Heathers: The Musical (2022)

IMDb plot summary: Veronica Sawyer does her best to survive her senior year while navigating the beautiful but cruel Heathers, the new to school Jason "J.D." Dean, and the constant pressure to fit in with everyone else.

Directed by Andy Fickman. Stars Ailsa Davidson, Simon Gordon, and Maddison Firth.

Heathers: The Musical is a London pro-shot of the musical based on the 1980s film. It follows a high schooler named Veronica who ends up becoming one of the popular girls but then falls in love with the bad boy new student, and then students start dying. I like the original movie a lot, but the musical is one of my favorite musicals ever. It has some incredible songs. This pro-shot, when it succeeds, succeeds on the strength of the songs themselves. I am not particularly impressed by any of the performances in this production, nor most of the directing choices. Veronica here comes across dopey and hapless, while JD insists on singing most of his songs through a clenched jaw, as if that's the only way you can convey the moodiness of the character. There were, of course, moments that absolutely worked for me, but those are all the moments that already work for me in the show: Kindergarten Boyfriend, the ending of Our Love Is God in act one, Meant to Be Yours, and Dead Girl Walking -- all absolute powerhouses of songs that would have hit me even harder with a more charismatic cast. There are ample bootlegs of the original cast, who I like significantly better than this, and given its popularity I would not be surprised if we get an official film adaptation in the next 10 years or so, so I think there are and will be better opportunities for people to be exposed to this show. I'm glad, because while this pro-shot is absolutely going to have some people fall in love with it, for a lot of folks it won't have the magic that I first found in this show.

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 Heathers: The Musical (2023)

📊 Ranked #1147/4024 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 72

That is unexpectedly high, but I guess that's just how good the songs are.

beat Descendants (#2008 → #2383)

lost to Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken (held at #1002)

lost to Pushing Tin (#1505 → #1504)

beat Grand Illusion (#1756 → #2157)

beat Creation (#1631 → #1732)

beat Allegiance (#1568 → #1628)

lost to The Trojan Women (#1537 → #1535)

lost to Hereditary (#1552 → #1550)

lost to Oddity (held at #1560)

lost to Interview with the Vampire (#1564 → #1559)

beat Finian's Rainbow (#1566 → #1594)

lost to Anatomy of a Fall (#1565 → #1563)

Black Bag (2025)

IMDb plot summary: When intelligence agent Kathryn Woodhouse is suspected of betraying the nation, her husband - also a legendary agent - faces the ultimate test of whether to be loyal to his marriage, or his country.

Directed by Steven Soderbergh. Stars Michael Fassbender, Gustaf Skarsgård, and Cate Blanchett.

Black Bag is a Steven Soderbergh thriller/drama about a group of  couples who all happened to work together in the same intelligence agency. When there is a serious information leak inside the agency, Michael Fassbender has to figure out which of these other five were the source of the leak, including possibly his own wife, played by Cate Blanchett. Sometimes Soderbergh goes big and flashy with his visuals, but this is very restrained, and I think it works. This feels more like a well-crafted theatrical drama. Even though the scenes are structured like a film, the in-depth one-on-one discussions and dialogue are the kind of text-centric moments you typically get on stage. The supporting actors are fine in their roles, but Fassbender and Blanchett are both extremely engaging, and we care about the mystery of the leak because we want to see how this is going to play out in their relationship with each other. There are certainly some clunky moments where the film is trying to be smarter than maybe it actually is, but there was a lot to like about this, and it's fun to see a more paired down thriller that doesn't rely as much on big chase scenes or hyperactive editing. 

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 Black Bag (2025)

📊 Ranked #1630/4023 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 60

beat Meet John Doe (#2008 → #2012)

lost to The Cranes Are Flying (#1005 → #1006)

lost to Wizards (#1505 → #939)

beat The Adam Project (#1757 → #1770)

beat Hans Christian Andersen (#1631 → #1944)

beat The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (#1574 → #1805)

beat VeggieTales: A Snoodle's Tale (#1539 → #1546)

beat Marooned (#1521 → #1528)

lost to Knight and Day (#1513 → #1488)

beat The Tragedy of Macbeth (#1518 → #1517)

beat National Treasure (#1512 → #1578)

beat Star Trek: Generations (#1514 → #1746)

That Night's Wife (1930)

IMDb plot summary: A desperate man with a sick daughter decides to commit a robbery in order to help her. He begins to feel remorse though, which makes him question his decision.

Directed by Yasujirô Ozu. Stars Mitsuko Ichimura, Tokihiko Okada, and Chishû Ryû.

That Night's Wife is an early silent film by Yasujiro Ozu that follows a young family with a sick daughter. The father commits a robbery to get the money to pay for her care, but the police track him back to their home. The mother then holds the police hostage until their daughter makes it through the worst of her illness that night. I'VE only seen two other films by Ozu and while Tokyo Story was just kind of okay for me, I really loved Late Spring, and this one makes me even more interested in checking out more of his work. Silent films can be a tough sell for me, and foreign films can also be a tough sell, so silent foreign can often be extra daunting, but two of my favorite films from this 1930 project have both been silent foreign films, and this is one of them. There is a warmth to this story that is present in all aspects of it, which is something we very rarely see in crime-centered stories. I found the final scene very moving. I don't know whether the score that I heard along with the film was intended to be its original score, but it certainly fit beautifully and enhanced the noble sacrifice of the main character. This decade also tends to have a lot of overacting among its characters, but the style here is intimate and realistic in a way that is unique for this era, and I think that's what made it so accessible to me as a modern viewer. This  one is well worth watching.

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 That Night's Wife (1930)

📊 Ranked #478/4022 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 88

beat Dark and Stormy Night (#2008 → #2012)

beat La La Land (held at #1001)

beat Punchline (#500 → #585)

lost to Gaslight (#250 → #230)

lost to Blood Simple (#375 → #366)

lost to Hearts Beat Loud (#437 → #434)

beat Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (#468 → #499)

lost to Shall We Dance? (#452 → #440)

lost to Black Narcissus (#460 → #458)

lost to Next Goal Wins (#464 → #463)

lost to The Grey (#466 → #441)

lost to Carrie (#467 → #464)

Cats Don't Dance (1997)

IMDb plot summary: Danny, an ambitious singing and dancing cat, goes to Hollywood and overcomes several obstacles to fulfill his dream of becoming a movie star.

Directed by Mark Dindal. Stars Scott Bakula, Jasmine Guy, and Natalie Cole.

Cats Don't Dance is an animated musical about a world in which anthropomorphic animals live and work alongside humans, although if they want to enter show business, they are relegated to background characters and ensemble. One young cat shows up in Hollywood full of dreams and ready to be a musical movie star, only to have his hopes dashed in the face of anti-animal prejudice. I was expecting something a little bit more traditional and straightforward in this film, knowing nothing about it as I started, but the humor here is very rooted in slapstick cartoons, with quick jokes and clever visual gags. While some of these don't land for me, it is a refreshing change of pace after watching a lot of animated movies from people's childhoods that did not hold up so well. There's also a pretty decent soundtrack, although those songs were more memorable in the moment than they were after the film finished. The final sequence musical sequence in which the animals put on a stunning show while the antagonist works tirelessly to destroy the theater that they are in, only for each scheme to backfire in a way that makes the animals look better than ever, is a really enjoyable climactic moment of the film. This is not necessarily one that I'd have an inclination to watch again, but it's something a little different from the 1990s animated movies that I've been catching up on thus far, and I enjoy that change of pace a lot!

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 Cats Don't Dance (1997)

📊 Ranked #1089/4021 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 73

beat Space Pirate Captain Harlock (#2007 → #2012)

lost to Dust (#1004 → #909)

lost to The Iron Claw (#1506 → #1485)

beat The Brutalist (#1759 → #1765)

beat The Big Chill (#1631 → #1641)

beat Peeping Tom (#1568 → #1592)

lost to Total Recall (#1537 → #1534)

lost to Timecop (held at #1553)

lost to 20th Century Women (#1562 → #984)

beat The Children's Hour (#1565 → #1566)

lost to Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (#1552 → #1545)

beat Furlough (#1564 → #1586)

Mickey 17 (2025)

IMDb plot summary: During a human expedition to colonize space, Mickey 17, a so-called "expendable" employee, is sent to explore an ice planet.

Directed by Bong Joon Ho. Stars Robert Pattinson, Steven Yeun, and Michael Monroe.

Mickey 17 stars Robert Pattinson as a poor young nobody who signs up to be an "expendable" on a once-in-a-lifetime interplanetary journey to colonize an unknown planet. This means that he is continuously cloned with his memories and each new clone is used for experiments or exploration tasks that will likely result in death. We pick up with the 17th version of this character, who is supposed dead and reprinted, only to reappear and have to deal with having two versions of himself present at once. Bong Joon Ho is making some of the best movies about late stage capitalism, and this is another one that I really enjoyed. It's a fascinating mix of thriller and sci-fi and comedy, particularly in the absurdly incompetent leaders and the almost wackily obsequious personality of Mickey #17. Of course, as the story continues on, these moments feel less and less like comedy and more and more like horror, and that line blends beautifully here. The worldbuilding is spectacular and always feels just slightly a step ahead of where we are right now in reality. Pattinson is great here, as are Mark Ruffalo and Tony Collette as the leaders of the expedition with a cultlike following (and a snobbish obsession with sauce). There's a lot to enjoy about this movie, and I like that it functions both as a simple sci-fi clones-in-space thriller and some serious commentary on how we view ourselves and our place in the world. Nicely done.

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 Mickey 17 (2025)

📊 Ranked #1052/4020 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 74

beat Hellfighters (#2006 → #2398)

lost to Muriel's Wedding (#1001 → #998)

beat The Princess and the Frog (#1504 → #1533)

beat For a Few Dollars More (#1253 → #1435)

beat Beetlejuice (#1126 → #1134)

lost to Gremlins (#1063 → #1049)

beat Witchfinder General (#1094 → #1147)

beat Cheaper by the Dozen (#1078 → #1135)

beat The Happening (#1070 → #1285)

beat The Secret Garden (#1066 → #1091)

beat Cries and Whispers (#1064 → #1067)

Show Girl in Hollywood (1930)

IMDb lot summary: 'Rainbow Girls' has just opened and closed on Broadway when Dixie, a actress in it, runs into smooth-talking Hollywood Director Frank Buelow. He tells her she would be a natural and promises her a movie contract, so she goes to Hollywood, but there is no contract for her.

Directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Stars Alice White, Jack Mulhall, and Blanche Sweet.

Show Girl in Hollywood is a 1930 romantic comedy/drama about a showbiz couple whose latest Broadway hit flops, and when the woman, an actress, meets a Hollywood director who promises her a job, she leaves her partner to go pursue it, only to find out that it isn't exactly what she hoped. This is a fairly straightforward film about relationships being tested by success or lack thereof, and while it's not necessarily an exciting story, it's told fine here. The characters are clear and generally likable, and their story unfolds in a fairly satisfying way, especially for such a short film. There's a little bit more depth to this than a typical rags to riches story too. Our lead actress is talented and beautiful, but that doesn't mean that she's automatically going to make it in Hollywood without connections to push her up into the role she wants. This decade had a lot of stories of people being plucked out of obscurity and tossed into fame, and this turns that on its head in kind of a fun way. Totally watchable, not  incredible.

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 Show Girl in Hollywood (1930)

📊 Ranked #2230/4019 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 45

lost to Kanal (#1989 → #1677)

beat Sleeper (#3013 → #3188)

beat Isadora (#2520 → #2522)

lost to Must Love Dogs (#2305 → #2295)

beat Rushmore (#2372 → #2376)

beat The Dinner Guest (#2322 → #2325)

beat The Perks of Being a Wallflower (#2284 → #2296)

lost to And Then There Were None (#2263 → #2250)

beat As It Is in Heaven (#2267 → #2271)

beat Camelot (#2274 → #2439)

lost to Holiday Affair (#2272 → #2219)

lost to Raising Arizona (#2248 → #2089)

FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992)

IMDb plot summary: The magical inhabitants of a rainforest fight to save their home, which is threatened by logging and a polluting force of destruction called Hexxus.

Directed by Bill Kroyer. Stars Samantha Mathis, Christian Slater, and Robin Williams.

FernGully is an animated film from 1992 about a magical area of the rainforest where the fairies have trapped the evil demon of pollution inside a tree, but when American landscapers come and start cutting down the trees, the demon is released. Our main protagonists are the princess of the fairies, who is naive about the impact of humans on her world, and a human worker who is accidentally shrunk down to fairy size and learns about the harm that he's doing. This is truly a strange movie, primarily because it has extremely trendy '90s musical styles right alongside a didactic environmentalism message, and the two mix in a really bizarre way. The most evident moment of this is when Robin Williams' character, a bat who was escaped from a laboratory that does animal testing, delivers a 90 style rap about all the horrible torture he's been put through. It's such a bizarre attempt to entertain while also delivering devastating information that it mostly leaves me confused more than anything. That's the case throughout most of this film. The musical choices are the most exciting thing about it while also being by far the weirdest. The rest of the movie is fine. It delivers a children's message about deforestation in a pretty straightforward way. Our lead characters are by no means charismatic, so that's a little disappointing, but it's clearly a message movie more than anything else, and while it makes strange choices about how to get that message out, I think it's fairly successful in conveying what it's trying to convey. But... yeah. This is a weird movie.

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992)

📊 Ranked #2126/4018 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 48

lost to Swing Time (#2006 → #1973)

beat Blue Is the Warmest Color (#3007 → #3002)

beat Gilda (#2502 → #3063)

beat National Theatre Live: The Habit of Art (#2257 → #2186)

lost to Pat and Mike (#2130 → #1972)

beat After the Wedding (#2197 → #2277)

lost to The Act of Killing (#2161 → #1806)

lost to Beauty and the Beast (#2179 → #2098)

beat X (#2182 → #2286)

lost to The Year of Living Dangerously (held at #2177)

lost to Absolute Power (#2185 → #2125)

lost to Jackie (#2181 → #1801)