Sliding Doors (1998)

IMDb plot summary: A London woman's love life and career both hinge, unknown to her, on whether or not she catches a train. We see it both ways, in parallel.
Directed by Peter Howitt. Starring Gwyneth Paltrow, John Hannah, John Lynch, and Jeanne Tripplehorn.

This is a very cool concept for a movie, one that I've seen done several times since then (and frequently referenced as being "Sliding Doors" stories, so this has definitely left its mark on pop culture). That being said, the stories they choose to tell after the two paths diverge aren't that interesting. They follow very typical (and even very similar) narrative paths. Maybe they were trying to make some kind of point about small changes making a life seem radically different, but I just kind of felt like I was watching two different drafts of the same uninteresting romance. I would have loved to see a tone shift or a drastically different outcome rather than the tedious "will that dude leave the woman he cheated on Gwyneth Paltrow with?" question. Disappointing.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Sliding Doors < Interiors
Sliding Doors > Pretty in Pink
Sliding Doors > Deceiver
Sliding Doors < Aladdin
Sliding Doors > Bobby
Sliding Doors < After the Thin Man
Sliding Doors < The Man in the Iron Mask
Sliding Doors < The 5th Wave
Sliding Doors > Lust for Love
Sliding Doors > 10 Things I Hate About You
Sliding Doors > Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Sliding Doors > Checking Out
Final spot: #1733 out of 2938.

Akira Kurosawa's Dreams (1990)

IMDb plot summary: A collection of tales based upon the actual dreams of director Akira Kurosawa.
Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Starring Akira Terao, Mitsuko Baishô, Mieko Harada, and Chishû Ryû.

I've never seen a Kurosawa I didn't like, though I was a little nervous as this one got going and I realized it was a series of fable-like dreams rather than a strong narrative. However, I shouldn't have been nervous. Kurosawa is a unbelievably compelling storyteller, even when there isn't much story to be had, and I ultimately really enjoyed this. I liked that while there were some prevailing themes throughout (particularly toward the end, with the final three all looking at man's relationship to nature), there was a lot of variety in the tone of the pieces, from sad to scary to triumphant to peaceful. This film is going to sit with me for awhile.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams > Incredibles 2
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams > Rock of Ages
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams < E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams < Shoplifters
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams > The Bells of St. Mary's
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams < Philadelphia
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams < The Goodbye Girl (2004)
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams > The African Queen
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams > The Great Race
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams > Key Largo
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams > Elf
Final spot: #620 out of 2937.

The Lair of the White Worm (1988)

IMDb plot summary: When an archeologist uncovers a strange skull in foreign land, the residents of a nearby town begin to disappear, leading to further unexplainable occurrences.
Directed by Ken Russell. Starring Amanda Donohoe, Hugh Grant, Catherine Oxenberg, and Peter Capaldi.

This is exactly what you would expect from a movie called "The Lair of the White Worm." It is ridiculous and campy and ludicrous but also pretty darn fun. I enjoyed seeing very young Hugh Grant and Peter Capaldi. The enjoyably cheesy gothic dialogue really brought the whole thing home for me. A fun watch, though I'm not sure I could ever call it a *good* movie as much as just an entertaining one.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Lair of the White Worm > Incredibles 2
The Lair of the White Worm < Dredd
The Lair of the White Worm < Death to Smoochy
The Lair of the White Worm > Finding Forrester
The Lair of the White Worm > The Prestige
The Lair of the White Worm > Monsters and Men
The Lair of the White Worm < Good Time
The Lair of the White Worm > Frances Ha
The Lair of the White Worm > A Fistful of Dollars
The Lair of the White Worm < Hamlet (1990)
Final spot: #1129 out of 2936.

Holiday (2018)

IMDb plot summary: A love triangle featuring the trophy girlfriend of a petty drug lord, caught up in a web of luxury and violence in a modern dark gangster tale set in the beautiful port city of Bodrum on the Turkish Riviera.
Directed by Isabella Eklöf. Starring Victoria Carmen Sonne, Lai Yde, Thijs Römer, and Michiel de Jong.

This is a difficult review to write, because objectively, this movie does most things well. It creates our main character and the difficult situation she's in with minimal dialogue and great acting, but I just don't feel myself gripped by it, not even in the more intense moments of the movie. It's a film I admire from a distance but feel nothing about, even though it's hard to actually come up with anything negative to say about it.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Holiday < Logan
Holiday > Braveheart
Holiday > How I Live Now
Holiday < Blade Runner
Holiday > The Giver
Holiday > My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Holiday > The Whistleblower
Holiday > Despicable Me
Holiday > In Time
Holiday > The Milagro Beanfield War
Final spot: #1654 out of 2935.

Invictus (2009)

IMDb plot summary: Nelson Mandela, in his first term as the South African President, initiates a unique venture to unite the apartheid-torn land: enlist the national rugby team on a mission to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
Directed by Clint Eastwood. Starring Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, Tony Kgoroge, and Patrick Mofokeng.

This is an interesting genre hybrid we don't see too often: a political/sports movie. It was also kind of fascinating to watch 10 years after it came out when it feels like my country is also spectacularly fractured (though obviously not to the extent or for the reasons that we see here) -- seeing anything uniting a fractured country through compassion and forgiveness gives me hope. And tying that into people's love for sport almost made me care about the outcome of the Big Sports Game! Almost. It didn't come together quite as much as I wanted it to in the end, but the lead-up to it was more interesting than I anticipated.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Invictus > Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Invictus < Rock of Ages
Invictus < Death to Smoochy
Invictus > No eres tu, soy yo
Invictus < The Prestige
Invictus > Pitch Perfect 2
Invictus < Lucky Number Slevin
Invictus < To Be or Not to Be
Invictus < Moonwalker
Invictus > The Chalk Garden
Invictus > Spider-Man: Homecoming
Invictus > Meet John Doe
Final spot: #1232 out of 2934.

Captive State (2019)

IMDb plot summary: Set in a Chicago neighborhood nearly a decade after an occupation by an extra-terrestrial force, Captive State explores the lives on both sides of the conflict - the collaborators and dissidents.
Directed by Rupert Wyatt. Starring John Goodman, Ashton Sanders, Jonathan Majors, and Vera Farmiga.

This is somehow the most tedious alien invasion action thriller I've ever seen. And it's not because nothing happens -- there are chase scenes and fight scenes and there's intrigue, but it somehow all happens under an extremely bland umbrella. Every actor seems to be phoning it in, including John Goodman, who can be excellent but is just as bland as everyone else here. Even its big dramatic twist ending is extremely underwhelming and seems to be drowning in tonal drudgery.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Captive State < Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Captive State > Lincoln
Captive State < How I Live Now
Captive State < Boys Don't Cry
Captive State > The Toy That Saved Christmas
Captive State < Twist of Faith
Captive State < I, Robot
Captive State < Les Miserables (1935)
Captive State < Frankenstein
Captive State > Fun Size
Captive State > Defending Your Life
Captive State < Wind River
Final spot: #2104 out of 2933.

Captain Marvel (2019)

IMDb plot summary: Carol Danvers becomes one of the universe's most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races.
Directed by Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck. Starring Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, and Jude Law.

I think I'm hitting that point with MCU movies where even when they don't really connected to the rest of the MCU very strongly, I just feel tired watching them. Black Panther managed to be unique enough to push past that barrier, but this one mostly just feels like The Origin-est of All Origin Stories. There's not a single unexpected moment or turn in here. I feel like I've seen this movie at LEAST six times before. It's an all right movie in and of itself, I had an OK time watching it, but it would be better if it was like... the first movie I'd ever seen and I had nothing to compare it to. But I'm glad it exists. Representation is good.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Captain Marvel < John Dies at the End
Captain Marvel > Lincoln
Captain Marvel > How I Live Now
Captain Marvel > The Exorcism of Emily Rose
Captain Marvel < Ghost Ship
Captain Marvel < Ballet Shoes
Captain Marvel < Hustle & Flow
Captain Marvel > Runaway Jury
Captain Marvel > Code 46
Captain Marvel < Black Snake Moan

Final spot: #1630 out of 2932.