UKC

All lists in each category are in no particular order. Trying to stick to 2019 cinema releases but some may have been out in 2018, and Tulip Fever is a special case in more ways than one, and JoJo Rabbit is not on wide release until 2020 etc. 

I am not picking "absolutes" from each category apart from "Worst"(*).
This is already a selective bunch, there's loads of stuff that was either "quite good" or "pretty mediocre" that could have filled up the middle two categories - Happy Death Day 2U, Doctor Sleep, Midway etc etc. 






Best of the year: 
 

The Favourite
Vice
Beautiful Boy
Missing Link
Styx
Destroyer
If Beale Street Could Talk
Free Solo
Five Feet Apart
Midsommar
Once Upon A Time in Hollywood
The Goldfinch
Joker
Official Secrets

Nice surprises:
 

Welcome to Marwen
The Aftermath
Crawl
Rocketman
Jojo Rabbit
Captain Marvel
Hellboy
Red Joan
Good Posture
The Day Shall Come
Knives Out

Let-downs:
 

Green Book
The Mule
Bumblebee
Toy Story 4
Can You Ever Forgive Me
Us
Ad Astra
Motherless Brooklyn

Worst:
 

Tulip Fever
Greta
Colette
Yesterday
Stuber
Rambo: Last Blood
Judy
The Aeronauts


* Although Tulip Fever got 1/10 and Stuber got 2.5/10, I'd say that Stuber was the worse film (this is a peculiarity of my scoring system, discussed previously ad nauseum). Actually Greta seems to have got a generous 3/10 or 3.5/10 and I am wondering whether that should be worst of the year due to wasting three strong talents and taking itself seriously. 

PS the reason that Tulip Fever is a "special case" w.r.t "is it a 2019 film":

it was filmed in 2014 but after poor test audience screenings, was shelved for two years, then shelved again for another year, and after that it even then only tended to get screened at a few festivals etc and AFAIK really never had any sort of "wide" release even on an "independent movie" scale. I'd never heard of it until early this year.

I haven't been trying hard enough this year. Out of your list I've only seen captain marvel and ad astra (which I also found depressingly boring)

I also haven't tried hard enough. As I often mention, I have the double-edged sword of an annual unlimited Cineworld pass (with Cineworld 8-screen cinema an 8 minute walk from my front door). 

This means I am less likely to see more arty fare in independent cinemas which represent a £20 night out and take the whole evening (in town, I can do some climbing AND cinema, or if ambitious, swimming and climbing and cinema! All for a lot cheaper). So I have not seen Monos, but I have seen Charlie's Angels (2019)! 


As an aside, I see there is a whole lot of Steve Carell and Keira Knightley in my list! Steve somewhat more positive, with two entries in "Best" and one in "nice surprise"! 

Just sat through John Wick 3 and it can go in the worst category without much hesitation. Beyond pointless.

Aren't most films pointless magic-lantern distractions though?

I liked it despite its silliness. 

And Tombstone is not half as good as you think it is  

I don't know how you dare mention "Tombstone" in the same thread/ breath as a John Wick film. 

You do have a peculiar obsession with not mentioning [thing that Tom V likes] anywhere near [thing that Tom V doesn’t like ]

It is not as if I am comparing the two. Sometimes you really do need to get over yourself. 

I'm the same with baked beans. Ok on their own or at a pinch with fried bacon ( if done in the fat) but  definitely not allowed to taint a full Englsh by their proximity/presence.

Though my comment about Tombstone is usually just seen as a figure of speech, or so I thought.

I thought Stuber was okay. Though I did see it on a plane, and pretty much anything that helps pass the time counts as okay

I don't think you'd have felt short-changed if you'd blown £20 on an evening featuring Monos. In the top five of the year for me - and seemed to prove popular at our local independent (the excellent Electric, Birmingham), since I think they extended its run.

I am sure you are absolutely right and it’s not even really so much about the money. It’s a weird thing of “well why go to that when you can watch SOMETHING at the cinema right HERE effectively for free”. Totally irrationally when SOMETHING is Annabelle: Creation or the new Child’s Play or The Curse of La Llorona.

Mind you I paid actual money to see Tulip Fever!