A thread. My favorite movies from each year, starting with:
1916 INTOLERANCE ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
This grandeur of this early mega-epic means there's a lot to recommend it, though I find the overall scolding and self-exonerative tone (Griffith had just released the pro-Klan BIRTH OF A NATION and been properly excoriated even as he'd been celebrated) smug and cloying; an early "cancel culture is out of control."
(This is the only film I've seen from 1916.)
[No films seen 1917 - 1924]
Incidentally, my rating system:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️| a masterpiece
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½| very good
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️| good
⭐️⭐️⭐️ ½ | pretty good
⭐️⭐️⭐️| not half-bad
⭐️⭐️½| half-bad
⭐️⭐️ | not half-good
⭐️½ | pretty bad
⭐️| bad
½ | very bad
zero | a war crime
1925 SEVEN CHANCES ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐(Keaton)
I haven't seen as many Keatons as I should have (must correct that soon) but of those I have seen this is my favorite. Jaw-dropping stuff (the boulder dodge alone would make this a must-see). May have invented the slapstick comedy, the romantic comedy, the action movie, and Sonic the Hedgehog all in one film.
Also Notable: The Gold Rush, Battleship Potemkin
1926 THE GENERAL ⭐️⭐️⭐️½ (Keaton)
This is heresy I know but I suspect in the end this will become my least favorite Keaton (I have trouble overcoming plots that ennoble the Confederacy, however glancingly), and I actually find it to be a stodgy example of his overall oeuvre, but even a lesser (according to me and me only) Keaton is a good time, and the set pieces and stunts are, of course, top notch. Bridge collapse is deservedly legendary.
(This is the only film I've seen from 1926.)
A.R. Moxon, Verified Duck 🦆
Brian