| Title |
Year |
Rating |
Rank |
Review |
| Interstellar | 2014 | 96 | 1 | - For those that didn't follow Nolan's work prior to the Dark Knight trilogy, this is what separates him from other filmmakers. Quite frankly, this is him at his best. |
| Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi | 1983 | 96 | 1 | - The best of the Star Wars movies. This one had it all and executed it all flawlessly. |
| Inception | 2010 | 94 | 3 | - It's a dream inside a dream inside a dream. It's also a good movie inside a great movie inside a terrific movie. |
| Star Wars V: Empire Strikes Back | 1980 | 94 | 3 | - The battle of Hoth is probably my favorite part of any Star Wars movie. This would be the best of them had there been a stronger ending. |
| Star Trek Into Darkness | 2013 | 93 | 5 | - As successful as 'Into Darkness' is as a blockbuster, it's the emotional heft and interesting plays on morality that ultimately ascend this sequel to another level. |
| Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens | 2015 | 93 | 5 | - The truly brilliant thing that the film does is that it establishes an era of the canon that is squarely after Return of the Jedi. It doesn't start a new chapter so much as the next book, so to speak. And J.J. Abrams and the writers deserve all the credit in the world for that. |
| Rogue One: A Star Wars Story | 2016 | 92 | 7 | - This is perhaps the farthest a Star Wars film has ventured away from the norm, but it can still hold its own with the others. |
| Watchmen | 2009 | 91 | 8 | - Of all the films in the DC Comics genre, this is probably my favorite. There is simply nothing else like it. Wholly entertaining and done with a visual style that is just jaw-dropping. |
| Captain America: The Winter Soldier | 2014 | 90 | 9 | - One of the best Marvel movies ever! |
| Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The | 2013 | 90 | 9 | - Despite Josh Hutcherson and Jennifer Lawrence, who are great, the real stars of this one are the people of Panem. 'Catching Fire' has the critical role of illustrating how the third book's revolt comes about, and this film does it so, so well. It does ITS job better than the first one did. |
| Contagion | 2011 | 89 | 11 | - It'll scare you to your core, but there's no villain. The villain is mother nature, making it all the more terrifying. It's a medical Silence of the Lambs, and Hanibal is no bigger than a human cell. |
| Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind | 2004 | 89 | 11 | - The whole film really revolves around the question "Is it better to have loved and lost then to never have loved at all?". Where the film earns its brass is its surprising take and cogent emotional arguments to back it up. |
| Gravity | 2013 | 88 | 13 | - Gravity's biggest strength is how dynamic it is. It can be both very small and very large at the same time, and that's as cool as any of the visuals. |
| Hunger Games, The | 2012 | 88 | 13 | (full review) - Staying relatively true to the novel was the only key to success Hunger Games needed. |
| Star Trek (2009) | 2009 | 88 | 13 | - Abrams' reenvisionment of this franchise is so good, it's likely to catapult up in mainstream fame with the original Star Wars trilogy. |
| The Martian | 2015 | 88 | 13 | - It's rare that a cast of this level of notoriety is also so well used. 'The Martian', both in development and in execution, tells you it takes an army to truly save one man. |
| Aliens | 1986 | 87 | 17 | - From its scope to its imagination to its just overall sense of purpose, James Cameron's sequel is SO much better than Ridley Scott's first installment. |
| Back to the Future | 1985 | 87 | 17 | - A pop culture classic. |
| Cloverfield | 2008 | 87 | 17 | - One of the first mainstream films to popularize the found film genre. |
| Independence Day | 1996 | 87 | 17 | - As far as summer blockbusters go, it's an instant classic. |
| V/H/S/2 | 2013 | 87 | 17 | - It's the first V/H/S only more refined. The end result? A pretty spectacular homage to both the found film and horror genres. |
| Mad Max: Fury Road | 2015 | 86 | 22 | - Stylistically, it's unlike anything you've seen before. |
| Star Trek Beyond | 2016 | 85 | 23 | - While not quite as good as the first two in this modern Star Trek trilogy, 'Beyond, this first edition without JJ Abrams having the con, flies just fine. |
| Ex Machina | 2015 | 84 | 24 | - It's fascinating how such a seemingly simple story can evoke such complex themes. |
| Frequency | 2000 | 84 | 24 | - This is the kind of magic movies are supposed to be made of. It doesn't all have to fit logically, it just has to be fun. |
| Avengers: Age of Ultron | 2015 | 83 | 26 | - An improvement over the first one. 'Age of Ultron' stays much truer to the comics. |
| Dawn of the Planet of the Apes | 2014 | 83 | 26 | - Captivating, yes, but also painfully formulaic. I felt like I knew the story before it was told. |
| Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, The | 2014 | 83 | 26 | - It's just about as solid as the first two, but I would be remissed if I did not admit this third installment is a step backwards (albeit a small one) from the first two. |
| Jurassic Park | 1993 | 83 | 26 | - Fans of the book will be dismayed by some of the altered plot points, but overall a nice adaptation. |
| Jurassic World | 2015 | 83 | 26 | - Easily the best of the 'Jurassic Park' franchise since the original. |
| Street Fighter | 1994 | 83 | 26 | - An intense look at how dirty politics can be, and how the truly admirable candidates seem to find a way to rise above it. Mostly. |
| Captain America: Civil War | 2016 | 82 | 32 | - Another solid installation to the Avengers franchise, though it doesn't quite reach the bar set by 'The Winter Soldier'. |
| District 9 | 2009 | 82 | 32 | - Down-to-earth and realistic in its approach while also fully-engrossing as a science fiction story. The fact that this movie came out of an often overlooked genre to be nominated for Best Film is not a mistake. |
| E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial | 1982 | 82 | 32 | - One of those films I will forever be impartial to because I grew up with it. |
| Passengers | 2016 | 82 | 32 | - The questions about humanity, its limits, and our philosophies give this far, far outer space thriller context. |
| Transformers | 2007 | 82 | 32 | - The original is usually the best. This rings so true here. |
| Down to Earth | 2001 | 81 | 37 | - There was a point at the turn of the century where Chris Rock was THE comedian to lead your film. 'Down to Earth' is indicative of that. |
| Guardians of the Galaxy | 2014 | 81 | 37 | - Marvel in its franchising has sort of fashioned themselves the ultimate conspiracy theorists in the sense that everything is connected. So, while elements of 'Guardians' feel rather old (an unlikely band of outlaws and misfits save the world? how original), there is enough material that is genuinely fresh that it feels like a new chapter of a story rather than an old book we've already read. |
| Iron Man | 2008 | 81 | 37 | - Solid superhero flick but suffers from the same thing all first movies in a series do: slow beginnings that set up the story. |
| Arrival | 2016 | 80 | 40 | - It's a good, not great, film. And beware of rave reviews. Those buying wholeheartedly in 'Arrival' are giving it credit for being smarter than it really is. |
| AVENGERS, The | 2012 | 80 | 40 | - Your typical superhero blockbuster. The movie juggles such a large cast somewhat cumbersomely and resorts to cheeky humor when it doesn't know what else to do. |
| Star Wars IV: A New Hope | 1977 | 80 | 40 | - It initially had to set up the story for three movies, which explains the long, somewhat slow beginning. The end is the stuff of film legend, though. |
| Chronicle | 2012 | 79 | 43 | (full review) - Holds it own even in the ubiquitous 'Found Film' genre. A film that sort of came out of nowhere that is definitely worth your time. |
| Iron Man 2 | 2010 | 79 | 43 | - Is it a step down from the original? Sure. But that doesn't mean it isn't worth your time. |
| Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith | 2005 | 79 | 43 | - The darkest of the six movies. Some say that's a good thing. I say it's the best of the worse trilogy. |
| The One I Love | 2014 | 79 | 43 | - Apparently the Duplass brothers thought a whole bunch of people were going around thinking, "it's about time they turned 'Inception' into a rom-com." |
| Transformers: Dark of the Moon | 2011 | 79 | 43 | - Call me crazy, I liked this movie. It's a summer blockbuster, what did you want? A deep character study? Get out of here, hipster. |
| A Clockwork Orange | 1971 | 78 | 48 | - It's cookiness aside, Stanley Kubrick's futuristic allegory raises some interesting questions. |
| Deep Impact | 1998 | 78 | 48 | - It's Armageddon redone. Similar enough that you'll forever correlate the two, different enough that both are worth watching. |
| Elysium | 2013 | 78 | 48 | - Sci-fi setting. Class warfare. A protagonist who feels he belongs to both worlds. Does Neil Blomkamp think no one saw 'District 9'? |
| Ender's Game | 2013 | 78 | 48 | - You know why Star Wars has stood the test of time? George Lucas never made Harrison Ford wear a beret. |
| Into the Forest | 2016 | 78 | 48 | - Slow moving, thoughtful, and methodical, this is not your average post-apocalyptic flick, if one can even call it that. |
| Moon | 2009 | 78 | 48 | - It's basically 'The Island' -- the film Michael Bay did four years prior -- but exponentially better. |
| RoboCop | 2014 | 78 | 48 | - The commentary on the ever-increasing use of drone warfare, television news programs that are overtly subjective, and a shrinking level of personal privacy makes this an action blockbuster packing a surprising potent political punch. |
| Seeking a Friend for the End of the World | 2012 | 78 | 48 | - For better or for worse, I can honestly say there's no movie quite like it. |
| X2: X-Men United | 2003 | 78 | 48 | - It does what a sequel should: it builds off the original story. This is not a new adventure for this band of Marvel Superheroes, but rather the same adventure extended. |
| 10 Cloverfield Lane | 2016 | 77 | 57 | - Inside the fallout shelter lay a wonderfully thrilling story. Psychological in a cabin fever sort of way, clostrophobic as three virtual strangers are forced into confinement with one another, and eerily twisted like a Hitchcock great. Then she pops the lid, runs from aliens, and everything we go through suddenly feels a bit more silly. |
| Back to the Future II | 1989 | 77 | 57 | - It's pretty obvious 2015 did NOT live up to the expectations of 'Back To The Future II'. |
| Edge of Tomorrow | 2014 | 77 | 57 | - It's 'Starship Troopers' meets 'Groundhog Day'. Don't worry, though, it's not quite as absurd as it sounds. |
| Fantastic Four | 2015 | 77 | 57 | - It's a solid attempt to bring back the Fantastic Four franchise. The real question is did we need this film just eight years after the last one? |
| Midnight Special | 2016 | 77 | 57 | - Definitely a different kind of thriller. Somewhere in between real life and sci-fi lies 'Midnight Special'. |
| The Lazarus Effect | 2015 | 77 | 57 | - I enjoyed it and didn't even need DMT. So sue me. |
| Thing, The | 1982 | 77 | 57 | - Scarier than the alien that wants so desperately to become them is everyone's willingness to submit authority to a boozing helicopter pilot when things go awry. |
| X-Men | 2000 | 77 | 57 | - A pretty decent origin story. |
| Iron Man 3 | 2013 | 76 | 65 | - In new hands, the franchise concludes its run with only marginal success. |
| Fly, The | 1986 | 75 | 66 | - It's more a sci-fi misadventure then it is a horror. It's An American Werewolf in London meets Back To The Future |
| Pixels | 2015 | 75 | 66 | - It's unapologetically goofy, but the nostalgia 'Scott Pilgrim' captured for early millenials, 'Pixels' captures for the generation of video game lovers that came before them. |
| Starship Troopers | 1997 | 75 | 66 | - Full disclosure: this was my favorite movie for a while. Full disclosure again: it was before my brain fully developed. |
| Ant-Man | 2015 | 74 | 69 | - The obvious obstacle for the film is getting over an obstacle that sounds a bit looney. Even Corey Stoll's character alludes to how silly 'Ant-Man' sounds. And while some comedy and SHIELD-tie in's coax it along, I'm not sure the silliness ever really goes away. |
| Chappie | 2015 | 74 | 69 | - 'Chappie' is a story about exploitation, which is ironic because the film itself exploits our sympathy, taking a hunkof metal and making it behave like an innocent puppy. |
| Contact | 1997 | 74 | 69 | - It's not out of this world, but it does fly. |
| Independence Day: Resurgence | 2016 | 74 | 69 | - It fails to successfully build on the nostalgia fans had for the original film, primarily because most would argue a sequel without Will Smith is a sequel simply not worth making. |
| Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2, The | 2015 | 73 | 73 | - Easily the weakest of the quadrilogy. It is impossible not to notice the franchise's steady decline since Francis Lawrence took over. |
| Avatar | 2009 | 72 | 74 | - A little overrated. It's worth a watch, but the runtime and countless slow moments will have you checking your watch. |
| Sunshine | 2007 | 72 | 74 | - For a film that likes to believe it's more than your conventional space thriller, it sure does love reality television-like drama amongst its characters. |
| Back to the Future III | 1990 | 70 | 76 | - Easily the weakest of the three films in the trilogy and probably a good time to end the franchise. |
| Captain America (1990) | 1990 | 70 | 76 | - Too cliche to be really good. |
| Captain America: The First Avenger | 2011 | 70 | 76 | - Too cliche to be really good. |
| Jurassic Park III | 2001 | 70 | 76 | - It's interesting because the downfall of 'The Lost World' was its blatant deviation from the novel. However, 'Jurassic Park III' the first in the franchise with no novel for it to be based off of, actually goes back and makes some distinct nods to the FIRST novel. As if to offer an olive branch for those still bitter about the second movie. |
| Mist, The (2007) | 2007 | 70 | 76 | - Frank Darabont's film adaptation of Stephen King's novella is more concerned with the beasts within. The monsters in the mist aren't nearly as scary as the monsters inside the grocery store once everything turns all 'Lord of the Flies'. |
| Oblivion | 2013 | 70 | 76 | - Stylistically, it's a pretty cool movie. But behind its appetizing facade, Oblivion, like most sci-fi adventures, has very little substance. Or faux substance. |
| Safety Not Guaranteed | 2012 | 70 | 76 | - It's a cute little comedy, even if its concepts and plot are plainly obvious as soon as the film begins. |
| Source Code | 2011 | 70 | 76 | - What stops it from being better? An utterly frustrating ending. |
| Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines | 2003 | 70 | 76 | - As the years have gone on, this franchise has relied more and more on over-the-top special effects. |
| The 5th Wave | 2016 | 70 | 76 | - Like 'The Maze Runner' franchise, the story's underlying agenda of focusing on children in these post apocalyptic worlds is obvious. There's no big, bad authority coming for young adults, just money-hungry producers. |
| The Core | 2003 | 70 | 76 | - If it's such an original story, why does everything feel so absolutely familiar? |
| Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | 2009 | 70 | 76 | - Like the easily-amused humanoid that you are, the flashy battle scenes will keep you around through the films' glaring holes. |
| World's End, The | 2013 | 70 | 76 | - A noticeably weaker entry than we're used to from Simon Pegg and co. |
| Matrix, The | 1999 | 69 | 89 | - It aims to be the ultimate sci-fi fantasy flick, but attains only mixed results. |
| X-Men: Days of Future Past | 2014 | 69 | 89 | - A star-studded cast, yes...and the weirdest addition to this franchise to date. |
| Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me | 1999 | 68 | 91 | - Pretty funny, a little too stupid. What else do you expect from Mike Myers? |
| Amazing Spider-Man, The | 2012 | 67 | 92 | - Why, WHY was this made? Was the superhero genre not saturated enough let alone Spiderman as a franchise itself? |
| Battleship | 2012 | 67 | 92 | - To my surprise, Battleship has its moments. It's also utterly ridiculous at times, just as I suspected. |
| Rise of the Planet of the Apes | 2011 | 67 | 92 | - When you use CGI so heavily as a crutch, it usually means everything else is lacking. That's exactly what happened here. |
| Frankenstein | 1931 | 65 | 95 | - It has that silliness that comes along with many older movies, but if you're looking for a horror flick chock-full of classic Halloween spirit, it's hard to beat this one. |
| Looper | 2012 | 65 | 95 | - You're basically preoccupied with Gordon-Levitt's bizarre face until the tempermental child out of The Omen shows up. |
| Limitless | 2011 | 64 | 97 | - Maybe this movie should take one of those pills because it's not nearly as smart as its main character is. |
| I Am Legend | 2007 | 62 | 98 | - So you're telling me if you're the last man on earth you're bound to go a little crazy? Wow, who knew? |
| Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones | 2002 | 62 | 98 | - Slightly better than Episode I. Still unnecessarily long with too much eye-rolling dialogue. |
| Wall-E | 2008 | 62 | 98 | - IS it a harmless and fun family flick, or a Stanley Kubrick-esque critique of society? Quite frankly, it's hard to tell. |
| Lost World: Jurassic Park, The | 1997 | 61 | 101 | - With 'Jurassic Park', they picked a select few areas to differ from Crichton's novel. With 'The Lost World', they practically threw the novel into a blender, caught a few pieces in the air, and decided to go with that. |
| Alien | 1979 | 60 | 102 | - Even if you can forgive the first half of the movie essentially being build-up, the pace is just brutally tedious. No me gusta for a sci-fi horror flick. |
| Deja Vu | 2006 | 60 | 102 | - I can say matter-of-factly the using-time-travel-to-solve-crime concept has thoroughly been warned out. Hasn't been used that much, you say? My point exactly. |
| Dude Where's My Car? | 2000 | 60 | 102 | - It's more schtick than it is well-engineered comedy. The off-the-wall improv of Kutcher and Scott could've definitely used some more direction. |
| Godzilla | 2014 | 60 | 102 | - All the realistic special effects in the world doesn't change the fact that the script belongs in a Saturday morning cartoon show. |
| 28 Days Later | 2002 | 59 | 106 | - It's ironic that Danny Boyle and Alex Garland's infected humans are adrenaline-packed, raging monsters, because they are cast amidst a rather slow-moving world, and in a movie that never really takes off. |
| Divergent | 2014 | 59 | 106 | - Being released right in the middle of the Hunger Games movies only further highlight's Divergent's inferiority. The concepts are far more sophomoric, the story itself is much more teen-centric, and the acting could sorely use the Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller we were privileged to in 'The Spectacular Now'. |
| Adjustment Bureau | 2011 | 58 | 108 | - It is interesting, to be sure, but your intrigue isn't rewarded with all that much. Leaves you kind of wondering what was the point. |
| Man of Steel | 2013 | 58 | 108 | - How a duo of geeky gurus like Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder managed to make such a disappointment has to be one of the biggest surprises of the year in movies. |
| 28 Weeks Later | 2007 | 57 | 110 | - Not the best post-apocalypse movie ever, but it will entertain you through the run time. |
| Star Wars I: Phantom Menace | 1999 | 57 | 110 | - The worst of the two trilogies, easily. George Lucas and crew really took an entire movie to shake off the rust. |
| Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials | 2015 | 56 | 112 | - It's better than the first, but that's not saying much. |
| Transcendence | 2014 | 53 | 113 | - Like the movie's main character, 'Transendence' gets carried away. Running far past the depths of a story one might actually buy, 'Transendence' doesn't stop until it's plot borders on the ridiculous. |
| Videodrome | 1983 | 52 | 114 | - 'Videodrome' could've easily been renamed 'Supreme Irony', since afterall in discovering some weird version of plotless torture porn, it itself becomes just that. |
| Metropolis | 1927 | 50 | 115 | - Overrated, if you ask me. |
| Prometheus | 2012 | 50 | 115 | - Visually stunning, substantively lacking. |
| Serenity | 2005 | 50 | 115 | - Joss Whedon's initial transition from television to film is tacky, unpolished, and rife with poor acting. Ironically, it comes across as a TV movie. |
| Star Trek: First Contact | 1996 | 50 | 115 | - It really is nothing more than an extended episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. |
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) | 1990 | 50 | 115 | - It's a kids movie through and through. I'm not sure what else people wanted out of it. |
| Dredd 3D | 2012 | 49 | 120 | - High-octane action repeatedly interrupted by frustrating slow-mo shots. A classic example of a good action flick that got in its own way when it came to being something better. |
| Lockout | 2012 | 49 | 120 | - Guy Pearce's performance as Snow is about the only redeeming quality in this movie. The CGI inundates the film and gives it a cheesy, animated feel that shouldn't be there in such a raw action script. |
| Terminator Genisys | 2015 | 49 | 120 | - When Arnold Schwarzenegger gets beaten down by his younger CGI self towards the beginning, it's actually a perfect metaphor as to how 'Genisys' stacks up to earlier 'Terminator' versions. |
| Akira | 1988 | 48 | 123 | - Just seems like another anime film to me. If there's something special here I guess I missed it. |
| Alien 3 | 1992 | 48 | 123 | - Such a letdown compared to Scott's and Cameron's films. Fincher does virtually nothing different and fails to keep your attention to boot. |
| Alien Resurrection | 1997 | 47 | 125 | - It took four movies for Ripley, in some form, to make it to Earth, but the last quarter was probably the worst part of the ride. |
| Pacific Rim | 2013 | 47 | 125 | - Your standard-issue summer blockbuster eye porn. |
| Terminator: Salvation | 2009 | 47 | 125 | - The beginning is good, like the first ten minutes. Then you can feel free to leave. |
| Strange Days | 1995 | 46 | 128 | - Bigelow's sci-fi thriller is little more than a bizarre, unnecessarily sexual romp of a nightmare. |
| Gamer | 2009 | 45 | 129 | - Convinces you the marriage between video games and movies is better off ending. |
| Hardcore Henry | 2016 | 43 | 130 | - All shtick, no substance. |
| 2001: A Space Odyssey | 1968 | 31 | 131 | - Typical Kubrick: he can't just tell a story. Everything has to be commentary on humanity. |
| Transformers: Age of Extinction | 2014 | 31 | 131 | - Written, directed, and acted almost entirely under the assumption that it had no shot of ever being taken seriously. |
| Under the Skin | 2014 | 31 | 131 | - Bizarre. Just utterly bizarre. |
| Nines, The | 2007 | 29 | 134 | - Returns nothing for the investment of your time. How in the hell did Ryan Reynolds and Melissa McCarthy get roped into this? |
| Resident Evil: Retribution | 2012 | 25 | 135 | - Horrifically awful. With each sequel, this franchise redefines just what rock bottom is. |
