Retrospective 2019- A Year in Film

November

Pre-Holiday Treats

Image sources: Netflix, Lionsgate, Disney & 20th Century Fox

As the year began to wrap-up and we headed towards the award season roller-coaster of early 2020, while our cousins across the pond enjoyed their thanksgiving turkey, the end of Autumn as usual offered up plenty to feast on, including a double treat from Netflix with David Michôd’s reflective pseudo-historical Shakespeare adaptation ‘The King‘, and one of the finest films of the year in the form of Martin Scorsese’s latest biographical mob-masterpiece ‘The Irishman‘. Away from the streaming giant there were plenty of solid choices for smaller film fare, like Aussie-led subversive English fairy-tale ‘Judy & Punch‘ and tense socially-reflective code-switching unconventional family drama ‘Luce‘.

On the more extravagant front November also threw up some bigger and more anticipated releases, crowned by Rian Johnson’s sharp murder-mystery and Agatha Christie tribute ‘Knives Out‘, and blockbuster child-enchanting Disney sequel ‘Frozen II’, plus David vs Goliath motor-racing biopic ‘Le Mans ’66‘ and reboot of a 70s TV series adaptation ‘Charlie’s Angels’.

D-Day 2019

Image sources: Disney

Capping off the year (along with their subsequent Star Wars release), Disney ended the 12 months they owned at the box office by transferring their considerable ambitions to smaller screens, as they launched their much anticipated streaming service Disney+—directly challenging the dominance of Netflix, and putting them head-to-head against major players like Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime in the streaming wars on the home on-demand battlefield.

With an offering ranging from both existing and new original content for their Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm properties, to National Geographic shows and the massive film and TV library from their recent 20th Century Fox acquisition, Disney are looking to cement their position as the kings of all media—which might be great for consumers looking for a hub destination, or fans hungry for superhero crossovers, but might not be so groovy for their competition or the industry as a whole. Disney+ launched in November with the premiere of ‘The Mandalorian’ in North America and The Netherlands, and is available in the UK and Europe from March 2020.

Those We Lost

Image source: Sony, Paramount, BBC & Warner

November saw the passing amomg others of American actor Brian Tarantina (60) (Uncle Buck, Donnie Brasco) and veteran American TV actor William Wintersole (88) (Mission: Impossible, The Young and the Restless), plus veteran Irish actor Niall Tóibín (89) (Far and Away, Ballykissangel) and eccentric American screen regular Michael J. Pollard (80) (Bonnie and Clyde, Scrooged).

December next page>

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