BUCKLEYEAR ON THE BIG SCREEN UP FOR A BUMPER

FIRST, the not-so-good news; there will be as many humdrum sequels and remakes as ever in 2019, not to mention formula-driven superhero and sci-fi movies.

But now the great news; there are also some real corkers to look out for next year. A few of them, such as Can You Ever Forgive Me?, The Sisters Brothers and Stan And Ollie, I’ve been lucky enough to see already. Others come with a lot of industry buzz.

I have deliberately omitted most of the mega-budget superhero and sci-fi blockbusters; this is not a list of films likely to make the biggest impact at the global office. But I think it contains something for everyone. Happy New Year!

CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?

MELISSA McCarthy won fame as a comic actress in films such as Bridesmaids, but you’ve never seen her like this before, playing a lonely, embittered and impoverished writer of biographies called Lee Israel. It’s a true story; in the early Nineties, to make ends meet, Israel started forging letters from the likes of Marlene Dietrich and Noel Coward, then brazenly sold them to collectors. Eventually the FBI caught up with her. But this is not just the story of a literary hoax, it’s also a riveting character study. McCarthy, absolutely superb in the role, must have a decent chance of an Oscar nomination. (February)

CAPTAIN MARVEL

I’VE swerved most of the 2019 superhero output for fear of making you (and myself) yawn. But this one, the 21st in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, should be worth seeing. Coincidentally, the rival DC stable are also releasing a movie next year about their own version of Captain Marvel, whose name was changed to avoid confusion (and law suits) to Shazam. That is also the title of the DC film. But their Captain Marvel is a man, whereas this one, more intriguingly, is female. The ever-excellent Brie Larson takes the title role, as fighter pilot who accidentally acquires superhuman strength. (March)

DOWNTON ABBEY

YOU might have thought you’d seen beetle-browed Mr Carson ladling up mock turtle soup to the dowager Duchess of Grantham for the final time, but no, they’re all back for the movie version, reportedly set shortly after the last series ended in the mid-Twenties (Pictured left: Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary.) Which is a bit of a shame … it would have been interesting to see them leapforward a generation or two and confront plans to turn Downton Abbey into a theme park. Some would say it is already, but who would bet against writer Julian Fellowes pulling off another commercial hit? (September)

GREEN BOOK

SET in the Sixties, Green Book tells the story of an unlikely duo, a black jazz pianist (Mahershala Ali) and his Italian-American driver and bodyguard (Viggo Mortensen), as they travel around a Deep South riven with race hatred. Billed as a gentle comedy drama, it came out in the U.S. last month to rhapsodic reviews and is among the favourites to win a Best Picture gong in the forthcoming Golden Globes. The director and co-writer is Peter Farrelly, who also made Dumb And Dumber, but don’t let that put you off. (February)

THE GOLDFINCH

DONNA Tartt’s thumping, Pulitzer Prizewinning novel finally makes it to the big screen, with Baby Driver star Ansel Elgort as Theo Decker, a young man whose mother was killed by a terrorist bomb while they were visiting New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Promisingly, the director is Irishman John Crowley, whose 2015 film Brooklyn was such a delight. Nicole Kidman co-stars. (October)

THE LION KING

IF 2019 is the year of anything, movie-wise, it’s the year of live-action or computer-animated remakes of cartoon classics. Dumbo (directed by Tim Burton) and Aladdin (directed by Guy Ritchie) are getting the live-action treatment, but if like me you have a real soft spot for the story of The

Lion King, this computer-animated version

(pictured) should be a real treat. A starry voice cast includes Seth Rogen as Pumbaa, with Chiwetel Ejiofor as the treacherous Scar, and Beyonce as Nala. The mighty James Earl Jones, now 87, voices Mufasa, just as he did in the glorious 1994 animation. Jon Favreau directs, having made a fine job of 2016’s The Jungle Book. (July)

MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS

SAIORSE Ronan, one of the most compelling and versatile actresses of her generation, might seem young at 24 to play the illfated Mary Stuart — who was well into her 40s when she was executed.

But this film (with Margot Robbie as Mary’s prickly cousin, Elizabeth I of England) focuses on the earlier years of her reign, brilliantly dramatising the political intrigue that eventually got the better of a woman who wasn’t averse to a spot of chicanery herself. (January)

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD

IN ONE of next year’s most anticipated movies, written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, Margot Robbie plays Sharon Tate, the most famous victim of the crazed Manson gang. A fantastic cast also includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Al Pacino, with Damian Lewis as Steve McQueen. The film is not specifically about the 1969 Manson murders, but focuses on Rick Dalton (DiCaprio), a fading TV star who lives next door to Tate and husband Roman Polanski. Pitt plays Rick’s longserving stunt double. (July)

WILD ROSE

THE Irish actress and singer Jessie Buckley first burst into the limelight 10 years ago, in the BBC talent show I’d Do Anything. Since then, without quite becoming a star, she has been quietly making a name for herself.

Wild Rose — directed by Tom Harper, who also worked with Buckley in the TV version of War and Peace — is the perfect vehicle for her abundant talent.

She plays a rascally, promiscuous, selfcentred Glaswegian, blessed with a wonderful singing voice, who after getting out of prison pursues her burning ambition to go to Nashville and conquer the home of country music. Wild Rose is next year’s A Star Is Born — only better. (April)

STAN AND OLLIE

JOHN C. Reilly is having a moment, as they put it in movie circles. He plays Oliver Hardy to Steve Coogan’s Stan Laurel in this immensely charming, sweet, funny but also rather melancholic account of the famous double act’s last tour. Reilly deservedly has a Golden Globe nomination to show for his perfectly-judged portrayal of Ollie, but Coogan is terrific too, and look out for Nina Arianda as Stan’s feisty Russian wife, Ida. She’s not a professional comic, but she’s the biggest hoot of the lot. (January)

ROCKETMAN

NO SOONER has he played one legend, in this year’s disappointing Robin Hood, than Taron Egerton gets to play another, Elton John. The film charts John’s path along the yellow brick road to stardom and features Jamie Bell as his lyricist Bernie Taupin. (May)

STAR WARS EPISODE IX

HERE, at long last, comes the ninth and final act in the main Star Wars franchise, though there will doubtless be further spinoffs for decades to come. J.J. Abrams wields the directorial lightsaber again, having made a great job of his last Star Wars movie, 2015’s The Force Awakens. Thanks to unused footage from that film, we can apparently expect the late Carrie Fisher to pop up one last time, as General (formerly Princess) Leia Organa. (December)

TOY STORY 4

WE CAN look forward to Frozen 2 and Shaun the Sheep 2 in 2019, but this will be the animated sequel of the year, at least if the brilliant Toy Story 3 is anything to go by. Almost a decade has passed since that work of genius, and the original movie came out in 1995, so nobody can accuse Pixar of exactly exploiting our affection for Sheriff Woody, Buzz Lightyear and friends.

They’re all back in this one, voiced again by Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and co. (June)