2015 Films, By Grade

THEATRICALLY RELEASED FILMS ONLY
Title (Director)
Or View Alphabetically 
Last Updated 12/20/15 

A/A-
i.e. true favorites of the year

Brooklyn (John Crowley) Review
Carol (Todd Haynes) Reviewish
Ex Machina (Alex Garland) Review 
Inside Out (Pete Docter & Ronaldo Del Carmen)  Podcast
Mad Max Fury Road (George Miller) Review 
Room (Lenny Abrahamson)  Premiere Notes
Tangerine (Sean Baker)Review 

B+/B
also special

45 Years (Andrew Haigh) Capsule
'71 (Yann Demange) Review 
Animals  (Collin Schiffli) Making of
Appropriate Behavior (Desiree Akhavan) Review  
Cinderella (Kenneth Branagh) Review
Creed  (Ryan Coogler)
Clouds of Sils Maria² (Olivier Assayas) Jason's Review, Margaret's Take
Grandma (Paul Weitz) Nathaniel's Review, Joe's Review 
I'll See You In My Dreams (Brett Haley)  Blythe's Performance
It Follows (David Robert Mitchell)
The Martian (Ridley Scott)
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (Christopher McQuarrie)  Review 
Mustang (Denis Gamze Erguven)
Of Horses and Men (Benedikt Erlingsson) 
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch... (Roy Andersson) Review 
Sicario (Denis Vileneuve)
Spy (Paul Feig)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (JJ Abrams)
Steve Jobs (Danny Boyle) Review
Tom at the Farm (Xavier Dolan) Review 
Victoria (Sebastian Schipper)  First Thoughts
What We Do In The Shadows (Taiki Waititi & Jemaine Clement)

B
totally solid entertainments

Bridge of Spies (Steven Spielberg) Review
Dope (Rick Famuyiwa)  Capsule
Far From The Madding Crowd (Thomas Vinterberg) Review
Farewell Party, The (Tali Granit & Sharon Maymon) Review
Futuro Beach (Karim Äinouz) Review
Going Clear (Alex Gibney)
Labyrinth of Lies (Giulio Ricciarelli)  Review 
Man From U.N.C.L.E., The (Guy Ritchie) Review 
Red Army (Gabel Polsky)  
Ricki and the Flash (Jonathan Demme)  Review
Tab Hunter: Confidential (Jeffrey Schwarz)
Youth (Paolo Sorrentino) First Thoughts

B/B-
recommended with reservations

Assassin, The (Hou Hsaio-Hsien) Review
Avengers: Age of Ultron² (Joss Whedon)  Review and Podcast
Danish Girl, The (Tom Hooper) 
D Train, The (Jarrad Paul & Andrew Mogel) Review 
Diary of a Teenage Girl, The (Marielle Heller)  Michael's Review, Nathaniel's Take 
Gerontophilia (Bruce LaBruce) Review 
Last Five Years, The (Richard LaGravenese) Review  
Learning to Drive (Isabel Coixet) 
Love & Mercy (Bill Pohlad) Podcast
Magic Mike XXL (Gregory Jacobs)   Review, Podcast 
Nasty Baby  (Sebastian Silva) Capsule 
Paddington (Paul King) Brief Comment & Jose's Take
Pitch Perfect 2 (Elizabeth Banks)  Review 
Princess of France (Matías Piñeiro)  Capsule, Podcast
Sand Dollars (Israel Cárdenas & Laura Amelia Guzmán)  Review 
Saint Laurent (Bertrand Bonello) Review 
Southpaw (Antoine Fuqua) Podcast
Suffragette (Sarah Gavron) 
Stanford Prison Experiment, The (Kyle Patrick Alvarez)  Review  
Trainwreck (Judd Apatow) Podcast
Truth (James Vanderbilt) versus Spotlight

B-/C+
They have their moments

Ant-Man (Peyton Reed) Review, Podcast
The Big Short (Adam McKay) Review 
Blackhat  (Michael Mann) Review
By the Sea (Angelina Jolie) 
Charlie's Country  (Rolf de Beer) Review
Concussion (Peter Landesman)
Flowers (Jon Garaño & Jose Mari Goenaga)
Good Dinosaur, The (Peter Sohn)
Mr Holmes  (Bill Condon) 
New Girlfriend, The (François Ozon) Review 
A Little Chaos  (Alan Rickman) Review 
Song One (Kate Barker-Froyland) Capsule  
Tomorrowland (Brad Bird) Review 
Walk, The (Robert Zemeckis)  

C+/C
ehhhh...

Black Mass  (Scott Cooper) Reviewish
Boulevard (Dito Montiel)  Review 
Cooties  (Jonathan Milott) Glenn's Review 
Do I Sound Gay?  (David Thorpe) 
Electric Slide (Tristan Patterson) review
Every Secret Thing (Amy Berg) Review 
Jupiter Ascending (Andy & Lana Wachowski)  Podcast  
Jurassic World (Colin Trevorrow)
Maps to the Stars (David Cronenberg) Nathaniel's Review, Glenn's Take 
Strangerland (Kim Farrant)   Nathaniel's Review & Glenn's Take

C-/D+
No thank you

Fifty Shades of Grey (Sam Taylor-Johnson) Review
Hateful Eight, The (Quentin Tarantino)
Hot Pursuit (Anne Fletcher) Review
Infinitely Polar Bear (Maya Forbes) Review 
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Alfonso Gomez-Rejon) Michael's Review, Podcast 
Mistress America  (Noah Baumbach) 
Seventh Son, The (Sergey Bodrov) Podcast 
Terminator Genisys (Alan Taylor) Review
Woman in Gold (Simon Curtis) Thoughts I Had  

D/D-/F
oh god. make it stop

Chocolate City (Jean-Claude LaMarre) Review 
Fantastic Four (Josh Trank) Review 
In the Heart of the Sea (Ron Howard) 
Match (Stephen Belber) Review  
Stonewall (Roland Emmerich) Review
Voices, The (Marjane Satrapi) Capsule  

2014 Films, Alphabetically (With Grades)

114 released + 16 unreleased
Title (Director) Grade #of times seen if more than 1 
Alpha Order

THEATRICAL RELEASE

22 Jump Street (Phil Lord, Chris Miller) B-  Podcast 

Abuse of Weakness (Catherine Breillat) C Capsule 
American Sniper (Clint Eastwood) B-/C+ Brief Thoughts

Babadook, The (Jennifer Kent) B+ Interview, TOP TEN LIST
Bachelor Weekend, The (John Butler) C+ Review 
Bad Hair (Mariana Rondón) B+ Review, Honorable Mention
Begin Again (John Carney) B+³ Podcast, Interview, Honorable Mention
Belle (Amma Asante) C Capsule 
Beloved Sisters (Dominik Graf) B Review 
Beyond the Lights (Gina Prince-Blywood) B
Big Eyes (Tim Burton) C Open Thread
Big Hero 6 ²(Don Hall & Chris Williams) B- Review, Nathaniel's take 
Birdman (Alejandro G Innaritu) A³ Review, podcast, interview, TOP TEN LIST 
Book of Life, The (Jorge R Guttierez) C  
Boxtrolls, The (Graham Annable & Anthony Stacchi) B+  Reviewish, Laika's rise
Boyhood ² (Richard Linklater) A Review, podcast,  TOP TEN LIST

Cake (Daniel Barnz) B- FYC Surprise?, Best Actress Battle
Captain America: The Winter Soldier ³ (Anthony & Joe Russo) B+ Review, TOP TEN LIST
Chef (Jon Favreau) C
Child's Pose (Calin Peter Netzer) B+ Capsule  
Circle, The (Stefan Haupt) B Capsule, interview
Cold Lands, The (Tom Gilroy) C- Brief note 

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (Matt Reeves) B Podcast, reviewish, Interview
Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him & Her, The (Ned Benson) B+ Review, premiere
Divergent (Neil Burger) C Review

Edge of Tomorrow (Doug Liman) B+ Capsule
Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me (Chiemi Karasawa) B+ Review
Enemy (Denis Villeneuve) B Capsule
 

Face of Love, The (Arie Posen) C-
Fault in Our Stars, The (Josh Boone) C+ Review
Force Majeure (Ruben Ostlund) B+ Review,  Honorable Mention
Four Moons (Sergio Tovar Velarde) B-
Foxcatcher (Bennett Miller) B Review, 2nd Take, podcast 
Fury (David Ayer) B-

Gambler, The (Rupert Wyatt) C Review
GBF (Darren Stein) B 
Get On Up (Tate Taylor) C Review, Viola's cameo, Interview
Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, A (Ana Lily Amirpour) B+ 
Guardians of the Galaxy (James Gunn) C+ Review, list, interview
Godzilla (Gareth Edwards) B+ Review 
Gone Girl (David Fincher) B+⁴ Review, podcast, Honorable Mention, Interview, Guest Blog
Grand Budapest Hotel, The ²(Wes Anderson) B+ podcast, 2nd viewing, Honorable Mention

Happy Christmas (Joe Swanberg) B/B+ capsule
Hellion (Kat Candler) B- capsule
How To Train Your Dragon 2 (Dean DeBlois) B podcast & list 
Homesman, The (Tommy Lee Jones) B  Review, 2nd take, FYC cinematography
Humbling, The (Barry Levinson) C+

I Am Happiness on Earth (Julián Hernández) D+ Worst of Year
Ida ²(Pawel Pawlikoswki) A- TOP TEN LIST
Imitation Game, The (Morten Tyldum) B+² Review, 2nd take, podcast, party
Immigrant, The (James Gray) B- Marion's performance
Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson) C- Conversation, FYC Josh Brolin
Interior. Leather Bar (James Franco & Travis Mathews) D- 
Interstellar (Christopher Nolan) B Review, podcast
Into the Woods ² (Rob Marshall) B- Open Thread, Review, 2nd take

Jersey Boys (Clint Eastwood) D Review,  Worst of Year
Judge, The (David Dobkin) F Worst of Year

Kingdom of Dreams and Madness (Mami Sunada) B Review 

Land Ho! (Aaron Katz & Martha Stephens) B Glenn's Review
La Bare (Joe Manganiello) B-/C+ Review
LEGO Movie, The (Phil Lord, Chris Miller) B+ Review
Leviathan (Andrey Zvyagintsev) B+
Lilting (Hong Khaou) B Capsule, interview, monologue 
Listen Up Philip (Alex Ross Perry) B Review 
Loitering With Intent (Adam Rapp) C Review
Love is Strange ² (Ira Sachs) A- Review, TOP TEN LIST
Lucy (Luc Besson) C+ Podcast
 

Magic in the Moonlight (Woody Allen) D Capsule, Worst of Year
Maleficent (Robert Stromberg) C podcast 
Maze Runner, The (Wes Ball) C- Review, preview party
Miss Julie (Liv Ullman) C- Review, podcast, Interview
Missing Picture, The (Rithy Panh) A- 
Mommy (Xavier Dolan) A- Review, Glenn's take, TOP TEN LIST
Most Violent Year, A ² (JC Chandor) B Premiere, podcast, interview
Mr Turner (Mike Leigh) B Review, press conference, Interview
Muppets Most Wanted (James Bobin) B

Neighbors (Nicholas Stoller) B Review & podcast 
Nightcrawler (Dan Gilroy) B Review, podcast
Noah (Darren Aronofsky) B- podcast, interview
Nymphomaniac Vol. 1 (Lars von Trier) B- Michael's Review
Nymphomaniac Vol. 2 (Lars von Trier) C- Michael's Review

Obvious Child (Gillian Robespierre) B podcast & review, Interview
One I Love, The (Charlie McDowell) B- 
Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmusch) B+  Honorable Mention

Pioneer (Erik Skjoldbaerg) B+ Capsule 
Pride (Matthew Warchus) A² Review, interview, podcast, TOP TEN LIST

Railway Man, The (Jonathan Teplitzky) C+ brief note
Rover, The (David Michôd) C Podcast & Diana's review

Selma (Ava DuVernay) A- Podcast, premiere, party, TOP TEN LIST
Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks (Arthur Allen Seidelman) C
Skeleton Twins, The (Craig Johnson) B Brief thoughts
Snowpiercer(Bong Joon-ho) B+² Thoughts,  podcast,  Honorable Mention
Song of the Sea (Tomm Moore) B capsule, Margaret's Take
St. Vincent (Theodore Melfi) C+ Michael's Review
Still Alice (Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmoreland) B Review, podcast
Stranger by the Lake (Alain Guiraudie) B+² Review,  Honorable Mention

Tale of Princess Kaguya, The (Isao Takahata) B, Ghibli doc, Takahata appreciation
Tammy (Ben Falcone) C- Review
Test (Chris Mason Johnson) B capsule & interview & Glenn's take
That Awkward Moment (Tom Gormican) D 
Theory of Everything (James Marsh) B Review, podcast, Interview
Top Five (Chris Rock) C+ Brief thoughts
Two Days One Night (Dardenne Bros) B+ Review, marion's work 

Unbroken (Angelina Jolie) C+ FYC, interview
Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer) A² podcast, best shot, TOP TEN LIST

War Story (Mark Jackson) D capsule,  Worst of Year
Way He Looks, The (Daniel Ribeiro) B+ Capsule, interview 
We Are the Best (Lukas Moodyson) B+ Honorable Mention
Web Junkie (Hilla Medalia & Shosh Shlam) C+ capsule 
Whiplash (Damien Chazelle) B- Michael's Review, podcast, JK Simmons
Wild (Jean-Marc Vallée) B+ Review, interview, Honorable Mention
Wild Tales (Damian Szifron) A-/B+ Review  

X-Men Days of Future Past (Bryan Singer) B review

Young and Beautiful (François Ozon) B Capsule  

NO US DISTRIBUTION
Behavior (Ernesto Daranas) B+ Review 
Blind (Eskil Vogt) B+ Review
Cub (Jonas Govaerts) C- capsule
Gate, The (Regis Wargnier) B Review
Hill of Freedom (Hong Sang-soo) C+ Review
Life in a Fishbowl (Baldvin Zophoníasson) B Review
Ming of Harlem: Twenty One Storeys in the Air (Phillip Warnell) C+ Review
Out of Nature (Ole Giaever) B- Review
Der Samurai (Till Kleinert) B- Review 
Sea Fog (Shim Sung-bo) B-
Vara: A Blessing (Khyentse Norbu) B/B- Review
White Shadow (Noaz Deshe) B capsule