If 2019 taught us anything it's that comics are still cash cows for cinemas and studios keep making franchise blockbusters for a reason.

All but one of the top 10 biggest box office earners was a sequel or part of an ongoing franchise, with four comic book flicks and two Disney remakes making the list.

Take a look:

1. Avengers: Endgame ($2,797) 2. The Lion King ($1,656) 3. Spider-Man: Far from Home ($1,131) 4. Captain Marvel ($1,128) 5. Toy Story 4 ($1,073) 6. Joker ($1,060) 7. Aladdin ($1,050) 8. Frozen 2 ($1,037) 9. Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw ($758) 10. Ne Zha ($700)

(Source: Box Office Mojo. 2019 worldwide gross, measured in millions in US dollars, as of December 20.)

Captain Marvel was a runaway success in the US and abroad. ( Supplied )

But there's more to movies than money, right?

These are my best and worst films of the year — as well as my pick for the best film of the decade — with top spot for 2019 going to a genre-bending masterpiece that is wholly original and exciting.

THE WORST

3. Hellboy

This isn't the first Hellboy film, but it is the worst. ( Supplied: Lionsgate )

This year gave us the epic conclusion to the Marvel Infinity Saga with Avengers: Endgame and the darkly subversive Joker.

Yet not all comic book flicks are hits.

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The 2019 adaptation of the iconic Hellboy is so woefully tone deaf and poorly constructed that it obliterates the decent central performance by Stranger Things alumni David Harbour, and destroys the legacy of director Guillermo del Toro's previous two Hellboy films.

It's the perfect example that in this age of excessive comic book cinema you must have a filmmaker who understands the character and series they are adapting for the big screen in order to make it work.

2. Trading Paint

As with 2018's Gotti, The Annual John Travolta Award for Awfulness goes once again to ... John Travolta.

He delivers a truly awful turn in this straight-to-streaming car racing drama that looks at a competitive relationship between father and son.

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It was produced by Travolta and co-stars Shania Twain (yes, that Shania Twain).

As the narrative rolls out, one can only assume the robot that was writing, directing and editing this film had unexpectedly shut down during production and no-one noticed.

It features absolutely every car racing cliche in the book, but is done so incompetently and cheaply that it's amazing they could afford the petrol to keep the cars running.

If you are a glutton for punishment and need a double dose of terrible Travolta, also check out his starring role in The Fanatic — a film unleashed in mid 2019 and directed by Limp Bizkit's front man Fred Durst.

It's a movie that is so awful it has yet to be released in Australia. We can only hope it stays that way.

1. Gemini Man

After many years in development, director Ang Lee used cutting edge technology to craft his story, including digital de-aging and new high frame rate cinematography.

But in the process he, along with star Will Smith, totally forgot how to craft an engaging or even remotely enjoyable action film experience.

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Lee has helmed some genuinely fantastic films but was seemingly too preoccupied with his new frame rate technology, which makes everything on screen look like it's part of a new TV set demo reel, to realise the production was in trouble.

It cost hundreds of millions to produce and advertise, but no-one seemed to care or flag early on in development that the film featured an incoherent narrative about cloning and assassins (which saw old Smith being hunted by a young Smith) and may have needed more work.

It has twice as much Will Smith but it's half as good as Ang Lee's other films. ( Supplied: Paramount Pictures )

Why didn't they? I couldn't tell you, but it appears that not many people cared either.

The film lost a reported $75 million at the box office and now just feels like a bad horoscope reading for all of those involved in the production.

THE BEST

5. Toy Story 4 / The Irishman

I chose to tie these titles at number five.

Both are fantastic in their own right, but while at first they appear to have nothing in common, if you look closer at the narratives both have similar existential statements on mortality and legacy and offer an epilogue on their respective genres.

Both films look fantastic, have marvellous central performances and terrific writing.

Rober De Niro and Joe Pesci are right at home on a Scorsese set. ( Supplied: Netflix )

Both films engage with a host of films that have come before them.

With Toy Story 4 it's a direct follow-on from the classic Toy Story trilogy, and with The Irishman director Martin Scorsese muses and reflects on the many films he has crafted that deal with organised crime.

How do you follow on from a hit trilogy? Toy Story 4 finds a way. ( Supplied: Walt Disney Studios )

We as an audience come to these films with an investment of preconceived nostalgia that informs how we watch them.

In these two different works we view our two central characters that are emblematic of their film series and genre, coming to grips with their world falling apart and changing around them as they look back on their lives and ruminate on their legacy.

The parallel lines drawn by these films created for two very different audiences is quite thought provoking.

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One is a pitch perfect final note to a franchise with the other a coda to a large part of a director's filmography.

Both deliver a playfully profound answer to the age-old question: "How's it going to end?"

4. Portrait Of A Lady On Fire

This is a stunning slow-burn drama that brims with emotion and longing.

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It is scheduled to release nationally on Boxing Day 2019 and rightfully earns a place in the best of the year list.

The narrative is set in 1770 and follows the young daughter of a French countess who develops a mutual attraction to the female artist who is commissioned to paint her wedding portrait.

Adèle Haenel and Noémie Merlant shine in Portrait Of A Lady On Fire. ( Supplied )

Filmmaker Céline Sciamma employs impeccable restraint, beautiful cinematography and nuanced performances to craft a deeply intimate and emotional story that addresses gender, sexuality and heartbreak, culminating in a mesmerising final sequence that is truly awe inspiring.

3. Midsommar

Written and directed by Ari Aster, who previously helmed the horror hit Hereditary, this second feature of his delivers a modern slice of folk horror that dissects themes such as cultural appropriation and toxic masculinity through a horror genre framework.

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It's also gleefully bizarre and has a stellar central performance from Florence Pugh.

For viewers who like horror films bursting with symbolism and strangeness, recalling such greats as The Wicker Man and The Devils, Midsommar proved to be one of the most original and disturbing fright flicks in years.

2. Once Upon A Time ... In Hollywood

The ninth film from legendary filmmaker Quentin Tarantino is a bittersweet ode to movie making and looks at the changing cultural landscape of 1969 as old school Hollywood actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his stuntman Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) begin to feel their glory days are behind them.

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Fusing historical elements within a fictional story, Tarantino delivers a eulogy to a forgotten era of filmmaking and also offers perhaps his most personal film as he engages with the filmmaking legacies and styles that have influenced his own career.

The attention to detail in recreating 1969 is exquisite. DiCaprio and Pitt excel in their central roles and the soundtrack, costume design and cinematography is all to die for.

Tarantino seamlessly directs Pitt and DiCaprio in this nostalgic trip. ( Supplied: Sony Pictures/Andrew Cooper )

It also features Pitt driving down Hollywood Boulevard in a convertible listening to Joe Cocker.

That alone makes the film worthy of inclusion on this list. Luckily the rest of the film is just as good.

1.Parasite

I called it upon release in June: Parasite is the best film of 2019.

Parasite is the first Korean film to win the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. ( Supplied: Madman Entertainment )

A masterclass in all forms of movie making, the film displays a filmmaker in total control of the medium.

Director Bong Joon-ho uses black comedy meshed with classical thriller elements to present a social satire that transcends genre to become something wholly original and exciting.

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The film addresses social and economic inequality with a razor-sharp wit and leaves an indelible mark on the viewing audience.

It is no surprise it is already winning awards and now has eyes firmly set on the race to the Oscars.

If you saw one film in 2019, I do hope it was Parasite.

THE BEST FILM OF THE DECADE

Call Me By Your Name

Timothee Chalamet has revelatory in Call Me By Your Name. ( Supplied: Academy Awards )

As we close out 2019 we must acknowledge the decade of cinema that has passed.

And while there have been so many fine films made in that time, for me personally Luca Guadagnino's 2017 coming of age drama Call Me By Your Name stands just a cut above the rest.

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Set during a seemingly endless Italian summer in 1983, this ravishingly raw and honest love story between the two central characters Elio (Timothee Chalamet) and Oliver (Armie Hammer) is pure cinema.

The film, with its impassioned storytelling, beautiful cinematography and perfect performances delivers a complete package that aches with a longing and beauty.

The final 15 minutes of the film are so emotionally charged that it's almost too much to bear, but as the final credits roll you can't help but be reminded of just how powerful and satisfying movie experiences such as this can be.