Top30 Film Discoveries of 2019

I have been… a terrible writer this year. A terrible music listener, and -apparently- a poor new-movie watcher, as well. I had no idea about the latter one. According to my sole 2019 post on the very Top30 Film Discoveries, I watched over 126 brand new films of the 384. And even though I felt totally proud about watching just short of 440 movies (438, to be precise), I only watched 103 brand new movies. I’m aghast.

Things to note this 2019 is that a lot of my movie-watching was focused on MUBI curated films— not only the artsy fartsy films, but I have discovered my utter weakness for Thai romantic comedies, and I’ve started dipping my toes in South East Asian cinema. Netflix has also incremented their foreign titles acquisitions, with an increasing variety of not only Pan-Asian films and dramas, but a lot of European (especially French) content. Their weakest seems to be Indian content, but with brand new productions, Netflix is set to compete with Amazon Prime, which seems to host most of the Indian content I’ve been searching for.

30. Dot 2 Dot (點對點)

In a year where Hong Kong people seem to be looking into their history and exploring their own identity, Dot 2 Dot follows the life of a recent Mainlander woman who finds a mysterious dot pattern across the city, and by solving one by one meets the dot graffiti man with strong ties to its history.

Still available for stream on Netflix.

29. Serpico

The 60s-70s are my weakest movie years, so I’ve set out to watch more films from these eras.

28. April Snow (외출)

Might have been available on MUBI.

27. Lily Sometimes (Pieds Nus sur les Limaces)

It never would’ve crossed my mind to have Ludivine Sagnier and Diane Kruger playing polar opposite sisters that have to manage to balance their lives with each other after the passing of their mother.

The film was scheduled on MUBI.

26. The Sinking of Van Der Wijck (Tenggelamnya Kapal van der Wijck)

The Asians and their love promises, their love grudges, their long-term paybacks, and their suffering.

The film was available on Netflix, and might still be in certain regions.

amy

YAM Magazine editor, photographer, blogger, translator and part-time web designer. Film junkie, music junkie… and lately series (a.k.a. TV) junkie.

3 Responses

  1. Glad to see The Saddest Music in the World and Blind Woman’s Curse here! Already put some others here on my to-watch list

  1. January 11, 2020

    […] Compared to 2018, I logged 480 films (though over 50 or even many more could be short films), which represents a 23% increase. In terms of hours, there was an increment of over 100hrs or 16%. This increase still doesn’t match my 2015 levels, when I reached 530 logged films (9.5% short) or clocked 959hrs (14% short)… but it’s getting there. I am still at 2017 New-To-Me level of movies, though. […]

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