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

[Feinberg]

1920 (all 7 seen in preferential order)

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
The Mark of Zorro
Outside the Law
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Why Change Your Wife?
Sumurun
The Golem

1921 (4 seen)

The Phantom Carriage
The Kid
The Sheik

1922 (10 seen)

Nosferatu
Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler
Dr. Mabuse: King of Crime
Grandma's Boy
Robin Hood
Foolish Wives
The Prisoner of Zenda
Othello

and not so good ... The Young Rajah

1923 (12 seen)

Safety Last
Our Hospitality
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Pilgrim
Scaramouche
A Woman of Paris
Rosita
Three Ages
The Ten Commandments
The White Sister

and not so good ... The Red Inn

[LostHorizons]

Most favorites:

1920: cabinet of Dr caligari
1921: phantom carriage
1922: Nosferatu
1923: Safety Last

Least favorites:

1920: Mark of Zorro
1921: -
1922: The Phantom (ironically also by Murnau)
1923: The Smiling Madame Beudet

[CinemaInternational]

We now turn to tackle 1948, which seems like a very popular year. The next one up will be 1993.

1948 (Films Seen: 113)

The Best:

1 Portrait of Jennie
2 Letter from an Unknown Woman
3 I Remember Mama
4 Fort Apache
5 The Boy with Green Hair
6 The Red Shoes
7 They Live by Night
8 A Foreign Affair
9 Red River
10 Road House
11 Joan of Arc
12 Hollow Triumph
13 The Search
14 The Sign of the Ram
15 The Snake Pit
16 Yellow Sky
17 Johnny Belinda
18 Sitting Pretty
19 Call Northside 777
20 Romance on the High Seas
21 Rope
22 That Lady in Ermine
23 The Senator Was Indiscreet
24 Easter Parade
25 Key Largo
26 Sorry, Wrong Number
27 State of the Union
28 The Fallen Idol
29 The Emperor Waltz
30 3 Godfathers
31 Dream Girl
32 He Walked by Night
33 Homecoming
34 Julia Misbehaves
35 June Bride
36 Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
37 Moonrise
38 Enchantment
39 The Naked City
40 The Pirate
41 The Big Clock
42 One Touch of Venus
43 The Paleface
44 Miranda
45 April Showers
46 The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend


The Worst:

1 Saigon
2 Unfaithfully Yours
3 Sleep, My Love

[LawrenceA]

1948

Favorites
The Red Shoes
Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein
Bicycle Thieves
Brighton Rock
Drunken Angel
The Fallen Idol
Germany Year Zero
Hamlet
Johnny Belinda
Key Largo
La Terra Trema
Portrait of Jennie
Raw Deal
Red River
They Live by Night
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Least Favorites
Test Tube Babies
Bill and Coo
Castle Sinister
Forbidden Women
The Last of the Wild Horses

[Detective Jim McLeod]

1948 films seen-32

The Best

The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre
The Naked City
The Search
Oliver Twist
The Paleface
Brighton Rock
The Fallen Idol
The Snake Pit

The Worst

Blondie's Secret
Mystery In Mexico

[kingrat]

1948: The Year the Box Office Went Red!--No, not the Commie way. The top two moneymakers were The Red Shoes and Red River.

Favorites:

The Red Shoes
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Letter From an Unknown Woman
Act of Violence
Raw Deal
The Fallen Idol
Bicycle Thieves
Dedée d'Anvers
So Evil My Love
Saraband for Dead Lovers
Brighton Rock
Secret Beyond the Door
The Snake Pit
Silver River
Johnny Belinda

Other Favorites:

Adventures of Don Juan
Another Part of the Forest
Blanche Fury
Blood on the Moon
Call Northside 777
Cry of the City
Easter Parade
Esther Waters
Fort Apache
He Walked by Night
Homecoming
Julia Misbehaves
Key Largo
Kiss the Blood Off My Hands
No Orchids for Miss Blandish
Oliver Twist
The Pirate
Portrait of Jennie
Quartet
Rachel and the Stranger
Red River
Road House
Romance on the High Seas
Rope
Scott of the Antarctic
The Search
Sign of the Ram
Sorry, Wrong Number
The Winslow Boy

Stinky the Skunk Award: Not this year

[Swithin]

Ten Favorites from 1948

The Big Clock
Call Northside 777
Fort Apache
Hamlet
I Remember Mama
The Naked City
Scott of the Antarctic
Spring in Park Lane (The most popular British movie of 1948, and an absolute joy.)
State of the Union
The Winslow Boy

Special mention:

The Creeper: for scaring the hell out of this little kid when Onslow Stevens' hand turns into a huge cat's paw.
The Woman in White: Special award for John Abbott for the Best Performance Ever by an actor depicting phonophobia.

[Feinberg]

1948

Of the 109 films that I have seen from this year these are my favourites ranked in order ...

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Hamlet
Oliver Twist
Bicycle Thieves
Letter From an Unknown Woman
Red River
Key Largo
The Fallen Idol
Scott of the Antarctic
The Red Shoes
Macbeth
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
They Live by Night
Fort Apache
Unfaithfully Yours
Brighton Rock
The Search
Sitting Pretty
Command Decision
Cry of the City
Quartet
Blood on the Moon
The Winslow Boy
Rope
Johnny Belinda
Drunken Angel

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

Joan of Arc
My Girl Tisa
Miranda
The Pirate
Jungle Jim
Inner Sanctum
Just William's Luck

[CinemaInternational]

Now, a swing to the recent with the year that was arguably the last great year for films: 1993. The next year will be 1939.


1993 (Films Seen:94)

The Best:

1 Fearless
2 The Joy Luck Club
3 Three Colors: Blue
4 Matinee
5 Household Saints
6 Shadowlands
7 Heaven and Earth
8 The Piano
9 The Remains of the Day
10 The Age of Innocence
11 Wrestling Ernest Hemingway
12 Much Ado About Nothing
13 Tombstone
14 What's Eating Gilbert Grape
15 A Perfect World
16 In the Name of the Father
17 Manhattan Murder Mystery
18 Schindler's List
19 The Man Without a Face
20 The Cemetery Club
21 Geronimo: An American Legend
22 Heart and Souls
23 M. Butterfly
24 In the Line of Fire
25 Philadelphia
26 What's Love Got to Do with It?
27 Bopha!
28 Dave
29 Falling Down
30 Lost in Yonkers
31 The Ballad of Little Jo
32 The Pelican Brief
33 The Thing Called Love
34 Flesh and Bone
35 Grumpy Old Men
36 King of the Hill
37 The Secret Garden
38 Mad Dog and Glory
39 Six Degrees of Separation
40 A Bronx Tale
41 The Firm
42 Splitting Heirs
43 Poetic Justice
44 Sleepless in Seattle
45 Groundhog Day
46 Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey
47 The Pickle
48 Ruby in Paradise
49 Jurassic Park
50 This Boy's Life
51 A Home of Our Own
52 Short Cuts
53 Mr. Wonderful
54 Untamed Heart
55 Indecent Proposal
56 My Life
57 Addams Family Values
58 Dazed and Confused
59 Fatal Instinct
60 Kalifornia
61 Searching for Bobby Fischer
62 Mr. Jones
63 The Sandlot
64 The Good Son
65 Rising Sun

The Worst:

1 We're Back!: A Dinosaur's Story
2 The House of the Spirits
3 Born Yesterday
4 Hocus Pocus
5 Little Buddha
6 Beethoven's 2nd
7 A Far Off Place
8 Sliver
9 The Snapper

[LawrenceA]

1993

Favorites
Schindler's List
Short Cuts
True Romance
The Age of Innocence
A Bronx Tale
Carlito's Way
Dazed and Confused
Heaven and Earth
King of the Hill
Manhattan Murder Mystery
Naked
The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Piano
Remains of the Day
Sonatine
Three Colors: Blue
Tombstone

Favorite Documentaries
Bells from the Deep
Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey

Least Favorites
Death Run to Istanbul
Ninja Vengeance
The Skateboard Kid
Body of Evidence
Cliffhanger
Cop and a Half
Last Action Hero
Leprechaun
Robocop 3
Super Mario Bros
The Temp
Weekend at Bernie's 2

[kingrat]

I didn't see that many films in 1993.

1993:

Favorites:

The Remains of the Day
Three Colors: Blue
Six Degrees of Separation
The Age of Innocence
The Firm

Two of my husband's all-time favorites:

Dave
Mrs. Doubtfire

Also liked:

The Piano
The Pelican Brief
Gettysburg
The Fugitive

Little Buddha seems too dull for a Stinky the Skunk award, and it has the admirable message that if even Keanu Reeves can become the Buddha, so can all of us.

[Swithin]

1993 Favorites (Two all-time favorites*)

The Age of Innocence*
Bhaji on the Beach
A Bronx Tale
Little Buddha
The Long Day Closes*
Naked
Philadelphia
The Remains of the Day
Schindler’s List
Wittgenstein


A film that had its moments but should have been much better:

Wide Sargasso Sea

A film that everyone loved but I did not:

The Piano


A great personal disappointment:

Love and Human Remains
I loved the original play, Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love, which I saw at the Hampstead Theatre in London. The play was set in Edmonton, Alberta and was very bleak. Unfortunately, the play was "Frenchified" for the film, directed by Denys Arcand, and shot in Montreal. Although the playwright wrote the script, and the film was still set in Edmonton, it just didn't work. And some of the best bits were not used for the film.

[skimpole]

I believe I've seen at least 56 movies from 1993. Here are my favorites:

1. Schindler’s List
2. Groundhog Day
3. Short Cuts
4. The Age of Innocence
5. Farewell my Concubine
6. Dazed and Confused
7. Caro Diaro
8. Naked
9. The Puppetmaster
10. Sonatine
11. The Remains of the Day
12. The Scent of Green Papaya
13. Matinee
14. D’Est
15. Latcho Drom
16. Ruby in Paradise
17. 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould

Most disappointing

Philadelphia
The Wedding Banquet

[Feinberg]

1993

Of the 165 films that I have seen from this year these are my favourites ranked in order ...

Schindler's List
In the Name of the Father
Groundhog Day
In the Line of Fire
Tombstone
The Fugitive
The Remains of the Day
Six Degrees of Separation
Trois Couleurs: Bleu
Shadowlands
Searching For Bobby Fischer
Jurassic Park
The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl
Naked
The Piano
The Wedding Banquet
Philadelphia
Alive
Red Rock West
The War Room
Stalingrad
The Snapper
Farewell, My Concubine
Heaven and Earth
Smoking/No Smoking
Grumpy Old Men
It's All True
Iron Monkey
Fiorile
Carlito's Way

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

The Burning Season
Calendar
Cadillac Girls
Digger
To Sleep With a Vampire
Attack of the 50 ft. Woman
Forever Young
Nowhere to Run
The Cemetery Club
Survive the Night
Wild Sargasso Sea
For the Moment
Doublures
The Pickle
Body of Evidence
Robin Hood: Men In Tights (on my all time worst list)
Poetic Justice
The Temp
Deadfall
To Catch a Yeti
Cronos
Wilder Napalm
Gunmen
Body Snatchers
Killing Zoe
The Man Without a Face
The Satan Killer
The Extras

[Detective Jim McLeod]

1993 films seen-31

The Best

The Remains Of The Day
True Romance
A Bronx Tale
In The Line Of Fire
Short Cuts
Kalifornia

The Worst

A Perfect World
Bad Behavior
Coneheads
Love & Human Remains