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2014 - Edge of Tomorrow (just about beats out "The Homesman", though both are ultimately imperfect features)
2013 - Snowpiercer
2012 - Compliance
2011 - Young Adult
2010 - The American
2009 - The Red Riding trilogy
2008 - Appaloosa
2007 - The Lookout
2006 - The Prestige
2005 - The Proposition (honorary mentions for "The Descent" "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" and "The Ice Harvest")
2004 - Der Untergang
2003 - Bad Santa
2002 - The Bourne Identity
2001 - Le Pacte des Loups
2000 - Memento

1999 - Go! (this was not a great year, exemplified by the fact that I seriously considered “Galaxy Quest”)
1998 - Ronin
1997 - Starship Troopers
1996 - Fargo
1995 - Heat
1994 - Léon
1993 - Tombstone
1992 - Basic Instinct (honorable mentions for “The Last of the Mohicans” and “Sneakers”)
1991 - JFK - This might honestly be the hardest year so far. I admire JFK more than I truly enjoy it. Other than that, the only features I would deem worthy of a mere mention are "The Rocketeer" (an homage to adventure serials that embraced its campy goofiness), "The Last Boyscout" (this tend to be the first movie Shane Black haters point to when they claim he is a misogynist) and perhaps "Little Man Tate" (one of the few times in Foster's career that she revealed something of herself in a project).
1990 - Goodfellas

1989 – The Abyss (for its ambition and because I needed a pick here and there was nothing I truly liked)
1988 – Spoorloos
1987 – Full Metal Jacket (honorable mention for “Robocop”)
1986 – Manhunter (honorable mentions: “Aliens”, “The Fly”, “Blue Velvet”)
1985 – To live and die in L.A.
1984 – The Terminator (honorable mention for “Blood Simple”)
1983 - Scarface
1982 – Blade Runner (honorable mention for “The Thing”)
1981 – Das Boot (honorable mentions for “Blow Out”, “An American Werewolf in London”)
1980 – The Big Red One (honorable mentions for "The Shining" and "Raging Bull")

1979 – Alien (honorable mention for “Apocalypse now”
1978 – Days of Heaven
1977 – The Cross of Iron (honorable mentions for “Suspiria”, “Eraserhead”)
1976 – Taxi Driver (honorable mentions for “Carrie” and “The Outlaw Josey Wales”)
1975 – Three Days of the Condor (honorable mentions “Dog Day Afternoon”, “Jaws”)
1974 – Chinatown (honorable mentions for “The Conversation”, The Godfather II)
1973 – The Exorcist (honorable mention for “Badlands”)
1972 – Deliverance (honorable mentions for “Solaris”, “Prime Cut”)
1971 – The French Connection (honorable mention for “Soleil Rouge”)
1970 – Five Easy Pieces (honorable mention for “Kelly’s Heroes”)

1969 – The Wild Bunch
1968 – 2001: A Space Odyssey (honorable mention for “Once upon a Time in the West”)
1967 – Le Samouraï (honorable mention for “Point Blank”)
1966 – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
1965 – Repulsion
1964 – Dr. Strangelove (honorable mentions for “The Killers”, “Bande à part”)
1963 – The Birds (honorable mentions for “From Russia with Love”, “The Haunting”)
1962 – Lawrence of Arabia (honorable mentions for “Cape Fear”, “Lolita”, “The man who shot Libery Valance”)
1961 - Yojimbo
1960 – Peeping Tom

1959 – Rio Bravo (honorable mention for “Les Quatre Cents Coups”
1958 – Touch of Evil (honorable mention for “Vertigo”)
1957 – Paths of Glory (honorable mention for “The incredible shrinking man”)
1956 – The Killing
1955 – Kiss Me Deadly
1954 – Vera Cruz
1953 -  Le Salaire de la peur (honorable mention for “The Big Heat”)
1952 – High noon
1951 – Strangers on a train
1950 – The Asphalt Jungle

Erica Ambler wrote:

Haven't seen it for many years, but IIRC, the opening office slaughter is pretty powerful.

It's online:

http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/475354/Three-Days-Of-The-Condor-Movie-Clip-I-Won-t-Scream.html

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Odd, I tried embedding the code and it worked in preview but not after I submitted the actual post.

That's probably because you haven't got HTML code switched on in your profile preferences, Oppers.

Largo's Shark wrote:

That's probably because you haven't got HTML code switched on in your profile preferences, Oppers.

Ah, that must be it.

Two more decades:

1969 - My Night at Maud's (Rohmer)
1968 - 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick)
1967 - Point Blank (Boorman)
1966 - Andrei Rublev (Tarkovsky)
1965 - Chimes at Midnight (Welles)
1964 - The Train (Frankenheimer)
1963 - Contempt (Godard)
1962 - The Trial (Welles)
1961 - Last Year at Marienbad (Resnais)
1960 - Peeping Tom (Powell)

1959 - Hiroshima Mon Amour (Resnais)
1958 - Vertigo (Hitchcock)
1957 - Paths of Glory (Kubrick)
1956 - Bigger Than Life (Ray)
1955 - Kiss Me Deadly (Aldrich)
1954 - Senso (Visconti)
1953 - The Big Heat (Lang)
1952 - Singin' in the Rain (Donen)
1951 - Strangers on a Train (Hitchcock)
1950 - Sunset Boulevard (Wilder)

2014 - Edge of Tomorrow (just about beats out "The Homesman", though both are ultimately imperfect features)
2013 - Snowpiercer
2012 - Compliance
2011 - Young Adult
2010 - The American
2009 - The Red Riding trilogy
2008 - Appaloosa
2007 - The Lookout
2006 - The Prestige
2005 - The Proposition (honorary mentions for "The Descent" "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" and "The Ice Harvest")
2004 - Der Untergang
2003 - Bad Santa
2002 - The Bourne Identity
2001 - Le Pacte des Loups
2000 - Memento

1999 - Go! (this was not a great year, exemplified by the fact that I seriously considered “Galaxy Quest”)
1998 - Ronin
1997 - Starship Troopers
1996 - Fargo
1995 - Heat
1994 - Léon
1993 - Tombstone
1992 - Basic Instinct (honorable mentions for “The Last of the Mohicans” and “Sneakers”)
1991 - JFK - This might honestly be the hardest year so far. I admire JFK more than I truly enjoy it. Other than that, the only features I would deem worthy of a mere mention are "The Rocketeer" (an homage to adventure serials that embraced its campy goofiness), "The Last Boyscout" (this tend to be the first movie Shane Black haters point to when they claim he is a misogynist) and perhaps "Little Man Tate" (one of the few times in Foster's career that she revealed something of herself in a project).
1990 - Goodfellas

1989 – The Abyss (for its ambition and because I needed a pick here and there was nothing I truly liked)
1988 – Spoorloos
1987 – Full Metal Jacket (honorable mention for “Robocop”)
1986 – Manhunter (honorable mentions: “Aliens”, “The Fly”, “Blue Velvet”)
1985 – To live and die in L.A.
1984 – The Terminator (honorable mention for “Blood Simple”)
1983 - Scarface
1982 – Blade Runner (honorable mention for “The Thing”)
1981 – Das Boot (honorable mentions for “Blow Out”, “An American Werewolf in London”)
1980 – The Big Red One (honorable mentions for "The Shining" and "Raging Bull")

1979 – Alien (honorable mention for “Apocalypse now”
1978 – Days of Heaven
1977 – The Cross of Iron (honorable mentions for “Suspiria”, “Eraserhead”)
1976 – Taxi Driver (honorable mentions for “Carrie” and “The Outlaw Josey Wales”)
1975 – Three Days of the Condor (honorable mentions “Dog Day Afternoon”, “Jaws”)
1974 – Chinatown (honorable mentions for “The Conversation”, The Godfather II)
1973 – The Exorcist (honorable mention for “Badlands”)
1972 – Deliverance (honorable mentions for “Solaris”, “Prime Cut”)
1971 – The French Connection (honorable mention for “Soleil Rouge”)
1970 – Five Easy Pieces (honorable mention for “Kelly’s Heroes”)

1969 – The Wild Bunch
1968 – 2001: A Space Odyssey (honorable mention for “Once upon a Time in the West”)
1967 – Le Samouraï (honorable mention for “Point Blank”)
1966 – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
1965 – Repulsion
1964 – Dr. Strangelove (honorable mentions for “The Killers”, “Bande à part”)
1963 – The Birds (honorable mentions for “From Russia with Love”, “The Haunting”)
1962 – Lawrence of Arabia (honorable mentions for “Cape Fear”, “Lolita”, “The man who shot Libery Valance”)
1961 - Yojimbo
1960 – Peeping Tom

1959 – Rio Bravo (honorable mention for “Les Quatre Cents Coups”
1958 – Touch of Evil (honorable mention for “Vertigo”)
1957 – Paths of Glory (honorable mention for “The incredible shrinking man”)
1956 – The Killing
1955 – Kiss Me Deadly
1954 – Vera Cruz
1953 -  Le Salaire de la peur (honorable mention for “The Big Heat”)
1952 – High noon
1951 – Strangers on a train
1950 – The Asphalt Jungle

1949 - Thieves highway (honorable mention for “The Setup”, “The Third Man” and “White Heat”)
1948 – Red River (honorable mentions for “The Naked City”, “Ladri di Biciclette” and “Rope”)
1947 – Out of the Past (honorable mentions for “Pursued” and “Nightmare Alley”)
1946 – The Big Sleep (honorable mentions for “Notorious”, “Gilda” and “The Killers”)
1945 - Leave her to Heaven (honorable mention for “Detour”)
1944 - Double Indemnity (honorable mention for “Laura”)
1943 - Shadow of a Doubt
1942 – This Gun for hire (honorable mentions for “Saboteur” and “Cat People”)
1941 – The Maltese Falcon (honorable mention for “Suspicion”)
1940 – His Girl Friday (honorable mention for “Rebecca”)

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I need to do 2015, 2016 and 2017 myself.

I will need to give 2015 and 2017 some more thought, but my favorite 2016 film is "The Wailing".



*edit*

My favorite 2015 movie was "The Witch". Honorable mentions for Tarantino's "Hateful Eight" (another remix of better films but at least his tastes remain impeccable), "Maryland" (PTSD thriller that starts out very strongly), "Sicario" (a bit too style-over-substance to be deemed a great movie but entertaining), "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." (Just great fun and more true to the spirit of Bond than many of the EON movies of the past two decades), "Bone Tomahawk" (one of the three best westerns of the 21st century), "Ant-Man" (a Marvel movie that managed to stand out), "Mad Max: Fury Road" (ridiculously overrated but at the same time a late sequel that wasn't horrible).

Actually, 2015 was a decent year for movies.

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Erica Ambler wrote:

Just been looking for Maryland. Is that the Alice Winocour film? If so, it seems to have been retitled Disorder for the English-speaking markets. It's on Netflix as well.

That might have challenged "The Witch" for the n°1 spot for me, were it not for the fact that it's another film that is let down by its third act.
But everything that comes before that is quite good and interesting imho.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Salomé wrote:

Actually, 2015 was a decent year for movies.

Hmmm, didn’t find it so myself, which is why a documentary is sitting there for me. That said, never saw The Witch, Maryland or Bone Tomahawk. Did see all the others you mention and found them interesting in varying degrees. There's a scene in UNCLE that is visually fantastic, something I never thought I'd say about a Ritchie film.

There are so many little things I love about UNCLE.

e.g. the design of the Vinciguerra headquarters.



It also revealed that Armie Hammer should have been the man to play the cinematic Jack Reacher and how fun Henry Cavill can be when he isn't reduced to playing the square Clark Kent but is allowed to be slightly more swarmy/slimy.

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Erica Ambler wrote:

Salomé wrote:

Actually, 2015 was a decent year for movies.

The main problem I have with films these days is that they all suffer from Bond Syndrome; explosive set pieces and car chases with precious little plot or character development. Which may be why so much of my recent list features films that appeal to my basest instincts.

I think this is because the large majority of the best writing talent has flocked to the small screen now.

I believe it is also this sentiment that Bret Easton Ellis refers to in this tweet:
https://twitter.com/breteastonellis/status/770091195536175104

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Erica Ambler wrote:

Salomé wrote:

the large majority of the best writing talent has flocked to the small screen now.

True, but the question is why? That was what David Fincher was talking about in his FT interview to promote Mindhunter.

I believe John Landis had some interesting things to say about that in a recent interview. It boiled down to the fact that the mid-budget movie (30-50 million dollar movies) was a thing of the past.
Nowadays, you either make a behemoth 150+ million USD movie or you work on a micro-budget (which is something that Blumhouse Productions excels at).

Unfortunately, the narrative-driven dramas of the past mostly fell in that mid-budget range.

An interesting wrinkle is that even the famous Blumhouse Production films that make back their production budget many times over (e.g. "Get Out") still spend a lot of money on distribution and promotion.
I believe John Landis touted a rumored sum of around 30 million dollars in that regard for "Get Out". Which is over seven times the production budget.

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I didn't see The Witch on release, but I have the DVD here ... thinking of giving it a go on Hallowe'en night, along with The Babadook (for me, one of the finest horror flicks of recent years).

I'm not sure I have a single stand-out 2017 film.
I have a small selection that I like.

Among them, "Wonder Woman", "It Comes at Night", "Spiderman Home-coming", "Get Out" and "Brawl in Cell Block 99".

But I'm not convinced I will look back on any of those films in ten years and remember it as a great cinematic achievement.

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Erica Ambler wrote:

Do see 2049, Sabs. I know you're probably put off by the gender row, but I think that stems from a fundamental misreading of the film.

I am only vaguely aware of that because I have avoided reading any reviews and think pieces, out of my fear of having the movie spoiled for me.

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Erica Ambler wrote:

Very sensible. FWIW, I think the strongest scene in the film is between two women and that the female cast is excellent all round. Including Ana de Armas, which surprised me because she seems fairly clueless in interviews.

Good directors have managed to get terrific performances out of limited actors before.
I guess Villeneuve just knew very well what he could and could not ask of her.

BTW, what do you think of his larger filmography?
I like him, but at the same time I thought "Arrival" was ridiculously overrated.

I think "Enemy", "Prisoners" and "Polytechnique" are his three best films.

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