2019. The year that iconic shows came to an end and the year that the superhero genre grew up a little.
We said goodbye to Marvel on Netflix.
It was the best of times and it was the worst of times.
Let's take a trip down memory lane for a look at the Best and the Worst.
The Top TV Series of 2019
1. Watchmen
The best written show of 2019. It challenged the superhero genre conventions, it challenged history, centralized the black experience and it matched up to its ambitions.
David Lindeloff and team did a marvelous job.
2. When They See Us
This series was heartbreaking and shows the power of true-life narratives - Ava DuVernay's best work to date.
She got the young cast to come alive in a series takes us back to the 1980s, tackling issues such as police brutality, wrongful convictions of black minors and the crooked American justice system.
Unfortunately these issues still exist today.
3. The Boys
From the guys who gave us Preacher, we get a foul mouthed adaption of a very foul and hilarious comic book series.
What made The Boys stand out is that, yes, it's insane, yes, the guys are enjoying themselves too much but there's an actual story.
It's not just a string of events. It's character based and they are all a degree of diabolical in a good way.
4. Chernobyl
The other great historical drama of 2019. It shows how telling the truth can be a revolutionary act in a world where lies and compromise are the order of the day.
It was heartbreaking but a reminder of why citizens should always be suspicious of their state
5. Russian Doll
One of the most underatted shows of 2019. It was Groundhog updated, given more heart and it speaks to living in the 21st century in every way, as well as the issues we have in our relationships.
6. Umbrella Academy
This series started off the adult-centric comic based series for 2019 and it had it all - sex, violence, punk rock, a collection of interesting characters and a story to boot.
7. Dark
The best foreign series of 2019. What a season. It not only builds on what we know but broadens the time travelling series mythology and stretches all the characters in the series.
8. Mindhunter
This series continues the discourse on race which ran top of mind on most shows of 2019. The seriel killer series just gets getting better and better.
9. Orange Is the New Black
We said goodbye to one of the best ensemble series on TV. A series that does not try too hard but is always on point on the big issues in the US as it affects its citizens, especially ladies.The show will be missed.
10. The Handmaid
With a new book out I doubt if I will see this series end any time soon. Some say it's masochistic to keep watching this but I have a dark soul at times and this feeds that darkness.
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Honourable mentions for the year: Good Omens, The Expanse , Preacher, Money Heist, His Dark Materials, Fleabag Legion, Dear White People, Insecure.
The Disappointment of 2019 : Game of Thrones
The last season of GoT was a lesson in not how to end a series: from rushing to end everything, to making narrative choices that don't make sense, to not having a real pay-off to most of the issues raised in the preceding seasons.
The only saving light for this season was the production and technical crew who pulled out all the stops to give us the pretty pictures but the writing was a major letdown.
The writing is so bad that most book lovers can't wait to get a copy of Winds of Winter when it eventually lands so we can all forget the traversty that was the final season of GoT - which has the unenviable title of being the worst finale after Lost.
The Top Movies of 2019
On the movie front we saw Disney contnue to dominate the commercial market with 5 movies hitting 1 billion dollars in one year
It's been the year to print money for major studios whereby even DC got its billion dollar stamp. Sony too.
But where the movies any good?
1. Joker
This felt like Taxi Driver meets King of Comedy meets something Alan Moore would write for the Batman comics.
It felt out of place when it was first announced given how comic book movies have been anti "dark tone".
Look at what happened to Zack Snyder. Where Snyder failed,Joker succeeded by being more psychological than just dark for violence sake.
Audiences connected and we may have a sequel soon
2. Avengers: Endgame
The mega opus of the MCU that took over 12 years to build to was actually way better than Infinity War in my books.
It benefitted from fewer characters, more of the Avengers being active in their own movie and gave fans some nice references from the catalogue of films that existed before it.
One of the best movies Marvel ever produced and one wonders if they would ever get another chance to make a film of this scale again.
3. Dolemite Is My Name
Eddie Murphy is an institution. Dolemite is the perfect vehicle to show his comedic and drama chops and man does he deliver.
Directed by Craig Brewer of Hustle and Flow fame, there's a reverence given to the true life story of Rudy Ray Moore that does not dimish the humour and flamboyance of the telling.
4.
Glass
Another brave choice by M. Night Shyamalan where he concludes his superhero tale the best way he knows how by going against people's expectations.
It infuriated a lot of comic book fan boys but true fans of Unbreakable know that the ending of Glass is true to the first movie's spirit.
5. The Irishman
Martin Scorsese goes back to the gangster genre that he contributed so many classics to, to tell a story that needs patience.
It's not as zany and manic as his previous films but a simple meditation on friendship in the Criminal Underworld.
One wonders how long such films will be made but I guess this is why streaming services are so important now cause gems like these can still be made.
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Honourable mentions: Spider-man: Far From Home, Alita Battle Angel, Venom, Shazam, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Bumblebee, Detective Pikachu.
As far as the disappointments go, we had tons. Us
looked good, had an intriguing set up but the whole movie falls apart once you start thinking it through.
Terminator Dark Fate:
on paper it should have been a great action flick but came off as a rehash of all the best elements of the previous movies whilst trying to wipe out one of the great organising principles to the premise (which did not work at all) BUT...
... the real dud of 2019... the movie with little to no redeeming quality was Hellboy. The film was loud, incohesive, frustratingly generic - even poor David Harbour's stellar performance could not save the bad CG and story.
One may never see another Hellboy because of how awful this installation was.
2020
So what is there to look forward to in the new?
Well, we are still getting more comic book movies, a couple of seques to some ancient franchises such as Coming2America co-starring SA's own Nomzamo Mbatha and we have a new Christopher Nolan movie - those are always interesting.
Movies to look forward to 2020
Tenet
No Time To Die
The King's Man
Wonder Woman 1984
A Quiet Place 2
Birds of Prey
Atlantics
Bad Boys for Life
The Gentleman
Venom 2
TV series to look forward to in 2020
The streaming wars will be intensifying next year and us viewers will benefit.
I'm still not sold on Disney+ yet but Netflix is being doing some major buying to consolidate market whilst Amazon Prime Video and Hulu are starting to put up more and more great content.
Warner Brothers' HBOmax plans to take the streaming war onto the next level... there will be blood.
The Boys 2
Queen Sono
The New Pope
Sex Education 2
Dark 3
Stranger Things 4
Glow 4
Star Trek: Picard
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Star Trek: Discovery
Westworld 3
Let's hope next year is another great year for TV and movies.