Kursk (2018)

IMDb plot summary: The film follows the 2000 K-141 Kursk submarine disaster and the governmental negligence that followed. As the sailors fight for survival, their families desperately battle political obstacles and impossible odds to save them.

Directed by Thomas Vinterberg. Starring Matthias Schoenaerts, Léa Seydoux, Peter Simonischek, and August Diehl.

Kursk, or The Command, as Netflix titles it, tells the real-life story of a Russian submarine that sank in an accident in 2000, stranding several crew members on board for days. Those aware of the incident will already know whether or not the crew was ultimately able to be evacuated, but I wasn't familiar with it, so I'm not going to spoil that for anyone else also unfamiliar. The film does a stellar job of demonstrating the camaraderie between the main characters. The opening scene, where they celebrate one sailor's wedding, gives us such a strong sense of teamwork and friendship for all the men, and that sense carries all the way through the film, making it easy to care for this team as a unit even if you don't remember individuals all that well. The scenes with the women desperately fighting for their government to accept foreign aid and rescue their husbands are also very powerful, and it becomes increasingly more upsetting every time their pleas are dismissed. All the emotional moments in this film ring true, which can't be said of all disaster films. This one is well-structured and well-written, which drew me into it and kept me engaged from beginning to end.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Kursk > Deceiver

Kursk < The Road Warrior

Kursk > Spanglish

Kursk > Evita

Kursk > Henry V

Kursk < Reservoir Dogs

Kursk < The Awful Truth

Kursk < The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

Kursk > RoboCop

Kursk < Gandhi

Kursk > Dangerous Liaisons

Final spot: #891 out of 3202, or 72%.

Native Son (2019)

IMDb plot summary: A young African-American living in Chicago enters into a seductive new world of money and power after he is hired as a chauffeur for an affluent businessman.

Directed by Rashid Johnson. Starring Ashton Sanders, Margaret Qualley, Nick Robinson, and KiKi Layne.

Native Son has been a polarizing story since its inception, with some saying it effectively condemns a racist system for its role in perpetuating violence, and others voicing concerns that the protagonist embodies all the worst caricatures of his race. I have now read the book, seen a play adaptation, and seen this film, and I feel a similar ambivalence every time. This version makes a few big changes: it updates the story to modern day, keeps alive a character the novel kills off, and omits the entire third act, the trial. To my surprise, I didn't miss the trial section at all, and I found it fascinating how well the updated timeline works... though also wildly depressing. It says something if you can transport a pre-Civil Rights Movement story about racism to 2019 with so few plot changes and have it still feel plausible. I honestly don't have much beyond that to expound upon because, in every form, Native Son makes me think more about the complicated ideas behind it than the events of the story, and that's something I appreciate.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Native Son > Stage Fright

Native Son < Match Point

Native Son > Death to Smoochy

Native Son > Swing Girls

Native Son < Henry V

Native Son < Seconds

Native Son < I and You

Native Son < The Shoes of the Fisherman

Native Son > The Happening

Native Son > Death by Hanging

Native Son < Full Metal Jacket

Final spot: #990 out of 3201, or 69%.

Innocent Lies (1995)

IMDb plot summary: In 1938, British detective Alan Cross travels to a small French coastal town to investigate the mysterious death of a close friend. Soon he becomes entangled in the strange lives of his prime suspects, the Graves, an aristocratic English family hiding many dark secrets.

Directed by Patrick Dewolf. Starring Adrian Dunbar, Gabrielle Anwar, Stephen Dorff, and Sophie Aubry.

(Spoilers ahead.)

If you've ever read an Agatha Christie book and thought, "You know what this needs? More incest," then, well, I suppose this will be the exact film you've been looking for. It's very very very loosely based on the Agatha Christie novel Towards Zero, but the Christie estate refused to let them use the title or character names upon reading this script, and that was the right move. It's a nonsensically salacious film, in which "whodunnit" is not discovered but literally confessed by the murderer to the detective during their sex scene. The film also employs unintentionally hilarious editing that cuts abruptly away from over-the-top moments to unrelated scenes. There may be some adequate actors here but this film does them no favors at all, or anyone else who was creatively involved. What. A. Mess.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Innocent Lies < Jack Strong

Innocent Lies < Batman Begins

Innocent Lies < A Decade Under the Influence

Innocent Lies < Sahara (2017)

Innocent Lies > Un Chien Andalou

Innocent Lies > Yours, Mine & Ours (2005)

Innocent Lies < Loving Annabelle

Innocent Lies < C.H.U.D.

Innocent Lies < Gridiron Gang

Innocent Lies < The Wedding Planner

Innocent Lies < Journey for Margaret

Innocent Lies < At the Earth's Core

Final spot: #3050 out of 3200, or 5%.

In the Name of the Father (1993)

IMDb plot summary: A man's coerced confession to an I.R.A. bombing he did not commit results in the imprisonment of his father as well. An English lawyer fights to free them.

Directed by Jim Sheridan. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Emma Thompson, Pete Postlethwaite, and Corin Redgrave.

Daniel Day-Lewis is unsurprisingly great here. As always, he disappears fully into the role and seems to be radiating young furious anger from the inside out. His relationship with his father, who is imprisoned along with him, is the backbone of this story even more so than their fight for freedom, which really makes this story stand out. What's most impressive is Day-Lewis' ability to take a character who is not a particularly good person and still help us sympathize with him and the egregious injustices facing him. His redemption story is not obvious or even maybe redemption at all. But the movie highlights how you don't have to be a perfect person to deserve fair legal treatment or to suffer under a corrupt system. It's a really compelling character drama.

How it entered my Flickchart:

In the Name of the Father > Molly's Game

In the Name of the Father > Match Point

In the Name of the Father < The Disaster Artist

In the Name of the Father < Clue

In the Name of the Father < The Secret of Santa Vittoria

In the Name of the Father < The Sting

In the Name of the Father < The Goodbye Girl (2004)

In the Name of the Father > Woman in the Dunes

In the Name of the Father > Key Largo

In the Name of the Father < The Quick and the Dead

In the Name of the Father < Akira Kurosawa's Dreams

In the Name of the Father > Elf

Final spot: #780 out of 3199, or 76%.

Uncut Gems (2019)

 

IMDb plot summary: With his debts mounting and angry collectors closing in, a fast-talking New York City jeweler risks everything in hope of staying afloat and alive.

Directed by Benny and Josh Safie. Starring Adam Sandler, Julia Fox, LaKeith Stanfield, and Eric Bogosian.

The only other film I've seen by the Safdie Brothers was Good Time, which genuinely surprised me with its unique take on the crime genre. This one isn't such a bright spot, instead treading incredibly familiar ground and feeling wildly predictable to me. Additionally, it's one of the most abrasive films I have ever seen. The lights, sounds, language, acting and camera work are all pushy and in-your-face and chaotic. In a way, yes, this immerses us in the chaos of the world, but in more practical terms, it gave me a headache and make me anxious for the film to end. Adam Sandler's character is one of the most unpleasant "protagonists" I have ever seen onscreen (right up with every comedic character Sandler has ever played) and waiting for his looming, obvious downfall was all I really had to look forward to in this film. I struggle to see what this film adds to the genre that other, less obnoxious, films haven't presented as well or better.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Uncut Gems < Last Holiday

Uncut Gems < Highlander

Uncut Gems > Monkey Business (1931)

Uncut Gems > Young Mr. Lincoln

Uncut Gems < Barry

Uncut Gems < After Hours

Uncut Gems < Deja Vu

Uncut Gems < The Butterfly Effect

Uncut Gems > Dinosaur

Uncut Gems > 27 Dresses

Uncut Gems < Silver Streak

Final spot: #2589 out of 3198, or 19%.

Enemy (2013)

 

IMDb plot summary: A man seeks out his exact look-alike after spotting him in a movie.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Mélanie Laurent, Sarah Gadon, and ISabella Rossellini.

At first I thought the film was just aiming for a moody, paranoid atmosphere, aided by the dingy yellow lighting that pervades the film. The narrative itself certainly doesn't warrant the level of panic Adam feels on discovering his doppelganger, nor the escalating paranoia. But then the final shot, one of the most startlingly incomprehensible endings I've maybe ever encountered, makes me think that there must be some other entirely symbolic level on which I'm meant to view this story, and I'm just... not interested in that, not with this setup. Maybe on a second or third watch it would snap into place, but frankly I didn't enjoy it enough to watch to commit that time to it. If you like weird surreal symbolism, check this out. If not... maybe don't.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Enemy < Last Holiday

Enemy > Highlander

Enemy < Rebecca

Enemy > The Devil's Brigade

Enemy < Whisper of the Heart

Enemy < The Rescuers

Enemy < Play Misty for Me

Enemy > Dazed and Confused

Enemy > Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Enemy > A Mighty Wind

Enemy > The Iceman

Enemy < Show Boat (1951)

Final spot: #2175 out of 3197, or 32%.

Y Tu Mamá También (2001)

IMDb plot summary: In Mexico, two teenage boys and an attractive older woman embark on a road trip and learn a thing or two about life, friendship, sex, and each other.

Directed by Alfonso Cuarón. Starring Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal, Maribel Verdú, and Daniel Giménez Cacho.

Very young Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal are better here than in any movie I've subsequently seem from them, but the film overall fell a little flat for me. The tone of their constant playful sexual commentary is interestingly at odds with the darker moments of their sexual journey, as well as the frequent narration that feels a bit like a glimpse into "the real world" that these kids just don't get. As with many coming-of-age films, I was frustrated by the lack of resolution at the end, since the rest of the movie was interesting and I wanted it to be tied together more strongly by the ending. Without the strong resolution I was hoping for, I just don't see this film sticking with me very long.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Y Tu Mamá También > Chocolat

Y Tu Mamá También < Crocodile Dundee (this is about 400 spots too high on my chart, I need to rerank it)

Y Tu Mamá También < Young Frankenstein

Y Tu Mamá También < The Room

Y Tu Mamá También > Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Y Tu Mamá También > Hamlet (2000)

Y Tu Mamá También < Alice Adams

Y Tu Mamá También < The Forbidden Kingdom

Y Tu Mamá También < The Birds

Y Tu Mamá También > How I Live Now

Y Tu Mamá También < Strictly Ballrom

Final spot: #1444 out of 3196, or 55%.

Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)

IMDb plot summary: During a rural summer picnic, a few students and a teacher from an Australian girls' school vanish without a trace. Their absence frustrates and haunts the people left behind.

Directed by Peter Weir. Starring Rachel Roberts, Helen Morse, Anne-Louise Lambert, and Margaret Nelson.

This is an Australian film about a girls' school that suffers an unexpected tragedy when three of its students and a teacher disappear during an outing. The film follows the various individuals affected by this event. The cinematography, costuming, and landscape all have an Impressionist painting feel to them, peaceful and stately and calm, and it is fascinating to see that facade break down as the mystery continues to go unsolved. There are pieces missing from the narrative throughout beyond the core question of "what happened to these girls?" but it works because this is a mood piece above all. Rachel Roberts turns in an especially wonderful performance as the headmistress determined to put her world back together again and furious that it can't be done. The movie moves very slowly, but the contrast between the idyllic and the ominous is so interesting to watch that I very rarely felt the film's length.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Picnic at Hanging Rock > Hans Christian Andersen

Picnic at Hanging Rock > Going My Way

Picnic at Hanging Rock < Soapdish

Picnic at Hanging Rock < The Skeleton Twins

Picnic at Hanging Rock < Misery

Picnic at Hanging Rock < The Peanuts Movie

Picnic at Hanging Rock < Kill Bill Vol. 2

Picnic at Hanging Rock < Jack Goes Boating

Picnic at Hanging Rock < Queen of Katwe

Picnic at Hanging Rock > Miss Saigon: 25th Anniversary

Picnic at Hanging Rock > Brave

Picnic at Hanging Rock > Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken

Final spot: #793 out of 3195, or 75%.

Spellbound (2011)

IMDb plot summary: A magician meets an eccentric girl and offers her to work together in his magic show. It is only until a year later that he starts to know her personally and develops a feeling towards her despite her own problems.

Directed by In-ho Hwang. Starring Ye-jin Son, Min-ki Lee, Cheol-min Park, and Hyun-sook Kim.

This was the second Korean supernatural romance I watched in the span of a few days, and this one doesn't fare quite as well as The Beauty Inside. This story features a magician and one of his introverted crew members, who it turns out is quiet and withdrawn because, like young Haley Joel Osment, she sees dead people. Frequently, that dead person is a friend of hers who she was in a horrible accident with. She and her friend were both in need of emergency assistance, but she got it first, resulting her friend's death and lasting anger beyond the grave. The tone of this movie is confusing to me, bouncing back and forth between broad, over-the-top comedy and abruptly dark emotional moments, and the two never quite coalesce the way I'd like. The darker emotional moments do actually kind of work, but they work primarily outside the film's context, when ideally they'd be enhancing it. The romance also begins with the male lead being exceptionally pushy and ignoring the social boundaries she'd set up for herself, and as a result it's hard to find him endearing much of the rest of the time. It definitely suffers more in comparison to The Beauty Inside, but I'm not sure I'd have been wowed by it on its own either.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Spellbound < Hans Christian Andersen

Spellbound > The Life of David Gale

Spellbound > House of Games

Spellbound > The Sasquatch Gang

Spellbound < Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Spellbound < The Asphalt Jungle

Spellbound > If I Forget

Spellbound < The Wiz

Spellbound < UHF

Spellbound < House of Flying Daggers

Spellbound < Nacho Libre

Spellbound < The Time Traveler's Wife

Final spot: #1770 out of 3192, or 45%.

The Beauty Inside (2015)

IMDb plot summary: A South Korean has a different person's body, changing every morning to a body "borrowed" for a day - man, woman, old, child and sometimes a foreigner. "He" works as furniture designer. He loves a girl. She loves him for the beauty inside.

Directed by Jong-Yeol Baek. Starring Hyo-joo Han, Dong-hwi Lee, Suk Mun, and Seo-joon Park.

This movie is about a young man with a strange curse in which every day he wakes up and he has a different body. Old, young, male, female, Korean, some other ethnicity, there's no rhyme or reason to what body he gets on any given day. He's learned to adapt, since in the digital age you hardly ever have to show your face, and has a thriving furniture design business, but this movie picks up when he decides he wants to try a real relationship. Not only does this movie have a great premise, it also really delves into this person's world - what it might be like to live in that space, what that would keep you from doing. One morning he wakes up after a one-night stand as an old man with poor eyesight and can barely see well enough to get himself home. It also does an amazing job of examining what might be difficult about being in a relationship with someone like this. The two leads are likable and their affection for each other makes sense, as do the conflicts that come up with his condition. It's ultimately a very beautifully crafted movie that feels unlike any fantasy romance I've ever seen.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Beauty Inside > The Road

The Beauty Inside > The Thing

The Beauty Inside < Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway

The Beauty Inside < The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

The Beauty Inside < Bruce Almighty

The Beauty Inside > Finian's Rainbow

The Beauty Inside > This Boy's Life

The Beauty Inside < Coco

The Beauty Inside < Big Man Japan

The Beauty Inside < Nebraska

The Beauty Inside > Identity

The Beauty Inside > The Man Who Wasn't There

Final spot: #720 out of 3191, or 77%.

A Thousand Words (2012)

 

IMDb plot summary: After stretching the truth on a deal with a spiritual guru, literary agent Jack McCall finds a Bodhi tree on his property. Its appearance holds a valuable lesson on the consequences of every word he speaks.

Directed by Brian Robbins. Starring Eddie Murphy, Kerry Washington, Clark Duke, and Cliff Curtis.

A Thousand Words is a 2012 comedy starring Eddie Murphy, in which he plays a fast-talking publishing agent who inexplicably has his life force linked with a mysterious tree. Every word he speaks causes a leaf to fall, and, his guru advises him, when the last leaf falls, he'll probably die. Yeah, it's a pretty tenuous plot, but it does falls right within the established movie trope where a work-obsessed jerk has a supernatural thing happen to him that makes him a better person. This is no Groundhog Day or Liar Liar, though, as the loss of his voice offers very few laughs. Murphy's giving it his all in his elaborate games of charades, but the characters around him are written so stupidly that none of it works. If you're going to write a film relying this heavily on physical comedy, you've got to have the right set-ups, and this had none of them. The film's sentimental finale, in which he must let go of his past anger to be released from the tree, did remind me that Murphy is a surprisingly charismatic dramatic actor, even in cheesy nonsense like this. Not painful so much as wildly unambitious, but still not worth the watch.

How it entered my Flickchart:

A Thousand Words < The Road

A Thousand Words < The Life of David Gale

A Thousand Words < Armageddon

A Thousand Words > Dangerous

A Thousand Words > Spy Kids

A Thousand Words > Maurice

A Thousand Words > Shock Treatment

A Thousand Words > My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2

A Thousand Words > Devil's Knot

A Thousand Words > Iron Man 2

A Thousand Words < Candleshoe

Final spot: #2797 out of 3193, or 12%.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

IMDb plot summary: When strange seeds drift to earth from space, mysterious pods begin to grow and invade San Francisco, California, where they replicate the residents into emotionless automatons one body at a time.

Directed by Philip Kaufman. Starring Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblu, and Veronica Cartwright.

I'm a big fan of the original 1950s version of this, and I think it does still win out over this one. It taps nicely into the sense of paranoia and everyone being in on it, but the characters seem to figure out the rules of the world long before I do and start yelling things like, "Don't fall asleep!" while I haven't seen anything to indicate that sleeping will have anything to do with it. The final third however is pretty terrifying, and the very final minute is a stellar way to end the film. Overall, it's solid, but I think the original is still my favorite.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Invasion of the Body Snatchers > The Road

Invasion of the Body Snatchers < The Thing

Invasion of the Body Snatchers < The Curse of the Jade Scorpion

Invasion of the Body Snatchers > Patsy & Loretta

Invasion of the Body Snatchers < Imitation of Life (1959)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers < Gentleman's Agreement

Invasion of the Body Snatchers > The Master

Invasion of the Body Snatchers > An Affair to Remember

Invasion of the Body Snatchers > Star Trek: Generations

Invasion of the Body Snatchers > A Few Good Men

Invasion of the Body Snatchers < The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Final spot: #1350 out of 3194, or 58%.

The Hunt (2020)

IMDb plot summary: Twelve strangers wake up in a clearing. They don't know where they are, or how they got there. They don't know they've been chosen - for a very specific purpose - The Hunt.

Directed by Craig Zobel. Starring Betty Gilpin, Hilary Swank, Ike Barinholtz, and Wayne Duvall.

Well, this is a wild ride. As a comedy/thriller, it's amazing. Fantastically paced, really well-timed unexpected comedic moments, a lead character who is intriguing from beginning to end. As a satire, I'm a little less convinced. Neither political side comes out particularly well, but in a way that seems dismissive rather than insightful, in that South Park-ian way that indicates that Taking A Stance is the most harmful act of all. There are certainly clever moments, and I'm still working through it in my head to see if there's more to get out of it than I feel there is, but I suspect it's not going to cohere as much as I want it to. Set aside the political statement (or non-statement?) though and I did genuinely enjoy a lot of it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Hunt > The Road

The Hunt < The Thing

The Hunt < Marjorie Prime

The Hunt > Patsy & Loretta

The Hunt > Paris, Texas

The Hunt > Rachel, Rachel

The Hunt > Radio Days

The Hunt < Esther, the Girl Who Became Queen

The Hunt > Were the World Mine

The Hunt > Albert Nobbs

The Hunt > The Crying Game

The Hunt > War Horse

Final spot: #1209 out of 3190, or 62%.

The Legend of 1900 (1998)

IMDb plot summary: A baby boy, discovered in 1900 on an ocean liner, grows into a musical prodigy, never setting foot on land.

Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. Starring Tim Roth, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Mélanie Thierry, and Bill Nunn.

Well, this is the Terry Gilliamest movie I've ever seen not directed by Terry Gilliam. And I mean that in the best possible way. It really leans into the atmosphere of telling a legend, with a beautiful mix of realism and fantasy, and it's obviously asking for a huge suspension of disbelief, especially as it touts this character as a never-before-seen musical genius (though having Ennio Morricone on board creating the music certainly makes it easier to believe!). There's also such a delightfully comedic tone woven throughout, which contributes to the film feeling slightly unreal. It would be very easy for this to not work for someone, to be just too much, but I found myself wrapped up in this world by about minute five and happily stayed there. It's a bizarre and beautiful fantasy story I'm glad to have found.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Legend of 1900 > Frequency

The Legend of 1900 > Zoolander

The Legend of 1900 < A Little Princess (1995)

The Legend of 1900 > The Swimmer

The Legend of 1900 > Planet of the Apes (1968)

The Legend of 1900 > The Reader

The Legend of 1900 > E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial

The Legend of 1900 > Short Term 12

The Legend of 1900 < The Goodbye Girl (1977)

The Legend of 1900 < Secretary

The Legend of 1900 > Network

Final spot: #408 out of 3189, or 87%.

The Thin Red Line (1998)

IMDb plot summary: Adaptation of James Jones' autobiographical 1962 novel, focusing on the conflict at Guadalcanal during the second World War.

Directed by Terrence Malick. Starring Jim Caviezel, Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, and Adrien Brody.

Terrence Malick and I just do not see eye to eye. I understand why someone might connect to his style, but I find his long, slow shots and introspective monologues to feel manipulative at best and boring at worst. So him taking on a war movie (a genre I struggle to care about) was bound to not end terribly well. There are a handful of interesting threads here -- the many references back to nature as both a victim of and purveyor of violence were an interesting train of thought -- but overall it feels like most other war movies, sending the same message in much the same way. 

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Thin Red Line < The Mistress of Spices

The Thin Red Line < Talk to Her

The Thin Red Line > John Q.

The Thin Red Line > Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

The Thin Red Line < Mr. Pip

The Thin Red Line < The Black Stallion

The Thin Red Line < Before I Fall

The Thin Red Line > Davy Crockett and the River Pirates

The Thin Red Line > Antz

The Thin Red Line > Silver Streak

The Thin Red Line > Hostage

The Thin Red Line < The Butterfly Effect

Final spot: #2567 out of 3188, or 19%.

See You Yesterday (2019)

 

IMDb plot summary: Two Brooklyn teenage prodigies, C.J. Walker and Sebastian Thomas, build makeshift time machines to save C.J.'s brother, Calvin, from being wrongfully killed by a police officer.

Directed by Stefon Bristol. Starring Eden Duncan-Smith, Dante Crichlow, Astro, and Marsha Stephanie Blake.

This was a great watch. Not only is CJ one of the most fantastic, relatable teen characters I've ever seen in a stylized genre story, but I loved how it connected the Big Picture themes of time travel to the much more intimate themes of injustice, loss, and the desperate thought of "There must be something I can do." It does what I love my genre fiction doing most -- using these fantastical or futuristic elements to explore how we live today in the world we are in. I was also impressed by the ending's refusal to give in to an easy conclusion. It made it a much more powerful and effective film for me. This is one I'll definitely be recommending for awhile.

How it entered my Flickchart:

See You Yesterday > Stagecoach

See You Yesterday > Father of the Bride (1991)

See You Yesterday < A Little Princess (1995)

See You Yesterday > Synecdoche, New York

See You Yesterday < Planet of the Apes (1968)

See You Yesterday > Super

See You Yesterday < Thermae Romae

See You Yesterday > Cats and Dogs

See You Yesterday < The Basketball Diaries

See You Yesterday > Jackie Brown

See You Yesterday < The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming!

Final spot: #531 out of 3187, or 83%.

Innocence Unprotected (1968)

 

IMDb plot summary: Documentary about the famous Serbian athlete and movie enthusiast who made a feature film during the Nazi occupation of Belgrade and had some problems after the liberation because of that.

Directed by Dusan Makavejev.

This is... kind of fascinating. I think I'll just turn to Wikipedia to explain what it is: "Innocence Unprotected is composed of footage of the 1941 film of the same name. Innocence Unprotected was originally filmed in 1941 under the title Nevinost bez zaštite which was meant to be the first sound feature film made in Serbia. ... Nevinost bez zaštite was never released due to the Nazi censors while ironically later during the Yugoslav communist period some accused and condemned it as being pro-Nazi. ...In 1968, Makavejev established the film and expanded it with newsreel footage and interviews with surviving cast members."

So it's like... half compilation video, half documentary, and it is intriguing as this little slice of history. The original film is pretty simplistic, with some very dated acting styles that don't transfer well, but the clips of the director/writer/actor's strong man act are impressive, and seeing all of these interviews and movie clips interspersed with newsreel footage about the war at the time helps put it in context in an interesting way. It's not something I care about rewatching, but it's pretty unique as a film and probably worth a watch just for that.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Innocence Unprotected < The Mistress of Spices

Innocence Unprotected > Steve Jobs

Innocence Unprotected > Burlesque

Innocence Unprotected < The Fourth Kind

Innocence Unprotected < Coraline

Innocence Unprotected > Mr. Holland's Opus

Innocence Unprotected < Touch of Evil

Innocence Unprotected > And Then There Were None

Innocence Unprotected < Anchors Aweigh

Innocence Unprotected < Birdman of Alcatraz

Innocence Unprotected < Gypsy (1962)

Innocence Unprotected < Rigoletto

Final spot: #1929 out of 3187, or 39%.

Teorema (1968)

IMDb plot summary: A mysterious young man seduces each member of a bourgeois family. When he suddenly leaves, how will their lives change?
Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. Starring Silvana Mangano, Terence Stamp, Massimo Girotti, and Anne Wiazemsky.

For most of this film, I was antsy and irritated and ready for it to be over. I have little patience for allegorical storytelling, and that largely held true here. But for brief moments throughout, I found it oddly compelling. Seeing how each member of the family falls apart in their own way after the visitor's departure is kind of interesting, and I'm even maybe a little bit interested in what this is saying about class and status. But I think I'd have gotten exactly as much out of it from reading a detailed synopsis of the film. The cinematic language didn't connect with me more than the abstract ideas, and I did frequently find myself bored. An interesting concept that doesn't hold my interest as it plays out.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Teorema < Rushmore
Teorema > Steve Jobs
Teorema < Paper Moon
Teorema > Chinatown
Teorema < Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Teorema > Play Misty for Me
Teorema > Rust and Bone
Teorema < The Core
Teorema > Gozu
Teorema < Mission: Impossible
Teorema < Luther
Teorema < 12 Days of Terror
Final spot: #2108 out of 3186, or 34%.

Appointment With Death (1988)

IMDb plot summary: When a former prison wardress who dominates the lives of her three adult stepchildren and her daughter is found dead at an archaeological dig near the Dead Sea, there are a great many suspects.
Directed by Michael Winner. Starring Peter Ustinov, Lauren Bacall, Carrie Fisher, and John Gielgud.

What a disappointing mess of a movie! There's a pretty fun cast involved, but the writing and directing and editing are all absolutely abysmal, and even actors I enjoy like Lauren Bacall and Peter Ustinov can't make these lines sound reasonable. Agatha Christie's stories are so beautifully scripted and so dialogue-driven as is, I feel like there's seldom a reason, if any, to do much tweaking when adapting, and it definitely doesn't do the story any favors either. I am also decidedly not in favor of Piper Laurie as Mrs. Boynton -- she doesn't have nearly the sense of power and control needed to do this part justice.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Appointment With Death < Rushmore

Appointment With Death < Talk to Her

Appointment With Death > John Q.

Appointment With Death > Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

Appointment With Death < Mr. Pip

Appointment With Death < The Black Stallion

Appointment With Death > The Butterfly Effect

Appointment With Death > A Farewell to Fools

Appointment With Death > Rancho Notorious

Appointment With Death > Maggie's Plan

Appointment With Death > You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger

Appointment With Death < Start the Revolution Without Me

Final spot: #2540 out of 3185, or 20%.

Booksmart (2019)

IMDb plot summary: On the eve of their high school graduation, two academic superstars and best friends realize they should have worked less and played more. Determined not to fall short of their peers, the girls try to cram four years of fun into one night.
Directed by Olivia Wilde. Starring Kaitlyn Dever, Beanie Feldstein, Jessica Williams, and Jason Sudeikis.

I kept hearing this described as "the female version of Superbad," which was a film I found very underwhelming and unfunny, but I'm down for woman-centric films, so I went for it, and I was very pleasantly surprised. For one thing, there are more genuine laughs in here than I expected, and the vulgar moments are rooted in actually comedic settings and for the most part don't feel like they're gross just to be gross. Additionally, do you all even KNOW how rare it is to have a plus-sized comedy lead whose entire existence in the movie isn't just the joke, "she's fat but she talks about sex, how hilarious is that"? I loved both these main characters so much, and I loved how so many of the surrounding characters also weren't obvious Hollywood movie star teens -- they looked so much more like real people. It's a well-written, funny, smart movie with just enough heart to make it work. Impressive.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Booksmart > The Mistress of Spices
Booksmart > Widow's Peak
Booksmart < A Little Princess (1995)
Booksmart < The Invisible Man
Booksmart > The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Booksmart > Romeo and Juliet (1968)
Booksmart > Split
Booksmart > Brooklyn
Booksmart > The Bumblebee Flies Anyway
Booksmart > The Shawshank Redemption
Booksmart > Big Trouble in Little China
Booksmart < The Farewell
Final spot: #599 out of 3184, or 81%.

Safe (1995)

IMDb plot summary: An affluent and unexceptional homemaker in the suburbs develops multiple chemical sensitivity.
Directed by Todd Haynes. Starring Julianne Moore, Xander Berkeley, Susan Norman, and Peter Friedman.

This is... an unsettling movie. And seems wildly relevant for being released a full 25 years ago. The self-help alternative medicine movement is stronger than ever, and the isolation of Carol's attempts to combat her mystery illness felt eerily similar to the pandemic quarantine I've been in since March. There are no easy answers given here, and it's very clear that the few things Carol things she's found as answers still aren't, as they just lead to further and further isolation. I'm not sure what to actually take away from the whole thing, but it's definitely a haunting film.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Safe > Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam
Safe > Grosse Pointe Blank
Safe < A Little Princess (1995)
Safe < The Invisible Man (1933)
Safe < The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Safe < Fever Pitch (1997)
Safe > Woman in the Dunes
Safe < A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)
Safe < Akira Kurosawa's Dreams
Safe < Dark Passage
Safe > Anna Karenina
Safe < The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
Final spot: #769 out of 3183, or 76%.