Let’s Play a Game: Name a Favorite Movie for Every Year You’ve Been Alive

The idea of naming a favorite album for every one of your years on Earth has been kicking around the internet for a little while now. I’ll give that a try some time soon, but in the spirit of this blog, I thought I’d give the game a go with my favorite movies. The further I go back, the less movies I’ve seen that year, so some of these picks are less representative of my taste than others. I’m being honest about movies I like, rather than resting just on films with good reputations. So let’s go!

1980: Caddyshack 

In a pretty strong year for movies, the irreverent slice of life at Bushwood Country Club comes out on top. It’s still eminently watchable (and eminently quotable), and I’ll give it a slight push for pure enjoyment over runner-up Raging Bull.

Honorable Mention(s): Raging Bull, Airplane!, The Empire Strikes Back, The Shining
Dishonorable Mention(s): The Blue Lagoon

1981: Raiders of the Lost Ark

In a year with fewer of my favorites, the first (and still best) Indiana Jones foray comes out on top.

HM: Superman II, Stripes
DM: Nothing else too great this year, but nothing too offensive (that I’ve seen anyway) either.

1982: Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Probably the best film in both Amy Heckerling’s and Cameron Crowe’s oeuvre, Fast Times handles teenage life with equal parts crudeness and sophistication, which is why it’s the definitive cinematic statement on the topic, even today.

HM: E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial
DM: Airplane II: The Sequel

1983: The King of Comedy

Features a darkly comic Robert De Niro (back when he was method), and a deadly serious Jerry Lewis, playing against type. Scorsese explores celebrity obsession at a time when it was just beginning to be a hot button issue.

HM: Return of the Jedi, Risky Business, Trading Places, National Lampoon’s Vacation
DM: The Big Chill

1984: This is Spinal Tap

A top contender for funniest movie ever made, in a banner year for mainstream comedy.

HM: Ghostbusters, The Karate Kid, Broadway Danny Rose, Sixteen Candles, The Muppets Take Manhattan, Amadeus
DM: Footloose, Police Academy

1985: Back to the Future

Sure, the special effects don’t really hold up, but it’s hard to think of a movie from the 1980s that’s more iconic of its era. This despite the fact that most of the film takes place in 1955. Even on the hundredth viewing, I still root for Marty to make it to the clock tower in time, as if I don’t already know the ending.

HM: Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Rocky IV
DM: Mask
 

1986: Hoosiers

A year with some good films, but no great ones. Hoosiers stands in the upper echelon of sports movies, an ultimate David and Goliath story that manages not to be trite, despite throwing out conventions we’ve seen a million times before.

HM: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, An American Tail, Platoon, Stand By Me
DM: The Money Pit

1987: Raising Arizona

The Coens’ first true comedy established an offbeat sensibility that would later be perfected in Fargo and The Big Lebowski. Edges out the mainstream but underrated dramedy Broadcast News.

HM: Broadcast News, The Princess Bride, Full Metal Jacket, The Lost Boys
DM:  Innerspace, Leonard Part 6

1988: Eight Men Out

Not quite the masterpiece it could have been, D.B. Sweeney, John Cusack, David Straithairn, et al. join a fine ensemble cast in adapting Eliot Asinof’s fine book about the 1919 Chicago White Sox. The players are portrayed as flawed individuals in a desperate situation in a film that brings life to the most famous black mark in baseball history.

HM: Die Hard, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
DM: Action Jackson

1989: Roger and Me

It’s hard to remember today, but the Michael Moore of Roger and Me was much more right than self-righteous, a balance that he’s seemed to forget in latter days, when he has a tendency to overplay his hand. We can also thank this film for the excess of first person documentaries that litter the cinematic landscape. Though as Roger and Me shows, when something gets imitated, it usually means that the original was onto something.

HM: Batman, When Harry Met Sally…, Parenthood, Major League, Field of Dreams, Il Nuovo Cinema Paradiso
DM: No Holds Barred, Turner and Hooch

1990: Goodfellas

Martin Scorsese brought the gangster genre into the modern age, using long takes that brought the viewer into the action, and period music to establish time, mood, and tension. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to separate the piano coda from “Layla” and the crescendo the film reaches while it plays. Here, Scorsese marries a subculture to the culture at large, using only his camera and a set of speakers.

HM: My Blue Heaven, Edward Scissorhands, The Grifters, House Party
DM: Rocky V, Mr. Destiny

1991: Defending Your Life

The protagonist (Albert Brooks) dies in the first minute, and must rely on incompetent attorney Rip Torn to defend his indiscretions and move him on to the next life. A great showcase for the sharp comedy of Brooks, who also wrote and directed.

HM: Barton Fink, The Silence of the Lambs, L.A. Story, Terminator 2: Judgment Day
DM: King Ralph 

1992: Reservoir Dogs

In a fine catalog, Reservoir Dogs still stands up as Quentin Tarantino’s most realized vision, from an auteur whose extraordinary vision sometimes exceeds his reach. Limited by his budget, the young filmmaker delivers a shoot-em-up pulp crime story perfectly cast and professionally executed.

HM: Wayne’s World, The Player, Glengarry Glen Ross, Aladdin
DM: Ladybugs, Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot 

1993: Groundhog Day

Probably the first film to realize the true curmudgeonly potential of late period Bill Murray, revealed expertly by director (and longtime Murray collaborator) Harold Ramis. 

HM: Army of Darkness, Dazed and Confused, Philadelphia, A Bronx Tale
DM: Judgment Night

1994: Clerks.

With the way he’s tarnished his legacy over his past several films, it’s easy to forget that during the mid-90s Kevin Smith was something of a low-budget wunderkind. Filmed for $10,000.00 (the proceeds garnered from maxing out credit cards and selling his comic book collection), Smith gave false hope to any film school reject hoping to make it big. The dream of making the next Clerks didn’t work out for many of them, and, subsequently, didn’t really work out for Smith either.

HM: Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump, Quiz Show, The Hudsucker Proxy
DM: Last Action Hero, It’s Pat

1995: The Usual Suspects

Though it admittedly wouldn’t be much without the twist ending, Kevin Spacey’s standout performance highlights an otherwise worthy ensemble cast in the 1990s’ finest caper film.

HM: Kicking and Screaming (Noah Baumbach), Se7en, The Basketball Diaries, Toy Story, Clueless
DM: Dangerous Minds, Nine Months

1996: Fargo

Compared to Raising Arizona, Joel and Ethan Coen played this one a little closer to the vest. Some of the comedic elements are still a little screwball, but they hide under the surface this time around, letting the characters be amusing in spite of the crime plot, not because of it.

HM: The Cable Guy, Kingpin, Trainspotting
DM: Mars Attacks!

1997: Boogie Nights

The first major release for P.T. Anderson and the first starring vehicle for Mark Wahlberg. In his ensemble tale about the Southern California porn industry, Anderson reveals a style derivative of his cinematic heroes, yet altogether singular. The cast, comprised mostly of Anderson’s own troupe of actors (William H. Macy, Philip Baker Hall, Julianne Moore, et al.), excels all around. The obvious choice in a year full of excellent films (see below).

HM: Waiting for Guffman, L.A. Confidential, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Grosse Point Blank, Donnie Brasco
DM: Bean, Fools Rush In

1998: Rushmore

By this point, the curmudgeonly Bill Murray era was in full swing, and Wes Anderson really put that persona on the map in Rushmore. Still, Murray is outshined by a young Jason Schwartzmann, who portrays Max Fischer with just the right balance of faux sophistication and emotional childishness. Though it’s Anderson’s second film, Rushmore marks the real arrival of a career that’s weathered universal praise, the backlash, and the backlash to the backlash.

HM: The Big Lebowski, American History X, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Saving Private Ryan
DM: Very Bad Things

1999: (Tie) Office Space and American Beauty

Forced into a decision on my favorite 1999 film, i have chosen not to make one. (Though, according to Canadian power trio Rush, I still have made a choice.) The best comedy and the best drama of their year, time has not been kind to either. American Beauty has been ruined by my own aging and realization of its trite message, while Office Space has been ruined by endless repetition of its best gags. Both are about grown men questioning the routines their lives have worn into them, a predicament with which everyone is at some time familiar. I wish I could see both films again with my 1999 eyes.

HM: Magnolia, Being John Malkovitch, Fight Club, The Matrix, South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, Election
DM: The Big Kahuna, EDtv

2000: High Fidelity

John Cusack’s emotionally stunted record collector was really the perfect character for me in my college years. High Fidelity is the kind of harmless, satisfying trifle I’ll reach for when I hit my midlife crisis, just to remember that it’s all going to be OK.

HM: Almost Famous, Snatch, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Traffic
DM: Dude, Where’s My Car?, Pay It Forward

2001: The Royal Tenenbaums

Following up Rushmore, Wes Anderson proved he could handle a wide ensemble and all the plot underpinnings that entailed, without leaving any stones unturned. He also proved himself as a rare filmmaker who can handle an unexpectedly large budget without losing his original vision, and coax just the right tone from actors as diverse as Anjelica Houston and Ben Stiller.

HM: Wet Hot American Summer, Zoolander, Oceans Eleven, Freddie Got Fingered, Donnie Darko
DM: Corky Romano, A Beautiful Mind

2002: Spider-Man

Immersed as we are in the “Comic Book Summer,” let’s not forget about Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man adaptation, which took forever to get to the big screen, and proved to be worth the wait. There have been a slew of good comic book films over the years, but this one stands out due to the Raimi touch, using the same offbeat conventions Raimi employed in his Evil Dead films on a scale about a thousand times as large.

HM: Adaptation., Super Troopers, One Hour Photo, Punch-Drunk Love, Death to Smoochy
DM: Eight Crazy Nights, Like Mike, Juwanna Mann

2003: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Like the Academy did, when I recognize Return of the King, I’m recognizing the whole achievement. Though it falters in places, Peter Jackson’s saga managed to bring Tolkien’s tale to the screen in a way completely unimaginable before. The trilogy was made at the right time, with the right cast and the right technology, and Return of the King is the best singular film of the three.

HM: Lost in Translation, Elf, Bad Santa, American Splendor, A Mighty Wind, Old School
DM: From Justin to Kelly, Gigli

2004: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

Rightfully so, Scorsese’s The Aviator was the most critically acclaimed film of 2004, but no film of the year (and few films of the era) are as rewatchable as Anchorman. Bumbling idiot Ron Burgundy is the perfect voice for Will Ferrell; Paul Rudd, David Koechner and Steve Carell are his perfect goofball playmates, and Christina Applegate is his perfect foil. Ferrell has tried to catch the same lightning in a bottle, with varying success, ever since.

HM: The Aviator, Friday Night Lights, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Kill Bill Vol. 2, Team America: World Police, Mean Girls
DM: Christmas With the Kranks, Garden State

2005: The Squid and the Whale

I’m still a little confused by Noah Baumbach’s The Squid and the Whale, but I can’t hold that against him. In fact, I praise him for it. It’s a tribute to the director that his characters are so far removed from mainstream society, yet their plight resonates. What can we expect the aftermath of a ruptured family to look like, when that family was so nontraditional to begin with? The director seems to be as confused as his characters are, and that’s a good thing. It means no reaction can be altogether unbelievable.

HM: Batman Begins, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, The Aristocrats, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Munich, Walk the Line, The Corpse Bride
DM: The Man, The Dukes of Hazzard 

2006: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

You can blame Sacha Baron Cohen for all the bad Borat impression you heard throughout 2006. But you can’t blame him for exposing Americans for what we are: usually well meaning, often naive, and, sometimes, complete assholes.

HM: The Departed, Casino Royale, Marie-Antoinette, Little Miss Sunshine, Nacho Libre, Grandma’s Boy
DM: Failure to Launch, Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector, The Pink Panther

2007: There Will Be Blood

A brilliant performance by Daniel Day-Lewis, a haunting Johnny Greenwood score, and a pitch perfect tale of greed and corruption during the turn of last century’s oil boom. Day-Lewis plays a man who feels no emotion, who seeks money in lieu of the happiness he will never find. In maybe the best movie year of my lifetime, P.T. Anderson comes out of hiding and shoots his masterpiece.

HM: No Country for Old Men, Once, Ratatouille, Gone Baby Gone, Juno, The King of Kong, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, The Darjeeling Limited, Knocked Up, Superbad
DM: Epic Movie, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry

2008 (So far): WALL-E

It may get knocked from the top spot before the year is out, but, as I’ve said before, it’s the best of the year so far.

HM: Iron Man, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Kung Fu Panda
DM: The Happening, Made of Honor, Speed Racer, Meet Dave

If you’re keeping score, that’s two each for Martin Scorsese, P.T. Anderson, Wes Anderson, the Coen brothers, and, um, Harold Ramis.

So please, if you have an afternoon to kill, try this exercise. It’s fun!

Post your results, or a link to them, in the comments.