Salt for Svanetia (1930)

IMDb plot summary: Story of distant mountainous region in Georgia that depicts folklore, lifestyle and daily routines of Svani people, focuses on the scarcity of salt in Svaneti region. Rich with documentary value, the movie also served for Soviet propaganda.

Directed by Mikhail Kalatozov.

Salt for Svanetia is a documentary about a remote village in the Georgian Soviet Republic. The film follows their daily lives, including how they get along in the many months of the year during which the snow cuts them off from society and they have no salt. While any documentary from this era purporting to capture life among an exotic people should probably be taken with a grain of salt (pardon the pun), I did find this fascinating. The title cards did a great job of making it easy to understand what we were watching, which can be a challenge with such old footage. I also appreciate how it doesn't feel like it's forcing a specific narrative out of the footage, but it still manages to make the day-in-the-life scenes compelling. I'd like to do some more digging to find out how much of this film is an accurate reflection of these people, but the fact that it made me want to research them is probably a good sign. Interesting watch.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Salt for Svanetia (1930)

beat Broken Blossoms (#1989 → #1997)

lost to La La Land (#992 → #990)

beat The Edge of Heaven (#1489 → #1495)

lost to Show Me Love (#1239 → #1236)

beat Prometheus (#1365 → #1414)

lost to Nine to Five (#1302 → #1299)

lost to The Great Outdoors (#1334 → #1330)

lost to The Matador (#1349 → #1353)

lost to The Major and the Minor (#1357 → #1359)

lost to Lethal Weapon (#1361 → #1360)

lost to Loins of Punjab Presents (#1363 → #1362)

beat Cargo (#1364 → #1373)

Ranked #1317/3983 on my Flickchart. Flickscore™: 67.

We Live In Time (2024)

IMDb plot summary: After an unusual encounter, a talented chef and a recently divorcée fall in love and build the home and family they've always dreamed of, until a painful truth puts their love story to the test.

Directed by John Crowley. Stars Andrew Garfield, Florence Pugh, and Grace Delaney.

We Live in Time stars Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield as a romantic couple, and we follow their story non-linearly from the beginning of their relationship through the very end. I'm a huge fan of writer Nick Payne's play Constellations, another non-linear examination of a couple's relationship (not to mention that my all-time favorite musical The Last 5 Years also fits into that category) and while this doesn't hit me as hard emotionally as Constellations does, I really love how rich Pugh and Garfield's relationship feels throughout. The scenes Payne chose to highlight really do an incredible job of showing why these two work, and seeing them at different points in time help highlight that dynamic even further. This is also full of very smart film choices showing time frame to help us locate where in their history this couple is. I appreciate the time the story takes to get to know this couple, their journey, and how their story ends. Overall, a really lovely film that is well worth checking out.

How it entered my Flickchart:

We Live in Time (2024)

beat Sarah, Plain and Tall (#1989 → #1986)

beat Luca (#994 → #1012)

lost to Network (#496 → #493)

lost to Synecdoche, New York (#744 → #739)

lost to They Came Together (#868 → #865)

lost to Shallow Grave (#930 → #928)

beat Walk Don't Run (#961 → #962)

lost to The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall (#945 → #942)

beat The Other Boleyn Girl (#952 → #953)

beat Upside Down (#948 → #959)

beat My Life as a Dog (#947 → #980)

beat Blackbeard's Ghost (#946 → #948)

Ranked #956/3982 on my Flickchart. Flickscore™: 76.

Under the Roofs of Paris (1930)

IMDb plot summary: Albert is smitten for Pola but ends up wrongly committed in jail, in the meantime her affections are sought after by his friend, and on his release both love and friendship must be tested.

Directed by René Clair. Stars Albert Préjean, Pola Illéry, and Edmond T. Gréville.

Under the Roofs of Paris is an early French musical romcom, about a woman who has several men chasing her, including a gangster and a street performer. There are some enjoyable musical numbers in here, but the plot is overfull and ends up leading to some confusion about what the woman in question actually wants. My favorite scene by far is a very cool shot that pans down the various floors in an apartment building, showing them all idly singing the same tune from the street singer. But that is early on in the movie, and then we get a lot of dramatic back-and-forth between the woman and her plausible love interests, and none of that is very engaging. More interesting for its historical significance, as it may have been the first filmed musical-comedy in France. Not bad, but not my favorite of this year.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Under the Roofs of Paris (1930)

lost to 2046 (#1988 → #1990)

beat Ice Station Zebra (#2979 → #3069)

lost to Kindergarten Cop (#2484 → #2480)

beat The Lords of Salem (#2731 → #2733)

beat They Made Me a Fugitive (#2607 → #2609)

beat Buffalo Soldiers (#2545 → #2635)

beat Five Feet Apart (#2514 → #2518)

lost to Gypsy (#2499 → #2447)

lost to Trap (#2506 → #2508)

lost to The Resurrection of Gavin Stone (#2510 → #2500)

lost to Revolutionary Road (#2512 → #2501)

lost to The Year of Living Dangerously (#2513 → #2503)

Ranked #2494/3981 on my Flickchart

Flickscore™: 38.

A Propos de Nice (1930)

IMDb plot summary: What starts off as a conventional travelogue turns into a satirical portrait of the town of Nice on the French Cote d'Azur, especially its wealthy inhabitants.

Directed by Boris Kaufman and Jean Vigo.

A Propos de Nice is a short documentary featuring life among various groups of people in the town of Nice. This is so not my kind of movie, and I almost didn't watch it for my 1930 project because it was a short and I rarely count those, but it was on so many lists I had to get around to it after all. I'm sure there is a throughline to this in terms of what the filmmaker chose to show and when and in which order, but I just couldn't care less and it all appeared arbitrary to me. Somebody else who is a big fan of this should sit down with me and explain what works about it, and maybe I'll be able to see a different take. But in the meantime, this is less of a review and more of just saying "this wasn't for me," and now I don't have to watch it again.

How it entered my Flickchart:

À propos de Nice (1930)

lost to Gothika (#1988 → #1990)

lost to Miss Congeniality (#2979 → #2980)

beat Dumb and Dumber (#3477 → #3483)

beat Danger: Diabolik (#3226 → #3230)

beat The Thomas Crown Affair (#3102 → #3105)

lost to Captain America: The Winter Soldier (#3040 → #3041)

lost to The Little Drummer Boy (#3071 → #3072)

beat Spirits of the Dead (#3086 → #3191)

lost to The Little Princess (#3078 → #3064)

lost to You Only Live Once (#3082 → #3083)

lost to What Women Want (held at #3084)

lost to Love in the Afternoon (#3085 → #3081)

Ranked #3190/3980 on my Flickchart. Flickscore: 20.

Seven Days Leave (1930)

IMDb plot summary: About a young Canadian soldier (Gary Cooper) wounded while fighting in World War I. While recovering from his wounds in London, a YMCA worker tells him that a Scottish widow (Beryl Mercer) without a son believes that he is in fact her son. To comfort the widow, the soldier agrees to pretend to be her Scottish son.

Directed by Richard Wallace. Stars Gary Cooper, Beryl Mercer, and Daisy Belmore.

Seven Days Leave tells the story of an unmarried older lady who lies about having a soldier son, so she can have some manner of social status. But when the soldier whose name she took for her imaginary son's name shows up, he's less than pleased that she's pretending to be his mother. This is a strange little movie, but it works as a story, primarily because both the leads here are doing a great job. Beryl Mercer plays the older woman with great vulnerability so we feel for her even as she's entangled in her own lies, and Gary Cooper's cold grumpiness works well as a foil for her. This was apparently based on a play, and I feel that, in how much of the relationship is built through conversation. Once Cooper appears, it's all about their interactions, and most of the other characters all but disappear, and it works. It's a sweet little film with likable performances that is different from the other films of the time period in the story it tells.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Seven Days Leave (1930)

beat Burning (#1987 → #2032)

lost to The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (#991 → #989)

lost to Murder by Death (#1488 → #1412)

beat Winnie the Pooh (#1735 → #1740)

beat The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (#1611 → #1629)

beat Hell's Angels (#1549 → #1560)

beat Rachel Getting Married (#1518 → #1520)

lost to Cinderella (#1503 → #1499)

lost to Say Anything... (#1510 → #1442)

beat The Tragedy of Macbeth (#1514 → #1516)

lost to The Green Mile (#1512 → #1508)

beat Forbidden Planet (#1513 → #1515)

Final spot: Ranked #1537/3979 on my Flickchart, 61%.

My Old Ass (2024)

IMDb plot summary: A mushroom trip brings free-spirited Elliott face-to-face with her 39-year-old self. But when Elliott's "old ass" delivers warnings to her younger self, Elliott realizes she has to rethink everything about her family, life and love.

Directed by Megan Park. Stars Maisy Stella, Aubrey Plaza, and Percy Hynes White.

My Old Ass follows a high school girl who, on a mushroom trip with her friends, is visited by her future self. The future self is able to maintain contact with the younger one and gives her a cryptic warning about a boy who has just entered her life. This one took a little while for me to fully engage with, but once it gripped me -- particularly in the latter half as the more emotional component of the story started to come to light -- I was hooked. There's a good balance of snarky sarcasm and heartfelt moments to make the characters relatable. The marketing and title of the movie, as well as the inclusion of Aubrey Plaza, made me initially think we were leaning wacky comedy, but that's not ultimately the note this lands on, and I enjoyed that unexpected turn. It's a fascinating and well-crafted film that I ultimately had a good time with.

How it entered my Flickchart:

My Old Ass (2024)

beat Eyes Wide Shut (#1987 → #1991)

beat Hoop Dreams (#991 → #989)

beat Chariots of Fire (#496 → #497)

lost to The Bridge on the River Kwai (held at #247)

beat Contagion (#372 → #378)

beat VeggieTales: Dave and the Giant Pickle (#309 → #315)

beat Throne of Blood (#278 → #288)

lost to Ed Wood (#263 → #261)

lost to Halloween (#270 → #267)

lost to 10 Cloverfield Lane (#274 → #271)

beat Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (#276 → #273)

beat Hamilton (#275 → #277)

Final spot: Ranked #276/3978 on my Flickchart, 93%. That is almost certainly too high but TCDNL.

Thelma (2024)

IMDb plot summary: When 93-year-old Thelma Post gets duped by a phone scammer pretending to be her grandson, she sets out on a treacherous quest across the city to reclaim what was taken from her.

Directed by Josh Margolin. Stars June Squibb, Fred Hechinger, and Richard Roundtree.

Thelma follows an elderly woman who is taken advantage of by a scammer. Not content to let the situation lie, she decides to go after the scammer herself when the police can't do anything. This is a delightful movie, equally enjoyable as an action thriller, a comedy, and a drama about coming to terms with mortality. June Squibb is truly fantastic here, I'm not convinced there's anything the woman can't do as an actress. Usually action comedies aren't my jam, but this one is written so cleverly that I couldn't help but be pulled in by it. I enjoyed every minute of it, and that's an impressive feat. Definitely worth a watch!

How it entered my Flickchart:

Thelma (2024)

beat Gothika (#1986 → #1990)

beat Feet First (#991 → #997)

beat Chariots of Fire (held at #496)

lost to Army of Darkness (#247 → #246)

lost to Contagion (held at #372)

beat Hook (held at #434)

lost to (500) Days of Summer (held at #403)

beat Field of Dreams (#418 → #419)

lost to Welcome to Dongmakgol (#410 → #409)

beat Citizen Kane (#414 → #416)

lost to Sita Sings the Blues (held at #412)

lost to Much Ado About Nothing (#413 → #410)

Ranked #413/3977 on my Flickchart, or 89%.