Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

IMDb plot summary: An officer finds himself caught in a time loop in a war with an alien race. His skills increase as he faces the same brutal combat scenarios, and his union with a Special Forces warrior gets him closer and closer to defeating the enemy.
Directed by Doug Liman. Starring Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Brendan Gleeson, and Bill Paxton.

(Spoilers about the basic premise, which is in a lot of the trailers and promo material but isn't really revealed until about 20-30 minutes in.)

The trailers for this made it look pretty generic, so I was surprised and delighted to find that this is actually a solid and fun sci-fi movie. Its Groundhog Day-esque premise is executed perfectly, conveying the constant retries without getting boring or too repetitive. That's hard to do. The characters are likable and fun, the aliens are interesting, and the movie doesn't waste its gimmick. Definitely worth a watch.

3.5 stars.

Flickchart: #604 out of 2172, below Throne of Blood and above White Heat.

Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)

IMDb plot summary: Elvis and JFK, both alive and in nursing homes, fight for the souls of their fellow residents as they battle an ancient Egyptian Mummy.
Directed by Don Coscarelli. Starring Bruce Campbell, Ossie Davis, Ella Joyce, and Heidi Marnhout.

Oh, this was ridiculous and so much fun. A film about two elderly people fighting an undead mummy would be fun anyway, but when one of those people is Elvis and the other is a black man who's convinced he's JFK, it just gets more fun. It's silly and preposterous and great fun. I thought this one would be pretty high on my list, and I'm happy that it was.

4 stars.

Flickchart: #504 out of 2171, below Big and above Zodiac.

Pom Poko (1994)

IMDb plot summary: A community of magical shapeshifting raccoons desperately struggle to prevent their forest home from being destroyed by urban development.
Directd by Isao Takahata. Starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Clancy Brown, Maurice LaMarche, and Andre Stojka (in the English version).

(Mild spoilers about the tone of the ending.)

I REALLY liked this one. When it started, I was not so enthused because I don't tend to like movies about animals, but this movie painted such a vivid picture of the raccoons' story that it was impossible not to get wrapped up in it. I found the ending very moving and darkly beautiful. This is definitely one of my favorite Studio Ghibli flicks.

4 stars.

Flickchart: #434 out of 2170, below The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and above The Pirates of Penzance.

The Wedding Singer (1998)

IMDb plot summary: Robbie, the singer and Julia, the waitress are both engaged to be married but to the wrong people. Fortune intervenes to help them discover each other.
Directed by Frank Coraci. Starring Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Christine Taylor, and Allen Covert.

I had the same reaction to this that I had to Happy Gilmore: that it was a good movie ruined by Adam Sandler and his stupid face. If there WAS ever going to be a movie that should make me not hate Adam Sandler, it would probably be this one. He's painted as a genuinely nice person, and if I didn't just instinctively hate him SO MUCH as an actor, I would probably have REALLY enjoyed this. It's a good story, a fun soundtrack, and I like Drew Barrymore much more in this than I have in anything else. So I think I'll stick with the musical, which keeps the story but will always have a leading man I find more likeable than Adam Sandler, because that is everyone in the world. It gets a medium ranking but would probably have gotten much higher with alternate casting.

3 stars.

Flickchart: #844 out of 2169, below Memoirs of a Geisha and above Downfall.

Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1989)

IMDb plot summary: A young boy whose dreams transcend reality is sucked into his own fantasy, which is everything he has dreamed of until he unleashes a century old secret that may not only destroy this perfect dream world but reality itself.
Directed by Masami Hata and William T. Hurtz. Starring Gabriel Damon, Mickey Rooney, Rene Auberjonois, and Laura Mooney (in the English version).

Well, this is... simultaneously cute and terrifying. It's definitely not something I had much connection with. The story is simple and straightforward, with nothing really making it stand out. I'm not sure who I would recommend this to. It's too dark for me to feel comfortable letting young kids watching it, but older kids and adults will probably be unimpressed with the story. So I didn't really care for this one.

1.5 stars.

Flickchart: #1503 out of 2168, below Winter's Bone and above In Cold Blood.

Highlander (1986)

IMDb plot summary: An immortal Scottish swordsman must confront the last of his immortal opponent, a murderously brutal barbarian who lusts for the fabled "Prize".
Directed by Russell Mulcahy. Starring Christopher Lambert, Roxanne Hart, Clancy Brown, and Sean Connery.

I enjoy campy movies, so I was pretty hopeful for this one. I really like the premise and I had tons of fun with the over-the-top fight scenes, but the movie gets bogged down in lengthy exposition and uninteresting mystery solving. It makes the movie feel longer than it is, and I spent a lot of it just waiting impatiently for something to happen.

2.5 stars.

Flickchart: #1105 out of 2167, below The Fourth Kind and above X-Men.

V/H/S/2 (2013)

IMDb plot summary: Searching for a missing student, two private investigators break into his house and find collection of VHS tapes. Viewing the horrific contents of each cassette, they realize there may be dark motives behind the student's disappearance.

This is a VAST improvement over the first one. The individual shorts are much more creative (and much scarier), and the gimmick tying them all together is about ten times more interesting. I still prefer a full-length horror flick to these shorter ones and slow-building tension to jump scares, but this is pretty decent.

3 stars.

Flickchart: #900 out of 2166, below City Lights and above Paris, je t'aime.