Despite not being as big a topic of debate among the film community as others, arguing the case for a greatest or best year in cinematic history is a very interesting one, because depending on your opinions on what constitutes greatness, there are dozens of answers to choose.
1939 is a well-defended year due to its releases of Gone With the Wind, Wizard of Oz, Mr Smith Goes to Washington and Stagecoach for starters.
Then there is 1968 which unleashed 2001: A Space Odyssey on the world, as well as Planet of the Apes, Once Upon a Time in the West, Bullit, Rosemary's Baby and Oliver!; all undeniably influential flims in their genres.
There is a popular choice in 1994, due to its top films being repeatedly represented in audience lists like IMDb Top 250. Shawshank Redemption, Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction spearhead the argument, backed by The Lion King, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Speed and the triple Jim Carrey punch of Ace Venture, The Mask and Dumb and Dumber. It is a very strong year across all genres. But what it is worth I would say that the following year was even stronger, with 1995 offering some belters: Heat, Casino, The Usual Suspects, Se7en, Toy Story, Braveheart and GoldenEye instantly stand out. But whilst there are some indie gems like Before Sunrise, 1995's best pieces are largely revolved around the crime genre. And whilst they are four stone cold knock outs, I feel a 'best year' needs to have more range and that its genre pictures represent as many genres as possible.
I will say that my favourite year in movie history is 2003. Return of the King, Finding Nemo, The Last Samurai and Curse of the Black Pearl are Top 20 pictures, and if you throw in Master and Commander, Open Range and guilty pleasures Elf and Love, Actually then a great wealth of my go to films seem to crop together under one annual banner. But again, that is a very blockbuster oriented list and two guilty pleasures, hardly the stuff of objective greatness.
And whilst 2017 was an impressive year due to a convergence of blockbuster with art (films include Dunkirk, Get Out, Blade Runner 2049, Logan, War for the Planet of the Apes, Baby Driver, Call Me By Your Name, Ladybird, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Paddington 2 and Coco), I still feel that that is too fresh a year to truly unpack its legacy and staying power. And so it came down to two years. 2007 and 2014.
To help decide I set myself the scenario: if you could only have the films from one year with you to watch for the rest of your life, which would be more beneficial? The answer has to be a perfect amalgamation of comedy and drama, blockbuster and action, animation and romance. If we separate the films into three categories: the Oscar caliber, indie and arthouse, the blockbuster and the genre, then we can determine which of the two years has the greater output and quality inside that output.
From 2007 the arthouse / indie / Oscar caliber films include No Country for Old Men, There Will be Blood, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Into the Wild, American Gangster, Zodiac, Juno and Atonement. All very strong entries, with the first three in particular being masterclasses in technique and precision. On the blockbuster front there is Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Transformers, I Am Legend, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 300, The Bourne Ultimatum and Spider-man 3. Yes, some of those aren't critical darlings, but in terms of scale, excitement, action and fun, they are all very serviceable blockbusters. Finally for the genre hits, there is Ratatouille, 3:10 to Yuma, Bridge to Terabithia, Superbad, Mr Bean's Holiday, The Simpson's Movie, Hot Fuzz (!!) Ocean's Thirteen and, purely because of their ironic appeal now, Shrek the Third and Bee Movie. These are popular with audiences with some top comedies being released here.
Seven years on is 2014. It is fair to say that in this time the cinematic output has increased and therefore more films to choose from. The arthouse / indie / Oscar caliber films from 2014 include Whiplash, Nightcrawler, Boyhood, Birdman, Gone Girl, American Sniper, the immensely Oscar-baity The Theory of Everything and The Imitation Game and, reluctantly, The Grand Budapest Hotel. The first four of those are phenomenal. On the blockbuster front it was a superb year with Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Edge of Tomorrow, X-Men Days of Future Past, Godzilla, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and, reluctantly, Guardians of the Galaxy, Whilst only really liking three of those, I can understand the popularity for the others and I would rewatch any of them if I only had 2014 films (although I suppose I would have to). On the genre front things are spiced up some more with the almighty Interstellar, John Wick, Big Hero 6, The Lego Movie, How to Train Your Dragon 2, The Equalizer, 22 Jump Street, Fury and the mind-blowing The Raid 2. There was also Transformers Age of Extinction but writing that would only make 2007;s filmography appeal more.
It is hard to pick and choose here; the titanic There Will be Blood, protected on either side by No Country and Jesse James, looms large. That is a superb trinity of films, and the support from Into the Wild, The Bourne Ultimatum, Ratatouille, Hot Fuzz and the unashamedly bombastic and fun At World's End to have a magnetism. They are peak films in their genres, influential and popular in their own right. But then there is Interstellar, The Raid 2, Whiplash and Nightcrawler. An original science fiction epic, a simply faultlessly executed Indonesian action film, and two hot, fresh and unforgettable indie pictures. The technical achievements for Boyhood and Birdman are worth noting, as is the visual effects work on Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Interstellar.
Perhaps I am more passionate on the 2007 side; they are films I love recommending and rewatching yet they are more than favourites too; they are classics. But 2014 seems to have platformed stronger indie films and the Oscar bait is a little more appealing here due to the technical aspects on display. The blockbusters I think have a stronger presence in critics' lists too, so I am starting to think that 2014 may be the greatest year going.
And writing this solved literally nothing and did not equate to anything more than an internal monologue.
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