Happy New Year!

If you’re like me, you’re probably always looking for a good movie to watch. And since Netflix has decided to only recommend their own original content to me anymore, it’s getting harder and harder to find good flicks through the magic of algorithms.

Instead, I decided to utilize the wisdom of crowds. A while back, I asked my followers on Facebook and Twitter—

What’s your favorite movie released before you were born?

The list was pretty surprising, not least because I found out how young and how old some of my readers are. (One guy suggested The Jazz Singer, but I suspect that was a joke.) I haven’t seen all of them, but of the ones I have seen, they’re all pretty defensible, as far as “personal favorites” go. No one chose Rambo III.

Unsurprisingly, the list doesn’t have a lot of movies from the 30s and 40s. It does have a pretty even distribution from the 50s through the 80s, though. I do find it odd there’s nothing from the 90s, considering even the youngest of that cohort are now graduating college.

There’s a good mix of directors. Kubrick is on the list three times, Frank Capra twice, but otherwise, no one repeats. No Spielberg, though, which, c’mon… how did no one pick Jaws or Jurassic Park? Or Indiana Jones? Or E.T.? Or…

If you have any suggestions to add to this list, sound off in the comments. Remember the one rule, though: the movie has to have been made before you were alive.

1930s & 1940s

With only a handful of films chosen from this era, it’s hard to generalize, but it seems like people like screwball comedy and romance:

• It Happened One Night (1934)
• His Girl Friday (1940)
• Casablanca (1942)
• It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

1950s

1960s

There are a lot of large, epic movies here, with large, epic distrust of authority, which you’d expect from the 60s.

• The Apartment (1960)
• The Hustler (1961)
• Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
• Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
• Hello, Dolly! (1969)

1970s

1980s

Interesting that it’s not until the 80s where we see predominantly funny, optimistic films again. Is that a product of the time, or the nostalgic ages of the people voting?

• The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
• The Shining (1980)
• The Breakfast Club (1985)
• The Goonies (1985)
• Back to the Future (1985)
• Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
• The Princess Bride (1987)

What’s YOUR Favorite Movie from Before Your Lifetime?

Sound off in the comments below!