The 2019 Stars & Popcorn Movie Awards

2019 Genre Awards

Best Action/Adventure Movie of 2019 – John Wick: Parabellum 

I don’t know how they do it, but John Wick movies keep getting better and better. The third entry in the trilogy didn’t lose any momentum as John finds himself up against even greater odds than the other two films combined. We got a look into his past as new characters joined him on screen and helped him to do what he does best. John Wick is easily one of the best modern action franchises, so it just makes sense that it would earn the title of the best Action movie of 2019. 

Best Comedy Movie of 2019 – Booksmart

Speaking of “making sense,” there was no doubt that Stars & Popcorn’s Director of the Year debut film was going to earn Best Comedy movie. The film is so funny it’s almost painful at times. I was legitimately concerned for my life a few times when I started laughing so hard that I couldn’t breathe. Wilde managed to capture millennial zeitgeist at it’s finest in one of the most well-crafted and uplifting coming of age movies I’ve ever seen in theaters. Booksmart is not just funny, it’s genius.   

Best Dramatic Movie of 2019- Ford V Ferrari 

It’s always fun seeing history on the big screen, especially when it’s a story that not too many people know. Christian Bale and Matt Damon brought the incredible tale of the dick measuring contest between Ford and Ferrari in the 1960s. See, Ford was ready to buy Ferrari, but old man Ferrari thought it would be a fate worse than death to be owned by Americans. So, he pulled some shady dealings to back out of the deal. The bad news for him is that you don’t want to make America angry. We tend to have a scorched Earth policy when we’re angry. History will show that this didn’t end well for the Italians, then again not a lot does these days. 

Best Horror Movie of 2019- Midsommer 

2019 was actually a tremendous year for horror. I saw a lot of films in theaters that were surprisingly good and that made choosing the best horror movie of the year really difficult. In the end, I had to give it to last year’s winner Ali Aster. His follow up to the waking nightmare that was Hereditary was just as stressful and even more mind-bending. Midsommar is one of the most nerve-wracking movies you will ever sit through as it pushes the boundaries of what the more enlightened or intellectual consider to be cultural differences that should be celebrated instead of shunned. It’s bone-chilling and gut-wrenching in the best possible way. 

Best Sci-Fi Movie of 2019 – Terminator: Dark Fate

A lot of franchises got dusted off in 2019, but the most impressive was Terminator: Dark Fate. While the box office might not agree with me, I consider it to be the best sci-fi movie of the year. It features incredible action sequences that keep getting bigger and bigger until they’re off the charts insane. However, director Tim Miller is just so damn good that my brain simply didn’t care that everything in the film defied not only physics but logic as well. It might not have been perfect, but it was one of the best times I had in theaters all year. 

Best Animated Movie of 2019 – Toy Story 4

Pixar is an absolute beast when it comes to dominating the animation industry, and it all started with Toy Story. Decades later the tale of our favorite toys comes to a fitting end as Buzz, Woody, and the gang head out on one last adventure. It was an emotional farewell to a lot of fan-favorite characters and also a few new characters that debuted in the film (most notably Keanu Reeves’ Duke KaBoom). There were a lot of pretty good animated movies in 2019, but the best of them was Toy Story 4.

Best Family Movie of 2019 – Pokemon: Detective Pikachu

When I sat down to watch Detective Pikachu,I wasn’t expecting it to be half as good as it ended up being. Not only was it a well-crafted noir story with some impressive visual effects, but it was also downright hilarious. Then again, I can’t think of a Ryan Reynolds movie that isn’t (oh wait… Buried). I used to dabble in Pokemon cards and games as a kid, so Detective Pikachu was pretty nostalgic for me. However, it never relied on that nostalgia to carry it. Instead, it focused on solid characters and a great mystery to help it be the Best family Movie of 2019

Best Thriller Movie of 2019 – Knives Out

Rainn Johnson wasn’t doing so hot after that The Last Jedi fiasco. He needed a win, so he returned to his roots and revived the murder mystery genre with Knives Out. The film features an incredible ensemble of perfectly cast actors at the top of their game. While it reveals part of the mystery early on, Knives Out will keep you guessing right up until the very end. It is a delightfully taut thriller with plenty of big laughs and memorable characters. Not only was it the best thriller of the year, but one of my favorite movies in general. 

Best Superhero Movie of 2019 – Avengers: Endgame

Don’t tell me you didn’t see this one coming. If Avengers: Endgame won best movie of the year, then it kinda had to also be the best superhero movie of the year. There were a lot of other really good ones in theaters, but as much as I enjoyed the other comic book adaptations I saw this year, none of them stacked up to Endgame. As I mentioned, it was a movie 10 years in the making and brought back characters we’ve come to love like friends. It was a hard goodbye to a few of them, but I’m excited to see where some of them are going in the future. No matter what comes next, one thing is certain, Endgame set the bar pretty damn high.