43.) Inside Out [6/28/2015]

We've come to know Pixar as a studio that creates tear-jerking cartoons  with a wide audience appeal (see Up, and Toy Story 3 as prime examples), and Inside Out, a movie about a little girl (an only child, no less) as she deals with moving, is ready-made to just make people emotional; nicely, the movie's understanding of the processes of the brain seemed rooted in science, which is a nice touch.

42.) Jurassic World [6/26/2015]

Despite all of the narrative problems and issues with the characterization, this train-wreck of a film did not diminish my love for the original Jurassic Park; overly sentimental about the least interesting aspects of the original and forgetting what made that movie successful to begin with, Jurassic World sets out to answer the least interesting question raised by the premise of a theme park full of killing machines: who could win in a fight - giant dinosaur A or giant dinosaur B?

41.) Me and Earl and the Dying Girl [6/25/2015]

It was as if John Green, Wes Anderson, and Diablo Cody teamed up to write the most charming, poignant teen-dying-of-cancer movie possible; though it was more-densely allusive than a pop-culture version of T.S. Elliot's The Wasteland, the movie avoided being overly pretentious, giving the viewer a charming story about insecurity, acts of kindness, and the difficulties of self-awareness. 

40.) I'll See You in my Dreams [6/22/2015]

This was essentially About Schmidt, but without an RV or a naked Kathy Bates, and a woman instead of a man who loses a loved one and spends the whole movie trying to find herself; despite the troubling implication that Blythe Danner needs male companionship in order to be happy, this is a decent version of the old-people-who-discover-life-is-still-worth-living film.

39.) San Andreas [6/18/2015]

This movie was, nearly plot-point-for-plot-point, the same film as 2012, sans the government conspiracy subplot coupling with the destruction of the world; Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was a better lead  than John Cusack for this sort of movie (really, The Rock is the best lead for this kind of movie always), and some of the camera work was nicely Godzilla-esque; however, for the most part, this was a summer action movie that, while worth the nearly two hours of earth-quakey goodness, will make the rounds on FX in a couple of months.

38.) Pitch Perfect 2 [6/14/2015]

If you like Pitch Perfect, you'll probably like Pitch Perfect 2 slightly less; there is a lot I could say about the flawed narrative, but really, who goes to this movie for plot and characterizations?

37.) Love and Mercy [6/12/2015]

Growing up with Full House, I have always had a soft-spot for the Beach Boys, even as I grew up and realized most of their songs were about being high on the beach; this excellent bio-pic of the genius behind the group, Brian Wilson, and the album that broke him, Pet Sounds, was quite excellent and enjoyable, due in no small part to John Cusack (his best acting since High Fidelity), Paul Dano (his best since Little Miss Sunshine) and Elizabeth Banks (maybe her best ever).

36.) Tomorrowland [6/7/2015]

With a retro-sci-fi feel, George Clooney, and the promise of epic jet packing, I really was looking forward to Tomorrowland; unfortunately, the ham-fisted socially conscious message and undeveloped characters bogged down what could have been a really fun movie about jet packs, the future, and the survival of mankind on a slowly burning planet.