Vice (2018)

IMDb plot summary: The story of Dick Cheney, an unassuming bureaucratic Washington insider, who quietly wielded immense power as Vice President to George W. Bush, reshaping the country and the globe in ways that we still feel today.
Directed by Adam McKay. Starring Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell, and Sam Rockwell.

Adam McKay's last big comedy-biopic-drama endeavor, The Big Short, became one of my favorite movies of the year. I loved how it took this complicated concept that people brushed off as too difficult to explain and simplified it to give a general idea of how, in fact, the 2008 housing crisis had happened (and the effects those actions still have today). Vice attempts to do the same thing with the Iraq War invasion and Cheney's involvement with it, but focusing the story all on one man does not seem to be McKay's strength. While Big Short deftly delved into the "why" of a system, Vice attempts to explore the "why" of a human... but then does not do it particularly well. It feels stretched and aimless, and the sharper points McKay wants to make get lost in all of it.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Vice < 300
Vice > Mulan
Vice < Good Morning, Vietnam
Vice > Charlie Wilson's War
Vice > Hellraiser
Vice > Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Vice > Holiday (1938)
Vice < Melinda and Melinda
Vice < The Pajama Game
Vice > Where the Red Fern Grows
Vice < The Year Without a Santa Claus
Final spot: #1882 out of 2980.

Bullitt (1968)

IMDb plot summary: An all guts, no glory San Francisco cop becomes determined to find the underworld kingpin that killed the witness in his protection.
Directed by Peter Yates. Starring Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, Jacqueline Bisset, and Don Gordon.

I struggle to figure out what I want to say about this one because I don't really have any strong feelings about it. The car chase was great, as expected. I liked the moments with Bullitt's wife where it toyed around the idea of whether living in a world of violence has a long-term effect on you (even if it didn't actually dig depeer into that than just her one musing). The mystery itself just didn't grab me, and every time it seemed like the movie was going to incorporate a more interesting aspect, it seemed to give up pretty quickly. I'd definitely believe this is a personal anti-crime-movie bias keeping me from fully appreciating this, but as it is, I'm mostly just kind of bored.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Bullitt < As It Is In Heaven
Bullitt > The Cocoanuts
Bullitt < Bounce
Bullitt > Rango
Bullitt < The King and I
Bullitt > Captive State
Bullitt > Gilda [2164]
Bullitt < Bowling for Columbine
Bullitt < It Could Happen to You
Bullitt < Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging
Bullitt > Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Final spot: #2163 out of 2979.

Who's That Knocking At My Door (1967)

IMDb plot summary: A young man struggles with the fact that his girlfriend was once raped.
Directed by Martin Scorsese. Starring Zina Bethune, Harvey Keitel, Lennard Kuras, and Michael Scala.

Martin Scorsese's first full-length feature is pretty rocky at times (I actually got bored and went to go get a snack during a particularly long, dull sex montage that I have learned upon research was a later addition to get film distribution -- no wonder it didn't quite gel with the rest of the film). But there are also some really fascinating moments. The use of deliberately upbeat music for some of the most upsetting moments in the film is especially intriguing and definitely conveys a sense of dissonance. It's more interesting to me as a glimpse into Scorsese's early technique than as a film in and of itself.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Who's That Knocking At My Door < 300
Who's That Knocking At My Door > The Cocoanuts
Who's That Knocking At My Door < It Comes at Night
Who's That Knocking At My Door > Rango
Who's That Knocking At My Door > Carol
Who's That Knocking At My Door > Hiroshima mon amour
Who's That Knocking At My Door < Funny Girl
Who's That Knocking At My Door > How to Deal
Who's That Knocking At My Door > Nashville
Who's That Knocking At My Door > Madeline
Who's That Knocking At My Door > The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
Final spot: #1885 out of 2978.

The Kid Who Would Be King (2019)

IMDb plot summary: A band of kids embark on an epic quest to thwart a medieval menace.
Directed by Joe Cornish. Starring Louis Ashbourne Serkis, Dean Chaumoo, Angus Imrie, and Denise Gough.

This is most definitely a movie that would appeal more to a younger audience. I thought maybe it'd be a strong contender for adults too, since it got off to a great start, but as it treads into more serious/action-heavy territory, it loses a lot of the lightness that made it engaging in the first place and becomes a much more traditional kids' fantasy action flick. Not bad, but not as well-done as I hoped it would be.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Kid Who Would Be King < 300
The Kid Who Would Be King > The Cocoanuts
The Kid Who Would Be King > It Comes at Night
The Kid Who Would Be King > Paris, je t'aime
The Kid Who Would Be King > Cinderella (1950)
The Kid Who Would Be King < The Family Man
The Kid Who Would Be King < Fish Tank
The Kid Who Would Be King > Coraline
The Kid Who Would Be King < Wedding Crashers
The Kid Who Would Be King < A Star Is Born (1954)
The Kid Who Would Be King < Stepmom
The Kid Who Would Be King > Revolutionary Road
Final spot: #1569 out of 2977.

Roma (2018)

IMDb plot summary: A year in the life of a middle-class family's maid in Mexico City in the early 1970s.
Directed by Alfonso Cuarón. Starring Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Diego Cortina Autrey, and Carlos Peralta.

There are pieces of this I like very, very much, particularly in the second half. But so much of this has the eternally meandering tone that is so common in self-autobiographical films. (I didn't realize it was until I looked it up on Wikipedia, but I maybe should have guessed.) In scene after scene, I find myself wondering why this is here and where this is trying to take me. I do like Cleo a lot, especially in the latter half when both she and the family she works for find themselves relying on each other in ways that don't entirely compensate for the power dynamic but are fascinating regardless. And I absolutely adore the martial arts training sequence -- the moment where everyone is poorly attempting to copy the teacher's stance and the eye is drawn to Cleo, in the center, perfectly balanced, nailing it, is such a gorgeously framed and executed shot. There's a lot to like, but there's also a lot I felt I just had to sit through to get there.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Roma > Wild Zero
Roma < It (2017)
Roma < You Can Count on Me
Roma > Stage Fright (2014)
Roma < Arthur Christmas
Roma > The Elephant Man
Roma < Duel
Roma < Borstal Boy
Roma < The Revenant
Roma > Mudbound
Roma > A Chorus of Disapproval
Roma > Arctic
Final spot: #1250 out of 2976.

The Boys of Paul Street (1968)

IMDb plot summary: In Budapest, two rival gangs of young boys lay claim to a vacant lot.
Directed by Zoltán Fábri. Starring Anthony Kemp, William Burleigh, John Moulder-Brown, and Robert Efford.

(Major spoilers ahead.)

There's something very interesting about watching these young boys take this fictional war so seriously, but it never delves into Lord of the Flies territory. The humanity of everyone involved is always still present and recognized, especially since both sides have affection for the same youngest member of one of the groups. His death at the end brings an interesting tone to the film. Up until that point, it had all been fairly light, even given all the talk of war, but that and the reveal that the Plot they fought so hard would be torn down the next day, suddenly cast a darker tone over the film. I had a very similar reaction to the leader of the group -- having this dark ending all sink in at once and wondering where to go from here. I think this is one that is likely to stick with me.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Boys of Paul Street > Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
The Boys of Paul Street < It (2017)
The Boys of Paul Street > Josh and the Big Wall
The Boys of Paul Street > Meet Joe Black
The Boys of Paul Street < What's Eating Gilbert Grape
The Boys of Paul Street < The Mummy (1932)
The Boys of Paul Street < Crossing Delancey
The Boys of Paul Street > Beauty and the Beast (2017)
The Boys of Paul Street > Le bonheur
The Boys of Paul Street > Akira
The Boys of Paul Street < Moonwalker
Final spot: #827 out of 2975.

Cocktail (1988)

IMDb plot summary: A talented New York City bartender takes a job at a bar in Jamaica and falls in love.
Directed by Roger Donaldson. Starring Tom Cruise, Bryan Brown, Elisabeth Shue, and Lisa Banes.

I'm not sure what this movie is actually *about*. Pursuing your dreams? Settling down? Trying to be about both but then kind of half-heartedly mashing it together into an abrupt ending where nobody appears to be on any kind of actual arc? Yeah, probably that one. Tom Cruise is a strange choice for the lead, too. This character is weird and mysterious in his motivation, but I don't think he's *supposed* to be that way, I feel like there are things that were written poorly and then got even more lost in translation in the hands of the wrong actor. I told one person I was watching this and they made a comment about Tom Cruise flipping bottles and glasses around and, yeah, that's basically the height of it. I think it wants to be more but doesn't know what "more" it actually wants to be.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Cocktail < Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
Cocktail > The Cocoanuts
Cocktail > Vera Drake
Cocktail > Ray
Cocktail < The French Connection
Cocktail > Alice in Wonderland (2010)
Cocktail > Harold and Maude
Cocktail < Green Lantern
Cocktail > Play It Again, Sam
Cocktail > Nicholas Nickleby
Cocktail < Bright Young Things
Final spot: #2338 out of 2974.