A Life In Movies

Andy at Fandango Groovers Movie Blog is hosting a new blogathon that involves choosing your favourite film from each year of your life up to the present. It's a very fun idea so I thought I would give it a try, obviously it's not going to be as long as the others seeing how young I am, but no matter...
Anyway, these choices aren't exactly what I think are the greatest films of each year, but the ones that had the most impact on me or that were the most memorable.


Note: some of these years, I just couldn't choose one single favourite film, so you'll see a few ties.


1994

An exceptional year for film, with such films as The Shawshank Redemption, Ed Wood, Little Odessa, The Madness Of King George, Natural Born Killers, Bullets Over Broadway, and many more, but ultimately the top spot must go to the film that triggered my love for Film, Pulp Fiction.

This is the film that started it all really, if I hadn't of watched this, I might of never become a cinephile and for that it will always be a favourite, if only because of how grateful I am to Tarantino. With this film he opened my eyes.

1995

 La Haine

Such a powerful film, this had a massive impact on me. Probably because I've spent many years in France and could really identify with this film. I've even known some people much like the characters in this film. It's so realistic in it's portrayal of France and it's people and that's is why I admire it so. 

1996

Trainspotting

The first time I saw this I was rather young and I don't believe I saw it in it's entirety, but certain scenes stayed in my mind ever since and over the years I've grow to love it even more. It also put me off ever taking drugs and so far I haven't, so I suppose I can thank it for that.

1997

The Full Monty

Such a fun film. I've watched it countless times and it's great every time. It takes a rare kind of film to do that, and this is one of them.With so many great scenes, terrific performances, this is simply one of the best films ever made.

1998

 The Thin Red Line

This one is a bit of a childhood favourite, for some reason, I watched it many times when I was young and it never failed to amaze me, I even bought and read the book upon which it is based. I've always liked War films, especially when I was younger, and this has always been one of my favourites. Even before I looked at it with the eye of a cinephile, it still amazed me with it's beauty and brutality.

 1999

 Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai,

 Clearly an awesome year for film, one of the best in fact. But I just have to choose this film as it is one that affected me like few others ever had. I'm not exactly sure why I loved this film so much, it isn't particularly amazing. But in a way it grouped together many aspects of Cinema that I loved, such as the whole Far Eastern style (Samurais and such), Gangsters, great music (by RZA), small budget's and dark humour. And it's stayed in my mind ever since I first saw it.
 
2000

 O' Brother Where Art Thou ?

One of my favourite Coen films, yet one that seems to be often ignored in favour of No Country or The Big Lebowski, I think this one if better than both. It's also another childhood favourite. 
I watched this many times, before I knew who the Coen's where or the names of any of the actors, in fact I could barely understand what they said because of the accents but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

 2001

Fellowship of the Ring

The best of the trilogy in my opinion, it all went downhill after this. Peter Jackson really captured the atmosphere perfectly on this one, such a shame he couldn't keep it up until the final film. For me, this film really captured the atmosphere, it was scary and thrilling but not as overindulgent as the other two, and in my opinion it's the closet to the book, which due to my love of the books can only be a good thing.

2002
Adaptation

 One of the first films to really amaze me in terms of writing. It has such a complex and multi-layered script, I believe it's one of the best of the decade. Kaufman has done some great work over his career, but I believe this script to be his finest work. It's inspiring. Also the fact that Nic Cage gives one of his finest performances helps as well.

2003

 Master and Commander & Memories Of Murder

Such a beautiful film that gets overlooked all the time. Russel Crowe gives what I believe to be his finest performance and Peter Weir creates the finest sea battle film I've ever seen. The production values of the film are perfect and  it's is a very entertaining war film, and yet it also has a very sensitive and thought provoking side that I greatly enjoyed and is what makes the film so special in my opinion
 
2004

 The Aviator

One of Scorsese's best and I think this is still Di Caprio's best performance. The idea of genius and insanity being two sides of the same coin is always something that has fascinated me, probably because of my nature, which is far from stable, so this film was exactly the kind of film I am drawn to. It is perfectly made and although I've tried I just kind find anything I particularly dislike about it.

 2005

 Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of The Were-Rabbit

 Wallace and Gromit are the best! I know I could have chosen something like Capote or Cache as they are great films but to be honest I just enjoy this one far more. It is such a fun film that I've watched time and again and have always enjoyed. It's got some of the best humour of recent years and Wallace and Gromit are two of the best characters ever in my opinion. If anyone reading this has seen the film then I'm sure you can understand why I like it so much.

 2006

 Letters From Iwo Jima

A very hard year to choose, Pan's Labyrinth was a strong contender but that film had less of an impact on me than this one did. It was the first film I had seen that showed the war from the point of view of the Japanese and in fact it still is. It is one of the only films to move me to the verve of tears and although some may consider that emotionally manipulative it really isn't, it is just a great film that was obviously made with much love and respect. Definitely Clint Eastwood's best.

2007

 Hot Fuzz

 I was pretty much decided on choosing There Will Be Blood for this year, which would have been very worthy of this spot, but somehow I decided to go with this one. Not a particularly great film but easily the best action film I've seen in ages and also one of the finest comedies. When I watched it not one joke fell flat adn I laughed all teh way through, upon second viewing it only got better. I believe it is ever better than Shaun Of The Dead, although I'm sure not many will agree with me there.

2008
Mesrine: L'Instinct Du Tueur & L'Ennemi Public Numero 1 

This was a particularly bad year for film, luckily the Mesrine films were released. They swooped the Cesar and were very successful yet went overlooked in the rest of the world. I still think the are modern masterpieces though and possibly the finest Gangster films of the last decade.

2009

District 9

Quite a few films impressed me this year, Inglourious Basterds, Moon, Black Dynamite etc. But only one of them was good enough for me to watch four times (which I only do very rarely) and love t each time. Why Avatar was so successful is beyond me considering that this far superior Scifi films was released the same year. This film, along with Moon, gave me hope for the Scifi genre once again.

 2010

Exit Through The Gift Shop

There were quite a few films I enjoyed last year, but the ones that really caused a lot of chatter left me indifferent, like The Social Network, Black Swan and Inception. I still think The King's Speech was a very deserving winner.

But the one film I really loved last year was a documentary, that made me want to watch more docs, it was witty, insightful, energetic and I wasn't bored for a second. 

Don't forget to check out all the other blogger's lists over at Fandango Groovers Movie Blog, HERE!