Gozu (2003)

IMDb plot summary: A yakuza enforcer is ordered to secretly drive his beloved colleague to be assassinated. But when the colleague unceremoniously disappears en route, the trip that follows is a twisted, surreal and horrifying experience.
Directed by Takashi Miike. Starring Yûta Sone, Shô Aikawa, Kimika Yoshino, and Shôhei Hino.

(Mild spoilers.)

This was the weirdest way to kick off my new movie challenge. This movie is BONKERS, but I probably should have expected that from what I know of Takashi Miike as a director (this is my first time watching one of his films). It starts off relatively normal, a paranoid thriller about someone who (maybe on purpose? Maybe by accident? I thought on purpose, but reviewer synopses don't seem to be clear on it) kills someone and then feels paranoid when the body disappears. But then it just gets weirder and weirder, in almost a nightmarish David Lynch kind of way. There's really not as much *gore* as I expected going into it, but so many of the images are unsettling and disturbing. The final scene is the most explicit visually and the most terrifying, and probably my personal favorite, as it was one of the few scenes that I felt had an emotional point to it. A lot of the movie seemed to be weird or gross with no purpose, but that final scene made sense and fit together... at least until the very final seconds, where the abrupt shift in tone seemed to undo all of it.

1.5 stars but I'm not sure how to really assign a star rating to this.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Gozu < Days of Heaven (1978)
Gozu > Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
Gozu < Liz & Dick (2012)
Gozu < The Sword in the Stone (1963)
Gozu < The Children's Hour (1961)
Gozu > Empire of the Sun (1987)
Gozu < The Fugitive (1993)
Gozu > Nick Nolte: No Exit (2008)
Gozu < A Farewell to Fools (2013)
Gozu < Ernest Hemingway's To Have and Have Not (1944)
Gozu < The Hiding Place (1975)
Gozu > Madagascar (2005)
Final spot: #1819 out of 2491.

Bad Moms (2016)

IMDb plot summary: When three overworked and under-appreciated moms are pushed beyond their limits, they ditch their conventional responsibilities for a jolt of long overdue freedom, fun, and comedic self-indulgence.
Directed by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore.

There are lots of funny women out there, and I'm glad the female-led comedy is a growing genre. But this movie is not the jewel of the bunch. There are a few laughs, some enjoyable characters, and a satisfying conclusion, but it's the kind of movie you forget a week later that you saw at all. The most memorable part of the entire film is during the credits, when the leading ladies are interviewed with their own mothers, talking about their own "bad mom" moments. It gently brings the "every parent screws up sometimes" message home. It's not an unpleasant movie, but there's nothing to love here. Or remember.

2 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Bad Moms < Rebecca
Bad Moms < Mickey Blue Eyes
Bad Moms > Faces
Bad Moms > Courageous
Bad Moms > The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Bad Moms > The Fifth Element
Bad Moms > Treasure Planet
Bad Moms > Dinner for Schmucks
Bad Moms > The Interpreter
Bad Moms > Mr. Holland's Opus
Bad Moms > Rebel Without a Cause

Final spot: #1867 out of 2488.

Finding Vivian Maier (2013)

IMDb plot sumamry: A documentary on the late Vivian Maier, a nanny whose previously unknown cache of 100,000 photographs earned her a posthumous reputation as one of the most accomplished street photographers.
Directed by John Maloof and Charlie Siskel.

The premise of this documentary is intriguing, and each piece of the puzzle as it unravels brings with it a few answers but mostly more mystery. One of the people who knew Maier toward the end of her life said that it's probably best her work was discovered after her death because she would have found the attention overwhelming, and he's probably right, because Maier's work is interesting, especially in contrast to her personality (one woman kindly describes her as "someone who didn't fit in very well"). The movie, however, feels cut short, and while it's understandable that Maier's death and anonymity as an artist during her life makes it difficult to come to a satisfying conclusion, it felt a little bit like a Coen Brothers movie that ends in the middle of the narrative and leaves you thinking, "What? That's it?"

3.5 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Finding Vivian Maier > Days of Heaven
Finding Vivian Maier < The Artist
Finding Vivian Maier > Children of Paradise
Finding Vivian Maier < Hamlet (2009)
Finding Vivian Maier > One, Two, Three
Finding Vivian Maier > Lucky Number Slevin
Finding Vivian Maier < The Mummy (1932)
Finding Vivian Maier > The Master
Finding Vivian Maier > The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle
Finding Vivian Maier > It's Kind of a Funny Story

Final spot: #799 out of 2487.

The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness (2013)

IMDb plot summary: Follows the routines of those employed at Studio Ghibli, including filmmakers Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and Toshio Suzuki as they work to release two films simultaneously, The Wind Rises and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.
Directed by Mami Sunada.

This is a really great little documentary peeking into the world of Studio Ghibli and the making of Miyazaki's final film The Wind Rises. The history of Studio Ghibli and the few who have been with it from the beginning is interesting, but most fascinating is Hayao Miyazaki himself, who has no problem voicing his opinions about the mistakes he thinks he's made and the messages he wants to send. The movie would not have overstayed its welcome if it had spend another hour following Miyazaki around at work and talking with him about his art. There's an especially beautiful montage toward the end of the film combining an off-hand imaginative musing from Miyazaki and clips from his various films showing just how deep that imaginative thread runs in him. A beautiful documentary.

4 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness > Days of Heaven
The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness > American Outlaws
The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness < Garden State
The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness < In a Lonely Place
The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness < Widow's Peak
The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness < The Departed
The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness > The Reader
The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness < Kolya
The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness < The Impossible
The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness > The Abyss
The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness > Gone in 60 Seconds

Final spot: #597 out of 2486.

Ghost Ship (2002)

IMDb plot summary: A salvage crew that discovers a long-lost 1962 passenger ship floating lifeless in a remote region of the Bering Sea soon notices, as they prepare to tow it back to land, that strange things happen.
Directed by Steve Beck. Starring Gabriel Byrne, Julianna Margulies, Ron Eldard, and Desmond Harrington.

There is something pleasantly terrible about this movie. It has a very cheesy quality to it, but an innocent cheesy, like a 1990s Disney Channel original movie that happens to have large amounts of gore. Usually I don't enjoy dumb horror movies, but the atmosphere for this kind of worked, and I was genuinely surprised by the twist at the end. Make no mistake, it's an awful movie, but it's the kind of awful movie I had a decent amount of fun watching -- certainly much more than I expected I would.

3 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Ghost Ship > Good Morning, Vietnam
Ghost Ship < American Outlaws
Ghost Ship < Children of Paradise
Ghost Ship > Hancock
Ghost Ship < The Last Unicorn
Ghost Ship < Manhattan Murder Mystery
Ghost Ship < Titanic (That's a fun match-up...)
Ghost Ship > Lost in America
Ghost Ship > Happy Christmas
Ghost Ship > Hitchcock
Ghost Ship < The Other Boleyn Girl

Final spot: #1070 out of 2485.

8½ (1963)

IMDb plot summary: A harried movie director retreats into his memories and fantasies.
Directed by Federico Fellini. Starring Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale, Anouk Aimée, and Sandra Milo.

I have tried to watch this movie I don't even know how many times, but something always gets in my way. I finally made it through the entire thing... and it was absolutely not worth it. Guido is a despicable character, and I have zero interest in spending two and a half hours in his narcissistic fantasies about the women around him. I have both liked and disliked Fellini before, but when I liked him it was because he took a simple story about interesting people and let it play out. This uses artsy dream sequences and unnecessarily philosophical conversations and is basically everything you would make fun of if you were going to parody a foreign classic film. I do not understand the love for this movie, as I found it far, far inferior to La Strada or Nights of Calibria or even La Dolce Vita, which I didn't like much but which at least seemed to mean something.

1 star.

How it entered my Flickchart:
8 1/2 < Days of Heaven
8 1/2 < Mickey Blue Eyes
8 1/2 > Aquamarine
8 1/2 < Courageous
8 1/2 > Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
8 1/2 < Breach
8 1/2 < Soylent Green
8 1/2 > To Kill a King
8 1/2 < A Decade Under the Influence
8 1/2 > Ali
8 1/2 < Mamma Mia!

Final spot: #2083 out of 2484.

I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life & Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal (2007)

IMDb plot summary: A documentary on the Austrian-Jewish architectural engineer who became a Nazi hunter after surviving the Holocaust.
Directed by Richard Trank.

This is a very straightforward but touching documentary about a fascinating man. Most of the film was spent on detailing his adventures and the war criminals he pursued, which was more than enough to make it an interesting movie, but when it delved into his personal reasons and his feelings about revenge vs. justice, that added an extra layer of interest. One of the most fascinating people interviewed was Ben Kingsley, who played Wiesenthal in a movie, and hearing an actor's take on this man's actions and how it's reflected in the way he moves and speaks was especially fascinating. Definitely a worthwhile watch. Packed with information and not loaded down with fluff or sentimentality.

3.5 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
I Have Never Forgotten You > Good Morning, Vietnam
I Have Never Forgotten You < The Artist
I Have Never Forgotten You > Children of Paradise
I Have Never Forgotten You > Hamlet (2009)
I Have Never Forgotten You > Princess Mononoke
I Have Never Forgotten You < Crimes and Misdemeanors
I Have Never Forgotten You < Forgiving Dr. Mengele
I Have Never Forgotten You < A Goofy Movie
I Have Never Forgotten You > Mary and Max
I Have Never Forgotten You > The Kite Runner
I Have Never Forgotten You > Before Sunset

Final spot: #689 out of 2483.