Flesh for the Inferno (2015)

IMDb plot summary: At a local Catholic school, a priest bricks the nuns into the walls of the school's basement. Decades later, a neighborhood youth group has volunteered their afternoon to come clean up the school. However, the nuns return and hells follows.
Directed by Richard Griffin. Starring Anna Rizzo, Jamie Lyn Bagley, Monica Saviolakis, and Sean Leser.

Well, this is completely terrible. Not only is it a pretty unoriginal premise told badly, but somehow every single line manages to be said *wrong*, in a way that makes the entire movie unintentionally hilarious more than anything else. The movie does try to go for a few moments of dark humor, but these are also, of course, performed badly, and it doesn't end up doing the flick any favors in the long run.

1/2 star.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Flesh for the Inferno < Punch-Drunk Love
Flesh for the Inferno < Born Into Brothels
Flesh for the Inferno < Susannah of the Mounties
Flesh for the Inferno < Dinner at Eight
Flesh for the Inferno < Identity Thief
Flesh for the Inferno > The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!?
Flesh for the Inferno < Scooby-Doo
Flesh for the Inferno > The Christmas Shoes
Flesh for the Inferno < The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure
Flesh for the Inferno < Monster-in-Law
Flesh for the Inferno < Cinderella II: Dreams Come True
Flesh for the Inferno < The Mask

Final spot: #2366 out of 2413.

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

IMDb plot summary: A man robs a bank to pay for his lover's operation; it turns into a hostage situation and a media circus.
Directed by Sidney Lumet. Starring Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning, and James Broderick.

(Very mild spoilers.)

This is a tight film, and a good one. Al Pacino especially is amazing as Sonny, carrying the nervous energy of the entire movie on his shoulders. Watching the dynamic of all the people involved was extremely interesting; even if we didn't really get to know most of them like we did Sonny, we still got the sense of how they all related to the situation and played off each other. My one complaint would be that I found the ending unsatisfying. Now, maybe it would *have* be unsatisfying, because I think no matter what happened at the end of the movie, it would feel anticlimactic after the 2 hours before it, so I certainly don't have any solutions, but the ending seemed so predictable that it was a bit of a letdown for me. Most crime movies feel the same to me, and up until the ending this one felt different and unique. I only wish that I'd felt the same way of the film's final moments. That won't keep me from rating it pretty highly, however.

3.5 stars.

How it entered Flickchart:
Dog Day Afternoon > Punch-Drunk Love
Dog Day Afternoon < Eat Pray Love
Dog Day Afternoon > Strictly Ballroom
Dog Day Afternoon > The Green Mile
Dog Day Afternoon > sex, lies, and videotape
Dog Day Afternoon > Don't Drink the Water
Dog Day Afternoon < They Came Together
Dog Day Afternoon < Watchmen
Dog Day Afternoon < The Scarlet Pimpernel
Dog Day Afternoon > Monsoon Wedding
Dog Day Afternoon > Au Revoir Les Enfants
Final spot: #636 out of 2412.

The Revenant (2015)

IMDb plot summary: A frontiersman named Hugh Glass on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s is on a quest for survival after being brutally mauled by a bear.
Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domnhall Gleeson, and Will Poulter.

(Very very mild spoilers about the tone of the ending.)

Whoo, this is a rough watch. It's dark and horrific and there is lots of blood and I think it was a good move to not get popcorn during it. And I'm not entirely sure that the ending was a big enough payoff for the 2 1/2 hours before that. It was ramping up to a REALLY big ending, and then it all seemed a bit... anticlimactic. The cinematography, however, is stunning, DiCaprio and Hardy are both splendid in their roles, and there are some really breathtaking scenes. If the ending had sat better with me, it could have scored a lot higher.

3 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Revenant > Alice Adams
The Revenant < Eat Pray Love
The Revenant < Strictly Ballroom
The Revenant > Short Circuit
The Revenant > Nanny McPhee
The Revenant < A League of Their Own
The Revenant < The Testament of Dr. Mabuse
The Revenant < The Blind Side
The Revenant > Marathon
The Revenant > Jurassic World
The Revenant > October Sky

Final spot: #970 out of 2411.

Grace of Monaco (2014)

IMDb plot summary: The story of former Hollywood star Grace Kelly's crisis of marriage and identity, during a political dispute between Monaco's Prince Rainier III and France's Charles De Gaulle, and a looming French invasion of Monaco in the early 1960s.
Directed by Olivier Dahan. Starring Nicole Kidman, Tim Roth, Frank Langella, and Paz Vega.

This is such a fascinating subject to me that I'm disappointed it was tackled with such a lackluster touch. Nicole Kidman is bland as could be playing Grace Kelly, and the usually mesmerizing Tim Roth is equally dull. Frank Langella has a little more life in him as Grace Kelly's confidant, but even he can't make the movie interesting. The script is overly saccharine some times and mind-numbingly boring other times. What a letdown.

1 star.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Grace of Monaco < Punch-Drunk Love
Grace of Monaco < Born Into Brothels
Grace of Monaco > Susannah of the Mounties
Grace of Monaco < Love Me Tonight
Grace of Monaco > Life with Father
Grace of Monaco < Frankenstein
Grace of Monaco > All the King's Men (2006)
Grace of Monaco < Come to the Stable
Grace of Monaco > Start the Revolution Without Me
Grace of Monaco < Sleeper
Final spot: #2009 out of 2410.

Ant-Man (2015)

IMDb plot summary: Armed with a super-suit with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, cat burglar Scott Lang must embrace his inner hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.
Directed by Peyton Reed. Starring Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, and Corey Stoll.

It's easy to see this movie and imagine if Edgar Wright had stayed at the helm, and it would have been tighter and funnier, but Peyton Reed is a passable replacement. It's an enjoyable enough movie, more in the line of Guardians of the Galaxy than Captain America: The Winter Soldier in tone. The final battle scene is the highlight of the film, blending action and comedy beautifully to show a fight that we *know* is high stakes but that just looks ridiculous from an outsiders' perspective. Overall, it's one of those movies that is great fun while you're watching, but not one that particularly wowed me.

3.5 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Ant-Man > Alice Adams
Ant-Man < Eat Pray Love
Ant-Man > Strictly Ballroom
Ant-Man > The Green Mile
Ant-Man < Bend It Like Beckham
Ant-Man < The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
Ant-Man > Ninotchka
Ant-Man > Limitless
Ant-Man > Mrs. Brown
Ant-Man < Rabbit Hole
Ant-Man > You Can Count on Me
Final spot: #717 out of 2409.

Ex Machina (2015)

IMDb plot summary: A young programmer is selected to participate in a groundbreaking experiment in artificial intelligence by evaluating the human qualities of a breathtaking female A.I.
Directed by Alex Garland. Starring Domnhall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, Oscar Isaac, and Sonoya Mizuno.

(Definite spoilers ahead.)

Oh, this was an excellent movie. A smart, interesting thriller with some great acting from Oscar Isaac in particular. On top of that, it's a kind of story that very easily could have been exploitative and heavily objectifying of its women, but instead it tells their story with compassion and grants them tremendous agency to shape their own lives. (Reading the credits at the end, I was particularly happy to see the tiny detail that all the discarded AIs had names. Such a little thing, but I loved that they all got to be named and not just described as "naked AI #1" or something like that.)

The ending surprised me, but it was also very satisfying. Watching Ava claim her humanity and just... leave was somehow exactly what the story needed. Plus, the final 10 minutes or so of the movie have such a gorgeous artfulness to them, with haunting visuals and a beautiful score to create a very moving finale. This is easily one of my favorites of 2015.

4.5 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Ex Machina > Alice Adams
Ex Machina > Eat Pray Love
Ex Machina > The Holiday
Ex Machina < This Is Spinal Tap
Ex Machina < Equilibrium
Ex Machina < Mighty Aphrodite
Ex Machina < A Little Princess (1995)
Ex Machina < Guardians of the Galaxy
Ex Machina > Amerian Splendor
Ex Machina > Another Woman
Ex Machina < Jean de Florette
Final spot: #294 out of 2408.

Trainwreck (2015)

IMDb plot summary: Having thought that monogamy was never possible, a commitment-phobic career woman may have to face her fears when she meets a good guy.
Directed by Judd Apatow. Starring Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, Brie Larson, and Tilda Swinton.

I didn't actually realize this was directed by Apatow until the end credits, but it makes sense, because it definitely feels like an Apatow movie. For the first 2/3 of the movie, it's pretty good. It's funny, and Amy Schumer has an odd charm about her despite playing a terrible character, and Bill Hader serves as a good foil for her, and there's some good dialogue and some interesting plot development. The third act is where things fall apart somewhat, as the plot suddenly goes from light to sentimentally serious. It's an abrupt shift in tone, and the laughs in the last third of the movie are few and far between, while the dramatic dialogue would be right at home in a cheesy TV movie. The final couple minutes brings it (mostly) back home, but there's a long stretch in there where it feels like an entirely different movie has been shoehorned in, and it's not a good fit. It's too bad that such a large part of this movie is handled so awkwardly, because the rest of it was very enjoyable.

2.5 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Trainwreck > The Fortune Cookie
Trainwreck < Eat Pray Love
Trainwreck < A Separation
Trainwreck < Short Circuit
Trainwreck > Walk the Line
Trainwreck < Ghostbusters II
Trainwreck < Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
Trainwreck > Win Win
Trainwreck < 12 Monkeys
Trainwreck < George of the Jungle
Trainwreck > Snakes on a Plane
Final spot: #1116 out of 2407.