The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever

Tristan Ettleman
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  • FILM HISTORY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever features experts and enthusiasts and, well, their favorite films of every year ever. Host Tristan Ettleman sits down with a new guest every week to dive into the history and beauty of some of the best movies to ever come out of the cinematic medium.

  1. 4D AGO

    1910 E1 - The Beginning of a Decade

    The start of the 1910s doesn’t quite immediately usher in the cinematic measurement that would come to rule the decade: the feature film. But proto-forms of what would become the narrative standard arise in 1910, and otherwise, exciting images, narrative experiences, and affecting displays of historical milieu can be found in the productions of the year. Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your top five picks for 1910! Films mentioned: The Broken Oath (1910) - Harry SolterThe Railroad Porter (1912) - William D. FosterThe Birth of a Race (1918) - John W. NobleThe Birth of a Nation (1915) - D.W. GriffithThe Actor’s Children (1910) - Barry O’NeillIn Old California (1910) - D.W. GriffithRamona (1910) - D.W. GriffithIn the Sultan’s Power (1909) - Francis BoggsThe Heart of a Race Tout (1909) - Francis BoggsThe Lad from Old Ireland (1910) - Sidney OlcottThe White Slave Trade (1910) - August BlomJeffries-Johnson World’s Championship Boxing Contest (1910) - unknownFrankenstein (1910) - J. Searle DawleyA Christmas Carol (1910) - J. Searle DawleyAlice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1910) - Edwin S. Porter

    6 min

  2. JAN 7

    1909 E7 - A Funny Year

    One of the most diverse lists of films selected for any season so far defines this brief conclusion to 1909. The unique array of selections does ultimately lead into a universal appreciation for comedy, rising above some of the efforts to “legitimize” the cinematic medium as has been discussed at the tail end of the first decade of the 20th century. Films mentioned: The Mill (1909) - Alfred MachinMr. Flip (1909) - Gilbert M. “Broncho Billy” AndersonWhy Girls Leave Home (1909) - unknownFirst International Competition for Airplanes in Brescia (1909) - unknownThe Man in the Moon (1909) -  Étienne Arnaud and Émile CohlTo Demonstrate How Spiders Fly (1909) - F. Percy SmithPrincess Nicotine; or, the Smoke Fairy (1909) - J. Stuart BlacktonThe Spider and the Butterfly (1909) - Georges MélièsA Midsummer Night’s Dream (1909) - Charles Kent and J. Stuart BlacktonThe Airship Destroyer (1909) - Walter R. Booth

    5 min

  3. 12/31/2025

    1909 E6 - Paul Flaig

    Paul Flaig, Lecturer in Film Studies at University of St Andrews, wrote a stellar synthesis of disciplines with his new book Weimar Slapstick and Hollywood Comedy Transformed. While it clearly deals with a later period than 1909, he still works German and American (and French!) comedy into his picks, in addition to a sound novelty and an actuality with a connection to Franz Kafka. Paul is also the co-editor, with Katherine Groo, of New Silent Cinema and co-director, with Dora Osborne, of the German Screen Studies Network (GSSN). His writing has appeared in many journals and edited collections, including Cinema Journal, Screen, Camera Obscura, animation, and Journal of Cinema and Media Studies (JCMS). Films and resources mentioned: Klebolin Sticks to Everything (1909) - Heinrich Bolten-BaeckersThose Awful Hats (1909) - D.W. GriffithThe Happy Microbes (1909) - Émile CohlWhat Is a Flag (1909) - Alice Guy-BlachéFirst International Competition for Airplanes in Brescia (1909) - unknownRain (1929) - Mannus Franken and Joris IvensGood Glue Sticks (1907) - Georges MélièsA Sticky Woman (1906) - Alice Guy-BlachéL'Arroseur Arrosé (1895) - Louis LumièreAt the Crossroads of Life (1908) - D.W. GriffithMiller’s Crossing (1990) - Joel and Ethan CoenFantasmagorie (1908) - Émile CohlBrains Repaired (1911) - Émile CohlThe Yawner (1907) - Segundo de ChomónPrincess Nicotine; or, the Smoke Fairy (1909) - J. Stuart BlacktonDaddy-Long-Legs (1919) - Marshall NeilanOriginal Films of Frank B. Gilbreth (1910-1924) - Frank B. GilbrethBad Film Histories: Ethnography and the Early Archive - Katherine Groo“Women's Hats and Silent Film Spectatorship: Between Ostrich Plume and Moving Image” - Maggie HennefeldEmile Cohl, Caricature, and Film - Donald CraftonKafka Goes to the Movies DVD setKafka Goes to the Movies - Hanns ZischlerMotion Study: A Method for Increasing the Efficiency of the Workman - Frank Gilbreth

    58 min

  4. 12/24/2025

    1909 E5 - Yuki Irikura

    Yuki Irikura, Assistant Professor at Waseda University, mostly selects D.W. Griffith films for her 1909 list, reflecting the director’s growing powers and appeal. She concludes, however, with old-school tricks and the debut of Japan’s first film star. Yuki’s research focuses on Japanese and American silent film history. She earned her Ph.D. in February 2024 with a dissertation on Bluebird Photoplays, examining the company’s production of five-reel feature films, their popularity in Japan, and the contributions of the company’s female filmmakers and actresses. Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1909! Films mentioned: Those Awful Hats (1909) - D.W. GriffithThe Country Doctor (1909) - D.W. GriffithLines of White on a Sullen Sea (1909) - D.W. GriffithWhimsical Illusions (1909) - Georges MélièsGoban Tadanobu (1909) - Shôzô MakinoA Corner in Wheat (1909) - D.W. GriffithTrue Heart Susie (1919) - D.W. GriffithThe Birth of a Nation (1915) - D.W. GriffithA Trip to the Moon (1902) - Georges MélièsThe Wizard of Oz (1939) - Victor FlemingHugo (2011) - Martin ScorseseMetropolis (1927) - Fritz LangJiraiya the Hero (1921) - Shôzô MakinoOrochi (1925) - Buntarō Futagawa

    52 min

  5. 12/17/2025

    1909 E4 - Kathy Fuller-Seeley

    Kathy Fuller-Seeley, Professor of Media Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, studied early cinema audiences with her book At the Picture Show: Small Town Audiences and the Creation of Movie Fan Culture. Since then, her research interests have ranged to radio and back again to mid-1910s film history, and her interests similarly weave back and forth from morbid drama and eye-popping tricks. Kathy also produced the Blu-ray release Francis Ford: The Craving plus Three Shorts. She is co-author, with Frank Thompson, of the upcoming book The First Movie Studio in Texas: Gaston Méliès’ Star Film Ranch. Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your top picks for 1909! Films and resources mentioned: The Sealed Room (1909) - D.W. GriffithA Corner in Wheat (1909) - D.W. GriffithPrincess Nicotine; or, the Smoke Fairy (1909) - J. Stuart BlacktonA Trip to Jupiter (1909) - Segundo de ChomónThe Mill (1909) - Alfred MachinThe Cry of the Children (1912) - George NicholsThe Fabelmans (2022) - Steven SpielbergThe Haunted Hotel (1907) - J. Stuart BlacktonThe Haunted House (1907) - Segundo de ChomónThe Movie Orgy (1968) - Joe DanteThe Craving (1918) - Francis FordThe Phantom Carriage (1921) - Victor SjöströmSherlock Jr. (1924) - Buster KeatonThe One Man Band (1900) - Georges MélièsThe Devilish Tenant (1909) - Georges MélièsA Trip to the Moon (1902) - Georges MélièsExcursion to the Moon (1908) - Segundo de ChomónThe Cowboy Millionaire (1909) - Francis Boggs and Otis TurnerScreening Out the Past: The Birth of Mass Culture and the Motion Picture Industry - Lary MayThe Red Rooster Scare: Making Cinema American, 1900-1910 - Richard AbelFulton HistoryBefore Mickey: The Animated Film 1898-1928 - Donald Crafton

    48 min

  6. 12/10/2025

    1909 E3 - Donald Crafton

    Author and scholar Donald Crafton wrote Before Mickey: The Animated Film, 1898-1928, a defining work of early animation history. Yet with the exception of one example from a filmmaker much discussed in that book and especially his other Emile Cohl, Caricature, and Film, his picks range into the live action territory of editing innovations alongside the still-surviving tradition of trick films and actualities. Donald also wrote on the transition from silent cinema to sound production in The Talkies: American Cinema’s Transition to Sound, 1926-1931. Since retiring, he has written a play, Winsor and Gertie, that has been produced in Europe and the U.S, and which he has recently adapted as a feature-length screenplay. Films and resources mentioned: The Lonely Villa (1909) - D.W. GriffithThe Spider and the Butterfly (1909) - Georges MélièsA Trip to the White Seas Fisheries (1909) - Joe RosenthalDick Is Not Dead (1909) - unknownThe Man in the Moon (1909) -  Étienne Arnaud and Émile CohlThe Scarlet Drop (1918) - John FordThe Adventures of Dollie (1908) - D.W. GriffithHugo (2011) - Martin ScorseseCyrano de Bergerac (1923) -  Augusto GeninaBaron Munchausen’s Dream (1911) - Georges MélièsSlippery Jim (1909) - Segundo de ChomónWild and Woolly (1917) - John EmersonUn Chien Andalou (1929) - Luis BuñuelFantasmagorie (1908) - Émile CohlWomen Film Pioneers Project

    53 min

  7. 12/03/2025

    1909 E2 - Paddy Adamson

    Paddy Adamson, Associate Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of St Andrews, recently published his monograph Projecting America: The Epic Western and National Mythmaking in 1920s Hollywood. While this particular research interest is represented by one pick, albeit through a Danish interpretation of the genre, the rest of his picks showcase film comedy as it was interpreted in France, Italy, America, and beyond. Paddy is also editor of Open Screens and Film Journal. His research on 1920s Westerns has appeared in journals including Film History. Films mentioned: Slippery Jim (1909) - Segundo de ChomónThe Curtain Pole (1909) - D.W. GriffithHappy New Year! (1909) - Arrigo FrustaThe Two Gold Diggers (1909) - Viggo LarsenWhy Girls Leave Home (1909) - unknownA Corner in Wheat (1909) - D.W. GriffithThe Lonely Villa (1909) - D.W. GriffithA Trip to the Moon (1902) - Georges MélièsThe Cowboy Millionaire (1909) - Francis Boggs and Otis TurnerThe Millionaire Cowboy (1913) - unknownThe Red Man’s View (1909) - D.W. GriffithThe House of Cards (1909) - Edwin S. PorterThe Great Train Robbery (1903) - Edwin S. PorterThe Hazards of Helen (1914-1917) - J.P. McGowan and J. Gunnis DavisThe Kiss (1929) - Jacques FeyderThe Goddess (1934) - Wu YonggangNew Women (1935) - Cai CushengWhy Girls Leave Home (1913) - C.J. Williams

    50 min

  8. 11/26/2025

    1909 E1 - The End of a Decade

    The end of the first decade of the 20th century is a fitting time to reflect on the monumental changes facing the cinematic medium and the global industry that supported it in 1909. As this season will demonstrate, with an extremely diverse array of guest picks that features the least amount of overlap for the show so far, established genres and techniques, which are effective and pleasurable, coexist with the exciting refinement of composition, effects, narratives, and screen acting. Films mentioned: Hiawatha (1909) - William V. RanousDisinherited Son’s Loyalty (1909) - Fred J. BalshoferIn the Sultan’s Power (1909) - Francis BoggsThe Heart of a Race Tout (1909) - Francis BoggsPippa Passes; or, The Song of Conscience (1909) - D.W. Griffith

    6 min
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The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever features experts and enthusiasts and, well, their favorite films of every year ever. Host Tristan Ettleman sits down with a new guest every week to dive into the history and beauty of some of the best movies to ever come out of the cinematic medium.

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