4. The Irishman

4. The Irishman

This is perhaps a formula we have seen before from Scorcese. Robert de Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci are once again (possibly the last) under his direction in a film that returns to the gangster tradition of films like Casino to close a circle in the filmography of the director. A film so unbeatable (not only because it lasts three and a half hours, but because of the amount of layers and complexity it has on it) but dazzling as well. It discusses the idea of a goodbye, but a very glorious one. This bombshell is a serious Oscar contender.

5. Long Day's Journey into Night

5. Long Day's Journey into Night

One of the most fascinating films that have been released this year is this poetic romantic dark drama that has a striking particularity: the last act is shot to be seen in 3D. The experience is surprising and sweeping. Far from the conventional narrative, I advise being carried away by the elegant staging and talent of Bi Gan to create deep, ingenious and beautiful images. It may be slow; but its impact remains.

The argument of ‘Long Journey to the Night”, like that of any film that is more a sensory experience than a narrative proposal, it can transpire a certain banality: Luo Hongwu (Jue Huang) returns to the city of Kaili, where he was born, in search of a woman he fell in love in the past and who only retains a name, who knows if it is true. The views are exchanged, the time lines merge and, when he finds a definite clue about his whereabouts, the protagonist enters a cinema that transports him to an unreal area, perhaps from the subconscious, perhaps more reliable than the first half of the movie, and will continue searching while time finally falls apart.

6. The Joker

6. The Joker

Joaquin Phoenix is beyond normal. And what he does in this movie, one of the best of the year, is a wild one. The film about the origins of the most famous villain of Batman shines with its own light as a portrait of a time of social unrest where we are willing to throw ourselves into chaos in order to change the situation. The class struggle, the lack of help from the most vulnerable and the mockery of those who are different are present in this film. Todd Phillips (Hangover Las Vegas) signs a character study so subjective, poetic and controversial that it will resonate from here to the 2020 Oscars (and beyond).

7. Pain and Glory

7. Pain and Glory

I have always been a huge fan of Pedro Almodóvar, I am positive he is irrefutably one of the great directors not only in Spanish but of world cinema. This new movie has made us drop more than one tear, too. Pain and Glory is a reflection on his own career, on his legacy, on everything he has lived from his relationship with his mother in childhood to his passion for cinema in adulthood. It is an exciting journey that constantly mixes reality and fiction, with an absolutely fantastic Antonio Banderas, which by the way Almodovar is the only the director who can make Banderas really shine, I don’t like most of his acting jobs except the ones with Pedro. This film you get nominations for the 2020 Oscars, no doubt.

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8. Knives Out

8. Knives Out

What's new in Rian Johnson? (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) Well, this film which is a kind of amazingly fun detective story with a political moral. A murder, a family full of suspects (and celebrities: Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette, Christopher Plummer, Don Johnson,  Ana de Armas ...) and a French detective (a delusional parody of Hercules Poirot from the novels of Agatha Christie, with a Daniel Craig having a great time, who aspires to solve the mystery that has been created in the mansion. Who will be the murderer? Possibly the most ingenious and fun movie of the year. It stands out above all the extraordinary script of Johnson, who plays with the expectations of the public and the topics of this type of detective stories to offer something original, however much it smells like classic. A production full of small but delicious details with a striking and impeccable casting, orchestrated with the usual skill of the filmmaker, which brings out the best of each performer. An exquisite film, in short, that you want to see again.

9. Midsommar

9. Midsommar

This is one of the most amazing, stimulating and fun movies of the year. Yes, fun, because despite being sold as a horror film, the truth is that the new Aster film is a personal cocktail that plays with elements of terror but where there are moments of comedy and drama, as well as a reflection on the couple. It is confirmed that 'Hereditary' was not an accident. The only "but" that can give to 'Midsommar' is the excessive 147 minutes; 

That said, I am looking forward to discovering what is in that extended three-hour version (perhaps small details that help digest the footage with more pleasure).

This new Ari Aster movie may not reach the hereditary malrollism and terror quotas, one of the best horror movies of the past year (and probably of the decade), but it doesn't matter: his hallucinogenic journey into the bowels of a Swedish spring sect is such an appealing mix of comedy and suspense that we can only fall for it.

10. Ad Astra

10. Ad Astra

The new film from James Gray (Z The Lost City) is a mixture between Apocalypse Now and 2001: Space Odyssey that exchanges the father figure for that of God to confront the human being with the vast uncertainty of outer space.

Brad Pitt is one of the few true movie stars left in Hollywood and this film certainly proves that, the camera loves him. He does a great job as well. This film is an impressive space odyssey that curiously fails when it focuses on the trauma of its protagonist.

Pitt plays "Ad Astra" to Roy, an astronaut who receives a mission of the most particular: locate his father in space, who has been missing for several decades but who suspects that he is behind a threat that could end up destroying the Earth. This film, in classic forms and grandiloquent messages, is a science fiction prodigy, with some memorable sequences that we will be remembering for a long time.