Fifth Annual Movie Ratings Recap

This is the week that has Hollywood all abuzz with eagerness and anticipation. No, not because the Academy Awards ceremony is one week from tonight. That is small potatoes. The electric vibe is due to today being the day I publish my Fifth Annual Movie Ratings Recap. To refresh your memories, you might want to take another quick look at my posts from January 12 and 15, 2012, which give a little background on my grading system and a mini-history of the Ratings Recap process. Additionally, as I wrote in my December 31 post, I decided to break with tradition -- it's tough for linear guys like me to do so -- and include the movies I saw last month with the movies from 2012. This resulted in the four movies I saw in January 2013 being included in the Ratings Recap below. If I do a Ratings Recap next year, it will be for the movies I watch in a theater from February 1, 2013 through January 31, 2014.

As you will see, I attended and reviewed thirty-seven films during the thirteen month period which ended January 31 of this year. The movies are listed in the order of my preference. For example, of the eight movies I graded an A-, I liked The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo the best. I have put the month of my review in parentheses next to each title. The movies released last year collectively comprised a strong group, slightly ahead of the 2011 offerings which I also felt was a good crop. Let's hope the trend continues for 2013.

A:

The Artist (January '12)
Les Miserables (February '13)

A-:

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (January '12)
Searching For Sugar Man (November '12)
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (May '12)
Arbitrage (September '12)
A Separation (February '12)
Carnage (February '12)
Monsieur Lazhar (May '12)
Hyde Park On Hudson (December '12)

B+:

Skyfall (December '12)
Snow White And The Huntsman (June '12)
Rock Of Ages (June '12)
The Bourne Legacy (August '12)
The Hunger Games (April '12)
Silver Linings Playbook (November '12)
Argo (October '12)
Zero Dark Thirty(January '13)
Flight (November '12)
Chasing Ice (December '12)

B:

To Rome With Love (September '12)
Django Unchained (January '13)
Goon (April '12)
Thin Ice (March '12)
Salmon Fishing In The Yemen (June '12)
The Sessions (January '13)

B-:

The Grey (February '12)
The Vow (April '12)
Moonrise Kingdom (July '12)
People Like Us (August '12)
Trouble With The Curve (September '12)
Tower Heist (January '12)
The Iron Lady (January '12)

C+:

Lincoln (November '12)
Hope Springs (August '12)
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (January '12)

C:

Cabin In The Woods (April '12)