I saw many great films in 2019. Despite Disney dominating the box office happily there is still room for film makers to make great orginal content that is deeply personal. As usual there is an overlap of Australian and overseas release dates and my favourite film was actually released in the US in 2018 and only received a very limited and small release early in 2019. Minding the Gap was a deeply personal and emotional documentary about skateboarders in a small ciity in Illinois. It was impeccable and hard hitting. A wonderful experience. It was nominated for Best Documentary but fell short. Speaking of the Oscars Green Book took home Best Picture which was a shame as there were far superior films such as the magnificent If Beale Street Talk by the uber talented Barry Jenkins. Many foreign language films shone for me in 2019. The German war epic Never Look Away was sublime. Korean films Burning and Parasite were just wonderful and the French film Portrait of a Lady on Fire was near impeccable. Films from Italy and Spain also filled my top twenty. One big story of the year was Netflix. The streaming giant gave me 2 of my top 5. The Scorsese epic The Irishman was magnificent and Marriage Story just blew me away. Today I saw 1917 and it's my pick for the 2020 Best Picture Oscar. But it will have to go on my 2020 list of top films.

1. Minding the Gap
2. If Beale Street Could Talk
3. Marriage Story
4. Never Look Away
5. The Irishman
6. Burning
7. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
8. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
9. Ad Astra
10. Parasite