My thoughts on What Makes a Great Movie?
These are many movies watched after 2010 or so. Sortable Table. Earlier movies are listed in more movies.
My numeric rating changed inconsistently halfway through. I need to redo them all from text to be consistent. Plan:
- bad
- ok
- good
- very good
- great
- superb
Movie with a 5+ rating are all great. I don't think they could be made any better for what they are.
Movies with 1.0 rating more or less are generally not far apart in my mind. Movies with more than 1.0 difference are...different.
| Title | NRate | Rate | Date Seen | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downfall | 6 | Superb | 2014 05 | Hitler's Last Days. (Germany makes one great movie per decade.) |
| The Forsyte Saga | 6 | Superb | 2015 04 | One of the most captivating shows ever. Real characters, all flawed. |
| Making a Murderer | 6 | Superb | 2016 01 | An Instant Classic. However, don't believe everything you see. |
| Das Leben Der Anderen | 6 | Superb | 2007 04 | A slow but great movie. Enthralling. |
| No Country for Old Men | 6 | Superb | 2008 08 | Something new and great then...when Hollywood took risks. |
| Der Staat gegen Fritz Bauer | 6 | Superb | 2016 06 | Accurate. Interesting. Brillant. Near-perfect. Superb lead. (Unfortunately, second lead is invented.) NY Times Review |
| Glory | 6 | Superb | 1990 | As good as movies get! Why do we need Oscars-So-White? Our Black actors are better than our White ones! Actually, it used to be that Black movies were much better on average...no more. |
| The King (2019) | 6 | Superb | 2020 ??? | The best "medieval-ist" movie ever. Great script, acting, and music. Thx, Joel Edgerton. |
| Arrival | 6 | Superb | 2017 ??? | Smart SciFi at its Best. I want more... (Ted Chiang is great.) |
| Whiplash | 5.5 | Superb | 2022 | Brillant feature. Perfect JK Simmons and Miles Teller. |
| Icarus | 5.5 | Superb | 2021 ??? | Documentary of the Unexpected. Prescient. |
| 1883 (Series) | 5.5 | Superb | 2024 08 | The Yellowstone origin story is by far the best of the series |
| Pulp Fiction | 5.5 | Excellent | 2024 08 | 2nd time viewed. Still among the greatest movies ever made. |
| Open Range | 5+ | Excellent | 2008 04 | Western with great scenery, scenes and lines. Almost Film Noire. Similar to (and better) than the old classic High Noon (not as dated, though). |
| Snatch | 5+ | Excellent | 2008 04 | Next-best thing to Pulp Fiction. Funny |
| The Two Popes | 5+ | Excellent | 2021 | Clever, interesting, imaginative, well-acted. |
| The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | 5+ | Excellent | 2023 04 | Deep movie about the meaning of aging. Great all around. |
| The Reader | 5+ | Superb | 2024 08 | 2nd Time. One of my favorite movies ever. Deep all around |
| Oppenheimer | 5+ | Excellent | 2024 09 | True and interesting story, great acting, great script. Gave hope for smarter movies again...dashed the following year. |
| The Fall (2006) | 5 | Excellent | 2014 08 | Tarsem Singh. creative, innovative, spectacular visuals, rivaled only by "Dark City" |
| Lincoln | 5 | Excellent | 2014 08 | Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis is great. Great story, too. |
| Winged Migration | 5 | Excellent | 2014 08 | perhaps the most amazing nature documentary ever |
| Virunga | 5 | Excellent | 2015 02 | There are many heroes in Africa, not just bad guys |
| The Assets | 5 | Excellent | 2015 03 | Real story of US mole Aldrich Ames |
| Dirty Wars | 5 | Excellent | 2015 08 | Either the establishment is corrupt or incompetent |
| Silver Linings Playbook | 5 | Excellent | 2015 08 | Just as good as "the blind side," but way funnier. |
| The Blind Side | 5 | Excellent | 2015 08 | Homeless kid becomes NFL superstar --- real-world Oher is a lot smarter! |
| North and South | 5 | Excellent | 2015 10 | British industrialization and ethics, with few stereotypes |
| Narcos | 5 | Excellent | 2016 01 | Wagner Moura is magnificent. Well done. Close to real life |
| Blue Jasmine | 5 | Excellent | 2014 04 | Cate Blanchett steals the show |
| The Departed | 5 | Excellent | 2008 03 | Great Script. Well done |
| Carlos | 5 | Excellent | 2013 | Terrorist Carlos' amazing story |
| Dallas Buyer's Club | 5 | Excellent | 2014 | MacActor was great. Really. |
| The Handmaiden (2016) | 5 | Excellent | 2021 | Clever, beautiful cinematography, unexpected, just brilliant. (Korean) |
| AlphaGo_(film) | 5 | Excellent | 2021 ??? | Documentary about AI (computer science). Say what? Really! |
| The US and the Holocaust | 5 | Excellent | 2022 12 | One of Ken Burns' 3 Greats: The Civil War, Vietnam War, and this one. |
| Mrs. Brown | 4.5 | Excellent | 2014 04 | BBC style costume drama, not overplayed |
| The King's Speech | 4.5 | Excellent | 2014 04 | Oscar winner |
| Monk with a Camera | 4.5 | Excellent | 2015 04 | great movie about the philosophy of life, but not for everybody |
| Frida | 4.5 | Excellent | 2015 06 | Frida Kahlo |
| Seraphine | 4.5 | Excellent | 2015 06 | German housekeeper is magnificant painter, though mentally disturbed. Oscar-deserving for seraphine |
| What happened, Miss Simone | 4.5 | Excellent | 2015 08 | 2 Good documentary |
| A Most Wanted Man | 4.5 | Excellent | 2015 09 | A terrorist thriller in Hamburg that is not predictable. Philip Seymour Hoffman! |
| The Best Offer | 4.5 | Excellent | 2015 10 | Modestly predictable, but still quite Good |
| The Homesman | 4.5 | Excellent | 2015 10 | Tommie Lee Jones and Hilary Swank drive this, though she is too attractive for the role |
| Flame and Citron | 4.5 | Excellent | 2015 10 | Dutch Resistance |
| Blackthorne | 4.5 | Excellent | 2015 10 | What if the Sundance Kid had lived? Slow but Good |
| Elite Squad | 4.5 | Excellent | 2016 01 | 2 Good movie about Brazilian police, favellas, and corruption |
| Ken Burns Roosevelts | 4.5 | Excellent | 2016 02 | Great Documentary |
| 3 Burials of Melquides Estrada | 4.5 | Excellent | 2008 07 | Odd. Has some similarity to 'No Country for Old Men' in setting and actor |
| Layer Cake | 4.5 | Excellent | 2007 11 | Unpredictable. Smart and interesting. (PS: Also stylish.) |
| Night Falls on Manhattan | 4.5 | Excellent | 2008 06 | Undercover drama. Not as good as Serpico but still very good. |
| Thirteen Days | 4.5 | Excellent | 2008 07 | ...except for Costner's fake own role. Reality is often more interesting than invention |
| AI | 4.5 | Excellent | 2020 | Smart SciFi |
| Sicario | 4.5 | Great | 2021 | Noire |
| Conspiracy | 4.5 | Excellent | 2010 | History from Transcript. Wow! See also The Conclave. |
| The Conclave (2007) | 4.5 | Excellent | 2021 | History from Transcript. Wow! See also Conspiracy |
| The Whistleblower (2010) | 4.5 | Excellent | 2022 05 | Very tough story of women trafficking. |
| Amen | 4.5 | Very Good | 2022 09 | True story. Very depressing. Cast from "The Lives of Others" |
| Argentina 1985 | 4.5 | Very Good+. | 2022 10 | True story. People vs. Fritz Bauer is better, but this is no knock here. |
| Big Lebowski | 4.5 | Very good | 2023 | 2nd Time: Holds up. Goodman steals the show, as ever. |
| Tender Mercies | 4.5 | Very good | 2023 05 | Burnt-out cowboy singer, Robert Duvall |
| Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy | 4.5 | Very good | 2023 05 | One of Le Carre's best stories. As good as longer old BBC series |
| Attica | 4.5 | Very good | 2023 05 | Documentary of prison uprising |
| Colonel Redl | 4.5 | Very good | 2024 | Love the historic atmosphere and actor. True background. |
| Billions (Seasons 1-3) | 4.5 | Very good | 2024 | Well written! |
| And Justice for All | 4.5 | Very good to exc | 2024 02 | 2nd Time. Great script. Good acting |
| Requiem for a Dream | 4.5 | Excellent | 2024 07 | Very painful movie, but excellent. |
| Saltburn | 4.5 | Excellent | 2024 08 | Great script. Unexpected. |
| Character | 4.5 | Excellent | 2024 | Dutch film. Captivating |
| Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011) | 4+ | Great | 2021 | Modern Noire. Interesting mostly through, until it turns obvious. |
| The General | 4+ | Great | 2021 | Fritz Bauer, my hero |
| Dune (2021) | 4+ | Great | 2022 | Yes, Hollywood can tell good stories (at least from books from the 1960s). Better than first try (which had a good first half, though). |
| Delicious (French) | 4+ | Great | 2022 | Period piece, food, unpredictable. |
| Senna | 4 | Great | 2014 09 | Tragic |
| Generation War | 4 | Great | 2015 01 | I and II are great. III is ridiculous. Think "Band of Brothers" without the moral high ground |
| Robot and Frank | 4 | Great | 2015 01 | Two great actors, funny story |
| Croupier | 4 | Great | 2015 01 | British independent flick |
| The Wolf of Wall Street | 4 | Great | 2015 04 | but not as Good as, say, Margin Call |
| Lord of War | 4 | Great | 2015 08 | and depressing about arms merchants |
| The Green Prince | 4 | Great | 2016 03 | Great Documentary |
| American Hustle | 4 | Great | 2014 04 | Not predictable. Still funny |
| A Dry White Season | 4 | Great | 2008 09 | — and very depressing. Thankfully, no more Apartheid. |
| Lone Star | 4 | Great | 2007 10 | Tapestry of Texas murder story. Chris Cooper is great. Where have you gone, John Sayles? |
| Deep Cover | 4 | Great | 2008 08 | I like Fishburne. Why do we need Oscars-So-White? Our Black actors are better than our White ones! |
| Code Black | 4 | Great | 2016 08 | LA hospital healthcare documentary shows lots of what's wrong. |
| Kaestner and Little Tuesday | 4 | Great | 2021 | Seems like an accurate Nazi story. Well directed. |
| The Last Tycoon (1976) | 4 | Great | 2021 | Elegantly understated. Young DeNiro. |
| The Hunt (2012) | 4 | Great | 2021 | not what I had expected. Mads Mikkelson is always great. |
| Black Book | 4 | Great | 2021 | Good story about Nazi-occupied Holland |
| The Sound of Metal | 4 | Great | 2021 | Great Indie film about hearing loss |
| The Scientology Movie | 4 | Great | 2021 | Imaginative fun poking at an evil organization. |
| The Last Narc | 4 | Great | 2021 | Wonder if story about Kiki C. is true |
| The Hundred-Foot Journey | 4 | Great | 2022 | Fun story. Not predictable, thus interesting. |
| Sardhar Udham | 4 | Great | 2022 | Historically accurate. Depressing Brits were no saints. |
| The Innocents (French-Polish) | 4 | Great | 2022 | Slow, depressing story of raped nuns in WW2 |
| Road to Perdition | 4 | Great | 2022 | Very well done--though predictable. occasionally unbelievable & stupid, too |
| The Fighter | 4 | Great | 2022 | Good, interesting boxer story from low-class Boston |
| Journey's End | 4 | Great | 2022 06 | What "1917" should have been — depressing. |
| Bloody Sunday | 4 | Great | 2022 06 | Great Quasi-Documentary. Aged well. Great Sync. |
| Succession, Seasons 1.5 | 4 | Great | 2021 | Fresh Funny |
| Trumbo | 4 | Great | 2020 ??? | Cranston is great. Story is great...and, better yet, mostly true. Best scene was John Goodman's. |
| Mr. Church | 4 | Great | 2018 ??? | Lovely Quiet Movie. Eddie Murphy is great in a Morgan-Freeman type role. |
| Walk on Water | 4 | Great | 2004 ??? | Not obvious. |
| Monsier Lazhar | 4 | Very good | 2022 10 | No clear point, but wonderful story. |
| The Motorcycle Diaries | 4 | Very good | 2022 10 | Che Guevara's part autobiography. |
| Ordinary People | 4 | Very good | 2022 12 | Parents with Suicidal Kid |
| The Limey | 4 | Very good | 2024 08 | Revenge tale with British twist |
| The Ninth Day | 4 | Very good. | 2024 09 | Luxembourg Catholic Priest at Auschwitz. Harrowing |
| Guy Ritchie's The Covenant | 4 | Very good | 2024 | Afghan Translator after war |
| The Batman | 4 | Very Good | 2024 | If I liked this genre in general, my rating would be even higher. |
| Religulous | 4 | Very good | 2024 | I like Bill Maher's humor. Loved the old Catholic priest at the Vatican. |
| Apt Pupil | 4 | Very good | 2024 | I liked this movie more than many others did. Of course not as good as the Usual Suspects |
| 24 Hour Party People | 4 | Very good | 2024 | completely unusually made movie about British music (esp New Order) |
| To Play The King (Season) | 4 | Very good | 2024 | Love the universe of Francis U. |
| Interview with the Vampire | 4 | Very good | 2024 01 | Great cinematography. |
| Headhunters | 4 | Very good | 2024 | Great Norwegian Film, clever script, unexpected. |
| Max Manus: Man of War | 4 | Very good | 2024 02 | Interesting docudrama |
| Licorice Pizza | 4 | Very good | 2024 03 | Funny coming-of-age story |
| The 12th Man | 4 | Very good | 2024 | British agents in Norway under Nazis |
| Kokomo City | 4 | Excellent | 2024 04 | Real trans sex workers can be funny! |
| Absence of Malice | 4 | Excellent | 2024 07 | One of Newman's best. Great script |
| War and Peace (8 Episodes, 2016) | 4 | Very good | 2024 07 | Tolstoy, lush filming. |
| Fried Green Tomatoes | 4 | Very good | 2024 08 | Lovely "Southern" movie with great cast |
| Monster | 4 | Excellent | 2024 | Charlize Theron was magnificent! |
| Sicario 2 | 4 | Very good | 2024 | Film Noir. |
| Eastern Promises | 4 | Very good | 2024 08 | Low budget, great script and acting |
| 12.12: The Day | 4 | Very good | 2024 12 | 1979 Korean Coup d'Etat. Trouble telling all Korean soldiers apart. |
| Edge of Tomorrow | 4 | Very good | 2025 01 | I usually hate time-travel movies, but this is really good. |
| Kilo Two Bravo (2014, British) | 3.5 | Very Good | 2016 | Very good, but also very painful to watch. |
| Happy People: A Year in the Taiga | 3.5 | Very Good | 2014 04 | Herzog documentary about Siberian life |
| Blackfish | 3.5 | Very Good | 2014 05 | Sea World...it's a whale, not a fish |
| The Whale | 3.5 | Very Good | 2014 05 | Self-tamed Killer Whale in Vancouver |
| Marley | 3.5 | Very Good | 2014 05 | PBS style documentary |
| All the Pretty Horses | 3.5 | Very Good | 2014 06 | Good film from the book |
| Gideon's Army | 3.5 | Very Good | 2014 08 | documentary about public defenders in the criminal justice system |
| The Unknown Known | 3.5 | Very Good | 2014 08 | Good PBS-style documentary about Donald Rumsfeld |
| K-19: The Widowmaker | 3.5 | Very Good | 2014 09 | Harrison Ford as a Russian sub captain |
| Codebreaker | 3.5 | Very Good | 2014 09 | Alan Turing |
| Spiral (Season 4) | 3.5 | Very Good | 2014 10 | French answer to the wire |
| The Decent One | 3.5 | Very Good | 2015 01 | Himmler, wow |
| Automata | 3.5 | Very Good | 2015 01 | Standard sci-fi fare, but well executed |
| The Great Train Robbery | 3.5 | Very Good | 2015 04 | nice recreation |
| The Honorable Woman | 3.5 | Very Good | 2015 05 | fine line between clever and unbelievable |
| An Honest Liar | 3.5 | Very Good | 2015 08 | Debunker of magicians has illegal immigrant spouse |
| Rounders (1998) | 3.5 | Very Good | 2016 05 | Literary. Loser Gambling. Unpredictable. |
| Killing Them Softly | 3.5 | Very Good | 2016 05 | Literary. |
| Los Angeles: Skid Row is my Home | 3.5 | Very Good | 2015 08 | and depressing |
| A Gang Story | 3.5 | Very Good | 2015 10 | French movie about mobster history. Noir |
| Night Crawler | 3.5 | Very Good | 2015 10 | Creepy guy becomes freelance night reporter and manipulates crime scenes. Noir |
| Above and Beyond | 3.5 | Very Good | 2015 10 | The beginning of the Israeli Air Force |
| Whitey: USA v James Bulger | 3.5 | Very Good | 2015 10 | Great documentary. Corrupt Boston police |
| The Wind that Shakes the Barley | 3.5 | Very Good | 2015 08 | A bit boring and slow at times |
| Wallander (Brit) | 3.5 | Very Good | 2014 07 | Boring murder mysteries, but great ambience. The original Skandinavian version was disappointing. |
| Nuremberg: Nazis on Trial | 3.5 | Very Good | 2015 11 | Recreates Nuremberg trials by testimony, mixed with footage |
| Best of Enemies | 3.5 | Very Good | 2015 11 | William F Buckley Jr and Vidal Gore. See also "Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia" |
| Jane Eyre | 3.5 | Very Good | 2015 11 | At times, illogical, but still very good |
| Kids for Cash | 3.5 | Very Good | 2016 01 | Documentary |
| Beasts of No Nation | 3.5 | Very Good | 2016 01 | Idris Elba and the child are great. Very depressing |
| Peaky Blinders, I and II | 3.5 | Very Good | 2016 02 | Slow episodes in between, but overall enjoyable |
| 12 Years a Slave | 3.5 | Very Good | 2014 06 | ...but also very painful. Not a fun afternoon. (Only the Holocaust was worse.) Why did more slaves not kill their masters?? Abolition was not justice: we should have instead made the white slavers the slaves and the former slaves their masters |
| The Way Back | 3.5 | Very Good | 201? | true story of escape through Siberia |
| The Book Thief | 3.5 | Very Good | 2014 06 | don't expect a lot of action. very literary |
| Of Miracles and Men | 3.5 | Very Good | 201? | The greatest sport event ever...from the U.S. perspective, of course. |
| American Gangster | 3.5 | Very Good | 2012 | Fake due to distortions. True story would have been better. |
| Good Night and Good Luck | 3.5 | Very Good | 2008 07 | Almost better classified as a documentary |
| Nowhere in Africa | 3.5 | Very Good | 2008 09 | Interesting life story of Jewish-German refugees. Deserved Oscar for best foreign film |
| Parenthood | 3.5 | Very Good | 2008 | Poignant and funny. Tough to be cerebrally funny — yet Steve Martin films often are. Great cast |
| Gone Baby Gone | 3.5 | Very Good | 2008 09 | Finally, a Hollywood w/o a happy ending! |
| Body Heat | 3.5 | Very Good | 2008 08 | Cult classic. Clever. Bit too much. |
| Ex Machina | 3.5 | Very Good | 2016 08 | Much much better than the Netflix attempt Uncanny |
| The Hunter | 3.5 | Very Good | 2016 08 | Interesting (non-sensible) story of New Zealand and a hunter |
| The Reluctant Fundamentalist | 3.5 | Very Good | 2016 08 | End too obvious, but otherwise interesting story of Pakistanis caught in 9/11 |
| The Auschwitz Report (2021) | 3.5 | Very Good | 2020 | True story that Allies could have easily but did not stop Auschwitz. |
| Invictus | 3.5 | Very Good | 2020 | South African rugby underdog story, nicely told |
| Greenbook | 3.5 | Very Good | 2021 | Not deserving to win an Oscar, but good |
| Casino Royale (2006) | 3.5 | Very Good | 2021 | Unusually good for Bond genre |
| Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas | 3.5 | Very Good | 2021 | Inconsistent. Boring at start. Better later. Somewhat irrational at times. |
| Cold War (Czech 2018) | 3.5 | Very Good | 2021 | Stunning B-W cinematography |
| Tim Roth Made in Britain | 3.5 | Very Good | 2021 | Lovely (=irony) characters |
| The Believer | 3.5 | Very Good | 2021 | Gosling's great as a Jewish Nazi |
| Hail Caesar | 3.5 | Very Good | 2021 | Uneven, but some truly very funny scenes making it worth it.. |
| Cromwell (1970) (1970) | 3.5 | Very Good | 2021 | Way Overacted. |
| 10 Rillington Place | 3.5 | Very Good | 2021 | Serial killer, little dated now. |
| The Tracker | 3.5 | Very Good | 2021 | Australian Outback Western |
| Bigger, Stronger, Faster | 3.5 | Very Good | 2021 | Steroids are not that bad... |
| A Taxi Driver | 3.5 | Very Good | 2021 | interesting story if true |
| Ida | 3.5 | Very Good | 2021 | Slow but good. Polish nun learns about her own background. |
| Dangerous Moves | 3.5 | Very Good | 2021 | Interesting character studies of world chess champion players |
| Taken | 3.5 | Very Good | 2021 | Predictable, but very good for genre |
| The Angel (2018) | 3.5 | Very Good | 2021 | Interesting Egyptian spy, but should have been 100% true — why mess up a great story? |
| Big Fish | 3.5 | Very Good | 2021 | Burton's Imagination — don't send him to a good psychiatrist |
| The German Doctor | 3.5 | Very Good | 2021 | An imagined Mengele story |
| The Fencer | 3.5 | Very Good | 2021 | Understated story about post-WW2 Estonia |
| A Song for Europe | 3.5 | Very Good | 2021 | Scapegoating — Swiss look real nasty |
| The Bourne Ultimatum | 3.5 | Very Good | 2022 | Cut above (predictable) genre. Mindless fun entertainment. |
| The Tender Bar | 3.5 | Very Good | 2022 | OK story. Good acting. Competent. |
| Vast of Night | 3.5 | Very Good | 2022 | Great (cinematography) for low budget. Otherwise, soso. Predictable. |
| Lore (German Movie) | 3.5 | Very Good | 2022 | Strange story of 1945 post-Nazi Germany children. |
| Jack Reacher | 3.5 | Very Good | 2022 | Predictable standard fare, but well done. Sometimes clever. |
| Cast Away | 3.5 | Very Good | 2022 | Too predictable Robinson Crusoe story, but well done.. |
| Sweet Country (Australian) | 3.5 | Very Good | 2022 | I love aboriginal Westerns |
| The Hero | 3.5 | Very Good | 2022 | Sam Elliott, nicely understated, existential dread. |
| Wrath of Man | 3.5 | Very Good | 2022 | Standard fare, but well executed. |
| The Dark Knight | 3.5 | Very Good | 2022 08 | As Good As These Superhero Movies Get |
| A Most Violent Year | 3.5 | Very Good | 2022 09 | A tiny bit slow, but a good, interesting, and unpredictable story. |
| Nightmare Alley | 3.5 | Very good | 2022 09 | Spectacular directing/cinmatography/acting. Great Inventiveness. Story good but not great. |
| Our Man in Tehran (Frontline) | 3.5 | Good | 2022 09 | Believable portrait of Iran. |
| Pusher I/II/III | 3.5 | Very Good | 2022 06 | Simple and raw. 3 Stories in same place. Interesting watching. |
| Elusive Justice: The Search for Nazi War Criminals | 3.5 | Good | 2022 10 | Interesting documentary. Shocking public post-war. Why did my father not help hunt them down? |
| A Hijacking | 3.5 | Very good | 2022 11 | Danish negotiating with ship hijackers |
| The Invisibles | 3.5 | Very good | 2022 12 | Part documentary, part movie: Jews hiding in Berlin |
| Lucky Number Slevin | 3.5 | Very good | 2023 | Clever and strange script |
| Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind | 3.5 | Very good | 2023 02 | Please don't erase this movie from my brain |
| Allied | 3.5 | Very good | 2023 | Is Pitt's wife a German spy? |
| Creed | 3.5 | Very good | 2023 03 | resurrected the Rocky movies. |
| The Giant Killer: Finding Flaherty | 3.5 | Very good | 2023 | shortest Marine soldier (then homeless) documentary |
| Old Henry | 3.5 | Very good | 2023 03 | Nice Western, mostly logical |
| In Order of Disappearance | 3.5 | Quite Good | 2023 | Love Stellan Skarsgard |
| Ghosts of Beirut | 3.5 | Good | 2023 | Mossad Hunt for Palestinian bomber |
| Jesse Stone (various) | 3.5 | Good to Very Good | 2023 03 | A series of very good movies with Selleck. Moody. |
| Match Point | 3.5 | Quite good | 2023 05 | Crime story with interesting ending |
| The Fabelmans | 3.5 | Good+ | 2023 05 | Cute autobiography by Spielberg |
| Payback | 3.5 | Quite good | 2024 | Nice director's cut. |
| American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally | 3.5 | Good+ | 2023 12 | Not greatly memorable, though I can't figure out why I didn't like this more. |
| Only lovers left alive | 3.5 | Very good | 2024 01 | An unusual vampire movie --- think "vampires in the art scene" |
| End of Watch | 3.5 | Good to Very Good | 2024 | Good cop film |
| Salmon Fishing in the Yemen | 3.5 | Good | 2024 04 | Charming cutsie story after a (bizarre idea of a) novel |
| The Railway Man | 3.5 | Very good | 2024 09 | British prisoner of Japanese comes back to confront his tormenter |
| Dredd | 3.5 | Quite Good | 2024 10 | If I liked this genre in general, my rating would be even higher. |
| Francis Ha | 3.5 | Very good | 2024 12 | Very charming. Story of young people in NYC. |
| Red Riding | 3.5 | Very good | 2024 12 | Trilogy of murders |
| Of Gods and Men | 3.5 | Very good | 2024 12 | True story of Franciscan monks in Algeria |
| Traitor | 3.5 | (Very) good | 2025 01 | Underground Somali agent, well done |
| The Interrogation | 3+ | Good | 2021 | True or Fake? Interesting, anyway. Not overdone |
| Embrace of the Serpent | 3+ | Good | 2021 | A foreign world in the Amazon |
| Experimenter | 3 | Good | 2016 | (Milgram Experiments.) Good. |
| The Big Short (2015) | 3 | Very Good | 2016 | Problem: I know too much about the subject. Margin Call is a more accurate and better movie, though. |
| Inside Man | 3 | Good Plus | 2008 | Clever, fun to watch. Unbelievable over-the-top Hollywood, of course |
| Taxi Driver | 3 | Good | 2008 09 | ...but not excellent IMHO. De Niro is lovely, though. |
| Far From Men | 3 | Good | 2021 | Love the Algerian landscape and acting. Story is so-so. |
| Day of the Falcon | 3 | Good | 2021 | Love the cinematography |
| The Door (2009) | 3 | Good | 2021 | Trodden German SciFi (Mikkelson). Yes, he speaks perfect German. |
| The Assignment (1997) | 3 | Good | 2021 | Entertaining BS about lookalike to terrorist |
| Gett: The Trial | 3 | Good | 2021 | Would be better in a theater |
| I Dream in Another Language | 3 | Good | 2021 | Interesting story about Amazon families |
| Knives Out | 3 | Good | 2021 | Forced, pretentious. |
| The Electric World of Luis Swain | 3 | Good | 2021 | End parts are more unexpected, which is good. |
| The Courier | 3 | Good | 2021 | Bit Boring |
| Inside Lewyn Davis | 3 | Good | 2022 | Folk music singer odyssey, NYC Village. Interesting. |
| Biutiful | 3 | Good | 2022 | Not sure what this movie was about... |
| Sea Gypsies | 3 | Good | 2022 | Documentary about crazy sailors |
| Oblivion | 3 | Good | 2022 | 2nd Time: Predictable sci-fi fare (Tom Cruise), though nicely executed. |
| The Great Dispatch | 3 | Very good | 2022 09 | Humor is very idiosyncratic. You may like this (like I) or find it just bad. Amazing cast. |
| Ashe | 3 | Very good | 2022 09 | Documentary on super-great and super-smart (UCLA!) tennis player |
| King Richard | 3 | Very good | 2022 09 | Richard Williams, father of Venus and Serena. Strange dude. |
| South Bureau Homicide | 3 | Good | 2022 09 | Los Angeles PD Documentary |
| Scapegoat | 3 | Good | 2022 10 | Doubles. A bit predictable and not deep, but enjoyable. |
| Mr. Jones (2019) | 3 | Good | 2022 09 | Good true docudrama about Ukraine's famine under Stalin. |
| Colonel Redl | 3 | Good | 2022 10 | Historically badly incorrect. Otherwise enjoyable. |
| Queen Margot | 3 | Good | 2022 10 | Great cinematography. Ok story-telling, Alexandre Dumas style. Ehh... |
| The Square | 3 | Good | 2022 12 | Weird Swedish art scene. Funny to me. YMMV. |
| Mesrine: Killer Instinct | 3 | Good | 2022 12 | French nutcase being hunted down |
| Timecrimes | 3 | Good | 2024 08 | Ok time travel story...bit complex |
| Air | 3 | Good | 2024 | Nike shoe story |
| Transit | 3 | Good | 2024 08 | Weird Nazi half-modern fleeing story in France |
| Before the Devil Knows You're Dead | 3 | Good | 2024 08 | Good. Heist goes wrong. |
| The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial | 3 | Good | 2024 01 | Not as great a script as needed for a theater type movie |
| Pacto De Fuga | 3 | good | 2024 | Mass escape from Chilean prison. |
| Judas and the Black Messiah | 3 | Good | 2024 03 | Seen better movie in this genre, but was ok. |
| The Drop | 3 | Good | 2024 | Nice low budget movie with a good script. |
| Clerks | 3 | Good | 2024 04 | Lowest budget film ever, and nothing really happens, but interesting enough to watch anway. |
| Sin City | 3 | Good | 2024 | Nice acting / animation |
| Lion | 3 | Good | 2024 08 | Orphan Indian lost, adopted, returns. |
| All the King's Men | 3 | Good | 2024 | Amateur British Soldiers Slaughtered on Dardenelles |
| Manhunter | 3 | Good | 2024 | Predecessor to Silence of the Lambs. Outdone by successor |
| The Guardian | 3 | Good | 2024 09 | Costner flick: Better like swimming! |
| Passengers | 3 | Good | 2024 09 | I love scifi, and this one was good with nice dilemmas. |
| The Menu | 3 | Good | 2024 09 | What a strange flick. Worth it for some weird moments. |
| Walking With Destiny | 3 | Good | 2024 11 | Churchill documentary --- how can one go wrong? |
| T2 Trainspotting | 3 | Good | 2024 11 | Nicish entertaining, but obviously not as fresh as #1 |
| Jerichow | 3 | Quite Good | 2024 12 | Nice small-scale German movie. |
| Blue Ruin | 3 | Good | 2024 12 | Low budget revenge thriller, nicely done |
| Reign Over Me | 3 | Good | 2024 12 | Nice story and script. Good acting. |
| Mr. Bates vs the Post Office (Miniseries) | 3 | Good | 2024 12 | Accurate story, good acting. Not super-great story. |
| I saw the devil | 3 | Good | 2025 01 | Korean revenge cat-and-mouse horror flick |
| City of Industry | 2.5-3 | Good Plus | 2008 | Great revenge story among thieves. Again, clever and not obvious what will happen next |
| 3:10 to Yuma | 2.5 | Good | 2008 09 | Ridiculous behavior of the bad-guy (Russell Crowe), but well-crafted |
| Lonesome Dove | 2.5 | Good | 2008 10 | For a TV series from this era, excellent. |
| Harper | 2.5 | Good Plus | 2008 06 | Paul Newman private eye flick |
| Office Space | 2.5 | Good Plus | 2008 07 | Some funny scenes. Worthwhile spoof |
| Adaptation | 2.5 | Good Plus | 2008 07 | Weird postmodern flick |
| Blood Diamond | 2.5 | Good Plus | 2008 09 | A bit contrived, but topical and good setting. Also very depressing |
| Four Brothers | 2.5 | Good Plus | 2008 06 | |
| Outback Rabbis | 2.5 | Good to OK | 2021 | Hail Chabad, the true but charming crazies. |
| Hidalgo | 2.5 | Good to OK | 2021 | A bit ridiculous. Love the desert, though. |
| Burn After Reading | 2.5 | Good to OK | 2021 | Forced humor, wasted great cast and directors |
| Apocalypto | 2.5 | Good to OK | 2021 | Bloody horror flick, not much else |
| Saul and Ruby's | 2.5 | Good to OK | 2021 | Somewhat boring story but of interesting old Holocaust musicians. |
| One Night in Miami | 2.5 | OK to Good | 2021 | Overrated and pretentious. |
| Germinal | 2.5 | Good to OK | 2022 | Overplayed, not that interesting French fare. Historical setting ok. |
| Ghengis Khan -- Rider of the Apocalypse | 2.5 | OK to Good | 2022 | Cheap reenactment, but well-done. |
| 1917 | 2.5 | OK to Good | 2022 | Great Cinematography. Stupid behavior all around (drop msg via airplane and don't walk in front of guns if you can walk on the other side.) Watch Journey's End instead. |
| The Train | 2.5 | OK to Good | 2022 | Spectacular explosions, but ridiculous behaviors/deaths. Shot people die without screams? |
| You Were Never Really Here | 2.5 | Uneven | 2022 | Uneven. Great aspects, but also non-sensical ones. |
| The Last Duel | 2.5 | OK | 2022 | Repetitive, Boring. And I love history... Watch 'The King' instead. |
| Deadwood: The Movie | 2.5 | OK | 2022 08 | Slow but Boring. Watch 'Open Range' instead. |
| Mank | 2.5 | OK | 2020 ??? | Just boring. Hollywood Masturbation. Compare to Trumbo. |
| Thirteen Lives | 2.5 | OK | 2022 08 | Not much there. Kids got rescued. Cave diving is hard. OK. |
| No Time To Die | 2.5 | OK | 2022 08 | Previous Bond was much better. Bit pretentious. Parody of itself. |
| Top Gun Maverick | 2.5 | OK | 2023 03 | Ridiculous plot. Some bad flying, some good flying. |
| Tropic Thunder | 2.5 | Good | 2024 03 | Not my cup of tea for humor, but had its funny moments |
| Kinky Boots | 2.5 | Okish | 2024 05 | Premise is funnier than execution. |
| The Big Heat | 2.5 | Okish | 2024 07 | Good in its time, but hasn't held up great. Ridiculous plot. |
| The Crow | 2.5 | Meh - ok | 2024 | Please like this? With a good story, acting and cinematography wouldn't have been wasted. |
| Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind | 2.5 | Meh - ok | 2024 07 | Why was this such a hit?? |
| Phoenix | 2.5 | Good | 2024 12 | Nice atmosphere. Bit hard to believe. |
| Michael Collins | 2.5 | Good | 2024 12 | Docudrama of Irish resistance hero |
| Dune Part II | 2.5 | Good | 2024 12 | The first part of the story is just much better. |
| Django Unchained (2013) | 2 | Good | 2016 | OK Spaghetti Western. QT has made worse but also a lot better (Pulp Fiction!) |
| Killing Them Softly (2012) | 2 | Good | 2016 | Good. Not predictable. Nice Ending. |
| Following (1998) | 2 | Good | 2016 | Quite Good Budget Movie. Early Nolan Noir. |
| Into the White | 2 | Good | 2016 | OK |
| Cartel Land | 2 | Good | 2016 | Protection against cartels in MX |
| All is illuminated | 2 | Good | 2022 07 | Weird, partly in a good and partly in not a good way. |
| Bernie | 2 | Good | 2014 04 | Black humor |
| Spies of Mississippi | 2 | Good | 2014 09 | Good standard PBS fare about the FBI in the 1960s |
| Appropriate Adult | 2 | OK to Good | 2014 11 | High expectations too easily disappointed. Gloucester murderer being interviewed |
| Skyfall | 2 | OK to Good | 2015 01 | ...for James Bond fare. nice scenes and ambience. stupid, like always |
| The Man Nobody Knew: William Colby | 2 | Good | 2015 01 | Standard PBS fare |
| Reel Injun | 2 | Good | 2015 01 | Standard PBS fare |
| The Walking Dead | 2 | Good | 2015 01 | Not bad for a zombie flick. Please, watch only Season 1 |
| 20 feet from Stardom | 2 | Good | 2015 03 | PBS fare for music junkies |
| Khodorkovsky | 2 | Good | 2015 04 | Good PBS fare |
| Europa Report | 2 | Good | 2015 04 | Aliens, oh my Good! |
| Low Winter Sun | 2 | Good | 2015 04 | fine line between clever and unbelievable |
| Carl Panzram | 2 | Good | 2015 08 | standard PBS documentary episode |
| The Man in the High Castle | 2 | Good | 2016 02 | Great atmosphere. At times illogical. Distortion of book |
| Beaufort | 2 | Good | 2014 03 | Weird Israeli movie. Apparently realistic (from someone who was there). |
| Gravity | 2 | Good | 2014 04 | Not realistic. Predictable |
| Notorious | 2 | Good | 2014 04 | White-wash of Notorious B.I.G. rapper. Still funny |
| The Debt | 2 | Good | 2016 08 | but not great. story was a bit flat and predictable. |
| God's Pocket | 2 | Good | 2016 08 | but not great. not captivating |
| Appaloosa | 2 | Good | 2014 05 | but not great. too predictable short-run, although long-run story is less predictable |
| BSG: The Plan | 2 | Good | 2014 05 | but only for BSG afficianados. You have to have seen the series, or this movie makes zero sense |
| Bob Marley | 2 | Good | 2014 05 | ...but skip the first 30 minutes |
| Cocaine Cowboys | 2 | Good | 2014 06 | low-budget fun-to-watch documentary |
| There will be blood | 2 | Good | 2008 09 | Literary adaptation of a Misanthrop |
| Sleepy Hollow | 2 | Good | 2008 07 | I generally don't like supernatural horror flicks, and this is one ridiculous movie. Nice Burton visuals |
| Family Business | 2 | OK to Good | 2008 06 | Boring, slow, odd |
| The Bad Sleep Well | 2 | OK to Good | 2007 10 | Little long |
| Samurai Trilogy | 2 | M + M + G | 2008 | M=Bad. First two parts are too unbelievable. Third part is good. Final duel is justly famous—and not ridiculously overdone, as it would be in Hollywood today |
| Hudsucker Proxy | 2 | Good | 2008 08 | Theatrical and stupid, but cute and beautiful images |
| The Mckenzie Break | 2 | Good | 2008 09 | Interesting 1970 story of cat-and-mouse prisoners of WW-2 story |
| Yojimbo | 2 | Good | 2008 | 4 Great at the time. Famous for its imitator, "For a Few Dollars More" (which is better) |
| Letters from Iwo Jima | 2 | Good | 2008 | Not great. No great story line. Interesting, but long. Sort of like a personal documentary |
| The Advocate (1993) | 2 | Good | 2007 10 | Not too deep, but entertaining medieval story about defending pigs and roma as devils |
| The Andromeda Strain | 2 | Good | 2008 06 | Remake and well done (except for stupid solution) |
| The Long Riders | 2 | Good | 2008 | Again, almost a documentary. Historically accurate. Interesting enough story line, though |
| Hell in the Pacific | 2 | Good | 2008 | Though made in 1968, one of the still reasonably believable war films |
| Beyond Rangoon | 2 | Good | 2007 10 | Depressing—especially that 20 years later, it is still the same in Burma |
| The Twilight Samurai | 2 | Good | 2008 10 | Unusual movie |
| Harakiri | 2 | Good | 2007 10 | Old Japanese flick. Held up |
| Casino Royale | 2 | Good | 2008 10 | A Bond flick with a story? Wow! (Mildly over the top, but then this is Bond.) |
| Michael Clayton | 2 | Good | 2008 09 | Clean-up lawyer. Nice Ending |
| From the Earth to the Moon | 2 | OK | 2022 08 | Effects look terrible today. Somewhat uneven. |
| The Outfit | 2 | OK | 2022 10 | Concocted script for a theater. |
| The Northman | 2 | OK | 2022 10 | One script surprise. Nice cinamatography. Otherwise stupid. |
| Everything Everywhere All At Once | 2 | Meh | 2023 03 | Turned off after watching half. Yikes |
| We need to talk about Kevin | 2 | Meh | 2023 06 | Boring, slow, really? Watched only half. |
| Owning Mahoney | 2 | Emmm | 2024 09 | Do others really like this movie?? |
| The Leopard | 2 | Good | 2024 12 | Very literary film. Wish it had captured me more. |
| Burial | 2 | Good | 2025 01 | Light entertainment |
| Look Who's Back (2015) | 1.5 | OK | 2016 | (Adolf, of course.) Bad, but has its amusing moments. |
| Fading Gigolo | 1.5 | OK | 2015 02 | Woodie Allen formula fare, not believable |
| Two Lives | 1.5 | OK | 2015 01 | East German Spy in Norway, of all places |
| The Killing | 1.5 | Bad to OK | 2015 08 | flat |
| Tron Legacy | 1.5 | OK | 2014 05 | had to watch this with my 10-year old. Could have been worse. Nice graphics. Dumb story |
| Unbreakable | 1.5 | OK | 2008 10 | Supernatural thriller w/ B Willis and Samuel Jackson. Mildly entertaining |
| Best in Show | 1.5 | OK | 2008 10 | Mockumentary—joke, of course |
| 6th Day | 1.5 | OK | 2008 07 | Mildly Entertaining. Predictable |
| Cutter's Way | 1.5 | OK | 2008 06 | Jeff Bridges in S. Barbara CA. Boring, slow, odd |
| Equilibrium | 1.5 | OK | 2007 10 | Mix 1984+Fahrenheit 451+Matrix. Shake. Predictable |
| Hangin' with the homeboys | 1.5 | OK | 2008 | Four losers hanging out for a night. Not funny, just story-telling. Again, documentary touch |
| Hidalgo | 1.5 | OK | 2008 | Marginally entertaining Western horse fairy tale |
| I am Legend | 1.5 | OK | 2008 09 | just entertaining, but shallow |
| The Eiger Sanction | 1.5 | OK | 2008 | Fantastic mountain scenes—how did they shoot them? Just tries to be too Bond-like at parts. Much better when it is its own movie |
| Whale Rider | 1.5 | OK | 2008 09 | Maori family story. Just did not draw me in too much |
| Django Unchained | 1.5 | Bad Uneven | 2020 | Over the top. First 3 directed QT were great |
| Succession, Season 3 | 1.5 | Meh | 2021 | becoming too ridiculous |
| Das Boot (Season 1) | 1.5 | Uneven | 2022 06 | Some nice moments and scene, but too kitschy and predictable (artificially non-sensibly unpredictable) |
| The Man Who Would Be King | 1.5 | OK-Meh | 2022 08 | Kipling has not aged well. |
| Quigley Down Under | 1.5 | Meh | 2022 08 | Aside from other bad stuff, the score and mixing is remarkably bad. |
| Four Seasons Lodge | 1.5 | OK-Bad | 2022 07 | Old Holocaust survivor documentary. Boring |
| The Green Knight | 1.5 | Meh | 2024 02 | Ugghhh...what was the story here again? |
| Lords of Dogtown | 1.5 | Meh | 2024 04 | Only interesting if you love skateboarding |
| Borsalino and Co | 1.5 | OK | 2024 12 | Boring, predictable --- though a classic |
| A Scanner Darkly | 1.5 | OK | 2024 12 | Great actors, weird cartoon, not my cup of humor |
| The Flowers of War | 1.5 | OK | 2025 01 | Nice cinematography, but just not captivating |
| The Lion of the Desert | 1.5 | OK | 2025 01 | Somewhat boring docudrama of Libyan resistance fighter against Mussolini |
| Lee Daniels' The Butler (2013) | 1 | Bad | 2016 | Lousy. Not authentic. |
| Sherlock | 1 | Bad | 2014 04 | ridiculous and unbelievable; too clever for itself; but stylish |
| Star Trek Into Darkness | 1 | Bad | 2014 05 | when you run out of Good stories, you rely on Good effects |
| Island at War | 1 | Bad | 2014 08 | boring...I just could not get into it |
| Vatel | 1 | Bad | 2015 04 | I love costume dramas, but this one is boring and illogical |
| Age of Uprising: Kohlhaas | 1 | Bad | 2015 09 | I like slow and I like middle ages, but this is just too boring |
| Gravity | 1 | Bad | 2016 01 | Not logical and predictable |
| A New World | 1 | Bad | 2014 04 | No shred of truth, though use of historical names. Black Robe (1991) or The Mission (1996) are more realistic and not under false pretense |
| Star Trek Into Darkness | 1 | Bad | 2014 06 | nice wisecracks and special effects. BUT completely illogical from start to end |
| Pepe le Moko | 1 | Outdated | 2008 | Police and criminals don't have these sorts of relationships |
| Is Paris Burning? | 1 | Outdated | 2008 | Realism should not be lacking in a war movie |
| The Maltese Falcon | 1 | Outdated | 2007 | Yes, I am serious. Yes, I know that this is a classic film, but please watch it again. It really is ridiculous |
| Thunderbolt and Lightfoot | 1 | Bad | 2008 | Not believable |
| Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within | 1 | Bad | 2007 11 | Nice animation. Bad story makes no sense to the uninitiated |
| James Bond: License to Kill | 1 | Bad | 2008 01 | Are these Bond films just satires of themselves? |
| Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome | 1 | Bad | 2008 08 | Stupid and Predictable. Nice cinematography. |
| Mission Impossible II | 1 | Bad | 2008 01 | Fashionable. Can Hollywood make realistic films with stories? |
| Rob Roy | 1 | Bad | 2008 07 | Super-Predictable |
| Sayonara | 1 | Bad | 2008 07 | Why does everyone like Brando? He always talks as if he had a stroke. Could this movie not have found Japanese actors? |
| Signs | 1 | Bad | 2007 11 | Stupid. Only redeeming feature: ancester of "War of the Worlds" |
| The Package | 1 | Bad | 2008 09 | Much too predictable |
| The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) | 1 | Bad | 2008 04 | Silly, though mildly entertaining. Embarrassing product placement. Doesn't Hollywood have real stories to tell any more? |
| Time after Time | 1 | Bad | 2008 07 | Stupid, predictable |
| Boondock Saints | 1 | Bad | 2022 | Stupid nonsense. |
| Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion | 1 | Bad | 2022 | Badly overacted, shlock old Italian. |
| Golf Specialist (1930) | 1 | Bad | 2022 10 | WC Fields. Has not stood the test of time. |
| The Conformist (1070) | 1 | Bad | 2022 10 | Stylish, but incomprehensible behaviors. Very disappointing. |
| Dogville (2004) | 1 | Meh | 2024 12 | I don't think I like Trier very much |
| The long walk home (1990) | 0-1 | Boring | 2016 | Boring. Paint is drying. |
| Ballad of Buster Scruggs | 0-1 | Bad | 2020 | stupid all around |
| The Tomorrow War | 0-1 | Bad | 2021 | Stupid. All around. |
| Fast and Furious | 0 | Bad | 2008 09 | ... and stupid. Is this what the general audience likes? |
| Lair of the White Worm | 0 | Bad | 2008 11 | What were they thinking? Nice naked women? |
| Runaway (1984) | 0 | Bad | 2008 10 | Aged very badly. (Terminator, with a similar subject matter and made the same year, aged very well) |
| The Patriot | 0 | Bad | 2008 | Lousy collection of bad history and predictable plot |
| Torn Curtain | 0 | Bad | 2008 01 | Predictable. Bad Studio Production. Stupid. [opposite=The Spy who came in from the cold] |
TV shows
Please do not suggest: Ingmar Bergman, Grease, My Dinner With Andre, Wings of Desire, Jaws, E.T., James Bond, The Shining, Rosemarie's Baby, Independence Day, Titanic, Godzilla, various Altman films, plus much of the other sh.. that Hollywood has recently been selling. (Catastrophe) Movies that can be seen on the Weather Channel or CNN do not do it for me, either.
Good Movie Sites: The Internet Movie Data Base.
My favorite critic was Roger Ebert. OK, so I do not fully agee with him, but he was pretty good.