1983
Favourite
Scarface
Runners-Up
Trading Places
The King of Comedy
The Outsiders
Not the best start – not too many top line films to choose from. Needless to say I
didn’t actually catch any of these at the cinema. Scarface is almost the default winner
here, not that it’s not a great film, I just don’t seem to rate it as highly as a lot of other
people – many of my friends included. Trading Places was an amusing and
entertaining film but probably just as memorable for the Jamie Lee-Curtis topless
scene as anything else. The King of Comedy was disturbing in a good way and I
actually mean to revisit it soon. The Outsiders is a bit of a nostalgia choice – not as
good as the book but seeing all those soon to be huge movie stars on screen at the
same time, looking so young, is something in itself. Others up for consideration from
this year included the closing entry in the most popular sci-fi saga of all time, and
Chevy Chase’s first holiday film for National Lampoon. Stay gold Ponyboy.
1984
Favourite
This is Spinal Tap
Runners-Up
Once Upon a Time in America
The Terminator
Ghostbusters
Something of a landmark year I’d say; Spinal Tap being the first, and best,
mockumentry and the launching of the Terminator franchise with a film which,
stylistically, is completely different from its sequels. The rewatchability of Spinal
Tap put it just ahead of the epic masterpiece which is Once Upon a Time in America
whilst Ghostbusters had to be on the list even though I had almost forgotten how
funny it was. Unlucky to miss out here were the first adventures of Axel Foley, a
bunch of little monsters you don’t want to feed after midnight and the debut of the
Coen brothers. Yes its true, this man has no dick.
1985
Favourite
Back to the Future
Runners-Up
The Breakfast Club
The Goonies
Brazil
A tougher choice than it first appeared but Marty McFly’s initial adventure through
time was clever enough and fun enough to push past the nostalgia factor of The
Goonies, the heart-felt simplicity of The Breakfast Club and the overly bureaucratic
dystopian wackiness that is Terry Gilliam’s masterpiece. Just missing out were the big
adventures of an awkward little man, as well as a whole bunch of films that I really
should have seen by now but haven’t. If my calculations are correct, when this baby
hits 88 miles per hour... you're gonna see some serious shit.
1986
Favourite
Aliens
Runners-Up
Blue Velvet
Stand By Me
Platoon
I could not go past one of the greatest sequels of all time for my number 1 spot here.
Aliens is by turns exhilarating and incredibly tense and Sigourney Weaver set the
benchmark for female action heroes. Platoon was the pick of 2 very well made Oliver
Stone films in 1986 thanks to some particularly memorable scenes. Stand by Me is
more than just nostalgia and is actually one of the most bittersweet films I’ve ever
seen and Blue Velvet is weird and uncomfortable but in an ‘I can’t stop watching’
kind of way. The 14-year old me would have had a certain French film with some
memorable sex scenes at number 1 although Paul Newman’s long-overdue Best Actor
Oscar winning performance, the original and best Mick Dundee outing and Matthew
Broderick’s eventful absence from school were the toughest omissions. Game over
man, game over.
1987
Favourites
Full Metal Jacket/The Princess Bride
Runners-Up
Robocop
The Untouchables
My first tie. I really couldn’t bring myself to separate Kubrick’s meditation on the
dehumanising effects of war and duality of man, from the story book brilliance in
William Goldman’s unimaginably good screenplay. That screenplay and some pitchperfect performances pushed Princess Bride to another level (and gave Rob Reiner the
early lead in terms of director’s whose films I’m drawn to) whilst the split-in-half
approach to telling the story of some regular U.S. military grunts in the Vietnam war
made Jacket a winner. Robocop made it because (a) when I was 12 years old I
appreciated the violence and (b) now that I’m older I appreciate the satire… and the
violence. The Untouchables, particularly the Sean Connery and Andy Garcia
moments, beat out another Coen Brothers gem, two quality vampire flicks and Arnie
taking on a seemingly undefeatable alien. Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You
killed my father. Prepare to die.
1988
Favourite
Die Hard
Runners-Up
Bull Durham
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Beetlejuice
The best action film of all-time couldn’t not be my favourite film of the year, could it?
The more recent entries in the Die Hard cannon have diluted its appeal somewhat but
the visceral joy of watching John McClain take out a whole skyscrapers’ worth of bad
guys is something I can go back to time and time again. Bull Durham is extremely
underrated in my opinion and features Costner doing what he does best and Susan
Sarandon in her sexiest role. The ?-less Roger Rabbit was a technical marvel in its day
but it’s the script and the jokes that help it stand the test of time. Beetlejuice,
Beetlejuice Beetle juice also gets a nod here thanks to a never better, never wackier
Michael Keaton and my first and still one of my strongest celebrity crushes. That’s
Winona Ryder not Alec Baldwin by the way. Missing out were an Italian whose
obvious highlight was a beautiful montage of kisses, a childlike Tom Hanks, Val
Kilmer reluctantly championing Warwick Davis and most of the Monty Python crew
teaming up with an Oscar winning Kevin Kline. Yippee-ki-yay, mother fucker.
1989
Favourite
Do the Right Thing
Runners-Up
Heathers
Batman
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
1989 had a strong top 2 and a middling secondary 2. Spike Lee’s best had enough of
an edge to overcome the razor sharp satire, not to mention my Winona Ryder crush,
featured in Heathers. Do the Right Thing had its finger on the pulse in a way that no
other film of its time did. Also, I still love the Mayor. The first big screen outing of
the caped crusader got a nod because I’m a big Batman fan and because it was such a
departure from the television show, which I never got into. Rounding out the top 4 we
have Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves as the original and best stoner duo who just so
happen to be humanity’s only hope. Seriously, if you haven’t seen Bill & Ted in a
while do yourself a favour; it’s actual adult funny not just juvenile funny/ The other
candidates here included an iconic John Cusak performance, Tom Cruise in a
wheelchair and the first film I ever saw at the cinema (it was directed by Ron Howard.
Finally, I haven’t seen that Kevin Costner builds a baseball field film. Always do the
right thing.
1990
Favourite
GoodFellas
Runners-Up
Miller’s Crossing
Total Recall
Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Gangsters, con-men and Philip K. Dick; 1990 had it all. Well, not really. Goodfellas
remains one of my all-time favourites despite the fact that I’ve seen it more than any
other film. (Okay, maybe that one about Punxsutawney Phil but we’ll get to that). It
has style, substance and career best turns from Liotta and Pesci and is the finest
Scorsese film of my lifetime. For my runners-up, the Coen brothers finally get a go
with their moody Irish gangster opus, Arnie has his memories messed with in a Paul
Verhoeven visual treat and those pesky Gremlins are back in another hilariously selfaware comedy/horror. Stephen Frears’ John Cusak starring confidence film was close
as was Tim Robbins facing up to post-Vietnam trauma (or was he?) and a Nicholas
Roeg Roald Dahl adaptation that my brother still can’t watch. Costner’s lupine waltz
film and Christopher Walken as the big apple’s self-appointed regent may have gotten
a look in if I’d actually seen them. Look in your heart.
1991
Favourite
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Runners-Up
Boyz ‘N the Hood
JFK
Point Break
An interesting year 1991, I’ve ranked T2 number 1 because it offers so much and
really upped the ante on the original (whilst almost repeating it, but whatever). The
visual effects and iconic scenes pushed it past things getting serious for Ice Cube and
co. in south-central L.A., the mind boggling, infuriating and gripping story of the
assassination of a beloved American president and the unadulterated homo-erotic
thrills of Katheryn Bigelow’s all-action boys’ romp. Patrick Swayze in Point Break by
the way, possibly the coolest person ever. Missing out this year were the Coen
brothers (what else is new?), the 1st animated film to be nominated for best picture,
DeNiro getting his stalk on and the 2nd film to sweep the top 5 Oscars. Okay, too
much testosterone around here for me.
1992
Favourites
Unforgiven/Resevoir Dogs
Runners-Up
Batman Returns
Glengarry Glen Ross
Things get really good, and stay good, here; the choices, naturally, becoming that
much tougher. Unforgiven resonates with me on a level not many other films ever
have and I’m not quite sure why. I do love the whole cowboy/wild west mythology
and Clint Eastwood deconstructs it, and his own past, in a particular engrossing way.
Reservoir Dogs on the other hand announced the arrival of landscape altering talent
and gave hope to film-geeks everywhere. QT’s trademark dialogue and inspired
soundtrack selection marked Dogs as something original. It was impossible for me to
split the two. My runners-up were not quite on the level of the top 2 but I loved both
nonetheless. Returns was my favourite Batman until Nolan’s 2nd outing whilst
Glengarry Glen Ross is just about the best example of swearing and machismo in an
otherwise seemingly respectable occupation I have ever seen. Not quite good enough
in 1992 were Mike Myer’s first foray onto the big screen, Robert Downey Jr
channelling his inner little tramp and a Belgian mockumentary about a hitman. It's a
hell of a thing, killing a man.
1993
Favourite
Groundhog Day
Runners-Up
Jurassic Park
Schindler’s List
True Romance
Another tough year and, looking through the films that didn’t even make my runnersup list, possible grounds to question my legitimacy as a film fan. The controversial
omissions here came from Jane Campion and Jonathan Demme but Robert Altman
was also close. There was also a quality comedy sequel with Charlie Sheen, slacker
cool from Richard Linklater and a hell of a thrill ride featuring Tommy Lee-Jones and
Harrison Ford. As for the winner, it took me a while to appreciate its brilliance;
possibly due to the fact that I think they played it on TV every week for a year (also
brilliant). Still, for me it’s one of those comedies that works on so many levels and
has so much to say about the human condition that it transcends its genre. Jurassic
Park was a jaw-droppingly amazing experience that still holds up, Schindler’s List
was a no-brainer and True Romance is stupid and ridiculous but oh-so entertaining.
Don’t drive angry.
1994
Favourite
Pulp Fiction
Runners-Up
Clerks
The Shawshank Redemption
Quiz Show
Easily the toughest year yet and that’s saying something. The list of films not on my
runners-up list is staggering. I’m comfortable with my favourite selection but could
easily be swayed into mixing up that runners-up list. Shawshank is constantly in and
out of my top 10 of all-time; the rooftop beer scene is just that good. Clerks is another
of those seminal 90s films and has the best quality dialogue/non-existent action ratio
of any film I’ve seen. Quiz Show got the final spot because it sort of snuck up on me,
John Turturro and Ralph Fiennes are brilliant and it’s obviously about more than it’s
letting on. The many tough omissions here include my favourite Tim Burton film, Luc
Besson at his best, Die Hard on a bus and one of the most highly rated documentaries
of all-time that just so happens to be about my favourite sport. I’m sorry; did I break
your concentration?
1995
Favourites
Se7en/Toy Story
Runners-Up
Heat
The Usual Suspects
And just like that 1994’s claim to being my favourite year for cinema is over. 1995
was so amazingly amazing that I am finding it hard to breathe right now. The 4 I have
selected below all have a legitimate claim to being in my top 10 films of all-time and
some of the others that didn’t make the cut are ridiculously unlucky to have been
released in the year that they were. Before I started this list one of my locks for best
film of the year was Toy Story – how could it not be with its mix of ground-breaking
animation, hilarious self-awareness and bang-on voice work – and then I realised that
Se7en (Seven?) was released in the same year. Fincher is my favourite filmmaker and
this was his introduction to the world (conveniently ignoring the third Alien movie).
For the people who tell me that Brad Pitt can’t act I tell them to watch this movie,
particularly the final scenes. As for the others, Heat always sneaks under my radar for
some reason even though it absolutely nails the compromise between action flick and
psychological character study and for a long-time there I actual cited The Usual
Suspects as my favourite movie of all-time. Spacey has been deservedly praised but
the rest of the cast is impeccable and the smart, tight script started Hollywood on the
path of (regrettably) putting a twist in every movie. Sorry Scorsese, Howard,
Figgis/Cage and Bigelow but my favourite omission was actually a Barry Levinson
Elmore Leonard adaptation featuring John Travolta when he was oh so briefly the
coolest person on the planet. Who? Who? What are you, a fucking owl?
1996
Favourite
Fargo
Runners-Up
Trainspotting
Scream
Bottle Rocket
Deciding between the top 2 here was tough but otherwise it was just another solid
year. A good thing after the previous 2 years’ quality releases. I went with Fargo
because it is still my favourite Coen brother’s film and, well, I’m not sure why else.
Maybe Francis McDormand’s presence swayed me. Either way, it was close.
Trainspotting has the soundtrack and overall ‘cool’ advantage and the opening/closing
voiceover always wins me over. Dialogue is pretty even but Fargo just went a little
deeper. Odd thing to say when the Coens themselves admit their films aren’t
particularly deep and Trainspotting is an admirably even-handed look into the lives of
heroin addicts. The other two on my list are a brilliant example of genre filmmaking
and the debut of one of my top 5 directors. Scream gets the post-modern horror vibe
just right and Bottle Rocket introduced us to Wes Anderson’s individual style and is,
quite frankly, downright hilarious. A supremely enjoyable B-movie romp just missed
out here as did Cameron Crowe (he’ll get another shot) and a Ben Stiller/Jim Carrey
team up that wasn’t to everyone’s tastes/. There's more to life than a little money, you
know. Don'tcha know that?
1997
Favourite
Grosse Pointe Blank
Runners-Up
Good Will Hunting
L.A. Confidential
Princess Mononoke
2 of my top 10 films of all time – including my all-time number 1 – and a Paul
Thomas Anderson masterpiece doesn’t even get a look in. Another fantastic year,
another round of tough decisions. Jack Nicholson’s 3rd Oscar, Bruce Willis’s best
non-Die Hard action movie and humour from the holocaust are just 3 of the films that
missed out in 1997. Grosse Pointe Blank is my clear number 1 of this and every other
year thanks to its snappy dialogue, ice-cool lead performance, killer soundtrack. I
could expand on this but we’ll leave that to another post. Good Will Hunting is
unashamedly sentimental, something I usual steer clear of, but I love it. So many heart
in throat moments and Robin William at his absolute best – I love it when comedic
actors extend themselves. L.A. Confidential should have one Best Picture at the
Oscars (I’m a realist) and I think everyone realises this now. Princess Mononoke is
Miyazaki’s best and has been stolen from so liberally (heinously?) that it pisses me
off just a little. It’s not your fault.
1998
Favourite
The Truman Show
Runners-Up
Saving Private Ryan
The Big Lebowski
Rushmore
The Bill Murray factor got Rushmore over the line against pretty good, but not great,
competition. The other 3 here were always going to be locks. Truman gets the nod as
my favourite because of its combination of pathos/optimism, Jim Carrey and the
whole comedic actors extending themselves thing and its relevance/foresight.
Spielberg pops up again for (probably) his best film of my life-time. The juxtaposition
between the amazingly realised, relentless opening and the comparatively quiet but
actually even more compelling remainder being what sets it apart for me. Lebowski is
classic Coens, simultaneously embracing and avoiding genre and putting their own
spin on it while the do that. Rushmore isn’t my favourite Wes Anderson but it is Wes
Anderson and becomes better with repeated viewings. The same can probably be said
of Alex Proyas’ Aussie-noir, a cool Vincent Gallo road-trip frilm, and some more
quality work from Pixar. Obviously you're not a golfer.
1999
Favourite
Fight Club
Runners-Up
Toy Story 2
Magnolia
Three Kings
Before I began this exercise I had 1999 tagged as the best overall year for film (during
my lifetime). I can’t stand by that claim after looking back on 1994 and 1995 but it
was still a particularly good year with another 2 films that would have to be on the
short-list for my top 10 of all time. Fight Club, adapted from a novel by one of my
favourite authors (although that’s one of 3 of his novels I haven’t read) just has to be
number 1 because of the whole zeitgeist, voice of a generation, ‘I can really identify
with this movie’ vibe. Also, Brad Pitt is, once again (thanks Fincher) amazing. Toy
Story 2 surpasses its predecessor in so many ways but I just can’t bring myself to rate
it higher. The Buzz/Zod interplay is a highlight but the Jessie song really drags me
down. Magnolia, being a slow-moving 3+ hour meditation on the lives of a disparate
group of Los Angelinos, is utterly engrossing. Three Kings is another of those
underrated films that didn’t try for too much but nailed what it went for. Ditto David
O. Russell. In a lot of these years it could have been number 1. Apologies to the Irish
brothers with the Scottish father, Sam Mendes’ satire on the American middle class, a
Spike Jonze head-fuck (good year for him) and David Lynch trying something
different. Also, the return of the shagadelic spy was a lot of fun and featured maybe
the best teaser trailer ever. This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time.
2000
Favourite
Almost Famous
Runners-Up
American Psycho
Gladiator
Memento
A sneaky good year this one. My number 1 here, I feel, is like a fine wine: it gets
better with age. So many good lines/scenes/insights and Patrick Fugit is absolutely the
best audience cypher I’ve ever encountered. Obviously the music is great but it’s the
coming of age tale, and not just William’s, that resonates. As for the runners-up, a
Alejandro González Iñárritu masterpiece missed out, as did another quality
Christopher Guest mockumentary and a Darren Aronofksy (not really but absolutely)
horror film but the closest call was Michael Douglas as a struggling writer/middleaged stoner. Gladiator has testosterone out the wazoo but also poignancy and Russell
Crowe at his most commanding, American Psycho is hilarious and hilariously
disturbing and Memento is so, so clever but, again, poignant and moving. Great year
for Aussie leads. I have to return some video tapes.
2001
Favourite
The Royal Tennenbaums
Runners- Up
Donnie Darko
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Amelie
A fantastically deep year with about 10 films vying for those 3 runners-up spots. My
favourite Wes Anderson film however, took the top spot and it was the awkward
humour and heart-warmingly dysfunctional family dynamic (as with most of his
films) that did it for me. See also his eclectic soundtracks. Donnie Darko was a one
off in many ways (Richard Kelly where are you?) but it really hit upon something in
teenagers and 80s teenagers’ alike. I had to have a Lord of the Rings film somewhere
in here and The Fellowship, for me, felt like the most complete film with one of, if not
the, most compelling characters in the saga: Boromir. He grounded the film in
something human. Amelie, on the other hand, is a most welcome exercise in the
fantastical and I’m pretty sure you cannot have a heart if you don’t like it. Crazy
mathematical genius Russell Crowe was a close call here as were the least comic
book-like comic book adaptation and Robert Altman’s La Règle du jeu by way of a
Agatha Christie mystery. Why would a reviewer make the point of saying someone's
not a genius?
2002
Favourite
City of God
Runners-Up
Adaptation
Russian Ark
28 Days Later
Not a great year this one; the films I was most excited about – Scorsese returning to
the gangster genre and a certain fantasy epic sequel – weren’t quite what I hoped them
to be. On the plus side, world cinema got a shot in the arm with City of God, a
visceral, immediate look into the lives of the slum occupants of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
and Russian Ark, an astounding, one-shot traipse through the Russian State Heritage
museum in St. Petersburg that just has to be on the list due to the magnitude of the
accomplishment. Also, it’s riveting. On the other hand, 28 Days Later injected some
life into the zombie genre and featured a brilliant shot of an almost completely empty
London (amazing!) and introduced us to Cillian Murphy, and Adaptation is another
one of those, perhaps, too clever, too complicated little gems that the vast majority of
the general public overlook despite a dialled in Nicholas Cage (x2). The return of the
musical in the windy city and Adam Sandler mixing it up with Paul Thomas Anderson
also deserve a mention here as do a Tom Hanks gangster turn and Eminem the
rapping Rocky. I want to know what it feels like to care about something
passionately.
2003
Favourite
X2: X-Men United
Runners-Up
Dogville
Kill Bill: Vol. 1
The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Again, I wasn’t terribly impressed with the overall quality of the films released in
2003. Don’t get me wrong, the 4 films I have listed here are good movies; X2 in
particular was probably the best comic-book adaptation/superhero movie until
Christopher Nolan decided to make a sequel to Batman Begins. Dogville was one of
those love/hate films that I loved. I particularly loved the message behind it and I
didn’t mind the mostly pretentious, somewhat conceited artifice used to distinguish it
from the usual fare. One of the 5 best roles of Nicole Kidman’s career. Fact. The first
Kill Bill was right on the mark in terms of action, violence and cool. The story was as
simple as simple gets but the style elevated it and the pace made it the better of the 2
Bill films. Meanwhile, Johnny Depp made something out of , seemingly, nothing with
his Captain Jack in the 1st of the Pirates films. Overall it was an enjoyable romp,
enjoyable enough for me to put it above the final Lord of the Rings films and its
multiple endings. The other quality? Paul Giamatti in a indie gem, a documentary
equating big businesses with psychopaths and Will Ferrell in my favourite Christmas
film. Some things you have to do yourself.
2004
Favourite
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Runners-Up
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Closer
Spider-Man 2
Film bounced back big time in 2004 with a number of quality films including a brace
of animated films unlucky not to be chosen and one of my 5 favourite filmmakers
again missing out. Despite strong competition for the runners-up spots, Eternal
Sunshine was the clear choice for my favourite. The Charlie Kaufman/Michel Gondry
partnership reached its zenith here and Jim Carrey has never been better. Even better,
Kate Winslet was robbed of an Academy Award and the supporting turns by Mark
Ruffalo, Tom Wilkinson and Kirsten Dunst were spot on. Again, for me, it’s one of
those films that gets better on repeated viewings. Anchorman is this generation’s
Airplane. Joke for joke it is the funniest movie of the past 30 years. Closer was so
ridiculously pretentious that I couldn’t help but applaud. I love Clive Owen in this
film; the way he venomously spits out his dialogue in the later scenes is amazing to
behold. Spider-Man 2 is easily the best of the original trilogy and one of the 5 best
comic-book hero films made thus far. The action scenes in particular are so well
executed and I also love the progression of James Franco’s character (let’s not speak
of the third film). A remake of a George Romero classic, Tina Fey moving to the big
screen, a true underdog story and a Zhang Yimou beauty all helped a make 2004 a
banner year. Constantly talking isn't necessarily communicating.
2005
Favourite
Serenity
Runners-Up
Good Night and Good Luck
Wedding Crashers
A History of Violence
An interesting year because the opening chapter in what I think is one of the top 2
film trilogies ever didn’t even make the cut. Maybe it should have. There are a lot of
very good but not great films from 2005. I went with Serenity as my number 1
because it was funny and entertaining and gripping and had some quality action. It’s a
real nerd choice but whatever. I love Joss Whedon’s work. A History of Violence has
a distinct style and made a lot of good, subtle comments on our relationship with
violence. The whole film felt on edge in a good way. Good Night and Good Luck is
one of those films that left a huge impression on me even if I don’t think I completely
took it in. I need to watch it again. Wedding Crashers was the funniest film of the
year, a film that gets funnier on repeat viewings. The Owen Wilson/Vince Vaughn,
Owen Wilson/Rachel McAdams chemistry is amazing and Christopher Walken, who
seems to have a lot of roles like this, absolutely nailed this one. The only other films
up for consideration were Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon warbling away to
a superb soundtrack, Jake Gylenhall in the first Iraqi war and the Frank Miller graphic
novel adaptation that relaunched Micky Rourke’s career. You shut your mouth when
you’re talking to me.
2006
Favourite
Pan’s Labyrinth
Runners-Up
Stranger than Fiction
The Prestige
The Lives of Others
Things pick up again here with a whole bunch of quality films that sort of slipped
under the radar. Chances are you remember 2006 for the return of James Bond,
Scorsese finally bagging a Best Director Oscar or Clint Eastwood’s WW2 doubleheader. For me though, the year was all about the Best Foreign Language Oscar race
between Guillermo del Toro’s fable/Spanish civil war mash-up and Florian Henckel
von Donnersmarck’s incredibly tense surveillance drama. I’ve gone with Labyrinth as
my favourite despite the Academy going with the German film because I feel it’s one
of the best realised adult fairy-tales ever produced. Elsewhere, Christopher Nolan’s
magician film was an underrated little gem that a lot of people didn’t see because they
were too busy waiting for the next batman instalment and Stranger than Fiction has
Will Ferrell follow the Jim Carrey template in an absolute joy of a film. The
flour/flower scene is one of my all-time favourites. I wish I was that clever/romantic.
Others to miss out from this ridiculously good year included Clive Owen battling the
possibility of human extinction in the not too distant future, Forest Whitaker
absolutely owning the role of Idi Amin, a superb hip-hop documentary/concert film
from Dave Chappelle, Will Ferrel as a Nascar driver this time and I’ll stop there
because this section is running on a bit. It's telling me what I've already done...
accurately, and with a better vocabulary.
2007
Favourite
No Country for Old Men/There Will Be Blood
Runners-Up
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Zodiac
The 2006/2007 run of films might even be slightly better than that glorious run in
1994/1995. As you can see here I couldn’t bring myself to separate the top 2 films of
the year. I remember the Oscars that year, the Coen brothers’ pitch-perfect Cormac
McCarthy adaptation was up against Paul Thomas Anderson’s dark meditation on the
American Dream in just about every category. I rate them both so highly that I was
just hoping they’d split the awards. They didn’t. Daniel Day Lewis took home the
gong for his otherworldly performance as Daniel Plainview but No Country won just
about everything else. Oh well. I still can’t separate them. In any other year Jesse
James probably would have been my favourite but it drew the short straw here. Casey
Affleck is mesmerising as the titular coward and the cinematography in the film is
something to behold. As for the other runner-up, Zodiac is probably Fincher’s best
made film and as far as technically brilliant, slow-burners go it is also one of the best
made films of the last 3 years. It beat out Sean Penn’s moving story of the life and
times of Alexander Supertramp as well as Diablo Cody’s teen pregnancy comedy and
the final Jason Bourne instalment for the othe runners-up spot but it was a close call.
I... drink... your... milkshake!
2008
Favourite
The Dark Knight
Runners-Up
In Bruges
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E
Kind of a no contest this one, although that just goes to show how highly I rate The
Dark Knight. Also, along with Batman Returns, the 2nd X-Men film and the middle
SpiderMan chapter, you really get a sense that I enjoy the middle section of superhero
trilogies). The Dark Knight is like Heat except if Hanna dressed as a bat and
McCauley dressed as a clown. What elevated it above its predecessor as well as any
other comic book adaptation and every other film of the year was its scope, its
exploration of deeper themes and a once in a lifetime performance by Heath Ledger.
Each of the runners-up on my list were solid films, with Slumdog winning the Best
Picture Oscar and Wall-E winning the AFI award for movie of the year. Wall-E has
perhaps the best opening 30 minutes of any Pixar film ever and some would argue of
any film ever. Slumdog is impossible to dislike no matter how unlikely the story is.
The pick of the runners-up though is Colin Farrell in his never likely to better role as a
conflicted Irish hitman trying to come to terms with a horrible mistake. As far as dark
comedies go it’s right up there with the best. Go an watch In Bruges right now, I
command you. Each of these 3 films were particularly moving in their own way and
easily a cut above some of the other contenders from the year including Mickey
Rourke being robbed of a Best Actor statue, the 2nd Daniel Craig James Bond film,
that no but me enjoyed, Robert Downey Jr’s super hero introduction and Brad Pitt
aging the wrong way. Why so serious?
2009
Favourite
Inglourious Basterds
Runners-Up
The Hurt Locker
Up in the Air
(500) Days of Summer
You know it’s a strong year when a very good adaptation of the highest rated, and my
favourite, graphic novel of all-time doesn’t even garner a runners-up spot. To be fair,
I did have that particular film on my list until I realised (500) Days was also released
in 2009. Oh well, you’re probably superheroed out by now anyway. Summer was a
breath of fresh air featuring a novel narrative structure, a killer soundtrack and nonemore-likable performances from Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel. Up in
the Air is a similarly feel-good in the end film, although both of them feature a bit of
heartache before we get there. I fell in love with Anna Kendrick, Vera Farmiga and
yes, even George Clooney after Jason Reitman’s 3rd feature. The Hurt Locker was
close to being my favourite and, again, it was unfortunate that it came out in the same
year as Tarantino’s best film since 1994. Locker was one of those incredibly tense and
visceral experiences that benefited from its grounded, realistic approach and fact that
you couldn’t take your eyes off Jeremy Renner. Basterds on the other hand is one of
most flat-out entertaining films of the past 30 years, has the by now common place
quotatious Tarantino dialogue and a couple of super intense scenes. Also, the way
history is rewritten in an almost cathartic manner is brilliant. The other top films to
miss out in 2009 include the best 3D film ever, a low-fi sci-fi that surprised everyone,
Wes Anderson turning his hand to animation and Pixar continuing its winning streak.
Wow, what a great year. You weren't wrong, Tom. You were just wrong about me.
2010
Favourite
The Fighter
Runners-Up
Toy Story 3
The Social Network
Inception
I didn’t know what to choose as my favourite from this year and to be perfectly
honest; I’m kind of surprised with what I went with. Inception wasn’t as clever as it
thought it was – or perhaps as clever as the audience was hoping it to be – but it was
cleverer than most action and or sci-fi films and the cast was unbelievable. I still don’t
know who was meant to be the cool one because they were all so cool (I’m going with
Tom Hardy). That Facebook movie, considering it was nothing but people talking
about Facebook, was amazingly engrossing – Fincher you are a genius – and the
dialogue, spoken with rapid-fire rancour by Jesse Eisenberg, is Sorkin at his best. Toy
Story 3 could have easily have been my favourite of the year – much like the previous
Toy Story films – because it did everything right and managed to up the emotion
without going all saccharine on us (okay it did a little). I do now claim the Toy Story
trilogy as the best trilogy of all-time. The Fighter though, was so much better than I
thought a Mark Wahlberg led film could be and, not to take anything away from
Marky Mark who was fantastic, it was nearly all down to Christian Bale’s amazing
transformation and performance. This guy was in between 2 Batman films remember.
Melissa Leo was also great and David O. Russell, finally beginning to be recognised
by Hollywood, handled the pacing perfectly. Just missing out were Julianne Moore
and Annette Benning as lesbians, Scorsese messing with Leo’s head, Ben Affleck’s
sophomore effort and Ryan Gosling and Michele Williams making us feel every
moment of their get together and break-up. Creation myths need a Devil.
2011
Favourite
Drive
Runners-Up
Warrior
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Midnight in Paris
How odd that I almost forgot this year. Drive gets the nod here because it is so
different, unapologetically so, but also not in a lets be different for different’s sake
way. Confused? Good. The tone and the pacing were not what you expected and the
performances from Gosling and Mulligan and Brookes in particular are subdued to the
point of being unsettling. That said, the Gosling, Mulligan relationship is really sweet.
And then there is the violence. Wow! After all that, probably the best part of the film
is the soundtrack, something I still listen to regularly. Warrior I don’t think should
have worked but it did and I put it down to the acting. Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy
are so into their roles here that you are cheering both of them on the entire way.
Dragon Tattoo introduced me to my newest celebrity crush in Rooney Mara (yes, I
crushed on her a little bit in The Social Network but it was made official here).
Somehow I think David Fincher turned a very good book into a near masterpiece film,
one that easily surpasses the original Swedish version at the same time. The man is
amazing. Midnight in Paris was yet another return to form for the great Woody Allen
who had a number of films unlucky to be excluded in previous years but found a very
likeable stand-in for himself in Owen Wilson and made the best man/city/time-period
romance film in many a year. The close calls in 2011 were a very, very good
Charlotte Bronte adaptation, a surprisingly good Planet of the Apes prequel and Brad
Pitt changing the way baseball teams are put together. May I kill him?
2012
Favourite
Argo
Runners-Up
The Dark Knight Rises
The Avengers
Moonrise Kingdom
And here we are, the 30th and most recent (obviously) year on this list. I think I knew
Argo was going to be my favourite film of the year as soon as I saw it. That didn’t
stop me looking for something else to top this list with and that’s not really fair on
Ben Affleck’s most complete film yet. I had already seen the 2 comic-book
extravaganzas before Argo and, while both were enjoyable, okay, very enjoyable, and
lived up to expectations. Neither of them struck me as films I’d be comfortable
naming as my film of the year. TDKR was ambitious and suitably epic, a fitting end
to a brilliant trilogy in which the stakes just kept being raised and every little story
thread (bar one) from each of the films weaved together nicely. Yes it had more plot
holes than the earlier films and yes the ending was either a little too convenient or
frustratingly ambiguous depending on who you ask but I still think we can be a little
too hard on it because of the way Nolan has raised the bar so high. The Avengers is a
different beast altogether and the most memorable thing about this beast was just how
funny it is. The action was top-shelf but is the script that really helped it become what
it is and we must all thank Joss Whedon for this. Again, plot-holes blah blah blah, but
it was all too easy and far more enjoyable to go along for the ride. Moonrise Kingdom
gets my final nod, based mostly on the fact that I know I will fall in love with it on my
next viewing, ahead of Paul Dano inventing a girl that he, and I, fell in love with, a
little American girl named after footwear or an ice-drink depending on where you’re
from, Joseph Gordon Levitt growing up to become Bruce Willis and the horror genre
being turned on its head by the aforementioned Mr Whedon and friends. So yeah,
congratulations Mr Affleck, your career as a director thus far has been everything
your career as an actor hasn’t. Argo fuck yourself.
Okay, so that’s it. I’m sure there are many, many films that could have made the list if
I had only seen them. Alas, my film viewing is incomplete and I can only work with
what I have. I sincerely hope you disagree with me on many of these choices because
it will give me a chance to do what I love to do: discuss film. I have every intention of
continuing to choose my favourite films of the year heading into the future; something
that, hopefully, will continue to be rather difficult.
The End