Midsommar (2019)

IMDb plot summary: A couple travels to Northern Europe to visit a rural hometown's fabled Swedish mid-summer festival. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult.

Directed by Ari Aster. Starring Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, and Vilhelm Blomgren.

Midsommar is an Ari Aster horror movie starring Florence Pugh as a woman who just lost her whole family under horrific circumstances, and finds herself tagging along with her boyfriend and his college friends to a remote Swedish commune to celebrate midsummer. I wasn't as taken with Aster's previous film Hereditary as many were, so my efforts to watch his follow-up just kept taking a backseat, and I'm glad to have finally gotten around to this, because this is *great*. For the first time I fully understand the Florence Pugh hype, because she is truly incredible in this film, just overflowing with grief she's trying not to express. There's a scene near the end of the film where she's finally able to let it out and not be alone, and it's one of the most powerful film moments I've seen in awhile. The more overtly horror elements of the movie are terrifyingly done -- I felt so keenly the entire time just how flimsy and easy-to-destroy the human body is. And the ending works for me on just about every level. This movie is fantastic, I'm definitely going to be thinking about it for a long time, and I'm glad I got the nudge to finally watch it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Midsommar > VeggieTales: Madame Blueberry

Midsommar > The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

Midsommar > Network

Midsommar > Gravity

Midsommar < The Lives of Others

Midsommar < Gaslight

Midsommar < All of Us Strangers

Midsommar < Everything Everywhere All at Once

Midsommar > Fright Night (1985)

Midsommar < Tick, Tick... Boom!

Midsommar > 28 Days Later

Midsommar < Two Lovers and a Bear

Final spot: #239 out of 3995, or 94%.

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)

IMDb plot summary: A strange prehistoric beast lurks in the depths of the Amazonian jungle. A group of scientists try to capture the animal and bring it back to civilization for study.

Directed by Jack Arnold. Starring Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, and Richard Denning.

Creature from the Black Lagoon follows a group of archaeologists and marine biologists who discover a fossil unlike anything they've ever found and set out into the remote lagoon to try and find the rest of it. Of course, it turns out that some of those creatures still exist and that our adventuring party could be in danger from them. I'd never actually gotten around to seeing this monster classic, and it's a pretty solid one. The creature design is definitely a little "human in a monster suit"-ish, but it sells it well, and the many scenes of just a shadow on the wall or just one webbed hand poking out of the water do a good job of building the tension. I also appreciate how short it is, just long enough to play around with the creepy premise and then move on its way. I do wish there had been more interesting characterization for our humans. There was opportunity for some much more compelling examples of in-fighting or working toward opposite means of capture, but it mostly teased that possible and just went right back to showing creatures. Still, it was a fun watch, and I had a good time with it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Creature From the Black Lagoon > VeggieTales: Madame Blueberry

Creature From the Black Lagoon < The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

Creature From the Black Lagoon > Rachel Getting Married

Creature From the Black Lagoon < Waking Ned Devine

Creature From the Black Lagoon > American Teen

Creature From the Black Lagoon > Everybody's Talking About Jamie

Creature From the Black Lagoon < Just Imagine

Creature From the Black Lagoon < Cake

Creature From the Black Lagoon < The Happening

Creature From the Black Lagoon < The Hustler

Creature From the Black Lagoon > Hulchul

Creature From the Black Lagoon < Trick 'r Treat

Final spot: #1307 out of 3994, or 67%.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

IMDb plot summary: On an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman.

Directed by Céline Sciamma. Starring Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenal, and Luàna Bajrami.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire tells the story of a female painter in 1770s France who is commissioned to paint a wealthy woman. Her subject, however, does not want to be painted, as it is to be a wedding portrait for her marriage, which she opposes, so the painter is asked to pose as her companion and observe her covertly to complete the painting. I was a huge fan of Celine Sciamma’s film Tomboy, and how immediately likable and relatable those characters were. I feel the same way about this one. Even with so much subtext obscured beneath propriety and reserve in the first half of the film, the characters pop, and watching their relationship grow becomes both heartwarming and thrilling. The slow burn here is perfectly paced, and I was with these characters every second of the way. I love how much it explores the idea of *looking* -- as an artist, as a lover, as someone jealous of a freedom they'll never have. The camera plays with this even more than the script does, and it all comes together. This is definitely one that I think is going to stick with me for awhile, and I'm absolutely looking up our two lead actresses in everything else they've been in, because they were so charismatic here.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Portrait of a Lady on Fire > For Pete's Sake

Portrait of a Lady on Fire > Safe

Portrait of a Lady on Fire < The People Under the Stairs

Portrait of a Lady on Fire > Onward

Portrait of a Lady on Fire > The Fabelmans

Portrait of a Lady on Fire > Romy and Michele's High School Reunion

Portrait of a Lady on Fire < 56 Up

Portrait of a Lady on Fire > It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown

Portrait of a Lady on Fire < Edge of Tomorrow

Portrait of a Lady on Fire > Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

Portrait of a Lady on Fire > Ex Machina

Final spot: #539 out of 3993, or 87%.

Three Men and a Baby (1987)

IMDb plot summary: Jack Holden and his friends, Peter and Michael, spend most of their time having flings with several women in their apartment. Their life changes when a mysterious baby appears at their doorstep.

Directed by Leonard Nimoy. Starring Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, and Ted Danson.

Three Men and a Baby is exactly what the title promises: three bachelor roommates, played by Tom Selleck, Steve Gutenberg, and Ted Danson, find a baby left on their doorstep from one of their short love affairs, and they have to figure out what to do about that. There's also a subplot involving a mistaken drug delivery. This is generally a charming but deeply forgettable little comedy. Extremely watchable. A lot of this comes down to very relatable performances from our three leads, who absolutely could ham it up to the level of a cartoon villain, but they all just seem like regular self-absorbed career guys, which makes their fumbling both more realistic and more sympathetic. The slow development of compassion for the helpless baby thrust in their lives plays out in a plausible way, so it's easy to believe the emotional arcs. The pacing of the story is a little strange toward the end -- what was set up as the primary subplot is suddenly resolved with a half hour left to go, and the final scene creates a brand new obstacle that is then wrapped up much more neatly than makes sense, structurally -- but that's a minor gripe. None of this breaks new ground or does anything *exciting* with its material, but it does it all quite well, and that made for a satisfying watch, even if I don't need to rewatch it any time soon.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Three Men and a Baby > For Pete's Sake

Three Men and a Baby < The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

Three Men and a Baby < Stargate

Three Men and a Baby > Footlight Parade

Three Men and a Baby < Suddenly, Last Summer

Three Men and a Baby < Clueless

Three Men and a Baby > The Dawn Patrol (1938)

Three Men and a Baby > Green Room

Three Men and a Baby < Rachel, Rachel

Three Men and a Baby < Lo

Three Men and a Baby > Dark Shadows

Three Men and a Baby < Strictly Ballroom

Final spot: #1696 out of 3992, or 58%.

The Triplets of Belleville (2003)

IMDb plot summary: When her grandson is kidnapped during the Tour de France, Madame Souza and her beloved pooch Bruno team up with the Belleville Sisters--an aged song-and-dance team from the days of Fred Astaire--to rescue him.

Directed by Sylvain Chomet. Starring Michèle Caucheteux, Jean-Claude Donda, and Michel Robin.

The Triplets of Belleville is a mostly-silent French animated film about a woman whose grandson is kidnapped on the Tour de France, and she has to figure out how to find him. This was my second wordless European animation film watched in the same day, and this probably suffered a bit in comparison to Flow, which I absolutely adored. The animation in this is a very deliberate style, but it happens to be one that I find ugly and hard to track. I genuinely thought for the first third of the movie that the grandson was dying, because his character design made him look deeply unwell, but nope, all the bikers looked like that, it was just a stylistic choice. The pacing is also a little strange for me -- about halfway through the film I looked at the plot synopsis for the story and none of it had even happened yet. I had high hopes for this one because so many people whose opinions I respect and often share have praised it, but ultimately I found myself bored for much of the movie, and I couldn't even enjoy the animation during those slower parts, because of how much I disliked its visuals. This one was not for me.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Triplets of Belleville < For Pete's Sake

The Triplets of Belleville > The Day of the Triffids

The Triplets of Belleville < No Country for Old Men

The Triplets of Belleville > Shane

The Triplets of Belleville > Marry Me

The Triplets of Belleville < Kindergarten Cop

The Triplets of Belleville < Batman: Under the Red Hood

The Triplets of Belleville < Coraline

The Triplets of Belleville > Run Lola Run

The Triplets of Belleville > My Favorite Wife

The Triplets of Belleville < The Man Who Came to Dinner

The Triplets of Belleville > Night Falls on Manhattan

Final spot: #2606 out of 3991, or 35%.

Flow (2024)

IMDb plot summary: Cat is a solitary animal, but as its home is devastated by a great flood, he finds refuge on a boat populated by various species, and will have to team up with them despite their differences.

Directed by Gints Zilbalodis.

Flow is a Latvian animation film about a group of animals trying to survive in a human-less, rapidly flooding world. This movie is one I feel like I'm going to be thinking about for a long time. The animation style is simple and effective against the wordless meandering narrative, making it feel more like a moving painting than a typical film. The animals behave like animals, not humans with animal bodies, and it makes the whole story feel otherworldly. Is this post-apocalyptic? Do humans exist in this world? Did they recently? No clue, and really it doesn't matter, because the animals aren't seeking the answer, they just want to survive. There are some strangely supernatural elements that seem to appear partway through the story, and they seem to not feel out of place at all. There are so many great little moments of personality and character and friendship being built throughout this film, all without words, and creating a fascinating balance of slow meditative journeying and almost existential tension in an inexplicable world. It's a beautiful, unique film that I'm glad I got to experience.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Flow > For Pete's Sake

Flow > Safe

Flow > Network

Flow < Parasite

Flow > Cape Fear (1962)

Flow < The Guilty

Flow < Aftersun

Flow > Primal Fear

Flow > Nosferatu (1922)

Flow < The Young Girls of Rochefort

Flow < Together Together

Flow < Mommy

Final spot: #350 out of 3990, or 91%.

Fools Rush In (1997)

IMDb plot summary: After a one-night stand with Alex, Isabel realizes that she is pregnant and they decide to get married. However, along with the marriage comes compromise of one's own cultural traditions.

Directed by Andy Tennant. Starring Matthew Perry, Salma Hayek, and Jon Tenney.

Fools Rush In is a 1997 romance starring Matthew Perry and Salma Hayek as a couple who get pregnant after a one-night stand, and they decide to risk it all on an impulsive marriage, despite their very different backgrounds. My general reaction to almost everything that happened in this movie was, "Oh, those poor sweet dumb kids." Our two leads come across as so deeply unequipped for any kind of relationship but so well-intentioned, and they make such bad decisions and then make even weirder decisions trying to fix them, but you kinda hope it'll work out because they just seem like college kids with no clue how to communicate. There's a sincerity to both their performances that transfers what would have been an irritating relationship dynamic to just... a cheerfully incompetent one. Perry's character has no ability to have difficult conversations, so he just constantly lies to avoid them, even if the lie will ABSOLUTELY INEVITABLY be discovered in the next 10 minutes, and Hayek's character acts so heavily on impulse while claiming she doesn't. Should they be having a baby together? Absolutely not. Do I kind of hope it works out because I feel bad for them like they're clueless teenagers? Absolutely. I kind of feel the same way about the movie. Does it work as a romance? Mostly not. Do I kind of root for it anyway because I feel bad for how sincere everything in this feels? Absolutely.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Fools Rush In < For Pete's Sake

Fools Rush In > The Day of the Triffids

Fools Rush In > The Conversation

Fools Rush In < The Tempest (2010)

Fools Rush In < The Rescuers

Fools Rush In > Pokémon: Detective Pikachu

Fools Rush In > Superman

Fools Rush In > The Secret War of Harry Frigg

Fools Rush In > Till the Stars Come Down

Fools Rush In > National Theatre Live: Everyman

Fools Rush In < Camelot

Final spot: #2372 out of 3989, or 41%.

A Christmas Carol (1984)

IMDb plot summary: A bitter old miser who rationalizes his uncaring nature learns real compassion when three spirits visit him on Christmas Eve.

Directed by Clive Donner. Starring George C. Scott, Frank Finlay, and Angela Pleasance.

This version of Charles Dickens' classic stars George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge, the wealthy miser who is visited by a collection of ghosts to convince him to change his ways. A Christmas Carol has never fully won me over, and I couldn't tell you why, it leaves me a little cold. This version mixes in some unexpected moments of humor, but overall it isn't the one to change my mind. Scott is often a pretty good actor, but here he can't quite sell the slow transformation, and it's easy to get the sense that the first two ghosts were unnecessary. The most compelling actor is Scrooge's nephew Fred, played by Roger Rees with the perfect amount of optimism before it spills over into making him seem like someone who just... doesn't read people very well. Other than that, however, it feels like a pretty middle-of-the-road interpretation of the story, and it was fine but not particularly exciting.

How it entered my Flickchart:

A Christmas Carol < VeggieTales: Madame Blueberry

A Christmas Carol > The Day of the Triffids

A Christmas Carol > The Conversation

A Christmas Carol < Lost in America

A Christmas Carol < Miss Rose White

A Christmas Carol > Pokémon: Detective Pikachu

A Christmas Carol > Superman

A Christmas Carol > The Secret War of Harry Frigg

A Christmas Carol > Till the Stars Come Down

A Christmas Carol < Funny Girl

A Christmas Carol < National Theatre Live: Everyman

A Christmas Carol > Ladies of Leisure

Final spot: #2373 out of 3988, or 40%.

Nosferatu (2024)

IMDb plot summary: A gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire infatuated with her, causing untold horror in its wake.

Directed by Robert Eggers. Starring Lily-Rose Depp, Nicolas Hoult, and Bill Skarsgård.

Nosferatu is Robert Eggers's newest film, a remake of the classic from the 1920s. It tells the story of a young newlywed couple who find themselves enmeshed with a centuries-old vampire named Count Orlock who has nefarious plans for the bride. I have not been a huge fan of Egger's work in the past. I found both The Lighthouse and The Northman more interesting in theory than an execution. But this one really stepped it up for me. This is a slow looming horror story that does a really great job of painting a terrifying atmosphere without relying on jump scares. Bill Skarsgard as Orlock is especially fascinating, both in the vocal acting decisions he makes and how they adjust his voice in post to give him some terrifying bass resonance. There are a lot of really fascinating scenes in here that keep the film from ever really feeling its 2 hour length. Aaron Taylor-Johnson makes some spectacularly strange acting decisions that pulled me out of the movie, but he's a small enough part there's still plenty for me to enjoy. There were also scenes that were incredibly difficult to watch as somebody who is super grossed out by spit (although blood and other gore like that doesn't bother me at all, and there's also plenty of that). But it's a well done movie overall and I had a good time watching it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Nosferatu > For Pete's Sake

Nosferatu > Safe

Nosferatu < Network

Nosferatu < Onward

Nosferatu > Barbarian

Nosferatu < Red Carpet

Nosferatu < The Hunger Games

Nosferatu < Hidden Figures

Nosferatu > Little Children

Nosferatu < The Hateful Eight

Nosferatu > The Road Warrior

Nosferatu > The Inn of the Sixth Happiness

Final spot: #861 out of 3987, or 78%.

Shadow of the Vampire (2000)

IMDb plot summary: The filming of Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922) is hampered by the fact that its star Max Schreck is taking the role of a vampire far more seriously than seems humanly possible.

Directed by E. Elias Merhige. Starring John Malkovich, Willem Defoe, and Udo Kier.

Shadow of the Vampire is a horror movie focused on the filming of the real life 1920s horror film Nosferatu, an adaptation of Dracula (without the rights to film Dracula). In this version of the story, actor Max Schreck, who plays Nosferatu, insists on staying in character and makeup at all times, leading some on the crew to believe he is in fact not an actor but a real life vampire. When I started watching this, I knew it was about the filming of Nosferatu, but I thought it was a pretty straightforward biopic. It was a delight to discover that it was in fact a supernatural horror story that painted filmmaker F.W. Murnau as being more than willing to make a pact with a vampire to sacrifice his lead actress in order to get the perfect movie. Despite the absolutely ludicrous premise of this movie, it takes itself so very seriously, but fortunately it's in a way where it becomes delightfully silly rather than irritatingly pretentious. Willem Defoe as Schreck is particularly fun, although John Malkovich's Murnau is also a wonderful caricature of the obsessed artist. This is not the beautifully tragic deep art that it sets itself up as, but it's a ton of fun, especially since I had no idea what i was actually getting into.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Shadow of the Vampire > For Pete's Sake

Shadow of the Vampire < Safe

Shadow of the Vampire > Stargate

Shadow of the Vampire < Waking Ned Devine

Shadow of the Vampire > The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

Shadow of the Vampire > Evita

Shadow of the Vampire < Serial Mom

Shadow of the Vampire > Death by Hanging

Shadow of the Vampire > VeggieTales: Rack, Shack & Benny

Shadow of the Vampire > The Descendants

Shadow of the Vampire > Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

Shadow of the Vampire > Decision to Leave

Final spot: #1277 out of 3986, or 68%.

Repo Man (1984)

IMDb plot summary: A young punk, recruited by a car repo agency, finds himself in pursuit of a Chevrolet Malibu with a huge, $20,000 bounty--and something otherworldly stashed in its trunk.

Directed by Alex Cox. Starring Harry Dean Stanton, Emilio Estevez, and Tracey Walter.

Repo Man Stars Emilio Estevez as a teenager who is a punk but gets a job as a Repo Man.  He and his company are sent out on the lookout for a particular car with a huge bounty on it, which turns out to maybe be part of a giant conspiracy to cover up aliens. When I was recommended this, I assumed it was a typical 1980s action movie, maybe with some coming of age elements sprinkled in. But it's so much weirder than that and that was a delightful surprise. Once I was able to lean into it as a full-fledged bizarre comedy story, it suddenly started to click for me. Unfortunately that wasn't until later in the film, and I spent the beginning of the film perplexed by the film's tone. It's one that i would like to revisit at some point in the future after I've let the details of the plot slip away from my memory but still remember the overall vibe it brought. It's a wacky, wild movie that I had a good amount of fun with once I figured out how to take it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Repo Man > Dodsworth

Repo Man > Anna Karenina

Repo Man < The People Under the Stairs

Repo Man < Onward

Repo Man < Destroy All Neighbors

Repo Man < The Blue Angel

Repo Man < Shallow Grave

Repo Man < Fruitvale Station

Repo Man < The Quick and the Dead

Repo Man > Elf

Repo Man > Akira Kurosawa's Dreams

Repo Man > My Life as a Dog

Final spot: #989 out of 3985, or 75%.

Society of the Snow (2023)

 

IMDb plot summary: The flight of a rugby team crashes on a glacier in the Andes. The few passengers who survive the crash find themselves in one of the world's toughest environments to survive.

Directed by J.A. Bayona. Starring Enzo Vogrincic, Augustín Pardella, and Matías Recalt.

Society of the Snow is a Spanish-language film telling the true story of the Uruguayan soccer team that crash-landed in the Andes, and the few who survived there for months. This was directed by J. A. Bayona, who has done a few of my absolute favorite movies, and in comparison this is a little bit lower, but still a very solid and interesting movie. I thought the pacing of the movie was beautifully done -- showed the duration of their survival while staying on the edge of the tension the whole way, which is not easy to do. I do wish I was good enough with faces to have made more of a connection to the individual characters. Especially after a few weeks had passed, I really struggled to differentiate them from each other, which limits the impact any individual character's life or death can have. The film is good, however, at showing this horror on a wider scale and painting it as horrific not just because we care about character X or character Y, but because this is an awful thing for any human being to have to go through, and as a result, my lack of connection with individual characters didn't really hurt it very much. Overall, a very well-made film that tells a fascinating story from a very human perspective.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Society of the Snow > Dodsworth

Society of the Snow > Anna Karenina

Society of the Snow < The People Under the Stairs

Society of the Snow < Onward

Society of the Snow > Barbarian

Society of the Snow > Red Carpet

Society of the Snow < Mildred Pierce (1945)

Society of the Snow < Encanto

Society of the Snow > Sleight

Society of the Snow < Bubba Ho-tep

Society of the Snow > Take This Waltz

Society of the Snow < Margin Call

Final spot: #799 out of 3984, or 80%.

The Creator (2023)

IMDb plot summary: Against the backdrop of a war between humans and robots with artificial intelligence, a former soldier finds the robots' secret weapon to end the conflict, an AI in the form of a child.

Directed by Gareth Edwards. Starring John David Washington, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, and Gemma Chan.

The Creator is a sci-fi story that follows a man who lost his wife while working undercover to crush an artificial intelligence army. Now, years later, he has the option to finish the work he began. I had medium-high hopes for this, and it was a good third of the way through the movie before I finally gave up on them and realized I just wasn't going to like this film. I was hoping for something positing interesting questions on technology and the future of humanity, but it is just a war movie in space focused more on the secret missions and the combat than anything else. It feels like it's relying on tropes established in previous "are robots people" stories to make me feel something without bothering to actually establish something that works in *this* film. On top of that, it leans into ALL of the "cranky hard-hearted man is softened by having to take care of a child" cliches, which are maybe my least favorite out there. This tackled interesting concepts in the least interesting way possible, at least for me.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Creator < Dodsworth

The Creator > Zorba the Greek

The Creator < Fun Size

The Creator < Less Than Zero

The Creator < The Disappearance of Alice Creed

The Creator > Inherent Vice

The Creator > Snakes on a Plane

The Creator < Andrei Rublev

The Creator > Love in the Rough

The Creator < Luther

The Creator > Borderline

The Creator > The Spiderwick Chronicles

Final spot: #2883 out of 3983, or 28%.

Jupiter Ascending (2015)

IMDb plot summary: A young woman discovers her destiny as an heiress of intergalactic nobility and must fight to protect the inhabitants of Earth from an ancient and destructive industry.

Directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowksi. Starring Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, and Eddie Redmayne.

Jupiter Ascending is a sci-fi epic from the Wachowskis, starring Mia Kunis as a woman who discovers she is a reincarnated space queen and is now being hunted by people who want her throne. I had high hopes for this one after I really enjoyed Valerian and the Thousand Planets, another 2010s epic sci-fi space opera that got absolutely panned by critics, but... wow, this one didn't work for me at all. The plot feels like a lazy mishmash of every 2000s YA fantasy book, but written to rush through all the world building as quickly as possible to get to the werewolf romance. The dialogue is so poorly written, alternately too expository and not expository enough. I really like a lot of this cast, but their performances are so flat and lifeless here, with the exception of Eddie Redmayne, who is delivering a delightfully unhinged villain performance that almost saves the movie a couple times. Overall, this movie needed more attention paid to its worldbuilding and its dialogue. It feels like a first draft rushed into production relying on cool visuals, and it's just not good enough to justify that.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Jupiter Ascending < For Pete's Sake

Jupiter Ascending > Zorba the Greek

Jupiter Ascending < The Conversation

Jupiter Ascending < Water for Elephants

Jupiter Ascending < The Preacher's Wife

Jupiter Ascending < A Mighty Wind

Jupiter Ascending > Falling In Love

Jupiter Ascending < The Spanish Prisoner

Jupiter Ascending < The Fundamentals of Caring

Jupiter Ascending < The 5th Wave

Jupiter Ascending > A Month by the Lake

Final spot: #2955 out of 3982, or 26%.

Thumbelina (1994)

IMDb plot summary: This retelling of the Hans Christian Andersen classic fairy tale has the digit-sized heroine evading the clutches of various toads, moles, and beetles before she can proceed with her courtship with her dream lover, Prince Cornelius.

Directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. Starring Jodi Benson, Gary Imhoff, and Gino Conforti.

Thumbelina is a Don Bluth animated film based on the classic fairy tale about a tiny girl born from a flower. In this version of the story, she falls in love with the prince of the fairies, but is kidnapped by various other creatures trying to marry her, and she has to fight her way back to her home. This is an animated film I missed out on as a kid, and it definitely is one that I think would have benefited from me seeing when I was younger. As an adult, I find Thumbelina's absolute inability to make decisions frustrating, and none of the whimsical creatures she meets on her journey are interesting to me. Learning that the music is by Barry Manilow was mildly interesting, as I could definitely hear his influence in it, but none of the actual renditions were enjoyable. Some of the character design is kind of cool, but overall there's very little in this movie that would make me want to watch it again at any point.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Thumbelina < For Pete's Sake

Thumbelina < Army of the Dead

Thumbelina > Psych-Out

Thumbelina > A Decade Under the Influence

Thumbelina > Waiting...

Thumbelina < Who's That Knocking At My Door

Thumbelina < Gladiator

Thumbelina > Find Me Guilty

Thumbelina < Play It Again, Sam

Thumbelina < Firewall

Thumbelina < Deliverance

Thumbelina > As Good As It Gets

Final spot: #3093 out of 3981, or 22%.

Stop Making Sense (1984)

IMDb plot summary: A live performance of the band Talking Heads shot over the course of three nights at Hollywood's Pantages Theater in December of 1983 and featuring their most memorable songs.

Directed by Jonathan Demme.

Stop Making Sense is a concert film featuring Talking Heads, filmed over four nights of live performance, although we rarely see any audience members. I should probably preface this by saying that I personally know almost nothing by Talking Heads and that I don't like concerts much, let alone concert films. As such, it's hard to know exactly how to rank or review this. It wasn't revolutionary, but it was enjoyable enough, and it did make me want to listen to a bit more Talking Heads music, which I suppose is the main aim of something like this. There are definitely some interesting artistic decisions made, both in the cinematography choices (the decision to not show the audience is a unique one) and in the staging choices (the band joins lead singer David Byrne on stage one song at a time). There is an impressive amount of energy in these performers as well, particularly over the course of several songs. That being said, it's hard for me to rate is as a movie per se, as it feels like an entirely different experience.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Stop Making Sense > For Pete's Sake

Stop Making Sense < Safe

Stop Making Sense < Stargate (1994)

Stop Making Sense < Footlight Parade

Stop Making Sense < Father of the Bride Part II

Stop Making Sense < Ambulance

Stop Making Sense > Blackmail Is My Life

Stop Making Sense > Music Within

Stop Making Sense > The Lost Skeleton Returns Again

Stop Making Sense > The Forbidden Kingdom

Stop Making Sense > Anonymous

Stop Making Sense > Mank

Final spot: #1932 out of 3980, or 52%.

America's Sweethearts (2001)

IMDb plot summary: A movie publicist deals with the messy public split of his movie's co-stars while keeping reporters at bay while a reclusive director holds the film's print hostage.

Directed by Joe Roth. Starring Julia Roberts, John Cusack, and Billy Crystal.

America's Sweethearts is a movie about movie stars -- two rom com celebrities who are married in real life, only to have a dramatic public breakup. Now this couple, played by John Cusack and Catherine Zeta-Jones, are reuniting for their press junket for the final movie they made together. Their agent, played by Billy Crystal, and the sister/personal assistant of Zeta-Jones, played by Julia Roberts, try to keep everything running smoothly. This movie teeters just on the edge of being a classic romantic comedy with all the needed laughs and charms to get it there... but it always falls just slightly short. Our characters are a bit too mean, the jokes are a bit too on-the-nose, the romantic moments a bit too unearned. There are some good witty lines but they seem inorganic. I really hoped the characters would gel into place for me by the end, but they don't. Most of it isn't *bad*, just slightly off, and seeing how close it came to being good is maybe more frustrating than if it had been bad. This is maybe one to reconsider in a few years -- if I begin with a negative mental picture of the movie, maybe I'll be more pleasantly surprised by the moments that *do* work.

How it entered my Flickchart:

America's Sweethearts > Dodsworth

America's Sweethearts < Safe

America's Sweethearts < Stargate (1994)

America's Sweethearts < Footlight Parade

America's Sweethearts < Father of the Bride Part II

America's Sweethearts > Mank

America's Sweethearts < The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad

America's Sweethearts > Deceiver

America's Sweethearts > Metropolis

America's Sweethearts < The Mummy (1999)

America's Sweethearts < Summer of Soul

America's Sweethearts > We Need to Talk About Kevin

Final spot: #1902 out of 3979, or 52%.

Wicked (2024)

IMDb plot summary: Elphaba, a misunderstood young woman because of her green skin, and Galinda, a popular girl, become friends at Shiz University in the Land of Oz. After an encounter with the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads.

Directed by Jon M. Chu. Starring Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, and Jeff Goldblum.

Wicked is the first part of the filmed adaptation of one of my favorite Broadway musicals, which tells the prequel of the Wizard of Oz's Wicked Witch and her childhood friendship with Glinda the Good Witch. I was so worried about this one when I first heard it was announced, because I'm such a fan of the original show, but just like with In the Heights, Jon M. Chu demonstrates that he loves musicals and understands what they bring to their audience. Cynthia Errivo and Ariana Grande absolutely nail their roles, both acting and singing. The choreography is some of the most exciting I've seen on screen in awhile -- "Dancing Through Life" is an absolute joy of a song. And despite the runtime of Part One being basically as long as the entirety of the stage show, it doesn't feel bloated or slow. Honestly, I struggle to figure out where all that extra time went, because it flowed so well and still seemed so faithful to the original. While I'll have to wait and see if Part Two sticks the landing, I'm much more excited about it now than I ever was about Part One. It's easily one of the best modern movie musicals, and I'm thrilled it's introducing a new audience to this show.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Wicked > Dodsworth

Wicked > Anna Karenina

Wicked > The People Under the Stairs

Wicked > Parasite

Wicked > The Lives of Others

Wicked < The Lion King (1994)

Wicked > Up

Wicked > My Fair Lady

Wicked < Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

Wicked > Lost in Translation

Wicked > Bringing Up Baby

Final spot: #71 out of 3978, or 98%.

American Movie (1999)

IMDb plot summary: Documentary about an aspiring filmmaker's attempts to finance his dream project by finally completing the low-budget horror film he abandoned years before.

Directed by Chris Smith.

American Movie is a documentary following Mike Borchardt, an aspiring filmmaker in Wisconsin who is trying to finance his own low-budget horror movie. We follow him through his search for funds, trying to get the right sound effects, working on stunts, and wrestling with his own personal demons. As someone who grew up with artistic interests in a small Midwestern town, I found this incredibly claustrophobic. These characters are a little too close to home, and while on one level I love seeing people pull out all the stops to achieve their artistic dreams, it was also depressing to see them so stuck. I think the documentary mostly does a good job of taking what easily could be a mocking look at rural America and instead shows them as the normal people they are, with all the quirks and aspirations and broken families and good and bad decisions that come with life. There are a few moments where it teeters on the edge of mockery, but I think it's aiming for sincerity. It's hard to figure out how to rank this, but I think it's a well-crafted film.

How it entered my Flickchart:

American Movie > Pete's Dragon (1977)

American Movie < Anna Karenina

American Movie > For a Few Dollars More

American Movie < Batman Returns

American Movie < The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

American Movie > Oh Darling Yeh Hai India

American Movie < Mean Girls (2004)

American Movie < Good Time

American Movie > The Piano

American Movie < Possession

American Movie < Koyaanisqatsi

American Movie > The Meg

Final spot: #1419 out of 3977, or 64%.

Longlegs (2024)

IMDb plot summary: In pursuit of a serial killer, an FBI agent uncovers a series of occult clues that she must solve to end his terrifying killing spree.

Directed by Osgood Perkins. Starring Maika Monroe, Nicolas Cage, and Blair Underwood.

Longlegs is a horror movie featuring a young FBI agent on the hunt for a mysterious serial killer known only as "Longlegs." As she searches for him, we find that her own past may be more connected to his than was first known. This is one of those vibes-only horror movies, in which the plot makes very little sense and the dialogue sounds like it's been run through multiple rounds of automatic translation software, but my goodness is it unsettling. It's like the uncanny valley of horror movies, where everything you see, especially anything Longlegs himself is involved in, is so bizarre that you keep questioning if that's what you actually saw. I do wish that the story came together a little better for me, as that would have easily launched it up into top echelons of horror. As it is, it's enjoyable but messy and slow during the actual police procedural sections.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Longlegs > Pete's Dragon (1977)

Longlegs < Safe

Longlegs > The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)

Longlegs > All the Best: Fun Begins

Longlegs < The Secret Garden (1987)

Longlegs > Pain and Glory

Longlegs > The Last Metro

Longlegs > The Bad Seed

Longlegs < Manhattan Murder Mystery

Longlegs > Sneakers

Longlegs > 1917

Final spot: #1127 out of 3976, or 72%.

What If (2013)

IMDb plot summary: Wallace, who is burned out from a string of failed relationships, forms an instant bond with Chantry, who lives with her longtime boyfriend. Together, they puzzle out what it means if your best friend is also the love of your life.

Directed by Michael Dowse. Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan, and Megan Park.

What If is a rom com starring Zoe Kazan and Daniel Radcliffe as two best friends navigating the question of whether what they feel for each other is more than friendship, even though Kazan is dating someone else. This is a simple but truly charming little romance that does an incredible job of building up the chemistry between our two leads. From the very first scene, their interactions have the easy, silly, comfortable banter of best friends, and it's impossible not to root for them. It also deals well with the theme of friends falling in love, acknowledging how difficult and complicated that can be for everyone involved. The supporting cast is also fun and engaging. While the story doesn't reach the full depth that would make it an all-time favorite, it's a sweet and entertaining watch that I had a good time with overall.

How it entered my Flickchart:

What If > Le voyage au Groenland

What If > Kuroneko

What If > Network

What If < Parasite

What If < Cape Fear (1962)

What If < Tarzan (1999)

What If < La Strada

What If < Beetlejuice

What If < The Goodbye Girl (1977)

What If > The White Tiger

What If < Secretary

What If < Tucker and Dale vs. Evil

Final spot: #493 out of 3975, or 88%.

The Replacements (2000)

IMDb plot summary: During a pro football strike, the owners hire substitute players.

Directed by Howard Deutch. Starring Keanu Reeves, Gene Hackman, and Brooke Langton.

The Replacements is a sports movie from 2000 based on an actual football players strike. Here, Gene Hackman plays the old coach who comes back in to assemble a team of replacement players, headed up by Keanu Reeves. The group has to learn to work together so they can win the final games of the season and take home the championship. This movie has two things working against it for me: one, it's an inspirational sports movie, and two... it's an inspirational sports movie siding against striking workers. Sorry, folks, I'm just a little too pro-labor to feel sorry for the scabs being looked down on. The movie it kept drawing negative comparisons to, from earlier this challenge, was Next Goal Wins, another movie about underdog sports teams, but that one had more distinct characters and didn't require me to cheer for a mega corporation. The characters in this aren't super compelling, the romance isn't interesting, and just overall very little about it works for me. I know this is some people's favorite kind of story, but it's not mine.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Replacements < Pete's Dragon (1977)

The Replacements > Loving Annabelle

The Replacements < Fun Size

The Replacements < Water for Elephants

The Replacements < The Preacher's Wife

The Replacements < A Mighty Wind

The Replacements > The Devil's Brigade

The Replacements < The Spanish Prisoner

The Replacements < The Fundamentals of Caring

The Replacements > My Darling Clementine

The Replacements > Candy

The Replacements > Reminiscence

Final spot: #2942 out of 3974, or 26%.