A Brief Best-Of Rewind

 by Rob DiCristino

I have some explaining to do.

On a recent podcast, Patrick and Adam argued that it takes at least five years of reflection to put together a “Best Movies of the Year” list that holds up to any real scrutiny. There are lots of reasons why this is wise and true: For one thing, studios have made their prestige release schedules so bottom-heavy that there’s barely time to reflect on — let alone rewatch — the deluge of winter releases before making a list. Movies need time to seep in, you know? For another thing, the Hollywood Industrial Complex thrives on a horse race where money is spent and narratives are built for political reasons that have nothing to do with art. Studios and publicists need to generate momentum for their products — including actors — to increase their value! That’s how it works, right? I assume so. I know nothing about business. I just know Netflix sent me a copy of the Train Dreams score on vinyl and a very solemn note from Jacob Elordi explaining how filming Frankenstein changed his life. Being a critic is weird.

Alas. Why am I saying all this just days before my esteemed colleagues and I publish our Best Movies of 2025 lists? Well, because I’ve been doing this long enough to have forgotten more about my past lists than I can remember about them, and because — as Patrick and I often say — it’s really fun to go back and make fun of yourself for your bad takes! With that in mind, it’s time to look back at the Best of the Year lists I’ve published since 2017. I’ll run through my choices from the time, compare them with my current Letterboxd rankings for the given year, and privately reflect on just how much of a sadomasochist I’ve become!

2017:
(Logan, mother!, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, The Big Sick, Personal Shopper)

I only made a “top five” list for my first full calendar year at the site, mostly because I’d only recently earned my professional critic credentials and hadn’t seen enough of the year’s offerings to really feel comfortable listing ten. It also looks like, while it’s often listed as a 2017 movie, I used the 2018 North American wide release date for Paddington 2, which is a standard I’ve since tried to stick to over foreign and festival releases. Let’s see. I remember feeling very punk rock for not including Get Out, a movie I inexplicably resented at the time but have since come to appreciate as a masterpiece. I also hadn’t seen Phantom Thread or The Florida Project yet, which…like, why did I even make this list? Anyway, The Big Sick is sweet but hasn’t stuck with me, Personal Shopper would still be in my top ten, and I remain the site’s biggest Last Jedi defender. That movie is so much better than Star Wars — especially considering the slop Disney has subjected us to in the years since — deserves.

2018:
(Revenge, Hereditary, You Were Never Really Here, Annihilation, A Star is Born, Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Paddington 2, First Reformed, Eighth Grade, Suspiria)

I was really going through it in 2018, wasn’t I? You Were Never Really Here, Annihilation, and First Reformed are all heavy movies that I haven’t rewatched (for obvious reasons), but they would all be on my list today. Fallout currently sits at number one on my Letterboxd ranking, and I think I’m ready to say it just barely edges Ghost Protocol as the best Mission: Impossible movie. Am I wrong? Who knows? Not me! Anyway, I must not have seen The Favourite when I made this list? I remember getting a screener for it, though, so I don’t know what the hell’s going on there. I do know that I’m straight-up lying to you by not including A Simple Favor, a camp classic I’ve watched at least five times since (I even like the sequel!). Game Night and Into the Spider-Verse should be here. And you know what, man? Luca’s Suspiria wouldn’t top my list today, but I’ve grown brave enough to say that if you put both in front of me, I’d watch it over Argento’s. See what I said about sadomasochism?

2019:
(One Cut of the Dead, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Long Shot, Midsommar, Jojo Rabbit, Knives Out, Uncut Gems, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, Parasite, The Irishman)

This was probably the first year I was feeling the pressure of being a “critic,” when I thought my opinion had to be iron-clad and sacrosanct. I know better than to care about any of that ego bullshit now — every writer goes through a period when they take themselves too seriously, and these days I barely agree with stuff I wrote two weeks ago — but with all that said, I think this one mostly holds up. The Irishman is still Best-of-the-Century shit. Parasite, Hollywood, and Gems are all great. Portrait really wrecked me the last time I watched it. What else? I know Taika Waititi is over, but I still think Jojo Rabbit has its heart in the right place. I guess Doctor Sleep (Director’s Cut) is the most glaring omission here, along with Little Women, Booksmart, and Avengers: Endgame. I’m also warming to the John Wick sequels, so I’d probably throw Parabellum on there. I still have no idea what I think about Jordan Peele’s Us. That movie beat me.

2020:
(Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Another Round, Shithouse, Underwater, Soul, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Da 5 Bloods, Spontaneous, Kajillionaire, Palm Springs)

A super normal year for everyone! You know what’s wild? I think Underwater is the movie on this list I’ve rewatched the most, and rightfully so. I’ll always thank Adam Riske for turning me onto the delightful Shithouse, and I’d argue that Spontaneous should be a teen classic on par with Mean Girls and The Lost Boys. What else? The Tenet erasure here is just unforgivable, but to be fair, my sole viewing of that movie at this time was on my laptop streaming from one of those notoriously glitchy early awards screener websites. The buffering added like an hour to the running time and made the whole thing even more incomprehensible. Were it not for Palm Springs basically saving my life, though, Tenet would be my #1 today. Let’s see. I should rewatch Another Round! That was the first time I realized Mads Mikkelsen could do way more than play a villain in American movies (It’s basically a joke by the time we got to Dial of Destiny). I’m posturing putting Ma Rainey and Soul on here, for sure. Sorry about that. Anyway, let me look through my Letterboxd. Remember An American Pickle? No, you don’t!

2021:
(Last Night in Soho, The French Dispatch, Spencer, Red Rocket, Dune: Part I, No Time to Die, Licorice Pizza, The Last Duel, Pig, The Worst Person in the World)

This shit is WILD. Okay, so I definitely felt pressured to put Last Night in Soho and Licorice Pizza on my list, but enough time has passed that I can admit Soho is straight-up terrible and Licorice just doesn’t hit me the way it does other folks. The Last Duel, on the other hand, is a generational masterpiece that should have made $2 billion. We all failed that movie. Apologize to Ridley! Anyway, we’ll talk Anora in a minute, but did you know that there’s a shoutout to Strawberry from Red Rocket on one of the Vegas billboards in that movie? I learned that from the Criterion 4K. Let’s see. I’m still very pro-No Time To Die (including the ending!), and a recent rep screening of The Worst Person in the World confirmed why that movie got me through the worst period of self-loathing I’ve ever experienced. I have no excuse for not putting The Green Knight on here — rewatch it before the holiday season ends! — and where the hell is Drive My Car? I’d definitely seen it. Man, I suck at this. What? Self-loathing? Anyway, The French Dispatch should be at the top of this list, for sure. I know people are jumping ship on Wes Anderson these days, but that movie was made just for me.

2022:
(Emily the Criminal, The Fabelmans, Dual, Avatar: The Way of Water, Top Gun: Maverick, Pearl, The Batman, TAR, The Menu, The Banshees of Inisherin)

I’ve watched Top Gun: Maverick EIGHT times, according to Letterboxd? Good. What a picture. That, The Batman, and The Menu are the ones I always come back to — I’m going to be so awful when you all eventually come around on The Menu — but Banshees really solidified the whole “Rob’s favorite movie of the year has to be an introspective indie dramedy” thing (which may continue this year!?). I owe it a rewatch. I wish I’d been brave enough to put Confess, Fletch and Fall on here, and I think I’ve come far enough with Nope that I’d give it Way of Water’s place on this list. The Fabelmans should probably be at the top? I think so. What else? RRR and Decision to Leave should be on here. Oh, hey! I like that I stood up for Dual. When’s Riley Stearns making another movie?

2023:
(No One Will Save You, Fallen Leaves, Passages, Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, Blackberry, Killers of the Flower Moon, Bottoms, May December, Oppenheimer, Poor Things)

Look, I still like Poor Things a lot, but Oppenheimer might be more of a comfort movie these days than anything else we’ve discussed so far. I was right about it winning Best Picture, too! That should have been my #1. I know for a FACT that I hadn’t seen Godzilla Minus One when I made this list, so you have to forgive me for omitting that one. Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves should not only be on this list, but it should probably be in the top three. Let’s see. With the benefit of Final Reckoning-shaped hindsight, I guess I’m glad I didn’t put Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning on here? Let’s not talk about me giving Final Reckoning a lukewarm review, okay? Okay. Remember when Patrick and I went hard as fuck on May December? And with all due respect to Marty, someone mentioned recently that the Coen Brothers should have made Killers of the Flower Moon, and now I can’t get that out of my head. I’ll tell you one thing, though: I’m watching Bottoms as soon as I’m done with this column.

2024:
(Juror #2, Evil Does Not Exist, Hundreds of Beavers, A Different Man, Dune: Part Two, Flow, Nosferatu, The Substance, The Brutalist, Anora)

Okay. Fine. Look. There’s no way The Brutalist would be near the top of the list today, but that movie and everything around it were Very Good for Film Culture in a time when we really needed the positive vibes, and I was as caught up in the VistaVision of it all as anyone else. I’m giving myself some grace there. Dune: Part Two is tricky because I watch both films together all the damn time. How do the list logistics work there? Up to you, I guess. Oh man, I wish I’d seen Red Rooms in time to put it on this list. I had such a hard time getting that screener. Have you seen Red Rooms? It’ll wreck your shit. Moving on: I just rewatched Anora last night, and boy is that thing even better than I thought it was. It’s offensive of me not to include Hard Truths, I Saw the TV Glow, and Good One here, isn’t it? And Kneecap! See, I clearly have the most remorse about this list because the movies are still so fresh in my mind. But this is why we shouldn’t even bother making these Top Ten lists! They’re flawed and subjective and a little bit fascist!

Anyway, come back to the site next week for our 2025 Top Ten lists!