These are the movies that have scored the highest on my “objective rating” system – the top five for each year. (Please not that for many years, I’ve only seen five or fewer movies.) For a complete, ranked list of everything I’ve blogged from any given year, including TV shows and shorts, click on the year.
2011
1. Winnie the Pooh (3.7/4)
2. Drive (3.6/4)
3. Hanna (3.5/4)
4. Rango (3.2/4)
5. Meek’s Cutoff (3.1/4)
2010
1. True Grit (3.9/4)
2. Winter’s Bone (3.8/4)
3. Another Year (3.6/4)
4. The Illusionist (3.5/4)
5. Black Swan (3.5/4)
2009
1. Inglourious Basterds (4.0/4)
2. Moon (3.9/4)
3. Where the Wild Things Are (3.9/4)
4. Up (3.9/4)
5. The Hurt Locker (3.7/4)
2008
1. Wall-E (4.0/4)
2. In Bruges (3.9/4)
3. Synecdoche, New York (3.8/4)
4. The Dark Knight (3.8/4)
5. Frost/Nixon (3.7/4)
2007
1. No Country for Old Men (3.4/4)
2. 3:10 to Yuma (3.3/4)
3. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (3.3/4)
4. Ratatouille (3.1/4)
5. Lars and the Real Girl (3.0/4)
2006
1. The Departed (3.9/4)
2. Children of Men (3.6/4)
3. The Fall (3.6/4)
4. The Prestige (3.4/4)
5. Little Miss Sunshine (3.3/4)
2005
1. Batman Begins (3.2/4)
2. the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2.9/4)
3. Sin City (2.8/4)
4. Capote (2.6/4)
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2.1/4)
2004
1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (3.9/4)
2. The Incredibles (3.9/4)
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (3.6/4)
4. Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (3.5/4)
5. Downfall (3.3/4)
2003
1. Finding Nemo (3.6/4)
2. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (3.5/4)
3. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring (3.4/4)
4. Oldboy (3.4/4)
5. Elf (3.1/4)
2002
1. 25th Hour (4.0/4)
2. Punch-Drunk Love (3.6/4)
3. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2.9/4)
4. City of God (2.7/4)
5. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2.6/4)
2001
1. Amélie (3.9/4)
2. Monsters, Inc. (3.6/4)
3. Spirited Away (3.5/4)
4. Donnie Darko (2.9/4)
5. Memento (2.8/4)
2000
1. Snatch (3.5/4)
2. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2.9/4)
3. In the Mood for Love (2.8/4)
4. Shadow of the Vampire (2.7/4)
5. Requiem for a Dream (2.3/4)
1999
1. Magnolia (3.8/4)
2. The Sixth Sense (3.7/4)
3. American Beauty (3.6/4)
4. Fight Club (2.9/4)
5. Toy Story 2 (2.4/4)
1998
1. Dark City (3.9/4)
2. The Big Lebowski (3.5/4)
3. The Truman Show (3.2/4)
4. American History X (3.1/4)
5. Saving Private Ryan (2.8/4)
1997
1. Life Is Beautiful (3.4/4)
2. Princess Mononoke (3.2/4)
3. L.A. Confidential (3.0/4)
4. Good Will Hunting (2.3/4)
1996
1. Fargo (3.6/4)
2. Hamlet (3.2/4)
3. Trainspotting (2.5/4)
4. Matilda (2.1/4)
5. Independence Day (2.0/4)
1995
1. Twelve Monkeys (3.9/4)
2. La Haine (3.4/4)
3. The Usual Suspects (3.0/4)
4. Toy Story (3.0/4)
5. Casino (2.6/4)
1994
1. Pulp Fiction (3.6/4)
2. Ed Wood (3.4/4)
3. Red (3.0/4)
4. The Lion King (2.5/4)
5. Forrest Gump (2.5/4)
1993
1. Blue (3.3/4)
2. The Nightmare Before Christmas (3.3/4)
3. Groundhog Day (3.1/4)
4. Schindler’s List (2.6/4)
1992
1. Reservoir Dogs (3.6/4)
2. The Muppet Christmas Carol (3.2/4)
3. Unforgiven (2.8/4)
4. Alien 3 (1.7/4)
5. Newsies (1.0/4)
1991
1. The Silence of the Lambs (3.4/4)
2. Thelma & Louise (2.4/4)
3. Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1.7/4)
4. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1.6/4)
1990
1. Goodfellas (2.6/4)
2. Tremors (2.1/4)
3. The Witches (1.9/4)
4. Rocky V (1.4/4)
5. Die Hard 2 (0.4/4)
1989
1. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (3.0/4)
2. Batman (2.7/4)
3. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (2.5/4)
4. Glory (2.1/4)
1988
1. My Neighbor Totoro (3.3/4)
2. Rain Man (3.1/4)
3. The Last Temptation of Christ (3.1/4)
4. Grave of the Fireflies (2.9/4)
5. Cinema Paradiso (2.6/4)
1987
1. Raising Arizona (3.1/4)
2. The Princess Bride (3.1/4)
3. Wings of Desire (3.0/4)
4. Full Metal Jacket (2.9/4)
5. Innerspace (1.7/4)
1986
1. Stand by Me (3.1/4)
2. Aliens (2.8/4)
3. Platoon (2.1/4)
1985
1. Back to the Future (3.2/4)
2. Ran (3.1/4)
3. Come and See (2.9/4)
4. Brazil (2.9/4)
5. Clue (2.8/4)
1984
1. Amadeus (2.8/4)
2. The Neverending Story (2.3/4)
3. The Terminator (2.2/4)
4. The Karate Kid (2.0/4)
5. Once Upon a Time in America (1.9/4)
1983
1. A Christmas Story (3.1/4)
2. Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (3.0/4)
3. Scarface (1.8/4)
4. Superman III (1.7/4)
5. Sudden Impact (0.7/4)
1982
1. Gandhi (3.2/4)
2. First Blood (3.1/4)
3. Blade Runner (2.9/4)
4. Rocky III (2.8/4)
5. Fanny and Alexander (2.7/4)
1981
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark (3.1/4)
2. Das Boot (2.2/4)
3. Escape from New York (1.6/4)
4. Stripes (1.6/4)
5. Superman II (1.1/4)
1980
1. The Blues Brothers (3.2/4)
2. Stardust Memories (3.2/4)
3. The Shining (3.1/4)
4. Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (3.0/4)
5. The Elephant Man (2.8/4)
1979
1. The Muppet Movie (3.6/4)
2. Apocalypse Now (3.2/4)
3. Alien (3.2/4)
4. Rocky II (3.1/4)
5. Monty Python’s Life of Brian (2.9/4)
1978
1. Watership Down (2.7/4)
2. Superman (2.4/4)
3. The Deer Hunter (2.1/4)
4. Drunken Master (1.1/4)
5. Dominique Is Dead (0.7/4)
1977
1. Annie Hall (3.3/4)
2. Star Wars (3.2/4)
1976
1. Rocky (3.7/4)
2. Taxi Driver (3.6/4)
3. Network (3.4/4)
1975
1. Dog Day Afternoon (3.9/4)
2. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (3.4/4)
3. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (3.3/4)
4. Jaws (3.2/4)
5. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (2.4/4)
1974
1. The Conversation (3.5/4)
2. Young Frankenstein (2.8/4)
3. The Godfather: Part II (2.7/4)
4. Chinatown (2.3/4)
5. Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride (2.3/4)
1973
1. The Exorcist (3.7/4)
2. The Sting (2.4/4)
3. Enter the Dragon (2.2/4)
4. Battle for the Planet of the Apes (2.0/4)
5. The Pyx (0.3/4)
1972
1. The Godfather (3.7/4)
2. Deliverance (3.2/4)
3. Aguirre: The Wrath of God (2.0/4)
1971
1. Harold and Maude (3.4/4)
2. A Clockwork Orange (2.8/4)
1970
1. MASH (3.1/4)
2. Patton (3.0/4)
1969
1. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (2.9/4)
2. The Wild Bunch (2.7/4)
3. A Boy Named Charlie Brown (2.2/4)
4. Fangs of the Living Dead (0.8/4)
1968
1. Planet of the Apes (3.4/4)
2. Rosemary’s Baby (3.1/4)
3. Once Upon a Time in the West (3.1/4)
4. 2001: A Space Odyssey (3.1/4)
5. Night of the Living Dead (2.9/4)
1967
1. Cool Hand Luke (3.4/4)
2. In the Heat of the Night (3.4/4)
3. In Cold Blood (3.3/4)
4. The Graduate (3.1/4)
5. The Jungle Book (2.7/4)
1966
1. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (3.7/4)
2. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (3.6/4)
3. How to Steal a Million (2.9/4)
4. A Man for All Seasons (2.6/4)
5. Blowup (2.5/4)
1965
1. For a Few Dollars More (3.5/4)
2. Othello (2.1/4)
3. Dr. Who and the Daleks (1.5/4)
4. Doctor Zhivago (1.3/4)
5. Nightmare Castle (1.3/4)
1964
1. A Fistful of Dollars (3.7/4)
2. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (3.6/4)
3. The Last Man on Earth (2.3/4)
4. My Fair Lady (2.3/4)
5. Mary Poppins (2.1/4)
1963
1. The Sword in the Stone (3.4/4)
2. 8½ (2.9/4)
3. Charade (2.8/4)
4. The Great Escape (2.5/4)
5. Dementia 13 (1.5/4)
1962
1. The Manchurian Candidate (3.6/4)
2. To Kill a Mockingbird (3.5/4)
3. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (2.7/4)
4. Lawrence of Arabia (2.3/4)
5. Carnival of Souls (0.8/4)
1961
1. Yojimbo (3.8/4)
2. Breakfast at Tiffany’s (3.2/4)
3. Judgment at Nuremberg (3.0/4)
4. The Hustler (3.0/4)
5. The Children’s Hour (2.8/4)
1960
1. Psycho (3.2/4)
2. Ocean’s Eleven (3.2/4)
3. Inherit the Wind (2.9/4)
4. The Apartment (2.6/4)
5. Spartacus (2.5/4)
1959
1. Anatomy of a Murder (3.5/4)
2. Some Like It Hot (3.0/4)
3. Sleeping Beauty (2.9/4)
4. The Nun’s Story (2.8/4)
5. North by Northwest (2.7/4)
1958
1. Touch of Evil (3.4/4)
2. Vertigo (3.3/4)
3. I Bury the Living (1.5/4)
1957
1. 12 Angry Men (3.7/4)
2. The Bridge on the River Kwai (3.7/4)
3. Witness for the Prosecution (3.3/4)
4. Love in the Afternoon (3.2/4)
5. Nights of Cabiria (2.9/4)
1956
1. The Killing (2.8/4)
2. Forbidden Planet (2.5/4)
3. The Searchers (1.8/4)
4. Moby Dick (1.7/4)
1955
1. The Night of the Hunter (3.2/4)
2. Rififi (3.2/4)
3. Lady and the Tramp (1.9/4)
4. Les diaboliques (1.9/4)
1954
1. Seven Samurai (3.5/4)
2. Rear Window (3.3/4)
3. La Strada (3.1/4)
4. On the Waterfront (2.9/4)
5. Sabrina (2.9/4)
1953
1. Stalag 17 (3.5/4)
2. Julius Caesar (3.2/4)
3. The Wages of Fear (2.9/4)
4. Roman Holiday (2.9/4)
5. Peter Pan (2.2/4)
1952
1. High Noon (3.3/4)
2. The White Sheik (3.3/4)
3. Umberto D. (3.2/4)
4. Singin’ in the Rain (2.8/4)
5. Ikiru (2.7/4)
1951
1. Strangers on a Train (3.6/4)
2. The Day the Earth Stood Still (3.2/4)
3. Scrooge (3.2/4)
4. Ace in the Hole (3.0/4)
5. Alice in Wonderland (2.8/4)
1950
1. All About Eve (3.7/4)
2. Rashômon (3.3/4)
3. Sunset Boulevard (3.2/4)
4. Harvey (3.2/4)
5. Cinderella (2.8/4)
1949
1. The Third Man (3.4/4)
2. Kind Hearts and Coronets (2.9/4)
3. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (2.2/4)
1948
1. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (3.4/4)
2. The Red Shoes (3.3/4)
3. The Bicycle Thief (3.0/4)
1947
1. Miracle of 34th Street (2.9/4)
2. Monsieur Verdoux (2.7/4)
3. Out of the Past (2.3/4)
1946
1. It’s a Wonderful Life (2.9/4)
2. Notorious (2.8/4)
3. The Big Sleep (2.6/4)
4. Great Expectations (2.3/4)
5. The Best Years of Our Lives (2.3/4)
1945
1. Brief Encounter (3.7/4)
2. The Lost Weekend (2.5/4)
1944
1. Murder, My Sweet (2.7/4)
2. Laura (2.6/4)
3. Double Indemnity (2.6/4)
4. The Three Caballeros (1.7/4)
5. Arsenic and Old Lace (1.3/4)
1943
1. Shadow of a Doubt (3.7/4)
2. The Ox-Bow Incident (2.9/4)
3. Heaven Can Wait (2.3/4)
1942
1. Casablanca (3.8/4)
2. Bambi (2.5/4)
1941
1. Dumbo (3.6/4)
2. The Maltese Falcon (3.1/4)
3. Citizen Kane (3.0/4)
1940
1. Rebecca (3.2/4)
2. The Grapes of Wrath (3.1/4)
3. The Shop Around the Corner (3.0/4)
4. Pinocchio (2.8/4)
5. The Great Dictator (2.1/4)
1939
1. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (3.6/4)
2. The Wizard of Oz (3.4/4)
3. Gone with the Wind (3.0/4)
4. Of Mice and Men (2.7/4)
1938
1. The Adventures of Robin Hood (3.0/4)
2. The Lady Vanishes (2.6/4)
3. Bringing Up Baby (1.6/4)
1937
1. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (3.7/4)
2. Grand Illusion (3.0/4)
1936
1. My Man Godfrey (2.6/4)
2. The Milky Way (2.6/4)
3. Modern Times (2.2/4)
4. Tarzan Escapes (1.2/4)
1935
1. A Night at the Opera (2.6/4)
2. Captain Blood (2.5/4)
3. A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2.1/4)
4. Bride of Frankenstein (1.7/4)
1934
1. The Thin Man (3.2/4)
2. The Cat’s-Paw (2.6/4)
3. It Happened One Night (2.3/4)
1933
1. King Kong (3.0/4)
2. Duck Soup (2.3/4)
1932
1. Trouble in Paradise (3.0/4)
2. Tarzan the Ape Man (1.6/4)
1931
1. Frankenstein (3.5/4)
2. M (3.4/4)
3. City Lights (2.9/4)
4. Dracula (2.7/4)
1930
1. All Quiet on the Western Front (2.5/4)
1929
1. Spite Marriage (2.1/4)
2. The Broadway Melody (0.7/4)
1928
1. The Circus (3.0/4)
2. The Cameraman (2.7/4)
3. Street Angel (2.3/4)
1927
1. The General (2.9/4)
2. Metropolis (2.6/4)
3. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (2.2/4)
1926
1. The Adventures of Prince Achmed (3.1/4)
2. Flesh and the Devil (2.2/4)
1925
1. The Gold Rush (2.8/4)
1924
1. Sherlock Jr. (3.5/4)
2. Girl Shy (2.1/4)
1923
1. Why Worry? (2.4/4)
2. Our Hospitality (2.2/4)
3. Safety Last! (2.0/4)
1920
1. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (2.4/4)
2. The Golem (2.3/4)
1919
1. Daddy-Long-Legs (1.6/4)
1918
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1917
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1916
1. Les Vampires (1.9/4)
1915
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1914
1. Tillie’s Punctured Romance (2.2/4)
1913
1. Juve Against Fantômas (2.0/4)
2. Fantômas in the Shadow of the Guillotine (1.9/4)
Mister Comfypants 