A Futile and Stupid Gesture (2018)

IMDb plot summary: In the 1970s and '80s, National Lampoon's success and influence creates a new media empire overseen in part by the brilliant and troubled Douglas Kenney.

Directed by David Wain. Stars Frank Gingerich, Morgan Gingerich, and Annette O'Toole.

A Futile and Stupid Gesture is a tongue-in-cheek biopic of Doug Kenney, the founder of MAD magazine and a huge influence in American comedy during his relatively short heyday. There is no denying that the humor of Doug Kenney is absolutely not for me, and as a result there were large portions of this movie that were clearly intended to be comedic but which I found insufferable. The most enjoyable thing was the wide variety of talented comedians brought in to play the various writers and performers of MAD in all its variations. I was especially tickled by Joel McHale playing Chevy Chase, given their history together on the TV show Community. While I won't go into detail (because I think that the movie works really well when you don't know where it's heading) the final few scenes the film really gave me a different appreciation and understanding for the story it was trying to tell. It did also make me more aware of the depth of influence Kenney and MAD had on American comedy as we know it today, since I wasn't very familiar with their work beforehand. So while large portions of this weren't enjoyable for me the way that it was supposed to be, I did find it interesting, and I'm glad I saw it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 A Futile and Stupid Gesture (2018)

📊 Ranked #2151/4292 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 51

lost to George of the Jungle (#2151 → #2147)

beat Gigi (#3238 → #3239)

beat I'm Not Rappaport (#2687 → #2688)

beat Flubber (held at #2424)

beat Dreamgirls (#2244 → #2307)

beat The Dawn Patrol (#2226 → #2242)

beat John and Mary (#2198 → #2200)

beat Gunpowder Milkshake (#2171 → #2180)

beat Real Life (held at #2161)

beat Little Women (#2156 → #2158)

beat Another Earth (held at #2152)

Scare Me (2020)

IMDb plot summary: During a power outage, two strangers tell scary stories. The more Fred and Fanny commit to their tales, the more the stories come to life in their Catskills cabin. The horrors of reality manifest when Fred confronts his ultimate fear.

Directed by Josh Ruben. Stars Josh Ruben, Aya Cash, and Chris Redd.

Scare Me is a horror comedy film written by, directed by and starring Josh Ruben as a writer who goes to remote a remote cabin to try and finish his work. He runs across another writer with much more acclaim, and the two spend a power outage evening telling each other scary stories. This is such a unique vibe for a horror film, almost a quirky anthology film more than a linear story. While there is an overarching narrative that does eventually make its way to the end, the bulk of the actual movie is these two creating spooky tropes and acting them out for each other, and once I settled into that being what the movie was, I really enjoyed it. In fact, I think it works better than the final narrative piece that gets added onto it, although I don't know how else you would end this story. The final result is something that sometimes struggles to hold together but is a good ride.

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 Scare Me (2020)

📊 Ranked #1711/4297 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 61

beat You Only Live Twice (#2160 → #2168)

lost to H.M.S. Defiant (#1082 → #1092)

lost to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (#1619 → #1381)

beat The Appointment (#1884 → #1978)

beat Suspect (#1754 → #1777)

lost to Joker (#1683 → #1700)

beat Sweet Smell of Success (#1718 → #1732)

beat Ballet Shoes (#1700 → #1716)

lost to La Jetée (#1691 → #1470)

beat The Outsiders (#1696 → #1709)

beat Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie (#1693 → #1712)

lost to Godzilla (#1692 → #1475)

Project Hail Mary (2026)

IMDb plot summary: A science teacher wakes up alone on a spaceship. As his memory returns, he uncovers a mission to stop a mysterious substance killing Earth's sun, and realizes that an unexpected friendship may be the key.

Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Stars Ryan Gosling, Sandra Hüller, and James Ortiz.

Project Hail Mary stars Ryan Gosling as a man who wakes up on a spaceship in a different galaxy, with no memory how he gets there. Slowly his backstory returns to him, and he discovers that he is there on a hail Mary mission to save the world from their sun dying. This one has gotten a ton of acclaim lately, and for good reason -- it's pretty great. I keep waiting for that moment where I have Ryan Gosling fatigue or where his work doesn't quite gel for me, but it isn't in this movie. His performance here is charming and likable. It's my favorite kind of sci-fi movie, that ends up being about big picture humanity but also about the individuals on a very personal level. And of course the design of the alien who Gosling ends up bonding with as they try to save their mutual worlds is marvelous, and it becomes a sort of goofy buddy road trip movie in between the whole saving-the-world subplot. This movie is hopeful about our future as a species in a way that I really needed. Plus it's also just a really fun watch.

Had some hiccups on saving individual matchups, but it landed at #360 and 91% on my chart.

Lost in La Mancha (2002)

IMDb plot summary: Terry Gilliam's doomed attempt to get his film, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018), off the ground.

Directed by Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe.

Lost in La Mancha is a documentary tracking Terry Gilliam's attempt to make a Man of La Mancha movie. There is however a perfect storm of catastrophes that continuously leave him behind budget with not enough film and questioning whether he's going to be able to complete this task. As a fan of Gilliam's who vaguely knew the story of how difficult this film had been to make, I really enjoyed seeing this behind the scenes of things going wrong -- and typically not because people in charge had made any decisions incorrectly. It truly is just problem after problem, from the weather to injuries to the sound stage not being what they were promised, all of which keeps pushing them further and further behind. Through it all you see Gilliam's passion and surprisingly calm responses, even though you know he must be exasperated. More than anything this documentary really highlights the nearly impossible task of putting a film together and coordinating everything to be where it needs to be when you need it to be. Even though this particular project had to be abandoned at this point in time, it is really interesting to see the process, and especially when the process goes poorly.

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 Lost in La Mancha (2002)

📊 Ranked #1777/4296 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 59

beat Ron's Gone Wrong (#2156 → #2255)

lost to Crocodile Dundee (#1080 → #1122)

lost to Swing Kids (#1618 → #1527)

beat Blood Diamond (#1883 → #1950)

lost to Suddenly, Last Summer (#1752 → #1773)

beat Footlight Parade (#1818 → #1931)

lost to Ben-Hur (#1786 → #1776)

beat Spanglish (#1802 → #1790)

beat Eddington (#1794 → #2209)

lost to Raising Cain (#1790 → #1747)

beat Anna and the King (#1792 → #1868)

beat How to Marry a Millionaire (#1791 → #1778)

Cell 211 (2009)

IMDb plot summary: The story of two men on different sides of a prison riot -- the inmate leading the rebellion and the young guard trapped in the revolt, who poses as a prisoner in a desperate attempt to survive the ordeal.

Directed by Daniel Monzón. Stars Luis Tosar, Alberto Ammann, and Antonio Resines.

Cell 211 is set in a maximum-security prison in Spain where the most dangerous prisoners successfully take over their cell block. Unbeknownst to them, a brand-new guard is trapped in the closed-off block, and he must convince the prisoners that he is one of them. I did not have high hopes for this one going into it, but it turned out to be a surprisingly and enjoyably taut thriller. It's especially interesting to watch the relationship build between the main character and the primary antagonist. Our protagonist is intelligent and makes quick savvy decisions in this situation he finds himself in. It also does a little bit more of a nuanced job than prison films sometimes do at looking at the question of treatment of the prisoners. While these men are absolutely violent and dangerous and not to be messed with, it does also show how additional violence visited upon them does not fix the problem. An enjoyable action thriller that has a little bit of depth beneath it. Pretty good watch!

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 Cell 211 (2009)

📊 Ranked #1995/4287 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 54

beat Another Earth (#2152 → #2145)

lost to Hoop Dreams (#1093 → #1114)

lost to The Long Day Closes (#1622 → #1634)

lost to Lifeforce (#1883 → #1745)

beat Lord of the Flies (#2019 → #2100)

lost to Imitation of Life (#1951 → #1927)

beat Struck by Lightning (#1985 → #2082)

lost to The Informer (#1969 → #1825)

beat Drive My Car (#1977 → #1988)

lost to One Hundred and One Dalmatians (#1973 → #1995)

lost to Dark and Stormy Night (#1975 → #1976)

lost to Murder on the Orient Express (#1976 → #1854)

Dark Waters (2019)

IMDb plot summary: A corporate defense attorney takes on an environmental lawsuit against a chemical company that exposes a lengthy history of pollution.

Directed by Todd Haynes. Stars Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, and Tim Robbins.

Dark Waters tells the true story of lawyer Robert Bilott, played by Mark Ruffalo, who began his career in the employ of a chemical corporation. However, he begins to discover that that company may be responsible for some horrific effects after dumping unregulated chemicals, and he sets out to try to prove it and get restitution for the victims. This is pretty well-told, although it's a deeply depressing story. Mark Ruffalo is very good at playing this sort of worn down bureaucratic character who is going to do the right thing even if he's exhausted. Despite this being an important story and well told, I did find myself tuning out a little bit and emotionally disengaging because of feeling overwhelmed by how common this kind of behavior actually is, which is of course I'm sure the exact opposite of the reaction that I was intended to have for this film. But I came around a bit by the end. Closing out the film in the middle of the struggle, rather than with a neat bow, was unexpectedly encouraging as a reminder that there are still people who are fighting for those who can't fight for themselves. A depressing film which offers a tiny glimpse of hope that was much needed at the end.

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 Dark Waters (2019)

📊 Ranked #1630/4288 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 63

beat The Woman in Black (#2161 → #2327)

lost to Crocodile Dundee (held at #1114)

beat Cell 211 (#2112 → #2114)

lost to Prometheus (#1388 → #1391)

lost to The Trojan Women (#1520 → #1519)

lost to She's Gotta Have It (#1584 → #1383)

lost to The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (#1613 → #1608)

lost to Frozen (#1375 → #1328)

lost to Krisha (#1612 → #1531)

beat Love Songs (#1361 → #1658)

lost to Coffee and Cigarettes (#1620 → #1537)

lost to Red Rocket (#1088 → #1050)

Jingle Jangle (2020)

IMDb plot summary: An imaginary world comes to life in a holiday tale of an eccentric toymaker, his adventurous granddaughter, and a magical invention that has the power to change their lives forever.

Directed by David E. Talbert. Stars Forest Whitaker, Keegan-Michael Key, and Hugh Bonneville.

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey is a Christmas musical about a toy inventor whose apprentice steals all his ideas and runs off to capitalize on them. Years later, the disillusioned inventor is visited by his granddaughter, who is determined to bring his spark back to life. I vaguely remember this movie garnering some attention when it came out but it had completely disappeared from my memory. It's got some cute moments and a couple of fun songs, most notably the villain songs, which stand out with the amount of energy they bring to the story. Even the moments that designate this as clearly a film for children with a wildly whimsical message of believe in yourself at all costs, they don't sit in an annoying place and are just kind of not fully for me.

Keegan-Michael Key and Ricky Martin are the best part of the whole thing though. The good characters are a little too perfect and sweet, and as a result their songs are kind of vague inspirational blandness that mostly I'm waiting for it to be done with. But then the villain numbers are so engaging that it brings me right back in. Some good moments, though I don't know that I have an interest in revisiting it on the whole.

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020)

📊 Ranked #2300/4286 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 49

beat The Accidental Tourist (#2151 → #2310)

lost to Red Rocket (#1094 → #1084)

lost to The Long Day Closes (held at #1623)

lost to Kiss Me Kate (#1884 → #1727)

lost to Peppermint Candy (#2020 → #2021)

beat Spider-Man: Homecoming (#2083 → #2287)

lost to State and Main (#2051 → #1982)

lost to Top Hat (#2067 → #2068)

beat The Wailing (#2075 → #2280)

lost to Bowling for Columbine (#2071 → #1939)

lost to It's Kind of a Funny Story (#2073 → #2072)

beat The Ascent (#2074 → #2247)