Movies that turn 30 this year...

The Silence of the Lambs was released on February 14, 1991, and won the Oscar in March 1992.

In these days of all the Oscar-bait movies being released in the fall, I doubt we ever see a February movie win Best Picture again.

I know that's a selection of the best of the best and glosses over any bad movies of that year, but still it really does show you how quickly the quality of movies degraded over the past decade or so.

Look at the variety of those movies, all over the place in genres and all outstanding. All of those films were also very successful at the box office.

Pick any year over the past say 10 and try to find a best of the best lineup comparable.

You'll mostly list awful dramas nobody saw or remembers or comic book movies.

Not sure what drove the change but Hollywood has abandoned mainstream variety. Maybe streaming services? Who knows.

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Not sure what drove the change but Hollywood has abandoned mainstream variety. Maybe streaming services? Who knows

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And a list for 1971 would look radically different than for 91, and 51 than 71, and 31 than 51. Tastes change. Change is constant. 1951 could be considered the "height" of Hollywood. The studios are raking it in. Acting celebrities are as big as can be. 2 of the top 5 grossing films were biblical epics, which don't really exist anymore, 2 were talky melodrama, like A Streetcar Named Desire, and one was a bad musical.

Rest assured, someone 30 years from now will be remembering 2021 fondly as a an era unmatched, and that opinion will assuredly not be based on anything but nostalgia.

But back to 1991, I know it has some popular classics, but I'd rate it pretty far down the list of best years of the 90s. Only 2 American movies would make my top 10 of the year, Barton Fink and Homicide.

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You'll mostly list awful dramas nobody saw 

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Teed you guys up. You're welcome.

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Rest assured, someone 30 years from now will be remembering 2021 fondly as a an era unmatched, and that opinion will assuredly not be based on anything but nostalgia.

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Nostalgia applies to some of these films (especially Hook and Robin Hood, which may have been "fun" but weren't good). But what was the last drama/horror better than Silence of the Lambs? What was the last sci-fi/action better than T2? When was the last comedy as good as City Slickers (comedies are hardly even released anymore).

OP went with "blockbuster" types, but didn't include:
-Barton Fink
-The Commitments
-What About Bob
-Cape Fear
-Fried Green Tomatoes (name a better "chick movie" in the past ~5 years)

Aside from Barton Fink, every movie I've listed was a widespread release.

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frick no

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I did this in another thread but let's just take 2019's box office for example. Looking at the top 20 movies of the year how many of these are people going to be looking back and admiring fondly or think of as culturally relevant in 30 years? I spot likely 3.

1 Avengers: Endgame
2 The Lion King
3 Frozen II
4 Spider-Man: Far from Home
5 Captain Marvel
6 Joker
7 Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker
8 Toy Story 4
9 Aladdin
10 Jumanji: The Next Level
11 Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw
12 Ne Zha
13 The Wandering Earth
14 How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
15 Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
16 It Chapter Two
17 Pokémon Detective Pikachu
18 The Secret Life of Pets 2
19 The Captain
20 My People, My Country


The proportion of sequels and remakes has gone insane. We are also trapped in CGI Tentpole Franchise Hell. Those are the only movies Hollywood is willing to make for mainstream audiences and apparently those are the only movies mainstream audiences are willing to see.

I’ve seen all but Rocketeer

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Rest assured, someone 30 years from now will be remembering 2021 fondly as a an era unmatched, and that opinion will assuredly not be based on anything but nostalgia.

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Yeah, no. While it's true that people get blinded by nostalgia, especially in this day and age, I feel like people are smarter than you give them credit for. The 1990s was a brilliant decade for film, nostalgia or no, and featured some of the best movies to ever grace the screen. 1994 and 1997 in particular were banner years for Hollywood, with '94 arguably one of the Top 3 greatest years for the industry.

I remember watching T2 on opening weekend in a packed theater in Bon Marche mall. I had to piss bad, but I wasn't getting up because I didn't want to miss any of the action. T2 was one of the best movie experiences I ever had!!!

Damn...I remember seeing Father of the Bride at Bon Marche Mall