Fanboys Anonymous

My Favorite Movies of 2010s (2010-2019) & Top 100 Favorite Films of the Decade

Posted by Anthony Mango - Thursday, February 16, 2023

Welcome to the fourth block of my gargantuan series of lists breaking down My Favorite Movies of Every Year and my top movies of every decade. This edition focuses on the 2010s—movies that were released between the years 2010 and 2019.

To check out the other entries in this series, click on the following links as they are broken down by every decade:

FAVORITE MOVIES LISTS - BY DECADE
1960s, 1970s, 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020sMASTER LIST PAGE

For a more elaborate explanation of this project as a whole, consult the master list page above.

But in general, the three major notes to keep in mind are:

1) This is a list of my favorite movies, rather than the films I think are the best. There is a distinction. Just because I like them the most doesn't mean I think they are of the highest quality, necessarily.

2) I try to keep a top 10 list for each year, but some don't have a proper 10, while others have more. Everything is still ranked, though.

3) There is a key to the level of fandom. Bold means I absolutely love the movie. Italics without being bold means I like them a lot. Gray movies are a bit on the fence for the list. And gray movies that are striked out are mostly filler and could easily be replaced.

Check out my Letterboxd for some star ratings for any of these movies and more, since I've obviously seen a lot of films that I don't like that won't be appearing on these lists whatsoever.

Also, stay tuned for any possible updates! Whenever I see a new movie that I like, I'll potentially be adding it to the ranking. So while something is on the list at this particular moment, it may not always be there!

Best Movie Every Year Favorite Films

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2010

  1. Inception
  2. Kick-Ass
  3. Iron Man 2
  4. TRON: Legacy
  5. Batman: Under the Red Hood
  6. Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths
  7. Toy Story 3
  8. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
  9. Jackass 3D
  10. How to Train Your Dragon
  11. RED

I really wish Inception had won Best Picture this year. It deserved to break ground like that.

Kick-Ass instantly became a favorite of mine. Iron Man 2 is nowhere near as good as the first, but it builds the world of the MCU really well and is a fun ride. TRON: Legacy is INFINITELY better than the first one, and I don't care if you find that sacrilegious to say.

Under the Red Hood and Crisis on Two Earths are among the best of the DCAU.

Toy Story 3 doesn't hold a candle to the first, but I think it is about on par with the second.

Scott Pilgrim is the type of movie I can imagine most people having in their top 10. While it isn't anywhere close to that for me, it is definitely super fun.

There are a handful of movies this year that I liked, but they don't even find themselves in the top 100 for "favorite" consideration, like Love & Other Drugs and Easy A and The Man from Nowhere. If you're counting soundtracks, Monsters has some of the best music in any movie with its score.

This year houses the first time I've ever fallen asleep in a movie theater with the movie Hereafter. That was totally marketed as a different type of movie than what it actually was.

Blind Spot Movies = Charlie St. Cloud, Despicable Me, Jonah Hex, The Karate Kid, MacGruber, The Other Guys, Predators, Shrek Forever After, True Grit and more.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2011

  1. Thor
  2. Captain America: The First Avenger
  3. The Adjustment Bureau
  4. X-Men: First Class
  5. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
  6. Batman: Year One
  7. Green Lantern
  8. Transformers: Dark of the Moon
  9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
  10. Limitless

Over time, I've softened on my thoughts for Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger. While they don't rank in the top range of the MCU for me, they're super easy rewatches I've grown to appreciate more as time goes on.

The Adjustment Bureau is a fun concept and the type of movie I recommend to people who are into that genre of low-stakes sci-fi-esque thriller fantasy drama.

Ghost Protocol was a step up once more in the Mission: Impossible franchise.

Movies like Green Lantern and Transformers: Dark of the Moon aren't good. By almost any means. But I gotta fill the top 10 somehow, and even though there are movies that I found interesting, I haven't had the urge to rewatch any of them, but I'd at least give Batman: Year One another shot, likely, and I liked the Limitless television show way more than the movie.

Blind Spot Movies = A Dangerous Method, The Artist, Attack the Block, Bad Teacher, Cars 2, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Hangover Part II, The Help, Hugo, Kung Fu Panda 2, Moneyball, Puss in Boots, Rango, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Sucker Punch, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Your Highness and more.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2012

  1. The Avengers
  2. Skyfall
  3. 21 Jump Street
  4. Chronicle
  5. Paperman (short film)
  6. The Amazing Spider-Man
  7. The Dark Knight Rises
  8. Justice League: Doom
  9. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1
  10. Superman vs. The Elite
  11. Dredd

Man. Look at that top three. So, so, so good, and movies I can rewatch over and over.

Chronicle took me by surprise when I first saw it, and it is definitely a movie I recommend to a lot of people.

Paperman is something I actually force some to watch. Yes, it is a short film, but I'm counting it, because it isn't as though this year has tons and tons of options to pick from.

The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises are great examples of movies that I would love way more as a kid, but as an adult with more options in the genre that do it better, they pale in comparison.

Shout out to Les Misérables for being what I wanted to win Best Picture. But I'm surely not rewatching that maybe ever again. Something like The Hunger Games was interesting enough to get me to watch the sequels, and Looper was cool, and even Wreck-It-Ralph

Blind Spot Movies = The Bourne Legacy, Brave, Cloud Atlas, Hotel Transylvania, Jack Reacher, John Carter, Lincoln, Magic Mike, Men in Black 3, Robot & Frank, Seven Psychopaths, This is 40, Total Recall and more.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2013

  1. Man of Steel
  2. Kick-Ass 2
  3. Iron Man 3
  4. Thor: The Dark World
  5. Star Trek Into Darkness
  6. Oblivion
  7. The Wolverine
  8. White House Down
  9. Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox
  10. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2

Not a strong year. This is one of those times where everything is a lesser sequel in many ways. But the top 4 are movies I can rewatch (and have), and Star Trek Into Darkness was rock solid when I saw it, and Oblivion did its job, too.

Shout out to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 for being one of my more enjoyed movies where I got to hear a bunch of puns like shrimpanzees. Those marshmallows were adorable, too.

Also, shout out to Coherence, which I watched after making this list. It doesn't top 2013, but it was still super neat.

Blind Spot Movies = 12 Years a Slave, After Earth, Captain Phillips, Despicable Me 2, Ender's Game, Fruitvale Station, The Great Gatsby, The Hangover Part III, Inside Llewyn Davis, Monsters University, Much Ado About Nothing, Pacific Rim, Planes, RED 2, World War Z and more. I honestly can't remember if I've seen Elysium, for instance.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2014

  1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
  2. Guardians of the Galaxy
  3. X-Men: Days of Future Past
  4. 22 Jump Street
  5. The Amazing Spider-Man 2
  6. A Long Way Down
  7. Edge of Tomorrow
  8. Justice League: War
  9. Let's Be Cops
  10. The Purge: Anarchy
  11. The Lego Movie
  12. John Wick

Let's goooooooo! Look at that top four!

Amazing Spider-Man 2 is super flawed. A Long Way Down is too much of a downer to rewatch, but it hit me. Edge of Tomorrow was cool. Let's Be Cops is one of those movies I genuinely found fun and funny, and I don't know if anyone else has even seen it, let alone liked it. And you've got The Purge: Anarchy which was so much better than the first one that it set the tone for the series to follow, and for me to enjoy the stuff that came after it, except for The Forever Purge, which I shut off after a few minutes. But even the TV show was cool.

It's a shame Interstellar isn't more like Inception. Or that Nightcrawler isn't more rewatchable, as that was good, but I can't say it would be a favorite.

Update: I've seen John Wick since publishing this list. Very cool. It has to go on the list, but not immediately jumping straight up. We'll see how that changes over time.

Blind Spot Movies = American Sniper, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Equalizer, Foxcatcher, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Ride Along, and more.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2015

  1. Kingsman: The Secret Service
  2. Avengers: Age of Ultron
  3. Ant-Man
  4. Spectre
  5. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
  6. Mad Max: Fury Road
  7. Creed
  8. Jurassic World
  9. Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens
  10. Batman vs Robin

How bad was that Fant4stic movie and a lot of other things this year, right? I really wish I would have liked The Hateful Eight more.

But you've got Kingsman this year, which instantly became one of my favorite movies. Age of Ultron is underrated. Ant-Man is a lot of fun. Spectre is a super flawed James Bond film, but it is still 007.

Of course, Rogue Nation hits the mark. I was surprised at how much I liked Mad Max: Fury Road.

I wasn't surprised at how much I didn't like Terminator Genisys. Also, screw you, The Force Awakens. The sequel trilogy is terrible and I tried so hard to love this, only to realize in retrospect how it is just not good.

Shout out to a few other movies like Room, The Intern, Inside Out and The Revenant, but they aren't favorites by a long shot.

Blind Spot Movies = Hitman: Agent 47, It Follows, Paddington, Project Almanac, Self/Less, Sicario, Victor Frankenstein and more.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2016

  1. Captain America: Civil War
  2. Deadpool
  3. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Ultimate Edition)
  4. Doctor Strange
  5. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
  6. Suicide Squad
  7. Split
  8. Star Trek Beyond
  9. Arrival
  10. Train to Busan
  11. The Jungle Book
  12. Inferno
  13. La La Land
  14. The Purge: Election Year
  15. Swiss Army Man
  16. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows
  17. X-Men: Apocalypse
  18. 10 Cloverfield Lane
  19. Zootopia

Major shout out to those top 3. I maintain that BvS in Ultimate Edition form is a 75% masterful movie with 25% flaws that could easily have been fixed by just not having Batman as a murderer and not casting Jesse Eisenberg for Lex Luthor.

The rest...meh. Look. We all know Suicide Squad is really awful. But I'd rather watch that again than tons of other things that came out this year.

Shout out to a few "good" movies that aren't favorites, like Fences and Hidden Figures and Hell or High Water.

Blind Spot Movies = A Monster Calls, Eddie the Eagle, The Founder, Hardcore Henry, Jason Bourne, Kubo and the Two Strings, The Magnificent Seven, The Nice Guys and more.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2017

  1. Spider-Man: Homecoming
  2. The Lego Batman Movie
  3. Thor: Ragnarok
  4. Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2
  5. Power Rangers
  6. Logan
  7. Kingsman: The Golden Circle
  8. I, Tonya
  9. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
  10. It
  11. Get Out
  12. Justice League
  13. Wonder Woman
  14. Kong: Skull Island
  15. John Wick: Chapter 2
  16. Murder on the Orient Express
  17. Radius

I don't think I really need to explain anything on this list except maybe I, Tonya, right? But that movie was so easy to watch and was fun on the second go-around, too.

#TheLastJediSucks

I don't think The Mummy is as bad as everyone else thought. It's not great, but it could have been a fine start to the Dark Universe crossover movies.

Blind Spot Movies = A Cure for Wellness, The Belko Experiment, Blade Runner 2049, Coco, The Dark Tower, The Greatest Showman, The Lego Ninjago Movie, Molly's Game, Sleight, The Space Between Us, The Snowman, War for the Planet of the Apes and more.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2018

  1. Avengers: Infinity War
  2. Black Panther
  3. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
  4. Ant-Man and the Wasp
  5. Mission: Impossible - Fallout
  6. A Quiet Place
  7. Deadpool 2
  8. Creed II
  9. Game Night 
  10. Venom
  11. Bao (short film) and The Incredibles 2 --- tie
  12. Aquaman
  13. The First Purge
  14. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
  15. Bumblebee
  16. Searching
  17. Ready Player One
  18. Solo: A Star Wars Story

C'mon. Look at the top three up there. Nuff said.

I'm cheating when it comes to Bao and Incredibles 2 because one was a short leading into the other. Cry all you want. It's my site and my list and my rules. Plus, I rank them in the decade list anyway.

Blind Spot Movies = Annihilation, BlacKkKlansman, Crazy Rich Asians, First Man, Tomb Raider, Vice and more.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2019

  1. Avengers: Endgame
  2. Spider-Man: Far From Home
  3. Joker
  4. Knives Out
  5. Pokemon: Detective Pikachu
  6. Parasite
  7. Shazam!
  8. Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
  9. Batman: Hush
  10. Zombieland: Double Tap
  11. Glass
  12. Jumanji: The Next Level
  13. It Chapter Two
  14. Captain Marvel
  15. Richard Jewell
  16. Godzilla: King of the Monsters
  17. John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

This was a damn good year overall. While it isn't made up of entirely S-tier stuff like Avengers: Endgame, you're better off watching any of these than many other years. A lot of B+ type candidates here and some A-tier stuff, too, to boot.

Shout out to some good movies like Ford v Ferrari, 1917, Jojo Rabbit, Us, and definitely, definitely not Terminator: Dark Fate. Giant middle finger to that movie, as well as The Rise of Skywalker for continuing the trend of the bad sequel films and putting such little effort into it to have lines like "Somehow, Palpatine has returned."

Blind Spot Movies = Abominable, Alita: Battle Angel, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Booksmart, Hellboy, Hustlers, The Lighthouse, Men in Black: International, Midsommar, The Peanut Butter Falcon, Uncut Gems and more.

TOP 100 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2010s DECADE
BONUS ROUND

  1. Avengers: Endgame (2019)
  2. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
  3. The Avengers (2012)
  4. Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
  5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
  6. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
  7. Skyfall (2012)
  8. Inception (2010)
  9. Kick-Ass (2010)
  10. Captain America: Civil War (2016)
  11. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
  12. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Ultimate Edition) (2016)
  13. Black Panther (2018)
  14. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
  15. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
  16. 21 Jump Street (2012)
  17. 22 Jump Street (2014)
  18. Deadpool (2016)
  19. Man of Steel (2013)
  20. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
  21. Iron Man 2 (2010)
  22. TRON: Legacy (2010)
  23. The Lego Batman Movie (2017)
  24. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
  25. Kick-Ass 2 (2013)
  26. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
  27. Thor (2011)
  28. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
  29. Ant-Man (2015)
  30. Chronicle (2012)
  31. Joker (2019)
  32. Knives Out (2019)
  33. Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 (2017)
  34. Power Rangers (2017)
  35. Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
  36. Iron Man 3  (2013)
  37. Doctor Strange (2016)
  38. Spectre (2015)
  39. Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010)
  40. The Adjustment Bureau (2011)
  41. X-Men: First Class (2011)
  42. Pokemon: Detective Pikachu (2019)
  43. Paperman (short film) (2012)
  44. The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
  45. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
  46. Thor: The Dark World (2013)
  47. Justice League (2017)
  48. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
  49. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
  50. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)
  51. Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)
  52. Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (2010)
  53. Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)
  54. Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2019)
  55. Batman: Hush (2019)
  56. I, Tonya (2017)
  57. Game Night (2018) 
  58. Venom (2018)
  59. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
  60. Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
  61. Logan (2017)
  62. A Quiet Place (2018)
  63. Deadpool 2 (2018)
  64. Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)
  65. Suicide Squad (2016)
  66. Shazam! (2019)
  67. Bao (short film) (2018)
  68. Incredibles 2 (2018)
  69. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
  70. Toy Story 3 (2010)
  71. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
  72. The Lego Movie (2014)
  73. Justice League: Doom (2012)
  74. Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
  75. Kong: Skull Island (2017)
  76. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)
  77. Creed (2015)
  78. Creed II (2018)
  79. Jurassic World (2015)
  80. Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)
  81. Aquaman (2018)
  82. Wonder Woman (2017)
  83. Captain Marvel (2019)
  84. Zombieland: Double Tap (2019)
  85. Arrival (2016)
  86. Train to Busan (2016)
  87. A Long Way Down (2014)
  88. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
  89. Parasite (2019)
  90. Oblivion (2013)
  91. Split (2016)
  92. Justice League: War (2014)
  93. Let's Be Cops (2014)
  94. The Purge: Anarchy (2014)
  95. John Wick (2014) * 
  96. John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) *
  97. John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019) *
  98. Richard Jewell (2019)
  99. The Wolverine (2013)
  100. Star Trek Beyond (2016)
  101. The Jungle Book (2016)
  102. Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
  103. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013)
  104. Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

As you can tell, there is an abundance of superhero films. That comes with not only the explosion of the genre (particularly with the MCU starting in 2008) but also because I'm a huge fan of superheroes and their comedic/action nature makes them SIGNIFICANTLY rewatchable compared to heavy dramas.

But with that in mind, it is interesting to see how many superhero flicks DON'T make the cut. For instance, X-Men: Apocalypse. They just aren't good enough for me to want to watch them again and again. Some of them weren't even good enough for me to enjoy the first time around.

When it gets to the tail end, I was struggling to figure out what to put here. I almost put White House Down for how I was shocked at how much fun I had watching it in theaters, but I never watched even a clip of it a second time. So points go to Murder on the Orient Express for being good enough that I was interested to watch its follow-up a few years later.

That top range is so tight. Kingsman is one of my favorite movies of all time, and for it to not rank #1 is saying a lot for how much I enjoy the MCU and the Avengers major crossovers in particular.

* John Wick was added after this list was made, and I should probably rank it quite a bit higher.

This is a fantastic group of a top 100, for sure.

What are your favorite movies from every year?
Drop your thoughts in the comments below!

Welcome to the third block of my gargantuan series of lists breaking down My Favorite Movies of Every Year and my top movies of every decade. This edition focuses on the early 2000s—movies that were released between the years 2000 and 2009.

To check out the other entries in this series, click on the following links as they are broken down by every decade:

FAVORITE MOVIES LISTS - BY DECADE
1960s, 1970s, 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020sMASTER LIST PAGE

For a more elaborate explanation of this project as a whole, consult the master list page above.

But in general, the three major notes to keep in mind are:

1) This is a list of my favorite movies, rather than the films I think are the best. There is a distinction. Just because I like them the most doesn't mean I think they are of the highest quality, necessarily.

2) I try to keep a top 10 list for each year, but some don't have a proper 10, while others have more. Everything is still ranked, though.

3) There is a key to the level of fandom. Bold means I absolutely love the movie. Italics without being bold means I like them a lot. Gray movies are a bit on the fence for the list. And gray movies that are striked out are mostly filler and could easily be replaced.

Check out my Letterboxd for some star ratings for any of these movies and more, since I've obviously seen a lot of films that I don't like that won't be appearing on these lists whatsoever.

Also, stay tuned for any possible updates! Whenever I see a new movie that I like, I'll potentially be adding it to the ranking. So while something is on the list at this particular moment, it may not always be there!

Best Movie Every Year Favorite Films

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2000

  1. American Psycho
  2. Scary Movie
  3. Memento
  4. X-Men
  5. The Way of the Gun
  6. Unbreakable
  7. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
  8. Mission: Impossible II
  9. Cast Away
  10. Traffic
  11. Pay It Forward
  12. Battle Royale

I distinctly remember walking out of U-571 in theaters because of how bored I was, and rolling my eyes at What Lies Beneath for every jump scare I could see coming from a mile away. And boy, was a teenage me disappointed when I went to see Coyote Ugly in theaters.

So many movies these year just don't stand up to my memory, like The Whole Nine Yards and Best in Show or The Skulls or Reindeer Games or Animal Factory.

Blind Spot Movies = Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Emperor's New Groove, Miss Congeniality, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Rules of Engagement, Space Cowboys and more.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2001

  1. K-PAX
  2. Not Another Teen Movie
  3. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
  4. Hannibal
  5. Rush Hour 2
  6. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
  7. Wet Hot American Summer
  8. Donnie Darko
  9. 3000 Miles to Graceland
  10. The Score
  11. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
  12. Scary Movie 2
  13. Ocean's Eleven
  14. Heartbreakers
  15. Blow
  16. American Pie 2
  17. A.I. Artificial Intelligence
  18. Pearl Harbor
  19. I Am Sam
  20. Jurassic Park III
  21. The Fast and the Furious

This year had Black Hawk Down, Behind Enemy Lines and Enemy at the Gates. I saw all three and can't remember more than a scene or two from any of them. Good music from Hans Zimmer in the former, though. Also, Bandits and Heist gave me the same vibes.

Want to talk about a massively disappointing movie? Mulholland Drive is your answer.

I'm curious if I were to rewatch Vanilla Sky if I would be thoroughly underwhelmed like I was walking out of the theater, or if I would actually like it now after 20 years.

No, I'm not nuts over Shrek or Zoolander. Sorry.

Blind Spot Movies = Ghost World, A Knight's Tale, Legally Blonde, Spy Kids, Super Troopers and more.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2002

  1. Spider-Man
  2. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
  3. Catch Me If You Can
  4. Die Another Day
  5. Death to Smoochy
  6. Phone Booth
  7. Austin Powers in Goldmember
  8. Minority Report
  9. Jackass: The Movie
  10. Red Dragon
  11. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
  12. An Evening with Kevin Smith
  13. National Lampoon's Van Wilder
  14. Road to Perdition
  15. John Q
  16. Insomnia
  17. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
  18. One Hour Photo
  19. The Bourne Identity
  20. Bowling for Columbine
  21. 28 Days Later
  22. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
  23. The Ring

Of course Spider-Man tops the list. But while I fully acknowledge Catch Me If You Can is above Die Another Day and Attack of the Clones as far as quality of the film goes, I have to give special credit to Episode II for being the movie I've seen the most in theaters by far. I think I went something like 7 times. Catch Me If You Can is easily the superior film above it, but again, this is a list of favorites, not best.

Loooove Death to Smoochy. Phone Booth is an overlooked really solid flick. While Goldmember isn't the strongest of the three Austin Powers films, it still has its fair share of chuckles. And Minority Report is really good.

This is a strong year. To get to the 14th spot before I reach some movies that I wouldn't mind bumping off is impressive. But I still need to rewatch Insomnia again. I might like it better the second time around. The same goes for The Bourne Identity.

Blind Spot Movies = 8 Mile, The Count of Monte Cristo, Ice Age, Lilo & Stitch, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Panic Room and more.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2003

  1. Matchstick Men
  2. X2: X-Men United
  3. Kill Bill: Volume 1
  4. Scary Movie 3
  5. Bad Santa
  6. Big Fish
  7. Identity
  8. Old School
  9. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
  10. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
  11. Daredevil
  12. Finding Nemo
  13. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
  14. Hulk
  15. The Matrix Revolutions
  16. The Matrix Reloaded
  17. Oldboy
  18. Elf

I think it is criminal Matchstick Men is a movie most people don't know. Also, Scary Movie 3 is supremely underrated in the spoof genre.

Those films up in bold are so good and most people wouldn't mention them at all, which is a shame. X2 was one of the best comic book films ever until the genre stepped it up a notch. Kill Bill is awesome. Bad Santa is hilarious. Big Fish and Identity are two movies I never hear people talk about, but I always recommend. And high school me thought Old School was a laugh riot for sure. I've watched that movie so many times.

The other films have some pretty decent spots on here, too. But there is a distinct drop-off. For instance, there are a few elements of Terminator 3 that I like, and I've seen the movie way more times than it needs to be seen, but that was mostly to try to convince myself it was better than what it was. Hulk is in similar territory. At the time, I enjoyed parts of it enough to watch it more than once, but I've always known that it wasn't good, and as time goes on, my criticism gets harsher and harsher. Oldboy was great for a one-time watch. I couldn't say it is a favorite, but it is good. That's a distinction that has to be factored in a lot more on this list.

This was the year of The Room. That movie is horrendous and by proxy, a fantastic watch.

I need to rewatch Love Actually at some point.

Blind Spot Movies = Cheaper by the Dozen and more.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2004

  1. Collateral
  2. Team America: World Police
  3. Kill Bill: Volume 2
  4. Spider-Man 2
  5. Garden State
  6. The Terminal
  7. The Incredibles
  8. National Treasure
  9. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
  10. Saw

I'm not as gaga over Shaun of the Dead like most people. It was fine. The Notebook didn't do it for me.

But I am totally nuts over Collateral. I think it is one of the most criminally overlooked movies of the past 20-some years. It is fantastic.

Team America is brilliant. Kill Bill 2 is awesome. Spider-Man 2 has a few flaws, but it is still one of the better overall movies in the franchise. My opinions on Garden State get lower as time goes on, but I still loved it. I definitely need to rewatch The Terminal, but I loved it at the time I saw it.

This is a good list, for sure. Even Saw is something that I was super fond of enough that I watched the next two movies and got annoyed at how the franchise fell off when it started from such a good place.

Blind Spot Movies = Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, The Aviator, DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story, Friday Night Lights, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Hotel Rwanda, Ocean's Twelve, Million Dollar Baby, Ray, Shrek 2 and more.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2005

  1. Batman Begins
  2. The Island
  3. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
  4. V for Vendetta
  5. Sin City
  6. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
  7. Fantastic 4
  8. Wedding Crashers
  9. Saw II
  10. Sky High

Batman Begins is probably my favorite overall Batman film, if you ignore all the years as a kid that built up '89 and Returns.

The Island is super underrated, and a movie I recommend to a lot of people.

Solid marks all around for Revenge of the Sith, V for Vendetta and Sin City.

There's a drop for Harry Potter, Fantastic 4, and Wedding Crashers. Then, another drop for Saw II and Sky High.

What a shame King Kong and War of the Worlds weren't better.

Blind Spot Movies = The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Be Cool, Brokeback Mountain, Crash, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, The Legend of Zorro, Memoirs of a Geisha, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and more.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2006

  1. Stranger Than Fiction
  2. Casino Royale
  3. Clerks II
  4. The Da Vinci Code
  5. The Prestige
  6. Mission: Impossible III
  7. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
  8. Superman Returns
  9. Jackass Number Two
  10. Grandma's Boy

Casino Royale is arguably the very best James Bond film and a strong contender to top the year, if it wasn't for Stranger Than Fiction, which I absolutely adore. It is one of my go-to comfort films that I recommend to EVERYBODY. I can't sing enough praises. Easily one of my favorites of all time, as you'll see on the decade list.

Clerks II is nowhere near as strong as the first, but still makes me laugh. The Da Vinci Code and The Prestige are about tied. MI3 was a big improvement that really started this trend of each film in the series matching or surpassing the previous one.

There are a handful of movies from this year that I remember enjoying to an extent, but not enough to watch a second time, and I can't really recall too much of them. For instance, Inside Man and Lucky Number Slevin. The same goes for The Holiday and Wristcutters: A Love Story. But since this is a list of FAVORITE movies, I can't reasonably put them on this list with that in mind.

I was so disappointed when X-Men: The Last Stand sucked.

Blind Spot Movies = Apocalypto, Beerfest, Blood Diamond, Cars, The Devil Wears Prada, Dreamgirls, Idiocracy, Little Miss Sunshine, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and more.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2007

  1. Superbad
  2. Transformers
  3. The Mist
  4. I Am Legend
  5. Spider-Man 3
  6. Zodiac
  7. Jackass 2.5
  8. Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer
  9. National Treasure: Book of Secrets
  10. Sunshine
  11. Superman: Doomsday

This is a weaker year, all things considered. While Superbad is hilarious and I still maintain that the first Transformers movie is legitimately good as well, and I enjoyed the overall ride for The Mist and even I Am Legend (the third movie ever to make me cry), and of course, my fandom has Spider-Man 3 in a weird spot where I hate it, but it's still Spider-Man...some of the other movies are lacking.

Zodiac is in that range of "I liked it a lot when I saw it, but I've never felt the urge to watch it a second time."

So many movies like Hot Fuzz, Fracture, In the Land of Women, Disturbia, Vacancy, The Bucket List,  Shoot 'Em Up, Smokin' Aces and more are just non-factors here. I can't even remember if I saw 30 Days of Night and many others, but I doubt they would have made the top 10 anyway.

You would think I would have seen Hannibal Rising, but I didn't. I never bothered to see Sweeney Todd, either, despite liking the Neil Patrick Harris version I had seen a few years prior.

Blind Spot Movies = 300, 3:10 to Yuma, American Gangster, The Bourne Ultimatum, Gone Baby Gone, Hannibal Rising, Hitman, Juno, Knocked Up, Lars and the Real Girl, Ocean's Thirteen, Shrek the Third, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, There Will Be Blood and more.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2008

  1. Iron Man
  2. The Dark Knight
  3. The Incredible Hulk
  4. Hancock
  5. Cloverfield
  6. Quantum of Solace
  7. WALL-E
  8. Gran Torino
  9. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
  10. Punisher: War Zone

The Dark Knight and Iron Man are phenomenal and essentially tied in my book, but at the end of the day, the one that I've seen more at this point is Iron Man, so it narrowly ekes out the top spot. The Incredible Hulk is underrated, but not on par. I really like Hancock and Cloverfield. Unfortunately, Quantum of Solace is one of my least favorite Bond films.

Boy, was I disappointed that Superhero Movie had nothing to laugh at. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was a big let down, among some others, too.

Blind Spot Movies = Get Smart, The Happening, In Bruges, Kung Fu Panda, Milk, Rambo, Speed Racer and more.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2009

  1. Star Trek
  2. Zombieland
  3. Terminator Salvation
  4. Watchmen
  5. Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
  6. Angels & Demons
  7. Moon
  8. Ink
  9. I Love You, Man
  10. (500) Days of Summer
  11. Timer
  12. The Time Traveler's Wife
  13. Sherlock Holmes

I was never a Star Trek fan, but the movie is awesome. Zombieland is a ton of fun. Terminator Salvation has some major problems, but it was still a better attempt at T3 than Rise of the Machines.

Upon a second watch, I liked Watchmen a lot more than the first time around.

Moon and Ink are movies I haven't had the urge to watch a second time, but they wowed me when I saw them.

There's a trio up there of (500) Days of Summer, Timer and The Time Traveler's Wife that I watched all around the same time and was really in the feels, and loved. But all three of them were one-time views.

Blind Spot Movies = The Blind Side, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Paranormal Activity, Sunshine Cleaning, Taken and more.

TOP 100 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2000-2009 DECADE
BONUS ROUND

  1. American Psycho (2000)
  2. Iron Man (2008)
  3. Batman Begins (2005)
  4. The Dark Knight (2008)
  5. Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
  6. Casino Royale (2006)
  7. Spider-Man (2002)
  8. Collateral (2004)
  9. K-PAX (2001)
  10. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
  11. Not Another Teen Movie (2001)
  12. Matchstick Men (2003)
  13. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)
  14. The Island (2005)
  15. Team America: World Police (2004)
  16. Superbad (2007)
  17. Scary Movie (2000)
  18. X2: X-Men United (2003)
  19. Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003)
  20. Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004)
  21. Transformers (2007)
  22. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
  23. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
  24. Catch Me If You Can (2002)
  25. Die Another Day (2002)
  26. Death to Smoochy (2002)
  27. Scary Movie 3 (2003)
  28. Bad Santa (2003)
  29. Memento (2000)
  30. Big Fish (2003)
  31. Clerks II (2006)
  32. Identity (2003)
  33. Old School (2003)
  34. X-Men (2000)
  35. The Way of the Gun (2000)
  36. Unbreakable (2000)
  37. The Incredible Hulk (2008)
  38. Hancock (2008)
  39. Hannibal (2001)
  40. Cloverfield (2008)
  41. The Da Vinci Code (2006)
  42. The Prestige (2006)
  43. Star Trek (2009)
  44. Quantum of Solace (2008)
  45. Garden State (2004)
  46. Phone Booth (2002)
  47. Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
  48. Zombieland (2009)
  49. Terminator Salvation (2009)
  50. Watchmen (2009)
  51. Mission: Impossible III (2006)
  52. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000)
  53. Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009)
  54. Minority Report (2002)
  55. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
  56. Jackass: The Movie (2002)
  57. Angels & Demons (2009)
  58. Moon (2009)
  59. Ink (2009)
  60. I Love You, Man (2009)
  61. V for Vendetta (2005)
  62. Rush Hour 2 (2001)
  63. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
  64. Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
  65. Mission: Impossible II (2000)
  66. The Terminal (2004)
  67. The Incredibles (2004)
  68. Sin City (2005)
  69. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)
  70. An Evening with Kevin Smith (2002)
  71. Red Dragon (2002)
  72. (500) Days of Summer (2009)
  73. Timer (2009)
  74. The Time Traveler's Wife (2009)
  75. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
  76. National Lampoon's Van Wilder (2002)
  77. Donnie Darko (2001)
  78. The Mist (2007)
  79. Superman Returns (2006)
  80. I Am Legend (2007)
  81. Spider-Man 3 (2007)
  82. Grandma's Boy (2006)
  83. Jackass Number Two (2006)
  84. Jackass 2.5 (2007)
  85. Wedding Crashers (2005)
  86. WALL-E (2008)
  87. Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
  88. Fantastic 4 (2005)
  89. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
  90. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
  91. Daredevil (2003)
  92. Road to Perdition (2002)
  93. Cast Away (2000)
  94. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
  95. Saw (2004)
  96. Finding Nemo (2003)
  97. Zodiac (2007)
  98. The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
  99. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
  100. National Treasure (2004)
  101. National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)

I hate how low I have to rank some of my more favorite movies. Look at how low Death to Smoochy is. You'd think I wasn't so high on it, but I love it. The same for Hannibal, for example.

Right at the tail end there, you can essentially combine the two National Treasure movies into one and insert something like the first few minutes of Up (but not the rest of the movie), and I'm sure if I rewatched a few like Tropic Thunder they might end up on there. But you can also just say "all the Harry Potter movies" combined, because they're all about equal to each other in my mind, and while none of them are high enough to crack this list, the franchise as a whole definitely would be.

What are your favorite movies from every year?
Drop your thoughts in the comments below!

Welcome to the second block of my gargantuan series of lists breaking down My Favorite Movies of Every Year and my top movies of every decade. This edition focuses on the 1990s—movies that were released between the years 1990 and 1999.

To check out the other entries in this series, click on the following links as they are broken down by every decade:

FAVORITE MOVIES LISTS - BY DECADE
1960s, 1970s, 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020sMASTER LIST PAGE

For a more elaborate explanation of this project as a whole, consult the master list page above.

But in general, the three major notes to keep in mind are:

1) This is a list of my favorite movies, rather than the films I think are the best. There is a distinction. Just because I like them the most doesn't mean I think they are of the highest quality, necessarily.

2) I try to keep a top 10 list for each year, but some don't have a proper 10, while others have more. Everything is still ranked, though.

3) There is a key to the level of fandom. Bold means I absolutely love the movie. Italics without being bold means I like them a lot. Gray movies are a bit on the fence for the list. And gray movies that are striked out are mostly filler and could easily be replaced.

Check out my Letterboxd for some star ratings for any of these movies and more, since I've obviously seen a lot of films that I don't like that won't be appearing on these lists whatsoever.

Also, stay tuned for any possible updates! Whenever I see a new movie that I like, I'll potentially be adding it to the ranking. So while something is on the list at this particular moment, it may not always be there!

Best Movie Every Year Favorite Films

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 1990

  1. Home Alone
  2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
  3. GoodFellas
  4. Edward Scissorhands
  5. The Godfather Part III
  6. Back to the Future Part III
  7. Total Recall
  8. Kindergarten Cop
  9. Misery
  10. It

If you polled me as a kid, the top 4 movies would still be up there. But so would Ernest Goes to Jail, surprisingly. I used to watch that movie a TON as a kid. Eventually, I watched it as a teenager, and it is just awful, like so many other movies I enjoyed as a child.

Supposedly, I was super freaked out by Arachnophobia as a kid when my parents were watching it. I don't know if that means I've seen it and don't remember, or if I was only in the room at the time.

For the most part, the top 2 are tied, with GoodFellas just below them as if there's an S+ tier and S-tier, then, Edward Scissorhands and The Godfather Part III would be A+ tier, even though it pales in comparison to the first two by an absurd margin.

Amazing how there's a Captain America movie that came out this year, and it'll be the only one that you don't see on this top list, because its awful.

Maybe if I rewatch Robocop 2 or Dances with Wolves or Rocky V it'll make the cut, but I doubt it.

Blind Spot Movies = Die Hard 2, The Hunt for Red October, Men at Work, Pretty Woman and more. I know I've seen Dick Tracy, but I can't remember a damn thing about it.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 1991

  1. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
  2. The Silence of the Lambs
  3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
  4. Hook
  5. The Addams Family
  6. Hot Shots!
  7. Beauty and the Beast
  8. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
  9. JFK
  10. What About Bob?

Terminator 2 is my favorite movie of all time. The Silence of the Lambs and TMNT 2 are favorites that I've seen countless times. Hot Shots! is super funny. The Addams Family is a classic, as is Hook. Rufio! Rufio!

There's a drop off for Beauty and the Beast, as it isn't one of my go-to Disney films, but I can appreciate it.

Then, we get into another drop-off. Prince of Thieves is a movie I've only seen once and mostly just so I could get the references from Men in Tights to come later in this list JFK was an interesting watch, and Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey was something I remember watching as a kid, but can't attribute too much to it, whereas I know that I enjoyed What About Bob? as a kid, at least. Then again, I liked Drop Dead Fred back then, so maybe if I rewatched it, it would be trash. For my initial ranking of this, when I started to figure out the decade breakdown, What About Bob? ended up actually being around the #182 mark. I'm sure it will only go down over time when I see more movies.

Apparently, the trolls in Ernest Scared Stupid legitimately scared me as a child, watching it in the theater. Go figure.

Blind Spot Movies = Backdraft, City Slickers, Father of the Bride, My Girl, The Rocketeer, Thelma & Louise and more.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 1992

  1. Reservoir Dogs
  2. Batman Returns
  3. Aladdin
  4. Home Alone 2
  5. Glengarry Glen Ross
  6. Scent of a Woman
  7. The Muppet Christmas Carol
  8. Lethal Weapon 3
  9. Sister Act
  10. The Mighty Ducks
  11. A League of Their Own

Hell yes! This is a great year. Just look at all those movies in bold, wherein the top five are movies I've seen too many times to count. They're infinitely rewatchable and you'll see how high up they go on my decade list. Scent of a Woman isn't quite on the same level, especially compared to something like Reservoir Dogs where I've seen that something like 200 times compared to SOAW maybe like six, but it is close enough to justify giving it a bold.

The Muppet Christmas Carol was a staple of my childhood, and I have such fond memories of Sister Act and A League of Their Own as well as The Mighty Ducks. That was such a golden era of "fun for the whole family" movies that I really did enjoy when I was younger and could see myself still enjoying as an adult.

Plenty other movies from this time frame were fun back then, like Encino Man and The Ladybugs, but didn't leave as much of an impression. This is the year of the first 3 Ninjas movie, after all. Those are trash in retrospect, but I was mesmerized in my youth.

Also, I know I've seen Wayne's World, but I was too young to get it and haven't watched it a second time even when I became a teenager.

Funny that we got Bram Stoker's Dracula and Buffy the Vampire Slayer this year.

Blind Spot Movies = A Few Good Men, Bad Lieutenant, Basic Instinct, The Bodyguard, Malcolm X, My Cousin Vinny, Patriot Games, Unforgiven, White Men Can't Jump and more.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 1993

  1. Robin Hood: Men in Tights
  2. Jurassic Park
  3. Grumpy Old Men
  4. Mrs. Doubtfire
  5. Groundhog Day
  6. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
  7. The Sandlot
  8. Addams Family Values
  9. Hot Shots! Part Deux
  10. Weekend at Bernie's 2

Hell yeah! Another really good year of movies to pick from.

Robin Hood: Men in Tights is my favorite comedy of all time. Easily one of the films I've watched the most, ever.

Jurassic Park needs no explanation.

Grumpy Old Men and Mrs. Doubtfire hold such special places in my heart, and while I came into Groundhog Day much later in life, I instantly loved it.

Gotta show some love to the Bruce Timm Batman series with Mask of the Phantasm and seeing that in theaters. Awesome memory.

A movie like The Sandlot scores higher than Rookie of the Year, but I still enjoyed that a lot as a kid. And no, Free Willy doesn't make the list just for one iconic shot. For that matter, am I the only one who instantly can recall the VHS box cover art for Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey or what?

Look. I know Schindler's List and even Carlito's Way and Falling Down are better movies than Weekend at Bernie's 2 by a long shot. But I watched that stupid dead guy dancing on the beach on television way more times as a kid. It's ridiculous. I wonder if Son in Law has any jokes that hold up, or Coneheads.

I really want to rewatch how awful Super Mario Bros. was for a future FanTracks. Also, notice the absence of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III because it totally sucks?

I also distinctly remember seeing RoboCop 3 in theaters with my dad at the same time my mom and sister were seeing Look Who's Talking Now and not being impressed, but being so taken aback when they killed off a certain lead character and had RoboCop flying around. Speaking of which, you're probably surprised Last Action Hero isn't on this list.

Blind Spot Movies = A Bronx Tale, Dazed and Confused, The Firm, The Fugitive, Rudy, Tombstone and more.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 1994

  1. The Shawshank Redemption
  2. Pulp Fiction
  3. Dumb and Dumber
  4. Clerks
  5. Forrest Gump
  6. The Lion King
  7. The Mask
  8. Street Fighter
  9. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
  10. Airheads
  11. Speed

Look at this list!! Yes, there's a massive drop at one point, but the ones in bold? C'mon!

This was the toughest group to sort at the top, because all six of them are absolute S-tier. The Shawshank Redemption is my go-to answer for "best film of all time" and Forrest Gump is in that top five, for reference. The Lion King is tied with Aladdin and Toy Story for best animated film. Clerks and Dumb and Dumber are two of my top five favorite comedies. Pulp Fiction is one of my top overall favorite movies I've seen enough times to be able to quote practically the whole script by memory.

The rest, as you can imagine, are childhood fun, despite how they aren't anywhere near the same caliber quality. Yes, Airheads is dumb and Street Fighter is an absolute mess. I thought both were super fun back then (well, Airheads more so in my early teen years when it would rerun on Comedy Central constantly)

Shout out to Interview with a Vampire for being a film I just watched for the first time in 2022 and liked quite a bit.

No True Lies or Junior despite how big of an Arnold Schwarzenegger fan I was as a kid. Neither of them resonated with me quite the same as a few others.

We're in that golden era of family-friendly little boy sports films to continue with a movie like Little Big League and D2: The Mighty Ducks and Little Giants which don't make the cut, along with Major League II in its own right.

Unfortunately, The Next Karate Kid doesn't hold a candle to the rest of the series.

Blind Spot Movies = City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold, Clear and Present Danger, The Crow, Legends of the Fall, Leon: The Professional, Quiz Show and more.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 1995

  1. GoldenEye
  2. Toy Story
  3. The Usual Suspects
  4. Mallrats
  5. Four Rooms
  6. Grumpier Old Men
  7. Batman Forever
  8. Billy Madison
  9. Casino
  10. Dracula: Dead and Loving It
  11. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie
  12. Heavyweights

A few movies that should be higher up on my list, but I really need to rewatch them, are Heat, Seven, Clueless, and Get Shorty. I know Se7en is great, but I watched it one time, for instance. For that matter, noticeably absent here that I'm sure you'd call attention to would be Tommy Boy, Pocahontas, Jumanji, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, Desperado and Braveheart.

My favorite joke in Dracula: Dead and Loving It is the line "Scheduled???" My favorite line in Heavyweights that I also still quote to this day as well, is "This pleases me."

One of my least favorite movies ever came out this year in Tank Girl. Terrible.

Blind Spot Movies = Apollo 13, Bad Boys, Jury Duty, Waterworld and more.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 1996

  1. Bio-Dome
  2. Happy Gilmore
  3. Jack
  4. Kingpin
  5. Mission: Impossible
  6. Sling Blade
  7. Phenomenon
  8. Black Sheep
  9. Eraser
  10. Independence Day

Are there good movies that came out this year? Of course. Lots of people will praise something like Fargo like crazy (but I think it is overrated) and The People vs. Larry Flint was solid. But 1996 was a year that didn't host many of my personal favorite movies.

Simply put, look at how many above are in bold. Even Happy Gilmore isn't a movie that I loved as much as Billy Madison, for instance. Realistically, you'll see where all these go on the overall 1990s decade list.

That's not to say they're bad. Some of these are iconic. But remember, this is a list of my personal favorites, rather than my rankings on their quality. If that were the case, wouldn't Sling Blade be far above Bio-Dome? But which one did I watch once and which one did I own and watch tons of times as a kid?

Shout out to Hamlet for being a movie almost nobody would ever admit to enjoying, but it has thus far been my favorite interpretation of that play. Primal Fear was neat. From Dusk Till Dawn was interesting.

And no. I wasn't a Space Jam kid as much as most others. I appreciate its place in the film landscape and my childhood, but I never felt the urge to own it back when it was at its peak and it certainly doesn't hold up over time.

Blind Spot Movies = Broken Arrow, Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, The English Patient, The Fan, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and more.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 1997

  1. Tomorrow Never Dies
  2. The Batman/Superman Movie: World's Finest
  3. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
  4. Contact
  5. Nothing to Lose
  6. Batman & Robin
  7. The Lost World: Jurassic Park
  8. Good Will Hunting
  9. Liar Liar
  10. Face/Off
  11. Boogie Nights
  12. The Game

This is the year we got both Dante's Peak and Volcano. It's always funny when those parallel sister films get released so close together.

Tomorrow Never Dies isn't one of my absolute top favorite 007 films when compared to something like GoldenEye, but I can watch it at any time. Shout out again to Bruce Timm's DCAU for World's Finest. Austin Powers was great.

Contact is a movie I watched later in life (in my 20s, during my great binge year of watching about 300 movies and several full television series) and thought was just so good that I can't imagine I wouldn't have been rooting for that to be Best Picture for that year if I weren't 10 years old and focused on Batman & Robin instead, which is just terrible, but fun.

Boogie Nights is the other movie I would have likely had toe-to-toe with it. I only watched that in 2018 and really enjoyed it. I'm just not a huge Titanic fan.

Not on the list, but a movie I've seen more than once and enjoyed, is The Devil's Advocate.

By the way, Chasing Amy had the distinction of being easily my least favorite of Kevin Smith's movies for the original stint up until he made Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, which makes it look like a masterpiece. It just doesn't bring the same energy as the other films and isn't as quotable.

Blind Spot Movies = Event Horizon, The Fifth Element, Grosse Pointe Blank, Starship Troopers, Vegas Vacation, Wag the Dog and more.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 1998

  1. Meet Joe Black
  2. Rush Hour
  3. Jane Austen's Mafia!
  4. Lethal Weapon 4
  5. Half Baked
  6. The Waterboy
  7. Can't Hardly Wait
  8. The Big Lebowski
  9. The Mask of Zorro
  10. City of Angels
  11. Wrongfully Accused
  12. Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero
  13. Armageddon
  14. Deep Impact
  15. Patch Adams
  16. Ronin
  17. The Faculty
  18. American History X
  19. The Truman Show
  20. Mulan
  21. Saving Private Ryan
  22. What Dreams May Come

This isn't the strongest year, but it has some good things going for it for sure. Effectively, this is a collection of C+ and B- movies in a lot of ways.

But I really like Meet Joe Black a considerable lot and Rush Hour is a classic from this time.

Mafia! is underrated for spoof comedies. Lethal Weapon 4 isn't the best of the series, but it maintains quality.

Half Baked and The Waterboy and Can't Hardly Wait are certainly of their eras, as is a romance film like City of Angels, that I was surprised to enjoy as much as I did the one and only time I watched it.

A lot of the movies with a strikethrough are ones that I'd have to watch a second time to rank in a better way, like The Truman Show.

But let's be honest. The actual #9 spot here goes to ONE scene in Wild Things and not the rest of the movie. You know what I'm talking about.

Blind Spot Movies = A Bug's Life, Antz, Apt Pupil, Out of Sight, Pi, Pleasantville, Rounders, Shakespeare in Love, Snake Eyes, Sphere, U.S. Marshals and more.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 1999

  1. Fight Club
  2. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
  3. American Beauty
  4. The World is Not Enough
  5. Office Space
  6. South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut
  7. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
  8. Man on the Moon
  9. Dogma
  10. Life
  11. The Matrix
  12. Toy Story 2
  13. The Talented Mr. Ripley
  14. The Green Mile 
  15. Big Daddy
  16. American Pie

This is one of the strongest years, by far. You know that when The Matrix is booted out of the top 10 along with Toy Story 2 and even Big Daddy and The Green Mile, which easily would trump so many others in different years.

Fight Club is amazing and one of my top 10 "best" movies of all time, along with American Beauty.

The Phantom Menace is criminally underrated. It has its flaws, of course, but I bet those sequels are making you second-guess how bad it is now, right?

The World is Not Enough is one of my more watched Bond films, and Office Space is an absolute treasure, along with South Park and Austin Powers 2 just nailing it in so many ways.

Man on the Moon is a movie I grow to appreciate more with each watch. Jim Carrey should have gotten an Oscar.

While I don't like Chasing Amy all that much, Dogma has some real fun parts to it.

The real out of left field pick here is Life with Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence. This is a movie I've seen a few times when it would air on television and it is just an easy watch. It also has a quote in it that I love repeating to this day, which is "You gonna eat your cornbread?"

Blind Spot Movies = 8mm, Bicentennial Man, The Blair Witch Project, Bowfinger, Entrapment, Galaxy Quest, Girl, Interrupted, The Iron Giant, The Mummy and more.

TOP 100 FAVORITE FILMS OF 1990s DECADE
BONUS ROUND

  1. Terminator 2: Judgment Day  (1991)
  2. GoldenEye (1995)
  3. Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)
  4. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
  5. The Shawshank Redemption  (1994)
  6. Home Alone (1990)
  7. Pulp Fiction (1994)
  8. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
  9. Fight Club (1999)
  10. Batman Returns (1992)
  11. Dumb and Dumber (1994)
  12. Clerks (1994)
  13. Forrest Gump (1994)
  14. Aladdin (1992)
  15. Toy Story (1995)
  16. The Lion King (1994)
  17. Jurassic Park (1993)
  18. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
  19. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
  20. Home Alone 2 (1992)
  21. The Usual Suspects  (1995)
  22. The World is Not Enough (1999)
  23. Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
  24. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991)
  25. Office Space (1999)
  26. American Beauty (1999)
  27. Grumpy Old Men (1993)
  28. GoodFellas (1990)
  29. Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
  30. Mallrats (1995)
  31. South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (1999)
  32. The Batman/Superman Movie: World's Finest (1997)
  33. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
  34. Meet Joe Black (1998)
  35. Rush Hour (1998)
  36. Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
  37. Four Rooms (1995)
  38. Scent of a Woman (1992)
  39. Grumpier Old Men (1995)
  40. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
  41. Groundhog Day (1993)
  42. Batman Forever (1995)
  43. Man on the Moon (1999)
  44. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
  45. Edward Scissorhands (1990)
  46. Bio-Dome (1996)
  47. Dogma (1999)
  48. Life (1999)
  49. Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)
  50. Sister Act (1992)
  51. Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)
  52. The Matrix (1999)
  53. Toy Story 2 (1999)
  54. Contact (1997)
  55. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
  56. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) 
  57. Nothing to Lose (1997)
  58. Batman & Robin (1997)
  59. Billy Madison (1995)
  60. Jane Austen's Mafia! (1998)
  61. Half Baked (1998)
  62. The Waterboy (1998)
  63. The Sandlot (1993)
  64. A League of Their Own (1992)
  65. Hook (1991)
  66. Happy Gilmore (1996)
  67. Casino (1995)
  68. Can't Hardly Wait (1998)
  69. The Big Lebowski (1998)
  70. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)
  71. The Mask (1994)
  72. Jack (1996)
  73. Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995) 
  74. Street Fighter (1994) 
  75. Airheads (1994)
  76. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995)
  77. The Mighty Ducks (1992)
  78. Heavyweights (1995)
  79. The Addams Family (1991)
  80. Addams Family Values (1993)
  81. The Godfather Part III (1990)
  82. Big Daddy (1999)
  83. The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
  84. Good Will Hunting (1997)
  85. Liar Liar (1997)
  86. American Pie (1999)
  87. Kingpin (1996)
  88. Hot Shots (1991)
  89. Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993)
  90. Mission: Impossible (1996)
  91. Back to the Future Part III (1990)
  92. Face/Off (1997)
  93. Total Recall (1990)
  94. The Green Mile (1999)
  95. The Sixth Sense (1999)
  96. The Mask of Zorro (1998)
  97. City of Angels (1998)
  98. Boogie Nights (1997)
  99. Get Shorty (1995) 
  100. Chasing Amy (1997)
  101. The Game (1997) 
  102. Wrongfully Accused (1998)

Just look at this list. Now you see why I couldn't limit it to top 10, 20, 25, or 50.

What are your favorite movies from every year?
Drop your thoughts in the comments below!

Welcome to the first block of my gargantuan series of lists breaking down My Favorite Movies of Every Year and my top movies of every decade. This edition focuses on three decades—the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, with some individual years spread out for the tail end of the '80s.

To check out the other entries in this series, click on the following links as they are broken down by every decade:

FAVORITE MOVIES LISTS - BY DECADE
1960s, 1970s, 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020sMASTER LIST PAGE

For a more elaborate explanation of this project as a whole, consult the master list page above.

But in general, the three major notes to keep in mind are:

1) This is a list of my favorite movies, rather than the films I think are the best. There is a distinction. Just because I like them the most doesn't mean I think they are of the highest quality, necessarily.

2) I try to keep a top 10 list for each year, but some don't have a proper 10, while others have more. Everything is still ranked, though.

3) There is a key to the level of fandom. Bold means I absolutely love the movie. Italics without being bold means I like them a lot. Gray movies are a bit on the fence for the list. And gray movies that are striked out are mostly filler and could easily be replaced.

Check out my Letterboxd for some star ratings for any of these movies and more, since I've obviously seen a lot of films that I don't like that won't be appearing on these lists whatsoever.

Also, stay tuned for any possible updates! Whenever I see a new movie that I like, I'll potentially be adding it to the ranking. So while something is on the list at this particular moment, it may not always be there!

Best Movie Every Year Favorite Films

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 1960s DECADE
BONUS ROUND

  1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
  2. Goldfinger
  3. From Russia with Love
  4. Thunderball
  5. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
  6. You Only Live Twice
  7. Dr. No
  8. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
  9. A Charlie Brown Christmas
  10. Psycho

For anyone wondering, the only movie I could have put in a top list for the 1950s backward would have been 12 Angry Men. Great movie that I watched for the first time ever during the Super Bowl instead of, well, the Super Bowl.

As far as the 60s goes, you can see my list is dominated by James Bond films. Surprise surprise, I'm a James Bond fan. Didn't know that from all the content here like the A Review to a Kill series? You're going to see EVERY Bond film pop up on this page. Even the ones I'm not as big of a fan of, like Dr. No and On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Shout out to Cool Hand Luke, The Birds and Planet of the Apes for almost making this list.

TOP 25 FAVORITE FILMS OF THE 1970s DECADE
BONUS ROUND

  1. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
  2. The Godfather
  3. The Godfather Part II
  4. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
  5. The Man with the Golden Gun
  6. Moonraker
  7. National Lampoon's Animal House
  8. Live and Let Die
  9. The Spy Who Loved Me
  10. A Clockwork Orange
  11. Jaws
  12. Alien
  13. Young Frankenstein
  14. Diamonds are Forever
  15. Blazing Saddles
  16. Taxi Driver
  17. Rocky
  18. Rocky II
  19. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
  20. Dog Day Afternoon
  21. Apocalypse Now
  22. Robin Hood
  23. Superman: The Movie
  24. King Kong
  25. Carrie

The 1970s was harder than I thought it would be, as I expected that I would have far more options to play around with.

Blind Spot Movies = Mean Streets, Deliverance, Network, Serpico, The Deer Hunter, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and The French Connection to name a few.

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 1987

  1. The Living Daylights
  2. Lethal Weapon
  3. RoboCop
  4. Predator
  5. The Running Man
  6. Full Metal Jacket
  7. Planes, Trains and Automobiles
  8. Spaceballs
  9. The Princess Bride
  10. The Untouchables
  11. The Brave Little Toaster

While the top 3 movies are fantastic (and The Living Daylights is one of my top 5 favorite James Bond films to begin with), and Predator is a classic, the rest aren't ones that I would necessarily put in my top 10 by any means.

They have positives to them, for sure, and I enjoyed them all when I watched them, but The Running Man is the only one of those six that I've seen more than once. Actually, I used to watch The Brave Little Toaster a lot as a kid, but we're talking young enough that I can barely remember the movie.

Spaceballs is overrated. I know that's blasphemy to some. The boot camp material from Full Metal Jacket is phenomenal, but the rest isn't. If I were judging just that section, it would be right under Predator, for sure.

Update: Now that I watched The Princess Bride, finally, I can immediately at least place it above The Untouchables. I'm sure if I had watched this as a kid, it would be much higher. Fun movie.

Blind Spot Movies = Fatal Attraction and Good Morning, Vietnam

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 1988

  1. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
  2. Beetlejuice
  3. Die Hard
  4. Big
  5. Coming to America
  6. Rain Man
  7. Twins
  8. Scrooged
  9. Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
  10. They Live
  11. Oliver & Company

This is another year where I don't have many options to fill out the bulk of it, and it leads to some movies being ranked severely higher than I ever would have positioned them.

For instance, I liked Rain Man the one time I watched it, btut for that to be my sixth favorite movie on any list is nuts.

Now, Naked Gun is one of my top 5 favorite comedies of all time. It is AMAZING. And that's why you can find it so high on the top list for the whole 80s decade. Beetlejuice was also something I was super fond of as a kid. But there's a big drop off with those two and Die Hard and Big and Coming to America, and then a huuuuuuuuuuge drop off to get to Rain Man and the rest.

With a lame year that has so many horror films on it that were terrible, like Pumpkinhead, I refuse to put them on the list. I guess I just have to watch some more movies this year to replace them.

Blind Spot Movies = Young Guns, Bull Durham, Cocktail, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, A Fish Called Wanda and more

TOP 10 FAVORITE FILMS OF 1989

  1. Batman
  2. Licence to Kill
  3. Ghostbusters II
  4. Field of Dreams
  5. Lethal Weapon 2
  6. The Karate Kid Part III
  7. Back to the Future Part II
  8. Major League
  9. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
  10. Dead Poets Society
  11. When Harry Met Sally

Finally, a good year for the end of the 80s! In fact, this is a damn good year. Very strong picks here. It was easy to find 10 to fill this part of the list. I like all of them quite a bit, but in particular, Batman is one of my favorite films EVER, along with License to Kill being my second-favorite 007 film. Ghostbusters II has been viewed a thousand times. Lethal Weapon is a great series. Field of Dreams is a great dad movie. The Karate Kid Part III isn't as good as the first or second, but watching that series in 2022 was a fun binge. Big fan of this year's list.

Why can't I put When Harry Met Sally or Weekend at Bernie's or The Little Mermaid or even Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure on 87 or 88 to better fill out those lists?! Rats.

Also, apparently, All Dogs Go to Heaven was the first movie I saw in theaters. I don't remember anything about it, really. I used to like The Punisher as a kid, and I should give a shout out to UHF and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Look Who's Talking for being movies I enjoyed when I was younger, too.

No. I don't like Do the Right Thing. Sorry. I'm sure that will upset some people. I think it is super overrated.

Blind Spot Movies = The Abyss, The Burbs, Driving Miss Daisy, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Steel Magnolias, Uncle Buck and more

TOP 50 FAVORITE FILMS OF 1980s DECADE
BONUS ROUND

  1. The Terminator (1984)
  2. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
  3. Batman (1989)
  4. Ghostbusters (1984)
  5. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
  6. Licence to Kill (1989)
  7. The Living Daylights (1987)
  8. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
  9. Ghostbusters II (1989)
  10. Beetlejuice (1988)
  11. Stand By Me (1986)
  12. The Breakfast Club (1985)
  13. Lethal Weapon (1987)
  14. A View to a Kill (1985)
  15. Octopussy (1983)
  16. RoboCop (1987)
  17. The Karate Kid (1984)
  18. Field of Dreams (1989)
  19. Back to the Future (1985)
  20. Predator (1987)
  21. Die Hard (1988)
  22. Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
  23. The Karate Kid Part II (1986)
  24. Aliens (1986)
  25. Airplane! (1980)
  26. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
  27. Scarface (1983)
  28. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
  29. Back to the Future Part II (1989)
  30. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
  31. Major League (1989)
  32. Dead Poets Society (1989)
  33. The Karate Kid Part III (1989)
  34. Big (1988)
  35. When Harry Met Sally (1989)
  36. Platoon (1986)
  37. Caddyshack (1980)
  38. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
  39. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
  40. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
  41. The Little Mermaid (1989)
  42. For Your Eyes Only (1981)
  43. The Running Man (1987)
  44. This is Spinal Tap (1984)
  45. Top Gun (1986)
  46. Coming to America (1988)
  47. Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
  48. Rain Man (1988)
  49. Blade Runner (1982)
  50. Rocky IV (1985)
  51. The Princess Bride (1987) - possibly?
  52. Superman II (1980)

See what a difference the decade list makes compared to the top films of each year? Now, you can really see where some favorites knock out some others, and where a movie like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a film I enjoyed the one time I watched it and in the top 10 for that year, but it pales in comparison to something like the real juggernauts in black italics.

What are your favorite movies from every year?
Drop your thoughts in the comments below!

FOLLOW AMT ON SOCIAL MEDIA

SUPPORT FANBOYS ANONYMOUS