And without further ado, here are the top 10 from 2019:

10. Us
Writer/director/producer Jordan Peele returned to fill us with fright and leave behind some food for thought with his new work, Us. Set in the summer in sun drenched California this time, the terror the Wilson family has to endure while on holiday is anything but sunny.
Click here to read our full review

9. The Nightingale
Set in Tasmania in 1825, The Nightingale delivers an adventure of epic proportions. Confronting and unafraid to push the viewer to the edge of repulsion, it will most certainly leave its mark in your grey matter.
Click here to read our full review

8. Avengers: End Game
After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War (2018), the universe is in ruins. With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers assemble once more in order to reverse Thanos’ actions and restore balance to the universe.
Click here to read our full review

7. Booksmart
There is a lot more to Booksmart than it just being a female version of the typical end of High School years romp. It has a big heart and a big brain and it marks the exceptionally strong directorial debut of Olivia Wilde. She delivers a work that will resonate strongly with females but includes much to admire for men as well.
Click here to read our full review

6. Hotel Mumbai
Incredibly intense and relentless, Hotel Mumbai tells the story of the real world events that took place in India in 2008 when ten members of an Islamic terrorist organisation staged a series of attacks and bombings in the city of Mumbai. The siege lasted four days and became the focus of the world’s attention at the time.
Click here to read our full review

5. JoJo Rabbit
With a gloriously absurdest approach to films both big and small, Taika Waititi provides something that is in short supply at the moment. Using Christine Leunens’s novel Caging Skies as the nucleus for his project JoJo Rabbit finds the Kiwi in great form. Leunens’s book about a Hitler youth who finds out his mother is harbouring a young Jewish girl in their house provides the basis for a Waititi screenplay that is rich in humour and subtext.
Click here to read our full review

4. Knives Out
There is something so satisfying when a dialogue based movie truly hits its mark. In the current environment that seems to favour action based films above all else, Knives Out stands out with its delicious dialogue and ever changing finger of blame. Having the writer also be the director, in this case Rian Johnson, makes the entire exercise feels more on point. Little seems diluted from what is a classic whodunnit.
Click here to read our full review

3. The Irishman
Never has Martin Scorsese made the life of a criminal look more mundane or realistic. As you would expect in a film three and a half hours long, there is a lot of down time for the criminals. The banality and tedium of a life outside the law is presented in an unapologetic manner. These eventless moments are starkly contrasted by some of the maestro’s most graphic violence to date.
Click here to read our full review

2. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
In Quentin Tarantino’s penultimate film (if he indeed stops at ten) Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood, we see quite the departure. His other films feel like they were made by someone who lived through the fantasy of film, digesting genres and regurgitating his own. The new work reflects more on his upbringing in Southern California. It’s the world he grew up in. It feels personal and forms a love letter to the Hollywood he grew up around.
Click here to read our full review

1. Parasite
It’s been a very satisfying experience watching the progression of auteur Bong Joon Ho and his most recent work Parasite finds him in absolutely top form. The film works on multiple levels and is a sharp critique on class systems.

And some honourable mentions:

Best Australian Film:
The Nightingale

Best Animated Film:
Toy Story 4

Best Documentary:
Apollo 11

Best Performance:
Joaquin Phoenix – Joker

Film we where most surprised to enjoy:
Ready or Not

Clare (Aisling Franciosi) is a young Irish convict who chases Hawkins (Sam Claflin) a repugnant British Officer across the Tasmanian wilderness in an act of revenge. Hawkins and some of his men have perpetrated unthinkable horrors upon Clare and her young family.

Clare enlists the help of Billy (Baykali Ganambarr), an Aboriginal tracker to aid in her quest. During their journey they learn to respect each other as they witness horrible savagery foisted upon the native Aboriginals by the white settlers. This is accomplished in a very unflinching way.

Writer/director Jennifer Kent follows up her film The Babadook with an amazingly powerful work that is unafraid to take sides and show the atrocities carried out on both the Aboriginal and convict populations of that period. While it is at times incredibly challenging to watch, it provides a great reward for those that are up to the task.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/transmissionfilms

A powerful and beautifully crafted Australian story, THE NIGHTINGALE has received critical acclaim and captivated audiences around the world. The film premiered at Venice Film Festival 2018, where it was awarded the Special Jury Prize and Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Performer, before screening at Sundance Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival London and has been selected to screen at the upcoming Melbourne International Film Festival. The highly anticipated second feature film from Jennifer Kent (The Babadook), THE NIGHTINGALE releases nationally on August 29, 2019.

Written and Directed by Jennifer Kent, THE NIGHTINGALE is a meditation on the consequences of violence and the price of seeking vengeance. Set during the colonisation of Australia in 1825, the film follows Clare (Aisling Franciosi) as she chases a British officer (Sam Claflin) through the rugged Tasmanian wilderness, bent on revenge for a terrible act of violence he committed against her family. On the way she enlists the services of an Aboriginal tracker named Billy (Baykali Ganambarr), who is also marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past.

THE NIGHTINGALE features momentous performances by Aisling Franciosi (The Fall, Game of Thrones) and Sam Claflin (Their Finest, Me Before You), alongside Australian’s Baykali Ganambarr (in his first performance onscreen), Michael Sheasby (Hacksaw Ridge), Damon Herriman (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Justified), Harry Greenwood (Hacksaw Ridge) and Ewen Leslie (Sweet Country, Top Of The Lake).

Jennifer will be appearing at preview Q&A screenings in Sydney at Dendy Newtown and Chauvel Cinema on Sunday 18th August and Monday 19th August, in Melbourne at Cinema Nova on Tuesday 20th August and returning to Tasmania, where the film was shot, for a Q&A screening at the State Cinema on Wednesday 21st August. Full details and tickets are below.

Jennifer graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) and worked extensively in theatre, film and TV as an actor, before undertaking a directing apprenticeship on Dogville, directed by Lars von Trier in 2002. In 2010, Jennifer completed the script program at the Binger Filmlab in Amsterdam, where she developed her feature film The Babadook. The Babadook screened at Sundance Film Festival in January 2014 to critical and audience acclaim, and has won over 50 international and domestic awards.

THE NIGHTINGALE will release in cinemas nationally on August 29, 2019.

Q&A Screening Details
Sydney:
Sunday 18th August at 6pm
Dendy Newtown Q&A Preview Screening
261-263 King St, Newtown NSW
Tickets on sale here: www.dendy.com.au

Monday 19th August at 6.30pm
Chauvel Cinema Q&A Preview Screening
249 Oxford St, Paddington NSW
Tickets on sale here: www.palacecinemas.com.au

Melbourne:
Tuesday 20th August at 6.15pm
Cinema Nova Q&A Preview Screening
380 Lygon St, Carlton VIC
Tickets on sale here: www.cinemanova.com.au

Hobart:
Wednesday 21st August at 6.30pm
State Cinema Q&A Preview Screening
375 Elizabeth St, North Hobart TAS
Tickets on sale soon: www.statecinema.com.au

THE NIGHTINGALE, which enjoyed its world premiere on September 6 in Venice, was the only female-directed film to screen in competition at the festival. On receiving the Special Jury Prize over the weekend, Kent said “To all those women out there wanting to make films, please go and do it, we need you.”

THE NIGHTINGALE is Ganambarr’s first performance onscreen, where he stars in a lead role as Billy. He is a passionate dancer and actor, and performs with the internationally acclaimed Djuki Mala dance group.

Set in 1825, Clare, a young Irish convict woman, chases a British officer through the rugged Tasmanian wilderness, bent on revenge for a terrible act of violence he committed against her family. On the way she enlists the services of an Aboriginal tracker named Billy, who is also marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past. THE NIGHTINGALE stars Aisling Franciosi (Game of Thrones) and Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games) alongside Australia’s Baykali Ganambarr, Damon Herriman (Justified, Breaking Bad), Harry Greenwood (Hacksaw Ridge) and Ewen Leslie (Sweet Country).

This is the second year in a row an Australian film has been awarded the Special Jury Prize at the festival, with Warwick Thornton’s SWEET COUNTRY taking home the coveted prize in 2017. The film went on to make over $2 million dollars at the Australian box office.

“The Nightingale is a powerful and important story, one that we feel privileged to be working on. For the filmmaking team and newcomer Baykali Ganambarr to receive this recognition on the international stage is wonderful,” said Transmission Films Joint Managing Directors Andrew Mackie and Richard Payten.

THE NIGHTINGALE premieres in Australia on 13th October at the Adelaide Film Festival, with tickets now on sale. THE NIGHTINGALE will release nationally in Australia in 2019.
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