As 2019 draws to a close, PEOPLE’s critic Tom Gliatto reveals his picks for the 10 best movies of the year. Read on for the full list, a mix of horror, comedy, Oscar favorites and one beloved animated film.
1.Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood
Sony Pictures
Writer-director Quentin Tarantino’s best movie since the twoKill Bills (2003-04),Hollywoodis a work so confounding of expectations it feels like cinematic magic — and what more could you want of a movie?
2.Little Women
Wilson Webb/Columbia Pictures
Director Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott novel is gently radiant with an underlying thoughtfulness — a sensitivity to how decisions shape a woman’s fate — closer to the moral gravity of Jane Austen.Womenalso has the year’s richest ensemble, including Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Emma Watson, Laura Dern and Meryl Streep.
3.Us
4.Ford v Ferrari
Ford v Ferrari.
Christian Bale and Matt Damon team up for this fast-and-furious 1960s bromance about the creators of an American race car destined for France’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. One could say it’s a gas.
5.Knives Out
Jamie Lee Curtis inKnives Out(2019).Claire Folger
Daniel Craig stars in a whodunnit that pays homage to Agatha Christie — until director Rian Johnson decides to throw out all her old rules. The knives stay, though. Eccentric and entertaining.
6.Judy
David Hindley /LD Entertainment/ Roadside Attractions
Renée Zellwegger gives the comeback performance of the year as Judy Garland, a troubled Hollywood icon struggling for one last comeback of her own.
7.1917
Director Sam Mendes’s World War I epic about kid soldiers is a stunt — filmed to look like one long shot — but it’s also a hair-raising adventure. ThinkAdventures of Young Indiana Jones,only in a trench.
8.Toy Story 4
More than 20 years after the originalToy Storychanged the face of movie animation (and family entertainment), Woody finally grows up — at least, as much as a pull-string cowboy can.
9.The Irishman
Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro inThe Irishman.Niko Tavernise
FromGoodfellastoOldfellastoDeadfellas: In director Martin Scorsese’s somber, three-and-a-half-hour masterpiece, hit man Robert De Niro looks back on a wasted life wasting mobsters.
10.Parasite
This surprise Korean hit about a family of grifters is a gripping, ingeniously constructed thriller that ultimately asks: Who are society’s true parasites — the affluent or the underclass?
source: people.com
