With the weather growing colder and outdoor activities looking more unappealing, what better way to spend your free time than at the movie theater? The past year was a fantastic one for cinema, from increasing intersectionality in box office hits such as “Black Panther” and “Crazy Rich Asians” to innovative horror including “Hereditary” and “Mandy.”
Prolific years never exist in a vacuum, so look forward to some of this year’s buzz-worthy films with the Emerald’s 2019 film guide!
M. Night Shyamalan is back on Jan. 18 with “Glass,” the third in his trilogy following “Unbreakable” and “Split.” Opening Jan. 25, a star-studded cast, including Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway, appear in the twisty thriller “Serenity,” directed by Steven Knight.
February provides plentiful options for your Valentine’s Day movie night, from comedy starring Taraji P. Henson (“What Men Want,” – Feb. 8) to horror (“Happy Death Day 2U” – Feb. 14).
But March is the real jackpot. “Climax,” Gaspar Noe’s horror-and-sex-filled dance party comes out on March 1. On March 5, the steamy, post-World War II drama, “The Aftermath,” arrives with Keira Knightley and Alexander Skarsgard. Next follows the heavily anticipated “Captain Marvel” on March 8 and Jordan Peele’s new horror film, “Us,” on March 15. Lastly, make sure not to miss Richard Linklater’s “Where’d You Go Bernadette” on March 22.
April is mostly a dumping ground of seemingly lackluster films, with “Avengers: Endgame” on April 26 being the most exciting of the month. The same is true for May, except for award-winning French director Olivier Assayas’s “Doubles vies (Nonfiction),” on May 3. June’s exceptions are the new X-men film “Dark Phoenix” on June 7, “Men in Black International” on June 14 and “Toy Story 4” on June 21.
Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” follows on July 26, and the rest of the year is mostly a guessing game of release dates and surprise hits.
But don’t forget to check out 2018 festival favorites and independent films without currently known release dates that are slowly trickling into theatres!
Notable independent films: South by Southwest hit “The Breaker Upperers,” Ethan Hawke’s “Blaze,” sleeper hit “Little Woods” and Stephen Moyer of True Blood fame’s directorial debut, “The Parting Glass.”
Notable foreign language films: Academy Award-winning director Asghar Farhadi’s “Todos Los Saben (Everybody Knows),” and Academy Award-winning director László Nemes’ “Sunset.”
