Staff Inquiry: Our Favorite Years Of Cinema

Cinema is always great and magical and all those platitudes, but let’s face it, some years are just better than others. It’s strange, looking back, to see the dry spells and the deluges of great films, and it’s only natural to reminisce about the truly legendary periods.

So our staff was tasked with picking their favorite year of cinema, and the results are as diverse as you would expect. Classic Hollywood, the modern era, and everything in between is poked and prodded for the best they have to offer, and let that breadth remind you that even when the pickings are slim, a chock-full year is probably right around the corner.

Tynan Yanaga – 1946

The question posited is maddeningly impossible, but just for the sake of the argument, I’ll go out on a limb and say 1946 is my favorite year. Now, that might change tomorrow, but there are a number of reasons that make me say this. Two of them are It’s a Wonderful Life and The Best Years of Our Lives, which I still believe to be two of the best pictures ever made for how they so adeptly develop an immersive community that we can be a part of, while subsequently making us empathize with every character. True, I’m also a pushover for Jimmy Stewart and Teresa Wright.

But if you run down the laundry list of films from 1946, you have one of Alfred Hitchc*ck’s great classics in Notorious, boasting the legendary pairing of Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant in one of the preeminent romantic thrillers of all time. There are a few Hitchc*ck pictures I prefer, but not many.

Likewise, the year’s choices in film noir aren’t too shabby, either, with stellar femme fatales in Rita Hayworth, Ava Gardner, and Lana Turner. Then add Bogey and Bacall to the mix and the year is hard to miss.

We were also gifted a trio of British classics in Brief Encounter, Great Expectations, and Stairway to Heaven, all of which have remained beloved relics crafted by the foremost of talents, including David Lean and The Archers.

So, there you have it. I’ve tried to convince myself that 1946 is my favorite year in film. Whether I succeeded or not is slightly beside the point because there’s no doubt that I will be returning to these films again and again, not due to the year they came out of but how they have affected me over the years. It’s that simple.

Dave Fontana – 1969

It admittedly took me some time to decide which year of cinema was my favorite, but upon revisiting late ‘60s and ‘70s films, I had to settle with 1969. A longtime lover of the Western, 1969 gave us four timeless classics: Once Upon a Time in the West, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, True Grit, and The Wild Bunch.

These films range from an American classic in the realm of John Ford, though actually directed by Henry Hathaway (True Grit), to the controversial violent bloodbath from the mind of Sam Peckinpah (The Wild Bunch), to the lovably anti-hero buddy comedy (Butch Cassidy) to, finally, one of the all-time great Westerns of any year, and my personal favorite film of any genre, Once Upon a Time in the West. The films not only reflected current angst over the now rapidly losing Vietnam War (The Wild Bunch in particular), yet they also seemed to embody a generally revisionist mindset in regards to the genre as a whole.

Though prominent in the 1940s-’50s, by the late ‘60s audiences had begun to tire from the overused John Ford Western archetype, in which a lone soldier, impervious to bodily harm, swooped in and saved a desperate city with little to no consequence or guilt for his actions. Even in True Grit, one of John Wayne’s last great films (and also the only one for which he finally won an Oscar), certain roles were adjusted; for example, Wayne’s character, now older, is a despicable drunk and feels little remorse for the killings he has done, but through the influence of a stern 14-year-old girl he is able to redeem his past.

Gazing at The Wild Bunch and Once Upon a Time in the West in particular, one can see the progression of these ancient tropes. In The Wild Bunch, the main crew, themselves a bunch of thieves and murderers, pride honor above all things, the idea being that, if a man pledges himself to an ideal, it may absolve him of other sins – and it is this ludicrous reasoning that eventually leads to their demise.

And in Once Upon a Time in the West, role reversals are rampant – the outlaw Cheyenne eventually comes to represent a sort of goodness, while the pure-at-heart no name Harmonica is so hell-bent on revenge that he doesn’t realize the damaging effects of living a life for one inherent purpose. When Harmonica rides off into the sunset at the end of Once Upon a Time in the West, an image so iconized in the Western in general, it doesn’t feel triumphant so much as an expression of relief; perhaps, just like the town coming to form around him as he leaves, he can one day move on to a regular, more civilized existence.

1969 could therefore be seen as a turning point for Westerns. The legends and mythos of the old West had seen their days and were slowly being lost in the dust; perhaps it was time for the rest of the world to face reality as well.

Amanda Mazzillo – 1974

It took me a while to pick a year, but after looking at several years when some of my favorite films were released, I kept coming back to 1974. A few of the films released that year helped develop my taste in films.

1974 gave us the Brian De Palma film Phantom of the Paradise, which is one of my favorite films to get others to watch with me. As I smile at the Death Records button on my purse, I remember the first time I watched this movie. I was by myself in the family room. I paused it to tell my family how much I enjoyed it. I am grateful this film was recommended to me.

Another 1974 film that made a lasting impression was Young Frankenstein. This has remained my favorite Mel Brooks film over the years. I first watched it in the same family room with my cousin by my side. Throughout the years, I have watched it with many different people, some who have seen it and others who were experiencing it for the first time. Young Frankenstein helped develop my interest in comedy and horror.

The last movie I am going to discuss is one I saw as a child and did not quite appreciate it, but that changed when I revisited it many years later. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre became a staple film in my horror library when I watched it for a class, writing a paper on its focus on family and those left behind when towns and their respective industries change. Someone I knew told me not to watch this film, and even though I know I’d seen it years ago, I listened and didn’t rewatch it after becoming interested in horror until this class. Going forward, I have not let the opinions of others stop me from watching films I am interested in seeing. Getting recommendations based on taste is one thing, but blindly not watching films because one person told me not to is something I am glad I have grown past.

1974 was filled with interesting and memorable films, which all worked to develop my taste and personality, as well as helped me grow as a person.

Corey Hughes – 1994

Léon: The Professional. Speed. True Lies. Four Weddings and a Funeral. The Mask. Natural Born Killers. Dumb and Dumber.

You could argue that with these films alone, 1994 was a year to remember for film. Fast forward 23 years and all of the films that I’ve listed above are still discussed and enjoyed by film lovers.

Yet it’s the tetrad of cinematic treasures that make 1994 the best, or at least the most memorable, year in film.

Introducing the big guns: The Lion King, the highest-grossing animated movie at the time (only to be trumped by Toy Story 3 in 2010); Pulp Fiction, a master class of dialogue and narrative structure; Forrest Gump, Best Picture winner at the 67^th Academy Awards; and The Shawshank Redemption, a bomb at the box office which has aged like fine wine since its initial release. With such monumental and highly regarded titles being released in the same year, it’s hard to argue against 1994 for winning Film Inquiry’s ‘Best Year of Film’ award.

But what made these films so distinctively memorable? How does 1994 separate the wheat from the chaff?

For me, it’s the incredible performances that are on offer. In Pulp Fiction, the emphatic duo of Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta (whom many thought was on his way out until that point) provide career-best performances. Tom Hanks deservedly won Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance as Forrest Gump, and Jim Carrey showed why he was the best comedic actor working in the ’90s with a trinity of terrific performances in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask, and Dumb and Dumber.

And that’s why, ladies and gentleman of the Film Inquiry jury, that 1994 was the best year in cinematic history. That’s all, your honour.

Eric Bernasek – 1999

It’s tempting to just name all the great movies released in 1999. Even without commentary, it’s an impressive list. There were memorable releases from beloved auteurs: David Lynch’s comparatively conventional The Straight Story and Stanley Kubrick’s final feature, Eyes Wide Shut. There were also several significant early works, including a few debuts from directors whose greatness is now, almost two decades later, well established: Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides, Spike Jonez’s Being John Malkovich, Alexander Payne’s Election, David O. Russell’s Three Kings, and M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense. (The greatness of Shyamalan and Russell, depending on who you ask, may be up for debate, but their 1999 films are widely regarded as solid, even visionary, work.)

Of course, 1999 also gave us The Matrix (and the Siblings Wachowski), which underscores one of the things that made it a great year for movies. At the time, The Matrix wasn’t a franchise, just a brilliant and original cinematic experience. Now, in 2017, it can be hard to recall a time when Hollywood produced more original content than it did sequels, prequels, remakes, and reboots. That year the only notable franchise release was Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace. Yes, that was a massive event, but it was also a critical and commercial flop in a packed field of new and interesting stories.

Speaking of the sequels and franchises that have infected Hollywood like a plague in the years since, 1999 also gave us American Pie – which, believe it or not, is to blame for seven(!) sequels – so, 1999 wasn’t all home runs. (Hi there, Deuce Bigalow: American Gigolo.) But there were also a respectable number of simply enjoyable movies, most of which are still watchable, including 10 Things I Hate About You, The Blair Witch Project, But I’m a Cheerleader, Dogma, Go, Man On the Moon, Office Space, and She’s All That.

On a personal level (as any claims of “best” whatever-it-is must ultimately be) none of those titles make me care about the movies in 1999 as much as these three: American Beauty, Fight Club, and Magnolia. All three films were simultaneously current and prescient at a time in American life when the status quo felt dangerously out of whack, teetering on the edge of a dramatic, even violent, reassessment, perhaps even a collapse. Though Y2K hysteria was well more than just hype, that acute millennial worry was not what these movies were about. They tapped into a deeper current of complex societal anxieties that have only grown worse in the intervening years, so they continue to be relevant almost two decades later.

Matthias van der Roest – 2004

When it comes to choosing a favourite year in the history of cinema, you can choose a year that produced a number of influential films or a year that has produced a number of films you enjoy. I chose to do the latter by going with the year 2004. Perhaps not as influential a year as 1967 or 1982, but certainly a year which produced a number of gems including Anchorman, Cama Adentro, Downfall, Garden State, Howl’s Moving Castle, Layer Cake, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and Shaun of the Dead.

Given the word limit, I can only elaborate on one of these so let me tell you about one of the lesser known films of the bunch, Cama Adentro (Live-in Maid). In a way, this film is a combination of Blue Jasmine and The Last Laugh. Cama Adentro tells the story of a wealthy woman, Beba (Norma Aleandro), who loses everything as a result of the economic crisis that swept Argentina in 2001. The film mostly focuses on her relationship with her loyal maid Dora (Norma Argentina). Cama Adentro is an intimate portrait of a friendship with a conclusion that is as devastating as it is beautiful.

Jay Ledbetter – 2007

I have discovered something about myself over the course of my movie watching life: I enjoy stories about difficult, troubled men being difficult and troubled. This probably has something to do with the fact that these are the types of films that made me love and appreciate the medium in the first place.

The year 2007 was the year of the difficult man in film. There Will Be Blood is the movie that made me want to do crazy things like obsessively watch and write about film. It was one of the first times that high school me considered a score in a critical manner. Daniel Day-Lewis’ performance as the sinister Daniel Plainview left me shaking as the credits rolled. It made me dive into the filmography of Paul Thomas Anderson, who is now my favorite director.

Meanwhile, No Country for Old Men, another grim film revolving around manly men being angry at each other and helpless to the carnal forces surrounding them, gave me an appreciation for the spoken word in the context of film and forced me, for one of the first times in my entire life, to contemplate mortality and the omnipresent evils in the world. I grew up in the comfortable ‘burbs; I found facing these harsh realities cathartic in my own weird way.

I consider these two films to be two of my five to seven favorites of all-time, but they were hardly the only films of that year about the types of characters I am fascinated by. There was Zodiac. There was The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford. There was The Bourne Ultimatum. There was Michael Clayton. Maybe I’m a cliché for holding these types of films closest to my heart, but they were the launching pad for the expansion of my horizons, and for that I am eternally grateful. It is a personal pick, to be sure, but one I could not deny.

Emily Wheeler – 2014

I’m giving a shout out to 2014, a very recent year that hit high notes across the board. No matter what you’re into, 2014 delivered, with box office smashes that deserved gobs of cash and award winners that weren’t just Oscar bait.

Let’s start with those blockbusters, which many people remarked at the time were uniformly spectacular. X-Men: Days of Future Past and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes were high points in long-running series, and the MCU had two of its best films in Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. My personal favorite, though, has to be Edge of Tomorrow, because I love me some Full Metal Bitch.

Then you have the shocking, never should’ve been good combo of The Lego Movie and Oculus. Seriously, we’re talking about movies based on Legos and a haunted mirror. They should’ve been trash, but they ended up being wonderful surprises.

Pitch black comedy had its own pairing in 2014, with Nymphomaniac offering up hysterically squirm-inducing scenes before descending into complete darkness and Force Majeure making me endless laugh a grown man ugly crying.

The market for smaller, oddball films proved to be loaded with gems as well. Frank is one of those strange looks at artistic creation, Nightcrawler is Jake Gyllenhaal at his skin-tingling best, Ida is a black and white stunner, Boyhood was built on a twelve-year production odyssey, and Birdman went for its one-shot feel. The latter two were such forces that they overwhelmed more traditional awards season fare, dominating end of year chatter.

And all of this is still leaving out pleasures like John Wick, Whiplash, and The Grand Budapest Hotel. 2014 was so full of great films that it was impossible to keep up with, and I’m still circling back to discover great releases from that year.

Those are our favorite years in cinema! Did we get them right or leave yours out? Let us know in the comments!