Most Anticipated Movies of 2019

Of the 30 “Most Anticipated Movies of 2018” I wrote about a year ago, I only ended up seeing half of them. Of the 15 I did see, only seven of those wound up in my Top 20 (of 85) new films I saw in 2018. In fact, a few of the movies I was looking forward to either got pushed back to 2019 (Where’d You Go Bernadette, Charming, Teen Spirit), and Woody Allen’s A Rainy Day in New York looks like it may never be released at this point. So there seems little point in assembling a “most anticipated movies” list at all, except to continue to prove how feeble I am at predicting what I will like, or how bad I am at even knowing which great movies will even be released in the coming year. Nonetheless, once again, here are the movies I’m looking forward to in 2019.

FYRE—Documentary about the now-infamous, would-be music festival that was billed as a luxury experience but slowly unraveled into well documented disaster. (Jan. 18) UPDATE: I watched enough of it to satisfy my curiosity.

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD—Third installment in the Dreamworks animated adventure will apparently find a mate for Hiccup. (Feb. 22)

CAPTAIN MARVEL—Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) becomes one of the universe's most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races. (March 8)

US—In Jordan Peele’s follow-up to Get Out, a mother and father take their kids to their beach house, expecting to enjoy time with friends, but their serenity turns to tension and chaos when some visitors arrive uninvited. (March 15)

AVENGERS: ENDGAME—Follow-up to 2018’s Avengers superhero saga wraps up the story of Thanos. (April 26)

AD ASTRA—Brad Pitt in a sci-fi space adventure. Sounds good to me. (May 24)

FLARSKY—Excellent test screenings have got me interested in this Seth Rogen/Charlize Theron comedy. (June 7)

TOY STORY 4—When a new toy called "Forky" joins Woody and the gang, a road trip alongside old and new friends reveals how big the world can be for a toy. (June 21)

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD—A faded TV actor and his stunt double embark on an odyssey to make a name for themselves in the film industry during the "Helter Skelter" reign of terror in 1969 Los Angeles. Directed by Quentin Tarantino and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Margot Robbie. (Aug. 9)

WHERE’D YOU GO, BERNADETTE?—After her anxiety-ridden mother disappears, 15-year-old Bee does everything she can to track her down, discovering her troubled past in the process. Based on the Maria Semple novel and starring Cate Blanchett. (Aug. 9)

IT: CHAPTER TWO—In the sequel to the 2017 horror movie, it’s 27 years later, and the Losers Club have grown up and moved away…until a devastating phone call brings them back. (Sept. 6)

DOWNTON ABBEY—The Crawley family is back on the big screen after a splendid six-season run on TV. (Sept. 20)

THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW—Amy Adams in an adaptation of the A.J. Finn psychological thriller novel. (Oct. 4)

THE ADDAMS FAMILY—An animated version of Charles Addams' series of cartoons about a peculiar, ghoulish family. (Oct. 18)

LAST CHRISTMAS—Emilia Clarke and Emma Thompson in a rom-com. Sign me up! (Nov. 15)

FROZEN 2—The delightful Disney animated feature gets a sequel. (Nov. 22)