Ranking: Tarantino Films

1. The Hateful Eight (5/5)

Re-watch after re-watch has propelled this to the top of my list. It's easily the most flawless work technically speaking I've seen of QT's as it merges the strengths of all his past works together into a true masterpiece. There's that claustrophobic nearly-one setting structure of 'Reservoir Dogs' which Tarantino utilises for some nail - biting tension and uprarious laughs through his consistently on-point dialogue. There's the epic scope of the likes of 'Inglorious Basterds' and 'Django Unchained' generated by the context of post - Civil War America and the stormy blizzard that sets the ominous tone so brilliantly. There's the bloodshed of the Kill Bills and the heart and soul of 'Kill Bill Vol. 2' and 'Jackie Brown', and chemistry between cast members all round pulsating through the great dialogue and deliveries, most notably in the form of Samuel L. Jackson and Walton Goggins' performances. Heck there's even Kurt Russell getting an opportunity to show his talents in a great Tarantino film. Speaking of the cast the titular eight (and James Parks) are all pitch-perfect, in bigger roles or smaller ones. This film is the perfect representation of why Tarantino is one of my favourite auteurs as it takes on his unique style, works it to perfection, and also demonstrates his maturity as a filmmaker by adding so much depth and emotion to it.

2. Inglorious Basterds (5/5)

Interesting in a film called 'Inglorious Basterds' the Basterds, a squad of American gung-ho soldiers dedicating their lives to 'killin' Nazis', are possibly the least interesting aspect. They're not bad either and it's always enjoyable to see Brad Pitt have a bit of fun chewing the scenery, but it's telling that their most interesting character, Michael Fassbender's Archie Hicox, isn't even really a proper Basterds.  Anyway the film is a great film, filled with tremendously interesting characters to root for and hate, and even finds complexity within war film clichés with the German sergeant  (Richard Sammel) who is not depicted as a cowardly snivelling scoundrel but a brave soldier facing death for his country. Almost the whole cast is excellent, the script (in particular the opening scene and the bar scene) fantastic but the best thing about it is MVVVP Christoph Waltz, a true master of the Tarantino lingo, who gives one of my all-time favourite performances as Hans Landa, a complete creep yet somehow charismatic villain who always makes his intentions known yet so subtly manipulates people into doing what he wants.

3. Kill Bill Vol. 2 (5/5)

Where the first Kill Bill was all about the action and peppered with emotional undercurrent, this is all about interactions between characters and the power behind these interactions. Now I really, really liked the first Kill Bill. But I love the second installment even more because it's not just an excellent Tarantino film it's a great film overall. It's perhaps benefited by better 'villains' this time round. Lucy Liu and Vivica A. Fox were good adversaries, but this time the Bride's combatants are: Darryl Hanna who is wonderfully OTT as an eyepatch wearing, gleeful sadist Elle Driver with a grudge and some serious daddy issues. Michael Madsen who is beautifully understated and sadly humorous as the washed up Bud. And of course at its core is once again Uma Thurman in the role she was born to play. As the Bride she's just as badass as she was last time round but this time, with an even stronger, heartrending arc to complete. Besides all of this great hefty emotional stuff there's still lots of fun to be had, from Gordon Liu and Michael Parks' cameos and the fantastic visual style that carries on from the first film.

4. Pulp Fiction (5/5)

The only thing holding back this film from a strong 5 overall is parts of the Golden Watch segment. The bedroom scene between Butch and his girlfriend is excruciatingly boring to watch and sends the film to a glaring halt; it's impressive how Tarantino managed to brush up his romantic writing so much more in his later works as this instance of it here verges on Attack of the Clones level bad. Also the whole segment as a whole I don't think adds all that much to the film beyond Christopher Walken's cameo which is entertaining and some badass Ving Rhames. Otherwise this film is rightly called Tarantino's masterpiece by many, even if I don't quite agree myself. John Travolta and Samuel L Jackson are a great pair of hitmen, with Jackson's closing monologue to the film the best dialogue Tarantino has ever written, and the best lead performance in a Tarantino film bolstering it. Also great are all the Uma Thurman/Travolta scenes that burst at the seams with chemistry, and though I don't necessarily think Tarantino was as snubbed of a Best Director win as many seem to be (I would've given it to Frank Darabont for Shawshank) he certainly demonstrates a growing confidence and style to his work here, with the non-linear structure in particular not feeling gratuitous but actually works wonders for the plot.

5. Jackie Brown (5/5)

Easily the most understated and underrated of Tarantino's filmography. Pam Grier's lead performance as the titular heroine of sorts, an airline hostess who gets involved in a convoluted double-cross plot with bloodshed and money involved, excellently balances this rather wonderful film that for all its swearing, cussing and occasional bursts of violence is possibly QT's sweetest work. Brown and Max Cherry (an endearingly charismatic Robert Forster) are a unique and refreshing onscreen 'couple' of sorts and their blossoming attraction is the highlight of the film for me. But there's also the classic tropes of comical brutes in the form of Samuel L Jackson, Robert de Niro and Bridget Fonda as some very incompetent criminals. Tarantino's script here is good, perhaps not as innovative because it's an adaptation of a novel, but the directorial flourishes here are kept to a bare minimum. Whenever someone tells me they find Tarantino to be all style and no substance, here's a film I point them to: not much in the way of flair but with a whole lot of depth at its emotional core.

6. Kill Bill Vol. 1 (4.5/5)

7. Django Unchained (4.5/5)

I think I'll start with a few of this film's flaws. It's a bit too long, losing a great deal of steam before the rousing conclusion, could have used some extra editing in the third act, and Broomhilda is a very underwritten character especially when contrasted to many other Tarantino female characters. I otherwise absolutely love this film. I would call the soundtrack in terms of its eclectic selection of songs, the best of Tarantino's career, particularly 'Freedom'. Jamie Foxx is a strong lead (thank god they did not go for Will Smith), Christoph Waltz waltzes along with Dr King Schultz like only he can, and best of show are Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L Jackson having an absolute ball (and in DiCaprio's case some pain along the way) as two incredibly repulsive yet hilarious individuals, the repugnant Francophile Calvin Candie and Uncle Tom houseslave Stephen. The scenes with the two of them unraveling the plans of Schultz and Django, and the dinnertime scenes, are some of the best scenes Tarantino has ever written, and make up for some of his questionable directorial choices.

8. Reservoir Dogs (5/5)

A few of its more dated and slightly amateurish qualities in terms of the production and a few lines of dialogue, which push it down. I still think it's a really good film though. The opening scene in particular is a masterclass in character introduction without exposition, as we get insight into what and where characters are coming from by just their interactions with one another. It's a film I can quite confidently call a Tarantino film where direction is more prominent than the performances, which are all good, but it's Tarantino's musical choices ('Stuck in the Middle With You', 'Little Green Bag') and innovatively constructed sequences (the bathroom anecdote scene is a personal favourite) make this a raw but visceral first-time effort.

9. True Romance (4.5/5)

One thing that holds this film is akin to the problems of Django, in that the third act is simply not as interesting or engaging as what came before. Maybe sticking to Tarantino's original non-linear structure would have helped rectified this issue. However, I entirely stand by the late great Tony Scott's decision to revise many of Tarantino's original script choices to fit into his film, including the ending. This stands as his attempt at his version of Badlands and while it's nowhere as great as that film, it's a very strong effort nevertheless. It provides an early insight into the power of Tarantino's dialogue which might go overboard sometimes but when it works, like in the Drexl scenes and the Sicilian scenes, it's very effective. The titular duo of Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette might be more lighthearted and breezy than Tarantino had envisaged but they're a charming couple, and the supporting cast is absolutely brilliant with all sorts of big names, Dennis Hopper, James Gandolfini, Christopher Walken, Val Kilmer, Brad Pitt and best of all, Gary Oldman as a wannabe black pimp.

10. From Dusk Till Dawn (4/5)

Quite literally a game of two halves as the first is a taut kidnapping thriller with a few dark laughs, and the second half is a vampire horror film with Harvey Keitel as a priest fending them off with his faith. Now the first half is a bit slow but watchable and Tarantino is actually quite good at acting for once, while George Clooney is charming and likable doing his 'criminal with a heart' routine. When the second half comes along Tarantino in both acting and script terms, cedes to director Robert Rodigruez who creates an interesting and scary selection of horror setpieces. A mess of a film but entertainingly so.

11. Natural Born Killers (3.5/5)

A film I'm in two minds about. On one hand, some brilliant directorial choices by Oliver Stone (particularly the faux sitcom segments and the prison break finale) and two great lead performances by Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis as the titular serial killers. On the other hand it's extremely heavyhanded in many regards in terms of dialogue, and not at all helped by Stone's often bombastic approach to the material. Robert Downey Jr who gives a perfectly fine performance unfortuantely grates a bit because of the pretension of some of the material he has to work with. It's an admirable effort but deeply flawed not in terms of lacking material but rather an excess of it. I'd really like to see QT'S original script for this though.

12. 'The Man From Hollywood' from Four Rooms (3/5)

A forgettable anthology of stories at a disorderly hotel with Tim Roth as a hapless bell boy. This segment is well written and Paul Calderón is very charismatic, the only problem is I just didn't find it all that interesting.

13. Death Proof (2/5)

Another half on an anthology showing that Tarantino is probably best attuned to having a whole film to himself to play with. An extremely boring film with brief flashes of light from Kurt Russell's performance. The performances besides Russell are extremely bland and really I just found it entirely disposable and forgettable.

Very Early Oscar/Award Campaigns

Best Picture: Captain America: Civil War

Case to be made: Arguably the best Marvel film to date (I’d still put Guardians of the Galaxy slightly higher but that’s more to do with my unabashed love for that film, flaws and plot holes and all), with uniformly great performances across the whole ensemble, a fantastic blend of exciting action setpieces and wonderfully played dramatic scenes, a true sense of tension interspersed with well earnt humour, and somehow managing to encompass the huge scope of the Marvel universe while never losing sight of its main hero.

Also worthy of awards contention: The Russo Brothers (#2 for Best Director), Chris Evans (#4 for Best Actor), Robert Downey Jr (#1 for Best Supporting Actor, #2 for Best Actor if I were to switch him over to lead), Chadwick Boseman (#3 for Best Supporting Actor), Scarlett Johansson (#2 for Best Supporting Actress), Elizabeth Olsen (#5 for Best Supporting Actress), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects, Best Editing, Best Sound Effects/Mixing, Best Cinematography.

Best Director (s): The Coen Brothers, Hail, Caesar!

Case to be made: It’s the Coen Brothers on form. You can tell how much investment and joy was put into the making of this film, fittingly since it is essentially a tribute to their love of cinema, they basically get a chance to show off here and not only is it fun to watch, it makes for some marvelous directorial flourishes.

Also worthy of awards contention: Best Picture, Alden Ehrenreich (#2 for Best Supporting Actor), Tilda Swinton (#3 for Best Supporting Actress), Best Original Screenplay, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Editing, Best Score, Best Cinematography.

Best Actor: Don Cheadle, Miles Ahead

Case to be made: Cheadle has been a routinely snubbed actor over the years, or rather he’s been given too many thankless roles. Anyway he deserves a return to the Oscars ceremony, and even a trip to the stage itself, for his terrific depiction of Miles Davis in his very own directorial debut. As Hotel Rwanda showed few actors have the emotional range andthe emotional range and compellingly understated screen presence as Cheadle does. As Davis, even when his directorial touches may have been a bit too much, his acting as the legendary musician though extremely mannered never seems so. He gives a funny, heartbreaking and all-round amazing portrayal of a career musician with a life of joy and regrets.

Also worthy of awards contention: Best Costume Design, Best Original Screenplay, Best Score.

Best Actress: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, 10 Cloverfield Lane

Case to be made: Hardly a flawless film but the fact I was so drawn to it throughout and kept on my toes has to go down to the efforts of MEW. She has a incredibly difficult role, even more so than John Goodman, as she has to be the audience’s avatar into the film, a strong reactive and emotional presence, as well as make her character compelling enough to make the audience root for her even though we barely know anything about her. She does all this and more. Shame because she’s in a genre picture she might get virtually no awards attention…but oh well.

Also worthy of awards contention: Best Editing, Best Sound Effects/Mixing.

Best Supporting Actor: Alden Ehrenreich, Hail, Caesar!

Case to be made: In a star-studded cast with excellent performances across the board, nevertheless the biggest impact made by a member of the Hail, Caesar! Cast was by Alden Ehrenreich and his endearing portrayal of Hobie Doyle, the western star trying to break into ‘serious’ movies. Ehrenreich is hilarious in the whole conception of his character, he sings and moves in an extremely entertaining fashion, and more importantly he always stays ‘true’ to the character which entirely makes sense for his portrayal.

Best Supporting Actress: Kirsten Dunst, Midnight Special

Case to be made: It’s once again the role of the ‘caring mother’ the likes of Close Encounters of the Third Kind liked to make use of. Don’t let that diminish Dunst’s work here one bit though, she gives a powerful emotional performance that alongside Michael Shannon, gives such gravitas and grandeur to the centre of Midnight Special that does far more than any special effects would’ve mustered.  

Also worthy of awards contention: Best Picture, Michael Shannon (#3 for Best Actor), Jeff Nichols (#5 for Best Director), Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing.

Best Soundtrack: Sing Street

Case to be made: Drive it Like You Stole It is probably the best song number I’ve heard onscreen all year so far. This film about a bunch of Irish Catholic schoolboys starting a band is an entertaining and moving romp in many aspects, but the best thing about it is easily the music which captures the 80’s vibes of Duran Duran, Hall & Oates and Abba perfectly.

Also worthy of awards contention: Best Picture (#6), Jack Reynor (#5 for Best Supporting Actor), Best Editing, Best Costume Design.  

Best Ensemble: Everybody Wants Some!!

Case to be made: Probably the most purely entertaining film I’ve seen so far this year, Linklater’s masterful depiction of another side of the 80’s is just sublime, and a lot of it must go down to the work of his excellent cast in delivering his perfectly stylized yet naturalistic dialogue. All of them range from good to very good but my personal favourites were Glen Campbell’s pretentious yet endearing Finnegan, Temple Baker’s perennially spaced out and good-natured Plummer, and Zoey Deutch’s adorably energetic Beverly.

Also worthy of awards contention: Best Picture (#3), Richard Linklater (#2 for Best Original Screenplay), Best Original Screenplay (#1), Best Soundtrack.

Best Original Screenplay: Eye in the Sky

Case to be made: Drone warfare and Just War Theory is fascinating stomping ground for a writer to sink one’s teeth into, and Guy Hibbert’s work here is excellent in depicting both sides of the do/do not dilemma. Of course it’s bolstered by the sterling work of its cast, but the script itself is both accessible in its depiction of the political and military spectrum, while also subtly packing quite the emotional punch in its finale.

Also worthy of awards contention: Helen Mirren (#2 for Best Actress), Aaron Paul (#4 for Best Supporting Actor), Alan Rickman (#6 for Best Supporting Actor).

Best Adapted Screenplay: Captain America: Civil War

Case to be made: like Eye in the Sky it depicts both sides of the Sokovia Records conflict and never makes a statement on whether one is right or wrong, gives the whole cast material to work with (even the shortchanged Don Cheadle/War Machine gets a great final scene), and crafts an immersive, epic and thought-provoking story within the confines of the Marvel universe.

Comeback Award: Ryan Reynolds

With his amazing performance in Mississippi Grind coupled with the realization of Deadpool in his final perfect form, Reynolds has turned from A-list laughing stock for the failures of Green Lantern and X Men Origins: Wolverine back to being the bona fide cool cat on the block. As he should be. 

2016 So Far: On Female Characters in Superhero Films

(top) Black Widow, played by Scarlett Johansson, in Captain America: Civil War

(bottom) Psylocke, played by Olivia Munn, in Captain America: Civil War

So I saw X Men: Apocalypse and though I (surprisingly) enjoyed it quite a bit (the action scenes, with Quicksilver's rescue scene in particular, are extremely well done, and there are some very good performances), one issue I had was that, being a film so packed with new characters, some just couldn't or wouldn't make any impact on me whatsoever. Olivia Munn's portrayal of Psylocke must have been one of the most overhyped introductions to the X-Men universe. She has about 5 lines, max, has absolutely no character development whatsoever throughout the whole thing, and doesn't even get that much to do in the action sequences besides that scene everyone knows by now, of her slicing a car into two. The most striking thing about her is probably her impractical costume.

Now Munn as I said is hardly the only character who's underdeveloped. In fact I would say that besides James McAvoy's Professor X, Sophie Turner and Tye Sheridan's Jean Grey and Psylocke, and Evan Peters' Quicksilver, all the other characters get very little development or depth, even the main villain played by OSCAR ISAAC (how can you give that man a role with no depth?), or simply retread character arcs from previous installments (poor Jennifer Lawrence and Michael Fassbender simply going through the motions again). Particularly egregiously underwritten are Rose Byrne's Moira MacTaggert who gets even less to do than the very little she had in First Class, becoming essentially an expositionary device, kind of this film's equivalent of Don Cheadle's War Machine in Captain America: Civil War (though like Cheadle she does have a good last scene); and Ben Hardy's Angel who's simply a one-note hateful villain with very little substance to that note, who with Munn makes for two very forgettable Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

So it's not just female characters who get the short end of the stick in Apocalypse but I'll be singling out Munn not because she's particularly bad (she's not), nor does she give the worst performance in the cast (she's just a bit bland, Hardy has one or two terrible moments), but because of some comments she made recently regarding her role in this film. In the process of discussing the 'strength' of her role as Psylock, she implicitly tried to throw another actress, or at least that actress' role, under the bus: Morena Baccarin, who in Deadpool played the role of the titular vigilante's girlfriend Vanaessa. Munn implicitly stated that she chose the role of Psylocke over Vanessa because she didn't want to play another 'girlfriend' role (for the extended interview, here it is: http://americanwaymagazine.com/content/role-reversal, source is American Way Magazine) .

Fair enough if she prefers one role to another. But did she have to deprecate the role of another actress just to add emphasis to her own role's supposed strengths? Now I'll be the first to admit that Vanessa isn't a great role, it's still slightly underwritten (but then again almost every supporting role in Deadpool is and it works for the film), and it is in some ways still a cliche 'girlfriend' role. But it undeniably has more 'substance' than Psylocke in terms of screen-time, dialogue and just overall impact. Baccarin has great chemistry with Ryan Reynolds, is actually rather funny in their scenes together in setting his deadpan one-liners up with her own sassy comebacks, and is not simply some 'damsel in distress' in the final act, getting in on some of the fun occasionally too.

What I'm trying to say here is essentially a reiteration of an earlier article I wrote about 'strong' female characters and roles in films, and 'strong' characters in general (reference:
http://www.savageonline.co.uk/our-london/have-strong-female-characters-become-a-cliche-in-themselves/). A superhero character's depth and strength is not accounted for by just having a 'cool' action scene here and there. Psylocke for example gets more opportunities to show off her powers than Jean Grey in Apocalypse, but Sophie Turner still ends up making far more of an impact because her characters strengths and weaknesses, personality, and relationship to other characters is written far better. Her character may not have been conceived as 'badass' a character as Munn's but she still resonates a great deal more as a character and thus, has more 'strength' in her portrayal of Jean Grey as an X-Man.

And if we're looking to other female characters in 2016 superhero films...well, Batman v.s. Superman was terrible but one very good thing about it was Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. Gadot actually doesn't even have that much more material to work with than Munn, in fact I'd say they have just about the same sort of screentime and Gadot has terrible material around her to work with, but she manages to make her own 'badass' character work a great deal better simply because she doesn't just focus on Wonder Woman's physicality and aptitude in battle, but also adds such grace and eloquence to her limited dialogue that makes her performance and character work a great deal better than it should have.

Or of course my favourite film of the year so far, Captain America: Civil War. I'm still amazed at the balancing act the Russo brothers managed to pull off, the only characters I feel were given the short end of the stick were General Ross (William Hurt), War Machine and to an extent Vision (Paul Bettany), although they're all still good. Everyone else in the ensemble is FANTASTIC. Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. are obviously the dramatic highlights as the warring Captain America and Iron Man, but almost equally impressive are all the supporting Avengers.

In terms of female characters, what I've always loved about the Captain America films is that unlike say, the Thor films (where Natalie Portman's Jane is an underwritten bore and Kat Dennings and Jamie Alexander are good but have thankless roles), they never forget to compellingly portray the fairer sex. Hayley Atwell's Agent Peggy Carter was a highlight of the first Captain America film; her niece, played by Emily VanCamp here, gets a very moving speech in Civil War that is the prime motivational factor for Captain America to take a stand against the Sokovia Accords. Black Widow, who played a big role in Winter Soldier and has a great deal of emotional investment in the plot of Civil War, started off as just your standard 'action girl in latex' role but has throughout the films developed into an extremely compelling character (though in addition to improved writing, I also have to attest some of that to Scarlett Johansson improving a lot as an actress; her performance in Civil War is one of my top 3 favourite supporting performances of the year).

And to reiterate a point I made before in my article on 'strong female characters': male or female, characters can be both written as having discernable weaknesses, and still make for very compelling characters. In this film we have two of both male and female variety (I don't want to categorize by gender but hopefully you get my point), Daniel Bruhl's Zemo and Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch. Zemo is the least superpowered villain in the Marvel films thus far, he's just an Average Joe really in terms of physical skill, but he ends up being the most chilling, and the first to succesfully disband and defeat the Avengers, by his Iago-esque cunning and determination, which Bruhl brilliantly conveys. As for Scarlet Witch, Olsen ditches most of the distracting accent she had in Age of Ultron and gives an appropriately terrified, morose performance in the initial stages of the film to convey her almost childlike state of fear at a world she does not understand and does not understand her, making her portrayal of Wanda gradually finding strength in herself to act against this fear quite moving. Both characters are powerful in different respects but also flawed and weak in others and are thus, incredibly interesting to examine.

Lastly on a not completely unrelated note, I expect that Captain Marvel's going to be cast at some point. Elizabeth Debicki's already been nabbed by Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (but maybe she'll be playing the character there, who knows), but if not her I'm campaigning for Emily Blunt or Natalie Dormer. Although with the recent casting coups and successes Marvel have had (I wouldn't have picked Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther and how wrong I was proven), maybe it's best to just sit back and watch. 

Top 40 Films of the 2010's (Revised List)

(An A++ is given to elements of a film that are particularly exceptional; doesn't necessarily make thembetter than films with A+'s, just that those elements of the film are what particularly resonate with me as what makes them excellent films. Also you'll notice there are a few films which don't have any A++'s. Those are what I like to call 'sweet spot' films; not necessarily the most top-notch in terms of quality but which carry some sort of impact beyond definition of 'aspects' of a film)

(P..S.: Sorry for the messed up colour scheme. Blogspot is going all haywire on me today. None of them really matter, they were just to indicate which the A++'s were but unfortunately  it decided it would extend this colour courtesy at random to other ratings too.)

1. Inside Llewyn Davis 

Direction: A++
Acting (individual): A++
Acting (ensemble): A++
Screenplay: A++
Cinematography: A++
Editing: A+
Costume/Production Design: A++
Soundtrack: A++

2. Beasts of the Southern Wild

Direction: A++
Acting (individual): A++
Acting (ensemble): B
Screenplay: A+
Cinematography: A++
Editing: A+
Costume/Production Design: A+
Soundtrack: A++

3. Carol

Direction: A++
Acting (individual): A++
Acting (ensemble): B
Screenplay: A-
Cinematography: A++
Editing: A+
Costume/Production Design: A++
Soundtrack: A++

4. Mad Max: Fury Road

Direction: A++
Acting (individual): A++ (though Hoult's great performance nearly pushes it to two ++'s)
Acting (ensemble): A++
Screenplay: A++
Cinematography: A++
Editing: A++
Costume/Production Design: A++
Soundtrack: A++

5. Brooklyn

Direction: A+
Acting (individual): A++
Acting (ensemble): A
Screenplay: A++
Cinematography: A+
Editing: A+
Costume/Production Design: A+
Soundtrack: A+

6. Creed

Direction: A++
Acting (individual): A++
Acting (ensemble): B+
Screenplay: A+
Cinematography: A++
Editing: A++
Costume/Production Design: A+
Soundtrack: A+

7. The Hateful Eight

Direction: A++
Acting (individual): A+ (VERY close to two ++'s)
Acting (ensemble): A++ (I'll turn a blind eye to some of the iffy minor parts since the main 8 are just pitch-perfect, in fact if I just took them into account I would not hesitate in calling it the greatest film ensemble in recent film history)
Screenplay: A++
Cinematography: A+
Editing: A+
Costume/Production Design: A++
Soundtrack: A++

8. Whiplash

Direction: A+
Acting (individual): A++
Acting (ensemble): B
Screenplay: A++
Cinematography: A+
Editing: A++
Costume/Production Design: B+
Soundtrack: A++

9. The Artist

Direction: A++
Acting (individual): A+
Acting (ensemble): A
Screenplay: A+
Cinematography: A
Editing: A+
Costume/Production Design: A
Soundtrack: A

10. True Grit

Direction: A++
Acting (individual): A-
Acting (ensemble): A+
Screenplay: A++
Cinematography: A++
Editing: A+
Costume/Production Design: A++
Soundtrack: A+

11. Birdman

Direction: A++
Acting (individual): A++
Acting (ensemble): A++
Screenplay: A+
Cinematography: A++
Editing: A++
Costume/Production Design: A+
Soundtrack: A+

12. The Martian

Direction: A+
Acting (individual): A+
Acting (ensemble): A++
Screenplay: A++
Cinematography: A+
Editing: A++
Costume/Production Design: A
Soundtrack: A+

13. Guardians of the Galaxy

Direction: A+
Acting (individual): B+
Acting (ensemble): A+
Screenplay: A++
Cinematography: A+
Editing: A+
Costume/Production Design: A++
Soundtrack: A++

14. Scott Pilgrim v.s. the World

Direction: A++
Acting (individual): B+
Acting (ensemble): A++
Screenplay: A++
Cinematography: A+
Editing: A++
Costume/Production Design: A+
Soundtrack: A++

15. The Wolf of Wall Street

Direction: A++
Acting (individual): A++
Acting (ensemble): A-
Screenplay: A++
Cinematography: A+
Editing: A++
Costume/Production Design: A
Soundtrack: A+

16. Captain America: Civil War

Direction: A++
Acting (individual): A+
Acting (ensemble): A++
Screenplay: A++
Cinematography: A+
Editing: A++
Costume/Production Design: A+
Soundtrack: A

17. Midnight in Paris

Direction: A+
Acting (individual): A
Acting (ensemble): A
Screenplay: A++
Cinematography: A+
Editing: A-
Costume/Production Design: A++
Soundtrack: A

18. The Drop

Direction: A+
Acting (individual): A+
Acting (ensemble): A++
Screenplay: A++
Cinematography: A
Editing: A
Costume/Production Design: B+
Soundtrack: B+

19. The End of the Tour

Direction: A
Acting (individual): A++
Acting (ensemble): N/A
Screenplay: A++
Cinematography: B+
Editing: B
Costume/Production Design: B
Soundtrack: A-

20. The Social Network

Direction: A+
Acting (individual): A+
Acting (ensemble): A+
Screenplay: A++
Cinematography: A-
Editing: A
Costume/Production Design: B+
Soundtrack: A+

21. Mississippi Grind

Direction: A-
Acting (individual): A+
Acting (ensemble): A+
Screenplay: A++
Cinematography: B+
Editing: A
Costume/Production Design: B
Soundtrack: A

22. The Adjustment Bureau

Direction: A+
Acting (individual): A+
Acting (ensemble): A+
Screenplay: A+
Cinematography: A
Editing: A
Costume/Production Design: A+
Soundtrack: A+

23. Seven Psychopaths

Direction: A-
Acting (individual): A+
Acting (ensemble): A++
Screenplay: A++
Cinematography: B+
Editing: B
Costume/Production Design: B
Soundtrack: B

24. Gravity

Direction: A++
Acting (individual): A++
Acting (ensemble): B+
Screenplay: A
Cinematography: A++
Editing: A+
Costume/Production Design: A-
Soundtrack: A

25. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Direction: A-
Acting (individual): A++
Acting (ensemble): B+
Screenplay: A+
Cinematography: A
Editing: A
Costume/Production Design: A

Soundtrack: A

26. Cloud Atlas

Direction: A
Acting (individual): B+
Acting (ensemble): A
Screenplay: A-
Cinematography: A+
Editing: A
Costume/Production Design: A++
Soundtrack: A++

27. Ex Machina

Direction: A+
Acting (individual): A+
Acting (ensemble): A++
Screenplay: A++
Cinematography: A
Editing: A
Costume/Production Design: A++
Soundtrack: A-


28. Sicario

Direction: A+
Acting (individual): A++
Acting (ensemble): B+
Screenplay: A
Cinematography: A++
Editing: A
Costume/Production Design: A
Soundtrack: A


29. Drive

Direction: A+
Acting (individual): A+
Acting (ensemble): A+
Screenplay: B+
Cinematography: A+
Editing: A++
Costume/Production Design: A+
Soundtrack: A++

30. Lincoln

Direction: A
Acting (individual): A++
Acting (ensemble): A
Screenplay: A
Cinematography: A
Editing: B+
Costume/Production Design: A++
Soundtrack: A-

31. The Intouchables

Direction: A-
Acting (individual): A++
Acting (ensemble): B+
Screenplay: A+
Cinematography: A
Editing: A-
Costume/Production Design: B
Soundtrack: A++

32. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Direction: A+
Acting (individual): A
Acting (ensemble): A
Screenplay: A
Cinematography: A++
Editing: A++
Costume/Production Design: A-
Soundtrack: B+

33. Inception

Direction: A+
Acting (individual): A+
Acting (ensemble): A
Screenplay: A
Cinematography: A++
Editing: A+
Costume/Production Design: A++

Soundtrack: A

34. Mr Holmes

Direction: A-
Acting (individual): A++
Acting (ensemble): B
Screenplay: A++
Cinematography: A-
Editing: B+
Costume/Production Design: A+
Soundtrack: A


35 Captain Philips

Direction: B+
Acting (individual): A++
Acting (ensemble): A-
Screenplay: A
Cinematography: B-
Editing: A-
Costume/Production Design: B
Soundtrack: A

36. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Direction: A+
Acting (individual): A-
Acting (ensemble): B
Screenplay: B
Cinematography: A+
Editing: A++
Costume/Production Design: A-
Soundtrack: B+

37. The Imitation Game

Direction: A-
Acting (individual): A
Acting (ensemble): A
Screenplay: A+
Cinematography: B
Editing: B+
Costume/Production Design: C

Soundtrack: A+

38. Inherent Vice (I need a re-watch but this should probably be higher)

Direction: A+
Acting (individual): A-
Acting (ensemble): A++
Screenplay: A+
Cinematography: A
Editing: A
Costume/Production Design: A

Soundtrack: A

39. Edge of Tomorrow

Direction: A-
Acting (individual): B+
Acting (ensemble): B+
Screenplay: A+
Cinematography: A++
Editing: A-
Costume/Production Design: A

Soundtrack: B+

40. Django Unchained

Direction: A-
Acting (individual): A
Acting (ensemble): A++
Screenplay: A-
Cinematography: A+
Editing: B-
Costume/Production Design: A+

Soundtrack: A++

Hon. Mention: Bridge of Spies

Direction: A
Acting (individual): A+
Acting (ensemble): B+
Screenplay: A+
Cinematography: A
Editing: A-
Costume/Production Design: A
Soundtrack: A-