30 for 30

Thirty years is a long time watching movies.

I've done some other stuff since birth - went to school/college, worked some jobs, got married, had a couple kids, blah, blah, blah.

Mostly I watched movies. In celebration of my 30th birthday, I went back and chose my favorite movie from each year since birth. These are my favorites as of now, and not necessarily what I thought back in the day. I wasn't actively watching movies at age 1 of course, and there were a few years as a kid when "3 Ninjas" was the greatest thing on the planet. Honestly, it's still pretty great.

Our journey begins in the year...

1984: "Ghostbusters," also known as probably the best reason to be born in 1984. Incidentally, "Ghostbusters 2" is NOT one of the best reasons to be born in 1989.

1985: Greatness at 88 mph - "Back to the Future."

1986: I had to wait for the '90s to fully appreciate "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."

1987: Probably my least favorite movie year of my lifetime, though I have a nostalgic connection to "The Princess Bride." More importantly, the Minnesota Twins won the World Series.

1988: "Die Hard." Why can't they make action movies like this anymore? And why can't they stop making inferior "Die Hard" sequels?

1989: "The Little Mermaid" is great as a kid and now as a parent. It's good to hear these songs again, even through the garble-nonsense filter of my 2-year-old daughter.

1990: I saw "Home Alone" and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" four or five times each in the theater, but that was probably to punish my parents for not taking me to see Martin Scorsese's masterpiece, "Goodfellas." I totally could have handled it.

1991: The Minnesota Twins won the World Series again, and the Oscars actually named the correct Best Picture of the year, "The Silence of the Lambs."

1992: This was the year to be a kid in love with movies - "Home Alone 2," "The Mighty Ducks," Whoopi Goldberg as a singing nun, a Batman movie, a lovable pooch terrorizing Charles Grodin, the list goes on. As an adult, the only genuine standout is Robert Altman's "The Player." Imagine if I had seen such a cynical look at Hollywood at that young of an age. At the very least, I never would have bothered with "Sister Act 2."

1993: Steven Spielberg made the incredible "Schindler's List." That same year, he also made "Jurassic Park," which happens to be my favorite movie of all time.

1994: Kid Me says, "The Lion King." Adult Me says, "Pulp Fiction."

1995: Kid Me and Adult Me agree: "Toy Story."

1996: The year I started watching everything, and "Fargo" was a defining moment.

1997: It's not "Titanic." It was never "Titanic." I really have a tough time deciding between "L.A. Confidential" and "Boogie Nights." Since it's a family newspaper, let's pick the movie that isn't about porn.

1998: Remember the big Oscar battle between "Shakespeare in Love" and "Saving Private Ryan?" The Academy didn't even have "The Truman Show" in the conversation.

1999: We were all enamored with "American Beauty," but that Best Picture winner hasn't aged as well as "Being John Malkovich" or my sentimental favorite, Paul Thomas Anderson's "Magnolia."

2000: Toss-up between "Almost Famous" and "High Fidelity."

2001: I knew when I first saw Wes Anderson's "The Royal Tenenbaums" that it would still be a favorite movie a decade down the line.

2002: "Punch-Drunk Love." It wasn't the first movie I saw with my future wife, but it holds a special place in that story.

2003: The golden age of Pixar was not just for kids. Case in point - "Finding Nemo."

2004: "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" is all kinds of brilliant.

2005: "Munich" or "A History of Violence." I must have been feeling moody that year.

2006: My first year writing a Top 10 list for The Press. "United 93" slotted at No. 1 then, and I stand by the choice, even if it's something most of us never want to revisit.

2007: One of my favorite movie years, thanks to the likes of "There Will Be Blood," "Once," "Hot Fuzz," "Michael Clayton," "Zodiac" and my enduring favorite, Pixar's "Ratatouille."

2008: The comic-book nerd in me still says "The Dark Knight" edges Pixar's "WALL-E."

2009: Another Pixar gem, "Up."

2010: At the time I said "127 Hours," but who was I kidding? "Toy Story 3" is the capper to Pixar's unprecedented winning streak. Pixar is still good, but not "Toy Story 3" good.

2012: Wes Anderson back in the fold with "Moonrise Kingdom."

2013: The divisive "The Wolf of Wall Street," Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas" for Corporate America.

2014: It's still pretty early, but Wes Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel" stands the best chance to make the year-end list.

That's the 30 years. Assuming technology advances the way I hope

it does, here's to 90 more years of great cinema.

Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com.