The Substance (2024)

IMDb plot summary: A fading celebrity takes a black-market drug: a cell-replicating substance that creates a younger, better version of herself.

Directed by Coralie Fargeat. Starring Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, and Dennis Quaid.

The Substance stars Demi Moore as an aging fitness celebrity who begins taking a mysterious "substance" with the promise it will make her young again. What it does is create a separate, younger, more beautiful body that trades off with Moore every seven days. This does not go well. This is, as I expected, an extremely gross but extremely fascinating movie that makes the most of its body horror opportunities. Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley are both phenomenal in their very different roles, though Moore definitely steps it up. The final section of the movie is truly wild, as we see the horrific breakdown of the split body as it attempts to keep its youth at any cost. It's fun and creative and delightful in a disgusting Cronenbergian way. The very last shot featuring Moore on her Walk of Fame star is both hilarious and haunting... and more than a little tragic. Overall, I think the film is very effective in its goals, both its satirical goals and its goals of getting some visceral "oh ew" reactions. It was exciting to see this get so much awards love, something that horror films rarely get.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Substance > Can't Hardly Wait

The Substance > Key Largo

The Substance < The People Under the Stairs

The Substance < Theater Camp

The Substance < Shiva Baby

The Substance < Erin Brockovich

The Substance > Finian's Rainbow

The Substance < Sherlock Jr.

The Substance > Swing Girls

The Substance < Dogma

The Substance < Night Must Fall

The Substance > Love's Labour's Lost (2000)

Final spot: #963 out of 4018, or 76%.

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988)

IMDb plot summary: Men seeking relief from the Black Death, guided by a boy's vision, dig a tunnel from 14th century England to 20th century New Zealand.

Directed by Vincent Ward. Starring Bruce Lyons, Chris Haywood, and Hamish Gough.

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey follows a remote village in 1300s Cumbria. One member of the village has just learned that the Black Plague is spreading across the land, and the villagers try to figure out how to fend it off. One young boy begins to dream about what they need to do to protect themselves, and the villagers all follow him as he guides them into, unexpectedly, the modern world in search of protection. This movie captured my interest early on and then went in new and fascinating directions, and I liked that I couldn't ever figure out where it was going. The melding of fantasy into the medieval setting was done seamlessly, and I really enjoyed that. The film has that rare quality of being so engaging that even when I start to lose the plot toward the end of what is real and what is not, I don't really mind, it's holding my attention regardless. It's one that I'm intrigued to watch again sometime, knowing where the story ultimately lands, because I'm very curious how it will play for me a second time.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey > The Call

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey < Key Largo

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey > Mrs. Brown

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey < Hedwig and the Angry Inch

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey > River's Edge

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey < Trick 'r Treat

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey > Moby Dick (1930)

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey > OMG: Oh My God!

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey > A Little Night Music

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey > M

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey > Creature from the Black Lagoon

Final spot: #1319 out of 4017, or 67%. That seems much too low, but TCDNL.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

IMDb plot summary: A charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers embark on an epic quest to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people.

Directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein. Starring Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, and Regé-Jean Page.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a fantasy story starring Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez as two thieves who break out of jail and go back to find Pine's daughter, who was left behind when he was imprisoned. However, they find one of their former colleagues has betrayed them, poisoned the daughter's mind against them, and plans to kill them. So they band together with some other friends to try and take him down. I'm often bored by fantasy stories, but this one works well on the strength of the characters. They are much more creatively written than many bland fantasy tropes, and Chris Pine in particular really sells the relatability of his character. Watching this back-to-back with Paddington 2 was also really fun, watching Hugh Grant in his "villain era." It's funny and smart and a pretty enjoyable ride in a genre I typically don't relate to.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves > The Call

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves < Elf

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves > National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves > Monsoon Wedding

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves > Last Action Hero

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves < My Name Is Bruce

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves > Sleeping With Other People

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves < Gremlins

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves < Hannah Arendt

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves > Volver

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves > Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves < I Want You Back

Final spot: #1091 out of 4015, or 73%.

Godzilla Minus One (2023)

IMDb plot summary: Post-war Japan is at its lowest point when a new crisis emerges in the form of a giant monster, baptized in the horrific power of the atomic bomb.

Directed by Takashi Yamazaki. Starring Minami Hamabe, Ryûnosuke Kamiki, and Sakura Andô.

Godzilla Minus One is set just after the end of World War II, focusing on a disgraced Japanese former pilot who is struggling to make ends meet. When Godzilla appears as a threat to the country, the pilot is brought in to help as one of the few people who have encountered the monster before. This is the second Godzilla movie I watched as part of my 40 to 4K challenge, and it isn't nearly as interesting to me as Shin Godzilla was. I was not as drawn in by the characters and their quests to take down the monster. I did like the monster design -- some of those giant battles in the sea were very striking visually. And on paper, I really appreciate how much it centered around the aftermath of World War 2 in Japan, and how the appearance of a giant sea monster in that moment is just... spectacularly bad timing. Overall, it's a fine movie that is well put together but, as with so many franchise films for me, it all blends together with others telling basically the same story.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Godzilla Minus One > A Silent Voice

Godzilla Minus One < Elf

Godzilla Minus One > Flight of the Navigator

Godzilla Minus One > Saving Private Ryan

Godzilla Minus One < Last Action Hero

Godzilla Minus One > Nick of Time

Godzilla Minus One < The River Wild

Godzilla Minus One < The Rose

Godzilla Minus One < It (2017)

Godzilla Minus One > Doctor Strange

Godzilla Minus One < High Strung

Godzilla Minus One > Cool Runnings

Final spot: #1185 out of 4011, or 70%.

Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018)

IMDb plot summary: An exploration of the life, lessons, and legacy of iconic children's television host Fred Rogers.

Directed by Morgan Neville.

Won't You Be My Neighbor? is a documentary about Fred Rogers and his career, primarily his children's show Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, but also the other things he did throughout his life to try to achieve his goal of spreading kindness and conveying love. This was exactly the movie I needed to watch this year. I didn't even watch much Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood as a child, but this was so wholesome and hopeful that I teared up more than once. I loved seeing all the people who'd worked with him throughout the years talking about how deeply he cared about kids and the lessons they were learning about themselves. I expected any celebrity documentary to be more focused on trying to dig into the darker side of someone, but this really doesn't do that much at all, focusing more on his impact and heart for helping people than anything. As an educator myself, although for older ages, it really made me more hopeful about my place in the world. I may not have a reach like Fred Rogers, but I think our hearts are in a similar place, and on some level I have to trust that that is going to make a difference for someone. This was the movie I needed to watch right now, and documentaries rarely affect me that way. I'm glad I finally made space to watch it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Won't You Be My Neighbor? > The Call

Won't You Be My Neighbor? > Key Largo

Won't You Be My Neighbor? > Network

Won't You Be My Neighbor? < Parasite

Won't You Be My Neighbor? < Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Won't You Be My Neighbor? > Tarzan

Won't You Be My Neighbor? < Once

Won't You Be My Neighbor? > Field of Dreams

Won't You Be My Neighbor? < I.Q.

Won't You Be My Neighbor? < Half a Sixpence

Won't You Be My Neighbor? > Shall We Dance? (1996)

Won't You Be My Neighbor? > Trust

Final spot: #419 out of 4014, or 90%.

Oliver and Company (1988)

IMDb plot summary: A lost and alone kitten joins a gang of dogs engaged in petty larceny in New York City.

Directed by George Scribner. Starring Joey Lawrence, Billy Joel, and Cheech Marin.

Oliver and Company is a Disney animated film that is a loose adaptation of Oliver Twist, with animals. Oliver is an abandoned kitten who gets taken in by a pack of thieving dogs. But then a human child finds Oliver and takes him in, and he finds his loyalty tested between his two groups of new friends. The songs are by far the best part of this weirdly short movie. The primary narrative arc, of Oliver having to choose between his two sets of new friends, would make a lot more sense if we spent more than the length of a single song showing Oliver bonding with his animal friends. As it is, it seems absolutely ludicrous that they would feel in any way betrayed by his wanting to be adopted by a rich girl and live in a mansion. That being said, the musical numbers in this are great -- not only written well but also animated very dynamically, so that the visuals really highlight the musical strengths. This is a fun series of animated music videos but sloppy as a full movie.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Oliver and Company < Can't Hardly Wait

Oliver and Company < On the Waterfront

Oliver and Company > The Internship

Oliver and Company > Charlie Wilson's War

Oliver and Company > Au bonheur des dames

Oliver and Company < Ivan the Terrible, Part One

Oliver and Company > You Only Live Once

Oliver and Company > What's Up, Tiger Lily?

Oliver and Company > Who's That Knocking At My Door

Oliver and Company > She's All That

Oliver and Company > Queen Margot

Final spot: #3076 out of 4016, or 23%.

The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)

IMDb plot summary: Kermit and his friends go to New York City to get their musical on Broadway only to find it's a more difficult task than they anticipated.

Directed by Frank Oz. Starring Jim Henson, Frank Oz, and Dave Goelz.

The Muppets Take Manhattan follows Kermit and company in New York City as they try to get their school play produced on Broadway. It turns out to be tougher than they thought, though, and the group goes through quite a few ups and downs trying to get their show on stage. I always prefer non-literary adaptations of Muppet stories, but this one feels a little flat. The story feels rushed, partly because it sets aside a whole bunch of time at the end of the film to watch a huge chunk of their stage musical, and so the build-up to get to that moment has to move quickly. There's an abrupt amnesia subplot that is by far the most enjoyable piece of the movie, and I wish that had come up a little earlier and been a more substantial plot point. Definitely a hit-and-miss film with a few fun moments, but the final results doesn't quite reach the mark for me.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Muppets Take Manhattan < The Call

The Muppets Take Manhattan > I Am Number Four

The Muppets Take Manhattan > Legends of the Fall

The Muppets Take Manhattan < Infinity Pool

The Muppets Take Manhattan > Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library

The Muppets Take Manhattan < The Kids Are All Right

The Muppets Take Manhattan > Thank You For Smoking

The Muppets Take Manhattan < Crank

The Muppets Take Manhattan > Phantom of the Paradise

The Muppets Take Manhattan > Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

The Muppets Take Manhattan > In the Heat of the Night

Final spot: #2334 out of 4010, or 42%.