Sorted list: Films with "intelligent grades" between 7.7 and 8.1 (robustness 3.5 or higher)

Very basic hints on how to use this list

Probably the most important feature is the links to “the most helpful” reviews of the film (click on the film’s title to jump there);
The list is ordered w.r.t. the “demanding viewer”’s grade GR; the better it is, the higher is the expectation of the “film’s worthyness”.

One may also want to know

(yet more details at the bottom of the page):

Colored grades GR are less statistically reliable than non-colored. More color means less reliability.
Most entries of the table (and all icons) have mouse popups with more details/explanations.
The headers of the table also have mouse popups. They explain what is in the column.
Thumbnails of movie poster’s (on the left) are clickable (moreover, a click on the large version brings the whole poster — if available)
To buy/view via IMDB, click on the title; on the IMDB page, use the links on the left.

GR	Year	Genres	Title	Extra links / Director, etc / «Original title»
8.0	2012	CDR	Nanban	S. Shankar, W, W, ++, C, M
8.0	2010	C	I Am 24	Saurabh Shukla, C
8.0	2009	CDR	Castaway on the Moon	Hey-jun Lee, W, C, M «Kimssi pyoryugi»
8.0	2008	D	Live Fast, Die Young	Timothy A. Chey, W, C
8.0	2006	D	The Companion	Rituparno Ghosh, W, C, M, M «Dosar»
8.0	2005	D	Faltu	Anjan Das, W, C
8.0	2005		Our Burden Is Light	Denise Coates, W, C, M
8.0	2002	DF	Saanjhbatir Roopkathara	Anjan Das, W, W, C, M
8.0	2000	D	Tully	Hilary Birmingham, W, W, ++, C, M
8.0	1998	ACr	Satya	Ram Gopal Varma, W, W, ++, C, C, M, M
8.0	1998	TCrD	The Interview	Craig Monahan, W, W, C, M
8.0	1996	CDR	Beautiful Thing	Hettie Macdonald, W, C, M
8.0	1993	DH	King of the Hill	Steven Soderbergh, W, W, C, M
8.0	1991	CD	29th Street	George Gallo, W, W, ++, C, M
8.0	1983	DMc	Tender Mercies	Bruce Beresford, W, C, M
8.0	1982	C	My Favorite Year	Richard Benjamin, W, W, ++, C, M
8.0	1981	AAdDHW	Das Boot	Wolfgang Petersen, W, W, C, M
8.0	1978	DW	Go Tell the Spartans	Ted Post, W, W, C, M
8.0	1972	DFHMl	1776	Peter H. Hunt, W, W, ++, C, M
8.0	1971	DR	Melody	Waris Hussein, W, C
8.0	1969	CrDHMT	Z	Costa-Gavras, W, W, ++, C, M
8.0	1965	WD	King Rat	Bryan Forbes, W, W, C, M
8.0	1961	D	A Raisin in the Sun	Daniel Petrie, W, C, M
8.0	1960	CrDT	Le Trou	Jacques Becker, W, W, ++, C, M «Le trou»
8.0	1957	D	The D.I.	Jack Webb, W, C, M
8.0	1956	DTW	A Man Escaped	Robert Bresson, W, W, C «Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut»
8.0	1953	DMlR	Lili	Charles Walters, W, W, C, M
8.0	1953	DW	The Cruel Sea	Charles Frend, W, W, C, M
8.0	1948	DF	I Remember Mama	George Stevens, W, W, ++, C, M
8.0	1941	BD	One Foot in Heaven	Irving Rapper, W, W, C, M
8.0	1935	DHR	A Tale of Two Cities	Jack Conway, ++, W, W, ++, C, M
8.0	1931	CDR	City Lights	Charles Chaplin, W, ++, C, C, M
8.0	1928	DRWe	The Wind	Victor Sjöström, W, W, C, M, M
7.9	2012	BD	Shahid	Hansal Mehta, W, W, ++, C, M
7.9	2010	ACHoMlMRT	Zombie Beach	Mukesh Asopa, W, W, ++, M
7.9	2009	DR	Undertow	Javier Fuentes-León, W, C, M «Contracorriente»
7.9	2007	D	Like Stars on Earth	Aamir Khan, ++, W, C, M, M, M «Taare Zameen Par»
7.9	2007	D	The Last Lear	Rituparno Ghosh, W, W, ++, C, M, M, M
7.9	2006	C	Two Tickets to Paradise	D.B. Sweeney, W, W, C, M
7.9	2005	CDR	David & Layla	J.J. Alani, W, C, M, M
7.9	2004	BD	Machuca	Andrés Wood, W, W, ++, C, M, M
7.9	2004	AdMlR	Rok Sako To Rok Lo	Arindam Chowdhuri, W, C, M, M
7.9	2002	DR	The Twilight Samurai	Yôji Yamada, W, W, ++, C, M «Tasogare Seibei»
7.9	2000	D	Eureka	Shinji Aoyama, W, C, M, M
7.9	1999	DF	The Color of Paradise	Majid Majidi, W, C, M «Rang-e khoda»
7.9	1996	DFanR	Lilies	John Greyson, W, C, M «Lilies - Les feluettes»
7.9	1996	D	Ponette	Jacques Doillon, W, W, C, M
7.9	1995	DR	Love Letter	Shunji Iwai, W, C, M
7.9	1994	DW	Before the Rain	Milcho Manchevski, W, C, M, M, M
7.9	1994	DFFan	The Secret of Roan Inish	John Sayles, W, W, C, M
7.9	1994	DW	To Live	Yimou Zhang, W, W, ++, C, M «Huozhe»
7.9	1990	BCDHR	Cyrano de Bergerac	Jean-Paul Rappeneau, W, W, ++, C, M
7.9	1986	D	Jean de Florette	Claude Berri, W, W, ++, C, M
7.9	1986	CDSf	Kin-dza-dza!	Georgiy Daneliya, W, W, C, M
7.9	1986	AdD	Stand by Me	Rob Reiner, W, W, ++, C, M
7.9	1980	CDR	Fatso	Anne Bancroft, W, C, M
7.9	1975	CDW	Seven Beauties	Lina Wertmüller, W, C, M «Pasqualino Settebellezze»
7.9	1972	CR	What's Up, Doc?	Peter Bogdanovich, W, W, ++, C, M
7.9	1970	D	The Boys in the Band	William Friedkin, W, C
7.9	1966	AdWe	The Good, the Bad and the Ugly	Sergio Leone, W, W, ++, C, M «Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo»
7.9	1962	BD	The Miracle Worker	Arthur Penn, W, ++, C, M
7.9	1962	CMlR	The Music Man	Morton DaCosta, W, W, ++, C, M
7.9	1961	D	Whistle Down the Wind	Bryan Forbes, W, W, ++, C, M
7.9	1960	DR	Tunes of Glory	Ronald Neame, W, C, M
7.9	1955	D	Pather Panchali	Satyajit Ray, W, W, C, M
7.9	1949	D	Late Spring	Yasujirô Ozu, W, W, ++, C, M «Banshun»
7.9	1939	CR	Midnight	Mitchell Leisen, W, W, ++, C, M
7.9	1924	DT	He Who Gets Slapped	Victor Sjöström, W, W, ++, C, M
7.9	1924	AdFFanR	The Thief of Bagdad	Raoul Walsh, W, W, ++, C, M
7.8	2010	CrDM	"Sherlock" A Study in Pink	Paul McGuigan, W, W, ++, C, M, M
7.8	2010	CFR	Bicycle Bride	Hassan Zee, W, C, C, C
7.8	2003	BD	Baadasssss!	Mario Van Peebles, W, W, ++, C, M «How to Get the Man's Foot Outta Your Ass»
7.8	2003	DR	Facing Windows	Ferzan Ozpetek, W, W, C, M «La finestra di fronte»
7.8	1999	RD	Gloomy Sunday	Rolf Schübel, W, W, ++, C, M, M «Gloomy Sunday - Ein Lied von Liebe und Tod»
7.8	1999	D	Spring Forward	Tom Gilroy, W, C, M
7.8	1998	AdCDF	Paulie	John Roberts, W, C, M
7.8	1997	RD	Firelight	William Nicholson, W, C, M
7.8	1997	D	My Life in Pink	Alain Berliner, W, W, C, M, M «Ma vie en rose»
7.8	1996	CDMcR	Shall We Dance?	Masayuki Suo, W, C, M «Shall we dansu?»
7.8	1996	BDR	The Whole Wide World	Dan Ireland, W, W, C, M
7.8	1994	CrD	The Shawshank Redemption	Frank Darabont, W, W, C, M
7.8	1994	DMR	Three Colors: Red	Krzysztof Kieslowski, W, W, C, M «Trois couleurs: Rouge»
7.8	1993	BDR	Shadowlands	Richard Attenborough, W, C, M
7.8	1992	C	Brain Donors	Dennis Dugan, W, W, ++, C, M
7.8	1992	DMl	Newsies	Kenny Ortega, W, W, C, M
7.8	1991	DR	Flirting	John Duigan, W, C
7.8	1990	ACrD	Agneepath	Mukul Anand, W, W, ++, C, M, M
7.8	1987	ACFanRT	A Chinese Ghost Story	Siu-Tung Ching, W, W, C, C, C++, M, M «Sien nui yau wan»
7.8	1981	CDR	Gregory's Girl	Bill Forsyth, W, C, M
7.8	1981	AAd	Raiders of the Lost Ark	Steven Spielberg, W, W, ++, C, M
7.8	1979	D	The Wanderers	Philip Kaufman, W, W, ++, C
7.8	1976	DSp	Rocky	John G. Avildsen, W, C, M
7.8	1974	CrD	The Gambler	Karel Reisz, W, C, M
7.8	1965	DW	The Shop on Main Street	Ján Kadár, Elmar Klos, W, ++, C, M «Obchod na korze»
7.8	1964	TWA	The Train	John Frankenheimer, ++, W, W, ++, C, C, M
7.8	1960	DR	Wild River	Elia Kazan, W, W, ++, C, M
7.8	1959	D	The Nun's Story	Fred Zinnemann, W, W, C, M
7.8	1954	CDR	Hobson's Choice	David Lean, W, W, ++, C, M
7.8	1949	DR	The Heiress	William Wyler, W, W, ++, C, M
7.8	1945	D	A Tree Grows in Brooklyn	Elia Kazan, W, W, ++, C, M
7.8	1943	CrDMT	Le Corbeau: The Raven	Henri-Georges Clouzot, W, W, ++, C, M «Le corbeau»
7.8	1939	CDR	Love Affair	Leo McCarey, W, W, ++, C, M
7.8	1938	CDR	Pygmalion	Anthony Asquith, Leslie Howard, W, ++, C, M
7.8	1928	BDH	The Passion of Joan of Arc	Carl Theodor Dreyer, W, W, C, M, M «La passion de Jeanne d'Arc»
7.7	2015	D	Fly Away Solo	Neeraj Ghaywan, W, C, M, M «Masaan»
7.7	2014	DR	Old Fashioned	Rik Swartzwelder, W, C, M
7.7	2014	T	The Legend of DarkHorse County	Shawn Welling, W, W, C, C, C
7.7	2013	DRSfT	Lucia	Pawan Kumar, W, ++, C, M
7.7	2012	C	Putzel	Jason Chaet, W, ++, C
7.7	2008	CCrD	Mithya	Rajat Kapoor, W, W, ++, C, M, M, M++
7.7	2007	D	Boy A	John Crowley, W, W, C, M
7.7	2006	CCrD	Khosla's Nest	Dibakar Banerjee, W, C, M, M «Khosla Ka Ghosla!»
7.7	2005	AdCDM	American Dream?	Alex Harz, Tom Kennedy, W, W, C, C, M, M «?»
7.7	2004	DW	Turtles Can Fly	Bahman Ghobadi, W, C, M «Lakposhtha parvaz mikonand»
7.7	1999	CD	Shower	Yang Zhang, W, W, ++, C, M «Xizao»
7.7	1999	D	Three Seasons	Tony Bui, W, ++, C, M
7.7	1998	D	Central Station	Walter Salles, W, W, ++, C, M, M «Central do Brasil»
7.7	1998	BD	Finding Graceland	David Winkler, W, W, ++, C, M
7.7	1997	ACrCD	Knockin' on Heaven's Door	Thomas Jahn, W, ++, C, M, M, M
7.7	1997	DFanM	Photographing Fairies	Nick Willing, W, W, ++, C, M
7.7	1996	CDMc	Hard Core Logo	Bruce McDonald, W, W, C, M
7.7	1995	RD	Persuasion	Roger Michell, W, W, C, M
7.7	1994	AC	The Legend of Drunken Master	Chia-Liang Liu, ++, W, W, ++, C, C, C++, M, M «Jui kuen II»
7.7	1991	D	Enchanted April	Mike Newell, W, W, C, M
7.7	1991	D	Proof	Jocelyn Moorhouse, W, C, M
7.7	1991	ASfT	Terminator 2: Judgment Day	James Cameron, W, W, C, M
7.7	1989	D	Jesus of Montreal	Denys Arcand, W, C, M, M, M «Jésus de Montréal»
7.7	1989	CA	Let It Ride	Joe Pytka, W, W, C, M
7.7	1989	DR	Longtime Companion	Norman René, W, C, M
7.7	1989	CDR	Shirley Valentine	Lewis Gilbert, W, C, M
7.7	1988	AT	Die Hard	John McTiernan, W, W, ++, C, M
7.7	1987	DR	Maurice	James Ivory, W, W, ++, C, M
7.7	1986	D	Manon of the Spring	Claude Berri, W, W, ++, C, M «Manon des sources»
7.7	1985	CDR	Heaven Help Us	Michael Dinner, W, C, M
7.7	1985	AdCFMc	Sesame Street Presents: Follow that Bird	Ken Kwapis, W, W, C, M, M
7.7	1980	DHW	Breaker Morant	Bruce Beresford, W, W, ++, C «'Breaker' Morant»
7.7	1980	BD	The Elephant Man	David Lynch, W, W, ++, C, M
7.7	1975	D	Hard Times	Walter Hill, W, W, ++, C, M
7.7	1975	AdHoT	Jaws	Steven Spielberg, W, W, ++, C, M
7.7	1974	CrD	The Godfather: Part II	Francis Ford Coppola, W, W, ++, C, M
7.7	1969	D	Kes	Ken Loach, W, ++, C, M
7.7	1966	DF	Follow Me, Boys!	Norman Tokar, W, W, C, M
7.7	1963	WD	The Victors	Carl Foreman, W, W, C, M
7.7	1962	D	Harakiri	Masaki Kobayashi, W, W, ++, C, M «Seppuku»
7.7	1960	HoMT	Psycho	Alfred Hitchcock, W, W, C, M
7.7	1960	D	The Virgin Spring	Ingmar Bergman, W, C, M «Jungfrukällan»
7.7	1959	DRW	Ballad of a Soldier	Grigoriy Chukhray, W, W, C, C, M «Ballada o soldate»
7.7	1959	CrDT	Tiger Bay	J. Lee Thompson, W, W, ++, C, M
7.7	1957	D	12 Angry Men	Sidney Lumet, W, C, M
7.7	1957	D	Nights of Cabiria	Federico Fellini, W, W, ++, C, C, M «Le notti di Cabiria»
7.7	1957	D	Throne of Blood	Akira Kurosawa, W, W, ++, C, M «Kumonosu-jô»
7.7	1956	D	Patterns	Fielder Cook, W, C
7.7	1954	D	La Strada	Federico Fellini, W, W, ++, C, C, M «La strada»
7.7	1954	D	Sansho the Bailiff	Kenji Mizoguchi, W, W, ++, C, M, M, M «Sanshô dayû»
7.7	1953	DFanM	Ugetsu	Kenji Mizoguchi, W, W, ++, C, M, M, M «Ugetsu monogatari»
7.7	1947	CDFanR	The Bishop's Wife	Henry Koster, W, W, ++, C, M
7.7	1946	CFanRT	The Time of Their Lives	Charles Barton, W, W, ++, C, M, M, M
7.7	1939	AAdDW	Beau Geste	William A. Wellman, W, W, C, C, M
7.7	1939	CDFan	On Borrowed Time	Harold S. Bucquet, W, W, ++, C, M
7.7	1937	AdDF	Captains Courageous	Victor Fleming, W, W, ++, C, M
7.7	1937	DMlR	Maytime	Robert Z. Leonard, W, W, ++, C
7.7	1936	CD	Modern Times	Charles Chaplin, W, C, C, M

What is this list?

This list of films is ordered w.r.t. the “demanding viewer” grade GR. The higher in the list, the better is what “demaning users” of IMDB think about the film. To augment the grade, the entries in the list are equipped with exhaustive additional information (a lot of it in mouse popups!) and with links leading to more detailed reviews of the film

What is the grade GR?

The grade GR is a calculated grade; it is not my (or anybody else’s) personal opinion, but an “objective grade”: a result of certain delicate massage of what IMDB contributors think about the film. While it uses the same units as the IMDB grade (for example, the range is from 1 to 10; higher means better), it is significantly more evenly distributed; most of the time, it is also significantly below the average IMDB grade (although there are many exceptions).

These “delicate considerations” are based on my observations of how IMDB contributors behave, hence the grade GR is an objective measure choosen based on subjective observations (for more details, jump here). Currently, I believe that, for many people around me, this calculated grade is much more helpful for deciding which film to watch than any other system I saw (either “objective”, or based on opinions of friends, critics etc).

How to use this list?

Of course, as with any “objective measure”, one should not trust the calculated grade GR blindly (especially if the “robustness” is low). This grade (and the relative position of a film in the list below) is just a suggestion; clicking on the film’s title (better click with the middle mouse button!) leads to the “most helpful” reviews of the film.

I consider these reviews (which I call “reviews from demanding viewers”) to be much more important than the grade GR itself. These reviews have a very good chance to contain intelligent observations about the film. (The way to find these reviews is the keystone which makes this page possible.) Let me repeat: I strongly recommend inspecting all the supplied “additional info” about the film and these reviews before deciding whether to watch a film or not; the grade GR should only help to decide which rows in the table should be inspected first! (For more details, visit the main page.)

Review links leading to empty pages (or pages with few review):

these are not always avoidable due to very limited control one has over IMDB display of reviews. If you see this, just switch to the “opposite” view-type (Hate It vs. Love It), and go to the end of the list of reviews.

Film’s info hidden in the entries in the list:

Grades GR are color-coded for robustness: 0 / 0.5 / 1 / 1.5 / 2 / 2.5 / 3 / 3.5 / 4 / 4.5 / 5 / 5.5 / 6 / 6.5 / 7 / 7.5 / 8 / 8.5 / 9. The lower the robustness, the more probable it is that the grade is a result of a statistical fluke. Robustness above 3.5 is expected to be sufficient for most practical purposes. Grades with robustness below about 0.5 have a very high chance to be affected by statistical flukes.

Most columns in the table have additional information provided when mouse is resting over the field. (This information is summarized when mouse is resting over cells in the header row of the table.) The display (or non-display) of icons can be controlled by changing selection in the browser’s menu View/Page Style (press Alt to see the menu). The release year is color-coded to denote TV films, TV mini-series, and TV series. A person’s name is bluish-tinted if its popup has additional info about other films by the guy (in the same capacity: director/writer/camera/music); the pale-red number is the best GR-grade they.achieved in this capacity.