2019 was a year of endings and new beginnings. Whether we are talking about How to Train Your Dragon, Toy Story, Star Wars or Avengers, the end of the 2010s seemed to signify being out with the old and in with the new. Although that doesn’t mean there weren’t some great comebacks from some old Hollywood mainstays.

In addition to returning to host SNL for the first time since the eighties, Eddie Murphy also made a movie comeback in Dolemite Is My Name which some are calling his best film role in years. And thanks to classic Hollywood directors like Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino, actors like Brad Pitt and Joe Pesci are also being given their best roles in years.

2019 was full of surprises more than anything. Adam Sandler made two movies that weren’t terrible, hand-drawn animation made a splash again on Netflix with the Christmas movie Klaus, the seemingly endless golden age of superhero movies hit new heights with movies from both Marvel and DC, and a year after Crazy Rich Asians was released, Asian filmmakers are arguably responsible for the best thriller (Parasite), the best family drama (The Farewell) and the best romantic comedy (Always Be My Maybe) of the year.

Here are all the movies from 2019 that got the best reviews, obviously including all the movies that I gave good reviews as well. I will reveal my favorite film of 2019 at the end of the list. Documentaries and foreign-language films are excluded.

January

The Kid Who Would Be King

February

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

High Flying Bird

Fighting with My Family

The Breaker Uppers

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

March

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

Captain Marvel

Us

Diane

April

Shazam!

Missing Link

Guava Island

Avengers: Endgame

May

Long Shot

Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum

See You Yesterday

Booksmart

The Perfection

The Souvenir

Rocketman

Always Be My Maybe

Deadwood: The Movie

June

Late Night

The Last Black Man in San Francisco

I Am Mother

Murder Mystery

Toy Story 4

Wild Rose

July

Spider-Man: Far from Home

Midsommar

The Farewell

Crawl

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Share

August

The Nightingale

Dora and the Lost City of Gold

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

The Peanut Butter Falcon

Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling

Blinded by the Light

Good Boys

Ready or Not

September

Steven Universe the Movie

Hustlers

Monos

Ad Astra

Downton Abbey

Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans

Abominable

Judy

October

Dolemite Is My Name

Little Monsters

Joker

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie

The Lighthouse

JoJo Rabbit

November

The Irishman

Marriage Story

Honey Boy

Klaus

Ford v Ferrari

The Report

Waves

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Dark Waters

Knives Out

Queen & Slim

The Two Popes

December

Daniel Isn’t Real

A Hidden Life

We Summon the Darkness

Uncut Gems

Togo

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Just Mercy

Little Women

1917

Clemency

Eli’s Favorite Movie of 2019

Toy Story 4

The fourth Toy Story movie had me worried because the ending of Toy Story 3 was such a perfect ending to a perfect trilogy that to extend it to a fourth film was the equivalent of blasphemy. Never have I been more wrong. The small hint of something unexplained happening to Bo Peep in Toy Story 3 was a loose end that the series needed to tie up and it was the perfect set-up for a story that gave Woody the ending he truly deserved. Throughout all the Toy Story movies, Woody is continually evolving as a character, but he remained devoted to being Andy’s toy in every film. This is the first time he learns to be something more, and the result is the most satisfying of all Toy Story endings.