Favorite and Least Favorite, By Decade

[dcjohnson]

Hi, I just got done writing some film critiques for a project that had to detail films made between 1930 and 1980. This got me to thinking, what are your favorite and least favorite films by decade. I don't know how many of you have seen a lot of films in the 1910's, but since that's when feature films were first made, I thought I would go back to the beginning.

1910's
Favorite
Intolerance:Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (Great film, telling four stories with a main emphasis on two, I wish they would recreate Babylon like this today instead of all the CGI they use in every movie)
Least Favorite:
Birth of a Nation (Not really a least favorite, but I haven't seen enough feature films from back then to have one that I like less)

1920's
Favorite
The Gold Rush (I really like both versions available, but prefer the original silent version over the newer version with dubbed voices)
Least Favorite
Orphans of the Storm (Another Griffith film, it's not too bad, but really drags in some parts)

1930's
Favorite
The Golden Age (Just saw this one today for the first time, I'm sure I'll think of one I ke better later, but this was a really good Bunuel film)
Least Favorite
Revolt of the Zombies (It's cool in some sections, being a sequel to White Zombie at all, but this is one of the few hour long films that feels like it's about three times that long)

1940's
Favorite
Citizen Kane (Needs no explanation, but this just barely edges out the Third Man)
Least Favorite
Devil Bat (Poor Bela!)

1950's
Favorite
Rebel Without a Cause (You can't go wrong with James Dean)
Least Favorite
Plan 9 From Outer Space (You can't go right with Ed Wood)

1960's
Favorite
Spartacus (A true epic)
Least Favorite
Lustful Addiction (Unbearable)

1970's
Favorite
A Clockwork Orange (Edges out Star Wars)
Least Favorite
Mitchell (Great MST3K fodder though)

1980's
Favorite
Empire Strikes Back (Too bad there's no emperor though)
Least Favorite
Mac and Me (Dancing at McDonalds!)

1990's
Favorite
Dogma (Kevin Smith's best)
Least Favorite
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (Bad sequel to a good movie)

2000's
Favorite
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Nice battle scene)
Least Favorite
Playmate of the Apes (Ick)

Well, I'm pretty tired and I just typed up that list now, so there's probably some I would change later, but that's a pretty good outline for me.

[dean]

Wow, what a tought one, since quite a few of the films I've seen I haven't got a clue when they were made, and once you get to around the 60s and lower, it gets harder [for me at least] to tell which decade is which, not counting of course the obvious signs.  For the sake of argument I'm just going with the ones I know the dates of, which is probably going to knock out quite a few of the great Bad movies I've watched over the years, just because I'm unsure of the dates...

But I'll give it a vague shot anyways:

1910s:

Good: Intolerance is a good one, but I do enjoy the wierdness of 'Das Kabinett Des Doktor Caligari [The Cabinet of Dr Caligari]

Bad: A Birth of a Nation- sure it's a piece of cinematic history and it does have a lot going for it, and I do have a copy on DVD, but if anything the running time kills me and the mere fact that I get angry watching it probably makes it a bad one, but ironically that's what makes it a good one to talk about.

1920s:

This is a tough year for me since three great films that I really enjoyed are in this decade.  So for the sake of argument I'll call it a tie and list all three:
Good:  Metropolis- Fritz Lang's great 'science fiction epic'.  Any movie that has been made with an AC/DC soundtrack is ok in my opinion.

Un Chien Andalou [An Andalusian Dog]-Great surrealist film and the debut of Bunuel.

Nosferatu, Eine Symphonie Des Grauens [Nosferatu, A symphony of Terror]-Definitley one of the creepiest vampire films I've watched.  The fact that it's a silent film just adds more to it.

Bad: The Jazz Singer- yet another film that just annoys me.  Sure it's an early musical, and I do have the soundtrack lying around somewhere, but that's really neither here nor there: this one just bugs me.

1930s:
Damn, these are all going to be tough aren't they?  A whole decade?  dcjohnson you're a cruel bastard, but for the sake of argument I'll try and be ruthless from here on in.

Good: The Adventures of Robin Hood- I had fun with this one since I was a kid, so I'll have to give this precedence over some other heavy contenders such as Frankenstien and Dracula.

Bad: Gold Diggers of 1933- another musical which I just couldn't get into, despite the 'classic' songs in it.

1940s:

Screw Citizen Kane! Don't get me wrong it's a great film and if I wasn't in an odd mood I'd pick it, but my choice for good goes to:

The Wolf Man- Don't ask me why, but I guess it's just a mood thing.  Something about Lon Chaney running around in a wolf suit just sits right with me tonight...I think it's a theme, since I almost picked the excellent 'La Belle et la bette' [Beauty and the Beast]

Bad: Out of all the films that I remember from the 40s, Dumbo is probably my least favourite, though not through any real big fault of it's own...

1950s:

Good: Seven Samurai- I enjoyed this from start to finish.  First Kurosawa film I ever saw.

Bad: Some Like It Hot- Never could stand Marilyn Monroe.

1960s:

Ok so it's getting harder the longer I stick with this, so I'm just going to list the first ones that pop into my head as 'Good and Bad'

Good: Goldfinger- hehe, go Bond go...

Bad: Mondo Can [A Dog's Life]- chosen if only because we watched it in year 10 English and most of the films shown were just crap by association with school more than anything.

1970s:

Good: Eraserhead-wierd goodness from David Lynch.

Bad: Frenzy- Hitchcock is not the 'amazing director' all the time: just couldn't get involved in this one.

1980s:

the 80s is a great era for some fun cult films which I really enjoyed, but again I'll go with something that immediately springs to mind:

Good: Aliens- great sci-fi action flick.

Bad: Manhunter- I enjoyed Red Dragon much more.

1990s:

Good: Se7en- great overall film.

Bad: Pretty Woman- Pretty annoying...


I'll leave it at that with the pathetic argument that I can't be bothered and that the 00s haven't finished yet.

[Just Plain Horse]

I'm going to have to go with what movie stands out to me, personally. It may not be my favorite of all time, but when i think of the time period, these movies- good and bad- stand out in my mind.

>
> 1910's
> Favorite: huh?
>
> Least Favorite: They made movies back then?
>
> 1920's
> Favorite: Nosferatu
 F.W. Murnau's  work in this film really drives it home for me...and I tend to loathe vampire films. The locations, the acting, even the fonts used for the dialouge. Good, creepy, and nary a bad CGI effect anywhere.

> Least Favorite: um... one of those ones lame detective movies.... gangbusters or something.

> 1930's
> Favorite: King Kong
Okay, call that an easy one... the scenes with all the dinosaurs really did it for me. What can I say about a classic that you haven't already heard?

> Least Favorite: The Monster Walks
Despite the sinister performance of Mischa Auer, the pacing of this movie was the equivilant of watching paint dry. This movie should not be viewed when operating heavy machinery. Don't look now, there's a monkey on your throat!

> 1940's
> Favorite: Isle of the Dead
For me, this is the scariest black&white movie ever. The scene in the tunnel... something white... the scream! It was also the first time I saw Boris Karloff do something besides wear the Frankenstein makeup.

> Least Favorite: Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman
Of all the cheap, sorry-assed attempts to pit two monsters together for the sake of a few bucks... and the payoff? Did you miss it? You must have blinked... Leave the monster mashes to Abbott &Costello or Godzilla&Mothra... Hell, Jason vs. Freddy was better than this!
>
>
> 1950's
> Favorite: The Mysterians
Never have I seen so many uncomfortable issues- xenophobia, conformity, war, the question of the true place of humankind- so beautifully portrayed and yet deceptively hidden in what on the surface appears to be another alien invasion flick. The closing music for the final scene really gives me goosebumps- spooky and etherial, yet hardcore scifi at the same time. Don't write the Japanese off as rabid Godzilla fans... they've got some impressive insights on the human condition. Screw Invaders from Mars! That sucked.

> Least Favorite: The Alligator People
> This movie shouldn't have even been made- I consider it one of the worst films Lon Chaney Jr. has even been in- now that's saying something!

> 1960's
> Favorite: Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster (AKA Ebirah, the Horror of the Deep)
It's curious- that of all the giant monster movies I've seen in my time, none have the appeal of this lesser known one. The tone, the human characters- particuarly the thief with the skeleton key- the music, the monsters (count 'em, there are actually four), the change of pace... and as an added bonus, the MSTied version that would come out much later. I'm glad Jun Fukuda made this one- strings and all!
>
> Least Favorite: Gappa, the Triphibian Monster
In all fairness to non-kaiju fans, some giant mosnters movies really sucked. This one always looms overhead whenever I try to think of one that really bites. Although I'm tempted to put the amreican reedited version of Gam(m)era in this spot, Gappa is just interminable. It doesn't help that this movie has abuot a gazillion alternate titles.
>
> 1970's
> Favorite: A Clockwork Orange
This movie appeals to my dark side, and that's really all I can say about it. I feel happy watching it... over and over and over...

> Least Favorite: Soylent Green
Want to be depressed by a good film? Look no further. God, the seventies were sooo depressing...
>
> 1980's
> Favorite: The Thing
I'd have never thought I'd fall in love with a movie that's half old scifi novel, half 1950's paranoia ripoff, but this will always be the film, that for me, symbolized a decade of truely gorey cinema.

> Least Favorite: Jaws 3-D
Dear god, I thought the 1970's remake of King Kong was bad... it was a masterpiece compared to this floating peice of flotsum. Too gimmicky for its time (oooh, 3D! So if I flip the shark off, will my finger poke its eye out?), to god-awful absurd for today. Poor Lou Gossett, Jr! Save him!

> 1990's
> Favorite: Godzilla 2000
After the "Deanzilla" debacle (no, the fans won't ever stop reminding you- NEVER!), Toho reluctantly brings the "Big G" out and boy, is he pi$$ed! This film held a personal milestone for me, as it was the first Godzilla film I saw in a theater. It's not without some flaws (Dubbing! The middle drags like a Mothra larva...), but it still holds a spot for me.

> Least Favorite: Zeram
Holy Jap-socky-crap! I always wondered what it would look like if a dog ate Manga, Power Rangers, Matango and all the things wrong with Asian culture and vomited it onto film. Considering how the anime version wasn't half-bad, this was like getting clubbed with a frozen carp!
Enough with blowing the monster up! I'm sore from just watching it!!!
>
> 2000's
> Favorite: Godzilla: Final Wars
As much as I was amazed by GMK- and thought "well, that's it... prepare to be disappionted again and again..."- I was immersed in what I can only refer to as a "beautiful mess" of an action/apocolyptic/kaiju/martial artsfest. Wake up and be a Kaizer!!!

> Least Favorite: The Dukes of Hazzard movie

I hate this one and I haven't even seen it! I'm sick and tired of the creatively bankrupt "Hollow-wood" making crappy movies off mediocre tv shows. Stop the stupidity!
>

[daveblackeye15]

30's Favorite: King Kong
 Least: Son of Kong, I do not believe I've seen any other movies from the 30's. Son of Kong is a fun movie sitll.

40's Not sure if I've seen any from the 40's.

50's. Favorite: Them.
        Least favorite: Not really sure again, I think I'll just say "This Island Earth" because I remember expecting to see more monsters in it.

70's Fave: Star Wars
       Least: For some reason the first Kong remake comes to mind but there's I'm positive I've seen worse than this from the 70's.

80: Fav: Raiders of the Lost Ark.
      Least: King of the Streets (Alien Warrior)

[peter johnson]

This is a fool's game --
Okay, I'll play:

* * *
Why start at the teens?  Films were also made from 1900 to 1910 for mass audiences.
Fave:  Gertie the Dinosaur(Winsor McCay)(1907).  McCay, the author of Little Nemo in Slumberland, throws a pumpkin to the animated Gertie, who has come to visit.  The giant pumpkin leaves his hand, and we see Gertie snarf something resembing a pea.
Honorable Mention:  Anything with America's first real Movie Star, John Bunny, in it.  You can find his stuff in compilations.  Keaton, Chase, Chaplin & Langdon all borrowed from Bunny.  Bunny is also (briefly, as a debunking scholar) in Gertie the Dinosaur!!
Least Fave:  Very very difficult to say, as I find just about anything from this era worth watching due to the sheer age of it all.  I would suppose I don't enjoy the travelogues as much as the features.   Though, the cartoons of this era -- with the exception of McCay -- were pretty bad too.
The teens(1910-1920):
Fave:  Broken Blossoms (D.W. Griffith)(1919) -- This is a sensitive and touching portrayal of inter-racial love, as a Chinaman rescues an orphan (Lillian Gish) and slowly falls in love with her, yet realises that their love can never be, due to the racial demands of the social order.  Still has the power to shock.
Griffith sidebar:  Certainly, anyone has a right to slam Birth of a Nation, but I do hope that you come back to it in later years -- try to get the full-length version -- and take note of the grand artistry of the thing.  The battle scenes alone look as if they came from the era they depict.  Remember, many veterans of the War were still around, and Griffith could consult them at his leasure.  The postwar experiences of the South weren't fun and games for the whites either.  The book that he based the film on -- The Klansman -- was an inherently racist book, but Griffith was genuinely shocked by the negative public outcry against his film.  He crafted "Intolerance" primarily as a response to what he felt was an unjust pillorying by the public.  Strangely, "Birth" was the box office sensation and "Intolerance" was a flop.
Honorable Mention:   The Mystery of the Leaping Fish(1915).  Douglas Fairbanks Sr. plays the stoned detective Coke Ennyday, who snorts and shoots his way to the solving of a crime.  Cheech and Chong, bow your heads in homage.
Least Fave:   The early Mack Sennett.  Hackwork becomes a Hollywood industry standard.
The '20's(1921-1930):
Fave:  Pandora's Box(G.W. Pabst)(1927) -- Sex sex sex.  Did I mention Sex?  If you calmly & coldly watch this film, it touches on all the classic aspects of human desire, lust and the degrading power of our carnal desires.  Plus it makes you want to (blank) the (blank) out of Louise Brooks(If I said you should Google Louise Brooks, would you hold it against me?) Those of you who think silent movies are a waste, check this one out.
Honorable Mentions:  Wedding March(Eric von Stroheim)(1927), Greed(Zazu pits (censored) herself with gold!!)(1927), Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) w/Lon Chaney Sr., The Golem, Napoleon(Abel Gance)(1924), The Lost World(First Willis "King Kong" O'Brian)(1925), Sherlock Jr., The Navigator, The Cameraman -- damn near anything by Keaton.  Battleship Potemkin(1922) by Sergi Eisenstein -- good lord . . .
     Really, the list for the '20's is very long indeed.   Please don't avoid these silent wonders because they're black and white or stylized, etc.  Given the chance, they can reveal great riches.
Least Fave:  Okay, Keaton's "The General"(1929), his most critically acclaimed film & one of his most popular.  I find it to be overpraised by people who haven't seen the rest of Keaton's work and it really lacks the inventive energy of something like The Cameraman.
The '30's(1931-1940):
Fave:  Public Enemy (1933?  I'm doing this from memory) w/James Cagney.  This is a dark dark dark picture.  The final scene wherein Cagney's mother prepares the house for the homecoming of her beloved criminal thug baby boy, who is revealed as a corpse propped up against the door, is chilling and heart-rending.
Honorable Mentions:  The 1930's were really the king years for Hollywood and American movie-making.  Eg:  Every single one of the pictures up for Academy Awards in '39, the year Gone With the Wind swept the Oscars, is still considered a classic picture worthy of study and contemplation.  We cannot say this today.
A laundry list:   Duck Soup(1933)(Marx Brothers best and most surreal film), Scarlet Street, M, Fury etc. etc. etc. = All by Fritz Lang.  Fritz Lang (of Metropolis fame) hit his real stride in the '30's -- SEEK THESE FILMS OUT!!  If you haven't seen "M", with Peter Lorre, then you won't know who everyone else who makes a monster/killer/slasher horror film is stealing from.  Le Sangre de Poete(1934)(Cocteau), Really could go on all night here --
Least Fave:  Flying Down to Rio.  I prefer Astaire and Rogers in the straight drama roles that they did in their old age.
The '40's(1941-1950)
Fave:  Mrs. Miniver(1942)w/Greer Garson.  Sappy, overwrought, superficial at times, few scenes in cinema can match the sequence of the small boats heading off to Dunkirk.
Honorable Mention:  It's a Wonderful Life -- Capracorn be damned.  This film builds upon itself like a well-constructed pyramid.  Try to see it with fresh eyes.
* * * *
I"m tired and I have to go to bed --
peter johnson/denny crane

[dean]

peter johnson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is a fool's game --
> Okay, I'll play:
> >

Oh very much so a fools game... a decade is a loooooong time to choose good films [I found the 30s to be particularly difficult myself, since most I've seen from then were the better of the 30s films.

>Really, the list for the '20's is very long indeed. Please don't avoid these silent wonders because they're black and white or stylized, etc. Given the chance, they can reveal great riches.

I totally agree with you on that one Peter, the first two decades of cinema was full of films that genuinely wanted to experiment and have fun with the wonder that was the film format, something which I find is lacking in modern films: Not enough people are having fun with their media form, despite the technical precision that may go into them.

On that same argument, it annoys me when people tell me they don't like such-and-such a film because it's black and white, or has subtitles.  Not that most of you here have a problem with this sort of thing, but it just bugs me that people are cutting out some truly fantastic films based on if they have to read subtitles, or it isn't 'vibrant' enough for them...

[dcjohnson]

"Why start at the teens? Films were also made from 1900 to 1910 for mass audiences."

I was thinking more in terms of feature films (60 minutes or over), but going back to 1900 to 1910, I'd have to say...

Favorite: Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon)- Incrediably advanced for the year it came out (1902). The narration that was to accompany the films in theares as read by a theatre work and is subsequently available on most home video releases of the film adds to the short's complexity.

Least Favorite: The Adventures of Dollie- Again not really a least favorite just that I haven't seen enough material from this era to really view anything horrible. Maybe some of the real life shorts shot at the time of guys doing construction work and the like, but those are hardly films. In that same vein...

"Griffith sidebar: Certainly, anyone has a right to slam Birth of a Nation, but I do hope that you come back to it in later years -- try to get the full-length version -- and take note of the grand artistry of the thing. The battle scenes alone look as if they came from the era they depict. Remember, many veterans of the War were still around, and Griffith could consult them at his leasure. The postwar experiences of the South weren't fun and games for the whites either. The book that he based the film on -- The Klansman -- was an inherently racist book, but Griffith was genuinely shocked by the negative public outcry against his film. He crafted "Intolerance" primarily as a response to what he felt was an unjust pillorying by the public. Strangely, "Birth" was the box office sensation and "Intolerance" was a flop. "

I fully agree with you about Birth of a Nation being an extradinary film, but again just haven't seen enough features from the era to rank as really bad. For instance out of the few films I've seen I personally would rank Dr. Caligari (made in 1919, released in 1920), Broken Blossoms, and Intolerance all above Birth of a Nation.

[The Burgomaster]

dc:

I'm sort of disappointed in your choice of FRENZY as a bad movie.  This is one of my 4 or 5 favorite Hitchcock films and it was generally considered by critics to be Hitchcock's "comeback" film and proof that he could still make great movies after making a series of disappointing films in the 1960s (MARNIE, TOPAZ, TORN CURTAIN).  Actually, I sort of enjoy MARNIE, TOPAZ, and TORN CURTAIN, but they certainly aren't classics and FRENZY is head and shoulders above all of them.

As for the rest of your list, I can see where you are coming from on most of your comments.

I will need to think long and hard before I can submit my list.  And I will probably need to stay clear of the 1970s as I have too many favorites from that decade to list here.

[daveblackeye15]

Hey I'd have picked movies from the teen's and twenties if I had actually seen any. Sadly I havn't.

[Shadowphile]

Everybody has their own opinion.  I personally have several.  

I'm paraphrasing because I don't recall the exact quote but this seems to be a good place for it.  

I can't even begin to build this list.  There are just too many great films to chose and too many bombs that I'd rather forget than name.  Add to this the fact that my top 10 list of movies changes frequently.

Here goes something approachingmy best shot.

1910-1919: Good:  Der Golem 1915
                 Bad:  No Entry - not going to name a good film here and I haven't seem many bad ones.

1920-1929: Good: Mertopolis 1927
                 Bad:  No Entry - not going to name a good film here and I haven't seem many bad ones.

1930-1939 Good: Bohemian Girl 1936
                 Bad:  No Entry - not going to name a good film here and I haven't seem many bad ones.

1940-1949:Good:  Arsenic & Old Lace
                 Bad:  No Entry - not going to name a good film here and I haven't seem many bad ones.

1950-1959:Good:  The Court Jester
                 Bad:  No Entry - not going to name a good film here and I haven't seem many bad ones

1960-1969: Good:  To many to choose
                 Bad: Green Slime 1969

1970-1979: Good: Star Wars 1977
                 Bad: Too many to choose

1990-1999: Good: Blair Witch Project  1999
                 Bad: Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood 1996

2000-2006 Good:  K-Pax 2001
                Bad:   Time Machine 2002

[peter johnson]

I think I see a pattern here, Shadowphile . . .
daveblackeye -- don't fret!  Just find some compilation DVDs -- Many times libraries will have like 20 silents from the 'teens or earlier on a single disc.
dcjohnson -- HOw could I forget Georges Melies?!?!?!(Voyage to the Moon)-- I, along with a bunch of other people, met his granddaughter in Williamsburg, VA., in 1973 -- she showed clips & whole films that had been transfered that had never been seen before --
Folks, you gotta check this guy out:  Melies was a stage magician who became interested in cameras.  He did the first artificial sets, cool storylines -- In the one film dc cites, check out the Giant Insect Lunar Mutants!! -- he would do the Devil in Hell & Faustus & the Abominable Snowman in the same show!! -- At the height of his popularity, he employed dozens of young women to carefully hand-color each individual frame of film before running it through the projector(!!) -- His best work is from 1897 to 1907 -- He made films until 1912, but by that time a whole bunch of populists had come on board and Melies' imaginative films faded from popularity . . . Hmmm . . . Where have we heard stuff like that before?
peter johnson/denny crane

[Shadowphile]

I 'm not going to say the first movie ever made was bad, because who am I to stone the first cast?


Sorry.  (Not really)

[RCMerchant]

silents-Nosferatu! worst...I dunno...30's -White Zombie ,worst-Mainiac(in a hilarously bad way.)40's-Lost Weekend with Ray Milland.Worst...Devil Monster. 50's-Hang on to your cookies) Bride of the Monster! Worst...one of those goofy Cornet movies about zinc or sumthin'. 60's...Night of the Living Dead! Worst...Monstrosity. 70's-wow. Uh...Taxi Driver and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. worst-Blood Freak Yet I own it and play it for people just to get a reaction.80's -the Shining! worst...gee...the Friday the 13th series. 90's...Resevoir Dogs. Worst...the Power Rangers Movie.MY kids tortured me with it for a looooong time. the new centuy....Devils Rejects. Worst-Armagedden.