So something I recently saw on Social Media are people listing their favorite movies year-by-year and going back to whenever. It seemed like a more fun exercise then just rattling off top movies or whatever or top movies by genre so I figured we could do something similar.
I'll try and stop at the year 2010 and... see if I can remember a film that came out in those times without too much Wikisurfing.
2021: Spider-man: No Way Home.
Runner up would be Dune. The only Competition Here was Dune and... I liked Dune a lot but... I found Spider-man: No Way Home more entertaining.
2020: Tenet.
I will always admire Christopher Nolan for even when his films kinda feel like they short of his vision, he's at least trying something new and original with everything. In a time of a lot of entertaining 'product entertainment' his film was pretty clever and I think I was able to follow most of it.
2019:Uncut Gems 1917
Runner Up would be Avengers: Endgame. I'm contradicting myself over entertainment versus quality and I'll do it again and again but honestly, I don't even think Avengers Endgame was my favorite Avengers Phase Three Movie. Also Joker came out this year as well and was pretty decent. But Uncut Gems... Holy F*** was that movie intense.
2018: Avengers: Infinity War.
Runner up would be The Ballad of Buster Scruggs which is an anthology Western film so it might be kind of cheating since its multiple short films in one.
2017: Logan
A character you've been following onscreen for like a dozen movies, a hundred plus kills and almost two decades passing on with a quote from the film Shane made me cry. I hate it when movies make me cry. I love this movie. Dunkirk also came out this year. As did Blade Runner 2049 and of course... Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
2016: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Disney Star Wars making one solidly good movie out of the five released... maybe that makes it stand out more. AT-ST's! AT-ST's! TIE FIGHTERS! STAR DESTROYERS! DO YOU REMEMBER X-WINGS? IT BROKE NEW GROUND!
2015: The Revenant
Leonardo DiCaprio gets raped by a bear! The Martian came out this year as well. I uhhh never saw it.
2014: Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Sorry Interstellar.
2013: Snowpiercer
Whew... good thing I saw that movie came out this year. I was about to give it to Riddick. Needless to say... this list may require some refinements because I'm looking at theatrical releases.
2012: The Avengers
I'm told other movies came out this year as well. None were given consideration. (Silver Linings Playbook Was A Superior Film)
2011: Drive
Definitely more entertaining then The Help though I'm still hoping for a crossover. But seriously if you haven't seen Drive, see it. It's... unique.
2010: Inception or Black Swan? Inception or Black Swan? Maybe Shutter Island? I really liked The Book of Eli as well. Or the True Grit remake. I chose... The Expendables. I will be taking no questions.
2009: District 9
It was a tough choice between this and Up but ultimately I went with District 9. I can't say enough about how good Up is but District 9 I guess was a bit more interesting to me with its concept and style even if Up actually had more emotional resonance.
2008: The Wrestler
Initially I was debating if this was going to be between Iron Man and The Dark Knight but thinking back onto The Wrestler, it wasn't as entertaining, but it was some great character driven cinema. Beautifully emotional movie and drama.
2007: There Will Be Blood
Just barely beats out No Country For Old Men. Both films were really good. My idea of "cinema."
2006: Apocalypto
So many great movies came out in 2006. Letters From Iwo Jima, Winters Bone, Blood Diamond, The Departed, The Last King of Scotland and Casino Royale. Any other year, one of those films could potentially cinch it. But Apocalypto was just so different and amazing. Brutal and beautiful and original and fresh. And "historical" in that every nerd on the internet became a Mesoamerican expert suddenly.
2005: Kingdom of Heaven
But only the Directors Cut. If not for a Directors Cut I'd probably say Batman Begins or Revenge of the Sith to be perfectly honest.
2004: Spider-man 2
Potentially the best Superhero movie of all time? Million Dollar Baby would be my runner up this year. But it was another choice between "Cinema" and "Entertainment" or whatever.
2003: The Last Samurai
Sorry Return of the King. What I saw in that final film was a portent of future Lord of the Rings media to come... and undead scrubbing bubbles.
2002: Gangs of New York
This was literally a three way tie between Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, We Were Soldiers and the aforementioned Martin Scorsese movie. I guess Scorsese's cinematic elitism wins out this year.
2001: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Epic Fantasy Come To Life.
2000: Gladiator
Only competition for me was O Brother Where Art Thou, which was a great retelling of The Odyssey but, it can't beat Gladiator.
1999: The Mummy
Lotta good random movies this year. The Mummy, The Iron Giant, Three Kings, Boys Don't Cry, Princess Mononoke, Fight Club, Run Lola Run, Ravenous, The Green Mile, The Phantom Menace, The Blair Witch Project, The Sixth Sense, and The 13th Warrior. Fun wins this time around.
1998: Saving Private Ryan
1997: LA Confidential
Honorable Mentions go to Gattaca, Seven Years in Tibet & Good Will Hunting.
1996: Sling Blade
Ah Yup...
1995: Casino
Heat was pretty good though.
1994: Legends of the Fall
Edward Zwick directs some really great movies.
1993: Falling Down
I am so sorry to Gettysburg.
1992: A River Runs Through It
1991: Terminator 2: Judgment Day
1990: Total Recall
I really should've said Goodfellas but everytime I try to write it down as my best movie, it spells out Total Recall. Weird.
1989: Glory
Fantastic war movie and American Civil War movie. Directed by Edward Zwick who I think has directed some of my other faves (I'm assuming). Breakout role for Denzel Washington as well. Might be one of my most favorite movies of all time tbh.
1988: Bloodsport
If I had been a Woman of Culture I would've said The Last Emperor, Mississippi Burning or Die Hard. But Bloodsport is one of the greatest martial arts movies of all time, it just feels weird not having it be the movie of the year.
1987: Robocop
It's a near perfect movie for what it is. Which is saying something because so was Predator which came out in the same year.
1986: Platoon
The Peter the Great miniseries (starring Maximillian Schell) came out this year but I guess that doesnt count. If it did, it would be here instead.
1985: The Color Purple
Deathwish III is a close second. These two movies are basically interchangeable though and I've seen Deathwish III way more times so whose to really say?
1984: The Terminator
The Terminator, The Killing Fields and Red Dawn all came out this year and all tell the same basic story, tales of heroic survival and resistance against foreign communist invaders. Choosing between these three films is like choosing between which kids to leave behind as you flee the apocalypse. It's a hard choice, but unless your @Rusty Shackleford it's not really that hard, especially if they aren't your kids. The Terminator wins because it was also quite the technical achievement.
1983: WarGames
It's weird... because I literally just saw this movie not too long ago for the first time. No really.
1982: Conan the Barbarian
Again like with my 1984-85 picks, between this and Gandhi it's basically the same plot with very similar protaganists.
1981: Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
1980: The Empire Strikes Back
The Gods Must Be Crazy was a good runner up as well.
Actually no... I'm going to keep going to 1977 to prove a point to a certain someone who posted before me that shall remain nameless.
1979: Apocalypse Now
1978: Deer Hunter
Look at that, two feel good movies in a row!
1977: A Bridge Too Far
Wow... that was easy. Imagine thinking Burt Reynolds hairy chest or some lame flying chandelier that can make music would contest one of the greatest war movies and the greatest space opera of all time.
I'll try and stop at the year 2010 and... see if I can remember a film that came out in those times without too much Wikisurfing.
2021: Spider-man: No Way Home.
Runner up would be Dune. The only Competition Here was Dune and... I liked Dune a lot but... I found Spider-man: No Way Home more entertaining.
2020: Tenet.
I will always admire Christopher Nolan for even when his films kinda feel like they short of his vision, he's at least trying something new and original with everything. In a time of a lot of entertaining 'product entertainment' his film was pretty clever and I think I was able to follow most of it.
2019:
Runner Up would be Avengers: Endgame. I'm contradicting myself over entertainment versus quality and I'll do it again and again but honestly, I don't even think Avengers Endgame was my favorite Avengers Phase Three Movie. Also Joker came out this year as well and was pretty decent. But Uncut Gems... Holy F*** was that movie intense.
2018: Avengers: Infinity War.
Runner up would be The Ballad of Buster Scruggs which is an anthology Western film so it might be kind of cheating since its multiple short films in one.
2017: Logan
A character you've been following onscreen for like a dozen movies, a hundred plus kills and almost two decades passing on with a quote from the film Shane made me cry. I hate it when movies make me cry. I love this movie. Dunkirk also came out this year. As did Blade Runner 2049 and of course... Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
2016: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Disney Star Wars making one solidly good movie out of the five released... maybe that makes it stand out more. AT-ST's! AT-ST's! TIE FIGHTERS! STAR DESTROYERS! DO YOU REMEMBER X-WINGS? IT BROKE NEW GROUND!
2015: The Revenant
Leonardo DiCaprio gets raped by a bear! The Martian came out this year as well. I uhhh never saw it.
2014: Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Sorry Interstellar.
2013: Snowpiercer
Whew... good thing I saw that movie came out this year. I was about to give it to Riddick. Needless to say... this list may require some refinements because I'm looking at theatrical releases.
2012: The Avengers
I'm told other movies came out this year as well. None were given consideration. (Silver Linings Playbook Was A Superior Film)
2011: Drive
Definitely more entertaining then The Help though I'm still hoping for a crossover. But seriously if you haven't seen Drive, see it. It's... unique.
2010: Inception or Black Swan? Inception or Black Swan? Maybe Shutter Island? I really liked The Book of Eli as well. Or the True Grit remake. I chose... The Expendables. I will be taking no questions.
2009: District 9
It was a tough choice between this and Up but ultimately I went with District 9. I can't say enough about how good Up is but District 9 I guess was a bit more interesting to me with its concept and style even if Up actually had more emotional resonance.
2008: The Wrestler
Initially I was debating if this was going to be between Iron Man and The Dark Knight but thinking back onto The Wrestler, it wasn't as entertaining, but it was some great character driven cinema. Beautifully emotional movie and drama.
2007: There Will Be Blood
Just barely beats out No Country For Old Men. Both films were really good. My idea of "cinema."
2006: Apocalypto
So many great movies came out in 2006. Letters From Iwo Jima, Winters Bone, Blood Diamond, The Departed, The Last King of Scotland and Casino Royale. Any other year, one of those films could potentially cinch it. But Apocalypto was just so different and amazing. Brutal and beautiful and original and fresh. And "historical" in that every nerd on the internet became a Mesoamerican expert suddenly.
2005: Kingdom of Heaven
But only the Directors Cut. If not for a Directors Cut I'd probably say Batman Begins or Revenge of the Sith to be perfectly honest.
2004: Spider-man 2
Potentially the best Superhero movie of all time? Million Dollar Baby would be my runner up this year. But it was another choice between "Cinema" and "Entertainment" or whatever.
2003: The Last Samurai
Sorry Return of the King. What I saw in that final film was a portent of future Lord of the Rings media to come... and undead scrubbing bubbles.
2002: Gangs of New York
This was literally a three way tie between Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, We Were Soldiers and the aforementioned Martin Scorsese movie. I guess Scorsese's cinematic elitism wins out this year.
2001: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Epic Fantasy Come To Life.
2000: Gladiator
Only competition for me was O Brother Where Art Thou, which was a great retelling of The Odyssey but, it can't beat Gladiator.
1999: The Mummy
Lotta good random movies this year. The Mummy, The Iron Giant, Three Kings, Boys Don't Cry, Princess Mononoke, Fight Club, Run Lola Run, Ravenous, The Green Mile, The Phantom Menace, The Blair Witch Project, The Sixth Sense, and The 13th Warrior. Fun wins this time around.
1998: Saving Private Ryan
1997: LA Confidential
Honorable Mentions go to Gattaca, Seven Years in Tibet & Good Will Hunting.
1996: Sling Blade
Ah Yup...
1995: Casino
Heat was pretty good though.
1994: Legends of the Fall
Edward Zwick directs some really great movies.
1993: Falling Down
I am so sorry to Gettysburg.
1992: A River Runs Through It
1991: Terminator 2: Judgment Day
1990: Total Recall
I really should've said Goodfellas but everytime I try to write it down as my best movie, it spells out Total Recall. Weird.
1989: Glory
Fantastic war movie and American Civil War movie. Directed by Edward Zwick who I think has directed some of my other faves (I'm assuming). Breakout role for Denzel Washington as well. Might be one of my most favorite movies of all time tbh.
1988: Bloodsport
If I had been a Woman of Culture I would've said The Last Emperor, Mississippi Burning or Die Hard. But Bloodsport is one of the greatest martial arts movies of all time, it just feels weird not having it be the movie of the year.
1987: Robocop
It's a near perfect movie for what it is. Which is saying something because so was Predator which came out in the same year.
1986: Platoon
The Peter the Great miniseries (starring Maximillian Schell) came out this year but I guess that doesnt count. If it did, it would be here instead.
1985: The Color Purple
Deathwish III is a close second. These two movies are basically interchangeable though and I've seen Deathwish III way more times so whose to really say?
1984: The Terminator
The Terminator, The Killing Fields and Red Dawn all came out this year and all tell the same basic story, tales of heroic survival and resistance against foreign communist invaders. Choosing between these three films is like choosing between which kids to leave behind as you flee the apocalypse. It's a hard choice, but unless your @Rusty Shackleford it's not really that hard, especially if they aren't your kids. The Terminator wins because it was also quite the technical achievement.
1983: WarGames
It's weird... because I literally just saw this movie not too long ago for the first time. No really.
1982: Conan the Barbarian
Again like with my 1984-85 picks, between this and Gandhi it's basically the same plot with very similar protaganists.
1981: Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
1980: The Empire Strikes Back
The Gods Must Be Crazy was a good runner up as well.
Actually no... I'm going to keep going to 1977 to prove a point to a certain someone who posted before me that shall remain nameless.
1979: Apocalypse Now
1978: Deer Hunter
Look at that, two feel good movies in a row!
1977: A Bridge Too Far
Wow... that was easy. Imagine thinking Burt Reynolds hairy chest or some lame flying chandelier that can make music would contest one of the greatest war movies and the greatest space opera of all time.
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