The Judge (2014)

IMDb plot summary: Big-city lawyer Hank Palmer returns to his childhood home where his father, the town's judge, is suspected of murder. Hank sets out to discover the truth; along the way he reconnects with his estranged family.

Directed by David Dobkin. Stars Robert Downey Jr., Robert Duvall, and Vera Farmiga.

The Judge stars Robert Downey Jr. as a hotshot lawyer who returns to his small hometown to defend his estranged father, played by Robert Duvall, a respected judge accused of killing a man. Downey Jr. is quite good here. It feels like ages since I've gotten to see him do something outside of Marvel, and he brings just the right mix of sarcasm and vulnerability to the role. The father/son moments are decently written and very well acted, with Downey and Duvall being good foils for each other as their live out their complicated dynamic. The story hits familiar beats, but it hits them with conviction. The romantic subplot, however, feels messy and undercooked, never quite finding a believable rhythm, and it does take up entirely too much space for something so inconsequential. I don’t feel any desire to revisit this film, but I do admire the performances enough to be glad I watched it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 The Judge (2014)

📊 Ranked #1024/4079 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 77

beat Prometheus (#2036 → #2040)

lost to Jack Goes Boating (#1016 → #1018)

lost to Muppet Treasure Island (#1524 → #1527)

beat Palmer (held at #1781)

lost to Wayne's World (#1652 → #1567)

beat Bottle Rocket (held at #1715)

lost to The Princess Diaries (#1683 → #1630)

beat The Village (#1699 → #1703)

beat Saltburn (#1691 → #1695)

lost to Girl, Interrupted (#1687 → #733)

beat Phantom of the Paradise (#1689 → #2287)

beat Three Thousand Years of Longing (#1688 → #1687)

The Wolf Man (1941)

IMDb plot summary: Upon his return to his father's estate, aristocrat Larry Talbot meets a beautiful woman, attends a mystical carnival and uncovers a horrifying curse.

Directed by George Waggner. Stars Claude Rains, Lon Chaney Jr., and Ralph Bellamy.

The Wolf Man stars Lon Chaney Jr. as a man who returns home after years abroad only to be bitten by a werewolf and cursed to become one. This is a straightforward monster-movie setup within the Universal horror canon for me, it lands as a medium-tier entry. The story and cinematography are atmospheric enough, but not as gripping as some of the other films of the same time. The pacing is oddly uneven, jumping between long stretches where very little happens and sudden bursts of plot that race ahead without any buildup. The highlight for me was seeing Claude Rains pop up in a small role -- he’s always an enjoyable watch, even when the material around him is thin. Beyond that, there’s not a ton to analyze or chew on. The film isn’t bad, just a simple, serviceable slice of early horror. It’s fine, and that’s about it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 The Wolf Man (1941)

📊 Ranked #1553/4078 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 63

beat Nickel Boys (#2035 → #2043)

lost to Elf (held at #1023)

beat Lady Bird (#1525 → #1537)

lost to Time Bandits (held at #1276)

lost to The Death of Stalin (#1397 → #1400)

beat Glory (#1460 → #1564)

lost to Killing Season (#1428 → #1327)

lost to Joe Versus the Volcano (#1444 → #1446)

lost to Educating Rita (#1452 → #1455)

lost to Beauty and the Beast (#1454 → #1449)

lost to At First Sight (#1458 → #1440)

lost to Corrina, Corrina (#1459 → #1367)

Better Man (2024)

IMDb plot summary: A singular profile of pop superstar Robbie Williams, chronicling his meteoric rise, dramatic fall, and remarkable resurgence.

Directed by Michael Gracey. Stars Robbie Williams, Jonno Davies, and Steve Pemberton.

Better Man tells the story of British pop star Robbie Williams through a creative stylistic choice: Williams is portrayed as a monkey throughout, a gimmick that immediately grabs attention and occasionally goes a little bit deeper. I went in knowing almost nothing about Williams himself, but I’d heard good things about the film and was intrigued enough to try it. The musical numbers are stunningly shot and visually striking, with a wonderful energy -- a pleasant surprise, given how deeply underwhelming I found The Greatest Showman, by the same director. While those musical numbers are strong, the script is less so. It never quite pins down who Williams is supposed to be, jumping back and forth between making him a sympathetic victim of fame and making him overtly unpleasant, and while clearly they intend for both to be present in the character, the two don't reconcile believably for me most of the time. But the plot is also pretty thin, and the movie is definitely trying to make space for the musical numbers to take center stage, as they should. That creativity makes Better Man worth watching, even if it didn’t blow me away the way I hoped.

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 Better Man (2024)

📊 Ranked #1133/4077 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 74

beat The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (#2145 → #2150)

lost to The Shape of Water (#1016 → #993)

beat Skyfall (#1524 → #1731)

beat The Nice Guys (#1270 → #1274)

lost to Leaving Las Vegas (#1143 → #1141)

beat Hoodwinked! (#1205 → #1225)

beat The Song of Lunch (#1173 → #1359)

beat Fargo (#1158 → #1163)

lost to Blink Twice (#1150 → #1146)

lost to Lilo & Stitch (#1154 → #1120)

beat A Chorus Line (#1156 → #1230)

beat Kiss Me, Stupid (#1155 → #1159)

The Commuter (2018)

IMDb plot summary: An insurance salesman/ex-cop is caught up in a life-threatening conspiracy during his daily commute home.

Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. Stars Liam Neeson, Vera Farmiga, and Patrick Wilson.

The Commuter stars Liam Neeson as an insurance salesman who’s blackmailed during his daily train ride. His task: to identify a mysterious passenger before the last stop. It's a fun high-concept, one-location thriller setup. But it's also one of those generic Neeson action movies that seem to come out every six months, and while the premise got us halfway to being a good movie, the execution never quite gets there. The acting is weak across the board, with even reliable performers like Vera Farmiga feeling stuff, and the plot twists range from implausible to flat-out ludicrous. Still, if you’re willing to turn your brain completely off, there’s some goofy entertainment in watching Neeson problem-solve his way through the train. It’s not good, but it’s not terrible either. It's just a silly, disposable thriller that I will immediately forget I saw.

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 The Commuter (2018)

📊 Ranked #2342/4076 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 42

lost to Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (#2034 → #2044)

beat Smokin' Aces (#3053 → #3060)

beat The Parting Glass (#2543 → #2554)

lost to The Worst Person in the World (#2289 → #2220)

lost to Near Dark (#2416 → #2346)

beat Arlo the Alligator Boy (#2479 → #2560)

lost to The Dinner Guest (#2447 → #2394)

beat Focus (#2463 → #2469)

lost to A Christmas Carol (#2455 → #2401)

lost to The Fourth Kind (#2459 → #2461)

lost to Gypsy (#2461 → #2441)

beat Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (#2462 → #2491)

The Chaperone (2018)

IMDb plot summary: In the early 1920s, a Kansas woman finds her life forever changed when she accompanies a young dancer on her fame-seeking journey to New York City.

Directed by Michael Engler. Stars Elizabeth McGovern, Haley Lu Richardson, and Géza Röhrig.

The Chaperone tells the story of a conservative Kansas woman who agrees to accompany teenage Louise Brooks to New York City in the 1920s, just before Brooks becomes a silent film icon. It’s a great premise about an actress I don't know much about, and seeing the two women at the opposite ends of repression and rebellion should have been interesting, but it's more interesting in concept than in execution. Elizabeth McGovern plays the chaperone as oddly wooden and restrained, even for the character, and as a result never quite sells her emotional transformation. Haley Lu Richardson as Brooks, however, has a lively, magnetic presence which keeps the film interesting and does in fact make me want to go watch more films from the actual Louise Brooks. But overall, The Chaperone plays it too safe, muddling its story with awkward side plots and an arc for McGovern that just doesn't work. It tries to make statements about liberation but stays disappointingly restrained.

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 The Chaperone (2019)

📊 Ranked #2969/4075 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 27

lost to Meet John Doe (#2034 → #2044)

beat Unbroken (#3052 → #3069)

lost to Onibaba (#2542 → #2560)

lost to The Good Dinosaur (#2796 → #2494)

lost to Splash (#2923 → #2707)

beat The Illusionist (#2986 → #2995)

beat Luther (#2954 → #3024)

lost to Doctor Zhivago (#2938 → #2854)

lost to Obvious Child (#2946 → #2942)

beat Nightmare Alley (#2950 → #2979)

beat The Double Life of Véronique (#2948 → #2963)

beat Solo: A Star Wars Story (#2947 → #2971)

Unpregnant (2020)

IMDb plot summary: A 17-year old Missouri teen named Veronica discovers she has gotten pregnant, a development that threatens to end her dreams of matriculating at an Ivy League college, and the career that will follow.

Directed by Rachel Lee Goldenberg. Stars Haley Lu Richardson, Barbie Ferreira, and Giancarlo Esposito.

Unpregnant follows a teenager girl who discovers she’s pregnant and sets off on a road trip with her former best friend to get an abortion in another state, since she can’t legally do it at home. This is almost an identical plot to Plan B, a personal favorite released a year later. Unpregnant, though, is less funny and more earnest, and its heart is in the right place, even if I feel consciously when its humor doesn’t land. There’s one genuinely hilarious sequence involving a nightmare pro-life family who essentially kidnap the girls to stop them from reaching their destination, but the rest of the film leans heavily on sincerity, and the tonal shift of the wacky middle of the film is interesting but jarring. Our two female leads, Haley Lu Richardson and Barbie Ferreira, are charismatic, with Ferreira especially standing out. (After seeing her in this and Bob Trevino Likes It, she’s clearly someone to watch.) Beyond the strong leads, though, Unpregnant is pleasant but ultimately forgettable.

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 Unpregnant (2020)

📊 Ranked #1778/4074 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 56

beat The King and I (#2033 → #2057)

lost to Steamboy (#1015 → #1014)

lost to Muppet Treasure Island (held at #1522)

beat Another Earth (#1779 → #1792)

lost to Winnie the Pooh (#1650 → #1649)

beat Allegiance (#1713 → #1720)

beat Brick (#1681 → #1718)

beat Cropsey (#1665 → #2078)

beat Pulp Fiction (#1657 → #2340)

lost to Swing Shift (#1653 → #1604)

lost to Bedknobs and Broomsticks (#1655 → #1646)

lost to The Revenant (#1656 → #1655)

Bob Trevino Likes It (2024)

IMDb plot summary: When lonely 20-something Lily Trevino accidentally befriends a stranger online who shares the same name as her own self-centered father, encouragement and support from this new Bob Trevino could change her life.

Directed by Tracie Laymon. Stars Barbie Ferreira, John Leguizamo, and French Stewart.

Bob Trevino Likes It is a heartfelt dramedy about a young woman (played by Barbie Ferreira) who ends up connecting on social media with a man who shares the same name as her neglectful father. This stranger, played by John Leguizamo, is warm and paternal and everything she wants from her own father, and the two develop an unconventional bond. This film was a wonderful, weird surprise. What could have been a quirky gimmick turns into something funny, tender, and deeply human. Ferreira was brand new to me as an actress, but she's fantastic here -- sharp, relatable, and vulnerable in all the right ways. The film isn’t afraid to linger in awkwardness, letting its characters stumble, say the wrong things, and still reach each other, but it never feels like it's reveling in the cringe. The ending will have to sit with me. It didn't go where I thought it would and my first thought is that it's a little unearned, but the strong acting performances might just make it work. Honestly, sometimes you just want to see people heal, and this film gives me that without leaning too hard into sentimentality. It's absolutely worth watching.

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 Bob Trevino Likes It (2025)

📊 Ranked #310/4073 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 93

beat Space Pirate Captain Harlock (#2039 → #2048)

beat Top Secret! (#1110 → #1111)

beat The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (held at #518)

lost to Frozen (#252 → #250)

beat Adaptation. (#379 → #387)

lost to 50/50 (#315 → #324)

beat Spirited Away (#348 → #341)

beat WarGames (#332 → #339)

lost to Eighth Grade (#324 → #319)

lost to Black Narcissus (#327 → #306)

lost to Requiem for a Dream (#330 → #309)

beat Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (#331 → #354)