Soul (2020)

IMDb plot summary: Joe is a middle-school band teacher whose life hasn't quite gone the way he expected. His true passion is jazz. But when he travels to another realm to help someone find their passion, he soon discovers what it means to have soul.

Directed by Pete Docter and Kemp Powers. Starring Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, and Graham Norton.

Soul is a Pixar movie is about a jazz musician who unexpectedly dies the day he gets his dream gig, and he finds himself in the afterlife, mistakenly assigned as a mentor to an unborn soul who resists every attempt to prepare her for Earth. With his determination to return to Earth and her determination to avoid it, they agree to help each other out to achieve their respective goals. This movie is interesting and has some really lovely moments. I didn't cry, as I frequently do at Pixar films, but I found myself very emotionally engaged in the final moments of the film. But I find myself wondering who is this for? Pixar is known for creating movies for both kids and adults, but I don't think this one is for kids at all. Not because it's inappropriate, but because who are they going to relate to? What are they getting out of it? Some fun world building, but not as much as I would have expected. Ultimately I feel like as much as is strong about this story, the world they created is more exciting than the story they chose to tell with it, even if it did ultimately stick the landing. It's decent, but far from Pixar's best.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Soul > Killing Season

Soul < Elf

Soul > Peeping Tom

Soul < Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Soul > The Minus Man

Soul > The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey

Soul > Watchmen

Soul < The Unholy Three

Soul > L'atalante

Soul > Leo

Soul > Maria Full of Grace

Final spot: #1277 out of 4033, or 68%.

Love Lies Bleeding (2024)

IMDb plot summary: Reclusive gym manager Lou falls hard for Jackie, an ambitious bodybuilder headed through town to Vegas in pursuit of her dream. But their love ignites violence, pulling them deep into the web of Lou's criminal family.

Directed by Rose Glass. Starring Anna Baryshnikov, Kristen Stewart, and Dave Franco.

Love Lies Bleeding is a romantic thriller starring Kristen Stewart as a gym owner in a small town she hates, and Katy M. O'Brian as a competitive bodybuilder who comes to town on her way to a Las Vegas competition, and the two women fall in love. Fueled by Stewart's stash of steroids, O'Brian gains strength but also becomes erratic, and her actions turn Stewart's life upside down. These two lead characters are fantastic. I love them so much and I love watching them interact. That was what sold me on most of the story, this dark difficult love story about people in terrible situations. But what really clinched it for me was the final climactic scene. I'm not going to spoil what happens, but if you've seen the movie you know what I'm talking about. There's a wonderful element of bizarre fantasy that suddenly disrupts this dark, realistic horror story. It's so incongruous with the tone that had been set up previously that it ran the risk of ruining the film, but for me it snaps it all into place. It's a sudden burst of light and hope in the middle of a story that seems so hopeless, and suddenly all the pieces fit together. I was really impressed with this one. It was slow going at first, but once I was locked in, it totally worked.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Love Lies Bleeding > Killing Season

Love Lies Bleeding < In the Name of the Father

Love Lies Bleeding > 7 Plus Seven

Love Lies Bleeding < Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Love Lies Bleeding > River's Edge

Love Lies Bleeding < The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey

Love Lies Bleeding > Moby Dick

Love Lies Bleeding > Joe Versus the Volcano

Love Lies Bleeding < Wolf

Love Lies Bleeding > The Pirate Movie

Love Lies Bleeding > The Song of Lunch

Final spot: #1332 out of 4032, or 67%.

Monkey Man (2024)

IMDb plot summary: An anonymous young man unleashes a campaign of vengeance against the corrupt leaders who murdered his mother and continue to systematically victimize the poor and powerless.

Directed by Dev Patel. Starring Dev Patel, Sharlto Copley, and Pitobash.

Monkey Man is a film directed by Dev Patel. It tells the story of a man who  works as a masked wrestler but has a secret plan of Revenge to take down the person who killed his mother when he was a child. I really couldn't get into this one. It's such an odd mix -- for example, at one point it hints that maybe Patel's character is actually some newly embodied version of the Monkey King himself, but then moments later it flips back around to being an extremely dark and gritty and violent action film. I'm still not entirely sure whether we're supposed to actually be rooting for the character at the end, because as far as I can see, he seems just like someone who is consumed by his own anger and let it turn him into a monster who has no qualms taking that out on everybody around him, whether they have actually earned that anger or not. It's in many ways an ugly film, and I can't decipher the intent of the film well enough to know whether that was intentional, or a stylistic choice that overwhelms whatever the story was trying to do. This is one that I think I want to look into a little bit more, because I feel like I missed what people liked about it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Monkey Man < Killing Season

Monkey Man < City Slickers

Monkey Man > Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)

Monkey Man < Bright Lights

Monkey Man > Little Nikita

Monkey Man > Phir hera pheri

Monkey Man < Up the River

Monkey Man < Robin and the 7 Hoods

Monkey Man < Roberta

Monkey Man > Cinderella (2021)

Monkey Man < The Omen (1976)

Monkey Man > Billy the Kid

Final spot: #3334 out of 4031, or 17%.

The House on Carroll Street (1988)

IMDb plot summary: In 1950s America, an FBI agent and a blacklist victim uncover a plot to smuggle Nazi war criminals into the country.

Directed by Peter Yates. Starring Kelly McGillis, Jeff Daniels, and Mandy Patinkin.

The House on Carroll Street is a story about a woman who thinks she has uncovered a plot to sneak Nazi war criminals into the US under assumed names so that they can work with the US government. She does some digging, accompanied by an FBI agent who thinks she's on the right track, and the mystery unfolds. This is the next film in my Peter Yates filmography, and after jumping around all kinds of genres early on, this point in his career is mostly unremarkable action thrillers. The story keeps setting up interesting characters and then dropping them, such as the old woman who lives in the titular house on Carroll Street, and who is a seminal character in the first half of the film and then just disappears from it almost entirely in the second half. The romance in this is also really sloppy, with the second half of the film building it up in this big dramatic way that really wasn't earned. Just from those two specific critiques, the pattern is clearly that this is a movie that switches gears dramatically in the second half and doesn't do a good job of following through on what it's set up or setting up what it finally lands on. I enjoy Mandy Patinkin as the villainous government agent, but when am I not going to enjoy Mandy Patinkin? There's not a lot else to recommend this one.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The House on Carroll Street < Hamlet (2009)

The House on Carroll Street < The Visitor

The House on Carroll Street > Mr. & Mrs. Smith

The House on Carroll Street > Bright Lights

The House on Carroll Street > The Phantom Tollbooth

The House on Carroll Street > Where to Invade Next

The House on Carroll Street < The Great Escape

The House on Carroll Street > La Dolce Vita

The House on Carroll Street > Faust: A German Folk Legend

The House on Carroll Street > Little Lord Fauntleroy

The House on Carroll Street < Frantic

The House on Carroll Street < The Killing

Final spot: #3058 out of 4030, or 24%.

The Girl Said No (1930)

IMDb plot summary: A brash, pushy young man gets a job in a bank and sets his cap for his boss's secretary, but the death of his father makes him reassess his priorities.

Directed by Sam Wood. Starring William Haines, Leila Hyams, and Polly Moran.

The Girl Said No is a movie from 1930 about a rich young playboy who ends up falling in love with a secretary. He is very pushy toward her, to the point where she is absolutely not interested. After he loses all his money and has to start to actually work for a living, he tries to woo her again, with a slightly lower ego. My main problem with this one is basically exactly what the title says -- the girl said no and he doesn't care. His pushiness doesn't go away after his change of heart, he's just a little bit less absorbed with himself, but the big romantic ending is full of moments that are basically assault, and that doesn't work for me at all. I did find it interesting how the film was paced. It felt very modern in how the beats of the story unfolded. And if that ending had been less approving of literal kidnapping and sexual assault in the name of romance, it might have landed differently. But ultimately what I hated about the guy from the beginning was unchanged by the end, and that makes the romance angle really not work. It's too bad, because it really set itself up to be a fun story about someone improving themselves and then fell right back into some really icky romantic tropes.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Girl Said No < Hamlet (2009)

The Girl Said No < Cry-Baby

The Girl Said No > Mr. & Mrs. Smith

The Girl Said No > Bright Lights

The Girl Said No > The Phantom Tollbooth

The Girl Said No < Heidi (1937)

The Girl Said No < Dinner at Eight

The Girl Said No > Deep Blue Sea

The Girl Said No > Elizabethtown

The Girl Said No > Bunraku

The Girl Said No > Our Idiot Brother

The Girl Said No < Cassandra's Dream

Final spot: #3118 out of 4029, or 23%.

Fitzcarraldo (1982)

IMDb plot summary: The story of Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, an extremely determined man who intends to build an opera house in the middle of a jungle.

Directed by Werner Herzog. Starring Klaus Kinski, Claudia Cardinale, and José Lewgoy.

Fitzcarraldo follows a man who is obsessed with the idea of building a world-class opera house in the middle of Peru, and to make his dream happen, he takes on the near-impossible task of hauling a steamship over the mountains to get to an unexploited source of rubber. I've seen very little by Werner Herzog, and that's something I need to amend, as I definitely liked this one better than Aguirre Wrath of God. It's a slow movie but it really highlights how impossible it feels to pursue thing after thing after thing just to read your one final goal you actually care about. There are long stretches where the slowness gets to me, though, so I feel like it's one of those movies that I best appreciate after watching, not during, and I wonder if some distance from it and some thinking over it will land it higher on my chart.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Fitzcarraldo < Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles

Fitzcarraldo > Cry-Baby

Fitzcarraldo < Office Space

Fitzcarraldo > Dear Frankie

Fitzcarraldo > No Sudden Move

Fitzcarraldo > 10

Fitzcarraldo < No Highway in the Sky

Fitzcarraldo < For Your Consideration

Fitzcarraldo < John Dies at the End

Fitzcarraldo < Satantango

Fitzcarraldo > Diner

Fitzcarraldo < Eleni

Final spot: #2578 out of 4028, or 36%.

Loose Ankles (1930)

IMDb plot summary: In this light romantic comedy, 17-year old Loretta Young is cast as wealthy socialite Ann Harper, who has inherited a fortune provided that the family is involved in no scandals appearing in print, and her two aunts and uncle consent to the marriage.

Directed by Ted Wilde. Starring Loretta Young, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Louise Fazenda.

Loose Ankles tells the story of a wealthy heiress who inherits most of her father's estate, on the condition that she a) gets married, and b) is not involved in any scandals. She is disgusted by her generational wealth, however, and how greedy it has made her relatives whose inheritances also rest on those conditions, so she vows to get involved in a scandal, which will instead donate the entire estate to charity. She hires a young man to be seen with her in a compromising position, except he turns out to be a genuinely nice person. Now that I've spent half this review summarizing the plot... it's a great premise that kind of disappears halfway through the movie, and that's too bad, because it's so enjoyable while that's the story's main plot. The second half mostly becomes a silly tangent involving the female lead's aunts and the male lead's friends hanging out at a restaurant, and it loses its spark a bit. I really enjoy the premise and the first half of the film, and I wish it had kept up that momentum the whole way.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Loose Ankles > Hamlet (2009)

Loose Ankles < Akira Kurosawa's Dreams

Loose Ankles > Peeping Tom

Loose Ankles < Draft Day

Loose Ankles < Westfront 1918

Loose Ankles < The Meg

Loose Ankles < Ballet Shoes

Loose Ankles < The Children's Hour

Loose Ankles < The Brood

Loose Ankles > Singles

Loose Ankles < Laurence Anyways

Loose Ankles > Garbo Talks

Final spot: #1489 out of 4027, or 63%.

Saturday Night (2024)

IMDb plot summary: At 11:30pm on October 11th, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever. Find out what happened behind the scenes in the 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live (1975).

Directed by Jason Reitman. Starring Gabriel LaBelle, Rachel Sennott, and Cory Michael Smith.

Saturday Night is a fictionalized retelling of the airing of the first episode of Saturday Night Live. All opening nights are chaotic, but this one is especially so, from disappearing cast members to no lights in the studio to way too much material that nobody's willing to cut. The energy and pacing of this film are beautifully on point -- it's a palpable tension as Lorne Michaels rushes from meeting to meeting, putting out fires and trying to make sure his team is ready to go on when it hits 11:30. The group of actors they got to play all the cast members is truly astonishing in how well they evoke these famous comedians and performers. It's extremely easy to get lost in the story and believe you're watching the real thing. It also treads the right line between sincerity about artistic dreams and cynicism about how seldom those dreams get realized. Overall, a really good watch. It's been awhile since I saw a Jason Reitman film I really liked, and I'm delighted that this one has come along.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Saturday Night > Hamlet (2009)

Saturday Night > In the Name of the Father

Saturday Night < Network

Saturday Night < Spencer

Saturday Night > Shiva Baby

Saturday Night < CODA

Saturday Night > Tell It to the Bees

Saturday Night < The Red Shoes

Saturday Night < The Fantasticks

Saturday Night > Do the Right Thing

Saturday Night > Il Postino

Saturday Night > Holiday (1930)

Final spot: #841 out of 4026, or 79%.

Abigail (2024)

IMDb plot summary: After a group of criminals kidnap the ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, they retreat to an isolated mansion, unaware that they're locked inside with no normal little girl.

Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. Starring Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, and Alisha Weir.

Abigail follows a group of mercenary criminals hired in a highly-mysterious heist to kidnap a young girl and hold her hostage from her powerful father. Once they find out who her father is, though, and the bizarre legends surrounding him, they start to second guess the job... and then things get worse. This is fun enough as a horror movie, with some good moments and entertaining effects. It does get unexpectedly gross at a few moments, but not necessarily in a way that works against the movie. It is, however, increasingly difficult to remember much about it. I know I enjoyed it while watching it, but it turns out to be ultimately a very unmemorable movie. I wonder if maybe a sillier tone would bring some extra oomph to the story, especially once the big reveal happens. Worth a watch if you're a horror fan, but it doesn't stand quite as strongly on its own.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Abigail > Killing Season

Abigail < In the Name of the Father

Abigail < Peeping Tom

Abigail > Trading Places

Abigail < The Dresser

Abigail < Man Hunt

Abigail < Splice

Abigail > Rififi

Abigail > My Week With Marilyn

Abigail < Knight and Day

Abigail < Exotica

Abigail < Anna and the Apocalypse

Final spot: #1737 out of 4025, or 57%.

The Man From Earth (2007)

IMDb plot summary: An impromptu goodbye party for Professor John Oldman becomes a mysterious interrogation after the retiring scholar reveals to his colleagues he has a longer and stranger past than they can imagine.

Directed by Richard Schenkman. Starring David Lee Smith, Tony Todd, and John Billingsley.

The Man From Earth begins with a group of academics helping their friend and co-worker move, and as they talk, he poses a hypothetical: What if he were actually an immortal caveman who's lived for millennia? Could he prove or disprove it? His friends begin a lively debate on the topic, but as time goes on, more of them begin to wonder if it's actually true. This is a unique film that absolutely reeks of super-low budget but a creative writer. It's a one-room, real-time, talky theatrical piece that often slightly missteps in its execution but in a way that feels charmingly homemade for me and my roots in minimalist theater. Seeing how the different characters react to this preposterous claim is a lot of fun, and I found myself trying to, in a sense, solve the puzzle along with them and decipher who this person was. It felt like being invited along on a thought experiment with a group of interesting people, and even if the music was cheesy and the dialogue occasionally pretentious or awkward, it was the kind of experience I don't often get from films and very much enjoyed. If anything, the film's flaws actually add to its vibe, and I had a great time with it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Man From Earth > Killing Season

The Man From Earth > In the Name of the Father

The Man From Earth < Network

The Man From Earth < Spencer

The Man From Earth < Shiva Baby

The Man From Earth < Erin Brockovich

The Man From Earth > Mister Roberts

The Man From Earth < Sherlock Jr.

The Man From Earth > Love's Labour's Lost

The Man From Earth < Dogma

The Man From Earth < Night Must Fall

The Man From Earth < The Substance

Final spot: #966 out of 4024, or 76%.

Road House (2024)

IMDb plot summary: Ex-UFC fighter Dalton takes a job as a bouncer at a Florida Keys roadhouse, only to discover that this paradise is not all it seems.

Directed by Doug Liman. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Daniela Melchior, and Conor McGregor.

Road House is a 2024 remake of a 1980s movie I have never seen. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a former wrestler who takes a job as a bouncer of sorts at a bar in the Florida Keys that attracts some serious troublemakers. As he works to keep the place safe, he begins to find some sketchy business deals might be behind the increase in violent behavior. What a strange, silly movie this is. Gyllenhaal is extremely entertaining with his sense of absolute detachment from the entire situation, casually tossing exhausted one-liners as he pummels the film's villains. It's pure ridiculousness, and as far as that vein goes, it does its job pretty well. It loses its way a bit when it tries to get sincere or do basically anything with the female characters. We spend a little bit too much time on back stories and unraveling mysteries when that's not what the film really cares about, and as such there are some long dull sections. But when the film is just being goofy, it's a fun watch.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Road House < Killing Season

Road House > City Slickers

Road House > Val

Road House > A Bridge Too Far

Road House > The Black Pirate

Road House < Be Kind Rewind

Road House < Passing

Road House < The Beach

Road House > My Girl

Road House < Malignant

Road House < Fatherhood

Road House > The Trial

Final spot: #2128 out of 4023, or 47%.

Men Without Law (1930)

IMDb plot summary: Returning from the war, Buck finds his younger brother in trouble; while trailing him he gets caught by Murdock, who takes his letter of introduction to the Del Rays.

Directed by Louis King. Starring Buck Jones, Carmelita Geraghty, and Thomas Carr.

Men Without Law follows a soldier who comes home from the war to find his younger brother getting into trouble with the wrong people. The soldier tries to help his brother get everything pulled together, but the leader of the brother's gang isn't about to let him leave. This story kind of wanders all over the place for being so short, and as I typed up the synopsis I kept remembering other subplots that I'd forgotten about -- there's a whole thing with the family of one of the soldier's army buddy, and the gang leader impersonates him to get their money... It's definitely entertaining enough, but it meanders. I wish it settled more definitively on some of these stories, because each one individually is pretty engaging, but watching them interact with each other isn't. A pretty middle-of-the-road watch for my 1930 project.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Men Without Law < Hamlet (2009)

Men Without Law > City Slickers

Men Without Law > Val

Men Without Law > A Bridge Too Far

Men Without Law < Meet John Doe

Men Without Law > Arlo the Alligator Boy

Men Without Law < Anna

Men Without Law < Critical Care

Men Without Law < The Morning After

Men Without Law > Licorice Pizza

Men Without Law < The Lighthouse

Men Without Law < The Baby-Sitters Club

Final spot: #2195 out of 4022, or 45%.

Anora (2024)

IMDb plot summary: A young stripper from Brooklyn meets and impulsively marries the son of a Russian oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairy tale is threatened as his parents set out for New York to get the marriage annulled.

Directed by Sean Baker. Starring Mikey Madison, Paul Weissman, and Yura Borisov.

Anora is the name of the film's title character, although she goes by Ani. She's a club dancer who hits it off with a rich Russian playboy, and as they get closer and closer, it looks like she's going to get a Cinderella-style happy ending until suddenly everything goes sideways. I was a big fan of The Florida Project by the same director, and when Anora started getting all the awards love, I was looking forward to seeing it. I have to say it didn't hit quite the same way for me. I find our lead character likable and relatable, especially as she's put in horrible circumstances and continuously fights back. But there's an odd tonal shift here that I couldn't place until I saw that it was being credited in some circles as a "screwball comedy," and while I don't think it's particularly funny, there is a zany "I can't believe this is happening" vibe to the second half of the film, and it makes for an odd journey. The final scenes come back to working for me a little bit more, but it doesn't all cohere as smoothly as I hoped a Best Picture winner might. This one might need to sit with me for awhile and then get a revisit, to see if it gels better with me.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Anora > Killing Season

Anora < Elf

Anora > 7 Plus Seven

Anora < Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Anora > The Minus Man

Anora < Trick 'r Treat

Anora < A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Anora > A Star Is Born (1937)

Anora > Prometheus

Anora > The Miseducation of Cameron Post

Anora > Trouble in Paradise

Anora > Moby Dick (1930)

Final spot: #1350 out of 4020, or 66%.

Moana (2016)

IMDb plot summary: In ancient Polynesia, when a terrible curse incurred by the demigod Maui reaches Moana's island, she answers the Ocean's call to seek out Maui to set things right.

Directed by Ron Clements, John Musker, and Don Hall. Starring Auli'i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, and Rachel House.

Moana is a Disney film about the daughter of a Pacific Island chief on a remote island that seems to be losing its ability to sustain its people. She thinks she's found what will revive their island, but it involves leaving the island and adventuring across the sea, which her father is staunchly against. This was a movie that has been on my "I need to see this" list for a LONG time and I'm glad I finally got around to it, because it's quite good. I kind of knew some of the songs going into it, but they're significantly more interesting in the context of the story. I'm happy to join the chorus of folks lauding "How Far I'll Go" as one of the best "I want" songs Disney's put out there. The story is simple but well-crafted, hitting all the beats you want a story like this to hit. It is of course also very nice to have a princess story where the crux of the main character's arc doesn't revolve around her marriage. Overall, definitely one of Disney's stronger efforts this century, and I'm glad I finally got to watch it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Moana > Killing Season

Moana > Key Largo

Moana < Network

Moana > Theater Camp

Moana > Sleeping Beauty

Moana < Black Panther

Moana > Regarding Henry

Moana > I've Loved You So Long

Moana < Tomboy

Moana > Lawrence of Arabia

Moana < Paddington 2

Moana > Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Final spot: #574 out of 4021, or 86%.

Rebel Ridge (2024)

IMDb plot summary: A former Marine grapples his way through a web of small-town corruption when an attempt to post bail for his cousin escalates into a violent standoff with the local police chief.

Directed by Jeremy Saulnier. Starring Aaron Pierre, Don Johnson, and AnnaSophia Robb.

Rebel Ridge follows a man who is on the way to post bail for his cousin when the local cops pull him over and seize his money. He tries to get it back, but the police are having none of it, and he decides to take matters into his own hands. I first learned about civil forfeiture from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and it astounded me that something that seemed so blatantly wrong was an active legal practice, and this was a fascinating look at the specifics of how that can be used against people. The film is paced oddly, and I still can't decide if I like it or not -- it seems to jump from mood to mood throughout the course of the story, and I kept thinking it was one kind of story and then it would abruptly shift to another, which was often exciting, but also incohesive. That being said, it did effectively create an atmosphere of being trapped by corrupt authorities and having no available recourse. I'm not sure it stuck the landing as well as I'd have hoped, but I think some of that is coming from its uncertainty as to what kind of story it wanted to be -- if your story isn't clear, the ending isn't going to be able to fully satisfy. Still a good movie and worth a watch, but it was missing something for me to make it a great movie.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Rebel Ridge > Can't Hardly Wait

Rebel Ridge < Elf

Rebel Ridge < 7 Plus Seven

Rebel Ridge > You've Got Mail

Rebel Ridge > The HItchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Rebel Ridge > Glory

Rebel Ridge > Begin Again

Rebel Ridge > All That Jazz

Rebel Ridge > For a Few Dollars More

Rebel Ridge > Family Business

Rebel Ridge > National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Rebel Ridge > Mrs. Brown

Final spot: #1508 out of 4019, or 62%.

The Substance (2024)

IMDb plot summary: A fading celebrity takes a black-market drug: a cell-replicating substance that creates a younger, better version of herself.

Directed by Coralie Fargeat. Starring Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, and Dennis Quaid.

The Substance stars Demi Moore as an aging fitness celebrity who begins taking a mysterious "substance" with the promise it will make her young again. What it does is create a separate, younger, more beautiful body that trades off with Moore every seven days. This does not go well. This is, as I expected, an extremely gross but extremely fascinating movie that makes the most of its body horror opportunities. Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley are both phenomenal in their very different roles, though Moore definitely steps it up. The final section of the movie is truly wild, as we see the horrific breakdown of the split body as it attempts to keep its youth at any cost. It's fun and creative and delightful in a disgusting Cronenbergian way. The very last shot featuring Moore on her Walk of Fame star is both hilarious and haunting... and more than a little tragic. Overall, I think the film is very effective in its goals, both its satirical goals and its goals of getting some visceral "oh ew" reactions. It was exciting to see this get so much awards love, something that horror films rarely get.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Substance > Can't Hardly Wait

The Substance > Key Largo

The Substance < The People Under the Stairs

The Substance < Theater Camp

The Substance < Shiva Baby

The Substance < Erin Brockovich

The Substance > Finian's Rainbow

The Substance < Sherlock Jr.

The Substance > Swing Girls

The Substance < Dogma

The Substance < Night Must Fall

The Substance > Love's Labour's Lost (2000)

Final spot: #963 out of 4018, or 76%.

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988)

IMDb plot summary: Men seeking relief from the Black Death, guided by a boy's vision, dig a tunnel from 14th century England to 20th century New Zealand.

Directed by Vincent Ward. Starring Bruce Lyons, Chris Haywood, and Hamish Gough.

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey follows a remote village in 1300s Cumbria. One member of the village has just learned that the Black Plague is spreading across the land, and the villagers try to figure out how to fend it off. One young boy begins to dream about what they need to do to protect themselves, and the villagers all follow him as he guides them into, unexpectedly, the modern world in search of protection. This movie captured my interest early on and then went in new and fascinating directions, and I liked that I couldn't ever figure out where it was going. The melding of fantasy into the medieval setting was done seamlessly, and I really enjoyed that. The film has that rare quality of being so engaging that even when I start to lose the plot toward the end of what is real and what is not, I don't really mind, it's holding my attention regardless. It's one that I'm intrigued to watch again sometime, knowing where the story ultimately lands, because I'm very curious how it will play for me a second time.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey > The Call

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey < Key Largo

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey > Mrs. Brown

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey < Hedwig and the Angry Inch

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey > River's Edge

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey < Trick 'r Treat

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey > Moby Dick (1930)

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey > OMG: Oh My God!

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey > A Little Night Music

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey > M

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey > Creature from the Black Lagoon

Final spot: #1319 out of 4017, or 67%. That seems much too low, but TCDNL.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

IMDb plot summary: A charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers embark on an epic quest to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people.

Directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein. Starring Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, and Regé-Jean Page.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a fantasy story starring Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez as two thieves who break out of jail and go back to find Pine's daughter, who was left behind when he was imprisoned. However, they find one of their former colleagues has betrayed them, poisoned the daughter's mind against them, and plans to kill them. So they band together with some other friends to try and take him down. I'm often bored by fantasy stories, but this one works well on the strength of the characters. They are much more creatively written than many bland fantasy tropes, and Chris Pine in particular really sells the relatability of his character. Watching this back-to-back with Paddington 2 was also really fun, watching Hugh Grant in his "villain era." It's funny and smart and a pretty enjoyable ride in a genre I typically don't relate to.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves > The Call

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves < Elf

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves > National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves > Monsoon Wedding

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves > Last Action Hero

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves < My Name Is Bruce

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves > Sleeping With Other People

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves < Gremlins

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves < Hannah Arendt

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves > Volver

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves > Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves < I Want You Back

Final spot: #1091 out of 4015, or 73%.

Godzilla Minus One (2023)

IMDb plot summary: Post-war Japan is at its lowest point when a new crisis emerges in the form of a giant monster, baptized in the horrific power of the atomic bomb.

Directed by Takashi Yamazaki. Starring Minami Hamabe, Ryûnosuke Kamiki, and Sakura Andô.

Godzilla Minus One is set just after the end of World War II, focusing on a disgraced Japanese former pilot who is struggling to make ends meet. When Godzilla appears as a threat to the country, the pilot is brought in to help as one of the few people who have encountered the monster before. This is the second Godzilla movie I watched as part of my 40 to 4K challenge, and it isn't nearly as interesting to me as Shin Godzilla was. I was not as drawn in by the characters and their quests to take down the monster. I did like the monster design -- some of those giant battles in the sea were very striking visually. And on paper, I really appreciate how much it centered around the aftermath of World War 2 in Japan, and how the appearance of a giant sea monster in that moment is just... spectacularly bad timing. Overall, it's a fine movie that is well put together but, as with so many franchise films for me, it all blends together with others telling basically the same story.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Godzilla Minus One > A Silent Voice

Godzilla Minus One < Elf

Godzilla Minus One > Flight of the Navigator

Godzilla Minus One > Saving Private Ryan

Godzilla Minus One < Last Action Hero

Godzilla Minus One > Nick of Time

Godzilla Minus One < The River Wild

Godzilla Minus One < The Rose

Godzilla Minus One < It (2017)

Godzilla Minus One > Doctor Strange

Godzilla Minus One < High Strung

Godzilla Minus One > Cool Runnings

Final spot: #1185 out of 4011, or 70%.

Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018)

IMDb plot summary: An exploration of the life, lessons, and legacy of iconic children's television host Fred Rogers.

Directed by Morgan Neville.

Won't You Be My Neighbor? is a documentary about Fred Rogers and his career, primarily his children's show Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, but also the other things he did throughout his life to try to achieve his goal of spreading kindness and conveying love. This was exactly the movie I needed to watch this year. I didn't even watch much Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood as a child, but this was so wholesome and hopeful that I teared up more than once. I loved seeing all the people who'd worked with him throughout the years talking about how deeply he cared about kids and the lessons they were learning about themselves. I expected any celebrity documentary to be more focused on trying to dig into the darker side of someone, but this really doesn't do that much at all, focusing more on his impact and heart for helping people than anything. As an educator myself, although for older ages, it really made me more hopeful about my place in the world. I may not have a reach like Fred Rogers, but I think our hearts are in a similar place, and on some level I have to trust that that is going to make a difference for someone. This was the movie I needed to watch right now, and documentaries rarely affect me that way. I'm glad I finally made space to watch it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Won't You Be My Neighbor? > The Call

Won't You Be My Neighbor? > Key Largo

Won't You Be My Neighbor? > Network

Won't You Be My Neighbor? < Parasite

Won't You Be My Neighbor? < Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Won't You Be My Neighbor? > Tarzan

Won't You Be My Neighbor? < Once

Won't You Be My Neighbor? > Field of Dreams

Won't You Be My Neighbor? < I.Q.

Won't You Be My Neighbor? < Half a Sixpence

Won't You Be My Neighbor? > Shall We Dance? (1996)

Won't You Be My Neighbor? > Trust

Final spot: #419 out of 4014, or 90%.

Oliver and Company (1988)

IMDb plot summary: A lost and alone kitten joins a gang of dogs engaged in petty larceny in New York City.

Directed by George Scribner. Starring Joey Lawrence, Billy Joel, and Cheech Marin.

Oliver and Company is a Disney animated film that is a loose adaptation of Oliver Twist, with animals. Oliver is an abandoned kitten who gets taken in by a pack of thieving dogs. But then a human child finds Oliver and takes him in, and he finds his loyalty tested between his two groups of new friends. The songs are by far the best part of this weirdly short movie. The primary narrative arc, of Oliver having to choose between his two sets of new friends, would make a lot more sense if we spent more than the length of a single song showing Oliver bonding with his animal friends. As it is, it seems absolutely ludicrous that they would feel in any way betrayed by his wanting to be adopted by a rich girl and live in a mansion. That being said, the musical numbers in this are great -- not only written well but also animated very dynamically, so that the visuals really highlight the musical strengths. This is a fun series of animated music videos but sloppy as a full movie.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Oliver and Company < Can't Hardly Wait

Oliver and Company < On the Waterfront

Oliver and Company > The Internship

Oliver and Company > Charlie Wilson's War

Oliver and Company > Au bonheur des dames

Oliver and Company < Ivan the Terrible, Part One

Oliver and Company > You Only Live Once

Oliver and Company > What's Up, Tiger Lily?

Oliver and Company > Who's That Knocking At My Door

Oliver and Company > She's All That

Oliver and Company > Queen Margot

Final spot: #3076 out of 4016, or 23%.

The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)

IMDb plot summary: Kermit and his friends go to New York City to get their musical on Broadway only to find it's a more difficult task than they anticipated.

Directed by Frank Oz. Starring Jim Henson, Frank Oz, and Dave Goelz.

The Muppets Take Manhattan follows Kermit and company in New York City as they try to get their school play produced on Broadway. It turns out to be tougher than they thought, though, and the group goes through quite a few ups and downs trying to get their show on stage. I always prefer non-literary adaptations of Muppet stories, but this one feels a little flat. The story feels rushed, partly because it sets aside a whole bunch of time at the end of the film to watch a huge chunk of their stage musical, and so the build-up to get to that moment has to move quickly. There's an abrupt amnesia subplot that is by far the most enjoyable piece of the movie, and I wish that had come up a little earlier and been a more substantial plot point. Definitely a hit-and-miss film with a few fun moments, but the final results doesn't quite reach the mark for me.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Muppets Take Manhattan < The Call

The Muppets Take Manhattan > I Am Number Four

The Muppets Take Manhattan > Legends of the Fall

The Muppets Take Manhattan < Infinity Pool

The Muppets Take Manhattan > Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library

The Muppets Take Manhattan < The Kids Are All Right

The Muppets Take Manhattan > Thank You For Smoking

The Muppets Take Manhattan < Crank

The Muppets Take Manhattan > Phantom of the Paradise

The Muppets Take Manhattan > Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

The Muppets Take Manhattan > In the Heat of the Night

Final spot: #2334 out of 4010, or 42%.