I don’t want to talk about the offseason. Not today anyway. For whatever reason, when I sat down to think of what to write, I wanted to make a fun post. I actually wanted to list my five favorite baseball movies, but I don’t have five favorite baseball movies. I have three very clear favorites. I won’t share what they are because I may one day write that post. More importantly though, I’m the kind of person who needs to make sure he’s watched every baseball movie that could potentially be on my list before making such a list. And to rewatch ones that I haven’t seen in a long time.
Now, that’s not as many movies as you’d think. I’m going to make the calculated guess that I won’t put For Love of the Game in my top 5, which I’m sure is a perfectly fine movie, but I feel confident that Kevin Costner’s third best baseball movie is safe from my top 5. I also feel safe not rewatching The Natural – sorry dad – just because I am pretty sure it’s a little too cheesy to be among my favorites. And rest in peace Bernie Mac, I don’t need to rewatch Mr. 3000 either. But it’s at least 5 movies and maybe as many as 10, and that’s a project.
But once that movie itch hit me, or at least something pop culture related, I just couldn’t write about anything else. But if I won’t write about baseball movies, how exactly do I connect it to baseball? And I found an answer: I’m just going to list the best movie – period – that I’ve seen from each year the Cardinals were in the World Series. I’m a movie geek as much as a baseball geek so this might be more fun for me than you. Hopefully, you enjoy my answers and participate in the comments if you want.
1926
The General
Easy. I hope every pick is this easy. I would argue this is the first action movie ever. Buster Keaton is on a moving train for most of this movie, doing insanely unsafe stunts. Tom Cruise has nothing on Keaton when it comes to stunts. I legitimately think the genre for this movie should be action and not comedy. It’s an action movie with elements of comedy. In other words….every action movie ever.
This is not the consensus best Buster Keaton movie, but this is my favorite. I honestly did not know they could do some of the things they did in this movie in 1926. I mean the camera has to follow a moving train for the majority of the movie – I’m glad sound came obviously, but as far as what a camera was capable of filming – they were pretty far ahead and it took a while for the industry to be able to film with sound the way they filmed without sound towards the end of the silent era.
1928
The Crowd
This year has some good competition – Steamboat Bill Jr., The Circus, and Passion of the Joan of Arc – but for me, King Vidor’s classic wins my top prize for 1928. Now this movie is a very good example of how far camera shots got by the very end of the silent era. Compare how this movie was shot to something from 1933 and it’s astonishing how much they had to start from scratch because it was hard to film with sound. I mean there is a shot in this movie where it at least seems like the camera goes up a building, pauses, and then zooms into that building and then it fades inside that building with a seemingly endless supply of men at their desks. And then from above, it zooms in on our main character. Just incredible.
It’s honestly just a portrait of a relatively normal family. It’s a man trying to live the American Dream and he mostly gets sucked into.. the crowd. It’s a relatively realistic movie with less than subtle acting, but Eleanor Boardman (the wife) really impressed me. And I say less than subtle, but it’s actually not that over the top in comparison with other silent movies, so it was probably actually subtle for the time. From modern eyes, the husband doesn’t treat his wife that well, but I’d also say that’s certainly realistic for the time.
1930
All Quiet on the Western Front
Another easy one. A movie that certainly couldn’t have been made just five years later when the Hays Code was enacted. Luckily there was a brief period where there was no censorship and a movie could portray war as it really was (though The Big Parade set the groundwork, so it wasn’t the only one). For example, the older teacher essentially guilt tripping the students into going to war, either lying about the glamour of it or maybe he never went to war, had my blood boiling before we even saw a battle scene. And it helps to know it was World War I – maybe the worst war to serve in ever.
And because it was 1930, there were no special effects and there were really no rules, so you get to see actual explosions. It’s convincing. Pretty depressing anti-war movie. Maybe there aren’t many World War I movies because they did a pretty good job with them between wars.
1931
Frankenstein
I do like Frankenstein well enough, but I am relatively sure that M, The Smiling Lieutenant, or Monkey Business would be here if I had seen those movies. Just being honest. I wish the Cardinals had made the World Series in 1932 instead, because I absolutely love both Freaks and Trouble in Paradise. Would have had a hell of a time picking between the two.
1934
It Happened One Night
I do love The Thin Man, however I have to pick the romcom that started all romcoms. This is the template folks. It’s kind of amazing this works at all, because every romcom in existence has inadvertently copied this movie. Man and woman do not like each other, find themselves forced together, opposites attract, I mean you’ve seen a variation of this movie, but rarely done as well as this movie. If you want to see the appeal of Clark Gable, watch this movie.
Critic Mike D’Angelo puts it best: “It’s every goddamn romantic comedy you’ve ever seen. They can all be traced back here, virtually without exception, for eight straight decades now. Technically, the film has never been remade, but that’s largely because, in spirit, it has never stopped being remade.”
1942
Casablanca
I hate to be a normie on this one, but if you’ve never seen this movie, you know 10 quotes from this movie without actually knowing they are from this movie. Well maybe you do know. It’s a fun experience hearing a very famous quote… and then another… and then another, and it really doesn’t stop. And it is a love story, but it’s also a much, much more engaging plot than you’d expect. It’s ridiculously timely considering it’s about the occupation of France by Nazis in 1942. The churn of movies back then is hard to wrap my head around, there are quite a few anti-Nazi movies made from 1939 to 1945 (my other contender, To Be or Not to Be, is also extremely timely). The first Iraq War movie was, what, The Hurt Locker in 2008?
It’s shocking this was supposed to be a run-of-the-mill movie that was just accidentally great. Endlessly quotable, you don’t really know what you’re rooting for, and some really fun and funny side characters.
1943
The Ox-Bow Incident
You are probably familiar with 12 Angry Men, and I would argue this is essentially 12 Angry Men, but don’t lynch. Henry Fonda is in both and is the voice of reason in both. And yes, apparently in 1943, it was somewhat necessary to make the point that mob justice is bad and maybe wait to see if they are found guilty in a court of law instead of taking matters into your own hand. They did get away with this because it is a Western movie and I don’t know if they specify when it is set, but usually it’s the late 1800s. I was a little surprised to see this movie was allowed (by the Hays Code) to go where it goes.
1944
Double Indemnity
This was not the first film noir, but this is probably the definitive film noir. I believe film noir was the genre that got me hooked into older movies. I always seemed to like them. This was adapted from a book by James Cain and written by Raymond Chandler. You really can’t pick two better writers for a film noir. Billy Wilder also co-wrote it and directed the movie, so just fully of heavy hitters. Between the three of them, they are probably responsible for something like 10 classic film noirs. Also Barbara Stanwyck. If you know, you know.
1946
It’s a Wonderful Life
I kind of hope to stumble into a year where I pick an unusual movie cause… I mean I’m just picking the obvious right now. But hey classics are sometimes classics for a reason. I feel like most people reading this have seen this and I’m getting a little wordy, so you probably know why it’s here and I don’t need to expound further.
1964
A Fistful of Dollars
This is a movie begging for a rewatch from me. I haven’t seen it in at least 10 years. So I do feel a bit weird putting this here, just because I wish I had a better memory of it. I also feel weird because I like two Sergio Leone Westerns more than this – you can probably guess which. But nothing else is all that close to me, so it wasn’t a particularly hard choice.
1967
Wait Until Dark
I feel like I just watched this at the right time, because I do feel a bit insane picking this over an absolutely stacked year of movies. So I would not be surprised if this pick does not hold up for me later on in my life. But I actually loved this movie in a way I didn’t necessarily love other possible picks. Part of that is that Alfred Hitchcock could have directed this movie. It’s very much like a Hitchcock film. Might be the best Hitchcock film not directed by Hitchcock honestly. And it has the most effective jump scare. I don’t like jump scares, but it is both well utilized and well earned in this one.
You know that Hitchcock saying that if you put a bomb under the table, there’s more tension. That’s most of this movie honestly. You’re rooting for Audrey Hepburn – very likable in this movie as a blind woman – to somehow survive against some potentially violent criminals. But here’s the kicker: she doesn’t know they are criminals and in some cases, doesn’t even know they’re in the room. It just itches that part of your brain that sometimes wonders if there’s someone in the house with you.
1968
Once Upon a Time in the West
I know The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly gets all the love, but this one is my favorite Leone Western. It takes its time, but I’m never bored. You’ll know if this is your type of movie immediately. Barely any dialogue is spoken in the first scene, just setting the stage and the mood. Just three men waiting at a train station who seem up to no good. And then the standoff and one of the most badass lines in cinema: “looks like we’re shy one horse.” “You brought two too many.” SOLD
And then, Claudia Cardinale, I mean need I say more?
1982
The Thing
You know what’s funny? I don’t consider myself a horror fan, and yet horror is pretty well-represented here. I don’t specifically like the idea of intentionally trying to get scared. I don’t personally understand that. But I do like tension and thrillers and a well-done story. Also, probably the best practical effects ever seen on film are in this movie. It’s more convincing than it has any right to be.
1985
Back to the Future
I watched this too many times as a kid for this not to be answer. Are there better movies from 1985? Probably. Do I have a better time with those other movies? Certainly not.
1987
Au Revoir Les Enfants (Goodbye Children)
This deeply affected me in a way I don’t know that any other movie has. It is a fairly normal, slice-of-life coming of age story for the vast majority of its tenure. How much you appreciate what it might be like to live in a religious boarding school in France may dictate how much you like it. It is written and directed by Louis Malle based on his memories as an 11 or 12-year-old boy. I went into this blind, realized about halfway through why this particular story might be getting told, and let’s just say I was right.
2006
The Host
Another horror movie, this time from Boon Jo Ho, otherwise known as the guy who made Parasite 13 years later. To be more specific, this is a monster movie inspired by what is known as the McFarland incident, which is when an American civilian employed by the US military in South Korea illegally dumped 24 gallons of formaldehyde into the Han River. He imagined that would create a deadly monster. Little bit of an an environmental message in that one.
But it is highly entertaining and surprisingly funny.
2011
Drive
I don’t think this was an especially strong year in movies, so this was not a hard pick. I’m halfway convinced this movie only really works because of the soundtrack, because Nicholas Windin Refn has not made anything near this good in the rest of his career. If there’s a one-hit wonder for movies, he qualifies. It just kind of works in a way that I can’t really explain,
