Thomas T's favorite/best movies by years 1928-2019 (1 Viewer)

[JohnRice]

BTW Thomas. Great list and thanks for putting it together.

 

[Thomas T]

I've said it before and I'll say it again but Titanic is pretty incredible from my POV as someone who is interested in the actual ship and event. Cameron had the clout to get a budget that enabled him to recreate huge chunks of the ship. In 1997, there was no CG recreations for documentaries so I went from seeing the Titanic in a handful of pictures and paintings to seeing a near perfect replica of the ship. It was amazing to see that and it was like a time machine.

I'm a pushover for movies about the Titanic. In my film collection, in addition to the 1997 Cameron film, I have the 1953 film with Stanwyck, the 1943 German version, the British A Night To Remember as well as two from TV, the George C. Scott 1996 and S.O.S. Titanic with David Janssen.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I gotta ask: do you like Ambersons better than Citizen Kane, or did Kane just have more competition in its year for you?

 

[Bryan^H]

Here are mine. Feel free to post yours.

1928: Passion Of Joan Of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
1929: Diary Of A Lost Girl (G.W. Pabst)
1930: Monte Carlo (Ernst Lubitsch)
1931: City Lights (Charlie Chaplin)
1932: Scarface (Howard Hawks)
1933: Bitter Tea Of General Yen (Frank Capra)
1934: L'Atalante (Jean Vigo)
1935: Top Hat (Mark Sandrich)
1936: These Three (William Wyler)
1937: Awful Truth (Leo McCarey)
1938: Lady Vanishes (Alfred Hitchcock)
1939: Gone With The Wind (Victor Fleming)
1940: The Letter (William Wyler)
1941: Maltese Falcon (John Huston)
1942: Magnificent Ambersons (Orson Welles)
1943: Seventh Victim (Mark Robson)
1944: Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder)
1945: The Clock (Vincente Minnelli)
1946: Duel In The Sun (King Vidor)
1947: Black Narcissus (Powell & Pressburger)
1948: Letter From An Unknown Woman (Max Ophuls)
1949: Third Man (Carol Reed)
1950: All About Eve (Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
1951: Streetcar Named Desire (Elia Kazan)
1952: Singin' In The Rain (Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly)
1953: Tokyo Story (Yasujiro Ozu)
1954: On The Waterfront (Elia Kazan)
1955: All That Heaven Allows (Douglas Sirk)
1956: The Searchers (John Ford)
1957: Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman)
1958: Some Came Running (Vincente Minnelli)
1959: Imitation Of Life (Douglas Sirk)
1960: L'Avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni)
1961: West Side Story (Robert Wise & Jerome Rbbins)
1962: Jules And Jim (Francois Truffaut)
1963: Charade (Stanley Donen)
1964: Marnie (Alfred Hitchcock)
1965: Repulsion (Roman Polanski)
1966: Battle Of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo)
1967: Reflections In A Golden Eye (John Huston)
1968: Oliver! (Carol Reed)
1969: They Shoot Horses Don't They? (Sydney Pollack)
1970: Garden Of The Finzi Continis (Vittorio De Sica)
1971: Hired Hand (Peter Fonda)
1972: Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie (Luis Bunuel)
1973: Three Musketeers (Richard Lester)
1974: Chinatown (Roman Polanski)
1975: Nashville (Robert Altman)
1976: Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese)
1977: Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (Steven Spielberg)
1978: Interiors (Woody Allen)
1979: Alien (Ridley Scott)
1980: Dressed To Kill (Brian De Palma)
1981: Reds (Warren Beatty)
1982: E.T. The Extraterrrestrial (Steven Spielberg)
1983: Yentl (Barbra Streisand)
1984: Choose Me (Alan Rudolph)
1985: Mishima: Life In Four Chapters (Paul Schrader)
1986: Blue Velvet (David Lynch)
1987: The Dead (John Huston)
1988: Dead Ringers (David Cronenberg)
1989: Sex Lies And Videotape (Steven Soderbergh)
1990: The Grifters (Stephen Frears)
1991: Silence Of The Lambs (Jonathan Demme)
1992: Stolen Children (Gianni Amelio)
1993: Short Cuts (Robert Altman)
1994: Death And The Maiden (Roman Polanski)
1995: Safe (Todd Haynes)
1996: War At Home (Emilio Estevez)
1997: Titanic (James Cameron)
1998: Playing By Heart (Willard Carroll)
1999: Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson)
2000: Dancer In The Dark (Lars von Trier)
2001: Lagaan (Asutosh Gowariker)
2002: The Hours (Stephen Daldry)
2003: Dogville (Lars von Trier)
2004: Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry)
2005: Crash (Paul Haggis)
2006: United 93 (Paul Greengrass)
2007: Sweeney Todd (Tim Burton)
2008: Cassandra's Dream (Woody Allen)
2009: Secret In Their Eyes (Juan Jose Campanella)
2010: Ghost Writer (Roman Polanski)
2011: Skin I Live In (Pedro Almodovar)
2012: Cloud Atlas (Tom Twyker, Lana & Lily Wachowski)
2013: Great Beauty (Paolo Sorrentino)
2014: Two Faces Of January (Hossein Amini)
2015: Youth (Paolo Sorrentino)
2016: La La Land (Damien Chazelle)
2017: Call Me By Your Name (Luca Guadagnino)
2018: Roma (Alfonso Cuaron)
2019: Parasite (Bong Joon Ho)

Wow, great list (and thread).

I love your choices especially for 1975, 77.

I don't have the time to list that far back so I'll start with 1970.
The films that are bold are my 10 favorite films of all time:


1970--Scrooge

1971--The Last Picture Show

1972--Silent Running

1973--American Graffiti

1974--The Conversation

1975--Jaws

1976--Rocky

1977--Close Encounters of the Third Kind

1978--The Buddy Holly Story

1979--Alien

1980--Ordinary People

1981--My Dinner With Andre

1982--The Year Of Living Dangerously

1983--Never Cry Wolf

1984--Paris, Texas

1985--Fright Night

1986--Platoon

1987--Housekeeping

1988--Stand And Deliver

1989--Time Flies When You're Alive

1990--American Dream

1991--Dogfight

1992--Unforgiven

1993--Dazed and Confused

1994--Ed Wood

1995--Maborosi

1996--Fargo

1997--Jackie Brown

1998--Saving Private Ryan

1999--American Movie

2000--Cast Away

2001--Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner

2002--Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator

2003--Lost in Translation

2004--Million Dollar Baby

2005--The New World

2006--The Departed

2007--No Country For Old Men

2008--Ponyo

2009--Bright Star

2010--The Social Network

2011--The Tree Of Life

2012--Argo

2013--Her

2014--Nightcrawler

2015--Mad Max: Fury Road

2016--Manchester By The Sea

2017--Phantom Thread

2018--Stan & Ollie

2019--Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

 

[Angelo Colombus]

Maborosi

Have the Blu-ray of Maborosi and it's a great film.

 

[Bryan^H]

Have the Blu-ray of Maborosi and it's a great film.

It sure is.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

It sure is.

I also notice you have Barbara Kopple's American Dream and i love her work with Harlan County USA and Wild Man Blues. Most times after seeing American Dream i would view Roger & Me.

 

[Thomas T]

I gotta ask: do you like Ambersons better than Citizen Kane, or did Kane just have more competition in its year for you?

The Maltese Falcon is perfect. Try as I might I can't find a flaw in it. It may not be the highpoint in cinematic art that Citizen Kane is, I'll grant you that but I've easily watched Maltese twice as much as I have Kane in the past 30 years. No disrespect to Kane which is a bona fide masterpiece but the thread is called favorite/best meaning that sometimes a film is your favorite of the year while you might not call it the best of the year. But as I said above, they're not mutually exclusive.

And yes, 1942 wasn't a strong a year as 1941 so Ambersons was a no brainer.

 

[Thomas T]

Wow, great list (and thread).

I love your choices especially for 1975, 77.

I don't have the time to list that far back so I'll start with 1970.
The films that are bold are my 10 favorite films of all time:


1970--Scrooge

1971--The Last Picture Show

1972--Silent Running

1973--American Graffiti

1974--The Conversation

1975--Jaws

1976--Rocky

1977--Close Encounters of the Third Kind

1978--The Buddy Holly Story

1979--Alien

1980--Ordinary People

1981--My Dinner With Andre

1982--The Year Of Living Dangerously

1983--Never Cry Wolf

1984--Paris, Texas

1985--Fright Night

1986--Platoon

1987--Housekeeping

1988--Stand And Deliver

1989--Time Flies When You're Alive

1990--American Dream

1991--Dogfight

1992--Unforgiven

1993--Dazed and Confused

1994--Ed Wood

1995--Maborosi

1996--Fargo

1997--Jackie Brown

1998--Saving Private Ryan

1999--American Movie

2000--Cast Away

2001--Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner

2002--Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator

2003--Lost in Translation

2004--Million Dollar Baby

2005--The New World

2006--The Departed

2007--No Country For Old Men

2008--Ponyo

2009--Bright Star

2010--The Social Network

2011--The Tree Of Life

2012--Argo

2013--Her

2014--Nightcrawler

2015--Mad Max: Fury Road

2016--Manchester By The Sea

2017--Phantom Thread

2018--Stan & Ollie

2019--Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

The Conversation was so close to being my 1974 pick but I couldn't dismiss Chinatown! Loved that you picked Jackie Brown for your 1997 choice. It's still my favorite Tarantino. I'm amazed by the amount of Tarantino fans who consider it his worst movie!

 

[Angelo Colombus]

The Maltese Falcon is perfect. Try as I might I can't find a flaw in it. It may not be the highpoint in cinematic art that Citizen Kane is, I'll grant you that but I've easily watched Maltese twice as much as I have Kane in the past 30 years. No disrespect to Kane which is a bona fide masterpiece but the thread is called favorite/best meaning that sometimes a film is your favorite of the year while you might not call it the best of the year. But as I said above, they're not mutually exclusive.

And yes, 1942 wasn't a strong a year as 1941 so Ambersons was a no brainer.

Speaking of Ambersons website Wellesnet has been reporting that there is a search going on in Brazil to find the missing footage. Chances are almost zero but you never know.

Pandemic delays Brazilian search for lost 'Magnificent Ambersons' (wellesnet.com)

 

[Bryan^H]

I also notice you have Barbara Kopple's American Dream and i love her work with Harlan County USA and Wild Man Blues. Most times after seeing American Dream i would view Roger & Me.

It is the perfect documentary in my opinion. Gripping, and sad. It also opened my young eyes to the practices of big business, and unions that fight for the working man.

 

[TravisR]

Loved that you picked Jackie Brown for your 1997 choice. It's still my favorite Tarantino. I'm amazed by the amount of Tarantino fans who consider it his worst movie!

They're wrong but I think that for some QT fans there's too much talking in Jackie Brown and it doesn't have the big centerpieces like Pulp Fiction's adrenaline shot scene or Kill Bill's Crazy 88 bloodbath scene or Inglourious Basterds' Hitler getting turned into Swiss cheese scene.

And it took 22 years to be unseated but QT's best movie is no longer Jackie Brown in my opinion.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

The Maltese Falcon is perfect. Try as I might I can't find a flaw in it. It may not be the highpoint in cinematic art that Citizen Kane is, I'll grant you that but I've easily watched Maltese twice as much as I have Kane in the past 30 years. No disrespect to Kane which is a bona fide masterpiece but the thread is called favorite/best meaning that sometimes a film is your favorite of the year while you might not call it the best of the year. But as I said above, they're not mutually exclusive.

And yes, 1942 wasn't a strong a year as 1941 so Ambersons was a no brainer.

I can’t argue that. Maltese Falcon is perfect! I remember getting the original snapper DVD and that was my first time seeing the movie - I ended up watching it every night that first week and then over and over for the rest of the month. I don’t watch it as often now to avoid getting burned out on it but I absolutely love that film. With all due respect to Big Sleep and other Bogart noirs, I don’t think anyone has ever topped Falcon.

It’s also a film that while being totally of this earth somehow suggests something beyond. The falcon is just an object but you almost believe that it has something extra to it. Like the glowing briefcase in Pulp Fiction but so much better.

 

[Bryan^H]

I like the idea/theory that the contents of the briefcase in Pulp Fiction is chock full of yellow diamonds (It makes sense, especially in Ringo's expression "It's beautiful" when the briefcase is opened)
One step deeper,
The same Diamonds that were stolen in Reservoir Dogs.

 

[Thomas T]

And it took 22 years to be unseated but QT's best movie is no longer Jackie Brown in my opinion.

I assume Once Upon A Time In Hollywood replaced it. I haven't seen OUATIH since its theatrical debut last year and I loved it. I look forward to revisiting it soon.

 

[TravisR]

I assume Once Upon A Time In Hollywood replaced it. I haven't seen OUATIH since its theatrical debut last year and I loved it. I look forward to revisiting it soon.

Yeah, I loved OUATIH and saw it an embarrassing number of times in the theaters. I kinda think that a number of years should be pass before deciding something is a person's best work but OUATIH is just that good to me that I feel comfortable saying it.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Yeah, I always thought that Jackie Brown was hurt by the expectation that it would be Pulp Fiction 2.0 The other thing I remember around the time of the film's release was the criticism of the proliferation of N-bombs in the film, mostly from Samuel Jackson's Ordell Robie. Personally, I think it is a terrific film and it was somewhat difficult to omit it from my list, but I already had two other Tarantino films on my list and The Sweet Hereafter is just a perfect film with an amazing performance by Ian Holm. It is also one of the most elegiac films I've ever seen and remains a personal favorite.

Speaking of tough choices when compiling a list, 1968 was tough. It features two of my Desert Island films - 2001: A Space Odyssey and Once Upon A Time in the West. Ultimately I had to go with 2001 because I do prefer it ever so slightly and Leone was on the list with The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.

And I'm right there with Travis on OUATIH. I love every frame of it and it rapidly became a favorite after multiple viewings (on Blu-Ray).

- Walter.

 

[Dick]

Beginning a bit earlier from my personal collection...and cheating a bit with some multiple choices: 1920's-1930's

1920 The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari
1921 The Kid
1922 Robin Hood / Nosferatu
1923 Safety Last
1924 The Last Laugh / Sherlock Jr.
1925 Ben Hur / The Lost World
1926 The General / Faust (Not Yet On Blu in the U.S.)
1927 Sunrise / Napoleon / Metropolis
1928 The Man Who Laughs / Speedy
1929 Pandora's Box (Not Yet On Blu in the U.S.)
1930 All Quiet On the Western Front / City Girl (Not Yet on Blu in U.S.)
1931 City Lights / M
1932 Counsellor At Law (Not Yet On Blu in the U.S.) / The Mummy
1933 Sons of the Desert / Queen Christina (Not Yet On Blu in the U.S.) / King Kong / 42nd Street
1934 It Happened On Night / The Thin Man
1935 Bride of Frankenstein / A Night At the Opera (Not Yet On Blu in the U.S.)
1936 Libeled Lady / Swingtime / Modern Times
1937 Life Of Emile Zola (Not Yet On Blu in the U.S.) / The Awful Truth
1938 Bringing Up Baby (Not Yet on Blu In the U.S.) / Adventures of Robin Hood
1939 The Hunchback Of Notre Dame / Beau Geste / Gunga Din (Not Yet On Blu in the U.S.) / Le Jour Se Leve

 

[bujaki]

Beginning a bit earlier from my personal collection...and cheating a bit with some multiple choices: 1920's-1930's

1920 The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari
1921 The Kid
1922 Robin Hood / Nosferatu
1923 Safety Last
1924 The Last Laugh / Sherlock Jr.
1925 Ben Hur / The Lost World
1926 The General / Faust (Not Yet Available On Blu)
1927 Sunrise / Napoleon / Metropolis
1928 The Man Who Laughs / Speedy
1929 Pandora's Box (Not Yet On Blu in the U.S.)
1930 All Quiet On the Western Front / City Girl
1931 City Lights / M
1932 Counsellor At Law (Not Yet On Blu in the U.S.) / The Mummy
1933 Sons of the Desert / Queen Christina (Not Yet On Blu in the U.S.) / King Kong / 42nd Street
1934 It Happened On Night / The Thin Man
1935 Bride of Frankenstein / A Night At the Opera (Not Yet On Blu in the U.S.)
1936 Libeled Lady / Swingtime / Modern Times
1937 Life Of Emile Zola (Not Yet Available On Blu in the U.S.) / The Awful Truth
1938 Bringing Up Baby (Not Yet Available In the U.S.) / Adventures of Robin Hood
1939 The Hunchback Of Notre Dame / Beau Geste / Gunga Din (Not Yet Available On Blu in the U.S.) / Le Jour Se Leve

Faust is not yet available on Blu in the USA. I have the UK Blu.

 

[Dick]

Faust is not yet available on Blu in the USA. I have the UK Blu.

As Have I. Thanks for the correction, though.