Sorted list: Films with "intelligent grades" between 8.1 and 8.7 (robustness between 2.0 and 3.5)

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	2014	D	The Dark Horse	James Napier Robertson, W, C, M
8.6	2013	DT	The Red Robin	Michael Z. Wechsler, W, C, M
8.6	2011	D	Gun Hill Road	Rashaad Ernesto Green, W, C, M, M
8.6	2010	D	Strapped	Joseph Graham, W, C, M, M
8.6	2010	BDSp	The Hammer	Oren Kaplan, W, W, C, M «Hamill»
8.6	2007	CCrDMc	The Dukes	Robert Davi, W, W, C, M
8.6	2005	CDR	Elsa & Fred	Marcos Carnevale, W, W, ++, C, M «Elsa y Fred»
8.6	1989	CFan	Big Man on Campus	Jeremy Kagan, W, C, M
8.6	1971	D	Red Sky at Morning	James Goldstone, W, W, C, M
8.6	1966	CDR	The Family Way	Roy Boulting, W, C, M
8.6	1964	D	One Potato, Two Potato	Larry Peerce, W, W, C, M
8.5	2014	CD	Wishin' and Hopin'	Colin Theys, W, W, C, M
8.5	2011	DMcMlRT	The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall	Nick Morris, Laurence Connor, W, W, ++
8.5	2010	D	The Insatiable Moon	Rosemary Riddell, W, C, M
8.5	2008	C	Freebird	Jon Ivay, W, C, M
8.5	2000	BD	Angels of the Universe	Friðrik Þór Friðriksson, W, C, M «Englar alheimsins»
8.5	1997		Under the Lighthouse Dancing	Graeme Rattigan, W, W, C, M
8.5	1995	DT	Cry, the Beloved Country	Darrell Roodt, W, W, C, M
8.5	1983	BDFHSp	Phar Lap	Simon Wincer, W, C, M
8.5	1982	DR	Yol	Serif Gören, Yilmaz Güney, W, C, M, M
8.5	1972	MlRD	Pakeezah	Kamal Amrohi, W, C, M
8.5	1970	AAdCDRW	The White Sun of the Desert	Vladimir Motyl, W, W, ++, C, M «Beloe solntse pustyni»
8.5	1958	DMc	The Music Room	Satyajit Ray, W, W, ++, C, M, M «Jalsaghar»
8.5	1932	CD	I Was Born, But...	Yasujirô Ozu, W, W, ++, C, M «Otona no miru ehon - Umarete wa mita keredo»
8.4	2012	D	Fill the Void	Rama Burshtein, W, C, M «Lemale et ha'halal»
8.4	2003		The Ride	Nathan Kurosawa, W, C
8.4	2001	DMT	Out of the Black	Karl Kozak, W, W, ++, C, M
8.4	2001	T	Revolution #9	Tim McCann, W, C, M
8.4	1991	C	High Strung	Roger Nygard, W, W, C, M, M
8.4	1991	DMc	The Five Heartbeats	Robert Townsend, W, W, C, M
8.4	1985	C	The Party Animal	David Beaird, ++, W, W, C
8.4	1982	CMlD	Starstruck	Gillian Armstrong, W, C
8.4	1980	D	Inside Moves	Richard Donner, W, W, ++, C, M
8.4	1979	D	When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?	Milton Katselas, W, C, M
8.4	1978	DR	You Are Not Alone	Ernst Johansen, Lasse Nielsen, W, W, C, M «Du er ikke alene»
8.4	1975	DHW	The Hiding Place	James F. Collier, W, W, ++, C, M
8.4	1973	C	The Mad Adventures of 'Rabbi' Jacob	Gérard Oury, W, W, ++, C, M «Les aventures de Rabbi Jacob»
8.4	1963	D	The Big City	Satyajit Ray, W, W, ++, C, M «Mahanagar»
8.4	1951	D	Bright Victory	Mark Robson, W, W, C, M
8.3	2012	A	Changing the Game	Rel Dowdell, W, W, C, M
8.3	2010	CD	I Am Kalam	Nila Madhab Panda, W, W, ++, C, M, M
8.3	2008	CDR	Shades of Ray	Jaffar Mahmood, W, C, M
8.3	2003	CrD	Maqbool	Vishal Bhardwaj, W, W, ++, C, M
8.3	2000	DCr	Ali Zoua: Prince of the Streets	Nabil Ayouch, W, W, C, C, M «Ali Zaoua, prince de la rue»
8.3	1999	DR	Solomon & Gaenor	Paul Morrison, W, C, M «Solomon and Gaenor»
8.3	1995	ACD	Search and Destroy	David Salle, W, W, C, C, M
8.3	1991	D	The Inner Circle	Andrey Konchalovskiy, W, W, C, M
8.3	1989	ACCr	Disorganized Crime	Jim Kouf, W, C, M, M
8.3	1988	DMc	The In Crowd	Mark Rosenthal, W, W, C, M
8.3	1984	AdCSf	Sexmission	Juliusz Machulski, W, W, ++, C, M «Seksmisja»
8.3	1983	DHMc	And the Ship Sails On	Federico Fellini, W, W, C, M «E la nave va»
8.3	1976	C	The Ritz	Richard Lester, W, C, M
8.3	1963	Ad	A Boy Ten Feet Tall	Alexander Mackendrick, W, W, C, M, M «Sammy Going South»
8.3	1962	D	Sundays and Cybele	Serge Bourguignon, W, W, ++, C, M «Les dimanches de Ville d'Avray»
8.3	1941	AAdFanSf	Adventures of Captain Marvel	John English, William Witney, W, W, ++, C, M, M, M
8.3	1933	D	Counsellor at Law	William Wyler, W, C
8.3	1927	DR	The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg	Ernst Lubitsch, ++, W, W, ++, C, M, M, M
8.2	2014		Kaakkaa Muttai	M. Manikandan
8.2	2013	C	Dean Slater: Resident Advisor	Colin Sander, W, W, ++, C, M
8.2	2010	Ml	Les Misérables in Concert: The 25th Anniversary	Nick Morris, W, W, ++
8.2	2010	AAdDFanHoSfT	Nightbeasts	Wes Sullivan, W, C, M
8.2	2002	D	The Guys	Jim Simpson, W, ++, C, M
8.2	2000	C	Laughing Boy	Joe Grisaffi, W, W, ++, C, M
8.2	1995	CDM	Cold Fever	Friðrik Þór Friðriksson, W, W, C, M «Á köldum klaka»
8.2	1993	DR	Ruby in Paradise	Victor Nunez, W, C, M, M
8.2	1991	CDMc	Hear My Song	Peter Chelsom, W, W, ++, C, M
8.2	1991	D	Paradise	Mary Agnes Donoghue, W, ++, C, M
8.2	1987	DMlR	Ijaazat	Gulzar, W, W, C, M
8.2	1983	DFan	Somewhere, Tomorrow	Robert Wiemer, W, C, M
8.2	1976	D	"Play for Today" Nuts in May	Mike Leigh, W, C
8.2	1968	Ho	Kuroneko	Kaneto Shindô, W, C, M «Yabu no naka no kuroneko»
8.2	1966	CW	La Grande Vadrouille	Gérard Oury, W, W, ++, C, C, M «La grande vadrouille»
8.2	1964	AdHR	Angélique, marquise des anges	Bernard Borderie, W, W, ++, C, M
8.2	1958	BH	Ivan the Terrible, Part II	Sergei M. Eisenstein, W, C, C, M «Ivan Groznyy: Skaz vtoroy - Boyarskiy zagovor»
8.2	1952	D	The Life of Oharu	Kenji Mizoguchi, W, W, ++, C, C, M «Saikaku ichidai onna»
8.2	1951	D	Early Summer	Yasujirô Ozu, W, W, C, M «Bakushû»
8.2	1948	FD	So Dear to My Heart	Harold D. Schuster, Hamilton Luske, W, W, ++, C, M
8.2	1934	DH	Les Misérables	Raymond Bernard, W, W, ++, C, M «Les misérables»
8.2	1931	MlC	Le Million	René Clair, W, W, ++, C, C, M, M, M «Le million»
8.2	1931	DR	Mädchen in Uniform	Leontine Sagan, Carl Froelich, W, W, ++, C, C, M
8.2	1924	ACRF	Girl Shy	Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor, W, W, ++, C, M, M, M
8.1	2014	C	Bro, What Happened?	Dante, W, W, ++, C, M
8.1	2014	D	Runoff	Kimberly Levin, W, C, M, M
8.1	2013	D	Blinder	Richard Gray, W, W, ++, C, M
8.1	2012	CDMlR	Ustad Hotel	Anwar Rasheed, W, C, M
8.1	2008	D	Bride Flight	Ben Sombogaart, W, C, M
8.1	2008	DM	The Last Lullaby	Jeffrey Goodman, W, W, C, M
8.1	2003	D	Song for a Raggy Boy	Aisling Walsh, W, W, ++, C, M
8.1	2003	AdDF	The Adventures of Ociee Nash	Kristen McGary, W, W, ++, C, M
8.1	1999	DMcCr	G:MT Greenwich Mean Time	John Strickland, W, C, M
8.1	1997	D	Mandragora	Wiktor Grodecki, W, W, C, M
8.1	1993	TD	Sugar Hill	Leon Ichaso, W, C, M
8.1	1987	CrM	Desyat negrityat	Stanislav Govorukhin, W, W, C, M
8.1	1986	DMcR	Parting Glances	Bill Sherwood, W, C, M
8.1	1985	BD	Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters	Paul Schrader, W, W, ++, C, M
8.1	1983	CDR	Baby It's You	John Sayles, W, W, C
8.1	1983	DMcMlR	Carmen	Carlos Saura, W, W, ++, C, M
8.1	1976	DH	Il deserto dei tartari	Valerio Zurlini, W, W, ++, C, M
8.1	1972	DF	Sounder	Martin Ritt, W, W, C, M
8.1	1972	DT	State of Siege	Costa-Gavras, W, W, ++, C, M «État de siège»
8.1	1969	CDR	The April Fools	Stuart Rosenberg, W, C, M
8.1	1968	DFanHoMT	Even the Wind Is Afraid	Carlos Enrique Taboada, W, C «Hasta el viento tiene miedo»
8.1	1964	AdCMlRWe	Lemonade Joe	Oldrich Lipský, W, W, ++, C, M, M «Limonádový Joe aneb Konská opera»
8.1	1964	DR	Nothing But a Man	Michael Roemer, W, W, C
8.1	1964	DM	The Chalk Garden	Ronald Neame, W, W, C, M
8.1	1956	C	The Green Man	Robert Day, ++, W, ++, C, M
8.1	1949	AAdDF	Down to the Sea in Ships	Henry Hathaway, W, W, ++, C, M
8.1	1940	BD	Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet	William Dieterle, W, W, ++, C, M
8.1	1924	FanDAd	Siegfried	Fritz Lang, W, W, C, C, C, M «Die Nibelungen: Siegfried»

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.