Editorial: Exploring The Difference Between "Best" and "Favorite" Movies

In the article I wrote sharing my favorite films of 2015, I started with a caveat: the list contained my favorite movies of the year, not necessarily the ones I thought were the best. This morning, a friend of mine commented on a Facebook post in which I shared that list, saying that he thinks there shouldn't be a difference between the two categorizations. I've had discussions with people about this before, and I figured it might be a topic some of you would find interesting, so I want to jump into the reasoning behind my distinction of those two descriptions.

I'll start by pointing out something you've all heard a thousand times, but probably bears repeating: art is subjective, and the idea of ranking movies is inherently ridiculous. Every movie is made under a unique set of circumstances and from a unique set of perspectives, and films often aspire to be totally different things. An arthouse movie may hope to get the audience to examine the human condition, for example, while a Paul Blart movie obviously has different aims. I think we can all agree that putting two pieces of art side by side and judging them against each other is not an ideal scenario, but we do it all the time anyway.

Putting that aside, and assuming that we're all OK with ranking pieces of art that have no business being ranked, we come to the favorite vs. best argument. Again, this is all subjective and the definitions will come down to each individual person's preferences and outlooks, but I approach it like this: for a movie to make my list of personal favorites, it has to speak to me on a deep, specific level, impacting me in a way that few other things can. Furious 7 is a perfect example. I realize that it's not a universally loved film, and that a completely reasonable person could think that it's garbage and not worth their time. But for me, it works because of its sentimentality, its earnest mantras about family, and its balls-to-the-wall, ludicrous action sequences. Do I think Furious 7 is one of the best movies of 2015? Well, maybe in certain areas (those action scenes are really impressive), but not overall. I know it's flawed storytelling, but I happen to love it anyway.

When it comes to the best, I tend to look at things a little differently. Which movies feature standout combinations of writing, directing, performances, cinematography, production design, etc.? Which ones capture something about the zeitgeist and verbalize (or visualize) something that's hovering in the national consciousness? Which ones feature artists working at the top of their game, showing a mastery of their craft? To some degree, this is an ineffable, "I know it when I see it" type of situation.

The two categories are not mutually exclusive. A lot of times, depending on what you value in a film, there will be crossover between favorite and best. I think The Hateful Eight is a vital piece of cinema that features awesome performances, superb writing, and Quentin Tarantino firing on all cylinders, and there are a lot of things about that movie that tick personal boxes of aspects of love to see on film. Spotlight, on the other hand, features a lot of the same things: great performances from an excellent ensemble, solid writing, etc. But it's a tough movie to watch in a different way because of its real-world subject matter, so while I appreciate the film and think it ranks among the best movies of 2015, I wouldn't put it as one of my favorites because I don't see myself wanting to revisit it any time soon. (Rewatchability is an important thing for me.)

Maybe it all boils down to this: the movies you consider your favorites tell people something about you as a person, while the ones you think are the best tell something about you as a film lover.