L'Atalante (1934)

IMDb plot summary: Newly married couple Juliette and a ship captain Jean struggle through marriage as they travel on the L'atalante along with the captain's first mate Le père Jules and a cabin boy.
Directed by Jean Vigo. Starring Michel Simon, Dita Parlo, Jean Dasté, and Gilles Margaritis.

(Spoilers.)

While I definitely didn't fall in love with this movie -- I found the leads a little too unlikable -- I liked what it was trying to do. It's a simple little story of a new marriage and all the trials and tribulations that came along with it. It vaguely reminded me of Sunrise, one of my 28 Days of Romance movies two years ago, in its simplicity, although I was much more taken by that story of redemption. Here everything is wrapped up a little too quickly, and though I was happy to see the lovers reunite, I still found myself uneasily thinking, "They better not get too comfortable. Their problems are far from over."

2.5 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
L'atalante > The Madness of King George
L'atalante < Sleeping Beauty
L'atalante < The Silver Chair
L'atalante < Runaway Jury
L'atalante > Sex Tape
L'atalante < Mrs. Doubtfire
L'atalante < Kung Fu Panda
L'atalante < Father of the Bride Part II
L'atalante < Judgment at Nuremberg
L'atalante > Chasing Amy
L'atalante < Inside Llewyn Davis

Final spot: #1083 out of 2317.

Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959)

IMDb plot summary: A French actress filming an anti-war film in Hiroshima has an affair with a married Japanese architect as they share their differing perspectives on war.
Directed by Alain Resnais. Starring Emmanuelle Riva and Eiji Okada.

If you asked me to name my favorite French films, I'd cheerful rattle off Amelie and The City of Lost Children, Amour... and then get stuck. There's just something common to a lot of French films that doesn't sit well with me, and Hiroshima mon amour has it in spades.

While I've never been able to describe it exactly, let me try here. This film is clearly trying to do something big and meaningful. It uses powerful images and themes, plays around with time through flashbacks, hints at layers that are never revealed, gives its lead character long poetic monologues. But none of it works for me in the end because there's an emotional distance, a huge chasm of analytical coldness I can't get over. Maybe it's because of the long poetic monologues, maybe it's because of the barely-hinted-at plotline, maybe it's because of a potentially unreliable narrator, but whatever it may be, I found myself disconnected, admiring but not caring.

1.5 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Hiroshima mon amour < My Best Friend's Wedding
Hiroshima mon amour > The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)
Hiroshima mon amour < The Hidden Fortress
Hiroshima mon amour < Camp
Hiroshima mon amour > Almost Famous
Hiroshima mon amour > About Last Night...
Hiroshima mon amour < Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
Hiroshima mon amour > Sweet and Lowdown
Hiroshima mon amour < Mud
Hiroshima mon amour > Send Me No Flowers
Final spot: #1616 out of 2316, below Mud and above Send Me No Flowers.

Gilda (1946)

IMDb plot summary: Johnny Farrell is a gambling cheat who turns straight to work for an unsettling casino owner Ballin Mundson. But things take a turn for Johnny as his alluring ex-lover appears as Mundson's wife, and Mundson's machinations begin to unravel.
Directed by Charles Vidor. Starring Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready, and Joseph Calleia.

(Spoilers.)

There's not a lot of serious film response in this, because my main thought coming away from this movie continues to resonate around one very specific thought: If ever there was a movie about the worst of humanity that deserved a fatalistic noir ending, this is it. And yet... it doesn't have one. The leads somehow get together, and it's implied that they just might live happily ever after. This is the ending I get after an hour and 45 minutes of people being genuinely horrible to each other because of a vague reason that's never actually given to us? THIS is what I was waiting for? I clearly missed something here, because this is one of the most disappointing endings I've seen in awhile. Gilda herself is the most interesting thing about this whole movie, and I was intrigued with her desperate attempts to free herself, although that too all fell apart for me in the ending.

2 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Gilda < My Best Friend's Wedding
Gilda < The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)
Gilda > The Little Drummer Boy
Gilda > Breach
Gilda > Waiting...
Gilda > X-Men: The Last Stand
Gilda < Monkey Business
Gilda < The Music Man (2003)
Gilda > 10 Items or Less
Gilda > How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
Gilda < The First Wives Club
Final spot: #1766 out of 2315.

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)

IMDb plot summary: Longfellow Deeds, a simple-hearted Vermont tuba player, inherits a fortune and has to contend with opportunist city slickers.
Directed by Frank Capra. Starring Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, George Bancroft, and Lionel Sander.

Sometimes there's just something really... refreshing about Frank Capra. After a string of darker movies, about people being awful and facing horrible things, it's really nice to just sit back and watch good people being good and being rewarded for it.

In terms of satisfying plot and end game, this isn't as good as its narrative cousin Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Its idealism comes mostly all in a rush at the end rather than serving as a central theme like it does in Mr. Smith, making it feel a little unbalanced and the climax a little undeserved. However, it's still delightful to watch. A light, pleasant film that serves its purpose well.

3.5 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town > The Madness of King George

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town < A Clockwork Orange

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town > Kiss the Girls

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town > Jesus Christ Superstar (2000)

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town < Peeping Tom

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town < Evil Dead II

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town < The Intouchables

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town < Dave and the Giant Pickle

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town > The Mummy (1932)

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town > The Great Gatsby (1974)

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town < Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

Final spot: #715 out of 2314.

The Lady from Shanghai (1947)

IMDb plot summary: Fascinated by gorgeous Mrs. Bannister, seaman Michael O'Hara joins a bizarre yachting cruise, and ends up mired in a complex murder plot.
Directed by Orson Welles. Starring Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles, Everett Sloane, and Glenn Anders.

The things that make noir work for me center around the character interactions. I'm fascinated by characters who seem to have dozens of layers to be revealed. That's why The Lady from Shanghai falls so flat for me. The mystery is fun, and the story moves along quickly enough that it's never boring, but Welles' main character doesn't seem to have any depth at all. For someone who narrates the entire movie, you'd think there would be a single personality trait I could think of to describe him, but there isn't. Nothing. He just seems to be a stand-in for anyone else, and as a result, there's a lot lacking in the film. The mystery's worth enjoying, and the final scene really looks great, but I don't think it's a great film.

2 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Lady from Shanghai < The Madness of King George
The Lady from Shanghai > The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)
The Lady from Shanghai > The Hidden Fortress
The Lady from Shanghai < Talk to Her
The Lady from Shanghai < Bride & Prejudice
The Lady from Shanghai > Deja Vu
The Lady from Shanghai < Syrup
The Lady from Shanghai > The Great Escape
The Lady from Shanghai < Dear Frankie
The Lady from Shanghai > Fun Size
Final spot: #1397 out of 2313.

Three Colors: Blue (1993)

IMDb plot summary: A woman struggles to find a way to live her life after the death of her husband and child.
Directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski. Starring Juliette Binoche, Benoît Régent, Florence Pernel, and Charlotte Véry.

I like what this film is trying to do, but it doesn't work for me all the way through. The music is really amazing, and I was very drawn into the first half of the film -- it does a great job of showing the grief and the sadness of our main character -- but I wasn't entirely convinced of the resolution. I found myself more and more disconnected from her until I lost touch with her completely. Not only was I uncertain of the facts of the film's ending, but I also was not emotionally satisfied. Like Red, I admired it and wanted to like it but it never quite gelled with me.

3 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Blue > The Madness of King George
Blue < Children of Men
Blue < Kiss the Girls
Blue > Runaway Jury
Blue > Badlands
Blue < Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
Blue < All That Jazz
Blue < Downfall
Blue > The Hangover
Final spot: #934 out of 2312.

MASH (1970)

IMDb plot summary: The staff of a Korean War field hospital use humor and hijinks to keep their sanity in the face of the horror of war.
Directed by Robert Altman. Starring Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Tom Skerritt, and Sally Kellerman.

I've seen MAYBE two episodes of the TV show, years ago, so I was coming to this fairly new. And I struggled with this movie. It's so unpleasant to watch, a dark comedy not only because of the circumstance but because it's centered around some of the most awful, unlikable characters ever. A little digging, however, indicates, this might be the point. The top-ranked IMDb review says: "Here we don't see courage or valor or heroism or honor; we see cowardice and nastiness and vice and stupidity, even from the 'good' characters. The movie subtly suggests that war makes ordinary people into silly, stupid, and vicious ones, and Hawkeye and Trapper are no more exempt from this law than Frank Burns; in fact, if anything they are more angry and mean than he is."

So... that does make sense. It doesn't make me *like* the movie any better, but it helps me understand it and admire it in a way I absolutely could not before. I'm just not sure I'd classify it a comedy at all. I'm not entirely sure how to rank it, as I found it a pretty unpleasant experience, and not in an interesting way, but I admire what it was trying to do.

2 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
MASH < The Madness of King George
MASH > Hangman's Curse
MASH > Top Hat
MASH < Talk to Her
MASH < Bride & Prejudice
MASH < Deja Vu
MASH < Rebecca
MASH > No Country for Old Men
MASH > The Unsinkable Molly Brown
MASH < I Remember Mama
MASH < The Invention of Lying
Final spot: #1431 out of 2311.