I've tried to stay away from the blockbusters in a lot of cases. Here are some favourites of mine:

The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)
Back to the Future (1985)
The Fly (1986)
RoboCop (1987)
Die Hard (1988)
The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989)
Home Alone (1990)
JFK (1991)
Unforgiven (1992)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Leon: The Professional (1994)
Before Sunrise (1995)
Secrets and Lies (1996)
Lawn Dogs (1997)
Pleasantville (1998)
American Movie (1999)
Dancer in the Dark (2000)
Fat Girl (2001)
Gerry (2002)
Owning Mahowney (2003)
Dead Man's Shoes (2004)
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
Charlie Wilson's War (2007)
Be Kind Rewind (2008)
Moon (2009)
Lebanon (2010)
Super (2011)
The Raid: Redemption (2012)
The Place Beyond the Pines (2013)
Calvary (2014)
Anomalisa (2015)
Swiss Army Man (2016)
Free Fire (2017)

Plus To Live and Die in LA, a movie I *still* can't make my mind up about. I have trouble admitting that I really like the sound track, but the car chase scene, while interesting, didn't live up to my expectations.

I just finished watching Almost Famous again online on TNT on Demand. If I good get a do-over for the year 2000, I'd substitute this for my previous pick of Gladiator. In fact, I'm not sure why I didn't choose this originally.

As I am older, I'm going to do a post for each year. If I did one post to list all the movies, it would be horrendously long.

Also, I am not going to start with the year I was born as there are probably years where I didn't see any of the movies released. I mean who was really watching movies when they were two and remember what they were.

I will start with the year I started forming my own opinion about what I liked and what entertained me rather than being a mirror of my parents' taste.

You are going to see some movies that had some very adult themes, but although my parents were conservative they were also very liberal. My parents took me to movies like Death Race 2000 and Big Bad Mama when I was quite young.

1973 - Jeremy

This is a haunting coming of age story about a shy teen who experiences a sexual awakening while discovering true love and heartbreaking loss when his love is forced to move away.

I say haunting because it really made an impression on me at the time and has stuck with me through all these years.

1974 - Buster and Billie

The story of a boy and his town's good time girl who fall in love and the life altering impact it has on both of them.

1975 - Jaws

The story of a man's obsession with a creature simply looking for a good place to get a meal or two.

This movie seriously ****ed me up. Every summer we would vacation on a lake for two weeks with an occasional weekend on a different lake and I loved to swim along with zipboarding. After this movie, I didn't want to go back in the water even though we were on a lake and the movie was about the ocean.

1976 - The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane

An independent teen and the deadly lengths she goes to maintain her independence.

No way this movie gets made today as the lead character is thirteen, she goes to bed with an older teen, and attracts the eye of an older man.

1977 - Fun With Dick and Jane

See Dick. See Jane. See Dick and Jane married. See Dick get fired. See Jane worry. See Dick and Jane turn to crime.

1977 was the year of Star Wars just as 1976 was the year of Rocky, but neither of those movies have stayed with me like the ones I chose.

1978 - The Lord of the Rings

You might be saying TLOTR came out years later. Well, this is the animated version by Ralph Bakshi and not the live action by Peter Jackson.

1979 - The Warriors

Small street gang tries to survive the night on a trek back to their home turf and safety.

1980 - My Bodyguard

The coming of age story of a young boy who learns to stand up for himself with the help of an unlikely ally.

Doc - I appreciate the effort - but you're doing it wrong. Just list your favorite movies since the year your were born.

1982 - The Thing
1983 - Return of the Jedi
1984 - The Terminator
1985 - Ran
1986 - Crocodile Dundee
1987 - Raising Arizona
1988 - The Land Before Time
1989 - Major League
1990 - Bird on a Wire
1991 - The Naked Gun 2 1/2
1992 - A River Runs Through It
1993 - Jurassic Park
1994 - Pulp Fiction
1995 - A Goofy Movie
1996 - Fargo
1997 - Face/Off
1998 - Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
1999 - American Pie
2000 - High Fidelity
2001 - Donnie Darko
2002 - City of God
2003 - Old School
2004 - Fahrenheit 9/11
2005 - Match Point
2006 - Apocalypto
2007 - I Am Legend
2008 - Gran Torino
2009 - Moon
2010 - Winter's Bone
2011 - Melancholia
2012 - Wreck It Ralph
2013 - Oblivion
2014 - Gone Girl
2015 - Steve Jobs
2016 - 10 Cloverfield Lane
2017 - Ladybird
2018 - Vice

Sorry Dom.

A Goofy Movie. Seriously, Rick? What were you, thirteen?

that's a good list, Rickroll!

Rick I was feeling your list then you included gran torino, one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

but hey that's why it's so great that taste is subjective.

bunch of other movies on your list were top notch.

I tried really hard not to include it but then scanning over the list kept going back to it and saying... I gotta be honest with myself, I enjoyed that film immensely, we owned both that and toy story and I watched that way more
Actually, my original answer for this one was "N/A" as I didn't really like any of the options, that was such a bad year for films. Was a real toss up, originally had Forgetting Sarah Marshall after I decided that skipping that year was cheating but then I recalled that I could barely remember any of that film so had to find another

Gran Torino only got in there because parts of it really reminded me of my grandfather... it otherwise wasn't that great but neither were any of the other films from that year - it really only won by default

there were a number of years I wish I could have chosen like 10 films and many years where I honestly wanted to skip over like 2008

Rickroll has premium picks. Grand Torino may be considered hokey now, but it will be lionized when Tarantino remakes it. Besides, I liked it even though I try not to like Eastwood's stuff.

I would say all these are much better than gran torino n if you haven't seen any def check em out.

in bruges - brilliant

WALL-E - amazing animated film not a silly kids movie

burn after reading- come on it's the coens
horton hears a who- fantastic silly animated kids movie with jim carey n stephen colbert

the curious case of benjamin button- david fincher film need I say more?

the foot fist way - great black comedy starring danny mcbride

pineapple express - ****ing A+ comedy don't be a hipster n hate seth rogan just cuz it's cool to, him franco n mcbride are awesome n the guy from the office n talladega nights is always hilarious

tropic thunder- needs no description

appaloosa- solid western with ed harris n viggio mortenson

body of lies- nothing special but fun CIA thriller with leo n crowe

Madagascar 2- guess I'm a sucker for good animated films

doubt- anything with PSH is worth watching

But seriously guys, A Goofy Movie is criminally underrated... I grew up in one those "buy every single disney production VHS possible" households and yet that one & Land Before Time were two of my favorites. Maybe a little too late for you guys, but definitely keep that one in the holster for your kids.

Really wanted to include the Brave Little Toaster and the Secret of Nimh as well but couldn't justify it

On further review of 2008, I'm reminded even further of all the disapointment of that year. I had such high hopes for 10,000 BC, especially after wonderful epic of Apocalypto showed the possibilities of a film of that style. It was beyond awful and the history buff that I am, it was actually painful seeing 2 hours of lies.

I really thought I'd enjoy The Other Boleyn Girl but remember twice I've begun watching it and ended up focusing more on whatever my laptop or phone had to offer instead. Will perhaps have to hide my phone and try that one again because I'm certain there is substance there if I just force myself to get involved.

Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist was enjoyable but just that. It wasn't a ground breaking film like American Pie or a comedy that defined a generation of comedies like Old School, it was just an agreeable film.

Cassandra's Dream would have definitely beaten out Gran Torino had I seen it on the 2008 list I looked at. But that film too has a lot of issues. I love it as a film, but it's just painful to watch. It's a great case study in why Hollywood forces in happy endings, it's just so great but the whole time you're waiting for everything to get resolved and left empty in the end. I loved it, but it's not a film I'll probably ever watch again because it leaves you with an empty void.

Doing this really made me realize how little I enjoy the films of today. From 2007 to 2015 the only easy picks for me were Moon and Gone Girl.

1989-1991 were similarly meh but then other years... my god I wish I could have chosen 20. Ultimately, I had to choose the ones I'd seen the most and/or the ones that have stuck with me.

in bruge was good but for me i don't think they did a good enough job straddling the line between slapstick and serious as they attempted, I enjoyed it and applauded the ambition but as an american who stays in shape and has traveled europe extensively, I was definitely triggered by all the fat american jokes. Seriously... riding a bike across the alps and all these "why is an american doing that, shouldn't you be eating hot dogs?" but with a dull and souless Austrian accent - it actually inspires me to travel more in Europe to try breaking that stereotype

wall-e - not sure but just didn't do it for me

burn after reading - really considered this one but like bruge didn't think it properly navigated the highly ambitious dramedy genre

benjamin button - enjoyed but didn't think much of

foot fist way - will check out

pineapple express - i really liked the first 20 minutes or so but hated the second half

tropic thunder - great movie, thought about it but i don't think it's even a top 5 ben stiller comedy

appaloosa - think i may have seen it but will give it another look

body of lies - will check it out

madagascar 2 - I'm deeply behind on animated films of the past decade, this is one of dozens i need to see

doubt - will check it out

also really thought about How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, I really didn't think I'd like that film but enjoyed it quite a bit

It's the "favorite films" thread, not "best films"

I'll def check out a goofy movie.

not sure if that's directed at me or not but I would assume given the films I listed for 2008 I was clearly going off personal favs not what might be considered the best films.