Hyde)
7. Fighting with My Family (Stephen Merchant)
8. The Missing Link (Chris Butler)
9. Sorry We Missed You (Ken Loach)
10. The Last Tree (Shola Amoo)

Tom Charles

1. Midsommar (Ari Aster)
2. Eighth Grade (Bo Burnham)
3. Joker (Todd Phillips)
4. Monos (Alejandro Landes)
5. Booksmart (Olivia Wilde)
6. The Peanut Butter Falcon (Tyler Nilson, Michael Schwartz)
7. Burning (Chang-dong Lee)
8. Rocketman (Dexter Fletcher)
9. Avengers: Endgame (Anthony Russo, Joe Russo)
10. Parasite (Bong Joon-ho)

Honourable mentions: Green Book (Peter Farrelly), Hustlers (Lorene Scafaria), Wild Rose (Tom Harper), Toy Story 4 (Josh Cooley), Three Identical Strangers (Tim Wardle)

Home release of the year: Deadwood: The Movie (Daniel Minahan) – HBO

Stinker of the year: Hellboy (Neil Marshall)

Philip Concannon

1. The Irishman (Martin Scorsese)
2. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino)
3. Amazing Grace (Sydney Pollack, Alan Elliott)
4. One Cut of the Dead (Shinichiro Ueda)
5. If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins)
6. Madeline's Madeline (Josephine Decker)
7. The Mule (Clint Eastwood)
8. Bait (Mark Jenkin)
9. The Souvenir (Joanna Hogg)
10. Happy as Lazzaro (Alice Rohrwacher)

Honourable Mentions: Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Marielle Heller), Diamantino (Gabriel Abrantes, Daniel Schmidt), Fighting with My Family (Stephen Merchant), Hale County This Morning, This Evening (RaMell Ross), In Fabric (Peter Strickland)

Re-releases of the year: Une Femme Douce (Robert Bresson, 1969), The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges, 1941), The Passenger (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1975)

Home release of the year: The Koker Trilogy (Abbas Kiarostami) – Criterion

Stinker of the year: Ladyworld (Amanda Kramer)

Jamie Dunn

1. Happy as Lazzaro (Alice Rohrwacher)
2. High Life (Claire Denis)
3. Bait (Mark Jenkin)
4. Marriage Story (Noah Baumbach)
5. Transit (Christian Petzold)
6. Us (Jordan Peele)
7. The Souvenir (Joanna Hogg)
8. Support the Girls (Andrew Bujalski)
9. Beats (Brian Welsh)
10. Monos (Alejandro Landes) 

Honourable Mentions: Sorry We Missed You (Ken Loach), Midsommar (Ari Aster), Welcome to Marwen (Robert Zemeckis), Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Marielle Heller), Diamantino (Gabriel Abrantes, Daniel Schmidt)

Re-releases of the year: The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges)

Home release of the year: The Last Movie (Dennis Hopper) – Indicator

Stinker of the Year: Vice (Adam McKay)

Patrick Gamble

1. High Life (Claire Denis)
2. Burning (Lee Chang-dong)
3. Ad Astra (James Gray)
4. Heimat is a Space in Time (Thomas Heise)
5. The Souvenir (Joanna Hogg)
6. Ray & Liz (Richard Billingham)
7. Zombi Child (Bertrand Bonello)
8. Rojo (Benjamín Naishtat)
9. Bait (Mark Jenkin)
10. Atlantics (Mati Diop)

Notable Mentions: Sorry We Missed You (Ken Loach), Ash is the Purest White (Jia Zhangke), Midsommar (Ari Aster), Monos (Alejandro Landes), So Long, My Son (Wang Xiaoshuai)

Joe Goggins

1. Only You (Harry Wootliff)
2. Booksmart (Olivia Wilde)
3. Bait (Mark Jenkin)
4. Burning (Lee Chang-dong)
5. If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins)
6. The Souvenir (Joanna Hogg)
7. Eighth Grade (Bo Burnham)
8. Sorry We Missed You (Ken Loach)
9. The Farewell (Lulu Wang)
10. Good Posture (Dolly Wells)

Honourable mentions: Beats (Brian Welsh), The Chambermaid (Lila Aviles), Madeline’s Madeline (Josephine Decker), Pain and Glory (Pedro Almodóvar), Vox Lux (Brady Corbet)

Re-releases of the year: Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock, 1947), Singin’ in the Rain (Gene Kelly/Stanley Donen, 1952), The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jacques Demy, 1964)

Home release of the year: The Before Trilogy (Richard Linklater)  Criterion

Stinker of the year: After the Wedding (Bart Freundlich)

Katie Goh

1. High Life (Claire Denis)
2. The Farewell (Lulu Wang)
3. Hustlers (Lorene Scafaria)
4. Monos (Alejandro Landes)
5. Madeline's Madeline (Josephine Decker)
6. The Souvenir (Joanna Hogg)
7. Apollo 11 (Todd Douglas Miller)
8. Beats (Brian Welsh)
9. For Sama (Waad Al-Kateab, Edward Watts)
10. If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins)

Honourable Mentions: The Nightingale (Jennifer Kent), Hail Satan? (Penny Lane), Border (Ali Abbasi), Atlantics (Mati Diop), Varda by Agnes (Agnes Varda)

Tom Grieve

1. Long Day's Journey into Night (Bi Gan)
2. Transit (Christian Petzold)
3. High Life (Claire Denis)
4. The Irishman (Martin Scorsese)
5. Sunset (Laszlo Nemes)
6. Burning (Lee Chang Dong)
7. Knife + Heart ‎(Yann Gonzalez)
8. Marriage Story (Noah Baumbach)
9. Ad Astra (James Gray)
10. Atlantics (Mati Diop)

Honorable mentions: Ash is Purest White (Jia Zhanke), The Mule (Clint Eastwood), The Beach Bum (Harmony Korine), Varda by Agnes (Agnes Varda), Support the Girls (Andrew Bujalski)

Re-releases of the year: Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1999), The Passenger (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1975), Une femme douce (Robert Bresson, 1970)

Home release of the year: The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On (Kazuo Hara) – Second Run

Stinker of the year: Joker (Todd Phillips)

Ian Mantgani

1. The Souvenir (Joanna Hogg)
2. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino)
3. The Mule (Clint Eastwood)
4. The Irishman (Martin Scorsese)
5. Madeline’s Madeline (Josephine Decker)
6. Burning (Lee Chang-dong)
7. The Dead Don’t Die (Jim Jarmusch)
8. Under the Silver Lake (David Robert Mitchell)
9. Gemini Man (Ang Lee)
10. Welcome to Marwen (Robert Zemeckis)

Ross McIndoe

1. If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins)
2. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino)
3. Hustlers (Lorene Scafaria)
4. John Wick 3: Parabellum (Chad Stahelski)
5. The Farewell (Lulu Wang)
6. Us (Jordan Peele)
7. The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot)
8. Midsommar (Ari Aster)
9. The Man Who Feels No Pain (Vasan Bala)
10. Standoff at Sparrow Creek (Henry Dunham)

Honorable mentions: The Laundromat (Steven Soderbergh), Ad Astra (James Gray), Everybody Knows (Asghar Farhadi), Glass (M Night Shyamalan), The Sisters Brothers (Jacques Audiard)

Home release of the year: El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (Vince Gilligan) – Netflix

Stinker of the year: Pet Sematary (Dennis Widmyer, Kevin Kolsch)

Ben Nicholson

1. Happy as Lazarro (Alice Rohrwacher)
2. Ray & Liz (Richard Billingham)
3. Bait (Mark Jenkin)
4. Hale County This Morning, This Evening (RaMell Ross)
5. The Favourite (Yorgos Lanthimos)
6. Burning (Lee Chang-Dong)
7. Sunset (Laszlo Nemes)
8. Aquarela (Viktor Kossakovsky)
9. Stones Have Laws (Tolin Alexander, Siebren de Haan & Lonnie van Brummelen)
10. The Souvenir (Joanna Hogg)

Honourable mentions: Diamantino (Gabriel Abrantes, Daniel Schmidt), Gemini Man (Ang Lee), Here For Life (Andrea Luka Zimmerman, Adrian Jackson) Jellyfish (James Gardner), Solidarity (Lucy Parker)

Re-releases of the year: Singin' in the Rain (Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly, 1952), Monty Python's Life of Brian (Terry Jones, 1979), Don't Look Now (Nicolas Roeg, 1973)

Home release of the year: Nightcleaners & '36 to '77 (Berwick Street Film Collective) – LUX

Stinker of the year: Vice (Adam McKay) tied with Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino)

Carmen Paddock

1. The Favourite (Yorgos Lanthimos)
2. Bait (Mark Jenkins)
3. Knives Out (Rian Johnson)
4. Can You Ever Forgive Me (Marielle Heller)
5. Eighth Grade (Bo Burnham)
6. John Wick Chapter III: Parabellum (Chad Stahelski)
7. The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot)
8. If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins)
9. Beats (Chris Robinson)
10. Midsommar (Ari Aster)

Honourable mentions: Benjamin (Simon Amstell), Wild Rose (Tom Harper), Fighting with My Family (Stephen Merchant), Doctor Sleep (Mike Flanagan), Blinded by the Light (Gurinder Chadha)

Re-releases of the year: The Shining 4K (Stanley Kubrick, 1980), The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949)

Home release of the year: Elisa y Marcela (Isabel Coixet) – Netflix

Stinker of the year: Long Shot (Jonathan Levine)

Josh Slater-Williams

1. The Irishman (Martin Scorsese)
2. Burning (Lee Chang-dong)
3. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino)
4. So Long, My Son (Wang Xiaoshuai)
5. Little Women (Greta Gerwig)
6. Her Smell (Alex Ross Perry)
7. Beats (Brian Welsh)
8. Support the Girls (Andrew Bujalski)
9. High Life (Claire Denis)
10. Chained for Life (Aaron Schimberg)

Honourable mentions: Too Late to Die Young (Dominga Sotomayor), Hustlers (Lorene Scafaria), Bait (Mark Jenkin), Avengers: Endgame (Anthony Russo, Joe Russo), Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Marielle Heller)

Adam Stafford

1. Madeline's Madeline (Josephine Decker)
2. Burning (Lee Chong-Dong)
3. Beanpole (Kantemir Balago)
4. The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot)
5. High Life (Claire Dennis)
6. Border (Ali Abbasi)
7. Manta Ray (Phuttiphong Aroonpheng)
8. Us (Jordan Peele)
9. Holiday (Isabella Eklö)
10. Fugue (Agnieszka Smoczynsk)

Honourable mentions (For long-form dramas): True Detective Season 3 (Nic Pizzolatto), Unbelievable (Susannah Grant, Ayelet Waldman, Michael Chabon), The Virtues (Shane Meadows)

Re-releases of the year): November (Rainer Sarnet, 2017), Khrustalyov, My Car! (Aleksi German, 1999), Apocalypse Now: The Final Cut (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)

Home release of the year: Matewan (John Sayles) – Criterion

Stinker of the year: Velvet Buzzsaw (Dan Gilroy)

Lou Thomas

1. Monos (Alejandro Landes)
2. The Souvenir (Joanna Hogg)
3. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino)
4. The Lighthouse (Robert Eggers)
5. Knives Out (Rian Johnson)
6. Bait (Mark Jenkin)
7. Beats (Brian Welsh)
8. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Céline Sciamma)
9. Us (Jordan Peele)
10. The Irishman (Martin Scorsese)

Joseph Walsh

1. Marriage Story (Noah Baumbach)
2. The Souvenir (Joanna Hogg)
3. Once Upon A Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino)
4. Little Women (Greta Gerwig)
5. The Irishman (Martin Scorsese)
6. High Life (Claire Denis)
7. Sorry We Missed You (Ken Loach)
8. As Astra (James Gray)
9. If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins)
10. The Favourite (Yorgos Lanthimos)

Honourable Mentions: Birds of Passage (Cristina Gallego, Cairo Guerra), Never Look Away (Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck), Capernaum (Nadine Labaki), Rocketman (Dexter Fletcher), Burning (Lee Chang-dong)

Home entertainment release of the year: Apollo 11 (Todd Douglas Miller)

Re-releases of the year: Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jacques Demy), Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley DoneN, Gene Kelly), Don’t Look Now (Nicholas Roeg)

Stinker of the Year: Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (Joachim Rønning)

---

Read our Films of the Year list here...