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by Brody Wilder 04/11/2026, 11:08pm PDT |
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WINNER: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
When George Lucas was commissioning the first concept art for what would become Raiders of the Lost Ark, he asked for his rugged archaeologist character to be based on Humphrey Bogart in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. John Huston's most impressive picture, Madre starred Bogart and cowboy actor Tim Holt as a couple of ne'er-do-well gringos who join an irascible prospector (the director's own father, Oscar winner Walter Huston) on an ill-considered quest for Mexican gold. By this point, recording technology had advanced to where you could film anything anywhere, and Huston took full advantage of that fact to drag his crew all over the mountains of Michoacán. Our three bums brave heat, dust, bandits, and betrayal in one of the greatest men's adventure stories ever put to screen. A cynical good time.
Agua Mala: Key Largo
The same year, John Huston also directed Bogart in this Sunshine State noir. Joined once again by on- and off-screen romantic partner Lauren Bacall, the two lovers find themselves trapped in an oceanside hotel with fugitive mob boss Edward G. Robinson during the worst hurricane of the season. Since 1944's To Have and Have Not diverged so sharply from its literary source material, Hemingway's climactic maritime shootout was reappropriated for this completely unrelated story. There was never a bad adaptation of To Have and Have Not, just like there was never a bad Bogart and Bacall movie, so you're in safe hands with this one.
There Will Be Blood: Red River
This is what western fans have been waiting for! John Wayne finally finds his niche, playing the mature patriarch to sensitive Montgomery Clift in director Howard Hawks' spectacular cattle driver. The best method actor of his generation, Clift is unfairly forgotten today, having died neither tragically young like James Dean nor tragically fat like Marlon Brando. Here, he takes on the role of Wayne's adopted adult son - the Robin to his Batman - attempting to moderate the grizzled old bastard's violent nature. But old, violent, and a bastard is just how we like the Duke, so it's inevitable the two are headed for a showdown. This movie proved once and for all that westerns could be both psychologically complex and action-packed, ushering in a genre renaissance that would persist well into the 1960s.
Natural Born Kissers: They Live by Night
It's been a while since we had a Bonnie and Clyde story, and who better to reinvent the doomed lovers on the run trope for this post-war era than Rebel Without a Cause director Nicholas Ray? A couple of inexperienced youngsters get in over their heads with a criminal gang, then go on the lam in search of a better life together. Combines the cross-country romance of It Happened One Night with the tragic fatalism of You Only Live Once. Guaranteed to make teenagers of any generation swoon.
The Boy Who Knew Too Little: The Fallen Idol
How best to utilize the pure, unbridled hatred that audiences feel for child actors? Why, by making one the accidental antagonist, of course! A lonely little rich boy misunderstands seemingly everything that happens around him, putting his father's loveably dishonest butler (Sir Ralph Richardson) on the hot seat for murder. Hitchcockian suspense from a child's eye perspective. In a year of bigger than life adventures, there's something cozy about this intimate British thriller. From the short-lived writer-director team of Graham Greene and Carol Reed (about whom I shall say no more, so as to avoid spoiling The Best Movie of 1949). |
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The Best Movie of Every Year by Brody Wilder 03/14/2026, 8:42pm PDT 
The Best Movie of 1930 by Brody Wilder 03/14/2026, 8:46pm PDT
Best thread in ages NT by Gaige Grosskreutz 03/15/2026, 1:05pm PDT
Do you have a job/family NT by Mysterio 03/15/2026, 3:16am PDT
God forbid. NT by Brody Wilder 03/15/2026, 8:56am PDT
Is this Tom Chick? NT by mysterio 2 03/17/2026, 11:37pm PDT
He might honestly be the last person to read and post here. NT by Kenji Carter 03/18/2026, 8:05am PDT
The Best Movie of 1931 by Brody Wilder 03/15/2026, 3:53pm PDT
Holy cow, Caltrops is back! by Mischief Maker 03/15/2026, 4:46pm PDT
Are your motivss pure, Maker of MischIEF? NT by Tomorrow People 03/16/2026, 9:39pm PDT
Re: The Best Movie of 1931 by E. L. Koba 03/19/2026, 5:15pm PDT
Set your expectations for "early talkie" and you should have a good time. by Brody Wilder 03/19/2026, 6:25pm PDT
Dubbing is actually pretty crucial, when you think about it. by Brody Wilder 03/19/2026, 7:21pm PDT
The Best Movie of 1932 by Brody Wilder 03/16/2026, 6:15pm PDT
Keep 'em coming! NT by MM 03/16/2026, 6:34pm PDT
That's SIR Ian McKellan to you, smart guy. NT by caltrops analyzer 03/17/2026, 6:54am PDT
I gave Sir Ian's knighthood to Charles Laughton, who never got one. by I felt like he deserved it. 03/17/2026, 4:46pm PDT
The Best Movie of 1933 by Brody Wilder 03/17/2026, 4:45pm PDT
Thanks for doing these. by Ice Cream Jonsey 03/17/2026, 8:48pm PDT
Thanks for reading! NT by Brody Wilder 03/17/2026, 8:56pm PDT
The Best Movie of 1934 by Brody Wilder 03/18/2026, 1:06pm PDT
The Best Movie of 1935 by Brody Wilder 03/19/2026, 5:43pm PDT
Hitchcock by Gaige Grosskreutz 03/19/2026, 8:28pm PDT
I like Hitchcock. by Brody Wilder 03/19/2026, 9:22pm PDT
The Best Movie of 1936 by Brody Wilder 03/20/2026, 7:35pm PDT
The Best Movie of 1937 by Brody Wilder 03/21/2026, 7:30pm PDT
We need more movies with electric chairs in them. by Gaige Grosskreutz 03/22/2026, 9:50am PDT
The Best Movie of 1938 by Brody Wilder 03/22/2026, 7:33pm PDT
The Best Movie of 1939 by Brody Wilder 03/23/2026, 4:59pm PDT
I have nothing to contribute, but I love these. NT by Hangman 03/25/2026, 12:58pm PDT
Fukk yes NT by Gary 03/25/2026, 10:02pm PDT
Re: Fukk yes by PICKLES 03/26/2026, 5:47pm PDT
#Beep# NT by Hero detector 03/26/2026, 7:07pm PDT
The Best Movie of 1940 by Brody Wilder 03/26/2026, 7:25pm PDT
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!! by HES BACK YOU LITTLE SHIITS! 03/26/2026, 8:47pm PDT
The Best Movie of 1941 by Brody Wilder 03/27/2026, 8:02pm PDT
I love Hammett. An actual real-life PI turned author, his writing rings true. by Mischief Maker 03/27/2026, 10:48pm PDT
The Best Movie of 1942 by Brody Wilder 03/29/2026, 8:20pm PDT
I was half-expecting you to be edgy and not pick Casablanca. NT by Mischief Maker 03/29/2026, 9:35pm PDT
I admit, I considered doing Arabian Nights with Maria Montez and Sabu. by Brody Wilder 03/29/2026, 9:57pm PDT
Wizard of Oz is still good, right? 1939? NT by Gaige Grosskreutz 03/30/2026, 8:39am PDT
Probably, but it's not my cup of tea. by Brody Wilder 03/30/2026, 4:43pm PDT
I didn't realize these weren't Oscar Best Picture winners until just now by laudablepuss 03/31/2026, 11:43am PDT
The Academy has rarely selected films of cultural, historical, or aesthetic impo by Brody Wilder 03/31/2026, 5:25pm PDT
How the hell did "Arthur" wind up being oscar-bait? by Mischief Drunkard 03/31/2026, 5:43pm PDT
Vince Gilligan said the comedic engine of Pluribus is a descendant of Bewitched. by Fullofkittens 03/30/2026, 7:26am PDT
Re: Vince Gilligan said the comedic engine of Pluribus is a descendant by Gaige Grosskreutz 03/30/2026, 8:40am PDT
Ooooh. So Bogart was 43 in Casablanca, not 37 as the script says. I'd chalked it NT by up to the smoking & booze -MM 03/31/2026, 8:53pm PDT
This was supposed to be a reply to the 1944 list. Whoops! NT by MM 03/31/2026, 8:54pm PDT
The Best Movie of 1943 by Brody Wilder 03/30/2026, 9:22pm PDT
I'm cumming!!! NT by 8======D ~ ~ ~ 03/31/2026, 4:48am PDT
The Best Movie of 1944 by Brody Wilder 03/31/2026, 8:20pm PDT
Double Indemnity is the first of these I have seen, and a top 10/15 movie for me by Ice Cream Jonsey 03/31/2026, 9:18pm PDT
Loving these! NT by The entire world 04/01/2026, 5:48am PDT
Justifies ICJ not pulling the plug on this place in 2011. NT by Keister M. Feister 04/01/2026, 7:33am PDT
The Best Movie of 1945 by Brody Wilder 04/01/2026, 7:47pm PDT
Waaaaaaaait a minute! by Mischief Maker 04/01/2026, 9:23pm PDT
Lots of people like that movie! I could be anyone. by Brody Wilder 04/02/2026, 2:49am PDT
The Best Movie of 1946 by Brody Wilder 04/05/2026, 8:36pm PDT
Brody, what makes for good film noir - to you? NT by Ice Cream Jonsey 04/05/2026, 9:33pm PDT
First of all, it has to hate women as much as I do. by Brody Wilder 04/05/2026, 10:46pm PDT
I'm still working on your question. Thank you for asking it. NT by Ice Cream Jonsey 04/08/2026, 9:42pm PDT
The Best Movie of 1947 by Brody Wilder 04/08/2026, 3:24am PDT
The Best Movie of 1948 by Brody Wilder 04/11/2026, 11:08pm PDT
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