America's Sweethearts (2001)

IMDb plot summary: A movie publicist deals with the messy public split of his movie's co-stars while keeping reporters at bay while a reclusive director holds the film's print hostage.

Directed by Joe Roth. Starring Julia Roberts, John Cusack, and Billy Crystal.

America's Sweethearts is a movie about movie stars -- two rom com celebrities who are married in real life, only to have a dramatic public breakup. Now this couple, played by John Cusack and Catherine Zeta-Jones, are reuniting for their press junket for the final movie they made together. Their agent, played by Billy Crystal, and the sister/personal assistant of Zeta-Jones, played by Julia Roberts, try to keep everything running smoothly. This movie teeters just on the edge of being a classic romantic comedy with all the needed laughs and charms to get it there... but it always falls just slightly short. Our characters are a bit too mean, the jokes are a bit too on-the-nose, the romantic moments a bit too unearned. There are some good witty lines but they seem inorganic. I really hoped the characters would gel into place for me by the end, but they don't. Most of it isn't *bad*, just slightly off, and seeing how close it came to being good is maybe more frustrating than if it had been bad. This is maybe one to reconsider in a few years -- if I begin with a negative mental picture of the movie, maybe I'll be more pleasantly surprised by the moments that *do* work.

How it entered my Flickchart:

America's Sweethearts > Dodsworth

America's Sweethearts < Safe

America's Sweethearts < Stargate (1994)

America's Sweethearts < Footlight Parade

America's Sweethearts < Father of the Bride Part II

America's Sweethearts > Mank

America's Sweethearts < The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad

America's Sweethearts > Deceiver

America's Sweethearts > Metropolis

America's Sweethearts < The Mummy (1999)

America's Sweethearts < Summer of Soul

America's Sweethearts > We Need to Talk About Kevin

Final spot: #1902 out of 3979, or 52%.

Wicked (2024)

IMDb plot summary: Elphaba, a misunderstood young woman because of her green skin, and Galinda, a popular girl, become friends at Shiz University in the Land of Oz. After an encounter with the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads.

Directed by Jon M. Chu. Starring Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, and Jeff Goldblum.

Wicked is the first part of the filmed adaptation of one of my favorite Broadway musicals, which tells the prequel of the Wizard of Oz's Wicked Witch and her childhood friendship with Glinda the Good Witch. I was so worried about this one when I first heard it was announced, because I'm such a fan of the original show, but just like with In the Heights, Jon M. Chu demonstrates that he loves musicals and understands what they bring to their audience. Cynthia Errivo and Ariana Grande absolutely nail their roles, both acting and singing. The choreography is some of the most exciting I've seen on screen in awhile -- "Dancing Through Life" is an absolute joy of a song. And despite the runtime of Part One being basically as long as the entirety of the stage show, it doesn't feel bloated or slow. Honestly, I struggle to figure out where all that extra time went, because it flowed so well and still seemed so faithful to the original. While I'll have to wait and see if Part Two sticks the landing, I'm much more excited about it now than I ever was about Part One. It's easily one of the best modern movie musicals, and I'm thrilled it's introducing a new audience to this show.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Wicked > Dodsworth

Wicked > Anna Karenina

Wicked > The People Under the Stairs

Wicked > Parasite

Wicked > The Lives of Others

Wicked < The Lion King (1994)

Wicked > Up

Wicked > My Fair Lady

Wicked < Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

Wicked > Lost in Translation

Wicked > Bringing Up Baby

Final spot: #71 out of 3978, or 98%.

American Movie (1999)

IMDb plot summary: Documentary about an aspiring filmmaker's attempts to finance his dream project by finally completing the low-budget horror film he abandoned years before.

Directed by Chris Smith.

American Movie is a documentary following Mike Borchardt, an aspiring filmmaker in Wisconsin who is trying to finance his own low-budget horror movie. We follow him through his search for funds, trying to get the right sound effects, working on stunts, and wrestling with his own personal demons. As someone who grew up with artistic interests in a small Midwestern town, I found this incredibly claustrophobic. These characters are a little too close to home, and while on one level I love seeing people pull out all the stops to achieve their artistic dreams, it was also depressing to see them so stuck. I think the documentary mostly does a good job of taking what easily could be a mocking look at rural America and instead shows them as the normal people they are, with all the quirks and aspirations and broken families and good and bad decisions that come with life. There are a few moments where it teeters on the edge of mockery, but I think it's aiming for sincerity. It's hard to figure out how to rank this, but I think it's a well-crafted film.

How it entered my Flickchart:

American Movie > Pete's Dragon (1977)

American Movie < Anna Karenina

American Movie > For a Few Dollars More

American Movie < Batman Returns

American Movie < The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

American Movie > Oh Darling Yeh Hai India

American Movie < Mean Girls (2004)

American Movie < Good Time

American Movie > The Piano

American Movie < Possession

American Movie < Koyaanisqatsi

American Movie > The Meg

Final spot: #1419 out of 3977, or 64%.

Longlegs (2024)

IMDb plot summary: In pursuit of a serial killer, an FBI agent uncovers a series of occult clues that she must solve to end his terrifying killing spree.

Directed by Osgood Perkins. Starring Maika Monroe, Nicolas Cage, and Blair Underwood.

Longlegs is a horror movie featuring a young FBI agent on the hunt for a mysterious serial killer known only as "Longlegs." As she searches for him, we find that her own past may be more connected to his than was first known. This is one of those vibes-only horror movies, in which the plot makes very little sense and the dialogue sounds like it's been run through multiple rounds of automatic translation software, but my goodness is it unsettling. It's like the uncanny valley of horror movies, where everything you see, especially anything Longlegs himself is involved in, is so bizarre that you keep questioning if that's what you actually saw. I do wish that the story came together a little better for me, as that would have easily launched it up into top echelons of horror. As it is, it's enjoyable but messy and slow during the actual police procedural sections.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Longlegs > Pete's Dragon (1977)

Longlegs < Safe

Longlegs > The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)

Longlegs > All the Best: Fun Begins

Longlegs < The Secret Garden (1987)

Longlegs > Pain and Glory

Longlegs > The Last Metro

Longlegs > The Bad Seed

Longlegs < Manhattan Murder Mystery

Longlegs > Sneakers

Longlegs > 1917

Final spot: #1127 out of 3976, or 72%.

What If (2013)

IMDb plot summary: Wallace, who is burned out from a string of failed relationships, forms an instant bond with Chantry, who lives with her longtime boyfriend. Together, they puzzle out what it means if your best friend is also the love of your life.

Directed by Michael Dowse. Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan, and Megan Park.

What If is a rom com starring Zoe Kazan and Daniel Radcliffe as two best friends navigating the question of whether what they feel for each other is more than friendship, even though Kazan is dating someone else. This is a simple but truly charming little romance that does an incredible job of building up the chemistry between our two leads. From the very first scene, their interactions have the easy, silly, comfortable banter of best friends, and it's impossible not to root for them. It also deals well with the theme of friends falling in love, acknowledging how difficult and complicated that can be for everyone involved. The supporting cast is also fun and engaging. While the story doesn't reach the full depth that would make it an all-time favorite, it's a sweet and entertaining watch that I had a good time with overall.

How it entered my Flickchart:

What If > Le voyage au Groenland

What If > Kuroneko

What If > Network

What If < Parasite

What If < Cape Fear (1962)

What If < Tarzan (1999)

What If < La Strada

What If < Beetlejuice

What If < The Goodbye Girl (1977)

What If > The White Tiger

What If < Secretary

What If < Tucker and Dale vs. Evil

Final spot: #493 out of 3975, or 88%.

The Replacements (2000)

IMDb plot summary: During a pro football strike, the owners hire substitute players.

Directed by Howard Deutch. Starring Keanu Reeves, Gene Hackman, and Brooke Langton.

The Replacements is a sports movie from 2000 based on an actual football players strike. Here, Gene Hackman plays the old coach who comes back in to assemble a team of replacement players, headed up by Keanu Reeves. The group has to learn to work together so they can win the final games of the season and take home the championship. This movie has two things working against it for me: one, it's an inspirational sports movie, and two... it's an inspirational sports movie siding against striking workers. Sorry, folks, I'm just a little too pro-labor to feel sorry for the scabs being looked down on. The movie it kept drawing negative comparisons to, from earlier this challenge, was Next Goal Wins, another movie about underdog sports teams, but that one had more distinct characters and didn't require me to cheer for a mega corporation. The characters in this aren't super compelling, the romance isn't interesting, and just overall very little about it works for me. I know this is some people's favorite kind of story, but it's not mine.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Replacements < Pete's Dragon (1977)

The Replacements > Loving Annabelle

The Replacements < Fun Size

The Replacements < Water for Elephants

The Replacements < The Preacher's Wife

The Replacements < A Mighty Wind

The Replacements > The Devil's Brigade

The Replacements < The Spanish Prisoner

The Replacements < The Fundamentals of Caring

The Replacements > My Darling Clementine

The Replacements > Candy

The Replacements > Reminiscence

Final spot: #2942 out of 3974, or 26%.

Hit Man (2023)

IMDb plot summary: A professor moonlighting as a hit man of sorts for his city police department, descends into dangerous, dubious territory when he finds himself attracted to a woman who enlists his services.

Directed by Richard Linklater. Starring Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, and Austin Amelio.

Hit Man stars Glen Powell as a mild-mannered philosophy professor who gets an unexpected side career as a fake hit man who turns his clients into the cops once they hire him. However, things take a turn when he ends up developing feelings for one of his clients and they become involved. This is a fairly entertaining movie, largely for Powell's work -- yes, after this I can see why he suddenly became the enormous star he did. He plays all his various parts extremely well, including his "core self" who is dull and boring. Richard Linklater directs this, and you can definitely see his interest in humans and how they behave shining through this story. That being said, it is more of a flash-in-the-pan movie for me, that I enjoyed while it ran and then mostly forgot once it was over, aside from Powell's impressive performance. Totally watchable but not necessarily memorable for me.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Hit Man > Le voyage au Groenland

Hit Man < Anna Karenina

Hit Man < The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)

Hit Man > Secret in Their Eyes

Hit Man > Chaos Theory

Hit Man > Talk Radio

Hit Man < The Salesman

Hit Man > George Takei's Allegiance

Hit Man < Saltburn

Hit Man < Joker

Hit Man < Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India

Hit Man < Battle Royale

Final spot: #1536 out of 3973, or 61%.