We finally made it to 2021. I don’t know how we did it, but we did, and while we’re all eager to look forward, the point of this annual article is to gaze into the past. Plenty of notable films are having big anniversaries in 2021 from cult classics that found their audience to blockbusters that have stood the test of time. But they all have one thing in common: they will make you feel the inexorable march of time.
As a change of pace, I decided to cut off the anniversary list at 50 years, not because there weren’t notable anniversaries after 1971 (obviously there are) but because if we’re holding to the “to make you feel old”, no one who was seeing those 1971 movies in theaters needs to be made to feel their age. And if there are classics on these lists that you haven’t seen, 2021 is the perfect year to finally give them a spin.
10 Years
January 10 – The Green Hornet
January 24 – Sound of My Voice
January 24 – Take Shelter
March 2 – Rango
March 11 – Jane Eyre
March 24 – Sucker Punch
April 7 – Hanna
April 20 – Fast Five
May 6 – Thor
May 13 – Bridesmaids
June 3 – X-Men: First Class
June 10 – Super 8
June 17 – Green Lantern
June 24 – Cars 2
July 15 – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part II
July 22 – Captain America: The First Avenger
August 5 – Rise of the Planet of the Apes
September 16 – Drive
September 23 – Moneyball
September 30 – 50/50
October 21 – Martha Marcy May Marlene
November 18 – The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1
November 23 – Arthur Christmas
December 16 – Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
December 20 – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
15 Years
January 6 – Hostel
January 20 – High School Musical
February 24 – Running Scared
March 3 – Dave Chappelle’s Block Party
March 17 – V for Vendetta
March 17 – Thank You for Smoking
March 24 – Inside Man
March 31 – Slither
April 28 – United 93
May 5 – Mission: Impossible III
May 26 – X-Men: The Last Stand
June 9 – Cars
June 16 – The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
June 28 – Superman Returns
June 30 – The Devil Wears Prada
July 7 – Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
July 26 – Little Miss Sunshine
July 28 – Miami Vice
August 4 – Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
August 9 – World Trade Center
August 18 – Snakes on a Plane
September 1 – Crank
September 1 – Idiocracy
October 6 – The Departed
October 20 – The Prestige
October 20 – Marie Antoinette
November 3 – Borat
November 10 – Stranger Than Fiction
November 17 – Casino Royale
November 22 – The Fountain
December 25 – Children of Men
December 29 – Pan’s Labyrinth
20 Years
January 20 – L.I.E.
February 9 – Hannibal
March 16 – Memento
April 11 – Josie and the Pussycats
May 11 – A Knight’s Tale
May 18 – Shrek
June 1 – Moulin Rouge!
June 22 – The Fast and the Furious
June 29 – A.I. Artificial Intelligence
July 13 – Legally Blonde
July 20 – Ghost World
July 20 – Hedwig and the Angry Inch
July 27 – Planet of the Apes
July 27 – Wet Hot American Summer
August 10 – The Others
September 28 – Zoolander
October 5 – Training Day
October 12 – Mulholland Drive
October 26 – Donnie Darko
November 2 – Amélie
November 2 – The Man Who Wasn’t There
November 2 – Monsters, Inc.
November 16 – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
December 7 – Ocean’s Eleven
December 14 – The Royal Tenenbaums
December 19 – The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
December 21 – A Beautiful Mind
December 26 – Gosford Park
December 28 – Black Hawk Down
25 Years
January 17 – From Dusk till Dawn
February 16 – Happy Gilmore
February 21 – Bottle Rocket
March 8 – The Birdcage
March 8 – Fargo
April 12 – James and the Giant Peach
April 12 – Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy
May 3 – The Craft
May 10 – Twister
May 22 – Mission: Impossible
June 7 – The Rock
June 14 – The Cable Guy
June 21 – Eraser
June 21 – The Hunchback of Notre Dame
July 3 – Independence Day
July 19 – The Frighteners
July 19 – Trainspotting
August 9 – Escape from L.A.
September 20 – Big Night
October 4 – That Thing You Do
October 11 – The Long Kiss Goodnight
October 18 – Swingers
November 1 – Romeo + Juliet
November 15 – The English Patient
November 22 – Star Trek: First Contact
December 13 – Citizen Ruth
December 13 – Jerry Maguire
December 20 – Scream
30 Years
January 18 – White Fang
February 8 – L.A. Story
February 14 – The Silence of the Lambs
March 8 – New Jack City
March 22 – Defending Your Life
May 17 – What About Bob?
May 24 – Thelma & Louise
June 7 – City Slickers
June 14 – Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
June 21 – The Rocketeer
July 3 – Terminator 2: Judgment Day
July 12 – Boyz in the Hood
July 12 – Point Break
July 19 – Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey
August 22 – Barton Fink
September 20 – The Fisher King
October 9 – Homicide
October 18 – My Own Private Idaho
October 25 – Curly Sue
November 1 – The People Under the Stairs
November 13 – Cape Fear
November 22 – The Addams Family
November 22 – Beauty and the Beast
November 27 – Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse
December 6 – Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
December 11 – Hook
December 13 – The Last Boy Scout
December 20 – JFK
40 Years
January 14 – Scanners
February 11 – My Bloody Valentine
March 20 – Cutter’s Way
March 27 – Thief
April 4 – Nighthawks
April 10 – The Howling
April 10 – Knightriders
April 24 – Ms. 45
May 22 – Outland
May 29 – Poylester
June 12 – Clash of the Titans
June 12 – History of the World, Part I
June 12 – Raiders of the Lost Ark
June 19 – The Cannonball Run
June 19 – Superman II
June 26 – Stripes
July 10 – Escape from New York
July 10 – The Fox and the Hound
July 17 – Arthur
July 24 – Blow Out
August 7 – Heavy Metal
August 21 – An American Werewolf in London
August 28 – Body Heat
October 2 – Enter the Ninja
October 11 – My Dinner with Andre
October 30 – Halloween II
November 6 – Time Bandits
December 4 – Reds
December 20 – Chariots of Fire
50 Years
January 28 – 10 Rillington Place
March 10 – Get Carter
March 11 – THX 1138
April 23 – Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song
May 13 – Wake in Fright
May 18 – The Abominable Dr. Phibes
May 21 – Escape from the Planet of the Apes
May 28 – The Beguiled
June 18 – The Panic in Needle Park
June 24 – McCabe & Mrs. Miller
June 25 – Klute
June 30 – Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
July 1 – Walkabout
July 2 – Shaft
July 7 – Two-Lane Blacktop
July 16 – The Devils
July 21 – Murders in the Rue Morgue
August 1 – The Omega Man
September 28 – And Now for Something Completely Different
October 9 – The French Connection
October 22 – The Last Picture Show
October 23 – The Big Boss
October 29 – Duck, You Sucker! (aka A Fistful of Dynamite)
November 3 – Fiddler on the Roof
November 30 – Brian’s Song
December 19 – A Clockwork Orange
December 20 – Harold and Maude
December 23 – Dirty Harry
December 29 – Straw Dogs
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