My Life in Movies
Folks, I don’t where I’ve been these past couple weeks and I don’t know how I missed this one when it was making its way around the blogosphere a while back, but after Andy from Fandango Groovers recently nabbed himself a much-deserved LAMMY for this unsurprisingly choice meme, I figured it was about time I wised up. The idea is simple: lay down your favorite movie from every year since the year you were born, then do simple math to figure out how old everyone is.
With that being said, this is not a list of the best movies that came out every year since good old ’86. These are the movies that make me love movies, movies that bring me back, movies that break down the barriers of awesomeness, movies that are nothing short of mind-altering experiences every time I see them, movies that make me want to quit writing reviews already so I can try to write something that’s even half as amazing as these continue to be. It was incredibly hard picking just one from each year, and while I’m still second-guessing some of the more stellar years like 1994, 1998 and 1999, these are the movies that sum me up in a nutshell.
So without further ado, let’s start with the year that baby Aiden done got himself born.
1986: Stand By Me
Honorable Mentions: The Fly & Aliens
1987: Robocop
Honorable Mentions: Evil Dead 2 & Raising Arizona
1988: Big
Honorable Mentions: The Thin Blue Line & Grave of the Fireflies
1989: Dead Poets Society
Honorable Mentions: Do the Right Thing & Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
1990: Misery
Honorable Mentions: Total Recall & La Femme Nikita
1991: The Fisher King
Honorable Mentions: T2 & Beauty and the Beast
1992: Glengarry Glen Ross
Honorable Mentions: A River Runs Through It & Unforgiven
1993: Groundhog Day
Honorable Mentions: Searching for Bobby Fischer & Schindler’s List
1994: Dumb & Dumber
Honorable Mentions: Pulp Fiction & The Shawshank Redemption
1995: Seven
Honorable Mentions: Braveheart & The Usual Suspects
1996: Trainspotting
Honorable Mentions: Lone Star & Swingers
1997: Princess Mononoke
Honorable Mentions: L.A. Confidential & Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
1998: Out of Sight
Honorable Mentions: Pi & The Big Lebowski
1999: The Matrix
Honorable Mentions: American Beauty & American Movie
2000: Memento
Honorable Mentions: Amores Perros & Almost Famous
2001: Amelie
Honorable Mentions: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring & In the Bedroom
2002: Catch Me if You Can
Honorable Mentions: Bowling for Columbine & About Schmidt
2003: Lost in Translation
Honorable Mentions: Kill Bill: Vol. 1 & Touching the Void
2004: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Honorable Mentions: Kung Fu Hustle & The Motorcycle Diaries
2005: Brokeback Mountain
Honorable Mentions: Murderball & A History of Violence
2006: The Host
Honorable Mentions: Children of Men & Casino Royale
2007: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Honorable Mentions: The Bourne Ultimatum & The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
2008: Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Honorable Mentions: Revanche & Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
2009: Up
Honorable Mentions: Inglourious Basterds & A Single Man
2010: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Honorable Mentions: Inside Job & Winter’s Bone
2011 (so far): Midnight in Paris
Honorable Mentions: Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop & Win Win
While there’s still a whole lot of these that are in serious need of reviewing and still so many (supposedly) phenomenal movies that I need to see, I think this is a pretty solid summary of all the things that make life as a movie nerd worth while. Seriously might be the best meme I’ve ever taken part in, such an awesome idea.
And speaking of LAMMYs, thanks a freaking mil to all you LAMBs out there who voted for me this year and to everyone who still reads this jibba’ jabba’. Truly beside myself and beyond flattered by the win, I can’t thank you guys enough for making this all worth while, and it’s a privilege to be part of such an amazing community of writers whose hard work and persistence make my head spin and who deserve a LAMMY just as much as I do, if not way, way more.
You guys rock, you always have, beers are on me.
Cut The Crap Movie Reviews 
I like the list. I did mine a few weeks ago. Found you through the LAMBs, Congrats on the Lammy.
Thanks! Went to your site to see your list but couldn’t find it 😦 Always happy to meet a new LAMB, especially one with a 2001 gravatar.
Here’s the link:
http://magnoliaforever.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/a-life-in-movies/
2005: Brokeback Mountain
Well well, this certainly explains a few things….
Serenity now, Fran…
Awesome list. That picture for Dumb and Dumber gets me to chuckle every time.
I still need to see a good chunk of your 90s movies.
Hahaha. Yeah, I’m struggling with the fact that I picked Dumb & Dumber over Pulp Fiction and Shawshank, but that was the one movie I’ve ever seen in a theater where I was on the floor and holding myself from laughing so hard, that scene especially.
And check ’em out, man. They’re all winners.
What a great list. And your honorable mentions are good stuff as well. How hard was it doing this list?
Thanks! Yeah, it took a bit of legwork Googling through all the Best Of lists for every year, but other than that, it was a pretty smooth operation.
Great list, Aiden. Loved the Diving Bell pick.
Because I don’t have a movie blog anymore, I’ma be a goon and post mine here 🙂
1988: Coming to America | 1989: Do the Right Thing
1990: Goodfellas | 1991: The Silence of the Lambs
1992: Unforgiven | 1993: Last Action Hero
1994: Pulp Fiction | 1995: Heat
1996: Fargo | 1997: Boogie Nights
1998: The Truman Show | 1999: Magnolia
2000: Best in Show | 2001: LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring
2002: Adaptation | 2003: Lost in Translation
2004: Sideways | 2005: Match Point
2006: Children of Men | 2007: No Country for Old Men
2008: WALL-E | 2009: Inglourious Basterds
2010: The Social Network | 2011: The Tree of Life (thus far)
Thanks, man! Good call on Adaptation, and I was THIS close to putting Children of Men over The Host. But, dude, what happened to your blog? I’m so out of the loop these days.
Some really interesting choices, man. We share a few selections, but you picked a bunch that I haven’t even seen. Gotta say that you’ve got some major balls for picking Dumb and Dumber for 1994, haha.
If you’re curious, here’s my list: http://twscritic.com/2011/05/08/blogathon-a-life-in-movies/
Hahaha. Yeah, that was tough call, especially considering that I kind of live by Lester Burnham. But hey, D & D is still the second funniest movie I’ve ever seen after Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
I would have an impossible time picking for 2006. Between The Fountain, The Prestige, The Departed, and Children of Men I couldn’t do it.
Forgot about The Fountain, but The Prestige was a definite contender. Children of Men was seriously close, but what can I say, The Host is in a league of its own.
youre way younger and way more talented than me.
i hate you.
Lol. Definitely think I’m in the younger crowd here, but you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about in the second half of that sentence.
I love you.
Great to see some love for Catch Me If You Can ! I think it’s great and quite underrated. Thinking back Brokeback really was a ‘mind-altering’ movie experience, from the past ten years I remember that theatre visit probably the best!
Still do not get the love for Up. It is not bad, but not great either (first 20 minutes aside of course).
Otherwise, I really like this list. Dumb and Dumber over Pulp Fiction…ballsy. I love it.
Hahaha. Thanks, man. That diarrhea scene made a huge impression on third-grade Aiden. And idk, man, I just loved Up. Marked the moment when I realized what a douche I’d been for ignoring Pixar all these years.