A Cure for Wellness (2016)

IMDb plot summary: An ambitious young executive is sent to retrieve his company's CEO from an idyllic but mysterious "wellness center" at a remote location in the Swiss Alps, but soon suspects that the spa's treatments are not what they seem.

Directed by Gore Verbinski. Starring Dane DeHaan, Jason Isaacs, and Mia Goth.

A Cure for Wellness is a bizarre psychological thriller starring Dane DeHaan as an employee sent to a remote health resort to bring back the finance giant who abruptly checked himself in before a huge merger. The resort seems suspicious, though, with seemingly no residents ever leaving, and so as DeHaan tries to convince his particular target to return, he's also investigating what nefarious things might be happening here. This creates a very unsettling atmosphere of medical horror, which is mostly effective even when the plot itself just completely gives up on making any sense (which is most of the time). The film succeeds best when it leans on its creepy imagery to convey the sense that something is wrong, and it falls furthest when it tries to give us the details about what's going on at this resort. You can see the plot strings start to unravel pretty early, so it's not entirely a surprise when the whole story collapses on itself at the end, but it does make for a very disappointing second half knowing it's not likely to get better. Cut this film down to just its surreal unexplained horrors and this could be an effective 90-minute horror, but as it is, it's bloated with exposition that does nothing for it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

A Cure for Wellness < The Harder They Fall

A Cure for Wellness > Cassandra's Dream

A Cure for Wellness > Dark City

A Cure for Wellness > Venom

A Cure for Wellness > Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam

A Cure for Wellness > Poulenc; Dialogues des Carmelites

A Cure for Wellness > The Testament of Dr. Mabuse

A Cure for Wellness < Something to Sing About

A Cure for Wellness > Hellboy

A Cure for Wellness > Star Trek: Nemesis

A Cure for Wellness > Le Week-End

Final spot: #1772 out of 3514, or 50%.

Black Christmas (1973)

IMDb plot summary: During their Christmas break, a group of sorority girls are stalked by a stranger.

Directed by Bob Clark. Starring Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, and Margot Kidder.

Black Christmas is a very early slasher movie about a sorority house that is getting obscene phone calls... and then its members start being murdered, one by one. This one took me a little bit to get into, but once it hooked me, WHOO did it hook me! Its exceptionally low budget is reflected in the audio and video quality of the film, but it's paced beautifully, and I love the fact that since various characters are leaving to go on holiday break, the murders mostly go unnoticed until nearly the end of the film. I also, without spoiling anything, absolutely adore the film's ending. It's handled so perfectly and is so unsettling but so well done. It's fascinating to see the moments that clearly went on to inspire others in the slasher genre, that became established tropes, and see how they could still be effective in this early film as well. It does take a little suspension of disbelief and a willingness to buy into the film despite its sketchy technical quality, but I absolutely get why this took off and I'm glad I finally got the push to watch it!

How it entered my Flickchart:

Black Christmas > Hustle & Flow

Black Christmas > Chronicle

Black Christmas < Crimes and Misdemeanors

Black Christmas > Evil

Black Christmas < A Streetcar Named Desire

Black Christmas < Days of Wine and Roses

Black Christmas < Philomena

Black Christmas > Hollywood Ending

Black Christmas < Casualties of War

Black Christmas > The Great Race

Black Christmas > Coherence

Black Christmas > Lolita (1962)

Final spot: #637 out of #3503, or 82%.

Meek's Cutoff (2010)

IMDb plot summary: Settlers traveling through the Oregon desert in 1845 find themselves stranded in harsh conditions.

Directed by Kelly Reichardt. Starring Michelle Williams, Bruce Greenwood, Paul Dano, and Will Patton.

This is a slow, suffocating movie. Never have I felt so much the isolation of being so far away from safety and comfort, with no idea when they'll find water or if it'll be enough to save them from death. That being said, I want to re-emphasize the SLOW part of "slow and suffocating." If you're a plot-driven movie watcher, you might find this plotless wandering agonizing. I usually would, but somehow I got into the rhythm and really connected to the characters' sort of desperate hopefulness. It ends up being a mood piece more than anything else, and I'm not sure watching it again would draw me in the same way, but I'm glad I saw it -- I got more out of it than I thought I might.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Meek's Cutoff > Hustle & Flow

Meek's Cutoff < Chronicle

Meek's Cutoff < Fantasia 2000

Meek's Cutoff < Real Life

Meek's Cutoff > The Diary of Anne Frank (2009)

Meek's Cutoff > Cast Away

Meek's Cutoff < Two Weeks Notice

Meek's Cutoff > Viva Zapata!

Meek's Cutoff > Man of La Mancha

Meek's Cutoff < Minority Report

Meek's Cutoff > Total Recall (1990)

Final spot: #1563 out of 3502, or 55%.

Till Death (2021)

IMDb plot summary: A woman is left handcuffed to her dead husband as part of a sick revenge plot. Unable to unshackle, she has to survive as two killers arrive to finish her off.

Directed by S.K. Dale. Starring Megan Fox, Eoin Macken, and Callan Mulvey.

Till Death is a horror movie starring Megan Fox as a woman cheating on her husband of over a decade. When he finds out, he concocts an elaborate revenge plot that leaves her fighting for her life in a remote location where no one is coming to help her. When I say elaborate, I do mean *elaborate*. To the point that it doesn't really make any sense after the halfway point because all the extra traps he adds it to basically negate the earlier traps? Like, you're not going to worry about starving to death and ALSO being framed for the murder and ALSO being killed by outside forces, so why bother making ALL of them part of the story? It's a ridiculous scheme. What it does do though is definitely keep things moving, and if you can suspend your disbelief a bit, it's a pretty solid little thriller. Megan Fox's blank-faced chilliness translates here into seething rage and determination, and they keep her moderately intelligent and don't have her take silly risks until she really HAS to. Really all you need of a thrill is for it to keep you anxious for how the main character's going to do, and this hit that mark for me!

How it entered my Flickchart:

Till Death > Monsters

Till Death < My Name Is Joe

Till Death > About Elly

Till Death > I and You

Till Death > The Bad Seed

Till Death > Hannah Arendt

Till Death > The Bells of St. Mary's

Till Death > Brave

Till Death > The Game

Till Death < Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962)

Till Death > Munich

Final spot: #879 out of 3499, or 75%.

Sreekaram (2021)

IMDb plot summary: Karthik hails from a poor farmer's family in a village near Tirupati. He works at an IT company in Hyderabad. Chaitra is his colleague and tries her best to make him fall in love with her. But Karthik has a mission. He quits his high-salaried job and returns to his village with an aspiration to bring back the lost glory to the farmers and agriculture.

Directed by Kishor B. Starring Sharwanand, Priyanka Arulmohan, V.K. Naresh, and Sai Kumar.

This is one of the less engaging Bollywood movies I've seen -- I'm definitely drawn more toward the more comedic films in that genre, and didn't find myself connecting with any of the characters. The film feels like it's here more to convey a message than tell a story, though the message is actually a pretty interesting one, about a return to farming in a world of high-tech careers. I was also fascinated by how the second act of the film actually takes place at the beginning of the rise of COVID, but it doesn't ever become *about* COVID, it's just another wrinkle for the characters to deal with as they pursue their primary goals. But all that message-heavy story leaves the movie pretty dry, and the song and dance numbers aren't all that exciting to draw us back into the story. It's all right, but it's not one of my favorites.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Sreekaram < Hustle & Flow

Sreekaram > Cassandra's Dream

Sreekaram > Batman: Under the Red Hood

Sreekaram < Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Sreekaram < Deep Red

Sreekaram > Anything Else

Sreekaram < Legends of the Fall

Sreekaram > Tulpan

Sreekaram > In & Out

Sreekaram > No Country for Old Men

Sreekaram > Streets of Fire

Final spot: #2105 out of 3497, or 40%.

Timecop (1994)

IMDb plot summary: Max Walker, an officer for a security agency that regulates time travel, must fend for his life against a shady politician who's intent on changing the past to control the future.

Directed by Peter Hyams. Starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Mia Sara, and Ron Silver.

This was pretty fun. Some good fight sequences, and it allows the time travel rules to be present and active without ever feeling like too much of an expository infodump. (And, whoo, does that Chekov's gun pay off at the end, in an unexpectedly delightful and weird moment.) The film's pacing is also effective, getting right to the meat of the given situation and then moving on before it wears out its welcome. This doesn't break new ground or wow me, but it was an enjoyable way to spend an evening, and if you like fight-sequence-heavy action movies with a dash of sci-fi, this is probably one you should check out if you haven't!

How it entered my Flickchart:

Timecop > Sunday in the Park With George

Timecop < My Name Is Joe

Timecop < Fantasia 2000

Timecop > Real Life

Timecop > Ant-Man

Timecop > Chaos Theory (2008)

Timecop > Cool Hand Luke

Timecop > Cinema Paradiso

Timecop > Lifeforce

Timecop < Hereditary

Timecop > I Saw the Devil

Final spot: #1318 out of 3504, or 62%.

Arlo the Alligator Boy (2021)

IMDb plot summary: A young humanoid alligator travels to the big city in hopes of reuniting with his estranged father, meeting a colorful cast of characters along the way.

Directed by Ryan Crego. Starring Michael J. Woodard, Mary Lambert, and Tony Hale.

This is such a strange vibe, and it's definitely one that, if it clicks with you, will be consistent throughout. It never did fully click with me -- I could never quite grasp the rules of the world and how it felt about animal people or outcasts in general. The music is also, with one or two exceptions, the sort of droning electropop that is extremely popular currently and, at the risk of sounding like a grumpy old woman, I find its deliberately non-emotive style to be the opposite of everything I love in musicals. The characters' energy goes down every time they sing, which is a bummer, and often grinds the whole story to a halt. The soundtrack probably works fine on its own but I don't like them as supplementals to a narrative. There are definitely some good bits here, but overall this isn't my style.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Arlo the Alligator Boy < Sunday in the Park With George

Arlo the Alligator Boy > Dinner at Eight

Arlo the Alligator Boy < The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

Arlo the Alligator Boy < Kiki's Delivery Service

Arlo the Alligator Boy > Checking Out

Arlo the Alligator Boy > The Fifth Element

Arlo the Alligator Boy < Marvin's Room

Arlo the Alligator Boy > 12 Days of Terror

Arlo the Alligator Boy < SpaceCamp

Arlo the Alligator Boy > The Deadly Affair

Arlo the Alligator Boy > Lovelace

Final spot: #2445 out of 3505, or 30%.

A Walk on the Moon (1999)

IMDb plot summary: The world of a young housewife is turned upside down when she has an affair with a free-spirited blouse salesman.

Directed by Tony Goldwyn. Starring Diane Lane, Viggo Mortensen, and Liev Schreiber.

This film has a few good moments that spice up an otherwise uninspiring little romantic drama. There are some interesting dynamics between Lane and her teenage daughter, played by Anna Paquin, who discovers her mother's affair and is completely disgusted to see her mother rebelling and experimenting the same way she herself wants to. Setting the film in 1969, during the summer of Woodstock and the moon landing, sets an interesting vibe of change and restlessness for the whole film. The long-term relationship between Lane and Schreiber is also more complex than it sometimes is in these stories. Of course, that plus the fact that Mortensen's character is a blank slate with literally nothing going for him but his sex appeal means that it's pretty easy to see which way the story's going to land, but the journey itself is... fine. No real complaints here but not much to write home about either.

How it entered my Flickchart:

A Walk on the Moon < Hustle & Flow

A Walk on the Moon > The Fox and the Hound

A Walk on the Moon > Dark City

A Walk on the Moon > Venom

A Walk on the Moon > Shame (1968)

A Walk on the Moon > Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmelites

A Walk on the Moon < Raising Cain

A Walk on the Moon > It Comes at Night

A Walk on the Moon < To Be or Not to Be (1942)

A Walk on the Moon < Malignant

A Walk on the Moon < My Girl

A Walk on the Moon < Christine

Final spot: #1787 out of 3494, or 49%.

Old (2021)

IMDb plot summary: A vacationing family discovers that the secluded beach where they're relaxing for a few hours is somehow causing them to age rapidly, reducing their entire lives into a single day.

Directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Starring Gael Garcia Bernal, Vicky Krieps, and Rufus Sewell.

Old is M. Night Shyamalan’s newest movie, about a group of resort tourists who go on a day trip to a beach that, they soon learn, ages them startlingly quickly. As children become teenagers, medical problems progress rapidly, and the older among the group begin dying, they have to figure out a way to get off the beach and back home. This reminds me very much of The Happening, in the sense that there is a genuinely terrifying premise at the core here, but the script reads like it’s been written by an alien who’s never seen humans interact before. It’s such a shame, because there are some extremely creepy moments of existential crisis that could be bone-chilling in the right writer’s hands. Instead, we get repetitive dialogue, bizarre revelations that come out of nowhere, deeply unrelatable responses to the crisis at hand. A lot of the film looks fantastic, and the concepts they play with are wonderfully eerie, but it all falls apart during the dialogue. I watched a video essay recently that posited that Shyamalan films almost all fare better when watched in black-and-white with no sound, and this is another to add to that list.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Old < The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle

Old > Gladiator

Old > V/H/S

Old > The 'Burbs

Old < Air Force One

Old > Dumbo

Old < Swing Time

Old < Wallace & Gromit in A Close Shave

Old > Top Gun

Old < Pulp Fiction

Old < Out of Time

Old < L.A. Confidential

Final spot: #1879 out of 3450, or 46%.

Kate (2021)

IMDb plot summary: A female assassin has 24 hours to get vengeance on her poisoner before she dies.

Directed by Cedric Nicoas-Troyan. Starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Woody Harrelson, and Miku Patricia Martineau.

You know how you have those years when movies with identical premises come out at the same time? Well, Kate, which I just watched, reminds me very much of Gunpowder Milkshake -- both are neon-colored movies about female assassins who have to work together with the young daughter of a previous target to take down a now-corrupt organization before they die. In fact, the more I think about how to separate them out from each other, the harder it is to do so. I think Mary Elizabeth Winstead is probably the key factor for me in nudging Kate slightly ahead. She has a determined weariness that works really well for her in this film. I also really like Miku Patricia Martineau as Ani. She so naturally transforms her character's teenage angst into gleeful empowerment, and the two of them have some great interactions. The action scenes are pretty good, and the visuals are more interesting and prettier here than they were in Gunpowder, and even while the movie's ending is pretty easy to see coming, the actors pull off the emotional weight of it. It's fine.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Kate < Sunday in the Park with George

Kate > Our Idiot Brother

Kate > Batman: Under the Red Hood

Kate > Plains, Trains & Automobiles

Kate > Shame (1968)

Kate < Letters from Iwo Jima

Kate > The Lighthouse

Kate < The Firemen's Ball

Kate > The Dinner Guest

Kate > Downfall

Kate < Grand Illusion

Final spot: #1816 out of 3489, or 48%.

Hurlyburly (1998)

IMDb plot summary: Hollywood movers and shakers dissect their own personal lives when everything seems to clash together.

Directed by Anthony Drazan. Starring Sean Penn, Kevin Spacey, Chazz Palminteri, and Robin Wright.

There's a lot of talking and high soul-searching and men saying truly awful things about women. It's all a little much for me, and it never ends up being entertaining or meaningful enough to cover the movie's other sins. It was based on a play, and while that's usually a vibe I like, here the endless "talky-ness" of it feels more pretentious than significant, and I found myself antsy for the scene to move on and do something more, only it seldom does. I did really enjoy seeing Meg Ryan in a role about as far away as she could get from the America's Sweetheart roles she did so many of in the 90s, and Sean Penn does a good job really bringing to life the unstable dread his character inhabits. I don't feel much sympathy for anyone in this story, but I ALMOST feel sympathy for him, because he seems truly miserable. If you're going to watch awful people being awful, there are better movies out there than this one.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Hurlyburly < Hustle & Flow

Hurlyburly > A Prairie Home Companion

Hurlyburly < Dark City

Hurlyburly < Sweet and Lowdown

Hurlyburly < The Pajama Game

Hurlyburly > Destry Rides Again

Hurlyburly > Loving Annabelle

Hurlyburly < The Visitor

Hurlyburly < Phantom of the Opera (1943)

Hurlyburly < The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Hurlyburly < The Day of the Triffids

Hurlyburly < Army of the Dead

Final spot: #2538 out of 3493, or 27%.

Fatherhood (2021)

IMDb plot summary: A father brings up his baby girl as a single dad after the unexpected death of his wife who died a day after their daughter's birth.

Directed by Paul Weitz. Starring Kevin Hart, Alfre Woodard, Lil Rel Howery, and DeWanda Wise.

I've often said that some of the best dramatic performances can come from comedians, since comedy is already toeing the line of tragedy most of the time, and while Hart isn't stellar here, he definitely taps into that fine line here and delivers a pretty good performance. The script helps, letting him be just a regular guy with a good sense of humor, lending authenticity to his interactions with his in-laws, his daughter, his friends, and his new girlfriend. We've seen this kind of story before and this one doesn't tread much new ground, but we DON'T have as many stories featuring Black men and their daughters, so even if it's a familiar story in a lot of ways that does add a new layer that's worth telling. If this is your kind of genre, this is a perfectly good addition.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Fatherhood < Hustle & Flow

Fatherhood > The Merchant of Venice (2004)

Fatherhood > V/H/S

Fatherhood > Broken Arrow

Fatherhood > Waterloo

Fatherhood > The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini

Fatherhood < The Testament of Dr. Mabuse

Fatherhood > Meet John Doe

Fatherhood < High School Musical 3: Senior Year

Fatherhood > My Girl

Fatherhood < Malignant

Final spot: #1770 out of 3467, or 49%.

Amityville: The Evil Escapes (1989)

IMDb plot summary: The demonic forces in the Amityville house transfer to an ancient lamp, which finds its way to a remote California mansion where the evil manipulates a little girl by manifesting itself in the form of her dead father.

Directed by Sandor Stern. Starring Patty Duke, Jane Wyatt, Fredric Lehne, and Lou Hancock.

I saw this as part of a Rifftrax Live event where they made a big deal out of the fact that this movie is centered around an evil lamp, and that deserved every joke it got, because it is a ridiculous premise, and it plays it too straight to be anything but ridiculous. Because of that, though, it does make for great riffing -- it's taking itself so seriously and yet being so utterly goofy, and there's plenty to laugh at. It doesn't deliver on scares or depth of storytelling, but it'd be plenty of fun to watch with some snarky friends.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Amityville: The Evil Escapes < The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle

Amityville: The Evil Escapes < A Prairie Home Companion

Amityville: The Evil Escapes < Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones

Amityville: The Evil Escapes < Clash by Night

Amityville: The Evil Escapes > Horse Sense

Amityville: The Evil Escapes < Miracles from Heaven

Amityville: The Evil Escapes < The Wild Bunch

Amityville: The Evil Escapes > God's Not Dead

Amityville: The Evil Escapes < Something's Gotta Give

Amityville: The Evil Escapes < 101 Dalmatians (1996)

Amityville: The Evil Escapes > Atlantic Rim

Amityville: The Evil Escapes > Carnival Magic

Final spot: #3354 out of 3479, or 4%.

Wolf (1994)

IMDb plot summary: Publisher Will Randall becomes a demon wolf and has to fight to keep his job.

Directed by Mike Nichols. Starring Jack Nicholson, Michelle Pfeiffer, James Spader, and Kate Nelligan.

This is delightfully ridiculous. While the movie hardly ever winks at the camera too overtly, the premise and the way it plays out are both rife with comedy, largely because the music and the actors play it so straight, but then abruptly James Spader sniffs a woman's crotch in public or Jack Nicholson starts jumping around on all fours, and the ludicrousness of it all just set me giggling. It reminds me so much of a dramatic 1950s horror B-movie, something like the original The Fly. There weren't nearly enough of these in my trek through 100 movies from 1994, so it was delightful to watch this, particularly in the second half as it just got sillier and sillier.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Wolf > Hustle & Flow

Wolf < Jack Goes Boating

Wolf > About Elly

Wolf < The Thief of Bagdad (1924)

Wolf > Sling Blade

Wolf > Porco Rosso

Wolf < The Hustler

Wolf > The Matador

Wolf > Monsters Vs. Aliens

Wolf < Evita

Wolf < A Little Night Music

Wolf > Carefree

Final spot: #1124 out of 3496, or 68%.

Once Were Warriors (1994)

IMDb plot summary: A family descended from Maori warriors is bedeviled by a violent father and the societal problems of being treated as outcasts.

Directed by Lee Tamahori. Starring Rena Owen, Temuera Morrison, Mamaengaroa Kerr-Bell, and Julian Arahanga.

Once Were Warriors follows a New Zealand family with five children, an abusive father, and a mother who's at the end of her rope and determined to care for her children. We see the various family members react to the father's control in different ways, as well as deal with their indigenous heritage and what that means for who they are now. This is a raw, no-holds-barred story that at times is very uncomfortable to sit through because of that -- an early violent scene in particular is brutal to watch -- but it really drives home the difficult situation this family is in. We root for them HARD to find stability, from the older boys who find themselves really working to set themselves apart from their father's violent behavior but not being sure how, to the younger two who have absorbed this as just a normal fact of life, to the mother and middle daughter who see a way out as an almost impossible dream. This film drew me into it and didn't let me go until the credits rolled, and it's definitely one I'm adding to my list to rewatch sometime.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Once Were Warriors > Hustle & Flow

Once Were Warriors > My Name Is Joe

Once Were Warriors < Crimes and Misdemeanors

Once Were Warriors < Clue

Once Were Warriors < Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Once Were Warriors > Mr. Brooks

Once Were Warriors < Cyrano (2021)

Once Were Warriors < The Beauty Inside

Once Were Warriors > This Boy's Life

Once Were Warriors > Identity

Once Were Warriors > VeggieTales: A Snoodle's Tale

Once Were Warriors > Hairspray Live!

Final spot: #805 out of 3492, or 77%.

Titane (2021)

IMDb plot summary: Following a series of unexplained crimes, a father is reunited with the son who has been missing for 10 years.

Directed by Julia Ducournau. Starring Vincent Lindon, Agathe Rousselle, Garance Marillier, and Laïs Salameh.

Titane is a strange, unsettling crime/horror movie that is very difficult to describe the plot of. It follows a woman, Alexia, who had a steel plate put in her head after a near-fatal car accident as a child. Now she is pregnant and a serial killer, and then she changes her appearance to pass herself off as a missing boy ten years later returning to his family. I have no idea what it is about the French cinema culture, but I so frequently feel that French dramas fly over my head, that they're doing something but I can't grasp it at all, and that's certainly the case here. It's a very visceral movie, with several moments I had to actually cover my eyes because the level of violence was overwhelmingly unpleasant -- and I'm not particularly squeamish. There are certainly some striking visual choices and memorable moments, but I'm not sure any of them are things I want to remember. I didn't come away from this film with a net positive of things I liked about it in comparison to things I hated. This is probably a movie some folks will love, but definitely not me.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Titane < Sunday in the Park with George

Titane < A Prairie Home Companion

Titane < Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones

Titane > Thr3e

Titane < Playtime

Titane > The Child

Titane > The Green Berets

Titane > The Wolfman

Titane < Saw

Titane < Bye Bye Birdie

Titane < Fist Fight

Titane < The Host (2013)

Final spot: #3170 out of 3482, or 9%.

The Harder They Fall (2021)

IMDb plot summary: When an outlaw discovers his enemy is being released from prison, he reunites his gang to seek revenge in this Western.

Directed by Jeymes Samuel. Starring Jonathan Majors, Zazie Beetz, RJ Cyler, and Edi Gathegi.

This film is notable for being a western story with an all-Black lead cast, and that alone would make it something worth checking out, but it's also a tremendously stylish film. It uses its editing and music and blocking and cinematography in such creative ways that capture the attention. It reminds me a bit of Tarantino's recent westerns, but way better and more engaging. The story is pretty standard, but it brings some unique characters and some truly astonishing visuals into it and makes the whole thing pop. I think I let out an audible gasp at a few of the shots and set pieces. I'm most likely going to forget the story shortly, but I'm not going to forget how great the movie looked.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Harder They Fall < Hustle & Flow

The Harder They Fall > Cassandra's Dream

The Harder They Fall > Batman: Under the Red Hood

The Harder They Fall > Planes, Trains & Automobiles

The Harder They Fall > Stagecoach

The Harder They Fall > Letters from Iwo Jima

The Harder They Fall > Raising Cain

The Harder They Fall > Zelig

The Harder They Fall > The Misfits

The Harder They Fall > The Keep

The Harder They Fall > Gas, Food, Lodging

The Harder They Fall < Monsters

Final spot: #1751 out of 3498, or 50%.

Fresh (1994)

IMDb plot summary: Death and violence anger a twelve-year-old drug courier, who sets his employers against each other.

Directed by Boaz Yakin. Starring Sean Nelson, Giancarlo Esposito, Samuel L. Jackson, and N'Bushe Wright.

One of the things I find fascinating about this is how pragmatic a protagonist we have in Michael (or "Fresh" as he's known on the street). He's a smart, ambitious kid making a path for himself the best way he knows how. This is a potential career for him -- his primary dealer boss even gives him advice on what drugs are best to sell if you want to grow old and retire with your money. I found myself most struck by his interactions with his best friend, who thinks he'd be a great runner and likes to talk tough but doesn't have the maturity Michael does to succeed, and even though Michael clearly wants his friend to do well along with him, he knows he's going to get them both into trouble someday. It's a heartbreaking story that the writer drew on his own experiences for, and the actors playing these young kids are all capable enough to carry a challenging movie.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Fresh > The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle

Fresh < Jack Goes Boating

Fresh > Charlie St. Cloud

Fresh > A Serious Man

Fresh < The Shallows

Fresh > Last Year at Marienbad

Fresh < Hell in the Pacific

Fresh > Nick of Time

Fresh > It (2017)

Fresh < 1917

Fresh > Logan's Run

Final spot: #1007 out of 3474, or 71%.

PCU (1994)

IMDb plot summary: A high school senior visits college for the weekend, and stays at the wildest house on campus.

Directed by Hart Bochner. Starring Jeremy Piven, Chris Young, Megan Ward, and Jon Favreau.

PCU is a comedy about a hard-partying frat house that's come under criticism from the ever-more politically correct student body. The dean gives them an ultimatum: raise enough money to cover the damage they've done to the house, or they'll get kicked out. So they decide to throw a massive party and get all the "woke" students to put their differences aside and join them. So full disclosure, there's no part of me that is going to be won over by a movie whose core message is "social justice is stupid and we'd all get along better if we just didn't care about things so much." It's just such a lazy message that relies on not listening to anybody who's affected by anything being protested against. As such, I find these characters pretty obnoxious in their sense of moral superiority to everyone around them. Raunchy drugs-and-sex-party comedies seldom work for me regardless, but toss in the underlying message and it just became something I hated. It's just so weirdly mean-spirited and none of it lands for me, so I'm happy to let this one just disappear from my radar.

How it entered my Flickchart:

PCU < Sunday in the Park With George

PCU < Our Idiot Brother

PCU < Drive Me Crazy

PCU > Thr3e

PCU < Thor: The Dark World

PCU < The Child

PCU < Watership Down

PCU < Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

PCU < The Beastmaster

PCU > Rescue Me

PCU > Murder a la Mod

PCU < Reefer Madness (1936)

Final spot: #3265 out of 3487, or 6%.

The Card Counter (2021)

IMDb plot summary: Redemption is the long game in Paul Schrader's THE CARD COUNTER. Told with Schrader's trademark cinematic intensity, the revenge thriller tells the story of an ex-military interrogator turned gambler haunted by the ghosts of his past.

Directed by Paul Schrader. Starring Oscar Isaac, Tiffany Haddish, and Tye Sheridan.

This film has two separate movies in it -- a poker heist movie and a movie about military trauma -- and they don't blend as well as I hoped they might, instead just sort of awkwardly ping-ponging back and forth. Isaac, unsurprisingly, does a great job here, conveying the same type of controlled mystery he brings to so many of his parts. But the relationships between characters unfold in confusing ways that hold the audience at arm's length, so when the film's final resolution comes around, I can't tell where the movie's trying to go anymore -- and that wouldn't necessarily be a problem, except by that point I don't care. It's a disappointing watch that never fully feels like it gets off the ground.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Card Counter < Hustle & Flow

The Card Counter < Our Idiot Brother

The Card Counter > Drive Me Crazy

The Card Counter > Hush (1998)

The Card Counter < Syrup

The Card Counter > Superman Returns

The Card Counter > Pontoffel Pock, Where Are You?

The Card Counter > The Rainmaker

The Card Counter < Tallulah

The Card Counter < Wuthering Heights

The Card Counter < Swiss Family Robinson

The Card Counter < Make Mine Music

Final spot: #2735 out of 3483, or 21%.

Fly Away Home (1996)

IMDb plot summary: A father and daughter decide to attempt to lead a flock of orphaned Canada Geese south by air.

Directed by Carroll Ballard. Starring Jeff Daniels, Anna Paquin, and Dana Delany.

I had it in my head that this was just "a cheesy animal movie," which meant I'd probably not like it, but it definitely has more layers than that. Watching the father and daughter connecting over her unusual hobby is really charming, and the plot points of environmental issues with the birds' habitat hit harder when we know Paquin's deep emotional connection to the birds. The final third is a straight-up delightful family adventure with perfect pacing and a really lovely ending. Our two lead actors both nail their characters as well, playing subtle but instantly recognizable characters who are easy to root for. It's a gentle movie but well-done and accomplishes everything it's trying to do.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Fly Away Home > Sunday in the Park with George

Fly Away Home < My Name Is Joe

Fly Away Home < Fantasia 2000

Fly Away Home > Real Life

Fly Away Home < Myn Bala: Warriors of the Steppe

Fly Away Home < Imitation of Life (1959)

Fly Away Home < You Can Count on Me

Fly Away Home > Sleepy Hollow

Fly Away Home < Girl Shy

Fly Away Home > The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

Fly Away Home > Happy-Go-Lucky

Fly Away Home > Muppet Treasure Island

Final spot: #1505 out of 3486, or 57%.

Dear Evan Hansen (2021)

I've never been a fan of this show, largely because I'm wholly unmoved by Pasek & Paul's score, and the movie doesn't really help, with Ben Platt being far too old for this role and not being able to garner the necessary sympathy for his character's foolish teenage impulses when he's clearly a mid-twenties adult man. I can see glimpses of what people love about it though -- I'd say two or three times throughout the movie, there's a line or a look or a gesture and I suddenly feel deeply seen. It all fades away a moment later and becomes a muddled mess again, but there are these tiny bits of brilliance, and I can see people latching onto them. Sadly, they're very much drowned out by uncomfortable casting, lackluster songs, bad editing, and a plot that ultimate doesn't say as much as it thinks it does.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Dear Evan Hansen < Sunday in the Park with George

Dear Evan Hansen > Our Idiot Brother

Dear Evan Hansen < Batman: Under the Red Hood

Dear Evan Hansen < Kiki's Delivery Service

Dear Evan Hansen > Kill List

Dear Evan Hansen > The Amazing Spider-Man

Dear Evan Hansen < Marvin's Room

Dear Evan Hansen > Captain America: Civil War

Dear Evan Hansen < SpaceCamp

Dear Evan Hansen < The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach

Dear Evan Hansen > 12 Days of Terror

Dear Evan Hansen < Luther

Final spot: #2437 out of 3490, or 30%.

The King of Comedy (1982)

IMDb plot summary: Rupert Pupkin is a passionate yet unsuccessful comic who craves nothing more than to be in the spotlight and to achieve this, he stalks and kidnaps his idol to take the spotlight for himself.

Directed by Martin Scorsese. Starring Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, Diahnne Abbott, and Sandra Bernhard.

2019's Joker got a lot of comparisons to this film, and, well, it's obvious why. Joker is basically a King of Comedy remake crossed with Batman fan fiction. De Niro is incredibly compelling here -- the scenes where he practices his interviews with his hero, trying out different laughs on his jokes, are both tragic and chilling. Even when he ultimately crosses the line to fully disturbing, his sense of "I'm a good guy, I had no choice but to do this, surely they'll understand" is very unsettling to behold. The film somehow manages to combine the taut pacing of a thriller with the unhurried character development of many of Scorsese's dramas, and it's a marvelous combination. This is definitely one I see rising to the upper echelons of my Scorsese chart.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The King of Comedy > Sunday in the Park with George

The King of Comedy > My Name Is Joe

The King of Comedy < The Disaster Artist

The King of Comedy > Muppets Most Wanted

The King of Comedy < Mad Max: Fury Road

The King of Comedy > Shoplifters

The King of Comedy < The Babysitter

The King of Comedy > Yojimbo

The King of Comedy < The Fallen Idol

The King of Comedy > The Player

The King of Comedy < Thermae Romae

Final spot: #578 out of 3473, or 83%.

Mixed Nuts (1994)

IMDb plot summary: The events focus around a crisis hotline business on one crazy night during the Christmas holidays.

Directed by Nora Ephron. Starring Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, and Rita Wilson.

This movie is a LOT, and that kind of chaos has its hit or miss moments. For me, most of it hits. Even some of the moments that don't really work well on their own seem tamped down by everything else happening in the movie. There were several genuine laughs and I really love the final sentiment that emotions just get turned up to 11 during the holidays, so if it's miserable, waiting it out is a pretty solid idea. And despite its dark jokes, there's a sweetness to the movie. Every character here is seen as someone worthy and deserving of love and happiness, they just may be unsure how to best go about it or what to do with their trauma. It's definitely not a perfect movie but I find it hard not to embrace its messiness and enjoy it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Mixed Nuts > Sunday in the Park with George

Mixed Nuts > My Name Is Joe

Mixed Nuts < Soapdish

Mixed Nuts < Clue

Mixed Nuts < Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Mixed Nuts > Mr. Brooks

Mixed Nuts < Role Models

Mixed Nuts < Nebraska

Mixed Nuts < Oxygen

Mixed Nuts > The Paper

Mixed Nuts < The African Queen

Final spot: #813 out of 3488, or 77%.

Cyrano (2021)

IMDb plot summary: Too self-conscious to woo Roxanne himself, wordsmith Cyrano de Bergerac helps young Christian nab her heart through love letters.

Directed by Joe Wright. Starring Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Ben Mendelsohn, and Kelvin Harrison Jr.

Cyrano is the latest film take on Edmond Rostand's classic play Cyrano de Bergerac. This version is directed by Joe Wright, stars Peter Dinklage and Haley Bennett, and includes songs by members of the band The National. For anyone who doesn't know the story, Cyrano is an extraordinarily witty but classically unattractive man (in the play he has an absurdly long nose; this version leans into Dinklage's height as his obstacle) who ends up working with an attractive but dull-witted man in his regiment to help him win over the beautiful woman they're both in love with. It's a complicated plot but one of my very favorite plays, and this story gets most of it right. The leads have really beautiful chemistry, and Dinklage is a stunning Cyrano, encompassing all at once the humor, the tragedy, and the arrogance of the character. Where it falls flat is the music. I've long held the opinion that the many attempted musical adaptations of Cyrano fall short because the original Rostand poetry is so stunning that your lyrics had BETTER measure up, and they usually don't, and that's the case here. Cyrano is far less eloquent in song than he is in prose, and the last thing you want is for your emotional stakes to go DOWN when the music starts. It'd be a great adaptation without the songs, it's still a pretty decent one with.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Cyrano > Hustle & Flow

Cyrano > Chronicle

Cyrano < Crimes and Misdemeanors

Cyrano < Clue

Cyrano < Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Cyrano > Dust

Cyrano < Role Models

Cyrano > The Beauty Inside

Cyrano > Detroit

Cyrano > The Impostors

Cyrano > Twins

Cyrano > The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Final spot: #790 out of 3484, or 77%.

Buffalo Soldiers (2001)

IMDb plot summary: A criminal subculture operates among U.S. soldiers stationed in West Germany just before the fall of the Berlin wall.

Directed by Gregor Jordan. Starring Joaquin Phonenix, Anna Paquin, Ed Harris, and Scott Glenn.

I was a little startled when I started adding this to my movie sites and learned it's billed as a comedy. I think it must be leaning on Phoenix's roguish disregard of the rules for its humor, but I honestly got none of that, probably because of how strongly I disliked Phoenix but probably also because it works decently well as a straight drama. Or at least enough that I generally enjoyed it as I watched it. Looking back on it now, a few days later, the details have not stuck with me at all, let alone any emotions about them. Not all movies are wonderfully great or horribly bad, a lot of them sit in the forgettable middle, and this is one of those.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Buffalo Soldiers < The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle

Buffalo Soldiers > A Prairie Home Companion

Buffalo Soldiers < Flypaper

Buffalo Soldiers > Kiki's Delivery Service

Buffalo Soldiers > Dracula (1931)

Buffalo Soldiers > Mr. Pip

Buffalo Soldiers > Three Days of the Condor

Buffalo Soldiers < Coraline

Buffalo Soldiers < Run Lola Run

Buffalo Soldiers > Nowhere Boy

Buffalo Soldiers > The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2009)

Buffalo Soldiers < Wes Craven's New Nightmare

Final spot: #2197 out of 3480, or 37%.

The Shadow (1994)

IMDb plot summary: In 1930s New York City, The Shadow (Alec Baldwin) battles his nemesis, Shiwan Khan (John Lone), who is building an atomic bomb.

Directed by Russell Mulcahy. Starring Alec Baldwin, John Lone, Penelope Ann Miller, and Peter Boyle.

The movie this reminded me of most was Dick Tracy, another extremely stylized 1990s adaptation of a 1930s character. While this one is not quite as overtly cartoonish as Dick Tracy was, it’s definitely making some deliberate atmospheric choices out of realism and into a sort of aesthetic ideal of noir superhero. Those aesthetic choices are captivating, and they are unfortunately the only truly redeeming quality this film has. None of the performances are very interesting, the plot is very much relying on tired tropes of Asian mysticism, and the romance is forgettable. The film’s visuals may be enough to captivate viewers, but it’s a flawed film on the whole.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Shadow < Hustle & Flow

The Shadow > The Shaggy Dog (1959)

The Shadow < Ghost Ship

The Shadow < X-Men

The Shadow > Sex Tape

The Shadow < My Big Fat Greek Wedding

The Shadow > Baby Boom

The Shadow < Biloxi Blues

The Shadow > Vice

The Shadow < Where Eagles Dare

The Shadow < Charly

The Shadow < A Girl of the Limberlost

Final spot: #2452 out of 3460, or 29%.

Knocked Up (2007)

IMDb plot summary: For fun-loving party animal Ben Stone, the last thing he ever expected was for his one-night stand to show up on his doorstep eight weeks later to tell him she's pregnant with his child.

Directed by Judd Apatow. Starring Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, and Paul Rudd.

This movie is heavily about the characters and the dynamics of the two of them dealing with having a baby, and I really, really don't like either of these characters. I don't relate to them, I don't enjoy their company, and I don't really care how things go for them. That being said... there a lot of decent moments that work for me if I forget all the character set up I've been given. Take out all their character development and make this a series of sketches where two oddly matched people trying to navigate a pregnancy, and it's pretty enjoyable. So it ends up with a middle-of-the-road ranking for creating a good series of scenes centered on two people I can't stand.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Knocked Up > Hustle & Flow

Knocked Up < Jack Goes Boating

Knocked Up < About Elly

Knocked Up < Reality Bites

Knocked Up > The Forbidden Kingdom

Knocked Up > Gunpowder Milkshake

Knocked Up > The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Knocked Up < Censor

Knocked Up > Tangled

Knocked Up < The Italian Job (1969)

Knocked Up > Les Miserables (1935)

Final spot: #1536 out of 3469, or 56%.

Malignant (2021)

IMDb plot summary: Madison is paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, and her torment worsens as she discovers that these waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities.

Directed by James Wan. Starring Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young, and Michole Briana White.

This movie lets you know right away the tone that it wants, when the opening scene features a mysterious institutionalize patient escapes his room and causes the lights to flicker, to which a doctor says in an awestruck voice, "It's like he's... drinking the electricity!" And neither the dialogue nor the plot ever get less ridiculous. I have no idea how much of the film's big twist is revealed in marketing for the movie, so I won't spoil it just in case, but just know that the big reveal made me laugh out loud and yell, "WHAT AM I WATCHIING?!" It does yield some fight scene gimmicks which are genuine kind of cool, but as a whole it's more silly and ridiculous than anything. If you're in the movie for some goofy, gory horror, this will probably hit the spot.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Malignant < Hustle & Flow

Malignant > The Shaggy Dog (1959)

Malignant > V/H/S

Malignant > The 'Burbs

Malignant > The Lady from Shanghai

Malignant > After the Wedding

Malignant < The Testament of Dr. Mabuse

Malignant > Meet John Doe

Malignant < To Be or Not to Be (1942)

Malignant > My Girl

Malignant < High School Musical 3: Senior Year

Final spot: #1762 out of 3453, or 49%.

The Guilty (2021)

IMDb plot summary: A demoted police officer assigned to a call dispatch desk is conflicted when he receives an emergency phone call from a kidnapped woman.

Directed by Antoine Fuqua. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Riley Keough, Peter Sarsgaard, and Christina Vidal.

Sometimes there are those movies that just grab you, from minute one, and don't let go. This was one of those for me. Gyllenhaal is almost the only face we ever see in this film, and he carries it beautifully, keeping the tension up even while most of the time we're just watching his face. It feels like a play in the best way, in that it's so easy to get caught up with what's happening in front of you that don't even *notice* how narrow the focus is. The cinematography finds ways to keep things energetic, the dialogue is smart and well-written and does so much to show us Gyllenhaal's character and how his personal life and work life are converging. It reminded me of what I wanted Halle Berry's The Call to be, except this one actually sticks the landing. Powerful and intense and wonderfully crafted.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Guilty > Hustle & Flow

The Guilty > Chronicle

The Guilty > Crimes and Misdemeanors

The Guilty < The Orphanage

The Guilty > Nosferatu

The Guilty < The Apartment

The Guilty > The Usual Suspects

The Guilty < Saving Mr. Banks

The Guilty < Sister Act

The Guilty > Pitch Perfect

The Guilty > Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

The Guilty < Eighth Grade

Final spot: #293 out of 3485, or 92%.

A Month by the Lake (1995)

IMDb plot summary: At a Lake Como resort, Miss Bentley, an attractive older guest, meets a handsome, well-to-do bachelor. But when he's more interested in a beautiful young flirt, the mischievous Miss Bentley goes to outrageous lengths to reel in her catch.

Directed by John Irvin. Starring Vanessa Redgrave, Edward Fox, Uma Thurman, and Alida Valli.

The biggest problem this movie faces is that while it’s tremendously easy to root for Redgrave, it’s nearly impossible to root for Fox. He comes across as petulant, entitled, misogynistic, and perpetually in need of having his ego soothed. Watching Redgrave run circles around herself trying to salvage his pride is deeply painful and greatly detracts from the “summer by the sea” charm the movie is clearly trying to evoke. The landscape does look beautiful and relaxing, and it’d be so easy to settle into it if the movie kicked Fox’s character out entirely and focused on Redgrave enjoying her time there. But for now, I’d recommend A Room with a View or Enchanted April in a heartbeat over this muddled romance.

How it entered my Flickchart:

A Month by the Lake < Hustle & Flow

A Month by the Lake > The Shaggy Dog (1959)

A Month by the Lake < Ghost Ship

A Month by the Lake < Independence Day

A Month by the Lake > Sex Tape

A Month by the Lake < Monster

A Month by the Lake < Baby Boom

A Month by the Lake > The Da Vinci Code

A Month by the Lake < The 5th Wave

A Month by the Lake < Red River

A Month by the Lake > Side Effects

A Month by the Lake > The Devil's Brigade

Final spot: #2472 out of 3463, or 29%.

Q&A (1990)

IMDb plot summary: Dirty cop, Mike Brennan thinks he got away with murder. But during a routine Q&A, the righteous assistant DA finds a clue that sets them both on a collision course.

Directed by Sidney Lumet. Starring Nick Nolte, Timothy Hutton, Armand Assante, and Patrick O'Neal.

Sidney Lumet is no stranger to stories about corruption in law enforcement, having tackled it in other films like Serpico and Prince of the City. This time around he draws some interesting connections between it and rampant racism, looking at how the racial tensions in the city feed into the violence of it. Like most of Lumet's crime movies, I found myself thinking at the beginning, "All right, this is the one where it's going to feel like your typical crime film," only for it to capture my interest partway through. There's a scene toward the end where one of our antagonists is following our protagonists without their knowledge, and I found myself genuinely tensing up as the scene played out. It ends on a less hopeful note than some of his earlier films, but it's still interesting to watch Lumet tell and re-tell the same story through slightly different lenses.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Q & A < The Cutting Edge

Q & A > A Prairie Home Companion

Q & A > Flypaper

Q & A > Thank You for Smoking

Q & A > Shame (1968)

Q & A > Pitch Perfect 2

Q & A > Elle

Q & A < Malcolm X

Q & A < Nine Queens

Q & A > Hellboy

Q & A < The Last Castle

Final spot: #1762 out of 3477, or 49%.

With Honors (1994)

IMDb plot summary: Convinced his thesis will have him graduate with honors from Harvard University, a stuffy student finds himself at the mercy of a homeless man's demands when he holds the papers hostage.

Directed by Alek Keshishian. Starring Joe Pesci, Brendan Fraser, Moira Kelly, and Patrick Dempsey.

This movie leans heavily into Pesci’s fast-talking high-energy style – an early scene of him defending himself in a courtroom is clearly shooting for a My Cousin Vinny comparison – and it works fairly well here with Fraser as a foil for him. I’m not as charmed by any of this as they want me to be, though, and find myself classifying it all mostly as “harmless” rather than “good.” I do appreciate though how the film avoids painting Pesci’s character as an all-knowing sage sent to teach arrogant kids a lesson, at least in the latter half of the film. As we get to know him better, it’s clearer he’s just an average person in need of some help, especially as his physical health begins to dwindle. It’s not a stellar film, but it’s sweet, and it works all right.

How it entered my Flickchart:

With Honors > The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle

With Honors < Woman in the Dunes

With Honors < Being John Malkovich

With Honors > Little Women (2019)

With Honors < Rachel, Rachel

With Honors < The Tourist

With Honors > Serenity

With Honors < Captain America: The First Avenger

With Honors > Battle of the Sexes

With Honors < Palmer

With Honors < Sweet Charity

With Honors > Liberal Arts

Final spot: #1473 out of 3448, or 57%.

Censor (2021)

IMDb plot summary: After viewing a strangely familiar video nasty, Enid, a film censor, sets out to solve the past mystery of her sister's disappearance, embarking on a quest that dissolves the line between fiction and reality.

Directed by Prano Bailey-Bond. Starring Niamh Algar, Michael Smiley, Nicholas Burns, and Vincent Franklin.

This film is deeply atmospheric -- at times more atmosphere than narrative, which I find interesting to think about after watching the movie but sometimes irritating while watching it. So much of it is told through the lead's hazy memories, dreams, and loosening grip on reality, and I often found myself antsy to know whether anything I'd been watching had actually happened. When it does work, though, it works GREAT. The final scene is utterly chilling and made up for a lot of my frustration for the rest of the film, and lead actress Niamh Algar pretty effectively captures all the various facets of her struggling character. There are people who will appreciate this more than I did, but it's probably worth checking out if you're a fan of horror.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Censor > Hustle & Flow

Censor < Jack Goes Boating

Censor < About Elly

Censor < Ice Age

Censor > The Forbidden Kingdom

Censor > Gunpowder Milkshake

Censor > The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Censor < Blow Dry

Censor > Tangled

Censor > The Italian Job (1969)

Censor > Malcolm & Marie

Final spot: #1531 out of 3465, or 56%.

Vivo (2021)

IMDb plot summary: Vivo follows a one-of-kind kinkajou who spends his days playing music to the crowds in a lively square with his beloved owner Andrés. But when tragedy strikes shortly after Andrés receives a letter from the famous Marta Sandoval, inviting her old partner to her farewell concert with the hope of reconnecting, it's up to Vivo to deliver a message that Andrés never could.

Directed by Kirk DeMicco. Starring Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ynairaly Simo, Zoe Saldana, and Juan de Marcos González.

I watched this for Miranda's music, and it delivers pretty well on that level. It's got his trademark mix of showtunes, Latino rhythms, and hip-hop, and the tunes are pretty great. The story, however, is told in that classic DreamWorks style of having too many quirky side characters that don't actually add much to the movie or have much personality, and it ends up being more awkwardly chaotic than anything else. I like the central characters and would easily recommend the soundtrack, and younger kids will probably not be as annoyed by the shallow filler bits as I was, but this isn't something I feel inspired to watch again any time soon.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Vivo < Sunday in the Park with George

Vivo > A Prairie Home Companion

Vivo > Batman: Under the Red Hood

Vivo > Venom

Vivo > Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam

Vivo < Broken Embraces

Vivo < The Lighthouse

Vivo > Dunkirk

Vivo > Molly's Game

Vivo < The Piano

Vivo > Jack Strong

Final spot: #1826 out of 3481, or 48%.

Margaret (2011)

IMDb plot summary: A young woman witnesses a bus accident, and is caught up in the aftermath, where the question of whether or not it was intentional affects many people's lives.

Directed by Kenneth Lonergan. Starring Anna Paquin, Matt Damon, Mark Ruffalo, and J. Smith-Cameron.

I have appreciated and moderately enjoyed other Kenneth Lonergan films… so… what happened here? What Lonergan has always excelled at is naturalistic and believable dialogue and direction, so why does this feel like dialogue right out of a Rifftrax special? Characters reiterate the same five points over and over again to each other and react to things they already know with shock and disgust. It’s not just bad, it’s laughably bad, like it’s been translated through Google Translate one too many times, and I genuinely can’t comprehend how it happened. The concept behind the story is a good one, and Allison Janney absolutely steals the one scene she’s in as the only one who can make these words sound reasonable, but the rest of it is such a bizarre, stilted mess that I’m left in just complete confusion as to what went wrong.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Margaret < The Cutting Edge

Margaret > A Prairie Home Companion

Margaret < The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

Margaret < Saludos Amigos

Margaret < The Pajama Game

Margaret > Destry Rides Again

Margaret > Loving Annabelle

Margaret > City Slickers

Margaret > American Sniper

Margaret < Ocean's Twelve

Margaret < State of the Union

Margaret < VeggieTales: Are You My Neighbor?

Final spot: #2507 out of 3478, or 28%.

Night Falls On Manhattan (1997)

IMDb plot summary: A newly elected District Attorney finds himself in the middle of a police corruption investigation that may involve his father and his partner.

Directed by Sidney Lumet. Starring Andy Garcia, Richard Dreyfuss, Lena Olin, and Ian Holm.

I think I am finally coming to my end of the Sidney Lumet police corruption stories, because this one just flew in one ear and out the other. It does tackle the story with one or two unique angles, particularly the relationship between father and son, which adds an extra layer of wondering how far to take a corruption case. But the characters don't get much time to develop, so it all feels a little bland, and I found myself really struggling to remember anything about it even just moments after having finished it. As a result, I'm having a tough time even rounding up enough to say about it. It's just one of those films that makes no impression.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Night Falls On Manhattan < Sunday in the Park with George

Night Falls On Manhattan > The Merchant of Venice (2004)

Night Falls On Manhattan < Ghost Ship

Night Falls On Manhattan > Independence Day

Night Falls On Manhattan > The Howling

Night Falls On Manhattan > Holiday

Night Falls On Manhattan > The Godfather

Night Falls On Manhattan > Nowhere Boy

Night Falls On Manhattan < Coraline

Night Falls On Manhattan > No Sudden Move

Night Falls On Manhattan < National Treasure

Final spot: #2175 out of 3466, or 37%.

Plan B (2021)

IMDb plot summary: Follows a straight-laced high school student and her slacker best friend who, after a regrettable first sexual encounter, have 24 hours to hunt down a Plan B pill in America's heartland.

Directed by Natalie Morales. Starring Kuhoo Verma, Victoria Moroles, Michael Provost, and Mason Cook.

This is actress Natalie Morales’ directorial debut, and it’s a stellar one. While I enjoyed Booksmart, I LAUGHED at Plan B, and most impressively, it made me laugh at tropes I usually find extremely tedious. This is a smart and funny script with pitch-perfect delivery from the two leads, as well as a tremendous supporting cast. I also appreciate the film’s setting – with many teen movies happening in large cities or occasionally suburban Midwest, it’s nice to see some representation of how women in rural areas do wind up with fewer healthcare options. Overall, definitely a solid watch. Between this, CODA, Moxie, and The Mitchells vs. the Machines, 2021 is turning out to be The Year of great teen girl coming-of-age movies. 

How it entered my Flickchart:

Plan B > Monsters

Plan B > Jack Goes Boating

Plan B < Soapdish

Plan B > Muppets Most Wanted

Plan B > Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Plan B > American Splendor

Plan B < Jean de Florette

Plan B < 56 Up

Plan B > The Mitchells vs. the Machines

Plan B > Boyhood

Plan B > Into the Woods (2014)

Plan B < Christmas in Connecticut

Final spot: #474 out of 3459, or 86%.

The Secret of Roan Inish (1994)

IMDb plot summary: Young Fiona lives with her grandparents in a small fishing village where she takes an active role to unravel the mysterious secrets.

Directed by John Sayles. Starring Jeni Courtney, Eileen Colgan, Mick Lally, and Richard Sheridan.

This is one of those films that just wraps you up cozily in the world it's created for you and it's just so comfortable to stay there. I didn't expect quite as much of a fantasy vibe early on, and while I won't spoil whether the story ends on a note of realism or magical realism, it toys with both for a good chunk of the story, and that's lovely. The cinematography on this is gorgeous, the kind of thing that makes you long to run away to a remote Irish village yourself, and the relationships between the characters is kind and loving despite the things that make their lives difficult. It's a sweet, charming story that I ended up liking much more than I first expected.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Secret of Roan Inish > Sunday in the Park with George

The Secret of Roan Inish < Jack Goes Boating

The Secret of Roan Inish > About Elly

The Secret of Roan Inish > I and You

The Secret of Roan Inish < Top Secret!

The Secret of Roan Inish > Southside with You

The Secret of Roan Inish > The Magnificent Seven (1960)

The Secret of Roan Inish > Gandhi

The Secret of Roan Inish < How to Steal a Million

The Secret of Roan Inish < Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)

The Secret of Roan Inish < Frankenweenie

The Secret of Roan Inish > Willy's Wonderland

Final spot: #988 out of 3472, or 72%.

Ruggles of Red Gap (1935)

IMDb plot summary: An English valet brought to the American west assimilates into the American way of life.

Directed by Leo McCarey. Starring Charles Laughton, Mary Boland, Charles Ruggles, and Zasu Pitts.

I have a special fondness for “fish out of water” comedies, be they body swap movies or time travel movies. Abrupt status changes like this can often scratch that itch as well. This one doesn’t quite, partly because while the movie sets itself up as that kind of story, it’s only that for about 15 minutes before Ruggles acquiesces to his employer’s demands that he loosen up and socialize with the other people of the town. And then it’s about him learning to be his own person, which is kind of sweet but not so much comedic and ends up leaning awkwardly at times into a super pro-American nationalism which touts personal freedom and glosses over how little the brash Americans care about each other’s comfort. It ends as a very different movie than it began, and it’s fine but not quite my style.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Ruggles of Red Gap > Hustle & Flow

Ruggles of Red Gap < Jack Goes Boating

Ruggles of Red Gap < About Elly

Ruggles of Red Gap < Real Life

Ruggles of Red Gap > The Forbidden Kingdom

Ruggles of Red Gap < Cast Away

Ruggles of Red Gap > The Wrestler

Ruggles of Red Gap < 12 Angry Men (1997)

Ruggles of Red Gap > Patsy & Loretta

Ruggles of Red Gap > John Carter

Ruggles of Red Gap > The Forest

Final spot: #1583 out of 3462, or 54%.