Solaris (1968)

IMDb plot summary: Kris Kelvin joins the space station orbiting the planet Solaris, only to find its two crew members plagued by "phantoms," creations of Solaris. Kelvin is soon confronted with his own phantom, taking the shape of his dead wife Hari.
Directed by Lidiya Ishimbaeva and Boris Nirenburg. Starring Vasiliy Lanovoy, Antonina Pilyus, Vladimir Etush, and Viktor Zozulin.

This is now the third adaptation of this story I've seen, and it sits right in the middle for me. The narrative itself is a fascinating one, and this one neither obstructs the narrative nor enhances it. From what I can tell it's a very straightforward retelling, and though I don't find myself particularly drawn to or compelled by any of the characters through their performances, I can connect with it on a big picture narrative level. The themes of guilt and loss and humanity are strong in this and come through clearly. I'll still always choose to watch Soderbergh's adaptation over this, but I'm glad I got to see this.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Solaris > Waxwork
Solaris < Victor/Victoria (1982)
Solaris < War Horse
Solaris < I Am Legend
Solaris > Finding Vivian Maier
Solaris < The Call
Solaris > Cambio de ruta
Solaris < Sinbad of the Seven Seas
Solaris < The Blues Brothers
Solaris > Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Solaris > Charulata
Solaris > Yankee Doodle Dandy
Final spot: #1455 out of 3172.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

IMDb plot summary: On the outskirts of Whoville lives a green, revenge-seeking Grinch who plans to ruin Christmas for all of the citizens of the town.
Directed by Ron Howard. Starring Jim Carrey, Taylor Momsen, Jeffrey Tambor, and Christine Baranski.

The original Dr. Seuss story and cartoon starring Boris Karloff is one of my favorites, and I'd heard horrible things about this. And it's pretty bad, but not for the reasons I expected. I figured I'd be irritated by Jim Carrey's over-the-top antics, but while those didn't work for me, none of them dragged on, they were nearly all dumb but quick so I didn't have time to get REALLY irritated at them. I was more irritated by the fact that the movie felt that it needed to give the Whos a redemption arc too, making the Grinch wholly in the right when he decided they needed to have their gifts taken from them. The movie also looks SO ugly, with this hideous snowy haze over the whole thing, which makes the Seussian designs look more nightmarish than playful. To the film's credit, I did laugh once (right at the end, when the Grinch struggled to sing along with the Whos' nonsense words). But yeah, it's a messy one I don't plan to revisit any time soon.

How it entered my Flickchart:
How the Grinch Stole Christmas < Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas < The Chocolate War
How the Grinch Stole Christmas > Seven Pounds
How the Grinch Stole Christmas > Analyze This
How the Grinch Stole Christmas < Persona
How the Grinch Stole Christmas > A Farewell to Fools
How the Grinch Stole Christmas < Premonition
How the Grinch Stole Christmas < Marathon Man
How the Grinch Stole Christmas > Rancho Notorious
How the Grinch Stole Christmas < Lincoln
How the Grinch Stole Christmas < The Black Stallion
How the Grinch Stole Christmas < Start the Revolution Without Me
Final spot: #2520 out of 3171.

Great Expectations (1946)

IMDb plot summary: A humble orphan suddenly becomes a gentleman with the help of an unknown benefactor.
Directed by David Lean. Starring John Mills, Tony Wager, Valerie Hobson, and Jean Simmons.

I am so sorry to begin this with a pun but I think I'm obligated to. I had low expectations for Great Expectations. I've read the book and am like 90% sure I saw some random adaptation of it as a child and didn't like either at all, and most Dickens film adaptations sit pretty flat for me. But this one *pops*. The characters are beautifully vivid, and while I'd typically attribute that to the acting, it's that way across the board so I think it must be something about the way David Lean worked with actors. (I remember admiring his Oliver Twist as well, though not quite to this extent.) The cinematography, particularly in the decrepit mansion, is stunning and lends just the right amount of gothic horror without feeling gross. I still think Estella and Pip make a terrible couple and would be much happier if the story didn't end by awkwardly shoving them together, but this is probably the most convincing interpretation of that ending I've seen. Really beautifully done.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Great Expectations > Melinda and Melinda
Great Expectations > Shall We Dance? (2004)
Great Expectations < The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Great Expectations < Big Trouble in Little China
Great Expectations > Taxi Driver
Great Expectations > Ninotchka
Great Expectations > Paul
Great Expectations < The Muppet Movie
Great Expectations < Mars Attacks!
Great Expectations > Rise of the Guardians
Great Expectations > The Incredibles
Great Expectations > Megamind
Final spot: #613 out of 3170.

Port of Shadows (1938)

IMDb plot summary: A military deserter finds love and trouble (and a small dog) in a smoky French port city.
Directed by Marcel Carné. Starring Jean Gabin, Michel Simon, Michèle Morgan, and Pierre Brasseur.

(Spoilers.)

There are pieces of this I appreciate. I found the fog theme to be very atmospheric throughout, both in how it showed up visually and in how it was spoken about. I thought it was intriguing how much of the story focused on the romance with no femme fatale, which is the trope I more commonly see in noir. (Genuinely wondered for a tiny bit if they were going to end up happily together.) I was wildly intrigued by the tiny section of the story where the painter drowns himself -- I wanted to know more about him than any other character in this film. Which comes back to the fact that noir nearly always treads the same familiar ground and, despite a few things standing out, in the end it followed the expected trajectory and left me cold. I'm glad I saw it, but I don't think it'll stick with me.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Port of Shadows > I'm Not Rappaport
Port of Shadows < Shall We Dance? (2004)
Port of Shadows < Poltergeist
Port of Shadows < Cabaret
Port of Shadows < Monsters
Port of Shadows > Smokin' Aces
Port of Shadows > Jumanji
Port of Shadows < Lucky Number Slevin
Port of Shadows < The Major and the Minor
Port of Shadows < Kinky Boots the Musical
Port of Shadows < A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Port of Shadows < The Testament of Dr. Mabuse

Final spot: #1510 out of 3169.

How to Irritate People (1968)

IMDb plot summary: In this mock-documentary, John Cleese narrates a series of sketches on irritation -- types and techniques.
Directed by Ian Fordyce. Starring John Cleese, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graham Chapman, and Michael Palin.

Unsurprisingly, this mostly feels like just a longer themed episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus (though the show came later), and like many of them, some pieces are better than others. I actually maybe enjoyed John Cleese's mini monologues in between more than most of the sketches -- they had some very clever bits, while the sketches suffered a little bit from samey-ness, given the consistent theme. This is also the second film from my 1968 project that involved brownface for an Indian character, but it was much grosser here than in The Party. Overall, an inconsistent effort.

How it entered my Flickchart:
How to Irritate People < Melinda and Melinda
How to Irritate People > Green Book
How to Irritate People < The Women
How to Irritate People > Avengers: Endgame
How to Irritate People > 12 Days of Terror
How to Irritate People > Sweet and Lowdown
How to Irritate People > Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
How to Irritate People < Dark City
How to Irritate People < Confessions of a Shopaholic
How to Irritate People > Captain Marvel
How to Irritate People < The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
Final spot: #2001 out of 3168.

Brightburn (2019)

IMDb plot summary: What if a child from another world crash-landed on Earth, but instead of becoming a hero to mankind, he proved to be something far more sinister?
Directed by David Yaroveksy. Starring Elizabeth Banks, David Denman, Jackson A. Dunn, and Abraham Clinkscales.

OOOF. So this is NOT good. And it's sad, because it's such a great premise and falls off the deep end so quickly. It's not at all clear why Brandon goes evil in the first place -- is he possessed? Was he always a psychopath? We never see him as a "normal child," so we have no idea. It tries to hinge its scariness on the sudden shift on this child's behavior, but since we never saw the before, the after isn't nearly as haunting. The scary scenes are shot so dramatically that I couldn't help but giggle at nearly every moment I think was supposed to be unsettling. The only pieces of this I can say really worked were the premise of the movie overall and the one person who got murdered by flying up into the atmosphere. That was a cool, weird scene, and I wish the movie had been smart enough to make the rest of the scenes that purposefully weird.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Brightburn < The Italian Job (2003)
Brightburn < Green Book
Brightburn < The Tribe
Brightburn < Celebrity
Brightburn > The Ghost and Mr. Chicken
Brightburn > Devil
Brightburn < Free Willy
Brightburn > The Notebook
Brightburn > Holy Motors
Brightburn > Solaris (1972)
Brightburn > Morvern Callar
Final spot: #2996 out of 3167.

Black Rose (2014)

IMDb plot summary: A Russian Police Major is enlisted by the LAPD to help solve a series of gruesome murders perpetrated against young women by a sadistic sociopathic killer on the mean streets of Hollywood.
Directed by Alexander Nevsky. Starring Alexander Nevsky, Kristanna Loken, Adrian Paul, and Robert Davi.

A pretty bland crime movie overall, but I did find the patter between the two leads actually moderately enjoyable, if cheesy. Other than that, though, it follows just about every predictable pattern possible. When the killer is finally revealed, it's treated like a much more significant moment than it was given that I'd completely forgotten this character existed. Definitely a throwaway movie.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Black Rose < Melinda and Melinda
Black Rose < Snatch.
Black Rose > The Tribe
Black Rose < The Right Stuff
Black Rose < Spinning Into Butter
Black Rose > Live Free or Die Hard
Black Rose < Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
Black Rose < Seasons of the Heart
Black Rose < The Hiding Place
Black Rose < Penelope
Final spot: #2721 out of 3166.