Jimmy the Kid (1982)

IMDb plot summary: Gang of bumbling crooks kidnap a bratty little kid, find out they got more than they bargained for.

Directed by Gary Nelson. Starring Gary Coleman, Paul Le Mat, Ruth Gordon, and Dee Wallace.

This movie is pretty goofy. It's clearly aiming toward a young audience and is filled with silly slapstick gags and cheap one-liners that frequently don't work -- but not always. There are enough jokes in here that even if only a quarter of them land that's enough to make you feel like you're having an okay time. That's what happened with me, anyway. It was hard to get irritated by any of the cringier jokes because they were over pretty quickly. Additionally, I haven't really seen Gary Coleman in anything before this, but his matter-of-fact delivery of some of these lines made them work better than if it had been someone more visibly winking at the camera with their character. I genuinely enjoyed his performance, and it helped to ground the more outlandish acting around him. Not a great movie but any means but I didn't hate it, and if I'd watched this as a kid I'd probably have loved it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Jimmy the Kid < Seasons of the Heart

Jimmy the Kid > Double, Double, Toil and Trouble

Jimmy the Kid > Ghostbusters II

Jimmy the Kid > Don Jon

Jimmy the Kid < Trainwreck

Jimmy the Kid > Cape Fear (1991)

Jimmy the Kid < Forbidden Planet

Jimmy the Kid < The Kids Are All Right

Jimmy the Kid < The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

Jimmy the Kid > Easy Virtue

Jimmy the Kid > Mystic River

Jimmy the Kid < Heat

Final spot: #1828 out of 3354, or 45%.

Moxie (2021)

IMDb plot summary: Inspired by her mom's rebellious past and a confident new friend, a shy 16-year-old publishes an anonymous zine calling out sexism at her school.

Directed by Amy Poehler. Starring Hadley Robinson, Lauren Tsai, Alycia Pascual-Pena, and Nico Hiraga.

I absolutely loved this. Loved, loved, loved it. It made me laugh and made me care about the characters and made me cheer even when the events seemed a little idealistic and unlikely to happen in real life. I love the depth of characters they build in these teenagers, particularly Vivian's best friend, who worries that she lacks the courage to follow her friend on this path, and Vivian's boyfriend, who may be one of the most likable romantic lead protagonists I've ever seen on film. I love the clever dialogue which is funny and interesting without ever seeming too scripted. Sometimes you just want to see good people fighting for the underdog and winning, and that's exactly what this movie offers. This is going to be one I revisit from time to time, for sure.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Moxie > Safety Not Guaranteed

Moxie > The Black Cat

Moxie > He Loves Me... He Loves Me Not

Moxie < This Is Spinal Tap

Moxie > Bells Are Ringing

Moxie > August Rush

Moxie > Some Like It Hot

Moxie > Fright Night (1985)

Moxie > The Adventures of Robin Hood

Moxie > Kes

Moxie < The Orphanage

Final spot: #212 out of 3353, or 94%.

Dodsworth (1936)

IMDb plot summary: A retired auto manufacturer and his wife take a long-planned European vacation only to find that they want very different things from life.

Directed by William Wyler. Starring Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton, Paul Lukas, and Mary Astor.

This is a difficult movie to figure out what I feel about it. It definitely doesn't go in the directions I expect it to. I'll start with the performances, I suppose: Walter Huston and Ruth Chatterton create some truly memorable characters here. Huston plays Sam Dodsworth as a fascinating combination of adventurous and stuck in his ways, and Chatterton's Fran Dodsworth is never fully unsympathetic even when she continues to make terrible decisions. The film maybe meant to take a bit more of a hard stance on who was right and who was wrong, but I found my sympathies flipping between the two every few scenes. I was mildly surprised by how the story ended but it was a satisfying ending. It's not amazing, but it's worth a watch.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Dodsworth > Safety Not Guaranteed

Dodsworth < Hoop Dreams

Dodsworth < Ramona and Beezus

Dodsworth < Holiday Inn

Dodsworth < Eyes Wide Shut

Dodsworth > My Week With Marilyn

Dodsworth < Bottle Rocket

Dodsworth > Aguirre: The Wrath of God

Dodsworth > Skyfall

Dodsworth > Following

Dodsworth > The Invention of Lying

Dodsworth > Kodachrome

Final spot: #1598 out of 3352, or 52%.

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things (2021)

IMDb plot summary: Two teens who live the same day repeatedly, enabling them to create the titular map.

Directed by Ian Samuels. Starring Kathryn Newton, Kyle Allen, Jermaine Harris, and Anna Mikami.

This movie dances RIGHT along the line of being too cute, too simplistic, too Manic Pixie Dream Girl, but it ultimately manages to avoid most of those traps and create a really charming rom com and coming-of-age drama. It shifts focus in the final act of the film in a way I deeply appreciate, which pulls it right out of those Manic Pixie Dream Girl tropes for me and set it back in the real world among real characters. The two actors playing the leads are charming and funny and likable kids, maybe a little self-absorbed but never just jerks for no reason. Suspend disbelief a bit and it's a delightful watch.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things > Jumanji

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things > The Black Cat

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things < He Loves Me... He Loves Me Not

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things > Muppets Most Wanted

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things > Cloud Atlas

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things > The Big Sick

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things > Grease

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things < Six Degrees of Separation

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things < Chariots of Fire

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things > The Grapes of Wrath

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things > Kramer vs. Kramer

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things < Short Term 12

Final spot: #440 out of 3351, or 87%.

The Dig (2021)

IMDb plot summary: An archaeologist embarks on the historically important excavation of Sutton Hoo in 1938.

Directed by Simon Stone. Starring Ralph Fiennes, Carey Mulligan, Johnny Flynn, and Lily James.

This is an unexpectedly artsy film -- by which I mean more attention was drawn to the film's cinematic techniques than I'd have expected from a period piece. There are several scenes where we watch footage of one person while hearing dialogue from an entirely different scene, which gives the movie an odd dreamy quality, as if we're not ever fully in one place. On the whole, it works, aside from a few scenes that step just a bit too far into precocious portrayals of childhood. Both leads turn in really tremendous performances, as does Lily James in a smaller side role. The movie didn't amaze me on any level but it's well-acted, well-directed, and well-written.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Dig > Jumanji

The Dig < The Black Cat

The Dig < Ramona and Beezus

The Dig < Holiday Inn

The Dig < Eyes Wide Shut

The Dig > The Cable Guy

The Dig > Kodachrome

The Dig > A Song Is Born

The Dig > It's Kind of a Funny Story

The Dig > Hans Christian Andersen

The Dig < Memphis Belle

Final spot: #1573 out of 3350, or 53%.

Saludos Amigos (1942)

IMDb plot summary: Disney animators tour South America and present four animated shorts inspired by their trip.

Directed by Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, and 3 others. Starring Fred Shields and José Oliveira.

This is a decently entertaining piece of educational film, but educational film is most definitely what it is. The cartoon gags fit around the facts about each country and their culture, not vice versa, which is kind of a cool thing to do, just not what I was expecting from this and not something I'd sit down to rewatch. Several of these shorts are framed with some words about the cartoonists' perspective -- what about this country inspired this kind of story, how character types in one country reminded them of character types in their own, and so on, which gives it a kind of "behind the scenes" feel. It's an interesting one to watch once but definitely isn't one I want to revisit.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Saludos Amigos < Jumanji

Saludos Amigos > Adam's Rib

Saludos Amigos < The Woman in Black

Saludos Amigos > The Devil is a Woman

Saludos Amigos < The Unsinkable Molly Brown

Saludos Amigos < Labor Day

Saludos Amigos > Despicable Me

Saludos Amigos > The Milagro Beanfield War

Saludos Amigos > The Fugitive

Saludos Amigos < State Fair

Saludos Amigos > Roman J. Israel, Esq.

Final spot: #2253 out of 3349, or 33%.

The White Tiger (2021)

IMDb plot summary: An ambitious Indian driver uses his wit and cunning to escape from poverty and rise to the top. An epic journey based on the New York Times bestseller.

Directed by Ramin Bahrani. Starring Adarsh Gourav, Rajkummar Rao, Priyanka Chopra, and Vedant Sinha.

I had such a great time watching this film -- it's funny and dark and sad and intense at all the right moments. Additionally, it's one that prompted a ton of thinking for me. The upper-class family here brings to mind stories like Native Son, Knives Out, and, to a less extreme extent, Get Out, where people are willing to be charitable and kind to those less privileged than themselves... until it becomes inconvenient. I was also struck by the final shot of this movie more than any I can think of in the past. It lingers just a little too long and ends up communicating rather a chilling message. That's a lot of varied, scattered thoughts, but in summation, I loved this.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The White Tiger > Jumanji

The White Tiger > The Black Cat

The White Tiger < He Loves Me... He Loves Me Not

The White Tiger > Muppets Most Wanted

The White Tiger > Cloud Atlas

The White Tiger > The Big Sick

The White Tiger > Grease

The White Tiger < Castle in the Sky

The White Tiger > Chariots of Fire

The White Tiger > The Legend of 1900

The White Tiger < Secretary

Final spot: #434 out of 3348, or 87%.