ALL Of My Movie Grades

I had an idea the other day. I've decided to consolidate my movie grades from the past few years into one post. Instead of creating a new post every year, I'm going to use this one post for every year.

(Oooh, just had another idea: with grades going back to 2009, perhaps in early 2014 I can compile a list of the best and worst films I've seen over the previous five years.)

So I suppose you could bookmark this page if you're really interested. At any rate, the grades follow the jump...

2016

A+: Zootopia,
A: Captain America: Civil War

A-: Deadpool, Sing Street
B+: The Nice Guys, Ghostbusters (2016 remake)
B: Hail, Caesar!, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Money Monster, Central Intelligence, Finding Dory, Bad Moms, Jason Bourne
B-: 

C+: The Boss, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, War Dogs
C: Suicide Squad, Star Trek Beyond
C-: X-Men: Apocalypse, The Secret Life of Pets

D-: Sausage Party

F:

2015

A+: Spotlight
A: Tomorrowland, Inside Out, Mr. Holmes. Amy, Creed

A-: Spy, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Trainwreck, The Peanuts Movie, Krampus

B+: Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron, Love and Mercy, The Gift, American Ultra, The Visitt

B: Mad Max: Fury Road, Marvel's Ant-Man, Straight Outta Compton, The Martian, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Concussion

B-: Jurassic World, Minions, The Man From U.N.C.L.E, The Intern, Spectre, Joy, The Big Short

C+: The Lazarus Effect, Pitch Perfect 2, Magic Mike XXL, Vacation, Ricki and the Flash, Paper Towns, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, Sisters

C: Hot Pursuit

D+: Fantastic Four

D: Terminator: Genisys
F: The Night Before

2014

A: The Lego Movie

B+: Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier

B: Muppets Most Wanted, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Guardians of the Galaxy, American Sniper

B-: Anchorman 2, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, The Giver, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1
C+: 22 Jump Street, Interstellar, Into the Woods

2013 

A: This is the End, The Heat, Gravity, Saving Mr. Banks
A-: Despicable Me 2
B+: 42, 21 and Over, Star Trek Into Darkness, The Wolverine, We're The Millers, Elysium, The World's End, American Hustle, The Dallas Buyers Club
B: Warm Bodies, Oblivion, Oz the Great and Powerful, The Call, The Croods, Man of Steel, Monsters University, 2 Guns, Lee Daniels' The Butler, The Conjuring, Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa, Thor: The Dark World, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
B-: The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Mama
C+: Admission, Escape from Planet Earth, The Internship, The Great Gatsby, Iron Man 3, World War Z, Pacific Rim, You're Next
C: Gangster Squad, Carrie, Frozen
C-: The Purge, Don Jon, Machete Kills
D+: Identity Thief, Pain and Gain, The Lone Ranger, Paranoia, Kick-Ass 2
D: Scary Movie 5, After Earth, The Bling Ring
F: Movie 43, Spring Breakers, The Counselor

2012

A+: Argo
A: The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, Skyfall, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Lincoln
A-: 21 Jump Street, Brave, ParaNorman, Pitch Perfect
B+: Chronicle, Friends With Kids, Hit and Run, Frankenweenie, Wreck-It Ralph, Zero Dark Thirty
B: Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, The Hunger Games, The Campaign, Premium Rush, Looper, Flight, Silver Linings Playbook, Life of Pi, Parental Guidance, Beasts of the Southern Wild
B-: Snow White and the Huntsman, The Amazing Spider-Man, Hope Springs, House at the End of the Street, This Is 40, Django Unchained, Amour
C+: The Woman In Black, The Cabin In The Woods, Sparkle, Taken 2, Rise of the Guardians, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Promised Land
C: The Guilt Trip
C-: Mirror Mirror, The Dictator, Dark Shadows, Magic Mike, Total Recall, The Bourne Legacy, Hotel Transylvania
D+: The Three Stooges, Prometheus, Seven Psychopaths, Cloud Atlas, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2
D: Men in Black 3
D-: This Means War, Silent House, Les Miserables
F: Rock of Ages

2011

A: Drive
A-: Bridesmaids, Kung Fu Panda 2, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Descendants
B+: Rango, The Adjustment Bureau, Cedar Rapids, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Crazy, Stupid, Love., Captain America: The First Avenger, Friends with Benefits, Our Idiot Brother, The Muppets, Puss In Boots
B: No Strings Attached, Paul, The Lincoln Lawyer, Hanna, Thor, Everything Must Go, X-Men: First Class, Super 8, Bad Teacher, Horrible Bosses, 50/50, The Ides of March, Young Adult
B-: Hall Pass, Limitless, Moneyball, Tower Heist, J. Edgar
C+: The Eagle, Source Code, Scream 4, Green Lantern, The Change-Up, What's Your Number. A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1, Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows
C: Something Borrowed, Contagion
C-: I Am Number Four, Gnomeo & Juliet, Battle: Los Angeles, Your Highness, Abduction
D+: Take Me Home Tonight, Paranormal Activity 3, New Year's Eve
D: The Green Hornet, The Roommate
D-: The Dilemma

2010

A: Toy Story 3
A-: Date Night, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, Despicable Me, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, The Social Network, Black Swan
B+: Daybreakers, She's Out Of My League, Kick-Ass, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, Going the Distance, Easy A, Love and Other Drugs, 127 Hours, True Grit, The King's Speech, Winter's Bone
B: Youth In Revolt, The Book Of Eli, Shutter Island, The Crazies, Death At A Funeral, How To Train Your Dragon, Get Him to the Greek, Predators, Salt, The Other Guys, Red, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Part 1, Megamind, Burlesque, The Fighter
B-: Valentine's Day, Alice In Wonderland, Hot Tub Time Machine, A Nightmare On Elm Street, Killers, Splice, Grown Ups, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Vampires Suck, The Switch, Paranormal Activity 2, Hereafter, Morning Glory, Tron: Legacy
C+: Cop Out, The Back-Up Plan, Iron Man 2, Eat Pray Love, You Again
C: Leap Year, Our Family Wedding, Repo Men, Shrek Forever After, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
C-: The Bounty Hunter, Life As We Know It, How Do You Know
D+: When In Rome, The Wolfman, Sex And The City 2
D: Legion, Dinner For Schmucks
D-: From Paris With Love, I Love You Phillip Morris
F: Due Date

2009

A: I Love You, Man; Away We Go; Bruno; Fantastic Mr. Fox; Up In The Air; Precious
A-: Star Trek; Outrage; Up; (500) Days Of Summer; Humpday; Julie & Julia; Paranormal Activity; It's Complicated
B+: Confessions Of A Shopaholic; Coraline; Duplicity; State Of Play; Drag Me To Hell; The Proposal; Make The Yuletide Gay; District 9; Adam; Zombieland; Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs; Where The Wild Things Are; Invictus; An Education
B: Taken; Watchmen; Observe & Report; Obsessed; The Brothers Bloom; Orphan; Extract; Inglourious Basterds, Law Abiding Citizen; The Blind Side; Brothers
B-: New In Town; Paul Blart, Mall Cop; Yonkers Joe; Adventureland; Sunshine Cleaning; The Soloist; Angels & Demons; Dance Flick; Taking Woodstock; The Informant!; Whip It; Michael Jackson's This Is It; A Single Man; The Hurt Locker; A Serious Man
C+: The International; X-Men Origins: Wolverine; Public Enemies; Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince; Funny People; Fame; Surrogates; 2012; Avatar
C: Year One, Couples Retreat; Pirate Radio
C-: Bride Wars; He's Just Not That Into You; Terminator Salvation; I Love You, Beth Cooper; The Time Traveler's Wife; The Invention Of Lying; The Twilight Saga: New Moon; Everybody's Fine; Did You Hear About The Morgans?
D+: The Hangover; All About Steve; Jennifer's Body; Sherlock Holmes
D: The Ugly Truth
D-: The Men Who Stare At Goats

Quick Reviews: Zero Django

I have five movies to write about but the other three are 2013 releases, so I'm getting these two out of the way first. (By the way, I have a handful more 2012 releases to see, including a couple of Oscar Best Picture nominees, so I'm going to hold off on a best-of-2012 a bit.)

After watching Zero Dark Thirty, which tells a story -- not the story, as there are some details (including names) changed for various reasons -- of the USA's long but eventually successful manhunt for Osama bin Laden after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, I was struck with two things that kind of bothered me a bit. And one of those things was not whether the film glorifies the torture used to obtain evidence. It clearly doesn't. It displays it quite graphically but it doesn't really take a side. The film centers around Maya (Jessica Chastain), a CIA officer with a dogged determination to solve the mystery of bin Laden's whereabouts, but she's such a mysterious character -- all we really know about her is she began her CIA career after high school -- that I thought it was difficult to understand her or identify with her. And while there may be artistic merit to the style of shooting the raid on bin Laden's compound, with jittery cameras work, with scenes either dark or seen through night-vision goggles, and no real "money shot" of the actual killing of bin Laden, it also blunts the emotional payoff a bit. It's a very good film but it seems a bit drained of passion. My grade: B-plus.

As for Django Unchained, it fits right into the Quentin Tarantino formula: lots of violence, lots of in-jokes, homages, music, cameos, etc. Where "Inglorious Basterds" was a revenge-on-Nazis fantasy, this one is all about revenge on slave traders and plantation owners. It's so...out there. A German bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) who frees, then teams up with, Django (Jamie Foxx) to collect more bounties before rescuing Django's wife, now owned by plantation owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio -- actually a nice change of pace for him, playing a villain instead of a hero). Of course, the plantation is called...wait for it...Candyland. It's just hard to take too seriously, which is fine, but at the same time I almost feel like Tarantino should do a romantic comedy or something, just to challenge himself. My grade: B-minus.

Quick Reviews: This Is Promised Guidance

Okay, so these movies may not even be in theaters by now, but I don't want to just ignore them. And, if anyone really wants my opinion before renting or buying the DVDs, it'll be here.

What surprised me about This Is 40, the sort-of-sequel to "Knocked Up" focusing on the married couple Pete and Debbie (Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann), was how much bickering they did. Between their own issues, business problems and dealing with their children and parents, there were times when I was wishing there was more comedy and less drama. A nice amount of shirtless Paul Rudd, though, and there's the cameo with current (Scott Hartnell, now-retired Ian Laperriere) and former (James van Riemsdyk, Matt Carle) Flyers in a bar with Mann and Megan Fox. My grade: B-minus.

I started out really liking Promised Land, the film about natural-gas "fracking," with Matt Damon and Frances McDormand trying to get farmers to sign mineral-rights leases to drill on their land. Then an environmental advocate (John Krasinski) hits town and Damon's character is so completely flustered by this development it rang extremely false. And the big twist near the end was just stupid. My grade: C-plus.

I'd compare Parental Guidance to "The Guilt Trip" in that it's a somewhat safe and predictable comedy, in which a long-married couple (Billy Crystal, Bette Midler), called upon to hop on a plane and mind the grandkids for a week, have difficulty with how their daughter and son-in-law are raising the children. But the baseball subplot (Crystal's an announcer needing a new job) helped, the ending made me cry a little (whether I'm just easily manipulated by films or I'm getting mushy in my advancing age is yet to be determined) and Crystal and Midler have old-pro charm. My grade: B.

Super Bowl: Heroes, Villains

Yes, I still want to keep this blog thing going, believe it or not.

Every time one of the major sports is about to decide its champion, and there's no Philadelphia team involved, I have to figure out which team I want to root for. In general, I like to root for the underdog, or David over Goliath. Teams that haven't won before or cities that haven't won in a long time, whose fans seem deserving of the success. Players I like (or dislike). So, no rooting for New York teams, the Dallas Cowboys, etc.

More and more there's a problem, though. Between the general arrogance and surly attitudes of many modern-day players and the rise of performance-enhancing substance usage and, in recent years, the outspokenness of players on gay issues and teams' participation in projects like You Can Play or It Gets Better, it's increasingly impossible to decide which team to support.

For Super Bowl XLVII (and boy, isn't it going to be weird when it's just Super Bowl L in three years), featuring the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers, there's been particular attention paid to gay stuff. On one hand, the Ravens' Brendan Ayanbadejo is an major supporter of equality, speaking out and helping same-sex equality become law in Maryland. On the other hand, his teammate Matt Birk holds anti-gay views based on his religious beliefs. Point: the 49ers' Chris Culliver made stupid anti-gay remarks this week. Counterpoint: the 49ers repudiated his remarks and his coach and some of his teammates spoke out against them. Plus: the 49ers are the only NFL team to release an It Gets Better video. Minus: Two 49ers who were in the video denied being in it, until they were shown the video featuring them, and the video's now been pulled from the It Gets Better website. It seems possible the 49ers were unclear or misled their players about the video's purpose.

Kaepernick

And that's not even getting into the media's canonization of Saint Ray Lewis, playing his last game, conveniently sweeping under the rug his involvement in the murders of two men, men whose murderers have gone unpunished thanks to the actions of Lewis. Oh, and there's that whole deer-antler-spray thing (getting back to performance-enhancers).

I suppose, with all the pro-gay and anti-gay stuff kind of canceling each other out, the Lewis factor would push me toward the 49ers. But the 49ers have already won five Super Bowls, and the Giants have two World Series wins in three years. So that pushes me back towards Baltimore.

See what I mean?

So I can't say how I'll feel about whichever team wins. I will say, after some wavering, I think the 49ers will win. It really depends on their quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, continuing to handle the pressure despite having little NFL experience before taking over midseason. If he doesn't play like a rookie, the 49ers will win. And, if you don't mind tattoos...

Things I'm Not Buying

Two categories here...

Things I'm Not Buying...Yet...

1) The explanation that Manti Te'o is the victim of a hoax. There are too many inconsistencies -- the reports that flat-out said he met this girlfriend of his, who supposedly died of leukemia but as it turns out never actually existed, in person; varying reports saying she died just before the death of his grandmother, while others said she died after the grandmother died; and lots of other things in the Deadspin report. Also, the fact that Notre Dame hired an outside firm to conduct an investigation but isn't releasing the name of the outfit that they hired to conduct it, or the firm's report itself, seems a bit questionable. It'll be interesting to hear what Te'o himself says, and if the media does some digging of its own -- especially the "mainstream" media (such as ESPN), who ought to be angry that their outlets once again got scooped by a website.

2) Chip Kelly as Eagles' head coach. Sure, he ran up tremendous offensive numbers at Oregon and had a 46-7 record there. And sure, some of his offense's tactics are being adapted by NFL teams such as the New England Patriots. But can Kelly's offense in full work in the NFL? There are much better defenses in the NFL than in the Pac-8, or 10,  or 12, or whatever number they are now. And Nick Foles may not be ideally suited to such an offense. Will Kelly water it down immediately or will he try it in full at first, then dumb it down if it doesn't work? And even if he can get the offense in gear, the Eagles' defense is a huge mess. Kelly and the guy who ends up becoming defensive coordinator have a lot of work to do. Lots of WIP callers are, as usual, overreacting, saying the hiring of Kelly is a disaster. I'm not willing to go that far. But I am skeptical. And it bothers me (whether it should or not) that he initially decided not to take the job, and then changed his mind. According to one report I saw a mutual friend of Kelly and Eagles' GM Howie Roseman supposedly told Roseman that Kelly's mind could be changed.

3) The return of the NHL. I don't know if it's the recent lessening of my intense level of interest in sports in general or because the NHL was a joke for being shut down by a union-management bitchfest to begin with, but I'm not overly excited about the return of the Flyers. Maybe seeing a game will help in that regard. I don't know.

Things I'm Not Buying...At All...

The likelihood that extensive reform of gun laws will actually occur. Even if Democrats unite, it won't pass Congress without Republicans, and they are enslaved by the NRA and the Tea Party maniacs. I still believe everything I said here.

Quick Reviews: Miserable(s) Hobbit Guilt

Another wrapup of three movies I've recently seen. (The title format for these movie posts might become a regular thing.) Also, these and a few others will go into the 2012 summary based on their release date, not when I actually get to see them, although in these three cases I actually did see them in 2012. Warning: you might find my opinion of one of these to be controversial.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was just too long, drawn out, at times incredibly boring. The only reason to expand this story into a trilogy like its "Lord of the Rings" predecessor is money. Don't let anyone tell you differently. However, I thought it looked wonderful. I watched the 48-frames-per-second version (twice the standard rate), which caused a lot of consternation when some early footage was released, and despite the fact that I also had to endure 3D, I found it to be extremely crisp visually. My grade: C-plus.

Not filmed in 3D or 48 frames per second, The Guilt Trip will cause no consternation or controversy whatsoever. As a mother-and-son duo making a cross-country trip we're given a phoning-it-in Barbra Streisand and a neutered-for-PG13 Seth Rogen. There are a few mild laughs but there's nothing new or innovative about this at all. It's basically harmless. My grade: C.

Let be me honest: I walked out of Les Miserables early. I saw over an hour, but that was enough. I am not against musicals, even musicals with virtually no spoken dialogue whatsoever. I like musicals. But this one just sounded like everyone sang the same loooooooooooooong song. Even as one scene bleeds into another, even as the film jumps years ahead to continue the story, the songs were virtually indistinguishable. (Compare it to "Evita," which also has very little speaking and also has a couple of time jumps, but at least there's variety and clarity.) The only things that snapped me out of my stupor: Anne Hathaway's passion in singing "I Dreamed A Dream" and woefully-miscast Russell Crowe's painful vocals on whatever song or songs he sang. As it went on, and as more characters were introduced, I became increasingly disinterested. This was an absolute mess in every way (except the aforementioned Hathaway bit). Finally, I could take no more. And I even I managed to sit through all of "Rock of Ages." Still, I'm giving it a better grade than "Rock of Ages" just because of "I Dreamed A Dream." So, it's got that going for it, which is nice. My grade: D-minus.

My 2012 In Music

Last year at this time I was lamenting the lack of new music (as in, new in 2011 or new to me) added to my iTunes library. I figured that 2012 would be better since I had gone back to work. Since May I've been out of work but at least I got some unemployment out of it. So, indeed, my 2012 acquisitions are up. (A note, which is mainly for my own reference: the figures below include a couple of CDs I got during 2012 but only got around to adding to my iTunes tonight, so I need to remember for next year's wrapup not to include them again.)

I added 567 tracks to my collection by my count (it's a complicated story but I may be off by one or two because of duplicates), compared to 271 last year. Christmas music comprised 26 of those 567 songs. There were a lot of downloads of individual songs, as well as the first song in my next project - converting my vinyl collection to mp3 format. I have maybe a few dozen 45s and many more 12-inch dance remixes, probably in the hundreds. I'm so excited about this.

Beyond that, I got some free downloaded samplers and mixtapes (which is such an odd term to use for mp3 downloads, but...):

Will Sheridan – G.I.A.N.T. Sampler
DJ ShyBoy presents the RuPaul Mixtape (RuPaul songs mashed up with other songs)
DJ Jazzy Jeff and Mick Boogie – Summertime 2: The Mixtape
DJ Jazzy Jeff and Mick Boogie – Summertime 3: The Mixtape
Dangerous Muse – Red
Slaves to the Rhythm – Pride 2011 Sampler

And then there were the albums that were released prior to 2012:

Kelly Clarkson – Stronger
Discovery – LP
Ricky Martin – Ricky Martin
David Guetta – Nothing But The Beat
Jody Watley – Midnight Lounge
Paul McCartney – All The Best
Donna Summer – She Works Hard For The Money
Elton John – Rocket Man - Number Ones
Steely Dan – The Definitive Collection
The Gap Band – The 12” Collection and More
Nona Hendryx – Nona (as I mentioned here, the first full-length album I transferred from vinyl to mp3)
Katy Perry – Teenage Dream-The Complete Confection (this is the re-released version with bonus tracks -- the original was out in 2010 so I don't feel right counting it as a 2012 album)

In 2011 I got only four albums that were actually

My Return To Baltimore

I've got a new album on Photobucket featuring pics from my quick trip to Baltimore in September. It was a double dose of nostalgia for me. The reason I went was to see a Baltimore Orioles-Toronto Blue Jays old-fashioned doubleheader -- "old-fashioned" meaning you pay for one ticket and see two ballgames (thanks to a previously rained-out game). None of that day-night separate-admission nonsense! So I bought a ticket on StubHub at a good discount below face value, and booked a hotel for one night.

The other part of my nostalgia was because I have a soft spot for Baltimore since I lived there for nine months in 2002 when I was selected for a special work assignment. The government paid for a furnished apartment and I got some per diem money for meals and such. I've been back a time or two since, and every time I go I like to look for familiar landmarks and see what's changed. Take a look at the album and photo descriptions for more about my trip.

Free bus service with a few different routes. Philly needs this.

Rihanna's Bruises?

Note the title of the song, and the artist being promoted in the ad directly below the video. This has to have been placed there on purpose, right? No way it can just be coincidence.

Sleepy New Year

It's about 1 a.m. as I begin writing this, and I'm actually thinking of going to bed soon. I guess the rum I added to the diet Pepsi tonight is making me a little sleepy even though I was not up early this morning by any means. Anyway, it's 2013. Let's hope things are much better than they were in 2012. So much needs improvement: the economy is still a mess, the political system is failing to fix it (because the Republican party somehow finds itself enslaved by the Tea Party extremists -- doesn't any of them realize that these nuts are destroying their party's hopes of winning the White House for the next 20-30 years?), the Eagles turned out to be a disaster and the Phillies are on the verge of a similar fate (unless their old, now injury-prone stars discover the fountain of youth), the NHL doesn't even exist right now -- and that's not to mention the usual hurricanes, earthquakes, crime, war, etc. I could go on but like I said, I'm sleepy. Happy New Year. Please?