The Top Ten Films of 2019

December 19, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Lists, Most Popular Tagged Ad Astra, Climax, Her Smell, In Fabric, Midsommar, Parasite, The Lighthouse, Top Ten, Uncut Gems, Us, Waves Leave a comment

One hundred and fifty. That’s the final tally for new release movies I’ve seen this year as of writing this here article. The shot clock is up. The endpoint to officially putting my selection for the top ten films of 2019 is kaput. The decision is written into stone. Out into the ether. That means I had to give the old Thanos snap to 140 movies in the process and this year’s selection sumo-wrestling was just as painstaking and awful as any other. The things I do for clicks. ‘Twas a fine year for film with a smattering of highlights, from magic rock dramas to alligator horror, anime blockbusters to feminist comedy, with critical darlings and box office hits often coming from the least expected of corners. Oh and Disney cleaning up at the bank per usual. Read More

‘US’ a Superfly Flurry of Inventive Horror-Comedy World Building

March 20, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Elisabeth Moss, Evan Alex, Horror, Jordan Peele, Lupita Nyong'o, Michael Abels, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Shahadi Wright Joseph, Us, Winston Duke 3 Comments

Comedy and horror exist in harmonious marriage to one another. Even the grimmest horror exploits regularly squeeze uncomfortable laughs from packed crowds, too hopped up on their own nerves not to giggle with anticipation or great relief after a big scare. Screams and laughs are the wine and cheese of any good horror movie, a perfect pairing, and Jordan Peele’s uncompromisingly cool Us comes boasting a delicious vintage of both. Read More

HORROR MOVIES TO SCARE THE SH*T OUTTA US IN 2019

March 7, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Lists Tagged 3 From Hell, Brightburn, Child's Play, Crawl, Grudge, Horror, It: Chapter 2, Little Monsters, Ma, Midsommar, Pet Semetary, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, The Hole in the Ground, The Lighthouse, The Lodge, The Nightingale, Us, Wounds Leave a comment

2019 is already off to a hot start when it comes to my favorite genre: horror. Between Gaspar Noe’s wrecking ball of a breakdown with Climax, the highly overlooked creeper The Prodigy, and Nicolas Pesce’s anti-love body horror cat and mouse game Piercing, 2019 is off to the races with fantastic offerings for the genre. Even the slight (and only tangentially horror) Happy Death Day 2 U was a fun theatrical distraction. But the year is long and the number of potential horror hits higher than ever. There is no doubt that a handful of these will be joining our countdown of the 100 greatest horror films of the decade come the end of the year. Check out the breakdown of what to expect for horror for the remainder of 2019.

Do note that this is not a comprehensive list of all 2019 horror movies to come as I’ve intentionally left off fare like the second untitled Annabelle sequel (first time director and a checkered past with the franchise has me thinking it won’t be very good) and The Curse of La Llora (the trailer was simply awful, hoping the film is much better.) Similarly I don’t have New Mutants on here (not convinced it’ll ever see the light of day at this point honestly) and the 47 Meters Down sequel (does not look inspired in the least bit). So don’t come after me.
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