I've seen a variation of this game on social media -- pick your favorite movie from every year of your life.
It's kind of an arbitrary exercise, designed to stimulate conversation, and it has a few moving parts. For example, one's favorite movie needn't be the best or most important movie of any given year. And limiting it to one's life span might cut out a bunch of movies important to the individual. Some of my favorites -- movies that have affected me most deeply, like John Ford's The Searchers -- were made before I was born.
But let's play the game anyway. I was born in 1958. What movie made in that year is my favorite?
Wow, that was easy. Google "movies made in 1958" and the first thing that pops up is Touch of Evil, a classy B-movie with Orson Welles, Charlton Heston and a legendary 3-minute, 20-second opening tracking shot. Choosing this film would make me look smart, but it's also accessible entertainment -- I can pick it without looking like a snob. Whereas, if I picked Louis Malle's Ascenseur pour l'echafaud, another film I love, with its improvised score by Miles Davis, some might think I'm trying too hard to present myself as an erudite cineaste.
In 1959 the choice has to be Some Like It Hot, which might be Billy Wilder's best. A case could be made for The 400 Blows, or for Hiroshima, Mon Amour, which I often cite when asked for my list of the best movies of all time. The latter opened my eyes to the possibilities of the movie as art form. But I'm going with my first instinct.
1960: Could be Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho or Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita, but it's another Wilder movie, The Apartment, which won a Best Picture Oscar. Spartacus was also released this year.
1961: Breakfast at Tiffany's.
1962: This is the first year I can name a movie I saw during its theatrical run. So I have to pick the low-budget oddity Safe at Home that stars baseball idols Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris as themselves.
1963: The Great Escape. John Sturges' all-star war movie wins over Paul Newman in Hud by an eyelash.
1964: Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Stranglove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is a pretty easy pick, although Richard Lester's A Hard Day's Night is right up there.
1965: Cat Ballou: Another film I remember watching in a theater. I'm not sure I understood any of it but was fascinated by Lee Marvin's dual role.
1966: The Battle of Algiers: Obviously I didn't see this film until 20 years later, but its only real competition is The Silencers, the first in a series of James Bond spoofs that starred Dean Martin as insatiable secret agent Matt Helm. And Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow-Up.
1967: A great year, but Bonnie and Clyde was a movie I was excited to see at the time. I also have much affection for Robert Aldrich's The Dirty Dozen and Richard Brooks' In Cold Blood.
1968: Bullitt, Night of the Living Dead, The Producers, Planet of the Apes and 2001: A Space Odyssey are all contenders, but I have to go with Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby.
1969: Easy Rider, by a hair over Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
1970: Le Cercle Rouge (The Red Circle), directed by Jean-Pierre Melville.
1971: It's James Goldstone's Red Sky at Morning, which may not be a great movie but has stuck with me all these years. This was the movie where I decided eating popcorn wasn't the main attraction. On the other hand, it's hard not to cite A Clockwork Orange.
1972: The Godfather: Boring choice, but absolutely accurate. Another remarkable year in my personal history, with Cabaret, Fritz the Cat, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Deliverance, The Getaway and The Legend of Boggy Creek all figuring prominently.
1973: The Exorcist, but Last Tango in Paris gives it a run.
1974: We're in my sweet spot now. Chinatown, with Blazing Saddles and The Longest Yard in the place and show positions.
1975: Dog Day Afternoon, with Robert Altman's Nashville pushing hard.
1976: Taxi Driver, with All the President's Men, Rocky, Silver Streak and A Star Is Born fighting for second place.
1977: Saturday Night Fever. Not Star Wars.
1978: National Lampoon's Animal House. But I'm not embarrassed to say Grease is also up there. I also love The Deer Hunter.
1979: Apocalypse Now.
1980: Raging Bull.
1981: Reds, over a surprisingly weak field. I also like Time Bandits and Stripes.
1982: Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss; Victor/Victoria is runner-up. Eating Raoul deserves special mention.
1983: Fanny and Alexander.
1984: Purple Rain was the first movie I wrote about as a professional in my capacity as a music critic. Wim Wenders' Paris, Texas is a close second.
1985: Runaway Train. But Prizzi's Honor also matters.
1986: Platoon. Now I'm a film critic -- from here on out I'm watching movies in a different way. And I'm watching more of them.
1987: Au revoir les enfants over Babette's Feast, Moonstruck and The Whales of August.
1988: Who Framed Roger Rabbit because I saw it in the middle of the day after I'd turned in my resignation at the Shreveport Journal. I had a job in hand -- as a newspaper executive in Texas -- but I wasn't sure I was up to it.
1989: Do the Right Thing.
1990: Dances With Wolves.
1991: JFK, with The Fisher King and The Silence of the Lambs making it tough.
1992: One False Move.
1993: The Piano, over Schindler's List and True Romance.
1994: Blue Sky, over Pulp Fiction and Natural Born Killers.
1995: Leaving Las Vegas.
1996: Secrets & Lies.
1997: L.A. Confidential.
1998: The Big Lebowski, but I met Matt Damon and Steven Spielberg thanks to Saving Private Ryan.
1999: All About My Mother over American Beauty.
2000: Almost Famous.
We've got 17 years to go, but I think I'm going to limit this column to 20th-century films (the 21st century didn't start until Jan. 1, 2001) for space reasons. If you want to see the list in its entirety, you can go to our blood, dirt and angels blog (blooddirtangels.com) or check the note I posted on Facebook.
Email:
pmartin@arkansasonline.com
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MovieStyle on 03/31/2017