Twins (1988)

IMDb plot summary: A physically perfect but innocent man goes in search of his long-lost twin brother, who is short, a womanizer, and small-time crook.

Directed by Ivan Reitman. Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito, Kelly Preston, and Chloe Webb.

For being mostly a one-joke idea, this is executed much better than I anticipated. The two actors are playing to their strengths here, playing up not just their physical differences but their personalities, with Schwarzenegger playing the sweet naive brother who just wants to bond with his family, and DeVito playing the jaded criminal who doesn't trust anyone. Watching them interact and explore their fraternal relationship is entertaining enough that when a criminal-deal-gone-wrong subplot appears in the second half of the film, it feels unnecessary, a very obvious ploy to move along a story that was moving just fine on its own. Still an enjoyable second half, but it is noticeably a means to an end. I don't know that I'll rewatch this any time soon, but I'm glad I saw it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Twins > One, Two, Three

Twins > The Game

Twins < Revengers Tragedy

Twins < The Muppets

Twins < City Lights

Twins > Rounders

Twins > American Dreamz

Twins < Snowpiercer

Twins < Open Your Eyes

Twins < They Came Together

Twins < The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Twins > The Impostors

Final spot: #752 out of 3325, or 77%, which seems high but the chart does not lie.

The Villain (1979)

IMDb plot summary: Facing hanging, a bank robber makes a deal with the corrupt banker to avoid execution in exchange for a dirty assignment.

Directed by Hal Needham. Starring Kirk Douglas, Ann-Margret, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Paul Lynde.

This is a thoroughly bizarre movie, primarily because it is clearly a tribute to the Looney Tunes characters of Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, played here by Kirk Douglas and Arnold Schwarzenegger respectively. And when I say tribute, I mean... they play the Looney Tunes theme at the end. Douglas paints a giant tunnel on a mountain which Schwarzenegger then drives his wagon through. It is basically just a live-action Road Runner cartoon, and while you'd think that'd be a lot of fun, it sadly mostly doesn't work. The jokes are nearly all pretty flat, there's some very uncomfortable scenes of redface, and the ending is... I'd say nearly incomprehensible. But it's kind of a marvel this thing existed at all, and considering I went in knowing nothing about it and thought it was just your typical western, it definitely yielded some surprised shrieks of delight when I realized what it was going for, even if it doesn't meet the high bar it sets for itself.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Villain < The Beach

The Villain < Horton Hears a Who

The Villain > VeggieTales: The Star of Christmas

The Villain < VeggieTales: Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Samson's Hairbrush

The Villain < Johnny Tremain

The Villain < Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)

The Villain > Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

The Villain > The Monuments Men

The Villain > Alice in Wonderland (2010

The Villain > Wyatt Earp

The Villain < Pinocchio (1940)

Final spot: #2859 out of 3324, or 14%.

To Live (1994)

IMDb plot summary: After Fugui and Jiazhen lose their personal fortunes, they raise a family and survive difficult cultural changes during 1940s to 1970s China.

Directed by Yimou Zhang. Starring Yuo Ge, Li gong, Ben Niu, and Wu Jiang.

This is one of those films that successfully showcases the personal side of big historical events. Enormous shifts in the culture are happening, but the movie stays narrowed in on how this family in particular is making it work. We see the father's work as an entertainer sometimes valued greatly and sometimes not at all. We see people in charge willing to bend the rules to make sure the people they love are taken care of. It's a moving story that somehow never feels melodramatic even when dramatic things happen, and I think that's partly due to the pragmatic responses from the characters. They mourn, they celebrate, but at the end of the day they go back to living their lives the way they always have. I'm having trouble putting into words all that I liked about this movie, and I think that's because it's one of those films that sits in my heart more than in my head, and I'm sure the more it sits there the more my thoughts on it will gel.

How it entered my Flickchart:

To Live > One, Two, Three

To Live < The Black Cat

To Live > Ramona and Beezus

To Live > Death by Hanging

To Live > Gandhi

To Live < The Hill

To Live > Children of a Lesser God

To Live < 42 Up

To Live > Borat

To Live < The Cranes Are Flying

To Live < Call Me Madam

To Live < Song of the Sea

Final spot: #901 out of 3323, or 73%.

Kodachrome (2017)

IMDb plot summary: Set during the final days of the admired photo development system known as Kodachrome, a father and son hit the road in order to reach the Kansas photo lab before it closes its doors for good.

Directed by Mark Raso. Starring Ed Harris, Jason Sudeikis, Elizabeth Olsen, and Bruce Greenwood.

These are very familiar beats being played out here. It's a well-worn story and there are no surprises to it really, we know exactly how it's all going to play out and it does so competently, so evaluating the story here isn't really the point. Instead we're relying solely on the acting performances to carry the movie, and it largely works. Jason Sudeikis always holds his own as a dramatic actor, a subtle one, capable of speaking his dialogue in a dry tone full of hidden depths of meaning. Olsen and Harris don't bring quite as much nuance to the table but they're still good and convey effectively the complex relationships at play here. Movies don't need to be wholly original, they just need to make you think or care about the characters, and this accomplishes that.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Kodachrome > One, Two, Three

Kodachrome < The Black Cat

Kodachrome < Harakiri

Kodachrome < Holiday Inn

Kodachrome < 21

Kodachrome > King Kong Escapes

Kodachrome > Following

Kodachrome < Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles

Kodachrome < The Call

Kodachrome < The Girl on a Motorcycle

Kodachrome < Bottle Rocket

Kodachrome > The Invention of Lying

Final spot: #1582 out of 3322, or 52%.

The Formula (1980)

IMDb plot summary: The synthetic fuel production formula, invented by the Nazis at the end of World War II, is sought after by some who aim to sell it, and by others who wish to destroy it.

Directed by John G. Avildsen. Starring George C. Scott, Marlon Brando, Marthe Keller, and John Gielgud.

This is one of those movies where you spend most of your time trying to remember which lead led where and how the person who just showed up for 3 minutes and gave them another name to talk to is connected to the original person. A lot of films can get away with this by having those characters make strong impressions or by providing a strong thematic throughline to keep you on track, but this film doesn't offer either. It dances around a bunch of arcs, such as the relationship Scott's character has with his son, or the one he builds with the niece of one of the men he's investigating, but they're... not dropped so much as just forgotten. It feels like it is just complicated for the sake of being complicated, like that's what makes a movie good, but by the time it gets to the end not only have we lost track of who's who, we just don't care anymore.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Formula < One, Two, Three

The Formula < Horton Hears a Who

The Formula > VeggieTales: The Star of Christmas

The Formula > Captive State

The Formula < Arlington Road

The Formula < In the Company of Men

The Formula < Albatross

The Formula < Gilda

The Formula > VeggieTales: Sumo of the Opera

The Formula < Spaceballs

The Formula < Gone With the Wind

The Formula < Eddie the Eagle

Final spot: #2690 out of 3320, or 19%.

Prince of the City (1981)

IMDb plot summary: A New York City narcotics detective reluctantly agrees to cooperate with a special commission investigating police corruption, and soon realises he's in over his head, and nobody can be trusted.

Directed by Sidney Lumet. Starring Treat Williams, Jerry Orbach, Richard Foronjy, and Don Billett.

This is directed by Sidney Lumet, who less than a decade earlier directed Serpico, also about a solo police officer fighting corruption, and it's hard not to compare the two. Daniel Ciello is a much less heroic figure than Frank Serpico, and we see his story play out less in terms of abstract rights and wrongs and more of how it affects him and his relationships on a personal level. This version of the story is less black-and-white overall, as so much of the corruption is clearly not just a matter of greed but passionately defended as the only way save the city in a world where corruption elsewhere allows the "bad guys" to wriggle out. Is it better to use corrupt methods against them yourself in the name of the greater good? This is something the film touches on in a very interesting way, and I found myself thinking longer and harder about these questions after this film than I did Serpico.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Prince of the City > To Be or Not to Be

Prince of the City < The Black Cat

Prince of the City < Ramona and Beezus

Prince of the City > An Affair to Remember

Prince of the City > Never a Dull Moment

Prince of the City > War Horse

Prince of the City < Young Frankenstein

Prince of the City < The Curse of the Jade Scorpion

Prince of the City > Loins of Punjab Presents

Prince of the City < Mother Night

Prince of the City > Brick

Final spot: #1287 out of 3319, or 61%.

Bottle Rocket (1996)

IMDb plot summary: Three friends plan to pull off a simple robbery and go on the run.

Directed by Wes Anderson. Starring Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Ned Dowd, and Shea Fowler.

This film has a lot of the hallmarks of classic Wes Anderson material, such as a vivid color palette and understated conversation styles, and the Wilson brothers are a good fit for his style right off the bat. But it is lacking both the overt humor and the clearer themes of his later work. I suppose if pressed I would guess this is a film about friendship, but the friendship between the two leads is frequently manipulative and controlling, so it's hard to tell if the film is intending to say anything about it. It feels more like just a chance to let the Wilsons goof around and play off each other, and while that doesn't wow me or make me laugh out loud, it's a pleasant enough way to spend an afternoon.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Bottle Rocket > To Be or Not to Be (1942)

Bottle Rocket < The Black Cat

Bottle Rocket < Harakiri

Bottle Rocket < Holiday Inn

Bottle Rocket < 21

Bottle Rocket > Vampyr

Bottle Rocket > Julie & Julia

Bottle Rocket < Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles

Bottle Rocket < The Call

Bottle Rocket < The Girl on a Motorcycle

Bottle Rocket > The Invention of Lying

Bottle Rocket < VeggieTales: Madame Blueberry

Final spot: #1579 out of 3318, or 52%.