Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010)

IMDb plot summary: There's a mystery afoot in Gotham City, and Batman must go toe-to-toe with a mysterious vigilante, who goes by the name of Red Hood. Subsequently, old wounds reopen and old, once buried memories come into the light.
Directed by Brandon Vietti. Starring Bruce Greenwood, Jensen Ackles, John DiMaggio, and Neil Patrick Harris.

With both this and Mask of the Phantasm, which I watched earlier in my challenge, I found myself struggling to get into it as a movie. This one similarly feels like just a long TV show episode, like I'm missing last week's episode to make this one really stick. That being said, it's not a bad TV-episode-like movie. It has some good dramatic action toward the end and builds a surprisingly effective climax with the little bit of worldbuilding it incorporates. Part of the problem with Batman on the whole is that his villains are *always* more interesting than he is, so it's tough to be on his side.

2.5 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Batman: Under the Red Hood > Pulp Fiction
Batman: Under the Red Hood < Baby Driver
Batman: Under the Red Hood < Silent Movie
Batman: Under the Red Hood < Mother!
Batman: Under the Red Hood > The Tempest (2010)
Batman: Under the Red Hood < The Switch
Batman: Under the Red Hood > Nowhere Boy
Batman: Under the Red Hood < The Wedding Singer
Batman: Under the Red Hood < Shall We Dance? (2004)
Batman: Under the Red Hood > The Hangover
Batman: Under the Red Hood < Three Colors: Blue

Final spot: #1278 out of 2780.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

IMDb plot summary: Several people are hunted by a cruel serial killer who kills his victims in their dreams. While the survivors are trying to find the reason for being chosen, the murderer won't lose any chance to kill them as soon as they fall asleep.
Directed by Wes Craven. Starring Heather Langenkamp, Johnny Depp, John Saxon, and Ronee Blakley.

A HUGE blind spot for me as a movie buff. Some really good creepy death scenes, but I expected a bit more out of the actual nightmares. It almost seems more mystery than horror for much of the movie, which is kind of underwhelming when you already know the answer. Still pretty good (and, DANG, that blood-spewing bed is one of the most horrifying things I've seen).

3.5 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
A Nightmare On Elm Street > In Time
A Nightmare On Elm Street < Baby Driver
A Nightmare On Elm Street > Finding Forrester
A Nightmare On Elm Street > Auntie Mame
A Nightmare On Elm Street > Murder on the Orient Express (2017)
A Nightmare On Elm Street < Yojimbo
A Nightmare On Elm Street > The Imposter
A Nightmare On Elm Street < Murder by Death
A Nightmare On Elm Street > The Artist
A Nightmare On Elm Street < Eat Pray Love

Final spot: #753 out of 2779.

I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore. (2017)

IMDb plot summary: When a depressed woman is burglarized, she finds a new sense of purpose by tracking down the thieves alongside her obnoxious neighbor. But they soon find themselves dangerously out of their depth against a pack of degenerate criminals.
Directed by Macon Blair. Starring Melanie Lynskey, Elijah Wood, Devon Graye, and Robert Longstreet.

2 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:

I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore < Pulp Fiction

I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore > The Children's Hour

I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore > Blue Velvet

I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore < Rigoletto

I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore > X-Men

I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore > Sherlock Holmes

I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore < Drive

I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore < Josh and the Big Wall!

I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore < Mickey Blue Eyes

I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore > Singles

I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore < White Nights

Final spot: #1602 out of 2778.

Akira (1988)

IMDb plot summary: A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath that only two teenagers and a group of psychics can stop.
Directed by Katsuhiro Otomo. Starring Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama, and Tessho Genda.

My husband chose this movie for me for my movie challenge, even though he hadn't seen it himself, as an incentive for us to watch it together. I'm not sure how he felt about it, but I'm still processing it. The animation is really lovely, which is nice because I frequently have difficulty registering and following the anime style, but most of this is expressive enough that I can follow it. Most of the story is fascinating and very well told, and I was definitely swept up into the story. Where it actually becomes difficult to grasp for me is in the final 30 minutes or so, when the climactic scene just keeps getting more intense but somehow never delivered the narrative or emotional punch I wanted it to end with. I enjoyed most of it, but I'm not sure I'm sold on the ending. But it's one I think I need to keep thinking about.

3.5 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Akira > In Time
Akira > Sweet Smell of Success
Akira < Garden State
Akira < Tropic Thunder
Akira < Evil Dead II
Akira < Boyhood
Akira > The Departed
Akira < Red Carpet
Akira > Serendipity
Akira < Jackie Brown

Final spot: #666 out of 2777.

Isle of Dogs (2018)

IMDb plot summary: Set in Japan, Isle of Dogs follows a boy's odyssey in search of his lost dog.
Directed by Wes Anderson. Starring Bryan Cranston, Koyu Rankin, Edward Norton, and Bob Balaban.

Well, this is very Wes Anderson, meaning I can enjoy quite a bit as I watch it (and I did) and then it will fade very, very quickly from my memory. Anderson's quirkiness puts a bit of necessary emotional distance between the movie and the audience. I'm also unsure that setting it in Japan was much more than a quirky gimmick, which is a little uncomfortable. Overall, an enjoyable movie but it isn't going to make much of a lasting impact on me.

3 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Isle of Dogs > In Time

Isle of Dogs < Baby Driver

Isle of Dogs > The Village

Isle of Dogs > Source Code

Isle of Dogs < Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

Isle of Dogs > Blazing Saddles

Isle of Dogs > You Can't Take It With You

Isle of Dogs < Six Degrees of Separation

Isle of Dogs > Mr. Holmes

Isle of Dogs < Monsoon Wedding

Final spot: #795 out of 2776, which is a bit too high but it'll do for now.

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)

IMDb plot summary: When Cartman and his friends go see an R rated movie, they start cursing and their parents think that Canada is to blame.
Directed by Trey Parker. Starring Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Mary Kay Bergman, and Isaac Hayes.

I have never seen an episode of the South Park TV show but I had high hopes for this, given how much I enjoy Parker & Stone's other musical efforts. The music is definitely the best part of this film. Some of these songs are fantastic -- clever lyrics, music that is a perfect parody of various musical styles, and, on the whole, pretty solid jokes. But compared to something like Cannibal!, the jokes are much more sophomoric, and compared to The Book of Mormon, the satire feels extremely aimless. There's a carelessness to this (that I suspect is tonally carried over from the show itself) that not only keeps it from ever really working but frequently gets in the way of the actual jokes. I chuckled a few times, but on the whole I wasn't sold.

2.5 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:

South Park > No Country for Old Men (which really needs to be moved out of the center of my chart)

South Park < Baby Driver

South Park < The Village

South Park < Ghost World

South Park > Lolita (1997)

South Park < All That Jazz

South Park > National Lampoon's Vacation

South Park > The Magnificent Ambersons

South Park < Wreck-It Ralph

South Park > Silent Hill

South Park < Crocodile Dundee

Final spot: #1265 out of 2775

The Bad Seed (1956)

IMDb plot summary: A housewife suspects that her seemingly perfect eight year-old daughter is a heartless killer.
Directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Starring Nancy Kelly, Patty McCormack, Henry Jones, and Eileen Heckart.

It's a good concept and a mostly decent script, aside from a very abrupt ending, but the acting comes across as very dated and could use a bit more subtlety. (Though of course that's what got all the Oscar nominations.) This is a film that might benefit from a remake.

3 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Bad Seed > No Country for Old Men
The Bad Seed < Baby Driver
The Bad Seed > The Illusionist (2006)
The Bad Seed < Auntie Mame
The Bad Seed > Hamlet (2009)
The Bad Seed < A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)
The Bad Seed < Josie and the Pussycats
The Bad Seed > Away We Go
The Bad Seed > Frances Ha
The Bad Seed < Sleight

Final spot: #937 out of 2774.