Sorted list: Films with "intelligent grades" between 8.1 and 8.7 (robustness between 1.5 and 2.0)

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»
8.6	2013	CD	Common People	Stewart Alexander, Kerry Skinner, W, C, M
8.6	2013	CrMT	Onaayum Aattukkuttiyum	Myshkin, W, C, M
8.6	2012	AdCF	Firefall: An Epic Family Adventure	Matthew Sconce, W, W, C, M
8.6	2012	AdCDF	Firefall: An Epic Family Adventure	Matthew Sconce, W, ++, C, M
8.6	2010	CrDM	"Sherlock" The Great Game	Paul McGuigan, W, W, ++, C, M, M
8.6	2004	C	The Almost Guys	Eric Fleming, W, C, M
8.6	2003	D	Beat the Drum	David Hickson, W, C, M, M
8.6	2003	C	Ghostlight	Christopher Herrmann, W, W, ++, C, M
8.6	1999	D	Postmen in the Mountains	Jianqi Huo, W, C, M «Nashan naren nagou»
8.6	1998	CFanR	Boy Meets Girl	Jerry Ciccoritti, W, W, C, M
8.6	1996	CMc	Bandwagon	John Schultz, W, C, M
8.6	1987	FMlFan	Hansel and Gretel	Len Talan, W, W, ++, C
8.6	1986	CR	The Whoopee Boys	John Byrum, W, W, ++, C, M, M
8.6	1978	A	Born Invincible	Joseph Kuo, W, W, C «Tai ji yuan gong»
8.6	1969	AdD	The Red Tent	Mikhail Kalatozov, W, W, ++, C, M, M «Krasnaya palatka»
8.6	1966	D	Nayak: The Hero	Satyajit Ray, W, C, M «Nayak»
8.6	1963	CrD	The Organizer	Mario Monicelli, W, W, ++, C, M «I compagni»
8.6	1961	AdCW	The Best of Enemies	Guy Hamilton, W, W, ++, C, M
8.6	1956	CR	The Solid Gold Cadillac	Richard Quine, W, W, ++, C, M, M
8.5	2015	AH	Heneral Luna	Jerrold Tarog, W, W, ++, C, M
8.5	2013	D	Circles	Srdan Golubovic, W, W, C, M «Krugovi»
8.5	2013	Ho	Infliction	Jack Thomas Smith, W, C
8.5	2013	AdDT	WildLike	Frank Hall Green, W, C, M, M
8.5	2012	CHo	Atom the Amazing Zombie Killer	Zack Beins, Richard Taylor, W, W, ++, C, M
8.5	2011	CDF	Anytime, Anywhere	M. Saravanan, W, C, M «Engeyum Eppodhum»
8.5	2010	D	Annabelle & Bear	Amy S. Weber, W, W, ++, C, M
8.5	2010	DFR	Before We Say Goodbye	Paul Davids, W, W, C, M, M
8.5	2009	AD	Naan Kadavul	Bala, W, ++, C, M
8.5	2009	A	Nun of That	Richard Griffin, W, W, C, M, M
8.5	2007	CDFan	Mermaid	Anna Melikyan, W, C, M «Rusalka»
8.5	2006	A	Eddie Monroe	Fred Carpenter, W, W, ++, C, M
8.5	2004	RC	Hari Om	Ganapathy Bharat, W, ++, C, M
8.5	2003	CFanHoMl	Gory Gory Hallelujah	Sue Corcoran, W, C, M
8.5	2002		The Dogwalker	Jacques Thelemaque, W, C, M
8.5	1994	CrD	Jason's Lyric	Doug McHenry, W, C, M, M
8.5	1990	CACrR	Ghayal	Rajkumar Santoshi, W, W, ++, C, M
8.5	1989	CR	Mama, There's a Man in Your Bed	Coline Serreau, W, C, M «Romuald et Juliette»
8.5	1980	DMc	Hank Williams: The Show He Never Gave	David Acomba, W, C
8.5	1975	DF	e'Lollipop	Ashley Lazarus, W, W, C, M «Forever Young, Forever Free»
8.5	1974	CD	Bread and Chocolate	Franco Brusati, W, W, ++, C, M «Pane e cioccolata»
8.5	1967	CR	Kidnapping, Caucasian Style	Leonid Gayday, W, W, ++, C, M «Kavkazskaya plennitsa, ili Novye priklyucheniya Shurika»
8.5	1965	D	Rapture	John Guillermin, W, W, ++, C, M
8.5	1959	AdDF	Third Man on the Mountain	Ken Annakin, W, W, C, M
8.5	1936	D	Hitori musuko	Yasujirô Ozu, W, W, ++, C, M
8.5	1928	AdD	Beggars of Life	William A. Wellman, W, W, ++, C, M
8.4	2014	D	Cru	Alton Glass, W, ++, C, M
8.4	2005	D	Grodmin	Jim Horwitz, W
8.4	2005	CDR	Sad Movie	Jong-kwan Kwon, W «Saedeu mubi»
8.4	2005	BDFSp	The Goal	Darla Rae, W, W, C, M, M, M++
8.4	2005	DM	Unstable	Anthony Spadaccini, W, ++, C, M
8.4	2004	CDR	Burning Annie	Van Flesher, W, W, C, M
8.4	2002	BD	Painted Fire	Kwon-taek Im, W, W, ++, C, M «Chihwaseon»
8.4	2000	CR	Time Share	Sharon von Wietersheim, W, C, M
8.4	1999	CD	The Children of the Marshland	Jean Becker, W, W, C, M «Les enfants du Marais»
8.4	1997	C	Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald	Kôki Mitani, W, ++, C, C, M «Rajio no jikan»
8.4	1995	C	The Garden	Martin Sulík, W, W, ++, C, M «Záhrada»
8.4	1987	D	Orphans	Alan J. Pakula, W, C, M
8.4	1983	R	Sadma	Balu Mahendra, W, W, ++, C, M
8.4	1980	ADMcR	Stunt Rock	Brian Trenchard-Smith, W, W, C, C, M
8.4	1974	CD	We All Loved Each Other So Much	Ettore Scola, W, W, ++, C, M «C'eravamo tanto amati»
8.4	1967	D	The Stranger	Luchino Visconti, W, W, ++, C, M «Lo straniero»
8.4	1966	D	Hunger	Henning Carlsen, W, W, ++, C, M «Sult»
8.4	1964	C	I'd Rather Be Rich	Jack Smight, W, W, ++, C, M
8.4	1960	CDR	Once More, with Feeling!	Stanley Donen, W, C
8.4	1953	DFRW	The Little Kidnappers	Philip Leacock, W, C, M «The Kidnappers»
8.4	1950	CMlR	Two Weeks with Love	Roy Rowland, W, ++, C, M, M
8.4	1949	AdDR	The Blue Lagoon	Frank Launder, W, W, ++, C, M
8.4	1929	DR	Lucky Star	Frank Borzage, W, W, ++, C, C, M
8.4	1928	CDR	The Patsy	King Vidor, W, W, ++, C, M
8.4	1924	AdFanF	Peter Pan	Herbert Brenon, W, W, C, M
8.3	2013	C	Club Utopia	Frank A. Caruso, W, C, M
8.3	2011	CDF	Chillar Party	Vikas Bahl, Nitesh Tiwari, W, W, ++, C, M
8.3	2009	CD	Sneakers & Soul	Jonathan Zelenak, W, W, C, M
8.3	2007	DFanMT	Still Small Voices	Mario Azzopardi, W, C, M
8.3	2006	D	Journey from the Fall	Ham Tran, W, C, C, M
8.3	2003	D	Magnifico	Maryo J. De Los Reyes, W, C, M
8.3	2001	CFDR	Oui, mais...	Yves Lavandier, W, C, M
8.3	1999	D	Ratas, ratones, rateros	Sebastián Cordero, W, C, M, M
8.3	1994	D	Ladybird Ladybird	Ken Loach, W, C, M
8.3	1993	D	Damini - Lightning	Rajkumar Santoshi, W, W, M, M
8.3	1988	CD	Hawks	Robert Ellis Miller, W, W, ++, C, M
8.3	1987	D	The Grand Highway	Jean-Loup Hubert, W, C, M «Le grand chemin»
8.3	1986	DHR	Belizaire the Cajun	Glen Pitre, W, C, M
8.3	1985	DMc	Yellow Earth	Kaige Chen, W, W, ++, C, M «Huang tu di»
8.3	1984	DMc	Carmen	Francesco Rosi, W, W, ++, C
8.3	1980	CDR	Mon oncle d'Amérique	Alain Resnais, W, W, C, M
8.3	1980	C	Sir Henry at Rawlinson End	Steve Roberts, W, W, ++, C, M
8.3	1977	C	Outrageous!	Richard Benner, W, W, C, M
8.3	1972	AD	Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx	Kenji Misumi, W, W, ++, C, M «Kozure Ôkami: Sanzu no kawa no ubaguruma»
8.3	1971	DFR	"The Waltons" The Homecoming: A Christmas Story	Fielder Cook, W, C, M
8.3	1961	C	Call Me Genius	Robert Day, W, W, ++, C, M «The Rebel»
8.3	1961	D	The End of Summer	Yasujirô Ozu, W, W, C, M «Kohayagawa-ke no aki»
8.3	1955	DW	The Unknown Soldier	Edvin Laine, W, W, C, C, C++, M «Tuntematon sotilas»
8.3	1948	D	The Winslow Boy	Anthony Asquith, W, ++, C, M
8.2	2014	BDH	476 A.D. Chapter One: The Last Light of Aries	Ivan Pavletic, W, C
8.2	2011	DFanR	Tears of Remedy	Lee Thongkham, W, W, ++, C, M
8.2	2011	AdR	The Name Is Rogells (Rugg-ells)	Rachel Warner, W, C, M, M
8.2	2009	C	Today's Special	David Kaplan, W, W, ++, C, M
8.2	2007	D	Noëlle	David Wall, W, C, M
8.2	2006	Sf	A Texas Tale of Treason	Matthew C. Walker, W, C, C, M, M
8.2	2005	DSp	My Brother... Nikhil	Onir, W, W, C, M
8.2	2003	CF	Blizzard	LeVar Burton, W, W, ++, C, M
8.2	2003	D	Wake	Roy Finch, W, C, M, M
8.2	1999	CR	Den eneste ene	Susanne Bier, W, W, C, M, M
8.2	1995	D	The Journey of August King	John Duigan, W, C, M
8.2	1990	CD	Coupe de Ville	Joe Roth, W, C, M
8.2	1989	BDHSpW	Triumph of the Spirit	Robert M. Young, W, W, ++, C, M
8.2	1987	CD	Swimming to Cambodia	Jonathan Demme, W, C, M
8.2	1983	DR	Independence Day	Robert Mandel, W, C, M
8.2	1982	DH	La nuit de Varennes	Ettore Scola, W, W, ++, C, M
8.2	1981	CFR	Chashme Buddoor	Sai Paranjape, W, ++, C, M
8.2	1981	Ho	The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne	Walerian Borowczyk, W, W, C, M «Docteur Jekyll et les femmes»
8.2	1980	DMl	Breaking Glass	Brian Gibson, W, C
8.2	1975	CR	Chhoti Si Baat	Basu Chatterjee, C, M
8.2	1974	DFR	Where the Lilies Bloom	William A. Graham, W, W, ++, C, M
8.2	1972	C	The Adventures of Barry McKenzie	Bruce Beresford, W, W, C, M
8.2	1970	D	One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich	Caspar Wrede, W, W, C, M
8.2	1959	CDW	The Great War	Mario Monicelli, W, W, ++, C, C, C++, M «La grande guerra»
8.2	1926	DHo	Kurutta ippêji	Teinosuke Kinugasa, W, ++, C
8.2	1915	BCrDR	Regeneration	Raoul Walsh, W, W, ++, C
8.1	2014	Mc	Roger Waters the Wall	Sean Evans, Roger Waters, W, W, C, M
8.1	2013	D	Udhao	Amit Ashraf, W, C, M
8.1	2009	CH	Tales from the Golden Age	Hanno Höfer, Razvan Marculescu, ++, W, C, C, C, M, M «Amintiri din epoca de aur»
8.1	2006	DMlR	The Magic Flute	Kenneth Branagh, W, W, ++, C
8.1	2002	C	Bug	Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi, W, C, M
8.1	2002	DFSp	Hometown Legend	James Anderson, W, W, C, M, M
8.1	2000	D	I Have Found It	Rajiv Menon, W, W, ++, C, C, M «Kandukondain Kandukondain»
8.1	2000	CDRSf	Thomas in Love	Pierre-Paul Renders, W, C, M «Thomas est amoureux»
8.1	1999	CD	Catfish in Black Bean Sauce	Chi Muoi Lo, W, C, C, M
8.1	1999	CR	Let It Snow	Adam Marcus, W, C, M «Snow Days»
8.1	1998		Such a Long Journey	Sturla Gunnarsson, W, W, C, M
8.1	1998	AD	Zakhm	Mahesh Bhatt, W, ++, C, M
8.1	1994	ADR	Play Time	Dale Trevillion, W, C, M
8.1	1993	D	Household Saints	Nancy Savoca, W, W, ++, C, M
8.1	1989	D	Powwow Highway	Jonathan Wacks, W, W, ++, C, M
8.1	1987	Fan	The Magic Toyshop	David Wheatley, W, C, M
8.1	1985	CD	Static	Mark Romanek, W, W, C
8.1	1984	CDR	The Flamingo Kid	Garry Marshall, W, W, ++, C, M
8.1	1983	D	Daniel	Sidney Lumet, W, C, M
8.1	1981	AdCCr	The Goat	Francis Veber, W, C, M «La chèvre»
8.1	1974	CD	Scent of a Woman	Dino Risi, W, W, ++, C, M «Profumo di donna»
8.1	1952	CD	Le Plaisir	Max Ophüls, W, W, ++, C, C, M «Le plaisir»
8.1	1944	DW	Sunday Dinner for a Soldier	Lloyd Bacon, W, W, ++, C, M
8.1	1930	CDR	People on Sunday	Curt Siodmak, Robert Siodmak, ++, W, W, ++, C, M, M «Menschen am Sonntag»
8.1	1924	C	Hot Water	Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor, W, W, ++, C, M, 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.