Around 1 in the morning the other night on Twitter, I came across this article in which a few of the AV Club film critics compiled lists of their favorite movie of the year for each year since they were born. Instead of going to bed like a normal person on a work night, I proceeded to sacrifice much-needed sleep for what one could say was a masochistic, utterly pointless cause: I had to make my own list, right then and there.

Why, you might ask?

Because there are few things in life better than making movie lists and ranking movies, especially in new and creative ways.

It’s just science. 

My list of my 25 films for 25 years on this earth:

1992 – Aladdin
1993 – Jurassic Park
1994 – Pulp Fiction
1995 – The Usual Suspects
1996 – The Hunchback of Notre Dame
1997 – Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
1998 – The Big Lebowski
1999 – The Mummy
2000 – Gladiator
2001 – The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
2002 – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
2003 – The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2004 – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
2005 – Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
2006 – Casino Royale
2007 – Sunshine
2008 – Gran Torino
2009 – Inglourious Basterds
2010 – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part I
2011 – Drive
2012 – Les Miserables
2013 – The Wolf of Wall Street
2014 – Edge of Tomorrow
2015 – The Martian
2016 – Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

What does this list say about me? Generally, it says I like The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, sci-fi epics and black comedies, and movies with great music, especially French-themed musicals. It also made me realize that I like more movies from before I was born than came out during my lifetime. This is especially true when considering my favorite movies from the last decade or so; these years simply pale in comparison to years that came before, and it was a struggle to think of a film that was truly a favorite of mine after the year 2009.

The first decade and a half of my life did have some intense competition though, so I wanted to also include 5 honorable mentions of movies that are nearer and dearer to my heart than many of the others on the list that just missed out. And let me say, 1999 was a squeaker:

– Office Space (1999)
– The Matrix (1999)
– Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
– The Departed (2006)
– Atonement (2007)

What does your list look like?

-Flipp

Featured image: Ba’Gamnan, CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons.