CINEMA B3
2025
2024
The Standouts of 2024 *
* This is not a list of the best films I saw in 2024; there are many great films that are not included in the list, including some of my all-time favorites. Rather, these are the films that stood out as the most memorable and meaningful to me personally in 2024. (Listed alphabetically.)
** signifies that I watched the movie twice this year
‡ signifies that I had seen the movie years before
Best female performances: Bibi Andersson in Persona; Françoise Dorléac in The Soft Skin; Nina Hoss in The Audition; Eva Marie Saint in 36 Hours; Ana Torrent in The Spirit of the Beehive
Best male performances: Swann Arlaud in Anatomy of a Fall; Vittorio Gassman in Il Sorpasso; Paul LeMat in American Graffiti; Hidetoshi Nishijima in Drive My Car; George C. Scott in Petulia
Best Picture: A Complete Unknown, Anatomy of a Fall (a tie)
Best original score: Petulia, The Pumpkin Eater
Best music: Paris Blues, A Complete Unknown
Best restoration: A Matter of Life and Death
The movie I least liked in 2024 was Damn Yankees. Other notable clunkers: Thoroughly Modern Millie, Une Femme est une Femme, The Farmer’s Daughter, The Glass Bottom Boat, The War Between Men and Women, The Clock
2023
The Standouts of 2023 *
* This is not a list of the best films I saw in 2023; there are many great films that are not included in the list, including some of my all-time favorites. Rather, these are the films that stood out as the most memorable and meaningful to me personally in 2023. (Listed alphabetically.)
** signifies that I watched the movie twice this year
‡ signifies that I had seen the movie years before
Actress of the Year: Joan Crawford
Actor of the Year: Burt Lancaster
Director of the Year: John Huston
Best Picture: The Night of the Iguana
Best Original Score: Hiroshima Mon Amour, Vertigo
Best Music: All Night Long
Best Restoration: The Young Girls of Rochefort (restored 1998); special mention to Vertigo (restored 1996; exceptional Blu-Ray edition released in 2012)
The movie I least liked in 2023 was They Shoot Horses, Don’t They.
2022
The Standouts of 2022 *
* This is not a list of the best films I saw in 2022; there are many great films that are not included in the list. Rather, these are the films that stood out as the most memorable and meaningful to me personally in 2022. (Listed alphabetically.)
** signifies that I watched the movie twice this year (or in the case of “Mrs. Stone,” once in late 2022, once in early 2023)
‡ signifies that I had seen the movie years before
Actress of the Year: a tie between Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn
Actor of the Year: Spencer Tracy
Best Picture: The Spy Who Came In From the Cold (1965)
Best Restoration: Summertime (restored 2022)
2021
2020
