Blue is the Warmest Colour (2013)

IMDb plot summary: Adèle's life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire and to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adèle grows, seeks herself, loses herself, and ultimately finds herself through love and loss.

Directed by Abdellatif Kechiche. Starring Léa Seydoux, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Salim Kechiouche, and Aurélien Recoing.

This film REALLY likes to zoom in on its characters' bodies -- uncomfortably close. I feel like fully half of the movie is seeing snot and saliva and other bodily fluids so close up it's like I'm touching them, and it's an aesthetic that I find deeply off-putting. And it's just deeply uncomfortable to see so many extended sex scenes in the early parts of the movie where Adele is still underage. On top of that, I don't find the story all that engaging. Adele herself, yes, but her relationship with Emma is told in exceptionally slow little anecdotes with huge gaps in between that don't ever really come together to create a fully fleshed-out story for me.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Blue Is the Warmest Color < The Chalk Garden

Blue Is the Warmest Color > The Birthday Party

Blue Is the Warmest Color < Sarah, Plain and Tall

Blue Is the Warmest Color > After the Thin Man

Blue Is the Warmest Color > Hide and Seek

Blue Is the Warmest Color < Genius

Blue Is the Warmest Color > Cinderella (2015)

Blue Is the Warmest Color < Less Than Zero

Blue Is the Warmest Color < Miller's Crossing

Blue Is the Warmest Color < Cellular

Blue Is the Warmest Color < Little Women (1933)

Blue Is the Warmest Color < Carol

Final spot: #2128 out of 3283, or 35%.

Orgazmo (1997)

IMDb plot summary: Naive young Mormon Joe Young is recruited to act in porn movies.

Directed by Trey Parker. Starring Trey Parker, Dian Bachar, Robyn Lynne Raab, and Michael Dean Jacobs.

You can definitely see the seeds of what would later become The Book of Mormon musical in this goofy comedy, especially in early scenes where he and his mission partner are going door-to-door. My reaction to this was ALL over the place -- there are several moments that are laugh-out-loud hilarious, but there are also a lot of moments that reinforce the harmful ways media portrays sex overall, including homophobia, fatphobia, and a whole montage of comedically-portrayed sexual assault, none of which work well at all. Most of these jokes are over pretty quickly, but they definitely drag down what is otherwise a pretty funny absurdist look at the industry from a complete outsider's perspective. For those whose style of humor aligns pretty closely with Parker and Stone, it's probably worth a watch for the good moments.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Orgazmo > Dogtooth

Orgazmo < Chronicle

Orgazmo > Hoosiers

Orgazmo < The Emperor Waltz

Orgazmo > An Education

Orgazmo > 2012

Orgazmo > Prometheus

Orgazmo < Andhadhun

Orgazmo > Mr. Deeds Goes To Town

Orgazmo > The Theory of Everything

Orgazmo < The Absent-Minded Professor

Final spot: #1040 out of 3281, or 68%.

Hoop Dreams (1994)

IMDb plot summary: A film following the lives of two inner-city Chicago boys who struggle to become college basketball players on the road to going professional.

Directed by Steve James.

This documentary follows its young subjects from eighth grade up through high school graduation, and it's captivating throughout. We see the boys wrestle with grades, school tuition costs, losing parents, becoming parents, losing friends, recovering from injuries, and more, all while trying to play their way into a basketball scholarship at a good school. It's impossible not to root for these kids as you see all the expectations placed on them not only by themselves but by their family members, many of whom had dreams of basketball fame themselves and now hope to see those dreams lived out through someone else. And it definitely gives us a glance into the system that keeps young people feeling trapped -- for both these kids, a basketball scholarship feels like the only chance they have of "getting out" and getting a life they want. It's a powerful and thoughtful film.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Hoop Dreams > Dog Tooth

Hoop Dreams < My Name Is Joe

Hoop Dreams > A Doll's House

Hoop Dreams > The Happening

Hoop Dreams > The Last Metro

Hoop Dreams > Re-Animator

Hoop Dreams > Hawking

Hoop Dreams > Crocodile Dundee

Hoop Dreams > Barton Fink

Hoop Dreams > Whip It

Hoop Dreams > The Black Cat

Hoop Dreams < Chronicle

Final spot: #822 out of 3280, or 75%.

Swimming With Sharks (1994)

IMDb plot summary: A young, naive Hollywood studio assistant finally turns the tables on his incredibly abusive producer boss.

Directed by George Huang. Starring Kevin Spacey, Frank Whaley, Michelle Forbes, and Benicio Del Toro.

This all hinges on Frank Whaley and Kevin Spacey's performances, and they are both great. Spacey has always excelled at playing cold, cruel people, and this is no exception. And Whaley's ruthless ambition shines through even in the early scenes before we wonder if he's starting to be corrupted by his boss' view of power. The third lead is a female character and her treatment in the movie... well, leaves more than a little to be desired. While that definitely is meant to speak to the obvious misogyny of Spacey's character and how he sees her, the film doesn't do a GREAT job of fleshing her out as an individual, and I think that was a missed opportunity. However, it's still largely a smart, interesting film and I did still have a good time watching it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Swimming With Sharks > Pitch Perfect 2

Swimming With Sharks < Chronicle

Swimming With Sharks < A Doll's House

Swimming With Sharks < You Can Count on Me

Swimming With Sharks > Hamlet (2009)

Swimming With Sharks > Bonnie and Clyde

Swimming With Sharks > Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Swimming With Sharks < Bridge of Spies

Swimming With Sharks > Cast Away

Swimming With Sharks > Pather Panchali

Swimming With Sharks > A Star Is Born (1954)

Final spot: #1448 out of 3277, or 56%, which seems far too low but the chart doesn't lie!

The Hill (1965)

IMDb plot summary: In a North African military prison during World War II, five new prisoners struggle to survive in the face of brutal punishment and sadistic guards.

Directed by Sidney Lumet. Starring Sean Connery, Harry Andrews, Ian Bannen, and Alfred Lynch.

This is a genre I usually can't get into at all, but this is crafted so well it does push past those negative genre biases. It's especially interesting how the film shows things that already push characters to the margins of society -- such as weight, race, and sexual orientation -- being used as fuel to further humiliate and dehumanize these prisoners. It also does a really wonderful job of growing the tension of injustice. As the prisoners try more and more avenues to achieve human treatment, and the higher-ups close more doors in their faces, you can REALLY feel the rising panic of "There's nothing we can do about this," even as the circumstances continue to worsen. The scenes on the hill itself are shot really well and convey a really visceral sense of physical punishment. Definitely a movie to check out.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Hill > Pitch Perfect 2

The Hill < My Name Is Joe

The Hill > A Doll's House

The Hill > The Polka King

The Hill > The Last Metro

The Hill < Re-Animator

The Hill > Auntie Mame

The Hill > Gone Baby Gone

The Hill > The Color Purple

The Hill > Unbreakable

The Hill > Wonder Boys

The Hill > Billy Liar

Final spot: #871 out of 3276, or 73%.

Cargo (2019)

IMDb plot summary: A young female astronaut, who joins a reclusive astronaut aboard a spaceship, struggles with her job as she interacts with mysterious Cargos that appear on the ship.

Directed by Arati Kadav. Starring Vikrant Massey, Shweta Tripathi, Nandu Madhav, and Konkona Sen Sharma.

These are likable characters, and it's fun to watch how they interact with each other and with their cargo. The plot itself is a very light one and is much more focused on the idea of exploring this world, and that is definitely the most engaging part of the story. The tedious bureaucracy of this life-and-death cycle, the casual existence of otherworldly creatures dubbed "demons," the supernatural powers everyone has, the extended lifespans you don't realize are a thing until nearly the end of the movie... It's a fascinating little future to be dropped in the middle of. And as a quiet exploration of a possible future, it's very successful. It might be striving for more, some lessons about lives worth lived or something along those lines, and it's much less successful there, but still worth a watch as a creative universe to set a story in.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Cargo > Broken Embraces

Cargo < My Name Is Joe

Cargo > Phone Booth

Cargo > Under the Skin

Cargo < The Last Metro

Cargo < Peggy Sue Got Married

Cargo > The Artist

Cargo < Seven Chances

Cargo < We're No Angels

Cargo < A Snoodle's Tale

Cargo < The Mummy (1932)

Cargo > L'atalante

Final spot: #996 out of 3275, or 70%.

Fahrenheit 451 (1966)

IMDb plot summary: In an oppressive future, a fireman whose duty is to destroy all books begins to question his task.

Directed by François Truffaut. Starring Julie Christie, Oskar Werner, Cyril Cusack, and Anton Diffring.

This is a book that has lingered in the public consciousness for a long time and is still an atmospheric dystopian world, but aside from the beautiful and moving final scene, I'm not sure the film does the book any favors. The decision to cast Julie Christie in two parts was especially ineffective, as she gives essentially the same portrayal of both of them, and the script makes Montag's change of heart feel rather abrupt and unjustified. The final third or so is definitely the strongest, and as I said I truly adored the final scene, but overall it feels like a rather cold adaptation of a story about the power of art.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Fahrenheit 451 > Broken Embraces

Fahrenheit 451 < My Name Is Joe

Fahrenheit 451 < A Doll's House

Fahrenheit 451 < You Can Count on Me

Fahrenheit 451 < Hamlet (2009)

Fahrenheit 451 < Duel

Fahrenheit 451 > Hellboy

Fahrenheit 451 > The Misfits

Fahrenheit 451 < Sunday in the Park with George

Fahrenheit 451 < Monsters

Fahrenheit 451 < Dark and Stormy Night

Fahrenheit 451 < Frank

Final spot: #1598 out of 3274, or 51%.