One of the reasons I’m excited for 2019 is that it marks the anniversary for some movies I’m excited to write about and need only “A round number of years have passed since this was released!” as an excuse. But it’s also good to look back at the effect these movies have had and how they’ve changed over time. Films like The Iron Giant and Fight Club flopped twenty years ago, but now they’re considered classics. Avatar was the biggest film of all time (and from a box office perspective, remains so) when it was released ten years ago, but how has time treated it? How do films like Batman, The Warriors, and The Wild Bunch look 30, 40, and 50 years later?
There are so many good anniversaries this year, and if you’ve never seen these movies or just want an excuse to watch them again, check out the list for what’s coming our way this year, and be on the lookout for our articles on plenty of these movies (oh, the writing we shall do on Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace…).
10 Years
January 30 - Taken
February 6 - Coraline
Friday 13 - Friday the 13th
March 6 - Watchmen
March 20 - Knowing
March 20 - Sin Nombre
April 10 - Observe and Report
May 1 - X-Men Origins: Wolverine
May 8 - Star Trek
May 15 - The Brothers Bloom
May 21 - Terminator Salvation
May 29 - Drag Me To Hell
May 29 - Up
June 5 - The Hangover
June 5 - Away We Go
June 12 - Moon
June 26 - The Hurt Locker
July 17 - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
July 17 - (500) Days of Summer
July 24 - Orphan
July 24 - In the Loop
August 14 - District 9
August 21 - Inglourious Basterds
August 21 - World’s Greatest Dad
August 28 - Big Fan
August 28 - Mystery Team
September 18 - Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
September 18 - The Informant!
September 18 - Jennifer’s Body
September 25 - Paranormal Activity
October 2 - A Serious Man
October 2 - Zombieland
October 16 - Where the Wild Things Are
November 13 - Fantastic Mr. Fox
December 9 - Trick ‘r Treat
December 11 - The Princess and the Frog
December 18 - Avatar
15 Years
January 16 - Torque
February 20 - EuroTrip
February 25 - The Passion of the Christ
March 19 - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
March 26 - The Ladykillers
April 2 - Hellboy
April 9 - Shaun of the Dead
April 16 - Kill Bill Vol. 2
April 23 - 13 Going on 30
April 30 - Mean Girls
June 4 - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
June 11 - Napoleon Dynamite
June 18 - Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
June 30 - Spider-Man 2
July 2 - Before Sunset
July 9 - Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
July 23 - The Bourne Supremacy
July 30 - Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
July 30 - The Village
August 6 - Collateral
August 27 - Layer Cake
September 17 - Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
October 15 - Team America: World Police
October 22 - Sideways
October 29 - Saw
November 5 - The Incredibles
November 19 - National Treasure
December 10 - Ocean’s Twelve
December 15 - Million Dollar Baby
December 25 - The Aviator
December 25 - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
20 Years
January 15 - Varsity Blues
February 19 - Office Space
March 5 - Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels
March 31 - The Matrix
March 31 - 10 Things I Hate about You
April 9 - Go
April 23 - eXistenZ
April 23 - Election
May 7 - The Mummy
May 19 - Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
June 30 - South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
July 9 - American Pie
July 14 - The Blair Witch Project
July 16 - Eyes Wide Shut
July 23 - Drop Dead Gorgeous
August 6 - The Iron Giant
August 6 - The Sixth Sense
August 13 - Bowfinger
September 15 - American Beauty
October 1 - Three Kings
October 15 - Fight Club
October 15 - The Straight Story
October 22 - Bringing Out the Dead
October 22 - Boys Don’t Cry
November 5 - The Insider
November 12 - Dogma
November 19 - Sleepy Hollow
November 24 - Toy Story 2
December 10 - The Green Mile
December 22 - Any Given Sunday
December 25 - Galaxy Quest
December 25 - The Talented Mr. Ripley
25 Years
February 4 - Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
February 18 - Reality Bites
March 11 - The Hudsucker Proxy
March 18 - The Paper
April 13 - Serial Mom
April 15 - Surviving the Game
April 29 - PCU
May 20 - Maverick
June 10 - Speed
June 15 - The Lion King
July 1 - The Shadow
July 6 - Forrest Gump
July 15 - True Lies
July 29 - The Mask
August 3 - Clear and Present Danger
August 26 - Natural Born Killers
September 14 - Quiz Show
September 16 - Timecop
September 23 - The Shawshank Redemption
September 30 - Ed Wood
October 14 - Pulp Fiction
October 14 - Wes Craven’s New Nightmare
October 28 - Stargate
November 11 - Interview with the Vampire
November 18 - Leon: The Professional
November 23 - Junior
November 16 - Dumb and Dumber
30 Years
February 17 - Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
February 17 - The ‘Burbs
March 31 - Heathers
April 7 - Major League
May 14 - Say Anything…
April 21 - Field of Dreams
April 21 - Pet Sematary
May 19 - Miracle Mile
May 19 - Road House
May 24 - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
May 31 - The Brave Little Toaster
June 2 - Dead Poets Society
June 16 - Ghostbusters II
June 23 - Batman
June 23 - Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
June 30 - Do the Right Thing
July 14 - When Harry Met Sally…
July 21 - UHF
August 2 - Parenthood
August 9 - The Abyss
August 16 - Uncle Buck
August 18 - Sex, Lies, and Videotape
October 5 - The Punisher
November 8 - Henry V
November 17 - All Dogs Go to Heaven
November 17 - The Little Mermaid
November 17 - Steel Magnolias
November 22 - Back to the Future Part II
December 1 - Christmas Vacation
December 14 - Glory
December 15 - Driving Miss Daisy
December 15 - The Wizard
December 20 - Roger & Me
December 20 - Born on the Fourth of July
December 25 - Akira
40 Years
February 9 - The Warriors
March 2 - Norma Rae
March 16 - The China Syndrome
May 10 - Apocalypse Now
May 25 - Alien
June 1 - Phantasm
June 22 - The Muppet Movie
July 27 - The Amityville Horror
August 17 - Life of Brian
December 7 - Star Trek: The Motion Picture
December 14 - The Jerk
December 20 - All that Jazz
50 Years
May 25 - Midnight Cowboy
June 18 - The Wild Bunch
July 14 - Easy Rider
September 17 - Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
October 24 - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
December 18 - On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
60 Years
January 29 - Sleeping Beauty
March 29 - Some Like It Hot
May 4 - The 400 Blows
July 1 - Anatomy of a Murder
July 28 - North by Northwest
September 24 - The Defiant Ones
November 18 - Ben-Hur
70 Years
June 13 - Kind Hearts and Coronets
November 18 - Adam’s Rib
September 1 - The Third Man
September 2 - White Heat
September 19 - Late Spring
October 17 - Stray Dog
December 21 - Twelve O’Clock High
80 Years
February 2 - Stagecoach
May 25 - Only Angels Have Wings
June 9 - Young Mr. Lincoln
August 25 - The Wizard of Oz
October 17 - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
December 15 - Gone with the Wind
December 29 - Destry Rides Again