The Swimmer (1968)

IMDb plot summary: A man spends a summer day swimming as many pools as he can all over a quiet suburban town.
Directed by Frank Perry. Starring Burt Lancaster, Janet Landgard, Janice Rule, and Tony Bickley.

What a strange and fascinating movie this is. It's vaguely fantastical, feeling almost like a Greek myth in its scope and themes. The final 5 minutes or so I found extremely moving and haunting. Burt Lancaster is incredibly good in this, charming but with a sense of being slightly "off," and this incongruity becomes stronger and clearer as the movie goes on. This is one that I think is going to stick with me for some time.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Swimmer > The Wiz
The Swimmer > Cats (2019)
The Swimmer < The Grapes of Wrath
The Swimmer > Monsieur Lazhar
The Swimmer < Adaptation
The Swimmer < True Lies
The Swimmer > Flight
The Swimmer > The Shawshank Redemption
The Swimmer < Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Undead
The Swimmer > Nurse Betty
The Swimmer > Synecdoche, New York
The Swimmer > Brigsby Bear
Final spot: #540 out of 3104.

Wild in the Streets (1968)

IMDb plot summary: A young man gains significant political influence as the leader of a counterculture rock band with his rallying cry of voting rights for teenagers.
Directed by Barry Shear. Starring Shelley Winters, Christopher Jones, Diane Varsi, and Hal Holbrook.

This was a delightfully wild ride -- so wild I can't quite tell if it's actually cautioning its viewers against the rise of the young or mocking viewers worried about the rise of the young. But I found it to be so, so much fun, especially our 24-year-old protagonist's personal crisis toward the end when an elementary school child pronounces him "old." It's bizarre and weird and I had so much fun with it.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Wild in the Streets > Finding Dory
Wild in the Streets < Cats
Wild in the Streets > It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World
Wild in the Streets > Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Wild in the Streets < M
Wild in the Streets < Serendipity
Wild in the Streets < The Country Girl
Wild in the Streets > Ballet Shoes
Wild in the Streets < 9
Wild in the Streets > Marooned
Wild in the Streets > Say Anything...
Wild in the Streets < Inherit the Wind
Final spot: #953 out of 3103.

Dark of the Sun (1968)

IMDb plot summary: A band of mercenaries led by Captain Curry travel through war-torn Congo across deadly terrain, battling rival armies, to steal $50 million in uncut diamonds. But infighting, sadistic rebels and a time lock jeopardize everything.
Directed by Jack Cardiff. Starring Rod Taylor, Yvettee Mimieux, Peter Carsten, and Jim Brown.

I'm kind of fascinated by how criticized this movie was for being incredibly violent on its release, because it really didn't strike me as over-the-top. Guess that's me being desensitized. It was also intriguing watching this so soon after I watched Blood Diamond, which is a completely different country, but also features a morally questionable white man teaming up with a black man to go find some diamonds in a country torn apart by civil war. I guess some stories are universal -- there will always be people looking to get their profit out of everyone else's conflict. Anyway, the movie's not great. Not nearly as good as Blood Diamond.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Dark of the Sun < Muppet Treasure Island
Dark of the Sun < Blackadder Back & Forth
Dark of the Sun > A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)
Dark of the Sun > The Goonies
Dark of the Sun > Men of Honor
Dark of the Sun < The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Dark of the Sun < Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
Dark of the Sun < Soylent Green
Dark of the Sun > The Boss
Dark of the Sun < Adam's Rib
Dark of the Sun > Animal House
Final spot: #2415 out of 3102.

Lady in Cement (1968)

IMDb plot summary: During an ocean dive, Miami gumshoe Tony Rome finds a woman's body with its feet encased in a concrete block and sets-out to solve the murder case.
Directed by Gordon Douglas. Starring Frank Sinatra, Raquel Welch, Richard Conte, and Martin Gabel.

What a strange tone this movie strikes. It's got all the trappings of a typical noir, including the far-too-many-characters and far-too-many-layers frustrations I have with most of them, but it's also got this extremely dry sense of humor that feels more overtly comedic than most noir detectives' cynical wit, and then we've also got this jaunty, almost goofy, soundtrack to go along with it. It definitely ends up feeling more like silly crime comedy than serious noir, but I can't quite tell if that was its intention.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Lady in Cement < Muppet Treasure Island
Lady in Cement < Spaceballs
Lady in Cement > A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)
Lady in Cement < Anastasia
Lady in Cement > Gomorrah
Lady in Cement > In Cold Blood
Lady in Cement < Scarface
Lady in Cement > The House with Closed Shutters
Lady in Cement < One Hour Photo
Lady in Cement < Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Lady in Cement > Move Over, Darling
Final spot: #2554 out of 3101.

The Polka King (2017)

IMDb plot summary: Local Pennsylvania polka legend Jan Lewan develops a plan to get rich that shocks his fans and lands him in jail.
Directed by Maya Forbes. Starring Jack Black, Jenny Slate, Jason Schwartzman, and Jacki Weaver.

I knew nothing at all about this real life person and found this story of his life pretty fascinating, if extremely forgiving of someone defrauding people out of their money. Jack Black creates a really relatable character here, hitting on both the lighter and darker moments of his psyche. It's an entertaining movie.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Polka King > Cloak & Dagger
The Polka King < The Body Snatcher
The Polka King > It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World
The Polka King > The Long Day Closes
The Polka King > M
The Polka King < Zootopia
The Polka King < Freaky Friday (2003)
The Polka King < What's Eating Gilbert Grape
The Polka King < The Emperor Waltz
The Polka King > Under the Skin
The Polka King > Topsy-Turvy
The Polka King < The Happening
Final spot: #867 out of 3100.

Live a Little, Love a Little (1968)

IMDb plot summary: Photographer Greg Nolan moonlights in two full-time jobs to pay the rent, but has trouble finding time to do them both without his bosses finding out.
Directed by Norman Taurog. Starring Elvis Presley, Michele Carey, Don Porter, and Rudy Vallee.

This movie feels like an alien tried to write a rom com. I can sometimes get the style they seem to be going for, but it's all run through a filter of having no idea what people act or speak like. Every two minutes I was yelling at this movie, "Wait... What? Why?" and not even because they were making *bad* decisions, but because they were making *incoherent* decisions. So... yeah, this was pretty terrible, and not even a couple fun Elvis numbers could improve it.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Live a Little, Love a Little < UHF
Live a Little, Love a Little < Blackadder Back & Forth
Live a Little, Love a Little < Mr. Hulot's Holiday
Live a Little, Love a Little > Kate and Leopold
Live a Little, Love a Little > Stalker
Live a Little, Love a Little > Employee of the Month
Live a Little, Love a Little < Herbie: Fully Loaded
Live a Little, Love a Little > Tears of the Sun
Live a Little, Love a Little > The Painted Veil
Live a Little, Love a Little < Vera Drake
Live a Little, Love a Little < Freaky Friday (1976)
Live a Little, Love a Little > Made of Honor
Final spot: #2741 out of 3099.

Spider Baby or, The Maddest Story Ever Told (1968)

IMDb plot summary: A caretaker devotes himself to three demented siblings after their father's death.
Directed by Jack Hill. Starring Lon Chaney Jr., Carol Ohmart, Quinn K. Redeker, and Beverly Washburn.

The opening credits definitely set a distinct horror-comedy tone for this movie! The rest of it doesn't quite live up to that, but it comes close at times, with lots of pieces that are really enjoyably ridiculous. My biggest complaint is that this bizarre disease is never really explained as much as I want it to be, it just speaks vaguely of them "regressing," which I guess doesn't mean becoming more childlike so much as becoming murderers. Overall pretty fun, more so with a group of snarky friends.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Spider Baby > UHF
Spider Baby < Cats
Spider Baby > Princess Mononoke
Spider Baby < Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Spider Baby < Poltergeist
Spider Baby < Dark Shadows
Spider Baby < The Gold Rush
Spider Baby < The Kite Runner
Spider Baby < Interiors
Spider Baby > Children of Paradise
Spider Baby > Loving Vincent
Spider Baby < Swing Girls
Final spot: #1156 out of 3098.