Hell's Angels (1930)

IMDb plot summary: Brothers Monte and Ray leave Oxford to join the Royal Flying Corps. Ray loves Helen; Helen enjoys an affair with Monte; before they leave on their mission over Germany they find her in still another man's arms.

Directed by Howard Hughes. Starring Ben Lyon, James Hall, and Jean Harlow.

Hell's Angels is a 1930 war epic following two English brothers going to fight in the World War. They could not be more different -- Roy is conscientious and careful, while Monte is reckless and hedonistic. Monte's behavior consistently gets him in trouble, with Roy having to clean up after him. Usually I find epic-length movies to be unnecessarily long, rarely with a justified runtime, but I really appreciated all the different ways we saw our protagonists interact with each other and the world around them. It really helped flesh them out in a way that made the film's ending sit a lot more powerfully. There's also some very creative early use of color here. While most of the film is in black-and-white, there are some dramatically tinted battle scenes as well as a full-color scene at an extravagant party that really use their deliberate color choice to convey a sense of mood and tone. Even the battle scenes here, which I would usually be bored by, are used effectively to communicate our protagonists' stories, and it all works together really well. Definitely one I'd recommend checking out.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Hell's Angels > Camp

Hell's Angels < The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

Hell's Angels > Something to Sing About

Hell's Angels < The Producers (2005)

Hell's Angels < Spellbound (2002)

Hell's Angels < Summer Stock

Hell's Angels > Family Business

Hell's Angels < Idiocracy

Hell's Angels > Manhunter

Hell's Angels > Hamlet (1990)

Hell's Angels > The Ref

Final spot: #1338 out of 3681, or 64%. That feels too low.

Reaching for the Moon (1930)

IMDb plot summary: Wall Street wizard Larry Day, new to the ways of love, is coached by his valet. He follows Vivian Benton on an ocean liner, where cocktails laced with a "love potion," work their magic. He then loses his fortune in the market crash and feels that he has also lost his girl.

Directed by Edmund Goulding. Starring Douglas Fairbanks, Bebe Daniels, and Edward Everett Horton.

Reaching for the Moon is a 1930 romance about a wealthy man falling in love on a cruise. That's... about all I can tell you, because this movie has not survived well. And I mean that in the sense that apparently most surviving versions of this movie are just over 60 minutes, roughly 2/3 of its original runtime. I'd like to blame the general aimlessness and awkwardness of the plot on that, because there are some good moments. Douglas Fairbanks as our lead makes the most of his physicality, jumping and leaping around the space, often for no apparent reason at all but it's engaging nonetheless. We also get one song performed by a very young Bing Crosby -- apparently this was originally a musical but most got cut as musicals became less popular. But as a romance or, really, narrative of any kind, the story is thin and confusing. It definitely seems to be missing large portions that would help us connect the dots on the plot and characterization. Of course, it's possible that the 30 cut minutes didn't elaborate on that any further, but I'd like to give this film the benefit of the doubt, so I'll pretend that half hour would fix everything.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Reaching for the Moon < Hairspray (1988)

Reaching for the Moon > The Little Princess (1939)

Reaching for the Moon < Satantango

Reaching for the Moon < *batteries not included

Reaching for the Moon < Mulholland Dr.

Reaching for the Moon > Sex Tape

Reaching for the Moon > Baby Boom

Reaching for the Moon > When Strangers Click

Reaching for the Moon > The Iceman

Reaching for the Moon < Before I Fall

Reaching for the Moon < Show Boat (1951)

Reaching for the Moon > We're No Angels

Final spot: #2652 out of 3682, or 28%.

Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982)

IMDb plot summary: A confined but troubled rock star descends into madness in the midst of his physical and social isolation from everyone.

Directed by Alan Parker. Starring Bob Geldof, Christine Hargreaves, and James Laurenson.

Pink Floyd: The Wall is a musical based on the Pink Floyd album "The Wall." It loosely follows the story of a young musician dealing with trauma, mental illness, and substance abuse. I should probably start this review saying I've never really been a fan of Pink Floyd's music. Their songs always feel just like atmospheric soundscapes rather than music, which I'm just less interested in listening to. But turns out that works kind of perfectly when paired with intriguing visuals hinting at a story. This is definitely a case of the whole working better for me than the sum of its parts -- the images and the sounds help to make sense of each other and together they create an experience I like much, much better than if I'd been dealing with either separately. They work so well as a whole, I have difficulty identifying individual moments that worked for me, but the experience as a whole was powerful and intense and I maybe kind of loved it? This is definitely one to add to my list to revisit in the near future, but I found it very emotionally moving on a first watch and am delighted to have found a way into a band I don't usually care for.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Pink Floyd The Wall > Closer

Pink Floyd The Wall > Safe

Pink Floyd The Wall < Castle in the Sky

Pink Floyd The Wall > Spencer

Pink Floyd The Wall > Down With Love

Pink Floyd The Wall < Animal Crackers

Pink Floyd The Wall > Dogville

Pink Floyd The Wall > I've Loved You So Long

Pink Floyd The Wall > In the Loop

Pink Floyd The Wall > The Way, Way Back

Pink Floyd The Wall > Black Panther

Final spot: #519 out of 3679, or 86%.

Annie Live (2021)

IMDb plot summary: A young orphan opens the heart of billionaire Sir Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks.

Directed by Lear Debessonet and Alex Rudzinski. Starring Celina Smith, Harry Connick Jr., and Nicole Scherzinger.

Annie Live was the live television production of the classic musical Annie, about a spunky orphan girl during the Great Depression and her adoption into a new wealthy family. This particular version starred newcomer Celina Smith as Annie and a supporting cast that included Harry Connick Jr., Taraji P. Henson, Titus Burgess, and Nicole Scherzinger. The last version of this show I saw was the 2014 film adaptation that took some serious liberties with both the music and the story, and rewatching this one reminded me how much I really hate this show. There's just nothing about the pacing of this show that works, there's no opportunity for character development, and while the songs are catchy, I don't really like any of them. This version in particular, though, really lacks in the performances, particularly from Smith and Connick Jr., who are both incredibly stiff and bland, bringing nothing whatsoever to the role. On the flip side, we have Henson, who is chewing the scenery like she's in an entirely different show, and while it's at least lively, it mostly doesn't work either. A messy performance of a show that needs good performances to work at all.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Annie Live < Beauty and the Beast (1946)

Annie Live < The Night of the Hunter

Annie Live > Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)

Annie Live > Bad Teacher

Annie Live < The Hunt (2012)

Annie Live > Quitting

Annie Live > A Most Wanted Man

Annie Live > Get Smart

Annie Live < It's Always Fair Weather

Annie Live > A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)

Annie Live < Kelly's Heroes

Final spot: #2883 out of 3677, or 22%.

The Black Phone (2021)

IMDb plot summary: After being abducted by a child killer and locked in a soundproof basement, a 13-year-old boy starts receiving calls on a disconnected phone from the killer's previous victims.

Directed by Scott Derrickson. Starring Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, and Ethan Hawke.

The Black Phone is a horror movie based on a short story by Joe Hill. It's set in a town where children are going missing, and one day our protagonist goes missing as well. We follow him trying to escape his captor with the help of the previously missing children, who are communicating with him from beyond the grave via the titular black phone. It's an interesting conceit, and I appreciate how the film keeps so much of the mystery intact. We never really know how this works or why the killer is doing what he's doing. It stays in murky uncertainty, which makes it much more interesting than if we got a big old back story. It sets up a good creepy atmosphere that works even as the film *feels* like a short story -- somewhat incomplete, though it's hard to pinpoint exactly what is missing here. It's not a stellar horror film but it does its job pretty well and is a fun little diversion as far as horror movies go, even if it doesn't always hang together.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Black Phone > Beauty and the Beast (1946)

The Black Phone < La La Land

The Black Phone < Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India

The Black Phone > The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

The Black Phone > Five Graves to Cairo

The Black Phone > Island of Lost Souls

The Black Phone > Event Horizon

The Black Phone < Charlie St. Cloud

The Black Phone > I Saw the Devil

The Black Phone < Hereditary

The Black Phone < Timecop

The Black Phone < It's a Gift

Final spot: #1399 out of 3676, or 62%.

The Congress (2013)

IMDb plot summary: An aging, out-of-work actress accepts one last job, though the consequences of her decision affect her in ways she didn't consider.

Directed by Ari Folman. Starring Robin Wright, Harvey Keitel, and Jon Hamm.

...What did I just watch? OK, let's see. The Congress begins with Robin Wright playing herself, agreeing to become a digitized actress. And then it's twenty years in the future and everyone's on hallucinogenic drugs that let them see each other as animated avatars. And then... it's the real world again and Robin Wright is searching for her son. This is a TRIPPY movie and I'm not at all certain that I got everything that was going on, even after looking back through Wikipedia at the plot synopsis and piecing together what happened. Even at the end, I don't quite understand what was gained by making the main character a real-life actress, as it didn't seem to be important to the narrative thread at the end. French films often go over my head in terms of how they communicate their themes, and this is definitely one of those. It has some fascinating visuals and I kind of dig the concept as a whole, I just couldn't track the story as it went and thus stopped caring. I guarantee there are a lot of people who would LOVE this though.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Congress < Beauty and the Beast (1946)

The Congress > 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

The Congress > 10

The Congress > The English Patient

The Congress > Jack Strong

The Congress < Fatherhood

The Congress < Raffles

The Congress < 12 Monkeys

The Congress > Pokemon: The First Movie

The Congress < JFK

The Congress < Internal Affairs

The Congress < Once Upon a Time ...in Hollywood

Final spot: #1943 out of 3673, or 47%.

The Flamingo Kid (1984)

IMDb plot summary: A recent high-school graduate unsure of his future gets a summer job at the Flamingo beach club, and meets the charismatic Phil Brody.

Directed by Garry Marshall. Starring Matt Dillon, Hector Elizondo, and Molly McCarthy.

The Flamingo Kid stars Matt Dillon as a plumber's son who gets a job as valet and cabana boy at a ritzy summer resort, which makes him uncertain what he wants to do with his life. It's a pretty straightforward story that is rooted in some decent performances, particularly Hector Elizondo as Dillon's father, who mistrusts his son's new wealthy mentors. There's a warmth to their father-son relationship even when they're at each other's throats, and it helps provide believable stakes to Dillon's coming-of-age crisis. Much of the movie is pretty meandering, which gets a little tiresome as the movie wears on, but it does make the final scene all the more compelling when we finally get to see some action happening. That final scene goes a long way toward making the rest of the movie work, but the acting from the supporting cast helps as well. It's not an amazing movie but if you like the characters and the setting, it'll do just fine.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Flamingo Kid > Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

The Flamingo Kid < La La Land

The Flamingo Kid < Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India

The Flamingo Kid < The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

The Flamingo Kid > Deceiver

The Flamingo Kid > The Client

The Flamingo Kid < Star Trek: Generations

The Flamingo Kid < The Aristocats

The Flamingo Kid > The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Flamingo Kid < Two Weeks Notice

The Flamingo Kid < The Appointment

The Flamingo Kid > Lenny

Final spot: #1656 out of 3675, or 55%.