Ranking Only the Best (and the Very Worst) of a Movie Year Project

[LawrenceA]

1953

Favorites
The Wages of Fear
Tokyo Story
The Big Heat
From Here to Eternity
Julius Caesar
Little Fugitive
Pickup on South Street
Sawdust & Tinsel
Shane
Stalag 17
Summer With Monika
Ugetsu
The War of the Worlds

Favorite Documentaries
The Living Desert

Least Favorites
Bad for Each Other
Cat-Women of the Moon *
Dance Hall Racket
Glen or Glenda? *
The Maze
Mesa of Lost Women *
Peek-a-Boo
Phantom from Space
Project Moonbase
Robot Monster *
The Twonky
Violated
A Virgin in Hollywood

* 1953 was a great year for "so-bad-they're-good" movies, and I've marked them as such

[Feinberg]

1953

Of the 122 films that I have seen from this year these are my favourites ranked in order ...

The Wages of Fear
The Earrings of Madame De...
From Here to Eternity
Stalag 17
Roman Holiday
El
The War of the Worlds
The Little Kidnappers
Shane
Gate of Hell
Man on a Tightrope
The Cruel Sea
Julius Caesar
Tokyo Story
Titanic
I Vitelloni
The Desert Rats
Therese Raquin
Monsieur Hulot's Holiday
Summer with Monika
Beat the Devil
Glen or Glenda
The Big Heat
Pickup on South Street
La Signora Senza Camelie
Terminal Station (the Italian full length version)
El Bruto
Mogambo
The Man Between
The Actress
Niagra
Hondo
The Band Wagon
I Confess
The Naked Spur
Genevieve
Bread, Love and Dreams
The Titfield Thunderbolt
The Great Adventure

and here are some that I did not care for at all ...

Arrowhead
Fair Wind to Java
Escape From Fort Bravo
Blowing Wild
Torch Song
Kiss Me Kate
They Who Dare
The President's Lady
The Saga of Anatahan
The Golden Blade
Murder at 3 a.m.
Flannelfoot

[Detective Jim McLeod]

1953 films seen-33

The Best

From Here To Eternity
Roman Holiday
House Of Wax
Tokyo Story
Pickup On South Street
99 River Street
The Hitch Hiker
Houdini
Inferno

The Worst

Glen Or Glenda
Dream Wife
Abbott And Costello Go To Mars

[Swithin]

1953: Ten favorites in alphabetical order:

The Band Wagon
The Earrings of Madame de…
From Here to Eternity
Genevieve
I Vitelloni
Lili
Shane
The Titifield Thunderbolt
Ugetsu
Young Bess

Honourable mention:

Glen or Glenda: for the best scene with a sweater in any movie, ever.
The Maze: for one of the most outrageous and unexpected climaxes of all time.

Biggest disappointment:

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: I don't expect movie musicals to conform perfectly to the Broadway originals, but this went too far afield, particularly with the score.

[CinemaInternational]

1990 awaits. The next year up will be 1961.

The Best:

1 Postcards from the Edge
2 Dances with Wolves
3 The Godfather Part III
4 The Russia House
5 Texasville
6 Europa, Europa
7 Jacob's Ladder
8 White Palace
9 Truly, Madly, Deeply
10 Mr. and Mrs. Bridge
11 Men Don't Leave
12 Gremlins II: The New Batch
13 Metropolitan
14 Cyrano De Bergerac
15 Vincent and Theo
16 Come See the Paradise
17 Hamlet
18 Reversal of Fortune
19 Joe Versus The Volcano
20 Henry and June
21 The Freshman
22 Everybody Wins
23 Back to the Future Part III
24 My Mother's Castle
25 Stanley and Iris
26 Internal Affairs
27 Pretty Woman
28 Avalon
29 Green Card
30 Alice
31 Cry-Baby
32 Edward Scissorhands
33 Havana
34 Misery
35 Mermaids
36 The Long Walk Home
37 The Witches
38 Impulse
39 Total Recall



The Worst:

1 Where the Heart Is
2 The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter
3 Q&A
4 Sibling Rivalry
5 Die Hard 2
6 Days of Thunder
7 Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael
8 Without You I'm Nothing
9 Presumed Innocent
10 The Match Factory Girl
11 A Shock to the System
12 Tune In Tomorrow

[kingrat]

Days of Thunder does offer us the hilarious prospect of Nicole Kidman as a surgeon with long curly hair--so practical, don't you think?

I haven't seen a lot of 1990 films, including the Oscar-winner.

Two true favorites:

The Hunt for Red October
Miller's Crossing

Also liked (alphabetical order):

An Angel at My Table
Avalon
Awakenings
GoodFellas
The Grifters
Metropolitan
Reversal of Fortune
Truly, Madly, Deeply

Snoozefest despite good performances:

The Russia House

[LawrenceA]

1990

Favorites
Goodfellas
Cyrano de Bergerac
Dances with Wolves
Edward Scissorhands
La Femme Nikita
Slacker
Awakenings
Boiling Point
The Grifters
Miami Blues
Miller's Crossing
Misery
Wild at Heart

Favorite Documentaries
Echoes from a Sombre Empire

Least Favorites
Troll 2*
The Invisible Maniac
Repo Jake
Rockula
The Sleeping Car
Vice Academy Part 2
Xtro 2
Captain America
Ghost Dad
Omega Cop*
Repossessed
Spaced Invaders
Watchers 2

[Swithin]

My ten favorite films from 1990 include Metropolitan (on my all-time ten-best list); as well as two neglected adaptations of novels: Last Exit to Brooklyn and The Sheltering Sky, two films that remain sadly under the radar. (Last Exit premiered in the UK and US in early 1990.)

Europa Europa
The Godfather Part III
Goodfellas
Last Exit to Brooklyn
Life Is Sweet
Metropolitan
Mountains of the Moon
Paris Is Burning
The Sheltering Sky
A Tale of Springtime (Contre de printemps)

[Feinberg]

1990

This may be my longest list. I thought 1990 had a lot of commendable and bad films.

Of the 175 films that I have seen from this year these are my favourites ranked in order ...

Goodfellas
An Angel at My Table
Europa, Europa
Miller's Crossing
Tremors
Paris Is Burning
Cyrano de Bergerac
Hamlet
Total Recall
A Shock to the System
Journey of Hope
The Hunt For Red October
The Two Jakes
Reversal of Fortune
The Godfather Part III
Longtime Companion
The Sheltering Sky
Quick Change
Awakenings
Postcards From the Edge
I Love You to Death
Dances With Wolves
Metropolitan
Edward Scissorhands
Ju Dou
Docteur Petoit
Bad Influence
Ay, Carmela
Korczak
Die Hard 2
Milou en Mai
Vincent & Theo
Not Without My Daughter
The Rescuers Down Under
Truly Madly Deeply
Cry Baby
Perfectly Normal
Robocop II
Hidden Agenda
The Grifters
Memphis Belle
The Witches
Night of the Living Dead
Arachnophobia
Close Up

and here are some that I did not care for at all ...

Internal Affairs
Kiss of the Beast
Still Life
Cadillac Man
Black Pearls
Nightbreed (on my all time worst list)
The Adventures of Ford Fairlane
Thick as Thieves
Archangel
The Rookie
The Big Slice
Blood Clan
Alice
Why Me?
Darkman
Brain Dead
Syngenor
Hard to Kill
Almost an Angel
Fools of Fortune
Heart Condition
May Wine
Solar Crisis
Cargo
The Golden Braid
The Exorcist III
White Room
The Voice of the Moon
The Reflecting Skin
Twilight
Mister Frost
After Midnight
The Ages of Lulu

[Detective Jim McLeod]

1990 films seen-39

The Best

Goodfellas
Misery
Dick Tracy
Arachnophobia
Awakenings
Paris Is Burning

The Worst

Darkman
Night Breed
Mr Destiny
Wild At Heart
Flatliners
The Adventures Of Ford Fairlane

[kingrat]

I hadn't thought of The Adventures of Ford Fairlane in years! (With good reason, you might say.) I guess Feinberg and Detective Jim won't be attending the Andrew Dice Clay Film Festival.

AutoSpell just corrected "Fairlane" to The Adventures of Ford Hairline, which is probably funnier than anything in the film.

[Detective Jim McLeod]

I hadn't thought of The Adventures of Ford Fairlane in years! (With good reason, you might say.) I guess Feinberg and Detective Jim won't be attending the Andrew Dice Clay Film Festival.

AutoSpell just corrected "Fairlane" to The Adventures of Ford Hairline, which is probably funnier than anything in the film.

Ugh, I can't believe I actually spent money on this in 1990. It was just an unfunny ego trip. They tried to make Dice into a comedy/action star but the worst scene has him also singing a song! He does an excruciating version of the old Jimmy Reed blues song "I Ain't Got You" which was also covered by the Yardbirds in the 1960s.

[skimpole]

I've seen at least 63 films from 1990. Here are my favorites:

1. C’est la Vie
2. Goodfellas
3. Reversal of Fortune
4. Jacob’s Ladder
5. Miller’s Crossing
6. Gremlins 2: the New Batch
7. La Femme Nikita
8. Dreams
9. The Nasty Girl
10. Days of Being Wild
11. Mountains of the Moon
12. Close-Up
13. To Sleep with Anger
14. Open Doors
15. Presumed Innocent
16. Nouvelle Vague

[Swithin]

Until I saw Skimpole's list, I had forgotten about Mountains of the Moon, one of my favorite films and the film that made me vow never to go to sleep in the African jungle without cotton in my ears!

[CinemaInternational]

Now is time for 1961. The next project will be a joint look at 1925, 1926, 1927, and 1929.

The Best:


1 Judgment at Nuremberg
2 A Taste of Honey
3 Last Year at Marienbad
4 One Two Three
5 Summer and Smoke
6 Whistle Down the Wind
7 Breakfast at Tiffany's
8 Léon Morin, Priest
9 King of Kings
10 Come September
11 A Raisin in the Sun
12 Lover Come Back
13 One Hundred and One Dalmatians
14 The Children's Hour
15 Ada
16 El Cid
17 Flower Drum Song
18 Lola
19 Fanny
20 Goodbye Again
21 Francis of Assisi
22 The Deadly Companions
23 The Misfits
24 The Last Sunset
25 Through a Glass Darkly
26 The Guns of Navarone
27 Murder She Said
28 Paris Blues
29 Bridge to the Sun
30 A Majority of One
31 The Parent Trap
32 The Absent-Minded Professor
33 Splendor in the Grass
34 The Sins of Rachel Cade
35 Claudille Inglish
36 Barabbas
37 The Hoodlum Priest
38 The Innocents
39 Bachelor in Paradise
40 Back Street
41 Tammy, Tell Me True
42 The Pleasure of His Company
43 Pocketful of Miracles
44 The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone

The Worst:

1 Two Loves
2 Divorce: Italian Style
3 Wild in the Country
4 Parrish
5 Susan Slade
6 Go Naked in the World