Cats (2019)

IMDb plot summary: A tribe of cats called the Jellicles must decide yearly which one will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new Jellicle life.
Directed by Tom Hooper. Starring Francesca Hayward, Idris Elba, Judi Dench, and Taylor Swift.

...How do you even rate and review Cats? Either the movie or the show. To Hooper's credit, he stays absurdly faithful to the original, only making one or two tiny changes, but he was definitely embracing it for what it is, which means this was only ever going to be a ridiculous movie. It was in no way helped by having photorealistic cat fur with terrifying human hands protuding out of them. Rebel Wilson and Jason Derulo both failed to capture the *only* trait their characters have, but the Skimbleshanks number rules, and I laughed a lot and had just a great time with this weird, weird, weird movie. I hope it gains a Rocky Horror-style cult following and gets midnight sing-along viewings for decades to come.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Cats > Red
Cats > Dangerous Liaisons
Cats < Vertigo
Cats < Rise of the Guardians
Cats < Key Largo
Cats < Shakespeare Behind Bars
Cats < Sherlock Jr.
Cats > Sneakers
Cats < The Pirates of Penzance
Cats < The Basketball Diaries
Cats < The Body Snatcher
Cats > Manhattan Murder Mystery

Final spot: #746 out of 3038.

Legendary Weapons of China (1982)

IMDb plot summary: A band of killers from an ailing kung fu and magic society are sent on a manhunt for a former member of the society, whose bad mouthing threatens it's existence.
Directed by Chia-Liang Liu. Starring Chia-Liang Liu, Chia Yung Liu, Kara Wai, and Hou Hsiao.

Kung fu movies are very much not my jam, and I couldn't get myself to care about any of the characters involved in this story at all, but there were some fun fight choreography scenes, especially the ones that bordered on slapstick. That's about all I have to say on this one!

How it entered my Flickchart:
Legendary Weapons of China < Manhattan
Legendary Weapons of China < Simone
Legendary Weapons of China > Gigi
Legendary Weapons of China > I Accuse My Parents
Legendary Weapons of China > City Slickers
Legendary Weapons of China > The Yellow Birds
Legendary Weapons of China < The Devil Wears Prada
Legendary Weapons of China < Davy Crockett and the River Pirates
Legendary Weapons of China < The Hoober-Bloob Highway
Legendary Weapons of China < Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
Legendary Weapons of China > Running With Scissors
Final spot: #2323 out of 3037.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

IMDb plot summary: The surviving Resistance faces the First Order once more in the final chapter of the Skywalker saga.
Directed by J.J. Abrams. Starring Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, and John Boyega.

(Spoilers ahead.)

I saw this two nights ago, and the longer I sit with it, the more I a) forget what actually happened in it and b) am left with irritation. I'm not usually annoyed by fan service, but I *am* when fan service and retconning takes the place of actual character and plot development. There are no narrative cohesive threads in this movie because they cut all the ones that the previous film set up, and then scrambled to make ends meet. I found the redemption arc wildly unconvincing and a very disappointing ending to someone who began as one of the most interesting villains we'd seen in the series. Also, four fake-out deaths is TOO MANY if your movie is not a comedy. It's just a messy, messy movie, but that's what happens when you try to conclude a trilogy while ignoring the entire middle section. Fortunately it's also forgettable so I can pull an Abrams and pretend this one didn't exist.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Rise of Skywalker < Red (2018)
The Rise of Skywalker > The TV Set
The Rise of Skywalker < Stand and Deliver
The Rise of Skywalker > Spy
The Rise of Skywalker < Legally Blonde
The Rise of Skywalker > Lilo & Stitch
The Rise of Skywalker > The Amazing Spider-Man
The Rise of Skywalker > Hollywood Homicide
The Rise of Skywalker > Brigadoon
The Rise of Skywalker > Cambio de ruta
The Rise of Skywalker > Where the Wild Things Are
Final spot: #1993 out of 3036.

A Song Is Born (1948)

IMDb plot summary: With her gangster boyfriend under investigation by the police, a nightclub singer hides out in a musical research institution staffed by bachelor professors - one of whom begins to fall for her.
Directed by Howard Hawks. Starring Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo, Benny Goodman, and Tommy Dorsey.

So apparently this is a musical version of Ball of Fire, which, to my shame, I have never seen. I do want to though after watching this, which is clearly just a very weird retelling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It's exactly what one would expect from a Danny Kaye musical comedy -- it's silly and light and goofy -- but it does have some great music, thanks to a plot piece that involves bringing together a bunch of actual 1948 musicians and bandleaders including Tommy Dorsey and Louis Armstrong. Super fluffy and pleasant, but not spectacular.

How it entered my Flickchart:
A Song is Born > Manhattan
A Song is Born < An American Werewolf in London
A Song is Born < Primal Fear
A Song is Born > Pitch Perfect 2
A Song is Born < Hedwig and the Angry Inch
A Song is Born > Lagaan: Once Upon a Time In India
A Song is Born > Aguirre: The Wrath of God
A Song is Born > Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
A Song is Born > The Wicker Man (1973)
A Song is Born > The Green Mile
A Song is Born > Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles
Final spot: #1234 out of 3036.

Hot Millions (1968)

IMDb plot summary: Paroled London fraudster Marcus Pendleton poses as a computer specialist in order to work for an insurance company that entirely relies on its corporate server.
Directed by Eric Till. Starring Peter Ustinov, Maggie Smith, Karl Malden, and Bob Newhart.

Oh, this is a fun, silly ride. It's got a dry lightness to it that just makes me smile, with a lead character who's so pleasant and entertaining that we don't even mind that he's embezzling the entire time. There's also an unexpectedly sweet romance between him and Maggie Smith -- the scene where she proposes to him and he plays it off as a joke but then it becomes clear that they both very much want this is quite a lovely moment. Overall, one of the better films I've seen lately in my quest to watch 100 films from 1968.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Hot Millions > Peter Pan (1960)
Hot Millions > Dangerous Liaisons
Hot Millions < Vertigo
Hot Millions < Sergeant York
Hot Millions < The Florida Project
Hot Millions > Hannah and Her Sisters
Hot Millions > Kill Bill Vol. 2
Hot Millions < Finian's Rainbow
Hot Millions > Brave
Hot Millions > National Lampoon's Vacation
Hot Millions > Robot and Frank
Final spot: #677 out of 3035.

Knives Out (2019)

IMDb plot summary: A detective investigates the death of a patriarch of an eccentric, combative family.
Directed by Rian Johnson. Starring Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, and Jamie Lee Curtis.

This is such a charming watch. Rian Johnson is a master of blending tone here, as he manages to evoke all the feeling of a classic 1920s British murder mystery while also making it feel somehow very modern, never stale or outdated. Marta is a truly wonderful character to position as our lead, and the supporting cast and characters are all just over-the-top enough to be funny without seeming impossible. A really enjoyable flick.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Knives Out > Kiss the Girls
Knives Out > Thor
Knives Out < Jean de Florette
Knives Out > Sergeant York
Knives Out > King George and the Ducky
Knives Out < La Strada
Knives Out > The Jungle Book (1967)
Knives Out > Much Ado About Nothing (2012)
Knives Out > High and Low
Knives Out < Dog Day Afternoon
Final spot: #432 out of 3034.

The Stalking Moon (1968)

IMDb plot summary: A sympathetic retired army scout takes-in a white woman and her half-Apache son, not knowing that the boy's father, a murderous renegade Apache, is after them.
Directed by Robert Mulligan. Starring Gregory Peck, Eva Marie Saint, Robert Forster, and Noland Clay.

This was more engaging than a lot of westerns I've seen (and 1968 especially seems to have just an endless supply of them), but, like all of them, their focus is always on the least interesting characters. Gregory Peck saving the day isn't even half as interesting to me as the interaction between the two Apache/white mixed characters, or the story of Eva Marie Saint's survival after being captured. But I did appreciate the oddly quiet tone for the story, given how much danger the characters were in -- it helped put the emphasis on them as people rather than archetypes.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Stalking Moon > Blow Out
The Stalking Moon < Thor
The Stalking Moon < State and Main
The Stalking Moon < Letters from Iwo Jima
The Stalking Moon > The Tourist
The Stalking Moon < A Foreign Affair
The Stalking Moon > Along Came a Spider
The Stalking Moon > Neighbors
The Stalking Moon > L.A. Confidential
The Stalking Moon > Kung Fury
The Stalking Moon > No eres tu, soy yo
Final spot: #1376 out of 3033.