The Best Film the Year You Were Born! (1972–2021)

Great films that you may never have seen before, as well as the ones you have.

Through the Cold War and the rise of incredible technology; through global warming and endless wars; through trips toward the farthest limits of the solar system and the deepest chasms of the human mind… from 1972 onward, immense changes in the world provided a new and vibrant landscape for storytelling to unfold.

The mainstream cinema, competing with television’s meteoric rise, turned out ever-greater spectacles, while indie producers and directors perfected new forms of visual commentary on the changing landscape of a brave new world and the infinite complexity of the human mind.

Before I set out to become a writer, I lived in the world of cinematography. I attended film history and theory classes and even worked on a few simple student films. A giant part of my life revolved around the film world, and I collected a massive library of favorites from across the decades, but soon found that I adored early films beyond almost any others.

I’ve set out to capture the best films from 1931 to 2021 in these two massive articles, thereby chronicling life from the so-called “Silent Generation”, through the “Baby Boomers”, on to Generation X and the Millennials…