My 6 Favorite Movies of the Year

2019 was the year of the reboots. Movies such as The Lion King, Aladdin, and Dumbo have been revamped for a newer, younger generation while shows such as The Twilight Zone have come been revitalized by Jordan Peele. While these new movies maintain the consistency of their predecessors, the movies do not hold the integrity that the originals once had. Lately, I’ve been feeling as if Hollywood has been working more towards reviving older shows that were successful in the past in attempts to make more money. There were a lot of movies that came out this year that were not reboots or spin offs that deserve the box office praise and recognition it deserves. Here is a list of my 7 favorite movies that came out this year:

1. Toy Story 4

I will admit…the Toy Story movies were my all time favorites growing up. And I will proudly state this for as long as I am alive. The beautiful thing about the Toy Story franchise is that the producers understand the concept of change. People change, they grow up. Andy is already off to college, and his toys have been handed over to Bonnie. Toy Story 4 is the final installment of the Toy Story saga, and this movie serves as an appropriate marker of the end of our nostalgic wistfulness. Sometimes, it’s okay for things to end, let this movie be a reminder of that.

2. The Farewell

The Farewell, directed by Lulu Wang, is a comedy drama film about a Billi, a Chinese-American writer who discovers that her grandmother has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Much to her surprise, the rest of the family has decided to not tell the grandmother about her diagnosis. This movie is a tearjerker that tackles on the cultural differences of the concept of death between Eastern and Western cultures.

3. Midsommar

If you are looking for bone chilling, you got it. Midsommar, directed by Ari Aster (also directed Hereditary), follows the life of Dani, who is traumatized after her family had been killed by carbon monoxide poisoning. In attempts to ease her depression, she follows her boyfriend Christian and his friends, who were invited out to Sweden to visit his friend Pelle’s ancestral commune. The group flies out only to find that the commune is a pagan cult. The trailer does not serve the movie any justice. Prepare for 147 minutes of sheer discomfort.

4. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Many of my friends were not fans of Quentin Tarantino’s (supposed) penultimate film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. However, there is something beautiful in the perils of Rick Dalton (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and his career. Struggling to escape being pigeonholed into playing one character archetype for the rest of his life, Dalton searches for his identity with the help of his friend Cliff Booth, a war veteran who is also his stunt double. Once Upon A Time in Hollywood captures the humanity of celebrities in Hollywood.

5. The Lighthouse

Never in my life would I have expected to hear that Robert Pattinson, vampire heartthrob of Twilight, would star alongside Willem Dafoe in what may be the scariest movie I’ve seen this year. The Lighthouse, directed by Roger Eggers, is a psychological horror film following two lighthouse keepers who are left stranded on an island after a storm begins to pick up steam.The two are forced to keep their sanity for the duration of their stationing on the island. This movie truly blurs the lines of sanity and questions the validity of whose word is truth.

6. Parasite

I know that this is the second time I mentioned this article, and at this point, if you haven’t seen this film yet…WHAT ARE YOU DOING?? Parasite is a dark comedy thriller film which tells the story of a young man from a poor household who takes up a job as a tutor for a wealthy family’s daughter, leading to the rest of his family to infiltrate the wealthy family’s lives. Parasite is an unforgettable film that touches on the wealth disparity, and how vicious and deadly it can be.

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While there were hundreds of amazing movies that came out this year, these six were my absolute favorites, and I hope you take the time to watch them. If you have a top six list of movies from 2019 that do not include these films, comment down below and let me know which movies you loved!