Here are the updated tiers as of July 1.  I saw four worthwhile movies this month, two pretty good ones in The Conjuring 2 and The Lobster, and two so-so in Joy and The Shallows.  No additions to Tier 1.  As always you can see read spoiler-free blurbs on each one of these below.

It’s been a pretty lackluster year thus far in my opinion, but the highest quality of films tend to be released in the Fall to Winter months, so things should pick up.  Out of everything currently in my Tier 1, only Everybody Wants Some and possibly Cap America would have made it in there last year.

One quick aside, just because something is in Tier 5 doesn’t mean it’s actually suitable for the plane.  For instance, The Shallows is definitely best served on a bigger screen and one of the main reasons it’s even on here is because of it’s cinematography.  Joy however, a PG-13 talkie, very suitable.  I’m always cautious of watching R Rated movies on a plane, for fear of nudity coming on my laptop and I either have to awkwardly try to angle it away from my neighbor or just quickly close it, “nothing to see here” style.  A good friend of mine, let’s just call him Cristen Totter, once tried watching Bruno on an airplane and I’m shocked that didn’t get him put on the no-fly list.