Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956)

IMDb plot summary: A novelist aided by his future father-in-law conspires to frame himself in the murder of a stripper as part of an effort to ban capital punishment.
Directed by Fritz Lang. Starring Dana Andrews, Joan Fontaine, Sidney Blackmer, and Arthur Franz.

This is a beautifully structured script. Interesting, well-paced, and brings the audience right along with it. One of my favorite Langs.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt > Gifted
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt > Quartet
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt < Glengarry Glen Ross
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt > Kiss Me, Stupid!
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt < Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt < The Shape of Water
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt > Hard Candy
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt < Super
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt > Boy A
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt < Planet of the Apes (1968)

Final spot: #486 out of 2743.

Logan (2017)

IMDb plot summary: In the near future, a weary Logan cares for an ailing Professor X, somewhere on the Mexican border. However, Logan's attempts to hide from the world, and his legacy, are upended when a young mutant arrives, pursued by dark forces.
Directed by James Mangold. Starring Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen, and Boyd Holbrook.

I had fairly high hopes for this one, but ultimately I found it underwhelming. It has some good moments and a great concept but it's very slow and very long and has a lot of narrative threads that begin but never quite wrap up and most of its emotional moments aren't as well earned as I wanted them to be. Just... kind of disappointing. Maybe I needed to care more about Logan as a character to begin with to get out of this what other people did.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Logan > Gifted
Logan < Quartet
Logan < Lo
Logan < Ramona and Beezus
Logan > The Avengers
Logan > Silent Hill
Logan > The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
Logan < The Revenant
Logan > The Last Unicorn
Logan > John Dies at the End
Final spot: #1212 out of 2742.

Black Panther (2018)

IMDb plot summary: T'Challa, the King of Wakanda, rises to the throne in the isolated, technologically advanced African nation, but his claim is challenged by a vengeful outsider who was a childhood victim of T'Challa's father's mistake.
Directed by Ryan Coogler. Starring Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o and Danai Gurira.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Black Panther > They Made Me a Fugitive
Black Panther > Sweet Smell of Success
Black Panther > Garden State
Black Panther < A Night at the Opera
Black Panther < Across the Universe
Black Panther < Breaking the Waves
Black Panther < Vertigo
Black Panther < Lady on a Train
Black Panther > Now, Voyager
Black Panther > High School Musical
Black Panther < The Courtship of Eddie's Father

Final spot: #334 out of 2741.

Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006)

IMDb plot summary: A film set in a strange afterlife way station that has been reserved for people who have committed suicide.
Directed by Goran Dukic. Starring Patrick Fugit, Shannyn Sossamon, Shea Wigham, and Leslie Bibb.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Wristcutters: A Love Story > They Made Me a Fugitive
Wristcutters: A Love Story < Quartet
Wristcutters: A Love Story > The Country Girl
Wristcutters: A Love Story > Peeping Tom
Wristcutters: A Love Story > Fanny and Alexander
Wristcutters: A Love Story < A Grand Day Out with Wallace and Gromit
Wristcutters: A Love Story < Sleeping Beauty
Wristcutters: A Love Story < Idiocracy
Wristcutters: A Love Story < Spotlight
Wristcutters: A Love Story < Watchmen
Wristcutters: A Love Story < Oscar
Wristcutters: A Love Story < High and Low

Final spot: #771 out of 2740.

Logan Lucky (2017)

IMDb plot summary: Two brothers attempt to pull off a heist during a NASCAR race in North Carolina.
Directed by Steven Soderbergh. Starring Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig, and Riley Keough.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Logan Lucky > Bonnie and Clyde
Logan Lucky < Quartet
Logan Lucky > Neighbors
Logan Lucky < Peeping Tom
Logan Lucky > Quiz Show
Logan Lucky < The Lady Vanishes
Logan Lucky > Phantom Thread
Logan Lucky > Celeste and Jesse Forever
Logan Lucky < Ninotchka
Then it kept hanging up, so I gave up ranking it, but it's pretty close.
Final spot: #909 out of 2739.

Moonfleet (1955)

IMDb plot summary: Moonfleet is set in Dorset, England. The Fleet refers to the land just west of Portland, England.
(Well, isn't that just the most useful summary...)
Directed by Fritz Lang. Starring Stewart Granger, Jon Whiteley, George Sanders, and Joan Greenwood.

This is such a bizarre movie. Apparently it's based on a novel, so maybe the novel was different, but this feels like such an attempt to make a Scottish Treasure Island, just without the adventure or the likable characters. The child actors in this movie are particularly irritating, even by 1950s standards. There are also moments of surprisingly amateur-looking filmmaking, especially from a veteran like Fritz Lang.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Moonfleet < They Made Me a Fugitive
Moonfleet < Maggie's Plan
Moonfleet < Bye Bye Birdie
Moonfleet > Heidi (1937)
Moonfleet > Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
Moonfleet > The Art of War
Moonfleet < Brokeback Mountain
Moonfleet > Turner and Hooch
Moonfleet > Cartel Land
Moonfleet > Susannah of the Mounties
Moonfleet < The Motorcycle Diaries
Final spot: #2420 out of 2738.

Rancho Notorious (1952)

IMDb plot summary: After the murder of his fiancée, a Wyoming ranch hand sets out to find her killer.
Directed by Fritz Lang. Starring Marlene Dietrich, Arthur Kennedy, Mel Ferrer, and Gloria Henry.

This is some sort of western noir with abrupt moments where the story is told through background song. It's such a weird mix of genres and feels really off until about the halfway mark, when it picks up a little. I feel like it thought it had more to say than it actually did, and so it ultimately felt pretty hollow. Plus, that's a terrible title.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Rancho Notorious < They Made Me a Fugitive
Rancho Notorious > Maggie's Plan
Rancho Notorious < Birdman of Alcatraz
Rancho Notorious > A Man Called Peter
Rancho Notorious < What Lies Beneath
Rancho Notorious > Dr. No
Rancho Notorious > Cellular
Rancho Notorious < Give My Regards to Broad Street
Rancho Notorious > Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World
Rancho Notorious > Stardust Memories

Final spot: #1809 out of 2737.

I, Tonya (2017)

IMDb plot summary: Competitive ice skater Tonya Harding rises amongst the ranks at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, but her future in the activity is thrown into doubt when her ex-husband intervenes.
Directed by Craig Gillespie. Starring Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney, and Julianne Nicholson.

Biopics too frequently can't help but be a little bit dry. This one does a really good job of keeping it fun and interesting for the first half, but when it gets to the second half, something feels like it's missing and I can't quite put my finger on what. Margot Robbie does a great job, though, as does Allison Janney.

How it entered my Flickchart:
I, Tonya > They Made Me a Fugitive
I, Tonya < The Front
I, Tonya > Neighbors (what is that doing that high on my chart?)
I, Tonya < The Ladykillers (2004)
I, Tonya > Quiz Show
I, Tonya < Zero Effect
I, Tonya < I Saw the Devil
I, Tonya > Godzilla (2014)
I, Tonya < Lilies of the Field
I, Tonya < Guys and Dolls
I, Tonya < Hedwig and the Angry Inch
I, Tonya > Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Final post: #928 out of 2736.

Cries and Whispers (1972)

IMDb plot summary: When a woman dying of cancer in early twentieth-century Sweden is visited by her two sisters, long-repressed feelings between the siblings rise to the surface.
Directed by Ingmar Bergman. Starring Harriet Andersson, Kari Sylwan, Ingrid Thulin, and Liv Ullmann.

Boy, when I don't get Bergman, I *really* don't get him. This is interminably slow and cold, presumably to mirror the coldness of the sisters toward each other, but I can find no way into this film, no way to glean any information from long close-up shots of faces doing nothing against a black background or seeming nonsequiturs muttered aloud. I get the vague sense that there's a semblance of story here that I'd really love if I could make my way to it through all the distancing artistic choices, but as it is I found it a frustrating and alienating viewing experience.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Cries and Whispers < They Made Me a Fugitive
Cries and Whispers > Drive Me Crazy
Cries and Whispers < Birdman of Alcatraz
Cries and Whispers < A Man Called Peter
Cries and Whispers < The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
Cries and Whispers < Spinning Into Butter
Cries and Whispers > Scrooged
Cries and Whispers > Move Over, Darling
Cries and Whispers < Madame Blueberry
Cries and Whispers > One Hour Photo
Cries and Whispers < Multiplicity
Final spot: #2018 out of 2735.

The Big Sick (2017)

IMDb plot summary: Pakistan-born comedian Kumail Nanjiani and grad student Emily Gardner fall in love but struggle as their cultures clash. When Emily contracts a mysterious illness, Kumail finds himself forced to face her feisty parents, his family's expectations, and his true feelings.
Directed by Michael Showalter. Starring Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, and Ray Romano.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Big Sick > They Made Me a Fugitive
The Big Sick > Quartet
The Big Sick > Garden State
The Big Sick < A Night at the Opera
The Big Sick < The Fisher King
The Big Sick < Best in Show
The Big Sick < Jean de Florette
The Big Sick > Lady on a Train
The Big Sick < Another Woman
The Big Sick > American Splendor
The Big Sick < Silver Linings Playbook

Final spot: #327 out of 2734.

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

IMDb plot summary: Peter Parker balances his life as an ordinary high school student in Queens with his superhero alter-ego Spider-Man, and finds himself on the trail of a new menace prowling the skies of New York City.
Directed by Jon Watts. Starring Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr., and Marisa Tomei.

While I like the non-mopey take on Spider-Man and I like Michael Keaton as a villain, it's just hard to really care about the umpteenth reiteration of this story in the middle of one giant Avengers story. More and more with the MCU I just feel like I'm watching random TV show episodes and they're not really going to be interesting to me until the entire thing is done.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Spider-Man: Homecoming < They Made Me a Fugitive
Spider-Man: Homecoming > Drive Me Crazy
Spider-Man: Homecoming > Good Night, and Good Luck.
Spider-Man: Homecoming > What Women Want
Spider-Man: Homecoming < The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Spider-Man: Homecoming > Peter Pan (2003)
Spider-Man: Homecoming > Music Within
Spider-Man: Homecoming > Blow Out
Spider-Man: Homecoming < No Highway in the Sky
Spider-Man: Homecoming > Following
Spider-Man: Homecoming > Pleasantville

Final spot: #1458 out of 2733.

Wind River (2017)

IMDb plot summary: A veteran tracker with the Fish and Wildlife Service helps to investigate the murder of a young Native American woman, and uses the case as a means of seeking redemption for an earlier act of irresponsibility which ended in tragedy.
Directed by Taylor Sheridan. Starring Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Graham Greene, and Gil Birmingham.

So I'd love Hollywood to keep making movies about modern Native American life BUT they've gotta find a way to do it without making all the protagonists white. Like, why is Jeremy Renner's character not Native American? There's no reason for that at all except casting having a bankable star, and it really diminishes the story and the themes. It allows the viewer to keep this world at a distance and never really get inside someone else's experience. I just wanted to see more of the girl and her parents, but instead we get Jeremy Renner going all Liam Neeson, which is not compelling and not new. Disappointing.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Wind River < Gifted
Wind River > Drive Me Crazy
Wind River < Birdman of Alcatraz
Wind River > A Man Called Peter
Wind River > What Lies Beneath
Wind River < Anything Else
Wind River < SpaceCamp
Wind River < Star Trek: Nemesis
Wind River < Legend
Wind River < Les Miserables (1935)
Wind River > Defending Your Life

Final spot: #1790 out of 2732.

Duel (1971)

IMDb plot summary: A business commuter is pursued and terrorized by the malevolent driver of a massive tractor-trailer.
Directed by Steven Spielberg. Starring Dennis Weaver, Jacqueline Scott, Eddie Firestone, and Lou Frizzell.

The moments of this that work *really* work. It's got a very cool creepy faceless villain and is great during the tenser scenes. (Some of those shots of the truck are way more terrifying than a shot of a truck should be.) There are, however, also a lot of moments where it gets reeeeeal slow, and some of those slow scenes could have been put to use fleshing out our main character a bit.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Duel > They Made Me a Fugitive
Duel < The Front
Duel > Neighbors
Duel < The Ladykillers (2004)
Duel < The Call
Duel > Brave
Duel < Good Kill
Duel > Finding Vivian Maier
Duel < Ripley's Game
Duel > The Prestige
Duel < Now You See Me

Final spot: #967 out of 2731.

Fury (1936)

IMDb plot summary: When a wrongly accused prisoner barely survives a lynch mob attack and is presumed dead, he vindictively decides to fake his death and frame the mob for his supposed murder.
Directed by Fritz Lang. Starring Sylvia Sidney, Spencer Tracy, Walter Abel, and Bruce Cabot.

Great story, though the acting sometimes feels distractingly dated.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Fury > They Made Me a Fugitive
Fury > Quartet
Fury < Glengarry Glen Ross
Fury < Robin Hood (1973)
Fury < Rock of Ages
Fury < Widow's Peak
Fury < Ordet
Fury > The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
Fury < Spellbound (2002)
Fury < Fright Night (2011)
Fury > And Now for Something Completely Different

Final spot: #669 out of 2730.

Freaks (1932)

IMDb plot summary: A circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.
Directed by Tod Browning. Starring Wallace Ford, Leila Hyams, Olga Baclanova and Roscoe Ates.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Freaks < They Made Me a Fugitive
Freaks > In the Company of Men
Freaks > Good Night, and Good Luck.
Freaks > Apocalypto
Freaks < The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Freaks < Peter Pan (2003)
Freaks > Where to Invade Next
Freaks > The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
Freaks < The Circus
Freaks > The Sunshine Boys (1996)
Freaks > Planes, Tranes & Automobiles

Final spot: #1498 out of 2729.

Safety Last! (1923)

IMDb plot summary: When a store clerk organizes a publicity stunt, in which a friend climbs the outside of a tall building, circumstances force him to make the perilous climb himself.
Directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor. Starring Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Bill Strother, and Noah Young.

Some very funny moments in here... but that final third is also genuinely tense!

How it entered my Flickchart:
Safety Last! > They Made Me a Fugitive
Safety Last! < The Front
Safety Last! > Casino
Safety Last! > Peeping Tom
Safety Last! > Murder on the Orient Express (2017)
Safety Last! > A Grand Day Out with Wallace and Gromit
Safety Last! < Kolya
Safety Last! < Throne of Blood
Safety Last! > Educating Rita
Safety Last! > Kanal
Safety Last! > Battle Royale
Final spot: #714 out of 2728.

Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

IMDb plot summary: Mary Shelley reveals the main characters of her novel survived: Dr. Frankenstein, goaded by an even madder scientist, builds his monster a mate.
Directed by James Whale. Starring Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson, and Ernest Thesiger.

When I first watched the original Frankenstein several years ago, I didn't find it particularly compelling. It didn't have the nerdy moral and philosophical questions of the book or the creepy monster factor of a typical horror flick. The sequel is a bit more interesting. The monster is fleshed out a little and, with the addition of language, is able to convey his thoughts a bit more. The scenes between him and the blind man (later parodied in Young Frankenstein) I found very moving and a nice break in between much more heightened scenes. The final scene seems a bit abrupt in terms of resolving the story, but it has a nice grandiose Shakespearean tragedy vibe to it. Overall, a definite improvement from the first installment, and decently interesting on its own.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Bride of Frankenstein > Bonnie and Clyde
Bride of Frankenstein < The Front
Bride of Frankenstein > Man on Fire
Bride of Frankenstein > 28 Up
Bride of Frankenstein > Fanny and Alexander
Bride of Frankenstein < A Grand Day Out with Wallace and Gromit
Bride of Frankenstein > Spanglish
Bride of Frankenstein < Pretty Woman
Bride of Frankenstein > American Outlaws
Bride of Frankenstein < Argo
Final spot: #739 out of 2727.

Phantom Thread (2017)

IMDb plot summary: Set in 1950's London, Reynolds Woodcock is a renowned dressmaker whose fastidious life is disrupted by a young, strong-willed woman, Alma, who becomes his muse and lover.
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Starring Vicky Krieps, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Lesley Manville.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Phantom Thread > Bonnie and Clyde
Phantom Thread < The Front
Phantom Thread > Man on Fire
Phantom Thread < Peeping Tom
Phantom Thread > Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
Phantom Thread < Zero Effect
Phantom Thread < I Saw the Devil
Phantom Thread > Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles
Phantom Thread > Away We Go
Phantom Thread > The Tree of Life
Phantom Thread > Frances Ha

Final spot: #915 out of 2726.

It (2017)

IMDb plot summary: In the summer of 1989, a group of bullied kids band together to destroy a shapeshifting monster, which disguises itself as a clown and preys on the children of Derry, their small Maine town.
Directed by Andy Muschietti. Starring Jaeden Lieberher, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, and Finn Wolfhard.

How it entered my Flickchart:
It > The Lion in Winter
It > Quartet
It < I've Loved You So Long
It < Nativity!
It > Rock of Ages
It < Center Stage
It < The Body Snatcher
It < The Fantasticks
It < An American Werewolf in London
It > Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Final spot: #592 out of 2725.

Unbroken (2014)

IMDb plot summary: After a near-fatal plane crash in WWII, Olympian Louis Zamperini spends a harrowing 47 days in a raft with two fellow crewmen before he's caught by the Japanese navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.
Directed by Angelina Jolie. Starring Jack O'Connell, Domnhall Gleeson, Garrett Hedlund, and Miyavi.

This is one of those films that I struggle to know how to review or rank because it's a perfectly fine film and yet never connects to me beyond a surface level. Like so many biopics, it inherently struggles to connect all the relevant threads of one person's life into a smooth narrative (difficult because, well, our lives aren't smooth narratives). I was honestly far more interested in that part of his life casually alluded to in the epilogue -- his later return to Japan. Survival of immediate obstacles is less compelling to me than the stories of people healing from the obstacles they've survived. That being said, the story is well-paced and well-written and has some good moments. It's fine.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Unbroken > The Lion in Winter (2003)
Unbroken < The Front
Unbroken > Cape Fear (1991)
Unbroken < Peeping Tom
Unbroken < Captain Phillips
Unbroken < Malcolm X
Unbroken < The Other Side of Sunday
Unbroken > The Illusionist (2006)
Unbroken > The Killing
Unbroken > Stage Fright (2014)
Unbroken < 2001: A Space Odyssey
Final spot: #1002 out of 2724.

The Kid (1921)

IMDb plot summary: The Tramp cares for an abandoned child, but events put that relationship in jeopardy.
Directed by Charles Chaplin. Starring Charles Chaplin, Jackie Coogan, Carl Miller, and Edna Purviance.

Nice mix of comedy and drama -- some really lovely images highlighting character sadness, as well as a few laugh-out-loud moments. Maybe my favorite Chaplin after The Great Dictator?

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Kid > Four Weddings and a Funeral
The Kid > Quartet
The Kid < Glengarry Glen Ross
The Kid > Robin Hood (1973)
The Kid < E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
The Kid < How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
The Kid > Anomalisa
The Kid > The Muppet Movie
The Kid > The Impostors (too high on my chart)
The Kid > The Red Violin
The Kid < Bruce Almighty

Final spot: #470 out of 2723.

Whale Rider (2002)

IMDb plot summary: A contemporary story of love, rejection and triumph as a young Maori girl fights to fulfill a destiny her grandfather refuses to recognize.
Directed by Niki Caro. Starring Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rawiri Paratene, Vicky Haughton, and Cliff Curtis.

This is such a lovely moving story, and Paikea is such a good character.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Whale Rider > Four Weddings and a Funeral
Whale Rider > Sweet Smell of Success
Whale Rider < I've Loved You So Long
Whale Rider > Kiss Me, Stupid!
Whale Rider < E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
Whale Rider < How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966)
Whale Rider > Hard Candy
Whale Rider < The Muppet Movie
Whale Rider < Never Let Me Go
Whale Rider < True Lies
Whale Rider > Apollo 13 (wayyyy too high on my chart)

Final spot: #486 out of 2722.

A Man Escaped (1956)

IMDb plot summary: A captured French Resistance fighter during WWII engineers a daunting escape from prison.
Directed by Robert Bresson. Starring François Leterrier, Charles Le Clainche, Maurice Beerblock, and Roland Monod.

I don't quite get the hype of this one. It's fine, but it's not particularly tense or creative or saying anything unique. As far as French prison escape movies go, I'll take Le Trou any day.

How it entered my Flickchart:
A Man Escaped < Four Weddings and a Funeral
A Man Escaped > Waltz with Bashir
A Man Escaped > Luther
A Man Escaped < Legally Blonde
A Man Escaped < Kagemusha
A Man Escaped > Robots (WHAT is this doing so high on my chart)
A Man Escaped < The Game
A Man Escaped < Happy-Go-Lucky
A Man Escaped > Meet the Parents
A Man Escaped > Milk
A Man Escaped > Disturbia

Final spot: #1648 out of 2721.

The Road Warrior (1981)

IMDb plot summary: In the post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland, a cynical drifter agrees to help a small, gasoline rich, community escape a band of bandits.
Directed by George Miller. Starring Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Michael Preston, and Max Phipps.

This is WAY more fun than the first Mad Max film where nothing actually happened.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Road Warrior > Four Weddings and a Funeral
The Road Warrior > Sweet Smell of Success
The Road Warrior < I've Loved You So Long
The Road Warrior < Kiss Me, Stupid!
The Road Warrior < Doctor Strange
The Road Warrior < Waking Ned Devine
The Road Warrior < Shall We Dance? (1996)
The Road Warrior > The Cloverfield Paradox
The Road Warrior > Fright Night (2011)
The Road Warrior > Southside with You
The Road Warrior > The Departed

Final spot: #659 out of 2720.

The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)

IMDb plot summary: Orbiting a planet on the brink of war, scientists test a device to solve an energy crisis, and end up face-to-face with a dark alternate reality.
Directed by Julius Onah. Starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Oyelowo, Daniel Bruhl, and John Ortiz.

Not quite enough monsters/apocalypse for my Cloverfield taste, but it's a pretty entertaining space thriller/horror with some good creepy moments, and I do enjoy the way it ultimately ties back into the series.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Cloverfield Paradox > Anonymous
The Cloverfield Paradox > Manchester by the Sea
The Cloverfield Paradox < I've Loved You So Long
The Cloverfield Paradox < Kiss Me, Stupid!
The Cloverfield Paradox < Doctor Strange
The Cloverfield Paradox < Waking Ned Devine
The Cloverfield Paradox < Shall We Dance? (1996)
The Cloverfield Paradox > To Kill a Mockingbird
The Cloverfield Paradox < Fright Night (2011)
The Cloverfield Paradox < They Live
The Cloverfield Paradox < The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
The Cloverfield Paradox < My Name Is Bruce

Final spot: #669 out of 2719.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)

IMDb plot summary: Batman is wrongly implicated in a series of murders of mob bosses actually done by a new vigilante assassin.
Directed by Eric Radomski and Bruce Timm. Starring Kevin Conroy, Dana Delany, Hart Bochner, and Stacy Keach.

Between this and Pokemon, I feel like I've been watching a lot of movies that are basically long episodes of the TV show. This one, however, actually has some exposition and is fairly easy to follow. I like just about everything surrounding the Phantasm itself -- the design, the reveal, the back story -- but I'm not at all convinced that it makes sense for the Joker to be part of this story. Don't get me wrong, it's fun that he is, but it seems incongruous, and doesn't work as well for me as the main plotline. In general, though, it's kind of tough for me to judge this as a standalone movie since it's basically part of the TV show. It was fun but it's going to rank medium-ish because of that.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm > Anonymous
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm < Manchester by the Sea
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm > JFK
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm < Gentleman's Agreement
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm > We Need to Talk About Kevin
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm < Dark Shadows
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm > 21
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm > Hail, Caesar!
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm > EDtv
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm < Ninotchka

Final spot: #896 out of 2718.

Enter the Void (2009)

IMDb plot summary: A French drug dealer living in Tokyo is betrayed by his best friend and killed in a drug deal. His soul, observing the repercussions of his death, seeks resurrection.
Directed by Gaspar Noé. Starring Paz de la Huerta, Nathaniel Brown, Cyril Roy, and Olly Alexander.

I kinda dug the first 40 minutes or so, but then the film totally loses me. Not in the "I can't track plot details" sense, because I can, but more in the sense of, "Why is this part of the story? Why am I supposed to care about this? Why are we watching SO MANY sex scenes with glowing genitals? Why isn't this movie over yet?"

How it entered my Flickchart:

Enter the Void < Anonymous

Enter the Void < Waltz with Bashir

Enter the Void > The Shaggy Dog (1959)

Enter the Void < Jumanji

Enter the Void > Road to Morocco

Enter the Void > On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

Enter the Void < Silverado

Enter the Void > Cujo

Enter the Void > State Fair

Enter the Void > A Prairie Home Companion

Enter the Void < Three Kings

Final spot: #2231 out of 2717.

Stagecoach (1939)

IMDb plot summary: A group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo and learn something about each other in the process.
Directed by John Ford. Starring Claire Trevor, John Wayne, Andy Devine, and John Carradine.

(Very mild spoilers.)

Wow, Stagecoach focuses its story on ALL the wrong characters. I do not care even a tiny bit about John Wayne's escape from prison or chasing down the murderers of his family. The three women in this movie (and MOST OF ALL the Apache woman who disappears halfway through the movie) are all ten thousand times more interesting than any of the male characters, whose stories have been told in umpteen narratives aleady. They keep almost acting like they're going to tell you more about the others, but then at the last minute they pull back and just turn it into, "John Wayne saves the day." Meh.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Stagecoach < Four Weddings and a Funeral
Stagecoach > Waltz with Bashir
Stagecoach < Luther
Stagecoach > Kinsey
Stagecoach < Marathon Man
Stagecoach < Reality Bites
Stagecoach > The Disappearance of Alice Creed
Stagecoach > Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex...
Stagecoach > The ButterCream Gang
Stagecoach > In the Line of Fire
Stagecoach > Davy Crockett and the River Pirates

Final spot: #1825 out of 2716.

Clerks. (1994)

IMDb plot summary: A day in the lives of two convenience clerks named Dante and Randal as they annoy customers, discuss movies, and play hockey on the store roof.
Directed by Kevin Smith. Starring Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Lisa Spoonauer.

A lot of this is really, really funny. For sure the best Kevin Smith movie I've seen.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Clerks. > Anonymous
Clerks. > Manchester by the Sea
Clerks. < I've Loved You So Long
Clerks. < Robin Hood (1973)
Clerks. > Doctor Strange
Clerks. < Shakespeare Behind Bars
Clerks. < Super 8
Clerks. < Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)
Clerks. > Bride & Prejudice
Clerks. < The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

Final spot: #588 out of 2715. This seems too high, but the chart does not lie.

Dunkirk (2017)

IMDb plot summary: Allied soldiers from Belgium, the British Empire and France are surrounded by the German Army, and evacuated during a fierce battle in World War II.
Directed by Christopher Nolan. Starring Fionn Whitehead, Tom Glynn-Carney, Mark Rylance, and Tom Hardy.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Dunkirk > Anonymous
Dunkirk < Manchester by the Sea
Dunkirk < Forbidden Planet
Dunkirk < Footlight Parade
Dunkirk > Hitch
Dunkirk < Shall We Dance? (2004)
Dunkirk > High School Musical 3: Senior Year
Dunkirk > In & Out
Dunkirk < North by Northwest
Dunkirk > Memphis Belle
Dunkirk > Deconstructing Harry

Final spot: #1241 out of 2714.