FIFTY YEARS OF THE YEAR’S 10 BEST: 1970 TO 2020

By John H. Foote

For as long as I can remember, during this crazy obsession with film, at year’s end I made my own 10 best list based on the films I had seen. Understand this was a difficult feat given I lived in the country, 30 minutes from a plethora of cinema, and an hour from Toronto. But once 16 and licensed I often drove into the city on the weekend to see two, sometimes three films in a day. Little did I know that was training for my life as a film critic and attending film festivals.

Each year we critics sit down in December and compile our 10 best of the year, best and worst, and then cover the Academy Awards. There have been years the year’s Best Picture was not at the top of my list, nowhere near, while in others the year’s best film was not even an Oscar nominee.

Opinion means all for a film critic, but an education in film history is essential. Why? Is it not obvious? How can you properly have an opinion about the present without an understanding of the past?

The fun part about doing these lists was that hindsight is 20/20 and I had the benefit of that hindsight. I could go back and look at films that belonged on the list, that when a teen I might not have had the maturity to recognize. Example, Animal House is certainly not among the year’s 10 best films, nor will you find the fascist, xenophobic The Deer Hunter here. Neither belongs. There are some Canadian films on the list and some foreign language films, but because we do not see all the foreign language films released in all the countries abroad, I include only those with a decent release over here and reasonable box office performance.

So 50 years worth of 10 bests, here we go. The 10 best of the years, inclusive 1970-2020, in order of preference,

ONE MORE TIME – IN ORDER OF PREFERENCE. THUS THE FIRST FILM NAMED IS THE YEAR’S BEST ACCORDING TO ME. 

1970

• Patton
• Five Easy Pieces
• Woodstock
• M*A*S*H 
• Little Big Man
• The Great White Hope
• The Devils
• Goin’ Down the Road
• Women in Love
• The Ballad of Cable Hogue

1971

• A Clockwork Orange
• The Last Picture Show
• Klute
• The French Connection
• Carnal Knowledge
• Fiddler on the Roof
• Sunday Bloody Sunday
• Play Misty for Me
• Harold and Maude
• Macbeth

1972

• The Godfather
• Cabaret
• Deliverance
• Cries and Whispers
• The Emigrants
• Sounder
• Jeremiah Johnson
• Silent Running
• The King of Marvin Gardens
• The Poseidon Adventure

1973

• American Graffiti 
• Last Tango in Paris
• The Exorcist
• The Way We Were
• The Last Detail
• Serpico
• Paper Moon
• Day for Night
• Mean Streets
• Don’t Look Now

1974

• The Godfather Part II
• Chinatown
• Badlands
• Lenny
• The Conversation
• The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
• Young Frankenstein
• Phantom of the Paradise
• Murder on the Orient Express
• A Woman Under the Influence

1975

• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
• Dog Day Afternoon
• Jaws
• Barry Lyndon
• The Man Who Would Be King
• The Sunshine Boys
• Tommy
• Swept Away…
• The Story of Adele H.
• The Day of the Locust

1976

• All the President’s Men
• Taxi Driver
• Network
• Seven Beauties
• Rocky
• The Shootist
• Face to Face
• The Outlaw Josey Wales
• Marathon Man
• Bound for Glory

1977

• Close Encounters of the Third Kind
• Star Wars
• Annie Hall
• Black Sunday
• Julia
• Looking for Mr. Goodbar
• 1900
• The Turning Point
• Saturday Night Fever
• Slap Shot

1978

• Coming Home
• An Unmarried Woman
• Midnight Express
• Heaven Can Wait
• Autumn Sonata
• Straight Time
• Superman
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers
• Same Time Next Year
• The Buddy Holly Story

1979

• Apocalypse Now
• Manhattan
• All That Jazz
• The Tin Drum
• Kramer vs Kramer
• Being There
• Hair
• Norma Rae
• The China Syndrome
• Nosferatu the Vampyre
• Breaking Away

1980

• Raging Bull
• Ordinary People
• The Empire Strikes Back
• Coal Miner’s Daughter
• The Stunt Man
• The Shining
• Dressed to Kill
• The Great Santini
• Altered States
• Stardust Memories

1981

• Reds
• Ragtime 
• Blow Out
• Raiders of the Lost Ark
• Atlantic City
• Body Heat
• On Golden Pond
• The Postman Always Rings Twice
• Pennies from Heaven
• Prince of the City

1982

• E.T. – The Extraterrestrial
• Tootsie
• Sophie’s Choice
• Victor, Victoria
• The Verdict
• Das Boot
• Shoot the Moon
• Missing
• My Favorite Year
• The Thing

1983

• Terms of Endearment
• The Right Stuff
• Under Fire
• Tender Mercies
• Silkwood
• The Dresser
• The King of Comedy
• Fanny and Alexander
• A Christmas Story
• The Big Chill

1984

• Amadeus
• Places in the Heart
• Once Upon a Time in America
• Country
• The Killing Fields
• Moscow on the Hudson
• The Pope of Greenwich Village
• Broadway Danny Rose
• A Passage to India
• Iceman

1985

• Out of Africa
• Back to the Future
• To Live and Die in LA
• Prizzi’s Honor
• Witness
• The Purple Rose of Cairo
• Runaway Train
• Twice in a Lifetime
• Mask
• Ran

1986

• Platoon
• Hannah and Her Sisters
• Stand By Me
• At Close Range
• Blue Velvet
• Aliens
• Peggy Sue Got Married
• The Fly
• Salvador
• Something Wild

1987

• Empire of the Sun
• Hope and Glory
• Broadcast News
• Moonstruck
• The Untouchables
• Angel Heart
• The Last Emperor
• Raising Arizona
• Barfly
• The Glass Menagerie

1988

• The Last Temptation of Christ
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
• Dangerous Liasons
• Mississippi Burning
• Bull Durham
• A Cry in the Dark
• Married to the Mob
• Rain Man
• The Unbearable Lightness of Being
• The Accidental Tourist

1989

• Do the Right Thing
• Glory
• My Left Foot
• Driving Miss Daisy
• Born on the Fourth of July
• Casualties of War
• Drugstore Cowboy
• Crimes and Misdemeanors
• Field of Dreams
• Say Anything

1990

• GoodFellas
• Dances with Wolves
• The Grifters
• Awakenings
• Edward Scissorhands
• Postcards from the Edge
• Dick Tracy
• Wild at Heart
• Miller’s Crossing
• The Sheltering Sky

1991

• The Silence of the Lambs
• Bugsy
• JFK
• Thelma and Louise
• Ramblin’ Rose
• The Fisher King
• Boyz ‘n the Hood
• Cape Fear
• Beauty and the Beast
• My Own Private Idaho

1992

• Unforgiven
• Malcolm X
• A League of Their Own
• The Last of the Mohicans
• Howards End
• A River Runs Through It
• Bram Stoker’s Dracula
• The Crying Game
• Aladdin
• Husbands and Wives

1993

• Schindler’s List
• The Piano
• The Age of Innocence
• Fearless
• The Remains of the Day
• Philadelphia
• A Bronx Tale
• Mrs. Doubtfire
• In the Line of Fire
• Dave

1994

• Pulp Fiction
• The Shawshank Redemption
• Forrest Gump 
• Bullets Over Broadway
• Natural Born Killers
• Ed Wood
• The Lion King
• Nell
• Leon – The Professional
• Death and the Maiden

1995

• Apollo 13
• Dead Man Walking
• Leaving Las Vegas
• Seven
• Casino
• The Bridges of Madison County
• Sense and Sensibility
• Toy Story
• Get Shorty
• The Usual Suspects

1996

• Trainspotting
• The Crucible
• Fargo
• The People vs. Larry Flynt
• Jerry Maguire
• The Birdcage
• Hamlet
• Shine
• Everyone Says I Love You
• Slingblade

1997

• LA Confidential
• The Sweet Hereafter
• Boogie Nights
• Contact
• Good Will Hunting
• As Good As It Gets
• Titanic
• The Apostle
• Jackie Brown
• Donnie Brasco

1998

• Saving Private Ryan
• The Truman Show
• Bulworth
• The Thin Red line
• Out of Sight
• Gods and Monsters
• Elizabeth
• The Big Lebowski
• Shakespeare in Love
• Primary Colors

1999

• Magnolia
• Fight Club
• Man on the Moon
• American Beauty
• The Sixth Sense
• The Talented Mr. Ripley
• The Green Mile
• Boys Don’t Cry
• The Limey
• Election AND Toy Story 2 (tied)

2000

• Requiem for a Dream
• Cast Away
• Almost Famous
• Traffic
• The House of Mirth
• Pollock
• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
• Billy Elliott
• O Brother Where Art Thou?
• High Fidelity

2001 

• The Lord of the Rings — The fellowship of the Ring
• A.I. – Artificial Intelligence
• The Royal Tanenbaum
• Monster’s Ball
• Ghost World
• The Pledge
• Open Range
• In the Bedroom
• Shrek
• Amelie

2002

• Far from Heaven
• Minority Report
• The Lord of the Rings — The Two Towers
• Road to Perdition
• Adaptation
• Gangs of New York
• Catch Me If You Can
• Frida
• The Hours
• Atanarjuat – The Fast Runner

2003 

• The Lord of the Rings — The Return of the King
• Mystic River
• Lost in Translation
• Monster
• Cold Mountain
• The Barbarian Invasions
• The Last Samurai
• Bad Santa
• Thirteen
• School of Rock

2004 

• Sideways
• The Aviator
• The Passion of the Christ
• Million Dollar Baby
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• A Very Long Engagement
• The Incredibles
• The Motorcycle Diaries
• Downfall
• Collateral

2005

• Brokeback Mountain
• When the Levees Broke
• King Kong
• Munich
• Good Night and Good Luck
• The Squid and the Whale
• A History of Violence
• The New World
• Capote
• C.R.A.Z.Y.

2006

• The Departed
• United 93
• Letters from Iwo Jima
• Pan’s Labyrinth
• The Queen
• Dreamgirls
• Apocalypto
• Little Children
• Marie Antoinette
• V for Vendetta

2007

• There Will Be Blood
• Into the Wild
• No Country for Old Men
• Zodiac
• The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
• Away from Her
• Michael Clayton
• Eastern Promises
• Juno
• Across the Universe

2008

• The Dark Knight
• Milk
• Revolutionary Road
• The Wrestler
• WALL E
• Doubt
• Frost/ Nixon
• In Bruges
• Gran Torino
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

2009

• Up
• The Road
• Inglorious Basterds
• The Hurt Locker
• Precious
• Up in the Air
• Where the Wild Things Are
• The Messenger
• An Education
• A Single Man

2010

• The Social Network
• True Grit
• Shutter Island
• 127 Hours
• The American
• Black Swan
• Toy Story 3
• The Fighter
• The Town
• Blue Valentine

2011

• The Descendants
• Midnight in Paris
• We Need to Talk About Kevin
• The Artist
• War Horse
• Hugo
• Moneyball
• Contagion
• Albert Nobbs
• My Week with Marilyn

2012

• Lincoln AND Zero Dark Thirty (tied)
• The Master
• Django Unchained
• Amour
• Moonrise Kingdom
• Cloud Atlas
• Argo
• Life of Pi
• Bernie
• Stories We Tell

2013

• The Wolf of Wall Street
• Captain Philips
• Her
• 12 Years a Slave
• Nebraska
• Gravity
• American Hustle
• Blue is the Warmest Color
• Blue Jasmine
• Spring Breakers

2014

• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Whiplash
• Bird Man
• Boyhood
• American Sniper
• Gone Girl
• The Theory of Everything
• Interstellar
• Lucy
• Wild

2015

• The Revenant
• Brooklyn
• Mommy
• Spotlight
• Bridge of Spies
• Room
• Carol
• The Martian
• Beasts of No Nation
• Sicario

2016

• Manchester By the Sea
• Silence
• La La Land
• Arrival
• Fences
• Hell or High Water
• Jackie
• The Edge of Seventeen
• Captain Fantastic
• The BFG

2017

• The Shape of Water
• Hostiles
• The Post
• Lady Bird
• The Florida Project
• Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
• The Disaster Artist
• I, Tonya
• Blade Runner 2049
• Call Me By Your Name

2018

• First Man
• Green Book
• A Star is Born
• BlacKkKlansman
• The Favourite
• Vice
• A Quiet Place
• The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
• Destroyer
• Cold War

2019

• The Irishman
• Jo Jo Rabbit
• 1917
• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
• Marriage Story
• Joker
• Uncut Gems
• Midsommar
• The Two Popes
• The Lighthouse

2020

• News of the World
• Da Five Bloods
• Promising Young Woman
• Mank
• Nomadland
• Judas and the Black Messiah
• The Father
• The Trial of the Chicago 7
• Sound of Metal
• Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

And that is it. My opinion, the 20 best films of each year from 1970 through 2020.