Here’sĀ list of my favorite films, all of which are somewhere in theĀ A range, or a high B. I didn’t actually include everything I’ve ever given an A to on RunPee, because they were often graded according to the target audience, and aren’t actually my personal faves.
Sometimes I want to upgrade a film too, over time. Fantastic Beasts And Where to Find Them gets better on every viewing, for example. I want to move in the database from a B something to like an A-, or at least an A. I was colored at the time, by my wanting it to be more like the other Harry Potter films. Which is why rewatch reviews really come into their own — you can have time to let a film settle, and see what emerges in time.
It’s worth discussing about how we at RunPee grade movies. Each one of us staffers in this family is different. Like I’ve said before, I often use a curve within a movie franchise. Almost anything the Marvel Cinematic Universe does deserves an A (IMO), compared to movies otherwise in its genre (or out of it). But…that’s adding my highly idiosyncratic enjoyment factor.
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Here’s a long list of my A range, and most favorite films over time:Ā
- Alien and Aliens
- Star Wars: A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back
- Terminator (The first and the second)
- Jurassic Park (Only the first)
- Titanic
- Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Arc
- Back to the Future (The first)
- Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
- The Breakfast Club
- Jaws (the first)
- Overboard (The original)
- A Fish Called Wanda
- Avatar
- The Matrix (The first)
- Harry Potter (I can’t really pick one from the eight movies we see. Each has their own style and merits…and together is one long story. For myself, I’d give the A+ to The Prisoner of Azkaban,Ā The Goblet of Fire, and maybe The Half Blood Prince.)
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
- Passengers (This one is controversial.Ā I loved it, my mother loved it, and RunPee Dan loved it. But a lot of people aggressively dislike the movie, for reasons I shouldn’t describe here if you haven’t seen the film)
- Star Trek (The Wrath of Khan and the Voyage Home. First Contact is great, might not be an A)
- Logan (OMG is this sad. But wonderful, too)
- The MCU (Like the Harry Potter films, Marvel’s Avenger superheroes have an intricately webbed series of stories. To pick out the A+ films is hard. I might only put Infinity Wars in that caliber. Maybe Thor: Ragnarok. However, the regular A films abound: Guardians of the Galaxy — one of my personal favorites, Black Panther, Iron Man 1, Avengers: Assemble, Avengers: Civil War,Ā and Spiderman: Homecoming)
- Finding Nemo
- The Shawshank Redemption
- The Firm
- The Fugitive
- Top Gun
- The Lord of the Rings (The entire LOTR series. Not the Hobbit films, unfortunately)
- Die Hard (The first)
- Lethal Weapon (the first)
- Predator
- ET: The Extra Terrestrial
- Rain Man
- 2001, A Space Odyssey
- Blade Runner (The first)
- The Shining (The original)
- So I Married An Axe-Murderer
- Inception
- Mamma Mia (The first)
- When Harry Met Sally
- Contact
- Apollo 13
- The Princess Bride
- Moonstruck
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- Pitch Black (The first)
- The Wizard of Oz
- Ā Monty Python and The Holy Grail
- Airplane! (The first)
- Ā Ghostbusters (The first)
- Groundhog Day
- Ā Live and Let Die (Bond movies are so subjective! This one is perfect, in my opinion. Yours will probably be different)
- Pulp Fiction
- Shaun of the Dead
- Zombieland
- Ā The Sixth Sense
- Wayne’s World
- Thelma and Louise
- The BourneĀ Identity
- Steel Magnolias
- The Little Mermaid
- Ā The Hunt for Red October
….Aaaand, I’m continuing this list right now. You might have an idea of what movies I consistently like: there’s a lot of sci-fi here, (almost) no horror movies, and very few old classics. For example, I never saw Citizen Kane — which is touted to be the best movie in in the universe . I should educate myself. (I did enjoy African Queen, Gone with the Wind, Casablanca, and Some Like It Hot. Is that a good start?)
I’m going to hang out with RunPee Sis next month, and she will introduce me to some horror classics, and hug me when I get scared. So maybe things like Psycho and Silence of the Lambs will join the list.
Anyway: I know I missed some important movies. Got some in mind? Comments can be added below!
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Co-Creator of RunPee, Chief of Operations, Content Director, and Managing Editor. RunPee Jilly likes galaxy-spanning sci fi, superhero sagas, fantasy films, YA dystopians, action thrillers, chick flicks, and zany comedies, in that order…and possesses an inspiringly small bladder. In fact, that little bladder sparked the creation of RunPee. (Good thing she’s learned to hold it.)
polyGeek Administrator
Great list. (A tad long.) For me, I have to feel like I’m watching an iconic story in action, otherwise I give it an A. My list, in no particular order:
Shawshank
Close Encounters
Contact
Aliens
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Ghost Busters
Fish Called Wanda
Passengers
I could go on, but I think that’s enough. Although, I know I’m forgetting a lot of simple movies, that really knocked it out of the park.
Jill Florio Administrator
And great list to to you too! (A tad short.) š
No Star Wars , Terminator, Jurassic Park, or Matrix?
I love how you said this: “I have to feel like Iām watching an iconic story in action”…that’s sort of brilliant. Sums it all up right there in perfect succinctness.
Jill Florio Administrator
You know, you’re right. This is just a list of good films in the A range that I liked. A lot/most are from the 80s and 90s, because that’s how you can see if I movie stands up to time.
What I’m going to do is give this list a more generic name, and start a new post about my (shorter, okay?) top A+ films. However, it’s still going to be a longer list than yours, b – while I like your reasoning for mostly withholding the A+ rating, I’m a little more generous with with that grade. (But as we know, not as much as some on RunPee…) š
For me, if it’s a movie I consistently watch and rewatch over and over and over again, that means it’s got that ineffable quality where, though it might have some flaws, it elevates it and becomes essential viewing to me, and worthy of upgrading to n A+. For example, while Guardians of the Galaxy Volume One might have some ineffectual villains, its no longer sensible for me to give it anything BUT a personal A+. And some great things (ie – The Body episode on Buffy) are almost flawless and gripping, but so uncomfortable to view again that I can’t bear it.
So…I know there are ways to solve this dilemma, maybe through syntax. Come up with a new word. Somelike “personal best…?” Help me decide, please?
This is totally different than a “guilty pleasure” movie…which could be another post here too.
Thanks for the idea! You da man.
I still want to know where your Star Wars/Empire, JP, and Terminator are. And no Wrath of Khan?
Jill Florio Administrator
You know, I changed the whole thing based on your insight. So this is now a long list of movies I am happy to place in the rewatch category, within the A-, A and A+ range.
I’ll re-make my Rare A+ post later. It will require some neurons.
polyGeek Administrator
Personally, I’d like to see a breakdown of something like the top 3-5 in a handful of genres. I’ll work on mine.