Klaus (2019)

IMDb plot summary: A simple act of kindness always sparks another, even in a frozen, faraway place. When Smeerensburg's new postman, Jesper, befriends toymaker Klaus, their gifts melt an age-old feud and deliver a sleigh full of holiday traditions.

Directed by Sergio Pablos and Carlos Martínez López. Starring Jason Schwartzman, J.K. Simmons, and Rashida Jones.

Klaus is an animated retelling of the Santa Claus origin story, focusing on the spoiled son of a post office magnate who is sent to be postman to a distant northern town until he learns the value of his work. He ends up teaming up with a toy-making hermit to bring life back to the town, and the legend of Santa begins to grow. This is an odd duck of a movie, combining the sort of myth-making grandiosity of something like Rise of the Guardians with the fast-talking wise-cracking hero of most other DreamWorks movies. The former works best, and it takes over more of the movie as the lead becomes more grounded, but it's got kind of a rough start until it gets there. Once they find the right balance, I enjoy the thread of silliness that stays embedded in the story -- seeing the different Santa Claus myths pop up through very silly misunderstandings is a lot of fun, and ultimately the film lands in a satisfying place that sits just right for a cozy holiday watch. Not a perfect movie, but pretty charming.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Klaus > Le voyage au Groenland

Klaus < Kuroneko

Klaus > Kajaki

Klaus > Memories of Murder

Klaus < Gentleman's Agreement

Klaus < A Christmas Carol (1951)

Klaus > New York Stories

Klaus < Three Colors: White

Klaus > Punch-Drunk Love

Klaus < Finder's Fee

Klaus < Lyle, the Kindly Viking

Klaus > Army of Shadows

Final spot: #1192 out of 3946, or 70%.

The Beguiled (2017)

IMDb plot summary: The unexpected arrival of a wounded Union soldier at a girls school in Virginia during the American Civil War leads to jealousy and betrayal.

Directed by Sofia Coppola. Starring Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, and Elle Fanning.

The Beguiled is a Sofia Coppola film set during the American Civil War. An all-girls' school in the south finds a wounded Union soldier and decide to nurse him back to health before turning him in to the army. But his presence in the house begins to affect the house in unexpected ways, and things get complicated. There's an eerie otherworld-ness about this movie. It reminded me a bit of something like Black Narcissus -- a group of women cloistered from the world encountering something they were not prepared for, and their equilibrium falls apart. I did find that I had trouble telling some of the young girls apart, and I wish I'd gotten to know them a bit better to help flesh that out, but the key relationships here are developed beautifully. I love how much emotion and thought is communicated nonverbally; this truly is one of those movies where the subtext is the key to the whole thing. I haven't always glommed onto Sofia Coppola's work, but this one made me want to watch more of her because it had such a unique tone.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Beguiled > Pete's Dragon (1977)

The Beguiled > Anna Karenina

The Beguiled < Cam

The Beguiled < Nope

The Beguiled < Wizards

The Beguiled > The Blue Angel

The Beguiled < BigBug

The Beguiled > Censor

The Beguiled > The Impostors

The Beguiled < The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

The Beguiled > Twins

Final spot: #899 out of 3948, or 77%.

The Great Outdoors (1988)

IMDb plot summary: A Chicago man and his family go camping with his obnoxious brother-in-law.

Directed by Howard Deutch. Starring Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, and Stephanie Faracy.

The Great Outdoors is a John Hughes-written film starring John Candy and Dan Aykroyd as two brothers-in-law on vacation in a remote cabin along with their families. Candy just wants to enjoy some quiet unplugged family time, while Aykroyd is constantly competing to get the biggest, shiniest thing for their trip. The John Hughes filmography ride has been kind of a bumpy one, but this one is definitely a hit. It's clearly a big broad comedy but allows for some very touching human connection moments, and the relationship between Candy and Aykroyd manages to hit the right emotional beats while also being amusing. It's a little surprising to me that this doesn't get as much love as some of Hughes' other written work -- maybe it's because he didn't direct it himself. It's not a masterpiece, but I think it's significantly better than, say, Sixteen Candles or Pretty and Pink. (Although, of course, this one doesn't have a protagonist for teens to relate to.) Definitely a worthwhile watch!

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Great Outdoors > Love Exposure

The Great Outdoors < Kuroneko

The Great Outdoors > The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain

The Great Outdoors < Memories of Murder

The Great Outdoors > Air

The Great Outdoors > Carefree

The Great Outdoors < Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey

The Great Outdoors > The Emperor Waltz

The Great Outdoors > The French Dispatch

The Great Outdoors < Up in the Air

The Great Outdoors < The Shoes of the Fisherman

The Great Outdoors < Rack, Shack & Benny

Final spot: #1270 out of 3945, or 68%.

Two Days, One Night (2014)

IMDb plot summary: Liège, Belgium. Sandra is a factory worker who discovers that her workmates have opted for a EUR1,000 bonus in exchange for her dismissal. She has only a weekend to convince her colleagues to give up their bonuses in order to keep her job.

Directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne. Starring Marion Cotillard, Fabrizio Rongione, and Catherine Salée.

Two Days, One Night stars Marion Cotillard as a woman who has just been fired from her job after her boss held a ballot among the employees as to whether they should get a financial bonus or let Cotillard go. When it's revealed that one of the coworkers convinced everyone to vote against her by lying to them, she requests a second ballot and then has the weekend to convince everyone to agree to keep her on. I recently watched Rosetta by the Dardenne brothers and was unenthused, but this one worked for me. Cotillard's character's task is SUCH hard work, and it's so humiliating to ask each coworker one-by-one whether they could please forego additional money they need to help save her job. I love the variety of responses we get, from anger, to relief, to shock, to defiance, all feeling equally human and equally possible. The good responses make her task seem vaguely possible, while the bad ones make it seem unachievable. No surprise, Cotillard is absolutely incredible in this. Her exhaustion and despair is perpetually under the surface, sometimes becoming visible, and I immediately saw myself reflected in her, in the moments when I have absolutely no spoons left but have no choice but to try to forge ahead anyway. A marvelous film I will have to revisit.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Two Days, One Night > Le voyage au Groenland

Two Days, One Night > Kuroneko

Two Days, One Night < Cam

Two Days, One Night > The Farewell

Two Days, One Night > The Cat Returns

Two Days, One Night > The Last Unicorn

Two Days, One Night > Breaking Away

Two Days, One Night > A Man for All Seasons

Two Days, One Night > Kramer vs. Kramer

Two Days, One Night > Chariots of Fire

Two Days, One Night < The People Under the Stairs

Final spot: #497 out of 3947, or 87%.

Hulchul (2004)

IMDb plot summary: A man and woman from feuding families each pretend to fall in love, as part of a revenge plot. Chaos ensues when their fake romance becomes a reality.

Directed by Priyardashan. Starring Akshaye Khanna, Kareena Kapoor, and Amrish Puri.

Hulchul is a Bollywood take on Romeo and Juliet... if Romeo and Juliet began by faking a relationship to try and undermine the other's family by luring them into their own. The two young people find that their pretend feelings are actually becoming something real, and they work to find a way to be a together. After watching a series of mediocre romances, I was very pleased to have a good time with this one. There's a particularly delightful early song in which the two leads haven't actually fallen in love with and sing about their infatuation, while their body language portrays the exact opposite every time their partner isn't looking at them. It's the first time in a while I've really been drawn into one of the frequent Bollywood musical performances, and it was great fun. It runs a little long in the final third -- there's a lot of side stuff with the male lead's brothers that feels like a tangent to the more interesting sections -- but it's a fun rom-com with a lot to like.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Hulchul > Le voyage au Groenland

Hulchul < Kuroneko

Hulchul > Kajaki

Hulchul < Time Bandits

Hulchul > Loins of Punjab Presents

Hulchul > The Pirate Movie

Hulchul < Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey

Hulchul < Summer Stock

Hulchul < The Hustler

Hulchul > Everybody's Talking About Jamie

Hulchul > M

Hulchul < Trick 'r Treat

Final spot: #1290 out of 3954, or 67%.

Inside the Lines (1930)

IMDb plot summary: During World War 1, German spies will stop at nothing to spy on the allied war plans stored at Gibraltar.

Directed by Roy Pomeroy. Starring Betty Compson, Ralph Forbes, and Montagu Love.

Inside the Lines tells the story of two American spies working in Germany during World War 1. They fell in love together before the war began, and then when they reunite on the other side, both thinks the other is an actual traitor. This is more interesting as a plot in theory, but the story drags on screen. There are a lot of characters with a lot of different interactions that are uninteresting to keep track of, and we don't spend enough time with the couple pre-spying to really be invested in their love story once things get going. When things finally pick up in the final section, it's not nearly as exciting as it would need to be to make up for the first half. A pretty boring entry into my 1930 project.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Inside the Lines < Le voyage au Groenland

Inside the Lines < K-19: The Widowmaker

Inside the Lines > The Mirror

Inside the Lines < Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Inside the Lines > Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

Inside the Lines < The Last Temptation of Christ

Inside the Lines > Bullitt

Inside the Lines < Picnic

Inside the Lines < The People vs. Larry Flynt

Inside the Lines < It Could Happen to You

Inside the Lines < Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging

Inside the Lines < Robin Hood: Men in Tights

Final spot: #3304 out of 3953, or 16%.

Allegiance (2016)

IMDb plot summary: Allegiance illuminates one of American history's lesser known chapters as it tells the story of Sam Kimura, transported back nearly six decades to when his younger self and his sister Kei fought to stay connected to their heritage, their family and themselves after Japanese Americans were wrongfully imprisoned during World War II.

Directed by Lorenzo Thione. Starring Lea Salonga, Telly Leung, and George Takei.

Allegiance is the filmed version of the Broadway musical written by George Takei and inspired by his and his family's experiences in a Japanese internment camp during World War II. It centers around one family, where the adult brother and sister take very different tactics toward their imprisonment -- he enlists in the military so he can prove they're loyal Americans, and she takes up with the camp leader of a revolution against their jailers. This is definitely a fascinating historical story, and the script and performances are all pretty solid. It's the songs where this show lets us down. There are a few memorable tunes, but also a lot of repetitive ones that don't have much of an arc and make me wonder if this was initially imagined as a sung-through show entirely. We have some incredible performers giving it their ally -- you're never going to have a bad time listening to Telly Leung and Lea Salonga sing -- but I can't imagine I'll want to add the cast album to my playlist any time soon. It's a good story, though, and I'm glad it's being told, even if I wish it were just a little bit better.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Allegiance > Le voyage au Groenland

Allegiance < Kuroneko

Allegiance < Kajaki

Allegiance > Secret in Their Eyes

Allegiance > Ben-Hur (1959)

Allegiance > Hereditary

Allegiance < Música

Allegiance > Space Sweepers

Allegiance < Saltburn

Allegiance < Joker

Allegiance < Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India

Allegiance < Battle Royale

Final spot: #1528 out of 3955, or 61%.