The Oxford Murders (2008)

IMDb plot summary: At Oxford University, a professor and a grad student work together to try to stop a potential series of murders seemingly linked by mathematical symbols.

Directed by Álex de la Iglesia. Stars Elijah Wood, John Hurt, and Leonor Watling.

The Oxford Murders stars Elijah Wood as an American graduate student who comes to Oxford to try and study with a particular professor. To his disappointment, the professor refuses to work with him, but then the two become entangled in a serial murder case when the first victim is a mutual friend. Oh, this one is a mess. It's one of those fairly obnoxious mysteries that things it's being much, much cleverer than it is, when really it just feels pretentious. On top of that there are weird small dialogue issues, like the fact that they cast Elijah Wood as this character and yet everything he says is very British, in very British dialect. I don't know if that was an initial issue with the script, or if they didn't intend to cast an American at the beginning and then never adjusted the script afterward, but it's jarring and immediately sets the tone that this is going to be a movie that does not care with its text. That continues on for the rest of the movie, with really clunky exposition and really underwhelming twists and turns throughout the mystery, all culminating in an ending that doesn't work. Not a lot that I liked about this one.

🎥 The Oxford Murders (2008)

📊 Ranked #3686/4195 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 12

lost to The Lair of the White Worm (held at #2094)

lost to Two for the Money (held at #3147)

lost to Bus Stop (held at #3674)

beat Little Miss Marker (#3933 → #3934)

beat The Battle of Algiers (#3803 → #3804)

beat Epic (#3738 → #3739)

beat Baby Mama (#3706 → #3707)

beat For Love of the Game (#3690 → #3691)

lost to Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (held at #3682)

beat Bohemian Rhapsody (#3686 → #3687)

lost to Holy Ghost People (held at #3684)

Becoming Led Zeppelin (2024)

IMDb plot summary: The film traces the journeys of the four members of the Stairway To Heaven rockers through the music scene of the 1960s and their meeting in the summer of 1968, culminating in 1970.

Directed by Bernard MacMahon.

Becoming Led Zeppelin is a documentary about the forming of Led Zeppelin, primarily centering around interviews with the living members of the band, more so than those in their circle or influenced by them. Watching documentaries about bands I have no connection to is always kind of an interesting task. My primary litmus test is whether it made me want to listen to their music more, and, for this one, it mostly didn't. What it did do was give me a fondness for the nerdery of the band members. They seem much less like hugely successful musicians and more like college besties just enjoying how much fun music is. It does turn out that everything that they love most about music is not what draws me to music. They're talking about all these amazing guitar choices and drum choices and rhythm choices and while I really love hearing them talk about something that they are so passionate about, I'm a lyrics person and a melody person. I do appreciate this extra understanding of what it is that makes this band special. It just also highlights for me that this is not going to be a band that is going to be my favorite. But if you want to hear people just nerd out about music theory for like 2 hours, this is a surprisingly fun watch, and definitely a different take from many music documentaries that focus so heavily on the stress of the celebrity life.

🎥 Becoming Led Zeppelin (2025)

📊 Ranked #2438/4194 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 42

lost to The Score (held at #2093)

beat Two for the Money (#3146 → #3147)

beat Skylark (#2618 → #2619)

lost to A Silent Voice: The Movie (held at #2354)

beat Smokin' Aces (#2486 → #2487)

lost to The Keep (held at #2418)

beat My Girl (#2453 → #2454)

lost to Hellboy (held at #2437)

beat The Rescuers (#2445 → #2446)

beat Power (#2441 → #2442)

beat Elle (#2439 → #2440)

Shine (1996)

IMDb plot summary: David Helfgott, a gifted pianist, struggles through childhood adolescence as his strict father abuses him and his siblings. Years later, he suffers a mental breakdown but manages to return as a legend.

Directed by Scott Hicks. Stars Geoffrey Rush, Armin Mueller-Stahl, and Justin Braine.

Shine is an Australian biopic starring Geoffrey Rush as David Helfgott, a talented child prodigy at piano who suffered a mental breakdown and spent much of his adult life in an institution. We follow his short-lived success, his years dealing with his mental health, and his journey toward healing and building new relationships. I watched this film as part of my 1996 project, where I'm trying to reach 100 movies seen from this year. This one got several Oscar nominations, and I can't say most of them are deserved. Geoffrey Rush's performance is the main reason to watch this, as his performance feels emotionally connected enough to keep it from being caricature. but as a film, it works a little too hard to weave together this clear simple narrative of the overly demanding father driving him to the breakdown, and it just feels like a bit of a stretch. If you'd like to see a really good performance by Rush, this is the movie for you, but if you're looking for a great movie overall, this isn't my recommendation.

🎥 Shine (1996)

📊 Ranked #1879/4193 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 55

beat Happythankyoumoreplease (#2096 → #2097)

lost to The Other Boleyn Girl (held at #1037)

lost to Ping Pong Playa (held at #1562)

lost to Swiss Army Man (held at #1833)

beat Malcolm & Marie (#1964 → #1965)

beat My Date with Drew (#1898 → #1899)

lost to The Three Musketeers (held at #1866)

beat The Wedding Singer (#1882 → #1883)

lost to White Heat (held at #1874)

lost to You've Got Mail (held at #1878)

beat Bowling for Columbine (#1880 → #1881)

Snack Shack (2024)

IMDb plot summary: Nebraska City, 1991, two best friends get the chance to run the swimming pool snack shack, that later comes to be the perfect scenario for transgression, fun, personal discovery and romance.

Directed by Adam Rehmeier. Stars Conor Sherry, Gabriel LaBelle, and Mika Abdalla.

Snack Shack follows two eighth grade boys looking to make some money and have an adventure in their last summer before high school. They decide to bid to run the pool's snack shop over the summer, and as they turn it into a very successful venture, they also start running into some hiccups along the way that threaten to dismantle their friendship. There's a lot to like about this raunchy, goofy coming-of-age movie. These characters are frequently obnoxious, but there's something delightful about watching them jump headlong into any idea that takes their fancy. There is a gleeful zaniness to this whole film, and while sometimes that zany tone feels like a bit much, especially in comparison to the more somber third act, overall it’s a pretty fun ride and I had a good time with it.

🎥 Snack Shack (2024)

📊 Ranked #1262/4192 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 70

beat Happythankyoumoreplease (#2095 → #2096)

lost to Heathers: The Musical (held at #1036)

beat Ping Pong Playa (#1561 → #1562)

beat Army of Shadows (#1299 → #1300)

lost to A Chorus Line (held at #1166)

lost to Cheaper by the Dozen (held at #1230)

beat Who Framed Roger Rabbit (#1265 → #1266)

lost to Airheads (held at #1249)

lost to It (held at #1257)

lost to High Strung (held at #1261)

beat Cool Runnings (#1263 → #1264)

Secrets & Lies (1996)

IMDb plot summary: Following the death of her adoptive parents, a successful young black optometrist establishes contact with her biological mother -- a lonely white factory worker living in poverty in East London.

Directed by Mike Leigh. Stars Timothy Spall, Brenda Blethyn, and Phyllis Logan.

Secrets & Lies is a British film about a middle-aged woman whose biological daughter attempts to reestablish contact with her after being given up for adoption. The relationship throws the woman's life out of whack, and she and her whole family must figure out how to navigate it. Mike Leigh's work has been hit-or-miss for me at times, but this one is undeniably a hit. These characters are real and raw, and watching them figure out their lives together is captivating. I have to particularly call out Brenda Blethyn as the mother, whose performance is pitch perfect, both heartrending and endearing. The awkwardness of the family working so hard to keep up appearances despite not having a whole lot to brag about is palpable and makes for some great tense scenes where you are trying to figure out if one of them is going to explode any minute. While the story mostly focuses on the mom and her newly found daughter, there are also enough other subplots involving the rest of the family that it fully feels like a very fleshed out world. One of those rare films where I truly do feel like we're just getting a peek into somebody's life, and it's very naturally crafted.

🎥 Secrets & Lies (1996)

📊 Ranked #752/4191 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 82

beat Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl (#2095 → #2096)

beat The Other Boleyn Girl (#1036 → #1037)

lost to He Loves Me… He Loves Me Not (held at #517)

beat Evil (#776 → #777)

lost to 21 Jump Street (held at #647)

lost to Beautiful Boy (held at #711)

lost to The Red Violin (held at #743)

beat Nurse Betty (#759 → #760)

lost to Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (held at #751)

beat Casualties of War (#755 → #756)

beat Southside with You (#753 → #754)

One Battle After Another (2025)

IMDb plot summary: When their enemy resurfaces after 16 years, a group of ex-revolutionaries reunite to rescue the daughter of one of their own.

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, and Benicio Del Toro.

One Battle After Another is the newest Paul Thomas Anderson movie. The film begins with Leonardo DiCaprio and Teyana Taylor as anarchist rebels who are trying to start a revolution, but when Taylor ends up turning in her fellow anarchists, DiCaprio escapes with their daughter. Over a decade later, the father and his now-teenage daughter are found by people who wanted them dead, and DiCaprio has to try and keep his daughter safe. There is a lot going on in this movie, but I'm not convinced it's quite as impressive as the hyped made it sound. It's definitely got some fun, weird comedy/drama mixing. I was especially struck by the scene where DiCaprio first discovers his daughter is a target and is being transported to a safe house, but at the time he's heavily under the influence and is barely functional getting himself across town to find people who can help him. That scene could absolutely be right at home in an overt comedy (it's more than a little reminiscent of the same actor's Quaaludes scene in Wolf of Wall Street). But mostly I just feel like this is one of PTA's films that  misses me. It is a splashier, slightly more highbrow action movie. And while that aspect is certainly done well, it's not something that seems like the best movie of the year or anything like that. PTA often doesn't quite speak to me, so I guess it's not that surprising that this one didn't quite gel with me either.

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 One Battle After Another (2025)

📊 Ranked #1626/4190 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 61

beat The Sparks Brothers (#2098 → #2099)

lost to Fever Pitch (held at #1038)

lost to Silent Hill (held at #1564)

beat Solaris (#1836 → #1837)

beat Fury (#1705 → #1706)

beat Elemental (#1629 → #1630)

lost to The Wolf of Wall Street (held at #1596)

lost to Stargate (held at #1612)

lost to Don't Look Up (held at #1621)

lost to Killers of the Flower Moon (held at #1625)

beat Dan in Real Life (#1627 → #1628)

beat The Tragedy of Macbeth (#1626 → #1627)

Sylvia Scarlett (1935)

IMDb plot summary: When her father decides to flee to England, young Sylvia Scarlett must become Sylvester Scarlett and protect her father every step of the way, with the questionable help of plenty others.

Directed by George Cukor. Stars Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and Brian Aherne.

Sylvia Scarlett is a very, very early Katharine Hepburn film in which she is the daughter of a criminal who must go on the run, and so she disguises herself as a man to better serve him as his companion. Along the way, the two team up with Cary Grant, who plays another con man who agrees to help them. This was first brought to my attention on a TikTok about very early trans representation. While obviously this doesn't get too deep into that aspect of the story, given the time in which it was released, it does have some really fresh takes on gender, and coming from an actress like Hepburn, who was known for challenging stereotypical notions of gender, especially later in her career, it is a fascinating watch.  Aside from that though, the film isn't great. The romance is not likable or believable. The actors make very inconsistent choices as to what accents they're going to have at any point in the story. And the whole thing is all wrapped up very abruptly in a happy romance ending, tacked on to what was a fairly dark melodrama up until that point. So it's more valuable as a piece of interesting film history and early representation of non-typical gender performance than as an actual film in and of itself.

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 Sylvia Scarlett (1935)

📊 Ranked #3209/4189 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 23

lost to Fahrenheit 451 (held at #2096)

lost to The Preacher's Wife (held at #3143)

beat Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (#3669 → #3670)

beat Pinocchio (#3405 → #3406)

beat The Other Sister (#3273 → #3274)

lost to A Mighty Wind (held at #3208)

beat Gangs of New York (#3240 → #3241)

beat Baby Boom (#3224 → #3225)

beat Victor/Victoria (#3216 → #3217)

beat Our Paradise (#3212 → #3213)

beat Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (#3210 → #3211)

beat Inherent Vice (#3209 → #3210)