Labyrinth (1986)

IMDb plot summary: Sixteen-year-old Sarah is given thirteen hours to solve a labyrinth and rescue her baby brother Toby when her wish for him to be taken away is granted by the Goblin King Jareth.
Directed by Jim Henson. Starring David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly, Shari Weiser, and Brian Henson.

I missed out on a lot of "classic" 80s kids movies that are beloved by the majority of people I know, and it turns out that most of them are not that great when watched for the first time as an adult. So I kind of rolled my eyes when Labyrinth came up. But, you know what? This TOTALLY works as an adult viewing. I mean, yes, it's definitely a kids' story, but these are some of the most creative fantasy worlds and monsters I've ever seen. I'm usually super bored by kids' fantasy because they follow all the same tropes, but so many of these are fresh -- the cluster of hands, the cheery creatures that can casually remove their body parts, the end scene where everyone's just walking around upside down and sideways, the tiny dog knight that rides another dog... it's all so interesting. And Sarah is a great main character. She's clearly a teenager, but she also is given enough intelligence, maturity, and agency for her to really feel like SHE is the master of this story, not that the story is just pulling her along to where she's destined to be. The ending's a little dumb, but most of it is kind of great. I am very surprised and pleased to have enjoyed it as much as I did.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Labyrinth > Cape Fear (1991)
Labyrinth > The Woodsman
Labyrinth < Secretary
Labyrinth > Cats (1998)
Labyrinth < Looper
Labyrinth < Coherence
Labyrinth < Synecdoche, New York
Labyrinth > Brooklyn
Labyrinth < The Bumblebee Flies Anyway
Labyrinth < Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Labyrinth < Bride of Frankenstein
Labyrinth < Jaws
Final spot: #574 out of 3134.

Hell in the Pacific (1968)

IMDb plot summary: During World War II, an American pilot and a marooned Japanese navy captain are deserted on a small uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean. There, they must cease their hostility and cooperate if they want to survive, but will they?
Directed by John Boorman. Starring Lee Marvin and Toshirô Mifune.

I really admire what this movie is doing, even if it doesn't always work for me. In the earliest parts of the movie the characters' erratic actions sometimes made me question whether I was correctly tracking their motives and character arcs, but I got into the swing of it in the latter half of the film and really began appreciating both actors' performances. I found the somewhat ambiguous ending to be the perfect way to conclude this story (apparently the in-theaters ending was far less so, but I can't imagine I would have preferred that over this alternate cut). It's impressive how much story you can convey with only two characters who can't talk with each other.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Hell in the Pacific > Thank You for Smoking
Hell in the Pacific < Gone Baby Gone
Hell in the Pacific > Hamlet (1990)
Hell in the Pacific > La jetee
Hell in the Pacific < Freaky Friday (2003)
Hell in the Pacific > The Boys of Paul Street
Hell in the Pacific > M
Hell in the Pacific < The Descendants
Hell in the Pacific < The Emperor Waltz
Hell in the Pacific < Topsy-Turvy
Hell in the Pacific > Under the Skin
Final spot: #903 out of 3133.

The Brood (1979)

IMDb plot summary: A man tries to uncover an unconventional psychologist's therapy techniques on his institutionalized wife, amidst a series of brutal murders.
Directed by David Cronenberg. Starring Oliver Reed, Samantha Eggar, Art Hindle, and Henry Beckman.

I do always enjoy horror movies that are a little more psychological in nature, in this case connecting this woman's unexpressed anger to literal monster creature babies that go around acting on her rage instincts. That's a really appealing concept to me. I had a good time watching it. It felt like a really enjoyable cheesy B-horror movie from like the 1950s, except then it got real gross at the end. It had that sort of simplistic acting and dialogue that just got right to what we were supposed to get out of it, which isn't what I always like, but it was a fun ride for me.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Brood > Happy Gilmore
The Brood < Seven Up!
The Brood > Jackie
The Brood < Suspicion
The Brood > Born Yesterday
The Brood > High Strung
The Brood < Christmas in Connecticut
The Brood > Ghostbusters (1984)
The Brood > Pushing Tin
The Brood > The Detective
The Brood > Laurence Anyways
Final spot: #1004 out of 3131.

Being There (1979)

IMDb plot summary: A simpleminded, sheltered gardener becomes an unlikely trusted advisor to a powerful businessman and an insider in Washington politics.
Directed by Hal Ashby. Starring Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, and Jack Warden.

This movie didn't really make as much of an impression on me as I expected. I had a tough time getting into the tone of the movie because it took me much longer than it probably was supposed to to trust that this poor out-of-touch character who was clearly incapable of surviving on his own was going to actually be okay. I felt really tense and worried for him for probably 3/4 of the way through the movie, and maybe didn't fully feel like he'd be all right until he miraculously walked across water at the end. Because of that disconnect in tone, I think I missed what the movie was going for. There were moments that made kind of interesting points about how easy it is to kind of BS your way into prominence. But that was more interesting on kind of an intellectual level, and I was too distracted worrying about his wellbeing to really engage with that. Maybe on a second viewing if I was so inclined.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Being There > Happy Gilmore

Being There < Seven Up!

Being There < Dot the I

Being There > Arthur Christmas

Being There < The Pursuit of Happyness

Being There > Mr. Nice Guy

Being There > 300

Being There > Lord of the Flies

Being There > The Tree of Life

Being There < A Star Is Born (1954)

Being There > Black Snake Moan

Final spot: #1275 out of 3130.

The Devil's Brigade (1968)

IMDb plot summary: A US Army Colonel is tasked with forming an elite commando-style unit from crack Canadian troops and the dregs of the US Army.
Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen. Starring William Holden, Cliff Robertson, Vince Edwards, and Andrew Prine.

While most of this feels like an exceptionally well-worn story, I was intrigued by the angle of the "outsiders" being Canadian. I haven't seen many movies dealing with any anti-Canada prejudice from the US, and so that was an interesting story to tell. It was, however, baffling that all the Canadians spoke with Irish or Scottish accents. I kept looking up whether Canada had an unusually large amount of Irish/Scottish immigration, but my research indicates, no, the film just decided to give the Canadians alternative accents. Anyway, it was a small thing in the grand scheme of things. The movie is a very familiar story that had an interesting angle that didn't quite save it but at least helped me finish watching it.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Devil's Brigade < The Jerk
The Devil's Brigade > The Machinist
The Devil's Brigade < The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)
The Devil's Brigade < The Balloonatic
The Devil's Brigade > Waiting...
The Devil's Brigade < A Man Called Peter
The Devil's Brigade > Syrup
The Devil's Brigade > Doctor Zhivago
The Devil's Brigade < *batteries not included
The Devil's Brigade < An Ideal Husband
The Devil's Brigade < Stormy Weather
Final spot: #2214 out of 3132.

Never a Dull Moment (1968)

IMDb plot summary: Actor Jack Albany, who plays gangsters on TV, is mistaken for notorious hit-man Ace, and is hired by mob boss Leo Smooth to pull a heist, but Jack must find a way out of it.
Directed by Jerry Paris. Starring Dick Van Dyke, Edward G. Robinson, Dorothy Provine, and Henry Silva.

This is a pretty enjoyable entry in the live action Disney canon. It's definitely a kids' movie and has a couple cheesy or slightly-too-silly moments for me, but there are also a lot of genuinely funny lines and good moments of physical comedy, and Dick Van Dyke is always a pretty charismatic protagonist. I could definitely see this one being a favorite if I'd watched it as a kid.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Never a Dull Moment > Happy Gilmore
Never a Dull Moment < Seven Up!
Never a Dull Moment > Dot the I
Never a Dull Moment < The Country Girl
Never a Dull Moment < Being John Malkovich
Never a Dull Moment < Ramona and Beezus
Never a Dull Moment < Myn Bala: Warriors of the Steppe
Never a Dull Moment < The Sound of Music
Never a Dull Moment > Quiz Show
Never a Dull Moment > 12 Years a Slave
Never a Dull Moment < Anna and the King
Final spot: #1163 out of 3130.

The Detective (1968)

IMDb plot summary: Police detective Joe Leland investigates the murder of a gay man. While investigating, he discovers links to official corruption in New York City in this drama that delves into a world of sex and drugs.
Directed by Gordon Douglas. Starring Frank Sinatra, Lee Remick, Ralph Meeker, and Jack Klugman.

While the portrayal of the LGBT community in this movie has not aged particularly well, it is a much more compelling detective film than Frank Sinatra and director Gordon Douglas' other 1968 release, Lady in Cement. It was especially refreshing in contrast to Coogan's Bluff, another cop movie from the same era that was much more uncritical of the "by any means necessary" macho toughness. This one feels like it takes the question of doing the right thing in a corrupt system much more seriously, and I appreciate that. A pretty interesting movie, especially in a genre that tends to bore me.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Detective > Easy Virtue
The Detective < Seven Up!
The Detective > Jackie
The Detective < The Country Girl
The Detective > Spanglish
The Detective > Gone in 60 Seconds
The Detective < 28 Up
The Detective > The Death of Stalin
The Detective > The Long Day Closes
The Detective < Christmas in Connecticut
The Detective < Laurence Anyways
The Detective > Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Final spot: #1006 out of 3129.