TOP READS OF 2019 - BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR

BEST/FAVORITE TELEVISION OF 2019

UNCUT GEMS (2019)

Directed By: Benny Safdie & Josh Safdie 
Written By: Benny Safdie & Josh Safdie, Ronald Bronstein 
Cinematography: Darius Khondji 
Editor: Ronald Bronstein & Benny Safdie 


Cast: Adam Sandler, Lakeith Stanfield, Eric Bogosian, Idina Menzel, Julia Fox, The Weeknd, Kevin Garnett, Noa Fisher, Keith Williams Richards, John Amos, Judd Hirsch 


From acclaimed filmmakers Josh and Benny Safdie comes an electrifying crime thriller about Howard Ratner, a charismatic New York City jeweler always on the lookout for the next big score. When he makes a series of high-stakes bets that could lead to the windfall of a lifetime, Howard must perform a precarious high-wire act, balancing business, family, and encroaching adversaries on all sides, in his relentless pursuit of the ultimate win.

AD ASTRA (2019)

Directed By: James Gray 
Written By: James Gray & Ethan Gross 
Cinematography: Hoyte Van Hoytema 
Editor: John Axelrod & Lee Haugen 


Cast: Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, Ruth Negga, Kimberly Elise, Loren Dean, John Ortiz, Lisagay Hamilton, Liv Tyler, Natasha Lyonne, Sean Blakemore 


Astronaut Roy McBride travels to the outer edges of the solar system to find his missing father and unravel a mystery that threatens the survival of our planet. His journey will uncover secrets that challenge the nature of human existence and our place in the cosmos.

CRAWL (2019)

Directed By: Alexandre Aja 
Written By: Michael Rasmussen & Shawn Rasmussen 
 Cinematography: Maxime Alexandre 
Editor: Elliot Greenberg 

Cast: Kaya Scodelario, Barry Pepper, Morfyyd Clark, Ross Anderson, Ami Metcalf, Jose Palma, George Sommer 


A young woman, while attempting to save her father during a category 5 hurricane, finds herself trapped in a flooding house and must fight for her life against alligators.

THE LAUNDROMAT (2019)

Directed By: Steven Soderbergh 
Written By: Scott Z. Burns 
Based on the Book “Secrecy World: Inside The Panama Papers Investigation Of Illicit Money Networks and The Global Elite” By: Jake Bernstein 
Cinematography: Peter Andrews 
Editor: Mary Ann Bernard 


Cast: Meryl Streep, Antonio Banderas, Gary Oldman, Jeffrey Wright, David Schwimmer, James Cromwell, Sharon Stone, Robert Patrick, Larry Wilmore, Rosalind Chao, Matthias Schoenaerts, Nonso Anozie, Miracle Washington, Jessica Allain, Jay Paulson, Melissa Rauch, Will Forte, Chris Parnell 


A widow investigates an insurance fraud, chasing leads to a pair of Panama City law partners exploiting the world's financial system. It feels like this films almost a lesson with dramatization added. Based on the Panama papers. It seems like Meryl Streep is the audience surrogate in a buerocratic international video game. Where through her experience we learn all about this situation really about fraud and international banking.

SHAZAM! (2019)

Directed By: Daryl F. Sandberg 
Written By: Henry Gayden 
Story By: Darren Lemke & Henry Gayden 
Based On Characters Created By: Bill Parker & C.C. Beck 
Cinematography: Maxime Alexandre 
Editor: Michel Aller 


Cast: Zachary Levi, Mark Strong, Asher Angel, John Glover, Djimon Hounsou, Jack Dylan Grazer, Faithe Herman, Grace Fulton, Michelle Borth, Megan Good, Adam Brody, D.J. Cotrona, Ross Butler, Cooper Andrews, Marta Milans 


In Philadelphia, Billy Batson is an abandoned child who is proving a nuisance to Child Services and the authorities with his stubborn search for his lost mother. However, in his latest foster home, Billy makes a new friend, Freddy, and finds himself selected by the Wizard Shazam to be his new champion. Now endowed with the ability to instantly become an adult superhero by speaking the wizard's name, Billy gleefully explores his new powers with Freddy. However, Billy soon learns that he has a deadly enemy, Dr. Thaddeus Sivana, who was previously rejected by the wizard and has accepted the power of the Seven Deadly Sins instead. Now pursued by this mad scientist for his own power as well, Billy must face up to the responsibilities of his calling while learning the power of a special magic with his true family that Sivana can never understand.

LATE NIGHT (2019)

Directed By: Nisha Ganatra 
Written By: Mindy Kaling 
Cinematography: Matthew Clark 
Editor: Eleanor Infante & David Rogers 


Cast: Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling, Hugh Dancy, Reid Scott, Denis O’Hare, Max Casella, John Lithgow, Paul Walter Hauser, Luke Slattery, Amy Ryan, Ike Barinholtz, Megalyn Euchikunwoke, John Early, Seth Meyers, Annaleigh Ashford, Halston Sage, Maria Dizzia 


Katherine Newbury is a pioneer and legendary host on the late-night talk-show circuit. When she's accused of being a "woman who hates women," she puts affirmative action on the to-do list, and --presto!--Molly is hired as the one woman in Katherine's all-male writers' room. But Molly might be too little too late, as the formidable Katherine also faces the reality of low ratings and a network that wants to replace her. Wanting to prove she's not merely a diversity hire who's disrupting the comfort of the brotherhood, Molly is determined to help Katherine revitalize her show and career--and possibly effect even bigger change at the same time.

BRITTANY RUNS A MARATHON (2019)

Written & Directed By: Paul Down Colazzio 
Cinematography: Duncan Thum 
Editor: Seamus Tierney 


Cast: Jillian Bell, Jennifer Dundas, Patch Darragh, Alice Lee, Michaela Watkins, Mikey Day, Lil Rel Howery, Micah Stock Kate Arrington, Utkarsh Ambudkar 


Hilarious, outgoing and always up for a good time, New Yorker Brittany Forgleris everybody's best friend -- except maybe her own. At 27, her hard-partying ways, chronic underemployment and toxic relationships are catching up with her, but when she stops by a new doctor's office to try to score some Adderall, she gets slapped with a prescription she never wanted: Get healthy. Too broke for a gym and too proud to ask for help, Brit is at a loss, until her seemingly together neighbor Catherine pushes her to lace up her Converse sneakers and run one sweaty block. The next day, she runs two. And soon, after finishing her first mile, she sets an almost unthinkable goal: running in the New York City Marathon.

NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM (2006)

Directed By: Shawn Levy 
Story & Written By: Thomas Lennon & Robert Ben Garant 
Based On The Book By: Milan Trenc 
Cinematography: Guillermo Navarro 
Editor: Don Zimmerman 


Cast: Ben Stiller, Carla Gugino, Robin Williams, Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, Bill Cobbs, Jake Cherry, Ricky Gervais, Rami Malek, Kim Raver, Paul Rudd, Anne Meara, Steve Coogan 


A newly recruited night security guard at the Museum of Natural History discovers that an ancient curse causes the animals and exhibits on display to come to life and wreak havoc.

KNIVES OUT (2019)

Written & Directed By: Rian Johnson 
Cinematography: Steve Yedlin 
Editor: Bob Duscay 


Cast: Daniel Craig, Ana De Armas, Don Johnson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Lakeith Stanfield, Chris Evans, Noah Segan, Christopher Plummer, Toni Collette, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, Frank Oz, Riki Lindhome, Edi Patterson, M. Emmet Walsh 

When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday, the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc is mysteriously enlisted to investigate. From Harlan's dysfunctional family to his devoted staff, Blanc sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind Harlan's untimely death.

GRETA (2019)

Directed By: Neil Jordan 
Written By: Ray Wright & Neil Jordan 
Story By: Neil Jordan 
Cinematography: Seamus McGarvey 
Editor: Nick Emerson 

Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Chloe Grace Moritz, Makia Monroe, Zawe Ashton, Stephen Rea, Colm Feore, Thaddeus Daniels 


Frances , a sweet, naïve young woman trying to make it on her own in New York City, doesn't think twice about returning the handbag she finds on the subway to its rightful owner. That owner Greta, an eccentric French piano teacher with a love for classical music and an aching loneliness. Having recently lost her mother, Frances quickly grows closer to widowed Greta. The two become fast friends - but Greta's maternal charm begin to dissolve and grow increasingly disturbing as Frances discovers that nothing in Greta's life is what it seems.

PANIC ROOM (2002)

Directed By: David Fincher 
Written By: David Koep 
Cinematography: Conrad W. Hall & Darius Khondji
Editor: James Haygood & Angus Wall 


Cast: Jodie Foster, Kristen Stewart, Forest Whitaker, Jared Leto, Dwight Yoakam, Patrick Bauchau, Ann Magnuson, Paul Schulze, Mel Rodriguez, Ian Buchanan 


Recently divorced Meg Altman and her daughter Sarah have bought a new home in New York. On their tour around the mansion, they come across the panic room. A room so secure, that no one can get in. When three burglars break in, Meg makes a move to the panic room. But all her troubles don't stop there. The criminals know where she is, and what they require the most in the house is in that very room.

JEFF OF THE CINEFILES & UNFINISHED BUSINESS: HALL OF FAME: FILE #0062: 13 TZAMETI (2005)

Written & Directed By: Gela Babluani 
 Cinematography By: Tariel Meliava 
Editor: Noemie Moreau 

Cast: George Babluani, Aurelien Recoing, Pascal Bongard, Vania Vilers 

Sebastian, a young man, has decided to follow instructions intended for someone else, without knowing where they will take him. Something else he does not know is that Gerard Dorez, a cop on a knife-edge, is tailing him. When he reaches his destination, Sebastian falls into a degenerate, clandestine world of mental chaos behind closed doors in which men gamble on the lives of others men.

JOKER (2019)

Directed By: Todd Phillips 
Written By: Todd Phillips & Scott Silver
Based On Characters Created By: Bob Kane, Bill Finger & Jerry Robinson 
Cinematography: Lawrence Sher 
Editor: Jeff Groth 


Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Zazie Beetz, Robert DeNiro, Brett Cullen, Francis Conroy, Shea Whigham, Bill Camp, Josh Pais, Marc Maron, Bryan Callen, Glenn Fleshler, Chris Redd, Brian Tyree Henry, April Grace 


Joker centers around an origin of the iconic arch nemesis and is an original, standalone story not seen before on the big screen. Todd Phillips' exploration of Arthur Fleck, a man disregarded by society is not only a gritty character study, but also a broader cautionary tale. If you are looking for a comic book tale. You will be disappointed. While it doesn’t include the joker and the Wayne family as well as Gotham and arkham. It seems more tied into a psychological character study thriller. That uses all those comic book elements and storyline as a frame for it’s own ideas.

THE FANATIC (2019)

Directed & Story By: Fred Durst 
Written By: Fred Durst & Dave Bekerman 
Cinematography: Conrad W. Hall 
Editor: Malcolm Crowe & Nik Voytas 


Cast: John Travolta, Devon Sawa, Ana Golja, James Paxton, Marta Gonzalez Rodin 


The story is inspired by a real-life fan who pursued Limp Bizkit's frontman Fred Durst many years ago, and the screenplay was written by Durst and Dave Bekerman. It follows Moose, who gets cheated out of meeting his favorite action hero, Hunter Dunbar. Moose then hunts down Dunbar to get the celebrity interaction he feels he deserves. Harmless at first, Moose's actions begin to take a dark turn. Against the advice of his friend Leah, Moose begins to make frequent visits to his hero's private home. As the visits continue to escalate, Dunbar finds himself in increasing danger.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (2012)

Directed By: Marc Webb 
Written By: James Vanderbilt & Alvin Sargent & Steve Kloves 
Story By: James Vanderbilt 
Based on Characters Created By: Stan Lee & Steve Ditko 
Cinematography: John Schwartzman 
Editor: Alan Edward Bell, Michael McCusker & Pietro Scalia 


Cast: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Martin Sheen, Sally Field, Irrfan Khan, C. Thomas Howell, Campbell Scott, Embeth Daviditz, Chris Zylka, Amber Stevens, Tia Texada, Hannah Marks, Vincent Laresca 


After Peter Parker is bitten by a genetically altered spider, he gains newfound, spider-like powers and ventures out to save the city from the machinations of a mysterious reptilian foe.

SPIDER-MAN 3 (2007)

Directed By: Sam Raimi 
Written By: Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi & Alvin Sargent 
Screen Story By: Sam Raimi & Ivan Raimi 
Based On Characters Created By: Stan Lee & Steve Ditko 
Cinematography: Bill Pope 
Editor: Bob Murawski 


Cast: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Topher Grace, Thomas Haden Church, James Franco, J.K. Simmons, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rosemary Harris, James Cromwell, Theresa Russell, Dylan Baker, Bill Nunn, Elizabeth Banks, Ted Raimi, Bruce Campbell, Becky Ann Baker, Willem Dafoe, Cliff Robertson 


Peter Parker has finally managed to piece together the once-broken parts of his life, maintaining a balance between his relationship with Mary-Jane and his responsibility as Spider-Man. But more challenges arise for our young hero. Peter's old friend Harry Obsourne has set out for revenge against Peter; taking up the mantle of his late father's persona as The New Goblin, and Peter must also capture Uncle Ben's real killer, Flint Marko, who has been transformed into his toughest foe yet, the Sandman. All hope seems lost when suddenly Peter's suit turns jet-black and greatly amplifies his powers. But it also begins to greatly amplify the much darker qualities of Peter's personality that he begins to lose himself to. Peter has to reach deep inside himself to free the compassionate hero he used to be if he is to ever conquer the darkness within and face not only his greatest enemies, but also...himself