2012 Films, By Grade

A | A- | B+ Cream of Crop
Amour (Michael Haneke) A- Review 
Bwakaw (Jun Lana) A-  Review
Beasts of the Southern Wild (Behn Zeitlin) A- Capsule   
Declaration of War (Valérie Donzelli) B+ 
End of Watch (David Ayer) B+
Farewell My Queen (Benoît Jacquot) B+ Review 
Holy Motors (Leos Carax) B+
Les Misérables (Tom Hooper) A-
Lincoln (Steven Spielberg) B+
Looper (Rian Johnson) B+ Review
The Loneliest Planet (Julia Loktev) B+ Review
Magic Mike (Steven Soderbergh) A-² Review
Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson) B+ Capsule  
No (Pablo Tarrain) A- Review 
Skyfall (Sam Mendes) B+  Review 
Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow) B+ 

B+ | B  Go see it!
21 Jump Street (Phil Lord & Chris Miller) B+ Review  
Anna Karenina (Joe Wright) B+
Avengers, The (Joss Whedon) B²  Review | Sequel Wishlist | In-Flight ReScreen
Bachelorette (Lesley Headland) B Beau's Take | Leslye Headland Guest Blog 
Blancanieves (Pablo Berger) B
Bullhead (Michael R Roskam) B+  
Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg) B Beau's Take  
Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino) B
Frankenweenie (Tim Burton) B+ original short | Capsule
Gayby (Jonathan Lipsicki) B+ Capsule | Interview  
The House I Live In (Eugene Jarecki) B+ 
Middle of Nowhere (Aya) B+
Paranorman (Chris Butler & Sam Fell) B 
Ted (Seth MacFarlane) B+ 

B | B - Of note
Argo (Ben Affleck) B 
Brave (Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman and Steve Purcell) B Capsule  
Caesar Must Die (Paolo & Vittorio Taviani) B 
Chronicle (Josh Trank) B-  
Damsels in Distress (Whit Stillman) B- 
Flight (Robert Zemeckis) B- Review
Ginger and Rosa (Sally Potter) B Podcast  
Hello I Must Be Going (Todd Louiso) B 
Hope Springs (David Frankel) B Capsule
I Want Your Love (Travis Mathews) B Interview
Miss Bala (Gerardo Naranjo) B Capsule  
The Paperboy (Lee Daniels) B-  Review 
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Stephen Chobsky) B
Prometheus (Ridley Scott) B Capsule 
A Royal Affair (Nikolaj Arcel) B
Rust & Bone (Jacques Audiard) B/B-
The Secret Life of Arrietty (Hiromasa Yonebayashi) B- Capsule
The Sessions (Ben Lewin) B Review 
Vito (Jeffrey Schwarz) B- Interview 

B- | C+ If it appeals to you, why not?
Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The (John Madden) B- Review  
Dark Knight Rises, The (Chris Nolan) B-/C+ Review 
Hitchcock (Sacha Gervasi) C+
Hunger Games (Gary Ross) B- Review  
The Invisible War (Kirby Dick) B-
Lawless (John Hillcoat) B- Review  
Pitch Perfect (Jason Moore) B- Capsule  
Le Tableau (Jean Francoise Laguionie) B- 

C+ | C  Meh. Missable. But not without worthwhile moments 
Any Day Now (Travis Fine) C
Beloved (Christophe Honore) C+ 
Bernie (Richard Linklater) C 
Dark Shadows (Tim Burton) C Review  
For a Good Time, Call... (Jamie Travis) C+ Capsule 
Haywire (Steven Soderbergh) C Review  
The Impossible (Juan Antonio Bayona) C+
John Carter (Andrew Stanton) C+ Review 
Keep the Lights On (Ira Sachs) C+ Capsule
Life of Pi (Ang Lee) C
Lola Versus (Daryl Wein) C 
Mirror Mirror (Tarsem) C Review  
Our Children (Joachim LaFosse) C+ Capsule 
Peace, Love and Misunderstanding (Bruce Beresford) C Capsule 
The Pirates! Band of Misfits (Peter Lord & Jeff Hewitt) C 
Rock of Ages (Adam Shankman) C Review  
Silver Linings Playbook (David O. Russell) C+ 
Snow White and the Huntsman (Rupert Sanders) C+² Review
Sparkle (Salim Akil) C Review  
Wreck It Ralph (Rich Moore) C+ 

C- | D+ No thank you
Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter (Timur Bekmambetov) D+  
Amazing Spider-Man, The (Marc Webb) C- Review  
Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye (Marie Losier) D+  
Compliance (Craig Zobel) C-Review 
Jeff, Who Lives At Home (Mark and Jay Duplass) D+ 
Joyful Noise (Todd Graf) C- 
People Like Us (Alex Kurtzman) C- Capsule 
Rise of the Guardians (Peter Ramsey) C-
Total Recall (Len Wiseman) C- Review 
This is 40 (Judd Apatow) C- 

D | D- | F Run Away!!!
Cloud Atlas (Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski, and Tom Tykwer) F
The Odd Life of Timothy Green (Peter Hedges) D- Capsule  
Premium Rush (David Koepp) D Capsule 
Quartet (Dustin Hoffman) D
Hit So Hard (P David Ebersole) D   
To Rome With Love (Woody Allen) D Review 

2011 Films, Graded

109 Films.
Last updated 05/31/12 | Links go to related writings when applicable.
Ordered Alphabetically by Grade | # = Multiple Viewings |  * = not yet released in theaters

12 extras were screened but not released (in preference order) The Last Summer of La Boyita, SuperClásico, Copacabana, Dog Sweat, Aardvark, Stranger Things, Take Me Home, Domaine, Pig, Summer of Goliath, Whirligig, and The Wolf Knife

Do Not Miss Them

Cream of Crop

A
The Artist d. Michel Hazanavicius [REVIEW, top ten list] 2
A Separation d. Asghar Farhadi [REVIEW, top ten list] 2

A/A-  
Beginners  d. Mike Mills [REVIEW, top ten list] 2
Drive d. Nicolas Winding Refn [REVIEW,  top ten list] 3
Martha Marcy May Marlene d. Sean Durkin [REVIEW, top ten list] 2 
Poetry d. Lee Chang-dong [REVIEW,  top ten list]
Weekend d. Andrew Haigh [brief thoughts, INTERVIEW, top ten list] 2

A-/B+
Bridesmaids d. Paul Feig  [top ten list] 3
Certified Copy d. Abbas Kiarostami [7 word review, top ten list] 2 
Melancholia d. Lars von Trier 2 [ top ten list] 2
Moneyball d. Bennett Miller [REVIEW, top ten list] 2
Shame d. Steve McQueen [10 word review, a private party, honorable mentions] 2
Young Adult d. Jason Reitman  [honorable mentions] 2

Recommended with Enthusiasm

B+
The Future d. Miranda July
Heartbeats d. Xavier Dolan [REVIEW] 2
The Housemaid d. [10 word review,  honorable mentions] 2
Jane Eyre d. Cary Fukunaga [PODCAST] 2
Margaret d. Kenneth Lonergan
Midnight in Paris d. Woody Allen [PODCAST, honorable mentions] 2
Pariah d. Dee Rees [honorable mentions]
The Tree of Life d. Terrence Malick [thoughts , honorable mentions]
Tuesday After Christmas d. Radu Muntean [7 word review] 

B+/B
The Arbor d. Clio Barnard 2
Potiche d. François Ozon [10 word review] 
Project NIM d. James Marsh [capsule] 2
Rango d. Gore Verbinski [10 word review] 2
Rise of the Planet of the Apes d. Rupert Wyatt [10 word review]
The Skin I Live In d. Pedro Almodovar [Ode to Art Direction] 2
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives d. Apichatopong "Joe" Weerathesakul [REVIEW]

B
Attack the Block d. Joe Cornish
Captain America: The First Avenger d. Joe Johnston [REVIEW]
Crazy Stupid Love d. Ficarra and Requa [thoughts]
The Help d. Tate Taylor [REVIEW] 3
Higher Ground d. Vera Farmiga [Interview]
Pina d. Wim Wenders [10 word review]
Rampart d. Oren Moverman [REVIEW, Interview] 2

Recommended with Reservations

B/B-
50/50 d. [REVIEW]
Arthur Christmas d. Sarah Smith
Carnage d. Roman Polanski  [REVIEW]
Coriolanus d. Ralph Fiennes 
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close d. Stephen Daldry
The First Beautiful Thing [La Prima Cosa Bella] d. Paolo Virzi [brief thoughts]
Fright Night d. Craig Gillespie [REVIEW]
Hugo d. Martin Scorsese [brief note, the filmmakers] 3
The Ides of March d. George Clooney [10 word review]
Kinyarwanda d. Alrick Brown
Like Crazy d. Drake Doremus
Making the Boys d. Crayton Robery [brief thoughts]
Meek's Cutoff d. Kelly Reichard [7 word review,  PODCAST]
Of Gods and Men d. Xavier Beauvois [7 word review]
One Lucky Elephant d. Lisa Leeman [capsule]  
The Robber d. Benjamin Heisenberg [brief thoughts]
Submarine d. Richard Ayoade 
Take Shelter d. Jeff Nichols
Troll Hunter d. André Øvredal
Tyrannosaur d. Paddy Considine 
Warrior d. Gavin O'Connor [REVIEW]
Water for Elephants d. Francis Lawrence [REVIEW]
Win Win d. Thomas McCarthy

Toss up. Surely some of you will like these more and less than I did.

B-/C+
Anonymous d. Roland Emmerich
The Adventures of Tintin d. Steven Spielberg 
Beautiful Boy d. Shawn Ku
A Better Life d. Chris Weitz
A Dangerous Method d. David Cronenberg [thoughts] 
The Eagle d. Kevin McDonald [REVIEW]
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo d. David Fincher   
Glee: The 3D Concert Movie d. Kevin Tancharoen [REVIEW]
Hanna d. Joe Wright
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 d. David Yates [REVIEW]
Love Crime d. Alain Corneau
The Muppets d. James Bobin
My Week With Marilyn d. Simon Curtis [REVIEW]
No Strings Attached d. Ivan Reitman
Our Idiot Brother d. [REVIEW]
Sons of Tennessee Williams d. Tim Wolff [capsule] 
Source Code d. Duncan Jones [10 word review] 
Super 8 d. JJ Abrams [Thoughts]
Thor d. Kenneth Branagh [REVIEW]
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy d. Tomas Alfredson
Transformers Dark of the Moon d. Michael Bay [10 word review]
We Are What We Are d. Jorge Michel Grau [7 word review]
X-Men: First Class d. Matthew Vaughn [REVIEW]

Not recommended

C+/C
Albert Nobbs d. Rodrigo García
Arthur d. Jason Winer [review]
Contagion d. Steven Soderbergh
Curling d. Denis Côté 
The Descendants d. Alexander Payne 
Happy Happy d. Anne Sewitsky
Happythankyoumoreplease d. Josh Radnor [capsule]
War Horse d. Steven Spielberg 
We Need to Talk About Kevin d. Lynne Ramsay 

C/C-
The Adjustment Bureau d. George Nolfi
Meet Monica Velour d. Keith Bearden [10 word review]
W.E. d. Madonna

C-/D+
The Immortals d. Tarsem
The Iron Lady d. Phyllida Lloyd 
Kaboom d. Gregg Araki [thoughts]
Nénette d. Nicolas Philibert [capsule]
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides d. Rob Marshall [REVIEW]
Vidal Sassoon the Movie d. Craig Teper

Make it stop

D+/D
Green Lantern d. Martin Campbell [REVIEW]
J Edgar d. Clint Eastwood [REVIEW]
The Other Woman d. Don Roos [review w/ comic strip!]
Septien d. Michael Tully  [10 word review]

D/D-
Abduction d. John Singleton [Thoughts, Worst of Year]
Beastly d. Daniel Barnz [Worst of Year]
Cars 2 d. John Lasseter & Brad Lewis [10 word review, Worst of Year]
I Am Number Four d. D.J. Caruso [capsule]
The Last Ride d. Harry Thomason 

F