The Best Years in Films, Many From the Seventies and One Quite Recent

Stalker (1979) a great film from a great year

I'm happy to say that 2023 was a great year in films. At least for me. My five favorite films of the year were all worthy of the number one spot — even in an exceptional year. (See my top ten.) The next three would have normally found themselves among the top three or four and the last two, plus a couple in my honorable mentions would have been among the top five in most years. This was easily the best year for new releases in this century (albeit one that is only 24 years old) and exceeds any single year from the ‘90s or ‘80s. 

This got me thinking about how 2023 ranked among the great years in films. I naturally started my investigation by looking at the Seventies which has produced an amazing number of great films -- as I've detailed on this blog before. It was no surprise that I found a few years that bested 2023. There were five other years from different decades that stood out, two of them consecutive ones. So here are my twelve favorite years in films, with those films that I consider “great” listed.

1975 Barry Lyndon, Dog Day Afternoon, The Man Who Would be King, Mirror, Nashville, Three Days of the Condor, Jaws, Shampoo, Love and Death, The Passenger, Picnic at Hanging Rock. 

1979 Manhattan, Stalker, Tess, Apocalypse Now, The Marriage of Maria Braun, Being There, Breaking Away, My Brilliant Career.

1974 Chinatown, Godfather 2, A Woman Under the Influence, California Split, The Conversation, The Parallax View, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul.

1940 His Girl Friday, Foreign Correspondent, Grapes of Wrath, The Great McGinty, The Shop Around the Corner, The Great Dictator, The Philadelphia Story, The Long Voyage Home, The Letter.

1957 The Seventh Seal, Nights of Cabiria, Sweet Smell of Success, Bridge on the River Kwai, The Cranes are Flying, Witness for the Prosecution, Paths of Glory.

1972 The Godfather, Cabaret, The New Land, Aguirre, The Wrath of God, Cries & Whispers, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Play it Again, Sam, What’s Up Doc?

2023 Fallen Leaves, Oppenheimer, Godland, Zone of Interest, All of Us Strangers, May December, Poor Things. 

1973 Amarcord, The Last Detail, The Exorcist, Serpico, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Badlands, Paper Moon, The Spirit of the Beehive.

1971 The Last Picture Show, A Clockwork Orange, The Emigrants, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Bananas, The French Connection, Mon Oncle Antoine, Walkabout.

1962 L’eclisse, Cleo Form 5 to 7, Vivre sa vie, The Exterminating Angel, Jules et Jim, Knife in the Water, Shoot the Piano Player, Taste of Honey, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

1939 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Midnight, Stagecoach, Ninotchka, The Roaring Twenties, Destry Rides Again, Young Mr. Lincoln.

1946 It's A Wonderful Life, The Big Sleep, Notorious, Cluny Brown, My Darling Clementine, Paisan, The Killers, Shoeshine.

My Revised 2023 Top Ten Films

The Zone of Interest, just added to my top ten

I made a mistake last month. Before I go further I'd like to acknowledge that this was not the first instance of me erring and I very much doubt it will be the last. Simply put I was premature in releasing my yearly top ten. Somehow I ignored the fact that there were two more much-anticipated releases that I still wanted to see. Well folks I've seen them over the course of the last two weeks and, as both pictures warranted a spot on my top ten, have revised the list accordingly. As it happens they take the numbers four and five spots. In my earlier iteration of this list I mentioned what a great year it's been in films. Having now seen All of Us Strangers and The Zone of Interest I can attest it is even greater than great, whatever the deuce that is. I vow to be more patient next year. 

1. Fallen Leaves (Kaurismäki)

2. Godland (Pálmason)

3. Oppenheimer (Nolan) 

4. All of Us Strangers (Haigh)

5. The Zone of Interest (Glazer) 

6. May December (Haynes)

7. Afire (Petzold)

8. Poor Things (Lanthimos)

9. Fair Play (Domont)

10. The Holdovers (Payne)

Honorable Mention: Showing Up (Reichardt), Asteroid City (Anderson), Bottoms (Seligman),  Past Lives (Song), Barbie (Gerwig), Anatomy of a Fall (Triet). 

Best Actor: Colman Domingo (Rustin) Runners Up — Alden Ehrenreich (Fair Play), Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) and Paul Giamatti (Holdovers).

Best Actress: Carey Mulligan (Maestro) Runners up - Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon), Alma Pöysti (Fallen Leaves) and Natalie Portman (May December).

Best Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer). Runners Up — Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things) and Ingvar Sigurdsson (Godland)

Best Supporting Actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers) Runners Up — Juliane Moore (May December) and Jodie Foster (Nyad) 

My Top Ten Films of 2023

Fallen Leaves

This was the best year in films since….I’m not exactly sure. A long time. It might be the best year of the current century. I had a deuce of a time picking between three GREAT films for the number one spot (Three great films in one year!). As you’ll note there’s a gap between three and four but that’s no slight on the rest of the top ten. Any of the first six would have been worthy of the top spot in a “normal” year. Eight films were well worthy of being in the top four and at least thirteen were top ten worthy. My faith in the film industry is -- at least temporarily -- restored. 

1. Fallen Leaves (Kaurismäki)

2. Godland (Pálmason)

3. Oppenheimer (Nolan) 

4. May December (Haynes)

5. Afire (Petzold)

6. Poor Things (Lanthimos)

7. Fair Play (Domont)

8. Showing Up (Reichardt)

9. The Holdovers (Payne)

10. Past Lives (Song) 

Honorable Mention: Killers of the Flower Moon (Scorsese), Asteroid City (Anderson), Bottoms (Seligman), Dream Scenario (Borgli), Barbie (Gerwig), Anatomy of a Fall (Triet). 

Best Actor: Colman Domingo (Rustin) Runners Up — 

Alden Ehrenreich (Fair Play), Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) and Paul Giamatti (Holdovers).

Best Actress: Carey Mulligan (Maestro) Runners up - Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon), Alma Pöysti (Fallen Leaves) and Natalie Portman (May December).

Best Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer). Runners Up — Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things) and Ingvar Sigurdsson (Godland)

Best Supporting Actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers) Runners Up — Juliane Moore (May December) and Jodie Foster (Nyad) 

I Said What? Revisiting My Yearly Top Ten Lists

Vicky Cristiana Barcelona, My First #1 On the Blog

I was looking at one of my yearly top ten films lists over the weekend and couldn’t understand how I’d rank one film so high and another so low. Tastes change quickly. We see a movie a second time and appreciate it a lot more noticing not just the what of the story but the way the story was told. Also some movies don’t hold up to a second viewing, having an initial appeal but not much substance. This is particularly true of rom coms and action pictures. You didn’t even need to re-watch a film to re-assess it. How it sits with you in the coming weeks and months — or how it totally recedes from memory — influences your opinion. In this exercise I’ll be reviewing all the top ten lists I’ve published on ye olde blog since the first for 2008 releases. 

2008

1. Vicky Christina Barcelona (Allen)

2. Milk (Van Sant)

3. The Visitor (McCarthy) 

4. I’ve Loved You For So Long (Claudel)

5. In Bruges (McDonagh)

6. A Secret (Miller)

7. Frost/Nixon (Howard)

8. Rachel Getting Married (Demme)

9. The Last Mistress (Breillat)

10. Synechode, New York (Kaufman)

Nailed the first one. I don’t see anything here to change. I don’t think that I’ve seen any from the second half of this list a second time. I don’t remember a thing about The Last Mistress so goodness knows where I’d rank it after a second viewing.

2009

1. Inglourious Basterds

2. A Serious Man

3. The Messenger

4. Precious

5. The Hurt Locker

6. Broken Embraces

7. Me and Orson Welles

8. A Single Man

9. Sugar

10. Damned United

Definitely got the first two right. I’m a little surprised that I didn’t  have A Single Man and Damned United higher.

2010

1. Winter's Bone

2. Black Swan

3. The White Ribbon

4. True Grit

5. Vincere

6. The American

7. The Ghost Writer

8. Shutter Island

9. A Prophet

10. The Town

Not a great year for movies was it? That said the list looks fine except I’ve come to really like Shutter Island and it would top a revised list.

2011

1. Melancholia

2. Of Gods and Men

3. The Artist

4. Midnight in Paris

5. Shame

6. Hugo

7. Le Havre

8. The Tree of Life

9. Beginners

10. Young Adult

Wow, Midnight in Paris has become one of my favorite films of all time and would easily top a revised list and Le Havre is another top 100 film and would be second. Melancholia would be a solid third and Of Gods and Men a very worthy number four.  I really had Hugo ahead of Le Havre? I had The Artist ahead of Midnight in Paris? Unbelievable.

2012

1. L'enfant d'en haut (Meier)

2. Django Unchained (Tarantino)

3. Moonrise Kingdom (W. Anderson)

4. Gianni e le donne (DiGregorio)

5. Bernie (Linklater)

6. The Master (P. Anderson)

7. Lincoln (Spielberg)

8. Holy Motors (Carax)

9. Noordzee, Texas (Defurne)

10. Seven Psychopaths (McDonagh)

Another down year. Moonrise Kingdom would top a revised version of this last and The Master would be second. The rest seems fine. I didn’t see Silver Linings Playbook until much later. It would have topped the list if I’d seen it in time.

2013

1. Inside Llewyn Davis (Coens)

2. Her (Jonze)

3. Nebraska (Payne)

4. Blue Jasmine (Allen)

5. Frances Ha (Baumbach)

6. Reality (Garrone)

7. 12 a Slave (McQueen)

8. Kill Your Darlings (Krokidas)

9. Blue is the Warmest Color (Kechiche)

10. La Grande Belleza (Sorrentino)

I already revised this one. Six months after I posted it I, in an unprecedented Streams of Unconsciousness move, I posted an altered versions in which I put Llewyn Davis first and dropped the original list topper, Nebraska to third. Llyewyn Davis went on to be named my film of the decade. In a re-revised list I’d move Blue Jasmine to second and Blue is the Warmest Color to fifth.

2014

1. Birdman

2. Under the Skin

3. Boyhood

4. Venus in Fur

5. The Skeleton Twins

6. Top Five

7. Gone Girl

8. Whiplash

9. The Grand Budapest Hotel

10. Foxcatcher

Looks good to me.

2015

1. Carol  (Haynes)

2. The Revenant  (Inarritu)

3. Tangerine  (Baker)

4. The Martian  (Scott)

5. Room  (Abrahamson)

6. Spotlight  (McCarthy)

7. Clouds of Sils Maria  (Assayas)

8. Star Wars: The Force Awaken  (Abrams)

9. Love & Mercy  (Pohlad)

10. Dope  (Famuyiwa)

Another week year. The only revision I’d make would be to move The Clouds of Sils Maria to second.

2016

1 Manchester by the Sea (Lonergan)

2 Paterson (Jarmusch)

3 Moonlight (Jenkins)

4 The Handmaiden (Park)

5 Hell or High Water (Mackenzie)

6 Nocturnal Animals (Ford)

7 The Lobster (Lanthimos)

8 American Honey (Arnold)

9 Hunt for the Wilderpeople (Waititi)

10 Silence (Scorsese)

I got this one spot on too.

2017

1. Personal Shopper (Assayas)

2. Phantom Thread (Anderson)

3. Call Me Be Your Name (Guadagnino)

4. The Florida Project (Baker) 

5. The Disaster Artist (Franco)

6. Wonder Wheel (Allen)

7. Columbus (Kogonada)

8. I, Tonya (Gillespie)

9. The Other Side of Hope (Kaurismaki)

10 . Get Out (Peele)

I’d move The Other Side of Hope to second (what it’s doing way back there at 9th is beyond me) and Wonder Wheel to fourth.

2018

1. First Reformed (Schrader)

2. Roma (Cuaron)

3. Burning Chang-dong Lee)

4. Shoplifters (Koreeda)

5. You Were Never Really Here (Ramsay)

6. The Favourite (Lannthimos)

7. Blackkklansman (Lee)

8. A Star is Born (Cooper)

9. Blindspotting (Estrada)

10. Wildlife (Dano)

I don’t know what Wildlife is doing back at number ten, fourth or fifth seem more like it. Other than that it’s fine.

2019

1. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Tarantino)

2. Waves (Shults)

3. Parasite (Joon Ho)

4. Little Women (Gerwig)

5. The Irishman (Scorsese) 

6.  Jojo Rabbit (Waititi)

7. Uncut Gems (Safdies)

8. Queen and Slim (Matsoukas)

9. Joker (Phillips)

10. Transit (Petzold)

Again I’ve got a film in the tenth spot (Transit) that deserves to be in the middle and I’d slide The Irishman back a few spaces. Otherwise, good job by me.

2020

1. Promising Young Woman (Fennell)

2. Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Hittman)

3. Mank (Fincher)

4. Nomadland (Zhao)

5. Sound of Metal (Marder)

6. The Assistant (Green)

7. Palm Springs (Barbakow)

8. I'm Thinking of Ending Things (Kaufman)

9. Judas and the Black Messiah (S. King)

10. One Night in Miami (R.King)

Shortly after publishing this much delayed list (thanks for nothing, pandemic) I saw Another Round and if I’d a mind too would have revised the list right then and there and put it at number one. The list is otherwise fine except Palm Springs should be a few spots higher.

2021

1. Drive My Car (Hamaguchi)

2. The Power of the Dog (Campion)

3. Licorice Pizza (P.T. Anderson)

4. The Tragedy of MacBeth (Coen)

5. Red Rocket (Baker)

6. tick, tick...Boom! (Miranda)

7. The Lost Daughter (Gyllenhaal)

8. The Hand of God (Sorrentino)

9. Belfast (Branagh)

10. Spencer (Larrain)

I hit this one out of the ballpark. Drive My Car is in my top 100. The only other films I've watched again are tick, tick and Licorice Pizza. I'd move the latter into second.

2022

1. Aftersun (Wells)
2. Babylon (Chazelle)
3. Eo (Skolimowksi)
4. Decision to Leave (Chan-wook)
5. Tar (Field)
6. The Banshees of Inisherin (McDonagh)
7. Rifkin’s Festival (Allen)
8. Petite Maman (Sciamma)
9. Emily the Criminal (Ford)
10. All Quiet on the Western Front (Berger)

Other than moving Rifkin’s Festival and Emily the Criminal up a few places and dropping Babylon a couple of spots, I’m happy with this.

In completing the assignment I found that there were far less changes than I’d anticipated. Initial readings of a film are generally correct but with huge exceptions. More often, I noted, I like good films more a second time, sometimes a helluva lot more.

My Top Ten Films For 2022

 

1. Aftersun (Wells)
2. Babylon (Chazelle)
3. Eo (Skolimowksi)
4. Decision to Leave (Chan-wook)
5. Tar (Field)
6. The Banshees of Inisherin (McDonagh)
7. Rifkin’s Festival (Allen)
8. Petite Maman (Sciamma)
9. Emily the Criminal (Ford)
10. All Quiet on the Western Front (Berger)

Honorable Mention: Emergency (Williams), Pleasure (Thyberg), The Eternal Daughter (Hogg), The Wonder (Lelio), Elvis (Luhrmann), Lady Chatterly’s Lover (de Clermont-Tonnerre).

Best Actor: Colin Farrell, Banshees of Inisherin

Best Actress: Margot Robbie, Babylon

Best Supporting Actor: Tom Hanks, Elvis

Best Support Actress: Kerry Condon, Banshees of Inisherin

My Top Ten Films of 2021

1. Drive My Car (Hamaguchi)

2. The Power of the Dog (Campion)

3. Licorice Pizza (P.T. Anderson)

4. The Tragedy of MacBeth (Coen)

5. Red Rocket (Baker)

6. tick, tick...Boom! (Miranda)

7. The Lost Daughter (Gyllenhaal)

8. The Hand of God (Sorrentino)

9. Belfast (Branagh)

10. Spencer (Larrain)

Honorable Mention: The French Dispatch (W. Anderson), Passing (Hall), C'mon, C'mon (Mills), The Souvenir Part II (Hogg), Bergman Island (Hansen-Love).

Best Actress: Kristen Stewart (Spencer). Runners Up: Olivia Colman (Lost Daughter) and Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza).

Best Actor: Andrew Garfield (tick, tick...Boom!). Runners Up: Benedict Cumberbatch (Power of the Dog) and Simon Rex (Red Rocket).

Best Supporting Actress: Caitriona Balfe (Belfast). Runners Up: Jessie Buckley (Lost Daughter) and Kathryn Hunter (MacBeth).

Best Supporting Actor: Kodi Smit-McPhee (Power of the Dog). Honorable Mention: Jesse Plemons (Power of the Dog) and Jamie Dornan (Belfast).

My Very, Very, Very, Very Late Top Ten Films of "2020"

Normally my top ten films of the year list appears at the end of December or early January. However, as you may be aware there’s been the small matter of pandemic that has thrown a monkey wrench into many aspects of “normal” life including film releases and going to theaters. It has taken until past mid April for me to catch up with all the year’s releases and technically some of these films may have come out in 2021. The two factors I used to determine eligibility for this year’s list were if the film was released in 2020 and/or was deemed eligible for this most recent awards season. Anyway, better way late than never.

(I happily point out that women directed three of my top four films.)

1. Promising Young Woman (Fennell)

2. Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Hittman)

3. Mank (Fincher)

4. Nomadland (Zhao)

5. Sound of Metal (Marder)

6. The Assistant (Green)

7. Palm Springs (Barbakow)

8. I'm Thinking of Ending Things (Kaufman)

9. Judas and the Black Messiah (S. King)

10. One Night in Miami (R.King)

Honorable Mention: The Dig (Stone); Minari (Chung); Yes, God, Yes (Maine); First Cow (Reichardt); The Trial of the Chicago Seven (Sorkin) and The Father (Zellar).

Best Actress: Carey Mulligan Promising Young Woman. Runners Up, Frances McDormand Nomadland and Julie Garner The Assistant.

Best Actor: Gary Oldman Mank. Runners Up, Anthony Hopkins The Father and Steven Yeun Minari.

Best Supporting Actress: Olivia Coleman The Father. Runner Up, Olivia Cooke Sound of Metal.

Best Supporting Actor: Sacha Baron Cohen The Trial of the Chicago Seven. Runner Up. Leslie Odom, Jr. One Night in Miami

My Top Ten Films of 2019

1. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Tarantino)
2. Waves (Shults)
3. Parasite (Joon Ho)
4. Little Women (Gerwig)
5. The Irishman (Scorsese) 
6.  Jojo Rabbit (Waititi)
7. Uncut Gems (Safdies)
8. Queen and Slim (Matsoukas)
9. Joker (Phillips)
10. Transit (Petzold)

Honorable Mention: Hustlers (Scarfaria), Diane (Jones), Last Black Man in San Francisco (Talbot), Ms. Purple (Chon), Marriage Story (Baumbach), The Lighthouse (Eggers), La Camarista (Aviles)

Best Actress: Mary Kay Place (Diane). Runners Up - Scarlett Johansson (Marriage Story) Saoirse  Ronan (Little Women) Taylor Russell (Waves)

Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix (Joker). Runners Up - Adam Driver (Marriage Story) Willem Dafoe (The Lighthouse) Adam Sandler (Uncut Gems)

Best Supporting Actress: Annette Bening (The Report). Runners Up - Jennifer Lopez (Hustlers) Margaret Qualley (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)

Best Supporting Actor: Al Pacino (The Irishman). Runners Up - Joe Pesci (The Irishman) Tom Burke (The Souvenir)