A Face in the Crowd (1957)

IMDb plot summary: A female radio reporter turns a folk-singing drifter into a powerful media star.

Directed by Elia Kazan. Starring Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal, and Anthony Franciosa.

A Face in the Crowd stars Patricia Neal as a young radio journalist and Andy Griffith as the homeless drunk man she finds in jail and turns into a radio star. Together the two of them navigate the path of fame as he gains more and more of a platform. This is a pretty incredible movie, all the more so for being so prescient about "influencer" and "media personality" culture all the way back in the 1950s. Neal and Griffith also turn in some incredible performances here. Griffith's louder-than-life personality as Lonesome Rhodes always teeters on the edge right between charming and threatening, and Neal's confident but compassionate producer is an excellent counterpart. The ending doesn't land exactly where I thought it would and ended up really impressing me -- I'm going to remember that for awhile. An extremely accessible older film with a lot to say about fame and celebrity.

How it entered my Flickchart:

A Face in the Crowd > Julie & Julia

A Face in the Crowd > The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

A Face in the Crowd < Tucker and Dale vs. Evil

A Face in the Crowd > Nope

A Face in the Crowd > The Cat Returns

A Face in the Crowd > The Last Unicorn

A Face in the Crowd > Breaking Away

A Face in the Crowd > Grease

A Face in the Crowd < The Map of Tiny Perfect Things

A Face in the Crowd > Anatomy of a Murder

A Face in the Crowd > Kramer vs. Kramer

Final spot: #495 out of 3889, or 87%.

Leo (2023)

IMDb plot summary: A 74-year-old lizard named Leo and his turtle friend decide to escape from the terrarium of a Florida school classroom where they have been living for decades.

Directed by Robert Marianetti, Robert Smigel, and David Wachtenheim. Starring Adam Sandler, Bill Burr, and Cecily Strong.

Leo is a children's animated film about a class pet, Leo the lizard, who learns he's near the end of his lifespan and starts talking to the children in the class to help solve their problems and give his life meaning at the end. I am not usually a fan of Adam Sandler at all and was all prepared to hate this movie... but it's kind of delightful. There are a good amount of legitimately funny jokes, but on top of that it's a children's movie that really is ABOUT kids, which a lot of modern animated films aren't. All the different fifth graders are written like real kids, with real kids' problems (well, mostly, there is a subplot featuring a babysitter drone that's a lot sillier), and they feel relatable, so it's fun to see them grow and gain confidence in themselves. The songs are unspectacular but not annoying -- the opener in particular mostly works. A surprising hit in the family animation genre.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Leo > Julie & Julia

Leo > Dark Passage

Leo > The Impossible

Leo < Waking Ned Devine

Leo > Moonstruck

Leo > The Song of Lunch

Leo > Decision to Leave

Leo > Whisky Galore!

Leo < Monte Carlo

Leo < The Unholy Three

Leo < The Little Mermaid (2023)

Leo > Ghost World

Final spot: #1229 out of 3888, or 68%.

The Iron Claw (2023)

IMDb plot summary: The true story of the inseparable Von Erich brothers, who made history in the intensely competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s.

Directed by Sean Durkin. Starring Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, and Harris Dickinson.

The Iron Claw is a biopic about the Von Erich brothers, a family of wrestlers who undergo a series of tragedies trying to make their way to the top. This was an interesting take on the biopic because it didn't necessarily follow the same tropes of "little guy makes it big, starts doing drugs, spirals, etc" that so many of these follow. The brothers stay close and try to support each other, and so many of the things that go wrong are freak accidents. This makes it all the more tragic, because you get the sense that they could have found a way to navigate their own unhealthy relationship with their father if the additional traumas weren't exacerbating everything. Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White are both especially great in this, portraying deeply relatable characters who are just doing what they can and finding it all to be too overwhelming. It's a difficult movie, and it's hard to know if there's anything really to take away from it, but it does paint a powerful picture of brotherhood. (Efron's final scene with his children and White's final scene with his brothers were both beautifully done.) More interesting than your typical biopic.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Iron Claw > Selma

The Iron Claw < Dark Passage

The Iron Claw > Hustle

The Iron Claw < Waking Ned Devine

The Iron Claw < Moonstruck

The Iron Claw < Into the Wild

The Iron Claw > Bottle Rocket

The Iron Claw > The United States vs. Billie Holiday

The Iron Claw < The Killing of a Sacred Deer

The Iron Claw < Flora and Son

The Iron Claw < Lady Bird

The Iron Claw > Ping Pong Playa

Final spot: #1411 out of 3887, or 64%.

Anatomy of a Fall (2023)

IMDb plot summary: A woman is suspected of murder after her husband's death; their half-blind son faces a moral dilemma as the main witness.

Directed by Justine Triet. Starring Sandra Hüller, Swann Arlaud, and Milo Machado-Graner.

Anatomy of a Fall is about the mystery surrounding a man's death after he seemingly falls out of his attic window. The story follows the court case investigating whether he fell, jumped, or was murdered by his wife. I had high hopes for this one, and they might have been TOO high, because ultimately I just liked this film okay. It's an interesting enough story, and it is intriguing to see all the different possibilities brought to line. The son's plotline was by far the most compelling, as he tries to work through his memories of the day and the new things he learns about his parents' relationship. Every time it recentered on the main woman, I just found my interest flagging -- at the heart of it, I didn't really care whether she killed her husband or not except for how it would affect her son. It's a good movie and worth watching, but I wasn't blown away by it the way I hoped I would be.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Anatomy of a Fall > Selma

Anatomy of a Fall < Dark Passage

Anatomy of a Fall < The Impossible

Anatomy of a Fall > My Date With Drew

Anatomy of a Fall < The Curse of the Jade Scorpion

Anatomy of a Fall > The Recruit

Anatomy of a Fall > Radio Days

Anatomy of a Fall > VeggieTales: Esther, the Girl Who Became Queen

Anatomy of a Fall > Brick

Anatomy of a Fall < Mother Night

Anatomy of a Fall > Spider-Man 2

Final spot: #1583 out of 3886, or 59%.

American Fiction (2023)

IMDb plot summary: A novelist who's fed up with the establishment profiting from Black entertainment uses a pen name to write a book that propels him into the heart of the hypocrisy and madness he claims to disdain.

Directed by Cord Jefferson. Starring Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, and John Ortiz.

American Fiction follows an African-American writer and professor who is frustrated that nobody wants his new book because it isn't "Black" enough. On a whim, he churns out a novel poking fun at all of the tropes he sees that white audiences want out of their Black books, and, to his chagrin, it's a massive success. This film for me strikes the absolute perfect balance between comedy and drama, being both laugh-out-loud funny and genuinely heartbreaking. And Jeffrey Wright is, of course, so good in this, bringing out the frustration of his character and how it relates to his work and his family and his romantic relationships. While I'm still mulling over how all the narrative pieces fit together, I had a great time watching the film. It escalates both the serious and not-so-serious stakes at just the right pace to keep me hooked the whole way through. Definitely a good watch and I look forward to revisiting it again sometime.

How it entered my Flickchart:

American Fiction > Captain Phillips

American Fiction > The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

American Fiction > The White Tiger

American Fiction < Dead Ringers

American Fiction > The Gods Must Be Crazy

American Fiction < Petite Maman

American Fiction < It Follows

American Fiction < Nosferatu

American Fiction < The Producers (2005)

American Fiction > Adaptation

American Fiction < Nativity!

American Fiction < Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar

Final spot: #359 out of 3885, or 91%.

Time Bandits (1981)

IMDb plot summary: A young boy accidentally joins a band of time travelling dwarves, as they jump from era to era looking for treasure to steal.

Directed by Terry Gilliam. Starring Sean Connery, Shelley Duvall, and John Cleese.

Time Bandits is a Terry Gilliam film about a young boy who suddenly finds himself traveling through time with a group of dwarves who have stolen the "time map." The film jumps between the boy's adventures meeting various historical figures and the overarching plot in which two powerful beings are wrestling for control of the time map. This sits in a really *fun* place between comedy and adventure, and it means that the whole film is just a blast to watch, and not just as an adult -- I'm sure I'd have had just as much fun with it, even more, if I'd watched it as a kid. I love the creativity of the different scenarios and the quick pace that moves us from adventure to adventure with no time to ever get bored with it. Terry Gilliam has directed a few of my favorite movies, and his slightly quirky take on the world is definitely on display here in the best way. The only quibble I have with it is the ending, which is a startling shift away from what the rest of the film seemed like, but I bet it will sit differently on a second viewing.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Time Bandits > Captain Phillips

Time Bandits < Dark Passage

Time Bandits > Hustle

Time Bandits < Waking Ned Devine

Time Bandits > Moonstruck

Time Bandits > The Song of Lunch

Time Bandits > Decision to Leave

Time Bandits > Whisky Galore!

Time Bandits > Monte Carlo

Time Bandits > Memories of Murder

Time Bandits < Batman Returns

Final spot: #1217 out of 3884, or 69%.

The Killer (2023)

IMDb plot summary: After a fateful near-miss, an assassin battles his employers and himself, on an international manhunt he insists isn't personal.

Directed by David Fincher. Starring Michael Fassbender, Tilda Swinton, and Charles Parnell.

The Killer is David Fincher's newest film, starring Michael Fassbender as a hired assassin who botches a job and is hunted down for it. But when his lover is nearly killed in an attempt to get to him, he then turns around to hunt down the people trying to find him. Fassbender to me is a complete nonentity -- I can't remember his face, I can't remember his voice, I don't recognize him when he shows up in movies. He is the perfect actor to be playing an anonymous assassin trying to always be forgettable. But unfortunately the whole movie is kind of like that for me. I've always enjoyed Fincher's visual style and ability to make even dark grungy films like Fight Club and Se7en eem visually arresting, but here it is flattened out in a sea of beige and brown, with nothing to really catch my eye. The story itself seems very in line with the tropes of the genre, never moving beyond them in any notable way. Really a disappointment from a talented director.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Killer < Captain Phillips

The Killer < Captain America: The Winter Soldier

The Killer > Mission to Mars

The Killer > The World Is Not Enough

The Killer < The Number 23

The Killer > The Expendables

The Killer < Mother (2009)

The Killer < Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

The Killer > Little Manhattan

The Killer > Copying Beethoven

The Killer > Morocco

The Killer > Hand Rolled Cigarette

Final spot: #3080 out of 3883, or 21%.

The Little Mermaid (2023)

IMDb plot summary: A young mermaid makes a deal with a sea witch to trade her beautiful voice for human legs so she can discover the world above water and impress a prince.

Directed by Rob Marshall. Starring Halle Bailey, Jonah Hauer-King, and Melissa McCarthy.

The Little Mermaid is the live-action adaptation of Disney's classic 1989 animated film. It follows a mermaid named Ariel who falls in love with a human prince and trades away her voice to the Sea Witch Ursula for a pair of legs and a chance to pursue her romance. While this isn't a perfect film by any means and is definitely not as good as the original, there are quite a few things I appreciate about it. Halle Bailey as Ariel is fantastic, just the right combination of confident and vulnerable to make her easy to root for, and with, of course, a very lovely voice. The film also gives much more attention to Prince Eric, giving him a much more distinctive personality so that the romance between the two is actually convincing. Where it falls disappointingly flat are the visuals, particularly in the segments in the ocean, which are dark and gloomy with very few contrasting colors, making it both uninteresting and at times confusing to watch. The character design is upsetting too -- obviously Flounder looks blah, but I was also completely let down by Ursula. She is absolutely stunning in the animated film, but here her octopus tentacles are so completely disconnected from Melissa McCarthy's head and arms that it was actively distracting. I feel like this interview is coming out piecemeal rather than giving a sense of the whole, but that's kind of how I had to process it. I liked it more than I didn't, but it was disappointingly unimaginative in its visuals.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Little Mermaid > Captain Phillips

The Little Mermaid < Dark Passage

The Little Mermaid > Hustle

The Little Mermaid < The Country Girl

The Little Mermaid > Moonstruck

The Little Mermaid > The Song of Lunch

The Little Mermaid > Decision to Leave

The Little Mermaid > Whisky Galore!

The Little Mermaid < We're No Angels (1955)

The Little Mermaid < The Mummy (1932)

The Little Mermaid < Maria Full of Grace

The Little Mermaid > Ghost World

Final spot: #1226 out of 3881, or 68%.

Asteroid City (2023)

IMDb plot summary: Following a writer on his world famous fictional play about a grieving father who travels with his tech-obsessed family to small rural Asteroid City to compete in a junior stargazing event, only to have his world view disrupted forever.

Directed by Wes Anderson. Starring Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, and Tom Hanks.

Asteroid City is Wes Anderson's newest full-length film, a story following a group of people staying in a small desert town named Asteroid City when they are visited by an actual alien. Or, well, to be more accurate the movie's about a play that follows a group of people, etc. etc. I frequently like Anderson's films without loving any of them. There's no doubt he knows how to frame a scene and draw out dry comedic timing from his actors. But this one left me pretty cold, despite, oddly enough, being the premise I find most interesting across all of the director's work -- sci fi AND theater? Come on!. Somehow, though, despite the enormity of the question "is there intelligent life elsewhere" and the absurdity inherent in a random visit from them, I laughed at very litlte and felt even less. These characters feel overly broad, even for Anderson, leaving me almost nothing to hold onto emotionally, and the cold line deliveries feel dull and stilted rather than meticulously crafted. The too-bright vivid backdrops just escalate how much tonal color I'm missing in the rest of the film. A disappointment for me, though I'm not sure whether it's Anderson who dropped the ball or whether I just finally tired of him.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Asteroid City < Selma

Asteroid City > Frozen River

Asteroid City > Stepmom

Asteroid City < Pulp Fiction

Asteroid City > Melvin and Howard

Asteroid City < Cape Fear (1991)

Asteroid City > The Northman

Asteroid City > Broken Arrow

Asteroid City > Like Crazy

Asteroid City > Paris, je t'aime

Asteroid City < Star Wars Uncut: Director's Cut

Final spot: #2246 out of 3880, or 42%.

Past Lives (2023)

IMDb plot summary: Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrested apart after Nora's family emigrates from South Korea. Twenty years later, they are reunited for one fateful week as they confront notions of love and destiny.

Directed by Celine Song. Starring Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, and John Magaro.

Past Lives tells the story of a man and a woman who first met as children in South Korea, before her family immigrated to the United States. They reconnect a decade later when they're both young adults, and then again a decade after that. This is a very slow-moving, quiet movie that is mostly just the characters talking together, and that can be very difficult to do well, but these characters are so beautifully drawn and compelling portrayed that they instantly drew me into their story. It's truly an incredible feat of writing and acting that is able to make us sympathize with them from moment one. In a flashier, more comedic romance, I'd have recognized it as the simple fact of our leads having chemistry together, but it took me nearly the whole movie to be able to pinpoint why I was so invested in these two. The ending is lovely and feels very fitting, and I found myself slightly overwhelmed with emotion and just wanting to cry -- in the best possible way. Absolutely worth a watch, and one of my favorites of 2023.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Past Lives > Skyfall

Past Lives > Dark Passage

Past Lives > The Legend of 1900

Past Lives < The Great Dictator

Past Lives < Dick Tracy

Past Lives > Eyes Without a Face

Past Lives < Umberto D.

Past Lives > Citizen Kane

Past Lives > I.Q.

Past Lives < White Christmas

Past Lives < Les Miserables in Concert (1995)

Past Lives < Transamerica

Final spot: #401 out of 3875, or 90%.

River's Edge (1986)

IMDb plot summary: A high school slacker commits a shocking act and proceeds to let his friends in on the secret. However, the friends' reaction is almost as ambiguous and perplexing as the crime itself.

Directed by Tim Hunter. Starring Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves, and Ione Skye.

River's Edge follows a group of teenagers (including Keanu Reeves and Crispin Glover) who learn that one of their friends has murdered his girlfriend in a fit of rage. We follow their reactions, from trying to help their friend hide out to debating whether they should turn him in to just trying to stay away from the whole thing. The film sets kind of a fascinating tone, where clearly big dark things are happening, but it's also got a strange undercurrent of humor that at first I found off-putting. But then I realized where it was centered and it suddenly really, really hit home for me: these teenage quote-unquote "hooligans" are so desperate to be taken seriously, that they're almost impossible to actually take seriously. Obviously their problems are serious and their questions are serious, but it truly captures that horribly awkward phase where all you want to do is yell "I'M AN ADULT" while not knowing yet how un-like an adult that will make you look. And that all snapped it into focus, and I found myself really loving these characters and their stubborn independence to do their own thing in the face of a group of adults who aren't much more capable than they are. There's a childish stubbornness to every person in the movie, and it's fascinating to watch it play out. I feel like this is one I could rewatch a whole bunch and find new pieces of it every time I did.

How it entered my Flickchart:

River's Edge > Selma

River's Edge < Key Largo

River's Edge > Hustle

River's Edge < Saving Private Ryan

River's Edge > Moonstruck

River's Edge < Wolf

River's Edge < Ikiru

River's Edge < Men in Black

River's Edge > Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool

River's Edge < The Minus Man

River's Edge > Florence Foster Jenkins

River's Edge > Mother!

Final spot: #1321 out of 3878, or 66%.

High Treason (1929)

IMDb plot summary: Women unite to prevent financiers from engineering a second world war.

Directed by Maurice Elvey. Starring Benita Hume, Basil Gill, and Humberston Wright.

High Treason is a film from 1929 that imagines a future 20-30 years away in which peace is the expected societal standard worldwide, until a group of greedy financiers set out to start another world war and the women of the world have to band together and stop it. This is a very interesting premise but unfortunately it doesn't quite land in execution, and I found myself tuning in and out of the movie. The digital transfer I saw wasn't great, though, and there are aspects of the plot that I genuinely missed and I think it might have been partly due to the quality of the print. As I reread through the plot on Wikipedia, I kept thinking, "Hold on, that happened? How did I miss that? That's interesting!" I think I need to schedule a time to rewatch it to see if being able to follow the plot more clearly improves it, or if it's just poorly executed even with that extra understanding.

How it entered my Flickchart:

High Treason < Selma

High Treason < Frozen River

High Treason > Mission to Mars

High Treason < Bedtime Story

High Treason > A Farewell to Fools

High Treason > Alice in Wonderland (1951)

High Treason < Gosford Park

High Treason > Zero Charisma

High Treason > Billy the Kid

High Treason > Bad Teacher

High Treason > Dinner for Schmucks

High Treason < 101 Dalmatians (1996)

Final spot: #3184 out of 3879, or 18%.

Eyewitness (1981)

IMDb plot summary: A janitor who claims he's seen a murder becomes romantically involved with the glamorous TV reporter covering the story.

Directed by Peter Yates. Starring William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, and Christopher Plummer.

Eyewitness is a Peter Yates thriller starring William Hurt as a janitor who is the only person known to be in the building when a wealthy man is murdered. He is love with his local news anchor, played by Sigourney Weaver, and tries to spend time with her by teasing the possibility that he knows more about the murder than he lets on. But this, of course, puts a target on the back from the actual murderer. This is kind of a fun premise and it's structured pretty well as far as letting us guess who the murderer is and how it happened. It also manages to explore some surprisingly poignant plotlines about veteran neglect and PTSD. It's less successful in setting up the romance, as Hurt's "aw shucks" everyman comes across as more stalkerish than anything else -- definitely not as charming as the movie thinks it is. But from a thriller standpoint, it's decently successful, even if not anything terribly special.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Eyewitness < Captain Phillips

Eyewitness > Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Eyewitness < Quigley Down Under

Eyewitness > Blue is the Warmest Color

Eyewitness > The Big Heat

Eyewitness > The Resurrection of Gavin Stone

Eyewitness > Jurassic World

Eyewitness > Guarding Tess

Eyewitness > Kicking and Screaming (1995)

Eyewitness < No Highway in the Sky

Eyewitness > Outbreak

Final spot: #2426 out of 3874, or 37%.

Poor Things (2023)

IMDb plot summary: The incredible tale about the fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter, a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter.

Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. Starring Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, and Willem Dafoe.

Poor Things is Yorgos Lanthimos' newest film, starring Emma Stone as a reanimated dead woman with the brain of a baby (then toddler, then child, and so on). As she grows and discovers more about the world around her, she sets off to explore, learn, and ultimately find herself. As one would expect with a Lanthimos film, this is a real weird movie. The premise is odd and it leans ALL the way into it and the steampunk aesthetics of the world in which it is set. And I absolutely fell in love with it. The colors and design of the movie are absolutely stunning and Stone is truly wonderful as our lead character, one of my favorite female characters onscreen in years and an incredible acting performance. Mark Ruffalo's supporting character is also extremely funny basically every time he shows up and is a great foil for Stone's straightforward honesty. I laughed so much throughout the film but also found myself caring deeply about our main character and marveling at the worldbuilding and pondering the deeper questions the story brought up. Definitely my favorite movie of 2023 so far, as well as my favorite from Lanthimos (and probably from Stone).

How it entered my Flickchart:

Poor Things > Captain Phillips

Poor Things > Key Largo

Poor Things > The White Tiger

Poor Things < The Great Dictator

Poor Things > Dick Tracy

Poor Things > Bicycle Thieves

Poor Things > 10 Cloverfield Lane

Poor Things > Sabrina (1954)

Poor Things < The Fly (1958)

Poor Things < Seven Psychopaths

Poor Things > The Bridge on the River Kwai

Poor Things < Some Like It Hot

Final spot: #255 out of 3876, or 93%.

Nina Wu (2019)

IMDb plot summary: Nina Wu, a girl who leaves small theatre company in the country for the big city in pursuit of her actress dream.

Directed by Midi Z. Starring Ke-Xi Wu, Vivian Sung, and Kimi Hsia.

Nina Wu follows the story of an aspiring actress who gets her breakthrough as the lead in a big successful movie, only to then start having strange experiences in the aftermath that may or may not be real. I'm not going to get too spoilery beyond that. While often I'm not drawn into vaguely surreal stories where it's hard to tell reality from dreams, it's done quite well here, largely because our emotional connection to the character is never dampened by her experiences not being "real." The story heavily features themes of young women being mistreated in the film industry, and that remains thematically central in all aspects of the story, so whether or not you can plot out the narrative it's clear what the emotional underpinning is intended to be. The film ends with a bit of a "twist" that I did anticipate, but it brought out strong reactions from folks who saw it -- some thought it was minimizing some of the character's most hurtful experiences. While I understand that point of view and wouldn't necessarily recommend the film to everyone because of that, I did not have that response to it and instead left feeling deeply moved by the story I'd seen.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Nina Wu > Captain Phillips

Nina Wu < Key Largo

Nina Wu > Swing Shift

Nina Wu > The Country Girl

Nina Wu < Last Action Hero

Nina Wu > Fail Safe (2000)

Nina Wu > Elvis

Nina Wu > The Awful Truth

Nina Wu > The Last Seduction

Nina Wu < The Secret Garden (1987)

Nina Wu < Cats (2019)

Nina Wu < Gentleman's Agreement

Final spot: #1098 out of 3877, or 72%.

Diner (1982)

IMDb plot summary: A group of college-age buddies struggle with their imminent passage into adulthood in 1959 Baltimore.

Directed by Barry Levinson. Starring Steve Guttenberg, Mickey Rourke, and Kevin Bacon.

Diner follows a group of high school friends reuniting for a friend's wedding, and they wander around talking about life and relationships and playing pranks on each other. I am frankly completely confused about the love for this movie. It's a weirdly difficult story to follow, with so many characters who look and act exactly alike so I kept mixing them up, and I couldn't get invested in any of them because none of them are interesting or good people, and there are so many different stories that never actually follow through, just kind of disappear, and we don't even get fun philosophical ruminations on life the way you might get in other similarly structured movies. I know this is a beloved, critically acclaimed film, and I genuinely can't figure out which pieces of this are resonating with others or what it's even trying to do. While I'm posting my thoughts on it now, I may have to do a deeper dive to figure out what landed so badly for me and so well for others, and we'll have to see if that changes my mind.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Diner < Captain Phillips

Diner > Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Diner < Stepmom

Diner > Cinderella (2015)

Diner > A Time to Kill

Diner > Bee Movie

Diner > 10

Diner < Guarding Tess

Diner < Don't Eat the Pictures: Sesame Street at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Diner < The Apostle

Diner < Satantango

Diner > Jurassic World

Final spot: #2450 out of 3873, or 37%. That's frankly higher than I expected.

The Holdovers (2023)

IMDb plot summary: A cranky history teacher at a remote prep school is forced to remain on campus over the holidays with a grieving cook and a troubled student who has no place to go.

Directed by Alexander Payne. Starring Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, and Dominic Sessa.

The Holdovers takes place in an elite boarding school during the Christmas break, when most students and faculty have gone home -- except for one student, who has no place to go, and the teacher and lunch lady assigned to stay on campus as supervisors. This is one of those films that I've seen done badly a million times, focusing on small interactions between a unique set of characters, culminating in one or more of them learning some kind of lesson. What makes it work here is smart writing and a stellar trio of performances from Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, and Da'Vine Joy Randolph. All three of them get their own arcs and moments of growth, in a way I really appreciate, and none of them are two-dimensional caricatures for the sake of the story. There's aso a nearly perfect blend of humor and drama in a way that keeps it from ever feeling either too fluffy or too cloying. That's a tough balancing act to pull off, but Alexander Payne nails it. And, of course, it's all couched beautifully in a 1970s visual aesthetic, starting right off the bat with the credits and continuing to immerse us through the end. It's a meticulously crafted and effectively charming holiday movie that I can see continuing to grow on me.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Holdovers > Captain Phillips

The Holdovers > Dark Passage

The Holdovers < The White Tiger

The Holdovers < Nope

The Holdovers > City Lights

The Holdovers > Pig

The Holdovers < Mildred Pierce (1945)

The Holdovers > Manon of the Spring

The Holdovers > The Butler

The Holdovers > 9

The Holdovers > Split

The Holdovers > Them!

Final spot: #757 out of 3872, or 80%.

Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

IMDb plot summary: When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one - until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery.

Directed by Martin Scorsese. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, and Lily Gladstone.

Killers of the Flower Moon is the newest Martin Scorsese epic, a three-hour tale of the horrific plots by white men in 1920s Oklahoma to marry Osage women for their oil-rich land and then murder them. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone as one of these married couples and Robert De Niro as DiCaprio's wealthy boss. Lily Gladstone has been recognized by the Oscars for this role, and deservedly so -- she grounds the movie and keeps it from being solely centered on the murderers. Do I wish more of the movie had been focused on her? Absolutely. But it's well told overall, very much highlighting the deadly cruelty of racism and greed. I was struck especially by how the film chose to end and provide its epilogue to the story -- a bold choice that was at first offputting but then seemed exactly on point with the rest of the movie. While I can't imagine wanting to watch this movie again, I do want to read the book now, and I'm glad I set aside the time to see it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Killers of the Flower Moon > Skyfall

Killers of the Flower Moon < Dark Passage

Killers of the Flower Moon < Kanal

Killers of the Flower Moon > Inspector Clouseau

Killers of the Flower Moon > Mother Night

Killers of the Flower Moon > Kiss Me Kate

Killers of the Flower Moon > The Green Mile

Killers of the Flower Moon > VeggieTales: Where's God When I'm S-Scared?

Killers of the Flower Moon > Love, Life and Goldfish

Killers of the Flower Moon > The Tragedy of Macbeth

Killers of the Flower Moon < Don't Look Up

Final spot: #1456 out of 3871, or 62%.

The Great Beauty (2013)

IMDb plot summary: Jep Gambardella has seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades, but after his 65th birthday and a shock from the past, Jep looks past the nightclubs and parties to find a timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty.

Directed by Paolo Sorrentino. Starring Toni Servillo, Carlo Verdone, and Sabrina Ferilli.

The Great Beauty is an Italian movie following a journalist in his 60s as he wanders around Rome with his friends, looking for creative inspiration. This is more art meditation than narrative, focusing heavily on the use of music and cinematography to create moody spaces to ponder beauty. And I would love to say that it worked for me, but in actuality I was SO. INCREDIBLY. BORED. I'm not creatively captured by any of the visual or musical choices, and I could not care less about this cranky old man wandering around moping about not writing a book. Granted, that's the least generous way I could phrase it, but it's closest to how the movie made me feel. I remember thinking, "That's a very nice shot," a few times while watchng it, but none of the ensuing shots stuck with me long enough to actually remember them, and everything feels so static. If I'm going to immerse myself in this kind of art appreciation, I'd rather do it by going to an art museum with a great Spotify playlist and experience it more spatially rather than spending 2 1/2 hours watching it unfold on a screen in front of me. This was critically acclaimed, so I admit I may be in the minority on this one. It just did absolutely nothing for me.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Great Beauty < Captain Phillips

The Great Beauty < Captain America: The Winter Soldier

The Great Beauty < Mission to Mars

The Great Beauty > Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

The Great Beauty < The Story of the Weeping Camel

The Great Beauty > Get Carter

The Great Beauty > Metal Tornado

The Great Beauty > Courageous

The Great Beauty > 8 1/2

The Great Beauty < The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

The Great Beauty > Wimbledon

Final spot: #3513 out of 3870, or 9%.

The Beekeeper (2024)

IMDb plot summary: One man's brutal campaign for vengeance takes on national stakes after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organization known as "Beekeepers".

Directed by David Ayer. Starring Jason Statham, Emmy Raver-Lampman, and Bobby Naderi.

The Beekeeper is a Jason Statham action vehicle where he plays not only a literal keeper of bees but also a retired member of a super-trained government group known as "the Beekeepers." When someone close to him loses everything in an Internet scam, he goes absolutely nuclear to find the people who targeted her. This is exactly what you think it's going to be going into it, or at least exactly what I thought it would be -- a dumb, loud action flick where our protagonist goes around rampantly murdering people. So much of the beekeeper metaphor and the plot exposition are delivered so clunkily that I honestly can't tell if it's intentional or not. The one saving grace for me was, to my surprise, Josh Hutcherson as the narcissistic startup mogul masterminding the whole thing. Hutcherson plays him with such vapid irritation that I did genuinely laugh out loud at some of his line deliveries. I admit I'm not at all the target demographic for this movie, so if you are someone who will enjoy the big fight scenes and not be bothered by lazy twists and painfully extended metaphors, this might work better for you than it did for me.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Beekeeper < Captain Phillips

The Beekeeper > Captain America: The Winter Soldier

The Beekeeper < Stepmom

The Beekeeper > Cinderella (2015)

The Beekeeper < The Big Heat

The Beekeeper < Hitch

The Beekeeper < Suspiria (1977)

The Beekeeper < Water for Elephants

The Beekeeper < House of Games

The Beekeeper < The Untouchables

The Beekeeper < The Divorcee

The Beekeeper > Blue is the Warmest Color

Final spot: #2659 out of 3869, or 31%.

All the Best: Fun Begins (2006)

IMDb plot summary: The unexpected arrival of his elder NRI brother and assorted characters complicates the life of a Goan male.

Directed by Rohit Shetty. Starring Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgn, and Fardeen Khan.

All the Best: Fun Begins is a Bollywood comedy about a man who's been financially supported by his brother for years -- and has been lying about being married so he gets more money. But when his brother unexpectedly shows up for a visit expecting to meet the wife, chaos ensues. I appreciate the length of this movie partly because it took me a good hour or so to settle into the very broad, occasionally cartoonish, sense of humor, but once I did, I had a good time. Everything's exaggerated, with the least likely misunderstandings ballooning into entire subplots. But amid all the larger-than-life chaos, what really clinched it for me was the occasional heartfelt moment that provided just enough personal investment in the characters that made the rest of the comedy work better. So goofy, so silly, but absolutely good for a lighthearted watch.

How it entered my Flickchart:

All the Best: Fun Begins > Captain Phillips

All the Best: Fun Begins < Key Largo

All the Best: Fun Begins > Swing Shift

All the Best: Fun Begins < The Country Girl

All the Best: Fun Begins > Crimson Tide

All the Best: Fun Begins > The Pirate Movie

All the Best: Fun Begins > Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

All the Best: Fun Begins > Cargo

All the Best: Fun Begins > Monte Carlo

All the Best: Fun Begins > Memories of Murder

All the Best: Fun Begins < Waking Ned Devine

Final spot: #1212 out of 3868, or 69%.

Journey's End (1930)

IMDb plot summary: In France, 1917, an alcoholic captain is afraid that his new replacement, his sweetheart's brother, will betray his downfall.

Directed by James Whale. Starring Colin Clive, Ian Maclaren, and David Manners.

Journey's End is a 1930 film about a young World War I soldier who gets sent to serve under his sister's fiance. The officer, however, is deeply ashamed of how the war has pushed him into bitter alcoholism and is terrified the young soldier will report the change in him back to his sister. This story feels *very* much like a play, set almost entirely in a single location and featuring long philosophical talks between characters, and while often that's right up my alley, this time it just felt tedious, like I was sitting waiting impatiently for something to happen. When all the character and plot action does suddenly happen in the final 10 minutes of the movie, it felt like too little too late, as I was born long before that. There are other, better war films from this year and other, better melodramas. 

How it entered my Flickchart:

Journey's End < Captain Phillips

Journey's End < Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Journey's End > Mission to Mars

Journey's End > The World Is Not Enough

Journey's End < The Number 23

Journey's End > The Expendables

Journey's End < Speak

Journey's End < Spirits of the Dead

Journey's End < The Jazz Singer (1927)

Journey's End < Batman Begins

Journey's End > The Italian Job (2003)

Final spot: #3079 out of 3867, or 20%.

Night Swim (2024)

IMDb plot summary: A family moves into a new home, unaware that a dark secret from the house's past will unleash a malevolent force in the backyard pool.

Directed by Bryce McGuire. Starring Wyatt Russell, Kerry Condon, and Amélie Hoeferle.

Night Swim follows a former baseball player and his family who buy a home with a pool so he can do water therapy for his MS. While the water seems to do wonders for his illness, the rest of the family starts seeing unsettling visions of a creature in the water, and they start unraveling the mystery. Look, as someone who can't swim and finds water inherently scary, I was all prepared to be unsettled by this, but it doesn't take any advantage of the premise at all. I didn't find a single actual scare in here, and I was the prime audience! On top of that, the rules of the evil make very little sense in an irritating way, the dialogue is full of terrible exposition, and the acting is pretty thin. A good campy low-budget horror is a lot of fun, but this isn't that, it's just disappointingly bland all the way through.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Night Swim < Selma

Night Swim < Frozen River

Night Swim > Mission to Mars

Night Swim > The World Is Not Enough

Night Swim < The Goonies

Night Swim > The Expendables

Night Swim < Domestic Disturbance

Night Swim < A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)

Night Swim < On the Town

Night Swim < Bad Moms

Night Swim > The Italian Job (2003)

Night Swim < Batman Begins

Final spot: #3078 out of 3866, or 20%.

The Virtuous Sin (1930)

IMDb plot summary: Marya is the wife of medical student Victor Sablin, who finds it impossible to deal with military life when he is inducted into the Russian army during World War I.

Directed by George Cukor and Louis J. Gasnier. Starring Walter Huston, Kay Francis, and Kenneth MacKenna.

The Virtuous Sin tells the story of a scientist couple who get married despite the woman thinking of him as only a friend. When he is drafted into the army and gets himself in trouble with his commanding officer, she decides to try and seduce the general in hopes of getting him a reprieve. This is absolutely a pre-Code film, as it gets away with insinuating far more saucy plot details than a film could a few years later. The Internet dubs this a comedy, but it's possible that much of the comedy is rooted in social mores I no longer have connections to, because it struck me as a lighthearted drama more than anything else -- friendly characters more than jokes. It's an engaging enough watch, and both our primary leads, Kay Francis and Walter Huston, bring charisma to their roles. 1930 really had a thing for showing women going against the societal grain, usually resulting in their own downfall, so it's nice to see something work out for a woman for once. An interesting little flick.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Virtuous Sin > Skyfall

The Virtuous Sin < Dark Passage

The Virtuous Sin > All That Jazz

The Virtuous Sin < Waking Ned Devine

The Virtuous Sin < Signs

The Virtuous Sin < The Miracle Worker

The Virtuous Sin > Can You Ever Forgive Me?

The Virtuous Sin < Targets

The Virtuous Sin < The Brood

The Virtuous Sin > The Detective

The Virtuous Sin > Garbo Talks

The Virtuous Sin > Laurence Anyways

Final spot: #1411 out of 3865, or 63%.

Lift (2024)

IMDb plot summary: Follows a master thief and his Interpol Agent ex-girlfriend who team up to steal $500 million in gold bullion being transported on an A380 passenger flight.

Directed by F. Gary Gray. Starring Kevin Hart, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Sam Worthington.

Lift is about a team of art thieves, lead by Kevin Hart, who are asked by Interpol to steal a shipment of gold that would be used to pay for terrorist actions. It's your straightforward team heist movie, complete with fun gadgets, a large casts, and some big adventurous twists. The tone of the movie is right on -- light, playful, friendly. The problem is that we don't actually get enough time with our ensemble cast or glimpses into their personality or roles in the story, so we don't feel the same camaraderie that we get in other ensemble heist films like Ocean's Eleven or Sneakers. It makes it feel a little bit like a knock-off version of one of those better stories that took a shortcut through character development to make way for cool set pieces. Granted, the character development bar for this genre isn't extremely high, so it doesn't destory the film by any means, just settles it into a place of mediocrity. A perfectly okay movie with nothing special to recommend it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Lift < Captain Phillips

Lift > Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Lift < Stepmom

Lift > Cinderella (2015)

Lift > The Hot Rock

Lift > Bee Movie

Lift > Withnail & I

Lift > Nightmare Alley (2021)

Lift < Kicking and Screaming (1995)

Lift < Confessions of a Shopaholic

Lift < Fun and Fancy Free

Lift > Guarding Tess

Final spot: #2429 out of 3864, or 37%.

Flora and Son (2023)

IMDb plot summary: A single mom at war with her son is trying to find a hobby for him. One day, she rescues a guitar from a dumpster.

Directed by John Carney. Starring Eve Hewson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Orén Kinlan.

Flora and Son is the newest movie from John Carney, who always delivers charming music-centric films, most notably Once and Sing Street. This isn't quite as great as either of those, but it's still a lovely watch. Flora of the title is an irresponsible mother trying to keep her teenage son, Max, from getting himself in trouble with the law. Over the course of the movie they both discover they share a newfound love for making music. There's more suspension of disbelief required to buy into the emotional beats of this movie than Carney sometimes asks of his audience, but it works overall. The final scene is particularly charming, as other people who have played a role in Flora and her son's musical journey join them for the Big Musical Number, and it's impossible not to smile through it. Definitely worth watching, especially if stories about musicians and the arts are already an easy sell for you, but it didn't sweep me away the way I hoped it would.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Flora and Son > Skyfall

Flora and Son < Key Largo

Flora and Son > Don't Look Up

Flora and Son < Waking Ned Devine

Flora and Son < Signs

Flora and Son < The Miracle Worker

Flora and Son > The Long Day Closes

Flora and Son > Quartet

Flora and Son < Metal Lords

Flora and Son > Ping Pong Playa

Flora and Son > The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

Final spot: #1397 out of 3863, or 64%.

Knock at the Cabin (2023)

IMDb plot summary: While vacationing, a girl and her parents are taken hostage by armed strangers who demand that the family make a choice to avert the apocalypse.

Directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Starring Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff, and Ben Aldridge.

Knock at the Cabin is a home invasion movie about a couple and their young daughter being held hostage by four strangers who claim that the world will end unless one of the family members is willingly sacrificed. This is Shyamalan's best script in a LONG time (possibly because he adapted it from an earlier draft rather than starting from scratch -- he should do that more often!) and it does an excellent job of bringing out the existential terror of the apocalypse. Dave Bautista gives an especially good dramatic performance, weighing his character down a mix of tragedy and compassion. I also understand people who were unhappy with the ending -- I understand it differs significantly from the book -- but the story as a whole is crafted well enough that the ending oddly didn't seem to matter as much to me. It feels like it's not about how it ends but the decisions that are made along the way. A movie that makes me remember why I liked Shyamalan back in the old days.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Knock at the Cabin > Skyfall

Knock at the Cabin > Dark Passage

Knock at the Cabin > The White Tiger

Knock at the Cabin < Fright Night (1985)

Knock at the Cabin > The Gods Must Be Crazy

Knock at the Cabin < Heathers

Knock at the Cabin < It Follows

Knock at the Cabin < Nosferatu

Knock at the Cabin > The Producers (2005)

Knock at the Cabin > Spirited

Knock at the Cabin < Life of Brian

Final spot: #350 out of 3862, or 91%.

Fast and Loose (1930)

IMDb plot summary: A wealthy family is thrown into turmoil when the daughter falls for the family chauffeur and the son begins to keep company with a chorus girl.

Directed by Fred C. Newmeyer. Starring Miriam Hopkins, Carole Lombard, and Frank Morgan.

Fast and Loose is a 1930 romantic drama about two rich siblings who each fall in love with lower-class partners and have to navigate that social scenario. It was fun to see a very young Carole Lombard in the role of the chorus girl who falls in love with the rich young man, as well as Frank Morgan as the rich father. Other than that, though, this a pretty thin story. It depends on two different love stories and, at least in the ending, frames them as equally important, but we hardly ever see Lombard's plot -- it's maybe 2 minutes total of them interacting. The love story that does get more attention is centered heavily on him taunting her for being a useless, foolish woman, which isn't terribly captivating either, even if it's meant playfully. The final scene puts a more interesting spin on the story, but it's too little, too late in a love story with very little to lean on.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Fast and Loose < Skyfall

Fast and Loose > The Fortune Cookie

Fast and Loose < Quigley Down Under

Fast and Loose > Paycheck

Fast and Loose < The Hot Rock

Fast and Loose > Hollywood Stargirl

Fast and Loose < Spinning Into Butter

Fast and Loose > Der Parfumeur

Fast and Loose < Pal Joey

Fast and Loose < Innocence Unprotected

Fast and Loose > The Deep

Fast and Loose < And Then There Were None

Final spot: #2576 out of 3861, or 33%.

Shame (2011)

IMDb plot summary: A sex addict's carefully cultivated private life falls apart after his sister arrives for an indefinite stay.

Directed by Steve McQueen. Starring Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, and James Badge Dale.

Shame stars Michael Fassbender as a man with sex addiction who finds himself struggling to make real-world emotional connections. Like so many of the best films dealing with issues of addiction, there's a deeply grimy and unpleasant sheen to this whole film, and our main character Brandon's sexual encounters aren't shown to us in a way that's at all erotic, just dismal and empty, particularly during the final third. The ending is deliberately ambiguous, and while I like that choice on paper, it didn't land quite as well as I wanted it to -- I think I needed a bit more wind-down aftermath than we got, for it to wholly grip me. That being said, though, this is a fascinating movie and one that I think is going to sit with me the more I think about it. Writing a review right after watching it almost feels a little unfair, like I haven't fully finished it, because this one needs time to digest. I may have to mentally revisit it in a month or so and see if it's settled into a more clear place in my mind.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Shame > Arthur Christmas

Shame < Key Largo

Shame < Don't Look Up

Shame > Is It Fall Yet?

Shame > Spider-Man 2

Shame > Kiss Me Kate

Shame > Battle Royale

Shame < Die Hard

Shame > Incendies

Shame > The Salesman

Shame < The Night Before

Final spot: #1466 out of 3860, or 62%.

Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia (2024)

IMDb plot summary: Inspired by true events that occurred during the fierce rivalry between Germany (Audi) and Italy (Lancia) at the 1983 Rally World Championships.

Directed by Stefano Mordini. Starring Daniel Brühl, Riccardo Scamarcio, and Katie Clarkson-Hill.

Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia portrays the rivalry between car manufacturers Audi and Lancia to win the 1983 Rally World Championship. Our focus is on Lancia, the underdog who has yet to win and is scrambling to keep up with Audi's technological advances. This film was certainly not helped by the fact that I had just watched Ford V. Ferrari in the last couple months, because this absolutely feels like a cheap knock-off, all the way down to the personal drama between the team manager and the "Stick It To the Man" driver. This one isn't particularly well-written, well-acted, or well-filmed, and the racing scenes are far from riveting. The character development we do get is thin and rushes through emotional beats that should take their time. My viewings of 2024 releases are not off to a terribly exciting start.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia < Arthur Christmas

Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia < The Fortune Cookie

Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia > No More Baths

Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia > Superman II

Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia < Big Business

Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia < Passion (1996)

Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia > Quitting

Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia < From Here to Eternity

Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia < Talk to Her

Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia < Beaches

Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia > The Final Countdown

Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia > Party Girl

Final spot: #3102 out of 3859, or 20%.

Cradle Will Rock (1999)

IMDb plot summary: A true story of politics and art in the 1930s U.S., focusing on a leftist musical drama and attempts to stop its production.

Directed by Tim Robbins. Starring Hank Azaria, Emily Watson, and John Turturro.

Cradle Will Rock is a historical drama about the 1937 musical production Cradle Will Rock, a leftist pro-union show that was abruptly shut down before its transfer to Broadway. The film follows the production up through its opening night, as well as highlighting several other events that, while not strictly accurate in terms of historical timeline, help to paint a picture of a general attitude surrounding art and politics in the 1930s.

I knew absolutely nothing about this movie going into it, and having seen it, my main question is, "WHY had nobody recommended this to me before?!" A movie about the power of musical theater is already basically tailor-made for me, let alone the political commentary. I'm a little stunned I didn't know about it! While the soul-stirring final performance of the musical is the movie's highlight, I really love all the little stories we have running throughout. In perfect ensemble drama fashion, each one hits its essential narrative pieces without ever overstaying its welcome, and we get completely delightful performances in smaller roles -- Vanessa Redgrave is my personal favorite. That ending musical performance takes up a good chunk of the film's runtime, but it well deserves it, and it helps everything hit home. While we'll see if it wows me as much on a rewatch, I was thoroughly delighted with this movie on my first viewing, and I'm so glad I finally got to see it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Cradle Will Rock > Arthur Christmas

Cradle Will Rock > Dark Passage

Cradle Will Rock > The White Tiger

Cradle Will Rock > Dead Ringers

Cradle Will Rock < The Philadelphia Story

Cradle Will Rock < Mirai

Cradle Will Rock > Hot Fuzz

Cradle Will Rock > Speed

Cradle Will Rock < Dial M for Murder

Cradle Will Rock > Schindler's List

Cradle Will Rock < Room

Cradle Will Rock > A Quiet Place

Final spot: #190 out of 3858, or 95%.

Aakrosh (2010)

IMDb plot summary: The Central Bureau of Investigation deputes two officers to investigate the disappearance of three medical students, which they believe to be an incident of 'honour killing' in a small, closed community.

Directed by Priyadarshan. Starring Ajay Devgn, Akshaye Khanna, and Bipasha Basu.

Aakrosh is an Indian crime drama about two outside police officers investigating the kidnapping of three young men in a town where everyone absolutely refuses to talk to the police. The two officers try to solve the mystery without bringing the corrupt local police down on the citizens. This one is a pretty slow burn at around two and a half hours of runtime, but in the final third it really all comes together. The tensions keep escalating, both on a large scale and for individual characters' stakes, and I really appreciate how the story wraps up. Crime dramas are often not a genre that appeals to me, but there's something about the slightly melodramatic tone of a lot of Bollywood films that makes it a more interesting narrative to me than the gritty realism American cinema leans into.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Aakrosh < Arthur Christmas

Aakrosh > The Fortune Cookie

Aakrosh > Quigley Down Under

Aakrosh > L.A. Confidential

Aakrosh < Free Guy

Aakrosh > Shame (1968)

Aakrosh < Near Dark

Aakrosh > Hollywood Homicide

Aakrosh < Last Holiday

Aakrosh > Chocolat

Aakrosh > The Tinder Swindler

Final spot: #2088 out of 3857, or 46%.

Till (2022)

IMDb plot summary: In 1955, after Emmett Till is murdered in a brutal lynching, his mother vows to expose the racism behind the attack while working to have those involved brought to justice.

Directed by Chinonye Chukwu. Starring Danielle Deadwyler, Jalyn Hall, and Frankie Faison.

Till is a biopic about the lynching of Emmett Till in the 1950s, and his mother's efforts to bring about justice for his killing. As you hmight expect from the subject matter, this is a heavy story. Till's mother Mamie is played beautifully by Danielle Deadwyler, moving believably between the moments of enormous emotion and the times where she has to steel herself to get through her work. There were pieces of this story I did not know that were told very effectively here -- for example, I was slightly taken aback by the graphicness of the dead body, but then when Mamie decides to hold an open casket funeral for her son, I immediately understood and agreed that it was essential for us as the audience to also see that body in its bloated, discolored horror. No telling of this story is going to have much of a resolution -- history doesn't allow for that resolution -- but it's an important piece of our history that continues to be far too relevant to today, and this version is an effective and powerful way to pass on that history.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Till > Arthur Christmas

Till > Dark Passage

Till < The White Tiger

Till < Onward

Till < Shiva Baby

Till > The African Queen

Till < Coming to America

Till < The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Till < Once Were Warriors

Till > Identity

Till > VeggieTales: A Snoodle’s Tale

Till > Hairspray Live!

Final spot: #896 out of 3856, or 77%.

The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)

IMDb plot summary: The Kadam family leaves India for France where they open a restaurant directly across the road from Madame Mallory's Michelin-starred eatery.

Directed by Lasse Hallström. Starring Helen Mirren, Om Puri, and Manish Dayal.

The Hundred-Foot Journey tells the story of an Indian family who journeys to France to set up an Indian restaurant in a town that has no reference point for those kinds of flavors. They happened to set up their restaurant across the street from a Michelin star-ranked restaurant specializing in French cuisine, and the two are quickly in competition. This is one of those movies that I watch and I think, “This is something my mother would like to watch.” It's sweet, with likable characters, and nobody in here is unredeemable and everybody gives nice performances. There's nothing wrong with that, but it would have been fun to have something a little bit more substantial in this. It may have soured for me in that the movie takes a strange plot turn about halfway through, with most of the initial plot setup being suddenly resolved, and I'm less convinced by the new plot it decides to follow. I will say though, as should be the case with all food movies, everything looks delicious. An unremarkable but sweet little movie.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Hundred-Foot Journey < Arthur Christmas

The Hundred-Foot Journey > Goldfinger

The Hundred-Foot Journey < No Highway in the Sky

The Hundred-Foot Journey < Burlesque

The Hundred-Foot Journey > Andrei Rublev

The Hundred-Foot Journey > McLintock!

The Hundred-Foot Journey > Amen.

The Hundred-Foot Journey > Nine

The Hundred-Foot Journey > Beach Party

The Hundred-Foot Journey > Paradise

The Hundred-Foot Journey > Follow Thru

The Hundred-Foot Journey < Master Harold and the Boys

Final spot: #2644 out of 3844, or 31%.

The Boy and the Heron (2023)

IMDb plot summary: A young boy named Mahito yearning for his mother ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead. There, death comes to an end, and life finds a new beginning. A semi-autobiographical fantasy from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki.

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Starring Soma Santoki, Masaki Suda, and Kô Shibasaki.

The Boy and the Heron is the newest film from Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. It tells the story of a young boy whose father remarries after the wife's death, and as the boy settles into the new home with his new mother, he encounters a strange heron who promises who bring him to his mother. This is a much more symbolic, surreal story than many of Miyazaki's, full of dreamy sequences that don't feel like they are a representation of the adventures the boy is going through so much as that it's a journey through his subconscious. While that sometimes works for me, I don't resonate with it as much here, certainly not like I do with other Miyazaki movies. However, as always, the creature and set design of this world are gorgeous, and it does manage to narratively pull it all together in the final few moments in a way I found very creatively satisfying. I'd like to revisit it again someday now that I know not to expect such a straightforward adventure storyline.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Boy and the Heron > The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

The Boy and the Heron > The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

The Boy and the Heron < The White Tiger

The Boy and the Heron < Onward

The Boy and the Heron < Shiva Baby

The Boy and the Heron < The African Queen

The Boy and the Heron < Mister Roberts

The Boy and the Heron > Kiss Me, Stupid!

The Boy and the Heron < Steven Universe: The Movie

The Boy and the Heron < The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall

The Boy and the Heron > Guilty As Sin

The Boy and the Heron < Robin Hood (1973)

Final spot: #946 out of 3855, or 75%.

Oppenheimer (2023)

IMDb plot summary: The story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb.

Directed by Christopher Nolan. Starring Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, and Matt Damon.

Oppenheimer is, of course, Christopher Nolan’s biopic of J. Robert Oppenheimer, who was fundamental in creating the atomic bomb. In traditional Nolan nonlinear fashion, we hop around between Oppenheimer's early days, his work during World War 2, a revoking of his security clearance years later based on his communist associations during the McCarthy era, and finally a hearing where one of the senators who worked with him is interrogated about their connection. People said to see this one in the theater and I really should have. The sequences involving the bombs are big and terrifying and all-encompassing in a way that I can see would be incredibly emotionally effective in a dark theater with the sound all around you on an enormous screen. Heck, it was effective enough on a tiny tablet 5 inches from my face. I also really enjoy the twist in the final quarter of the film, which I won't give away, but which was something I probably should have seen coming, and the fact that I didn't is a good indicator that I was wrapped up enough in the narrative that it distracted me and I was taken by surprise. The film does get a little bit muggy in its exploration of the ethics of creating this kind of weapon. It plays with that idea a little bit but muddles it up with questions about McCarthyism and witch hunts in a way that I think doesn't serve it well. And of course, there's the problem that we have with all movies in this genre of difficult genius, which is that Oppenheimer is a deeply unpleasant man to spend 3 1/2 hours with. So while I think the technical elements are pretty flawless and the storytelling is effective, it's not a game changer for me and I certainly don't think it's Nolan's best work. But absolutely still worth a watch.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Oppenheimer > The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Oppenheimer < The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

Oppenheimer > The Tragedy of Macbeth

Oppenheimer > Memories of Murder

Oppenheimer < Happy Feet

Oppenheimer < The Faculty

Oppenheimer > Wonder Man

Oppenheimer > Friday the 13th

Oppenheimer > Men Without Women

Oppenheimer > A Nightmare on Elm Street

Oppenheimer > A Christmas Carol (1951)

Oppenheimer > Pain and Glory

Final spot: #1144 out of 3854, or 70%.