Blue is the Warmest Colour (2013)

IMDb plot summary: Adèle's life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire and to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adèle grows, seeks herself, loses herself, and ultimately finds herself through love and loss.

Directed by Abdellatif Kechiche. Starring Léa Seydoux, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Salim Kechiouche, and Aurélien Recoing.

This film REALLY likes to zoom in on its characters' bodies -- uncomfortably close. I feel like fully half of the movie is seeing snot and saliva and other bodily fluids so close up it's like I'm touching them, and it's an aesthetic that I find deeply off-putting. And it's just deeply uncomfortable to see so many extended sex scenes in the early parts of the movie where Adele is still underage. On top of that, I don't find the story all that engaging. Adele herself, yes, but her relationship with Emma is told in exceptionally slow little anecdotes with huge gaps in between that don't ever really come together to create a fully fleshed-out story for me.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Blue Is the Warmest Color < The Chalk Garden

Blue Is the Warmest Color > The Birthday Party

Blue Is the Warmest Color < Sarah, Plain and Tall

Blue Is the Warmest Color > After the Thin Man

Blue Is the Warmest Color > Hide and Seek

Blue Is the Warmest Color < Genius

Blue Is the Warmest Color > Cinderella (2015)

Blue Is the Warmest Color < Less Than Zero

Blue Is the Warmest Color < Miller's Crossing

Blue Is the Warmest Color < Cellular

Blue Is the Warmest Color < Little Women (1933)

Blue Is the Warmest Color < Carol

Final spot: #2128 out of 3283, or 35%.

Orgazmo (1997)

IMDb plot summary: Naive young Mormon Joe Young is recruited to act in porn movies.

Directed by Trey Parker. Starring Trey Parker, Dian Bachar, Robyn Lynne Raab, and Michael Dean Jacobs.

You can definitely see the seeds of what would later become The Book of Mormon musical in this goofy comedy, especially in early scenes where he and his mission partner are going door-to-door. My reaction to this was ALL over the place -- there are several moments that are laugh-out-loud hilarious, but there are also a lot of moments that reinforce the harmful ways media portrays sex overall, including homophobia, fatphobia, and a whole montage of comedically-portrayed sexual assault, none of which work well at all. Most of these jokes are over pretty quickly, but they definitely drag down what is otherwise a pretty funny absurdist look at the industry from a complete outsider's perspective. For those whose style of humor aligns pretty closely with Parker and Stone, it's probably worth a watch for the good moments.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Orgazmo > Dogtooth

Orgazmo < Chronicle

Orgazmo > Hoosiers

Orgazmo < The Emperor Waltz

Orgazmo > An Education

Orgazmo > 2012

Orgazmo > Prometheus

Orgazmo < Andhadhun

Orgazmo > Mr. Deeds Goes To Town

Orgazmo > The Theory of Everything

Orgazmo < The Absent-Minded Professor

Final spot: #1040 out of 3281, or 68%.

Hoop Dreams (1994)

IMDb plot summary: A film following the lives of two inner-city Chicago boys who struggle to become college basketball players on the road to going professional.

Directed by Steve James.

This documentary follows its young subjects from eighth grade up through high school graduation, and it's captivating throughout. We see the boys wrestle with grades, school tuition costs, losing parents, becoming parents, losing friends, recovering from injuries, and more, all while trying to play their way into a basketball scholarship at a good school. It's impossible not to root for these kids as you see all the expectations placed on them not only by themselves but by their family members, many of whom had dreams of basketball fame themselves and now hope to see those dreams lived out through someone else. And it definitely gives us a glance into the system that keeps young people feeling trapped -- for both these kids, a basketball scholarship feels like the only chance they have of "getting out" and getting a life they want. It's a powerful and thoughtful film.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Hoop Dreams > Dog Tooth

Hoop Dreams < My Name Is Joe

Hoop Dreams > A Doll's House

Hoop Dreams > The Happening

Hoop Dreams > The Last Metro

Hoop Dreams > Re-Animator

Hoop Dreams > Hawking

Hoop Dreams > Crocodile Dundee

Hoop Dreams > Barton Fink

Hoop Dreams > Whip It

Hoop Dreams > The Black Cat

Hoop Dreams < Chronicle

Final spot: #822 out of 3280, or 75%.

Swimming With Sharks (1994)

IMDb plot summary: A young, naive Hollywood studio assistant finally turns the tables on his incredibly abusive producer boss.

Directed by George Huang. Starring Kevin Spacey, Frank Whaley, Michelle Forbes, and Benicio Del Toro.

This all hinges on Frank Whaley and Kevin Spacey's performances, and they are both great. Spacey has always excelled at playing cold, cruel people, and this is no exception. And Whaley's ruthless ambition shines through even in the early scenes before we wonder if he's starting to be corrupted by his boss' view of power. The third lead is a female character and her treatment in the movie... well, leaves more than a little to be desired. While that definitely is meant to speak to the obvious misogyny of Spacey's character and how he sees her, the film doesn't do a GREAT job of fleshing her out as an individual, and I think that was a missed opportunity. However, it's still largely a smart, interesting film and I did still have a good time watching it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Swimming With Sharks > Pitch Perfect 2

Swimming With Sharks < Chronicle

Swimming With Sharks < A Doll's House

Swimming With Sharks < You Can Count on Me

Swimming With Sharks > Hamlet (2009)

Swimming With Sharks > Bonnie and Clyde

Swimming With Sharks > Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Swimming With Sharks < Bridge of Spies

Swimming With Sharks > Cast Away

Swimming With Sharks > Pather Panchali

Swimming With Sharks > A Star Is Born (1954)

Final spot: #1448 out of 3277, or 56%, which seems far too low but the chart doesn't lie!

The Hill (1965)

IMDb plot summary: In a North African military prison during World War II, five new prisoners struggle to survive in the face of brutal punishment and sadistic guards.

Directed by Sidney Lumet. Starring Sean Connery, Harry Andrews, Ian Bannen, and Alfred Lynch.

This is a genre I usually can't get into at all, but this is crafted so well it does push past those negative genre biases. It's especially interesting how the film shows things that already push characters to the margins of society -- such as weight, race, and sexual orientation -- being used as fuel to further humiliate and dehumanize these prisoners. It also does a really wonderful job of growing the tension of injustice. As the prisoners try more and more avenues to achieve human treatment, and the higher-ups close more doors in their faces, you can REALLY feel the rising panic of "There's nothing we can do about this," even as the circumstances continue to worsen. The scenes on the hill itself are shot really well and convey a really visceral sense of physical punishment. Definitely a movie to check out.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Hill > Pitch Perfect 2

The Hill < My Name Is Joe

The Hill > A Doll's House

The Hill > The Polka King

The Hill > The Last Metro

The Hill < Re-Animator

The Hill > Auntie Mame

The Hill > Gone Baby Gone

The Hill > The Color Purple

The Hill > Unbreakable

The Hill > Wonder Boys

The Hill > Billy Liar

Final spot: #871 out of 3276, or 73%.

Cargo (2019)

IMDb plot summary: A young female astronaut, who joins a reclusive astronaut aboard a spaceship, struggles with her job as she interacts with mysterious Cargos that appear on the ship.

Directed by Arati Kadav. Starring Vikrant Massey, Shweta Tripathi, Nandu Madhav, and Konkona Sen Sharma.

These are likable characters, and it's fun to watch how they interact with each other and with their cargo. The plot itself is a very light one and is much more focused on the idea of exploring this world, and that is definitely the most engaging part of the story. The tedious bureaucracy of this life-and-death cycle, the casual existence of otherworldly creatures dubbed "demons," the supernatural powers everyone has, the extended lifespans you don't realize are a thing until nearly the end of the movie... It's a fascinating little future to be dropped in the middle of. And as a quiet exploration of a possible future, it's very successful. It might be striving for more, some lessons about lives worth lived or something along those lines, and it's much less successful there, but still worth a watch as a creative universe to set a story in.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Cargo > Broken Embraces

Cargo < My Name Is Joe

Cargo > Phone Booth

Cargo > Under the Skin

Cargo < The Last Metro

Cargo < Peggy Sue Got Married

Cargo > The Artist

Cargo < Seven Chances

Cargo < We're No Angels

Cargo < A Snoodle's Tale

Cargo < The Mummy (1932)

Cargo > L'atalante

Final spot: #996 out of 3275, or 70%.

Fahrenheit 451 (1966)

IMDb plot summary: In an oppressive future, a fireman whose duty is to destroy all books begins to question his task.

Directed by François Truffaut. Starring Julie Christie, Oskar Werner, Cyril Cusack, and Anton Diffring.

This is a book that has lingered in the public consciousness for a long time and is still an atmospheric dystopian world, but aside from the beautiful and moving final scene, I'm not sure the film does the book any favors. The decision to cast Julie Christie in two parts was especially ineffective, as she gives essentially the same portrayal of both of them, and the script makes Montag's change of heart feel rather abrupt and unjustified. The final third or so is definitely the strongest, and as I said I truly adored the final scene, but overall it feels like a rather cold adaptation of a story about the power of art.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Fahrenheit 451 > Broken Embraces

Fahrenheit 451 < My Name Is Joe

Fahrenheit 451 < A Doll's House

Fahrenheit 451 < You Can Count on Me

Fahrenheit 451 < Hamlet (2009)

Fahrenheit 451 < Duel

Fahrenheit 451 > Hellboy

Fahrenheit 451 > The Misfits

Fahrenheit 451 < Sunday in the Park with George

Fahrenheit 451 < Monsters

Fahrenheit 451 < Dark and Stormy Night

Fahrenheit 451 < Frank

Final spot: #1598 out of 3274, or 51%.

Joker (2019)

IMDb plot summary: In Gotham City, mentally troubled comedian Arthur Fleck is disregarded and mistreated by society. He then embarks on a downward spiral of revolution and bloody crime. This path brings him face-to-face with his alter-ego: the Joker.

Directed by Todd Phillips. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, and Frances Conroy.

Gotham is certainly not a far cry from any US city in how unforgiving it is for those in need, and it's clear that the film is trying to make something of a statement about modern-day treatment of mental health issues. It's a compelling watch, and Joaquin Phoenix is mesmerizing, so overall I think it is a pretty good movie... However, it does still fall at least somewhat into the trap that made me want to not see the movie in the first place, in that Joker is so beloved and compelling a character that this film inevitably glamorizes him and his message of "Those who have wronged me get what they deserve and I cannot be blamed for wreaking vengeance on them." I wish this story had been told without invoking this character. Nothing in the narrative demands a comic book back story. And I think I would have liked it much better had it not come with the baggage Joker carries with him.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Joker > Letters from Iwo Jima

Joker < My Name Is Joe

Joker > Phone Booth

Joker < The Polka King

Joker < Inherit the Wind

Joker < The Impossible

Joker > Poltergeist

Joker < The Thin Man

Joker > Starship Troopers

Joker > Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie

Joker > Battle Royale

Joker > Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India

Final spot: #1189 out of 3273, or 64%.

My Dinner With Andre (1981)

IMDb plot summary: Two old friends meet for dinner; as one tells anecdotes detailing his experiences, the other notices their differing worldviews.

Directed by Louis Malle. Starring Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn.

This is a slow, talky, philosophical movie, which sometimes is EXACTLY the kind of thing I love. This one... definitely falls a little flat. I think I attribute that to Andre Gregory's demeanor more than anything. As he shares, he frequently comes across as one of those smug people who is sure they have all the answers and looks down with pity on the poor plebes who don't get it yet. Combine that with the fact that his journey to find himself dances REAL close to the "poverty tourism" line, and we just get a character I loathe. You can absolutely do talky philosophy movies -- Waking Life and Before Sunrise, both by Richard Linklater, excel at this. But you have to want to be around those characters and listen to them talk and find their ideas captivating, and I found Gregory so off-putting that it was a constant mental effort to focus away from him as a person and listen to his ideas at all. A mismatch for me.

How it entered my Flickchart:

My Dinner With Andre < Broken Embraces

My Dinner With Andre < The Best Years of Our Lives

My Dinner With Andre > Special

My Dinner With Andre > Rancho Notorious

My Dinner With Andre > Bedtime Story

My Dinner With Andre > Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World

My Dinner With Andre < Lilo & Stitch

My Dinner With Andre > Little Manhattan

My Dinner With Andre > Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

My Dinner With Andre > Kelly's Heroes

My Dinner With Andre < It's Always Fair Weather

Final spot: #2482 out of 3272, or 24%.

Christmas on the Square (2020)

IMDb plot summary: An embittered "Scrooge" of a woman plans to sell her small town, regardless of the consequences to the people who live there.

Directed by Debbie Allen. Starring Christine Baranski, Dolly Parton, Jenifer Lewis, and Josh Segarra.'

This is apparently based on a stage play, and it absolutely has a "filmed community theater holiday production" vibe to it, with a lot of the primary actors turning in just the hammiest and most bizarre performances I've ever seen. The story itself also makes zero sense, the songs are most definitely NOT Parton's best work, themes are emphasized only to be abruptly dropped. There are some just outright baffling decisions, like the eight-year-old child apparently left to tend bar in her father's establishment while he's off at a protest meeting at the church (where an entire song gleefully suggests physically assaulting Baranski) -- and then Baranski and the child sing a cynical duet about how awful life is while nursing their respective cocktails. Like... whose idea was that? Who greenlit it? It's a baffling and hilarious movie that's worth a watch with a snarky movie companion.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Christmas on the Square < Broken Embraces

Christmas on the Square > Secondhand Lions

Christmas on the Square < Anchors Aweigh

Christmas on the Square < Sideways

Christmas on the Square < The Black Stallion

Christmas on the Square > Elizabethtown

Christmas on the Square > Love in the Afternoon

Christmas on the Square < Give My Regards to Broad Street

Christmas on the Square < Heidi (1937)

Christmas on the Square < Ivan the Terrible, Part One

Christmas on the Square > How to Deal

Christmas on the Square < My Favorite Wife

Final spot: #2374 out of 3271, or 27%.

Boyz n the Hood (1991)

IMDb plot summary: Follows the lives of three young males living in the Crenshaw ghetto of Los Angeles, dissecting questions of race, relationships, violence, and future prospects.

Directed by John Singleton. Starring Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube, Laurence Fishburne, and Nia Long.

This was based heavily on writer-director John Singleton's experiences, and it carries that aura of authenticity. These characters are rich and real, these neighborhoods feel lived in, these dilemmas feel weighty. I was most drawn to Ice Cube's debut performance as Doughboy, the main character's childhood best friend who has just been released from prison in the latter half of the film. It's a tremendous performance with so much subtext, and it's especially powerful as this kind of character is often written as a flat stereotype in films about inner-city crime. And that's the best part -- NONE of these characters are stereotypes, which makes it so, so easy to get drawn into their stories. Part of the film's message is that either nobody knows or nobody cares what's happening in these parts of the country, and art like this is a powerful tool for amplifying those voices and getting people to care. Great film.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Boyz n the Hood > Broken Embraces

Boyz n the Hood > Chronicle

Boyz n the Hood > Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

Boyz n the Hood < Arrival

Boyz n the Hood < The Florida Project

Boyz n the Hood < Inglourious Basterds

Boyz n the Hood > Naughty Marietta

Boyz n the Hood < The Kindergarten Teacher

Boyz n the Hood > Romancing the Stone

Boyz n the Hood < Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Boyz n the Hood > Perfect Blue

Final spot: #373 out of 3270, or 89%.

Billy Liar (1963)

IMDb plot summary: A lazy, irresponsible young clerk (Sir Tom Courtenay) in provincial Northern England lives in his own fantasy world and makes emotionally immature decisions as he alienates friends and family.

Directed by John Schlesinger. Starring by Tom Courtenay, Wilfred Pickles, Mona Washbourne, and Ethel Griffies.

This film is a sort of strange cross between The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and A Clockwork Orange. Its title comes from the fact that Billy just constantly lies, to everyone, about everything, and when caught in a lie he spins another to try to right it. But despite doing and thinking terrible things, there's a tragedy about Billy as well -- he fabricates stories about getting away from this town and starting an exciting new life elsewhere, but when it comes down to it he's too scared to take the necessary steps, because if he actually tries, he might fail. The film gives him more empathy than he deserves, frankly, but it does show just how thoroughly he's stuck in the persona he's created for himself, and it's a compelling and well-done character study.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Billy Liar > Letters from Iwo Jima

Billy Liar < Chronicle

Billy Liar > Kill Bill Vol. 1

Billy Liar > Under the Skin

Billy Liar > The Last Metro

Billy Liar < Center Stage

Billy Liar > Auntie Mame

Billy Liar > Gone Baby Gone

Billy Liar > The Color Purple

Billy Liar > Unbreakable

Billy Liar > Wonder Boys

Billy Liar < Re-Animator

Final spot: #870 out of 3269, or 73%.

The Babysitter (2017)

IMDb plot summary: The events of one evening take an unexpected turn for the worst for a young boy trying to spy on his babysitter.

Directed by McG. Starring Judah Lewis, Samara Weaving, Robbie Amell, and Hana Mae Lee.

This movie has an incredibly silly premise and is everything I hoped it would be -- campy and cheesy and over-the-top and made me laugh a lot. Every so often its metacommentary on high school tropes would dance right on the edge of being annoying but then would find its balance again. This is one of those movies that can go so right or so wrong based almost solely on its execution, so seeing it executed well was a real treat. I especially love the strange dynamic between the main character and the evil cult jock, who tries to encourage the kid to stand up for himself to the local bully (before then trying to murder him). It is a wild, goofy ride that completely entertained me and I'm glad I gave it a chance.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Babysitter > Letters from Iwo Jima

The Babysitter > Chronicle

The Babysitter < Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

The Babysitter > The Talented Mr. Ripley

The Babysitter < Dawn of the Dead (2004)

The Babysitter > Loving Vincent

The Babysitter < Jesus People: The Movie

The Babysitter > Moonrise Kingdom

The Babysitter < Jojo Rabbit

The Babysitter < 22 Jump Street

The Babysitter > Scream

The Babysitter > Red Eye

Final spot: #545 out of 3268, or 83%.

13th (2016)

IMDb plot summary: An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.

Directed by Ava DuVernay.

The title of this film is a reference to the 13th amendment, which abolishes slavery except in the case of those convicted of crimes, and then looks at how this current legal slavery affects black communities. It's a sobering bit of education, tracing the system's history all the way from just after the Civil War through the civil rights movement, the war on drugs, the war on crime, and Black Lives Matter. While I'd learned a lot of this from various sources through the years, it's intense to see it laid out so clearly this way, with archival footage alongside historians and activists and politicians commenting on the effect these policies have had on minority communities. The film came out several years ago now but definitely carries further weight after the June 2020 protests, especially looking at the many examples of law enforcement escalating peaceful protests with violent tactics. This is definitely an important and concise look at something our country needs to take seriously.

How it entered my Flickchart:

13th > Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmelites

13th < Chronicle

13th > American Outlaws

13th > Mary Poppins Returns

13th > Dangerous Liaisons

13th < Re-Animator

13th < Nerve

13th > Husbands and Wives

13th > Forgetting Sarah Marshall

13th < Morgan

13th > Manhattan Murder Mystery

Final spot: #897 out of 3267, or 73%.

The Last Metro (1980)

IMDb plot summary: In occupied Paris, an actress married to a Jewish theater owner must keep him hidden from the Nazis while doing both of their jobs.

Directed by François Truffaut. Starring Catherine Deneuve, Gérard Depardieu, Jean Poirot, and Andréa Ferréol.

This film is very effective in showing the small ways in which Nazi Germany chipped away at human rights and how that affected people who before this point might not have considered themselves political at all. We are watching a series of resistances here, both small and large, for all kinds of personal and political reasons. There's also a bit of a love story, but the movie isn't ABOUT that, and that love story resolution makes it even clearer that it is secondary to the broader story of resistance. The film's resolution, by the way, is an interesting choice, and without spoiling anything I just want to say I think it is a perfect little thematic wrap-up and works very well. François Truffaut has been hit-or-miss for me, but I appreciate this one a lot -- it is definitely a hit.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Last Metro > Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmelites

The Last Metro < Chronicle

The Last Metro > American Outlaws

The Last Metro > Mary Poppins Returns

The Last Metro > Dangerous Liaisons

The Last Metro < Center Stage

The Last Metro < Auntie Mame

The Last Metro < What the Deaf Man Heard

The Last Metro < Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)

The Last Metro < An American Werewolf in London

The Last Metro < Kursk

The Last Metro > Children of Men

Final spot: #917 out of 3266, or 72%.

Popcorn (1991)

IMDb plot summary: A master of disguise deranged killer begins killing off the college students who are organizing a horror-movie marathon in an abandoned theater.

Directed by Mark Herrier. Starring Jill Schoelen, Tom Villard, Dee Wallace, and Derek Rydall.

Popcorn tells the story of a group of film students who decide to put on a horror movie festival. As they prepare, they find a creepy film that was the precursor to a murder several years ago, and then... someone connected to that film and those murders comes back to make the film festival horrific as well. It's hard to succinctly describe the plot because so much of it circles around just a vague *sense* that something is wrong for about half the movie. One girl is having weird dreams, there's a weird old movie, Mom is getting creepy phone calls... It doesn't really gel until much later in the film, and even then whether it makes any sense is questionable. The most enjoyable piece of this actually is the series of films-within-a-film that is the group's horrorthon. We see short segments of delightfully tropey B-movies made up for the film, all of which purportedly came with a theatrical gimmick like pumping bad smells into the theater or vibrating the seats, and as the film group attempts to recreate those gimmicks, it does feel like a really enjoyable nostalgia trip. The actual story outside these mini-films is far less engaging (and often just kinda gross) but there are some fun moments here.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Popcorn < Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmelites

Popcorn > Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen

Popcorn > Grace of Monaco

Popcorn < The Deer Hunter

Popcorn > Withnail & I

Popcorn > Event Horizon

Popcorn < Interstate 60

Popcorn > Wedding Crashers

Popcorn > Peter Pan Live!

Popcorn < Camp Rock

Popcorn < The Commitments

Popcorn > Horror of Dracula

Final spot: #1867 out of 3265, or 43%.

3 Generations (2015)

IMDb plot summary: After Ray decides to transition from female to male, Ray's mother, Maggie, must come to terms with the decision while tracking down Ray's biological father to get his legal consent.

Directed by Gaby Dellal. Starring Elle Fanning, Naomi Watts, Susan Sarandon, and Tate Donovan.

This film garnered some controversy for casting Elle Fanning as the trans main character, rather than a trans actor or at least a cismale one to match the character's known gender, but frankly, the movie isn't good enough for that to be the deciding factor in its quality either way. This is very soap opera-style writing, with characters constantly emoting at a level 10 out of 10 for no known reason, and several moments of comedic relief not landing even a little bit. It makes the few moments that do ring genuine stand out and make me wish they were part of a better movie. Susan Sarandon as the lesbian grandmother is a truly obnoxious character that simultaneously pushes her family away and also attempts to worm her way into their business and I think it's supposed to be charming? It isn't, and neither is the movie overall.

How it entered my Flickchart:

3 Generations < Letters from Iwo Jima

3 Generations > Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen

3 Generations > Grace of Monaco

3 Generations < King Kong (2005)

3 Generations > Withnail & I

3 Generations < Harry and the Henderson

3 Generations > Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

3 Generations > No Country for Old Men

3 Generations > Blow Out

3 Generations > Manhattan

3 Generations < My Sassy Girl

Final spot: #1889 out of 3262, or 42%.

Shampoo (1975)

IMDb plot summary: On Election Day, 1968, a hairdresser and ladies' man is too busy cutting hair and dealing with his various girlfriends and his mistress, whose husband he meets and finds out is having an affair with his ex-girlfriend.

Directed by Hal Ashby. Starring Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Goldie Hawn, and Lee Grant.

There really isn't one redeemable character in this story, I think, with just the constant cheating and objectifying, and I would assume that's on purpose, but it's hard for me to tell what this movie is actually attempting to say about relationship ethics. There's not really any thought put into any of the (many) female characters, they all just blend together into one perfectly-hairstyled jealous blob, and it makes it difficult to take the misogynistic statements made by the male characters at the end as something other than the actual writer's feelings about women. Director Hal Ashby and I don't ever see eye to eye on our comedy, either. There are a few almost slapsticky moments that I think are trying to be comedic, but most of them don't really work for me and feel out of place in the depressed aimlessness of the rest of the movie. And maybe that's the most apt description: "depressed." This movie feels exceptionally depressed about relationships and wants to make us all depressed about them too, and so we get... this.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Shampoo < Letters from Iwo Jima

Shampoo < Secondhand Lions

Shampoo > Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Shampoo > War Machine

Shampoo < The World Is Not Enough

Shampoo < Alice in Wonderland (1951)

Shampoo < Gilda

Shampoo > Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Samson's Hairbrush

Shampoo < Premonition

Shampoo < Brokeback Mountain

Shampoo < King Kong (1933)

Shampoo < Frankenstein (1931)

Final spot: #2639 out of 3264, or 19%.

Europa '51 (1952)

IMDb plot summary: A wealthy woman becomes obsessed with humanitarianism when her young son dies after committing suicide.

Directed by Roberto Rossellini. Starring Ingrid Bergman, Alexander Knox, Ettore Giannini, and Giulietta Masina.

I found this film unexpectedly captivating, and I'm sure I can attribute much of that to Ingrid Bergman herself, who often brings a fascinating combination of realism and ethereality to her roles, and both serve her well here, especially in the latter half of the film. Bergman's transition from sheltered socialite who takes no interest in anything outside her own four walls to someone willing to sacrifice everything to make one person's life better is transformative but believable, and I'm not at all surprised to see that Rossellini's inspiration was partly that of Catholic saints. I like that despite the movie being heavily about morality and philosophy, it doesn't actually feel preachy -- there's some real depth to the question of what she's doing and why and the effect it's having on the people around her. It's an interesting, thoughtful film that I think will stick with me for quite some time.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Europa '51 > Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmelites

Europa '51 > Chronicle

Europa '51 < Marriage Story

Europa '51 > You Can't Take It With You

Europa '51 < Dawn of the Dead (2004)

Europa '51 > Cats and Dogs

Europa '51 < Jesus People: The Movie

Europa '51 > The Fallen Idol

Europa '51 > Evil Dead II

Europa '51 > Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Undead

Europa '51 > Looper

Final spot: #537 out of 3263, or 84%.

Perfect Blue (1997)

IMDb plot summary: A pop singer gives up her career to become an actress, but she slowly goes insane when she starts being stalked by an obsessed fan and what seems to be a ghost of her past.

Directed by Satoshi Kon. Starring Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, Shinpachi Tsuji, and Masaaki Ôkura.

The use of animation to tell this story REALLY works. It adds a level of unreality to the story that plays beautifully with the motif of the main character wondering if she's losing her mind as bad things keep happening around her. There's a moment toward the end where the villain literally floats after our main character during a chase, still making us question how much of what our protagonist sees is actually happening. I read some comparisons to Black Swan, and I can definitely see that, though with fewer themes of "obsession." And the way the plot ultimately falls into place genuinely surprised me -- it's not often that a film can completely take me by surprise, so that was a delight. It was also fascinating to see how the early days of the Internet played in the horror angle here -- even in 1997 it was pretty clear how the Internet could play a role in fandom in pretty ominous ways! Overall, this is definitely worth a watch.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Perfect Blue > Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmelites

Perfect Blue > The Black Cat

Perfect Blue > Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

Perfect Blue < Arrival

Perfect Blue < Ernest & Celestine

Perfect Blue < (500) Days of Summer

Perfect Blue > Naughty Marietta

Perfect Blue < Footloose (1984)

Perfect Blue > Romancing the Stone

Perfect Blue < American Psycho

Perfect Blue < Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Perfect Blue > Eyes Without a Face

Final spot: #373 out of 3261, or 89%.

The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966)

IMDb plot summary: A corpse has 24 hours to mastermind a good deed without leaving his crypt, to go "up there" and have his youth restored.

Directed by Don Weis. Starring Tommy Kirk, Deborah Walley, Aron Kincaid, and Quinn O'Hara.

The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini is the last of the official Beach Party films, and it is a VERY silly one. The premise is that a group of heirs to a mysterious fortune end up spending the night in the dead man's house along with ghosts, murderers, a biker gang, a gorilla, an offensive Native American stereotype, and a bunch of people in bathing suits because, well, it IS a beach party film, even if there's no beach in sight. There are moments of this film that really work -- I recall Eric Von Zipper biker gang being the best part of the other beach party films I've seen, and that's definitely the case here. I enjoy the framing device where dead Boris Karloff sends a ghost to help his heirs (who, uh, don't know him so I don't know why he named them as heirs in the first place, but we're not here for plot). And some of the scenes with the nearsighted villainess are really enjoyable. There's also a lot of moments that fall flat. The final chase scene is too long, the primary villain sidekick is too prominent for not being at all funny, and, well, that "Native American" character exists. It's mostly a fun fluffy watch with a few cringey moments.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini < Letters from Iwo Jima

The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini > Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen

The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini > Spinning Into Butter

The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini > The Deer Hunter

The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini > Love Me Tonight

The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini > Waterloo

The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini > Stage Fright (2014)

The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini > The Dinner Guest

The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini > Smokin' Aces

The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini > Hopscotch

The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini > After the Wedding

The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini < Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmelites

Final spot: #1632 out of 3260, or 50%.

Out of Africa (1985)

IMDb plot summary: In 20th-century colonial Kenya, a Danish baroness/plantation owner has a passionate love affair with a free-spirited big-game hunter.

Directed by Sydney Pollack. Starring Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Klaus Maria Brandauer, and Michael Kitchen.

I just recently read the book this was based on and found it a little startling how very, very little of Africa comes through here in the film, compared to the book. The film is a romance, focused heavily on Karen and Denys' relationship, with the setting functioning as a common interest between the two of them. But it doesn't build that common interest with the viewer. Nearly everyone and everything coming FROM Africa is passed by to focus on the European transplants, and I found myself dearly missing that part of the narrative. It barely even needed to be Africa for the filmed version of this story -- they took so much of its core out, it could have been Australia or Canada or Poland or the American West. And for a story with Africa *in* the title, that seems like an oversight. All that being said, it's a fine story. Meryl Streep is good as always, and Robert Redford is charming. It just feels like a missed opportunity.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Out of Africa < Letters from Iwo Jima

Out of Africa > As Good As It Gets

Out of Africa > The Rescuers Down Under

Out of Africa > Dr. Seuss on the Loose

Out of Africa > Steamboat Bill, Jr.

Out of Africa < Waterloo

Out of Africa > Trumbo

Out of Africa > Ice Princess

Out of Africa < Waxwork

Out of Africa < Vanya on 42nd Street

Out of Africa < Melinda and Melinda

Out of Africa > Son of Rambow

Final spot: #1691 out of 3259, or 48%.

Hamilton (2020)

IMDb plot summary: The real life of one of America's foremost founding fathers and first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. Captured live on Broadway from the Richard Rodgers Theater with the original Broadway cast.

Directed by Thomas Kail. Starring Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., Daveed Diggs, and Phillipa Soo.

Hamilton is a show I admire on just about every level -- it's engaging and powerful and funny and sad and makes theater AND history more accessible and has just endlessly engaging lyrics. I'm quite comfortable saying Lin-Manuel Miranda is a genius songwriter. While the show itself hasn't wormed its way into my heart quite as deeply as it has everyone else's, I still find myself moved by it every time I see it. In this production, the side character actors are the biggest standouts. As brilliant as Miranda is on the page, he's not as smooth on the stage, and I have a strong suspicion that Leslie Odom, Jr. as Aaron Burr was under the weather on the night this was filmed. But Philippa Soo, Renee Elise Goldsberry, and Daveed Diggs absolutely steal the show as Hamilton's wife, sister-in-law, and colleagues. And like with any theatrical piece, seeing it with multiple casts brings out different nuances and highlights different pieces -- and Hamilton has LOTS to dig into. I'm not going to put the cast album on repeat any time soon, but I'm going to keep recommending it to people because this is a great show.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Hamilton > Letters from Iwo Jima

Hamilton > The Black Cat

Hamilton > Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

Hamilton < Arrival

Hamilton > The Florida Project

Hamilton < Blue Jasmine

Hamilton > The Lion in Winter

Hamilton > Spirited Away

Hamilton > August Rush

Hamilton < Waking Life

Hamilton < Ruby Sparks

Hamilton < The Virgin Spring

How it entered my Flickchart: #260 out of 3258, or 92%.

Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

IMDb plot summary: In 1985 Dallas, electrician and hustler Ron Woodroof works around the system to help AIDS patients get the medication they need after he is diagnosed with the disease.

Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. Starring Matthew McConnaughey, Jennifer Garner, Jared Leto, and Denis O'Hare.

This is more focused than many biopics, but the focus is, for whatever reason, not as centered on the characters themselves as I was hoping and more on the logistics of their business. All that we learn about the characters we learn through those logistics. I kind of wonder what the purpose of this kind of movie is *now*, in 2013, when there have been so many other well-told stories about the AIDS epidemic. Not that you can only tell a story once, obviously, but what made *this* story one that inspired the director and the actors to bring it to life? And I just am not sure. That lack of focus shows itself in the broad strokes with which the non-McConnaughey characters are painted and the intense detail on the logistics of "how does one run a buyers' club in the 1980s?" I don't think it's a bad film, it just doesn't do much of ANYTHING, and I wish it was bolder in basically any sense of the word.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Dallas Buyers Club < Letters from Iwo Jima

Dallas Buyers Club > As Good As It Gets

Dallas Buyers Club < Spinning Into Butter

Dallas Buyers Club > Play Misty for Me

Dallas Buyers Club < Alice in Wonderland (1999)

Dallas Buyers Club > Two for the Money

Dallas Buyers Club > Peter Pan (2003)

Dallas Buyers Club < The Robe

Dallas Buyers Club > Mrs. Doubtfire

Dallas Buyers Club < Shrek Retold

Dallas Buyers Club > Millions

Final spot: #2153 out of 3257, or 34%.

SubUrbia (1996)

IMDb plot summary: A group of suburban teenagers try to support each other through the difficult task of becoming adults.

Directed by Richard Linklater. Starring Gioovanni Ribisi, Amie Carey, Jayce Bartok, and Nicky Katt.

I grew up in the suburban Midwest and, hoooo, did I find this a claustrophobic familiar watch. Teens and college-aged people everywhere have their own existential crises, but there IS something distinct about small-town coming-of-age crises, where it's so easy to see your life just stretching in front of you as a neverending sea of... blah. Some of these characters tried and failed to get out and now feel even more stuck, some tried and succeeded, and some haven't tried yet so they still feel hopeful about their chances. Richard Linklater is a great director choice for this text, because he has such a great sense for directing dialogue that is a lot deeper than it seems on the surface. It hit hard enough for me to make it a difficult watch, but I would still recommend it. There's a lot in here to unpack, and it's probably worth it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

SubUrbia > Letters from Iwo Jima

SubUrbia < Chronicle

SubUrbia > I, Tonya

SubUrbia > M

SubUrbia > RoboCop

SubUrbia > Wonder Boys

SubUrbia > Hawking

SubUrbia > Oliver Twist (1948)

SubUrbia < Barton Fink

SubUrbia < Miss Saigon: 25th Anniversary

SubUrbia < The Road Warrior

SubUrbia > Match Point

Final spot: #825 out of 3256, or 75%.

Vanya on 42nd Street (1994)

IMDb plot summary: New York actors rehearse Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya" in a dilapidated theatre.

Directed by Louis Malle. Starring Wallace Shawn, Julianne Moore, Brooke Smith, and Larry Pine.

So in 1994, an actual group of actors worked through performance workshops of Chekhov in an abandoned theater in their street clothes for no public audience, it was solely for their own artistic growth and development. And this is that play. It was pure coincidence that I watched this after another Dogville, another movie with a very pared down almost Brechtian aesthetic. And while I love the concept of it and find many of the performances very compelling, it's a movie that forces me to come to terms with one of my most guilty confessions as a theater lover and teacher -- I don't like Chekhov. I find his plays tedious and uninspiring and seldom rewarding enough to make the long journey into them. And that continues to be the case here. While I enjoy these performances (Brooke Smith and Wallace Shawn especially stand out) I am just so, so bored with the stories and the characters and their long wordy monologues about their deep-seated ideals. If you are a big fan of his work, this is an immensely talented cast doing a stripped-down text-focused production, and it's probably worth a watch. But it just didn't work for me.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Vanya on 42nd Street < Letters from Iwo Jima

Vanya on 42nd Street > An Ideal Husband

Vanya on 42nd Street > The Rescuers Down Under

Vanya on 42nd Street > Bananas

Vanya on 42nd Street > Wind River

Vanya on 42nd Street < Waterloo

Vanya on 42nd Street > Lost in America

Vanya on 42nd Street > The Sandlot

Vanya on 42nd Street < Waxwork

Vanya on 42nd Street > Melinda and Melinda

Vanya on 42nd Street < Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008)

Final spot: #1687 out of 3255, or 48%.

Dogville (2003)

IMDb plot summary: A woman on the run from the mob is reluctantly accepted in a small Colorado community in exchange for labor, but when a search visits the town she finds out that their support has a price.

Directed by Lars von Trier. Starring Nicole Kidman, Paul Bettany, John Hurt, and Stellan Skarsgård.

The gimmick of this film is that the "set" is actually just a giant soundstage, with chalk outlines marking the presence of walls, doors, and bushes. It's very theatrical, which I love from an aesthetic standpoint, but I'm still working out how this gimmick helps or hurts the movie's narrative. It definitely puts the town's lack of material goods front and center -- these townspeople don't appear to even have walls, much less anything else Kidman would have expected in her previous life. And like all Von Trier movies, it's unbelievably depressing. I went and read some reviews later and a lot of them bash it as being too cynical about humanity, but I think it actually makes some interesting points about our tendency to segregate and self-preserve and about tribalism, all of which have seemed more obvious here in the US over the last four years. I'm not entirely sure that I grasp Von Trier's ultimate message here, and unlike some of his others I feel he IS trying to make a definitive point here, rather than just tell a story, but I often find his films powerful and emotionally resonant despite not being convinced of his messaging, and that is true here as well. Definitely an engaging film that's likely to stick with me.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Dogville > Letters from Iwo Jima

Dogville > The Black Cat

Dogville < Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation

Dogville > You Can't Take It With You

Dogville > Purple Noon

Dogville < Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Dogville < Ordet

Dogville < Regarding Henry

Dogville > Brothers

Dogville > Driving Miss Daisy

Dogville > The Royal Tenenbaums

Dogville < Pride and Prejudice (1995)

Final spot: #496 out of 3254, or 85%.

Sand Castle (2017)

IMDb plot summary: The story follows a young soldier, and his introduction into the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Based on true events, it bears witness to the destruction, and horrors of war.

Directed by Fernando Coimbra. Starring Henry Cavill, Nicholas Hoult, Tommy Flanagan, and Glen Powell.

This is apparently based on the screenwriter's experiences in Iraq. It definitely has its moments where it shines. Like so many war movies, most of the characters all blend into each other no matter how much personality they try to give them, but Hoult as a centerpiece brings more charisma to the role than the "young recruit audience viewpoint" characters in a lot of similar films. It's easy to connect with his disillusionment, his frustration, his hope, and his disappointment throughout the film. Without giving anything away, I thought the ending was interesting as well -- not necessarily emotionally powerful or thought-provoking, which is what I would REALLY want from this -- but it went a direction I didn't necessarily expect. This is however a film weighed down by the logistics of the task they're trying to accomplish, and a lot of the scenes feel less like stories and more like watching someone checking off checkpoints in a video game.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Sand Castle < Letters from Iwo Jima

Sand Castle > An Ideal Husband

Sand Castle < The Rescuers Down Under

Sand Castle < Play Misty for Me

Sand Castle > The Thin Red Line

Sand Castle < Cry-Baby

Sand Castle > Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Sand Castle > Zorba the Greek

Sand Castle > Apocalypse Now

Sand Castle < In the Heat of the Night

Sand Castle < On the Waterfront

Sand Castle < Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Final spot: #2292 out of 3251, or 29%.

Raising Cain (1992)

IMDb plot summary: The oncologist wife of a prominent child psychologist suspects her husband has an unhealthy scientific obsession with their child, unaware of what - or who - is really going on inside his head.

Directed by Brian De Palma. Starring John Lithgow, Lolita Davidovich, Steven Bauer, and Frances Sternhagen.

This is an obviously bad but kind of enjoyable movie. Even after the plot comes together, it really doesn't make much sense, and it includes all these long expository "So, you see, what happened was" scenes where characters explain the movie to each other. There's at least one dramatic scene that is supposed to be dark and sad I think but it's so over-the-top that I laughed out loud. And that plot! At one point I had to pause the movie and go find the synopsis on Wikipedia to read up to where I was thus far and figure out if I'd missed a section. I hadn't, it was just making confusing plot decisions on its own. John Lithgow is clearly having a blast hamming this up though -- he definitely gives it his all. I would mostly recommend this one for a group watch with a bunch of snarky friends.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Raising Cain > Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmelites

Raising Cain < The Black Cat

Raising Cain < I, Tonya

Raising Cain < The Fixer

Raising Cain < Ping Pong Playa

Raising Cain < Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Raising Cain < The Major and the Minor

Raising Cain > It Comes at Night

Raising Cain > Jumanji

Raising Cain > The Score

Raising Cain < Escape from New York

Final spot: #1604 out of 3253, or 51%.

A Fantastic Fear of Everything (2012)

IMDb plot summary: A crime novelist, whose research on Victorian serial killers has turned him into a paranoid wreck, must confront his worst fears, when a film executive takes a sudden interest in his movie script.

Directed by Crispian Mills and Chris Hopewell. Starring Simon Pegg, Alan Drake, Clare Higgins, and Paul Freeman.

This movie has some promise but it squanders most of it by feeling too mean-spirited. It's exceptionally clear that this character has some mental health issues to deal with, and he seems in genuine distress, and while we are trapped inside his head with him, it feels just so cruel to try to laugh at his irrational fears. When we laugh at fear and anxiety it's usually because we find it relatable, and at first I thought I wasn't laughing just because I didn't relate that hard, but then during the middle section, there's an extended scene of him panicking in a social situation, something I DO relate to, and instead of feeling seen and laughing, I just felt mocked. And EVERY punchline revolves around this fear, so if the jokes they choose to pull out of it don't land for you in the first 10 minutes, none of it will. The lines between comedy, horror, and tragedy are all thin and this never quite tips over into the comedy section, despite trying very hard.

How it entered my Flickchart:

A Fantastic Fear of Everything < Letters from Iwo Jima

A Fantastic Fear of Everything < As Good As It Gets

A Fantastic Fear of Everything < Annie (1982)

A Fantastic Fear of Everything > Sweet Home Alabama

A Fantastic Fear of Everything > Flywheel

A Fantastic Fear of Everything > Courageous

A Fantastic Fear of Everything < John Q.

A Fantastic Fear of Everything > Taxi

A Fantastic Fear of Everything > Pee-Wee's Big Adventure

A Fantastic Fear of Everything < Eagle Eye

A Fantastic Fear of Everything < Shrek the Third

A Fantastic Fear of Everything < Detropia

Final spot: #2877 out of 3252, or 12%.

When a Stranger Calls (1976)

IMDb plot summary: A psychopathic killer terrorizes a babysitter, then returns seven years later to menace her again.

Directed by Fred Walton. Starring Carol Kane, Charles Durning, Tony Beckley, and Ron O'Neal.

Most synopses indicate this is the babysitter's story, but it really isn't -- while her pieces of the story are by far the most compelling, she's actually only in the first 30 and last 15 minutes or so of the movie. The middle hour is a tedious play-by-play of the murderer's trek through the city and the private detective trying to find him and abruptly announcing at one point that he's going to kill him because, as he says, "The closer I get to this guy, the more he gets to me. I don't know." Gotta love a protagonist who's like, "I dunno, this person bugs me, guess I have no choice but to murder him." Nothing in the movie ever measures up to that first half hour, which is well-executed and feels like an Internet creepypasta in the simplicity of its horror. After that, it's a steep drop downhill, with a sloppy attempt at recapturing those early scares at the end.

How it entered my Flickchart:

When a Stranger Calls < Broken Embraces

When a Stranger Calls > An Ideal Husband

When a Stranger Calls > The Rescuers Down Under

When a Stranger Calls > Dr. Seuss on the Loose

When a Stranger Calls < Steamboat Bill, Jr.

When a Stranger Calls < Happy Gilmore

When a Stranger Calls > Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

When a Stranger Calls > An American in Paris

When a Stranger Calls < The Subject Was Roses

When a Stranger Calls > The Ramen Girl

When a Stranger Calls < Where the Red Fern Grows

Final spot: #1786 out of 3250, or 45%.

When the Lights Went Out (2012)

IMDb plot summary: Poltergeists attack a family in Yorkshire during the 1974 nationwide blackouts.

Directed by Pat Holden. Starring Kate Ashfield, Steven Waddington, Craig Parkinson, and Tasha Connor.

This is not at all a new premise, it's not even the first movie with this plot that I've watched this month, so the question is does it do anything different with it? Well, almost. Early on the family reveals to the media that they have a ghost and start getting tourists who want to see the ghost house, and that seems like a really interesting route for the movie to go... and then that entire plotline just gets droppped. And in fact, a scene or two later, the family is suddenly having to re-convince each other that their home is haunted. This happens a LOT in this movie -- it sets up an intriguing conceit for the next part of the story which then vanishes like it never happened at all. It's one of the most frustrating movies I've seen recently because it keeps turning the corner toward something new and original and then it not only chickens out but continually retcons itself, like the scriptwriter decided to delete that scene from the final script and wrote on without it, but the director filmed it anyway. As a result, it ends up being a strange, tangled mess that mostly just goes back to the same bland tropes over and over again without any kind of narrative consistency.

How it entered my Flickchart:

When the Lights Went Out < Broken Embraces

When the Lights Went Out < As Good As It Gets

When the Lights Went Out < Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

When the Lights Went Out > Sweet Home Alabama

When the Lights Went Out < Herbie: Fully Loaded

When the Lights Went Out > All the King's Men (2006)

When the Lights Went Out > Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

When the Lights Went Out > The Incredible Hulk

When the Lights Went Out < Vera Drake

When the Lights Went Out > Live a Little, Love a Little

When the Lights Went Out < Tab Hunter Confidential

Final spot: #2953 out of 3249, or 9%.

Onibaba (1964)

IMDb plot summary: Two women kill samurais and sell their belongings for a living. While one of them is having an affair with their neighbor, the other woman meets a mysterious samurai wearing a bizarre mask.

Directed by Kaneto Shindô. Starring Nobuko Otowa, Jitsuko Yoshimura, Kei Satô, and Jûkichi Uno.

This is a very slow build up to a nicely creepy ending twenty minutes or so, and I'm not sure the payoff was quite worth it for me. I didn't particularly care about any of the characters, and conceptually it doesn't really kick off until at least halfway through, if not more. It does have a very atmospheric score, which I very much appreciated, creating a very uneasy tone even when nothing much is actually happening. It does look like there's a fair amount of social and political commentary happening throughout this that I just don't have the context to fully appreciate, aside from general anti-war sentiments. I wish the whole thing was condensed down to a 20- or 30-minute short, but as is I found my attention wandering frequently during most of the movie.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Onibaba < Pitch Perfect 2

Onibaba > As Good As It Gets

Onibaba > Spinning Into Butter

Onibaba < The Deer Hunter

Onibaba > Iron Eagle

Onibaba > My Sassy Girl

Onibaba < The Browning Version (1994)

Onibaba > Wedding Crashers

Onibaba < Frosty the Snowman

Onibaba < Deep Red

Onibaba > Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

Final spot: #1862 out of 3248, or 43%.

Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)

IMDb plot summary: A satire set in the contemporary art world scene of Los Angeles, where big money artists and mega-collectors pay a high price when art collides with commerce.

Directed by Dan Gilroy. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Zawe Ashton, and Tom Sturridge.

This is a strange, sterile movie where every character has three layers of cool detachment, and that makes these paintings that murder people feel like the *most* alive things in the movie. The horror itself spirals a little too quickly for my taste, but there are some really great pieces, including a very dramatically satisfying death in the movie's final moments. And more than that, I very much enjoyed observing this world and the ins and outs and the drama between competing galleries trying to lure artists to them and the art critic constantly being solicited to write favorable or unfavorable reviews... It's a great setting for the story. It's not perfect by far, but you can see the seeds of something great hiding in here, and it's definitely one of the more unique movies I've seen this month.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Velvet Buzzsaw > Broken Embraces

Velvet Buzzsaw < My Name Is Joe

Velvet Buzzsaw < Kill Bill Vol. 1

Velvet Buzzsaw > My Favorite Year

Velvet Buzzsaw > Junebug

Velvet Buzzsaw > Isle of Dogs

Velvet Buzzsaw > 12 Years of Slave

Velvet Buzzsaw > The Parent Trap (1961)

Velvet Buzzsaw < The Terminal

Velvet Buzzsaw > Death to Smoochy

Velvet Buzzsaw > Hugo

Velvet Buzzsaw > Spanglish

Final spot: #1225 out of 3247, or 62%.

Event Horizon (1997)

IMDb plot summary: A rescue crew investigates a spaceship that disappeared into a black hole and has now returned...with someone or something new on-board.

Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. Starring Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan, and Joely Richardson.

This is such a strange movie because, on one hand, there's a sense it wants to be Solaris, prompting big philosophical questions about guilt and the past and alternate dimensions, or Alien, a dark edge-of-your-seat survival thriller, but it also has SO MANY moments that are shot and edited and sound designed so comedically that it undercuts both the attempted thoughtfulness and the attempted dramatic tension and keeps landing in the campy B-movie circle, particularly in the final third. It's hard to tell what anyone was actually going for in the end with this, but I ultimately kind of enjoyed the goofiness of it, particularly Sam Neill's performance toward the movie's ending. It's a mess but kind of an entertaining one, you just can't take it quite as seriously as the filmmakers (maybe?) hope you will.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Event Horizon < Broken Embraces

Event Horizon > Persona

Event Horizon > Innocence Unprotected

Event Horizon < Plan 9 from Outer Space

Event Horizon > I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore

Event Horizon > Blow Out

Event Horizon < Camp Rock

Event Horizon < My Blueberry Nights

Event Horizon < The Sasquatch Gang

Event Horizon < Harry and the Hendersons

Event Horizon > Manhattan

Event Horizon > My Sassy Girl

Final spot: #1873 out of 3246, or 42%.

Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)

IMDb plot summary: A demonic force has chosen Freddy Krueger as its portal to the real world. Can Heather Langenkamp play the part of Nancy one last time and trap the evil trying to enter our world?

Directed by Wes Craven. Starring Heather Langenkamp, Miko Hughes, David Newsom, and Wes Craven.

This is a fun departure from the series in that it's a meta movie *about* Heather Langenkamp, the actress who played the first movie's sole survivor. Wes Craven, Robert Englund, and other real-life movie people involved in the series also appear as themselves. In this version, Freddy is a real-life evil that can be contained in movies for a short time, so now they have to make another movie to contain him again. Unfortunately it's more fun as a concept than it is as an actual movie. The film is less than two hours but it drags, and it's much less clear than the first movie (the only other one I've seen in the franchise) exactly what our central character is supposed to do to defeat Freddy. Mostly the movie seems to be relying on the various sequences of creepy dream deaths to carry the movie, and one or two of those are pretty effective, but they frequently feel isolated or unconnected from the larger narrative -- like we're just waiting to fulfill our quota of creepy interactions before we can have the final showdown. It's a great idea for a sequel/reboot, but it didn't sell me on the series.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Wes Craven's New Nightmare < Broken Embraces

Wes Craven's New Nightmare > Persona

Wes Craven's New Nightmare > And Then There Were None

Wes Craven's New Nightmare < Plan 9 from Outer Space

Wes Craven's New Nightmare < How to Rob a Bank

Wes Craven's New Nightmare < Run Lola Run

Wes Craven's New Nightmare > The Hurt Locker

Wes Craven's New Nightmare > Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

Wes Craven's New Nightmare > On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

Wes Craven's New Nightmare > Real Genius

Wes Craven's New Nightmare > Nowhere Boy

Wes Craven's New Nightmare > The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009)

Final spot: #1978 out of 3245, or 39%.

Train to Busan (2016)

IMDb plot summary: While a zombie virus breaks out in South Korea, passengers struggle to survive on the train from Seoul to Busan.

Directed by Sang-ho Yeon. Starring Yoo Gong, Yu-mi Jung, Dong-seok Ma, and Su-an Kim.

Zombie movies are everywhere, but I find these zombies absolutely terrifying, coming to life with a viscerally unpleasant bone-cracking sound as their joints twist into unnatural-looking positions, and the speed and fury with which they charge at their victims only adds to that terror. It's hardly the first film to do fast zombies, but I think it does do them particularly well. The characters are also frequently intelligent, coming up with smart ways to survive long enough to get from point A to point B. The movie has a pretty powerful emotional center over all, though when it falls, it falls HARD, with a couple of almost cringeworthy sentimental moments -- for example, at one point the small child lectures her father with, "You never think of anyone but yourself. That's why Mommy left!" But these are short-lived missteps, and the film definitely regains its footing and ends on a strong note. This and other disease-themed movies certainly hit differently in 2020 than they would have 2016, and I find myself reacting more strongly to the message of camaraderie being both risky and necessary for survival. Overall, I liked this quite a lot and am glad I finally got the push to watch it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Train to Busan > Broken Embraces

Train to Busan > Chronicle

Train to Busan > Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

Train to Busan < Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Train to Busan > Ernest & Celestine

Train to Busan < Babe

Train to Busan > Bicycle Thieves

Train to Busan < A Ghost Story

Train to Busan < Across the Universe

Train to Busan > Chaplin

Train to Busan > Guardians of the Galaxy

Train to Busan < Pygmalion

Final spot: #272 out of 3244, or 92%.

Re-Animator (1985)

IMDb plot summary: After an odd new medical student arrives on campus, a dedicated local and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the re-animation of dead tissue.

Directed by Stuart Gordon. Starring Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton, and David Gale.

This is such a delightfully cheesy film, with all the extravagantly gory special effects functioning perfectly as both horrifying and absurd. They just get more and more outlandish as the story goes on -- the segments toward the end where a head on a tray and his lumbering severed body are the primary villains is an especially great combo of the grotesque with the hilarious. Jeffrey Combs as West turns in a very fun performance, really milking his character's obsession for all its worth. The rest of the characters are pretty bland, aside from possibly the primary antagonist, but they're just there to be audience inserts and foils for West's mad scientist plans anyway, so they fulfill their purposes. And the effects are just so much fun to watch. Definitely worth a watch if you like gory B-movies -- it does not disappoint in that realm!

How it entered my Flickchart:

Re-Animator > Letters from Iwo Jima

Re-Animator < My Name Is Joe

Re-Animator > Kill Bill Vol. 1

Re-Animator > Mary Poppins Returns

Re-Animator > Dangerous Liaisons

Re-Animator < Center Stage

Re-Animator > Auntie Mame

Re-Animator > Gone Baby Gone

Re-Animator > The Color Purple

Re-Animator > Unbreakable

Re-Animator > Wonder Boys

Final spot: #863 out of 3243, or 73%.