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

[skimpole]

I've seen at least 59 movies from 1962. Here are my choices:

1. Lawrence of Arabia
2. L’Eclisse
3. The Manchurian Candidate
4. Jules et Jim
5. Lolita
6. Long Day’s Journey into Night
7. Harakiri
8. My Life to Live
9. Salvatore Giulliano
10. Le Doulos
11. The Exterminating Angel
12. Heaven and Earth Magic
13. The Trial
14. My Name is Ivan
15. An Autumn Afternoon
16. Knife in the Water
17. The Four Days of Naples
18. Carnival of Souls

Not so hot:

Gay Purr-ee
Period of Adjustment
Sweet Bird of Youth

[LawrenceA]

1962

Favorites
Lawrence of Arabia
Harakiri
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
The Manchurian Candidate
Amphibian Man
An Autumn Afternoon
Birdman of Alcatraz
Cape Fear
Chushingura
Dr. No
The Exterminating Angel
The Given Word
Il Sorpasso
Lolita
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
Lonely Are the Brave
The Longest Day
Mafioso
Ride the High Country
Salvatore Giuliano
Sanjuro
Sundays and Cybele
To Kill a Mockingbird
Vivre Sa Vie

Least Favorites
Ring of Terror
Blaze Starr Goes Nudist
Invasion of the Animal People
Invasion of the Star Creatures
The Bellboy and the Playgirls
The Brain That Wouldn't Die
The Brainiac
Eegah!
Gigot
The Three Stooges in Orbit
When the Girls Take Over
Wild Guitar

[jimimac71]

Favorite - Lawrence of Arabia
Least - Ring of Terror

Well, it all makes sense now. Okay, it always did but I couldn't resist.

[LawrenceA]

Favorite - Lawrence of Arabia
Least - Ring of Terror

Well, it all makes sense now. Okay, it always did but I couldn't resist.

Just a happy coincidence - my name actually is Lawrence A.

[CinemaInternational]

'Tis time now for 1984. The next year up will be 1994.

1 Paris, Texas
2 Once Upon a Time in America
3 Amadeus
4 Country
5 After the Rehearsal
6 Choose Me
7 The Natural
8 Mrs. Soffel
9 Starman
10 A Passage to India
11 A Soldier's Story
12 Broadway Danny Rose
13 Songwriter
14 Mike's Murder
15 Micki and Maude
16 The NeverEnding Story
17 The Bounty
18 Romancing the Stone
19 Garbo Talks
20 Falling in Love
21 Love Streams
22 All of Me
23 Blood Simple
24 Moscow on the Hudson
25 Swing Shift
26 The Muppets Take Manhattan
27 The Killing Fields
28 Sixteen Candles
29 Places in the Heart
30 Ordeal by Innocence
31 Ghost Busters
32 The Stone Boy
33 The Little Drummer Girl
34 Splash
35 A Private Function
36 A Sunday in the Country
37 Cal
38 Top Secret!
39 The Karate Kid
40 2010: The Year We Make Contact
41 Johnny Dangerously
42 Body Double
43 Reckless


1 Blame It on Rio
2 The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension
3 Red Dawn
4 Crimes of Passion
5 Footloose
6 Mass Appeal
7 Gremlins
8 The Lonely Guy
9 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
10 The River
11 Tightrope
12 Grace Quigley
13 Irreconcilable Differences
14 Birdy

[Swithin]

Favorite films of 1984 in alphabetical order:

Amadeus
Another Country
Broadway Danny Rose
The Company of Wolves
A Passage to India
A Private Function
The Times of Harvey Milk
When the Raven Flies

Special mention:

C.H.U.D. -- the best film showing what can happen to homeless people who live on the NYC subway.
Night of the Comet -- because Mary Woronov.

[kingrat]

1984: Something must have been in the water (or some other substance) to create so many quirky films this year, though there were also plenty of the other kind. A good year, all in all.

Quirky Favorites:

Choose Me
This Is Spinal Tap
Broadway Danny Rose
Repo Man
Blood Simple
Almost You

Other Favorites:

A Passage to India
The Little Drummer Girl
Romancing the Stone
A Sunday in the Country
Heartbreakers

Also liked (alphabetical):

Amadeus
Birdy
Carmen
Dune
Moscow on the Hudson
The Natural
The NeverEnding Story
Places in the Heart
A Soldier's Story
Starman

Stinky the Skunk Awards:

Crimes of Passion
The Pope of Greenwich Village
Under the Volcano

Note: This site contains a couple of extended discussions of Paris, Texas. Lorna and I both find the resolution of the film appalling rather than uplifting, as the director and writer apparently intend.

[LawrenceA]

1984

Favorites
This Is Spinal Tap
The Terminator
Amadeus
Blood Simple
Broadway Danny Rose
Dune
Ghostbusters
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Once Upon a Time in America
Repo Man
Romancing the Stone
Starman
Stranger Than Paradise

Least Favorites
Day of the Reaper
Black Devil from Hell
Don't Open Till Christmas
Frankenstein's Great Aunt Tillie
Hard to Hold
Monster Dog
Rhinestone
She
Supergirl
Where the Boys Are

[skimpole]

I've seen at least 60 films from 1984. Here are my favorites:

1. Splash
2. Paris, Texas
3. Stop Making Sense
4. All of Me
5. The Wannsee Conference
6. The Cotton Club
7. Once Upon a Time in America
8. The Killing Fields
9. Birdy
10. Broadway Danny Rose
11. Love Streams
12. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
13. The Home and the World

[kingrat]

I failed to include Almost You in my favorites for 1984. It's another quirky little gem that manages the dance between comedy and drama very well.

[Feinberg]

1984

Of the 121 films that I have seen from this year these are my favourites ranked in order ...

Amadeus
Under the Volcano
The Times of Harvey Milk
Country
The Hit
A Passage to India
The Terminator
This Is Spinal Tap
Blood Simple
Stop Making Sense
The Bounty
Broadway Danny Rose
A Soldier's Story
The Cotton Club
Once Upon a Time In America
Starman
Champions
Streets of Fire
Beverly Hills Cop
The Brother From Another Planet
The Killing Fields
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
The Home and the World
The Pope of Greenwich Village
Swing Shift
Repo Man
Paris, Texas
The Ruins
Against All Odds
The Funeral
The Karate Kid
Le Crime d'Ovide Plouffe

and here are some that I didn't care for at all ...

Romancing the Stone
The Last Starfighter
Sheena
That's My Baby
Unfinished Business
Swordkill
Johnny Dangerously
The Natural
The Bostonians
All of Me
Slapstick (Of Another Kind)
Dune
Crackers
Purple Rain
La Muerte del Chacal
Boy Meets Girl
Garbo Talks
The Hotel New Hampshire
Autumn Almanac
Singing on the Treadmill

[Detective Jim McLeod]

1984 films seen- 45. Good year for documentaries-

The Best

The Times Of Harvey Milk
28 Up
Amadeus
Beverly Hills Cop
The Killing Fields
Star Trek III The Search For Spock
The Hit
Streetwise
Marlene

The Worst

City Heat
A Private Function
Give My Regards To Broad Street

[Detective Jim McLeod]

Favorite - This Is Spinal Tap
Least - Day of the Reaper

Hi Lawrence, any documentaries you liked this year? I thought it was a strong year for them.

[LawrenceA]

Favorite - This Is Spinal Tap
Least - Day of the Reaper

Hi Lawrence, any documentaries you liked this year? I thought it was a strong year for them.

I haven't seen too many from '84. Of the 5 I've seen, I liked:

28 Up
Stop Making Sense
Ballad of the Little Soldier

[kingrat]

That's what I get for using Wiki instead of keeping a record of films seen. 28 Up is a huge favorite.