1408 (2007)

IMDb plot summary: A man who specializes in debunking paranormal occurrences checks into the fabled room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel. Soon after settling in, he confronts genuine terror.
Directed by Mikael Håfström. Starring John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, Jasmine Jessica Anthony, and Tony Shalhoub.

I knew this was an adaptation of a Stephen King story and that it was set in a hotel room, but that's about all I knew going in. It definitely has a strong atmosphere to it, and it builds nicely in the horror throughout, aside from about a 20-minute stretch in the middle where I became very keenly aware of how much it was just a list of creepy things happening. Had that section been cut or shortened and the momentum not lost, I think this movie would land higher on my chart. As it is, I think it's pretty decent but not great. It's very Stephen King-esque, in that the spooky parts are effective and the dramatic parts mostly rub me the wrong way. (I also discovered there are like four different filmed endings to this. I watched the one identified on Wikipedia as the "Director's Cut Ending.")

3 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
1408 > The Post
1408 < Up in the Air
1408 > Phantom Thread
1408 < The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)
1408 < Batman
1408 < Misery
1408 < John Carter
1408 < Punch-Drunk Love
1408 < Thor
1408 > Broken Blossoms or the Yellow Man and the Girl
1408 < Hamlet (1990)

Final spot: #1070 out of 2861.

Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962)

IMDb plot summary: Cleo, a singer and hypochondriac, becomes increasingly worried that she might have cancer while awaiting test results from her doctor.
Directed by Agnès Varda. Starring Corinne Marchand, Antoine Bourseiller, Dominique Davray, and Dorothée Blanck.

This is the kind of story that a lot of filmmakers try to tell -- a slow, musing look at someone's reaction to terrible news or, in this case, anticipation of terrible news. Some of these are great, others are just slow and meaningless. This one falls somewhere in between for me, but leaning toward greatness, and I feel like another rewatch or two might bring that out for me. The editing is particularly interesting, as it does a really phenomenal job of getting into the anxious mind of the character as she goes from activity to activity, trying to get her mind off the news she is certain is coming. There are pieces of this that I think are really beautiful (her fights with her maid, her breakdown over music, her interactions with the soldier toward the end) as well as quite a few that just don't gel with me (most notably the silent movie she watches with her friend). There's a lot to like about it overall, though, and I'm glad I saw it.

3.5 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Cleo from 5 to 7 > The Whole Nine Yards
Cleo from 5 to 7 < What the Deaf Man Heard
Cleo from 5 to 7 > Frances Ha
Cleo from 5 to 7 > Cool Runnings
Cleo from 5 to 7 < Christmas in Connecticut
Cleo from 5 to 7 > Smiles of a Summer Night
Cleo from 5 to 7 < Kolya
Cleo from 5 to 7 > Battle Royale
Cleo from 5 to 7 > Last Year at Marienbad
Cleo from 5 to 7 > All That Jazz
Cleo from 5 to 7 < The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain
Final spot: #829 out of 2860.

Kicking & Screaming (2005)

IMDb plot summary: Family man Phil Weston, a lifelong victim of his father's competitive nature, takes on the coaching duties of a kids' soccer team, and soon finds that he's also taking on his father's dysfunctional way of relating.
Directed by Jesse Dylan. Starring Will Ferrell, Robert Duvall, Mike Ditka, and Kate Walsh.

I mentioned to one person I was watching this for my movie challenge, and got an "I'm sorry" kind of response. But, honestly, this isn't bad. I mean, it's not *good* or anything. But it's pretty inoffensive. I seldom find Will Ferrell as annoying as many of the other comedians he gets compared to. And this is such a weirdly low-key movie, even with these little moments of more manic comedy. It's still just kind of... pleasant. No personality to speak of, but at least it didn't bother me. If it had more of a personality I'd probably have more to say of it, but as it is, it's a definite "*shrug* Sure," without any strong opinion. (Making this the most boring review ever. Sorry about that.)

2 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Kicking & Screaming < Wedding Crashers
Kicking & Screaming > The French Connection
Kicking & Screaming > The Ides of March
Kicking & Screaming < Dakota Skye
Kicking & Screaming > 13 Going on 30
Kicking & Screaming < Martian Child
Kicking & Screaming < Mission: Impossible
Kicking & Screaming < Scrooge
Kicking & Screaming > Bounce
Kicking & Screaming < Rebecca
Kicking & Screaming > Days of Heaven

Final spot: #1689 out of 2859.

Kwaidan (1964)

IMDb plot summary: A collection of four Japanese folk tales with supernatural themes.
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi. Starring Michiyo Aratama, Rentarô Mikuni, Keiko Kishi, and Tatsuya Nakadai.

I knew nothing about this movie going in, not even that it was an anthology movie (and barely that it was a horror movie). While the first two stories are more compelling to me than the last two, the movie as a whole is stunning, both in terms of its look and its stories. It's so atmospheric and vivid. I'm glad I finally sat down and watched this one.

4 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Kwaidan > V/H/S
Kwaidan > Peggy Sue Got Married
Kwaidan < Silver Linings Playbook
Kwaidan > American Dreamz
Kwaidan < Rurouni Kenshin
Kwaidan < Cats
Kwaidan < The Hunger Games
Kwaidan > Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Kwaidan < The Land Before Time
Kwaidan < Beetlejuice
Kwaidan < Grave of the Fireflies
Kwaidan < What We Do in the Shadows

Final spot: #523 out of 2858.

Call Me By Your Name (2017)

IMDb plot summary: In 1980s Italy, a romance blossoms between a seventeen year-old student and the older man hired as his father's research assistant.
Directed by Luca Guadagnino. Starring Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Amira Casar.

There are a lot of things about this that I really love. There are some stunning performances here and some really lovely bits of dialogue. (I was particularly drawn to Michael Stuhlbarg's ending monologue.) That being said though, I had a real tough time with the age gap between the characters. Even taking into account the much lower age of consent in Italy and how assertive Elio is in this relationship, he is such a *teenager* that it is tough not to see Oliver as predatory from very early on, and that colors the story in ways I couldn't get past. A lot of good things, but one that weighs down the rest of the movie for me.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Call Me By Your Name < Oliver Twist
Call Me By Your Name > The In-Laws
Call Me By Your Name > A Dangerous Method
Call Me By Your Name > Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons
Call Me By Your Name > The 'Burbs
Call Me By Your Name > Must Love Dogs
Call Me By Your Name > The Dresser
Call Me By Your Name < Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Call Me By Your Name > A Time to Kill
Call Me By Your Name > The Resurrection of Gavin Stone
Call Me By Your Name > Cinderella (1950)

Final spot: #1441 out of 2857.

Sharknado 4: The Forth Awakens (2016)

IMDb plot summary: Fin, his family and the cosmos have been blissfully sharknado-free in the five years since the most recent attack, but now sharks and tornadoes are being whipped up in unexpected ways and places.
Directed by Anthony C. Ferrante. Starring Ian Ziering, Tara Reid, Masiela Lusha, and Cody Linley.

I watched the first Sharknado several years ago and found it decently enjoyable, if not as funny as other people found it. There needs to be a bit more earnestness involved in liking a so-bad-it's-good movie for its badness, and more jokes involved for it to be an actually-good-and-funny movie. I never saw parts two and three, but having seen part four, I don't really feel an urge to go back and watch them. This installment leans heavily on the tongue-in-cheek but without actually incorporating humor so much as just calling everything a "[random item]nado" and frequently quoting other, better, movies. It's mostly just... loud, both visually and auditorily. I don't even think it would be fun to snark with a group, there's too much happening the whole time and it's very distracting. So... not inspired to hop back into this franchise.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Sharknado 4 < Nowhere Boy
Sharknado 4 < The In-Laws
Sharknado 4 < The Yellow Handkerchief
Sharknado 4 > Yours, Mine & Ours (2005)
Sharknado 4 < Clash of the Titans (1981)
Sharknado 4 > Bright Eyes
Sharknado 4 > Celebrity
Sharknado 4 < Frida
Sharknado 4 < Three Guys Named Mike
Sharknado 4 > Sahara (2017)
Sharknado 4 > A Cinderella Story
Sharknado 4 > If Only

Final spot: #2605 out of 2856.

Summer Stock (1950)

IMDb plot summary: A small-town farmer, down on her luck, finds her homestead invaded by a theatrical troupe invited to stay by her ne'er-do-well sister.
Directed by Charles Walters. Starring Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Eddie Bracken, and Gloria DeHaven.

While this movie doesn't knock me off my feet the way a few classic musicals do, it's really solid. Plenty of Gene Kelly dancing, plenty of Judy Garland singing, a charming little love story, and even though it's a little bit confusing as to how this can actually end well for most of these characters (thinking about the logistics of their future relationships is not terribly positive), it taps into that "good old-fashioned happy ending" feeling that I knew I instinctively wanted for this movie from the moment it opened. My favorite moment was the Kelly dance sequence where he uses the sounds of the stage around him -- a creaky floorboard, a newspaper on the floor -- to create new sounds and rhythms to play with. It's the sort of carefree, "well, hey, look what I can do" style I've always loved in Kelly's dancing, and it really works here. Overall, a good movie, if not necessarily a great one.

3.5 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Summer Stock > Father of the Bride Part II
Summer Stock < The Hustler
Summer Stock > Lilies of the Field
Summer Stock > Mr. Holmes
Summer Stock > Flight of the Navigator
Summer Stock < Spellbound (2002)
Summer Stock < Inherit the Wind
Summer Stock < Bubba Ho-tep
Summer Stock > Pushing Tin
Summer Stock > 28 Up
Summer Stock < Au Revoir Les Enfants

Final spot: #794 out of 2855.

The Tribe (2014)

IMDb plot summary: A deaf boy joins a boarding school for similar children. Confronted by the violent and criminal antics of some of the other boys and girls, he struggles to conform and join the 'tribe'.
Directed by Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi. Starring Hryhoriy Fesenko, Yana Novikova, Rosa Babiy, and Oleksandr Dsiadevych.

This is such a tough movie for me to rank, because I seriously appreciate the artistry of this movie while actually hating the story itself. I love that the film is entirely in sign language with no translation or subtitles. That's such a bold, delicious choice, and I wanted to love the film just for that. Unfortunately, it's a crime drama that doesn't seem to go in any new directions (though I may have missed something with the language barrier), and on top of that, it's very viscerally unpleasant. There were at least two scenes where I had to shrink the browser because it almost physically hurt me to watch it. It's very interestingly made, but it's just not a movie that I would ever care to see again.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Tribe < Father of the Bride Part II
The Tribe < Picnic
The Tribe > Breach
The Tribe < Anchors Aweigh
The Tribe > The Firm
The Tribe > Inkheart
The Tribe > Short Circuit 2
The Tribe < Annie (1982)
The Tribe > It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
The Tribe > My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2
The Tribe < First Blood

Final spot: #2333 out of 2854.

Dazed and Confused (1993)

IMDb plot summary: The adventures of high school and junior high students on the last day of school in May 1976.
Directed by Richard Linklater. Starring Jason London, Joey Lauren Adams, Milla Jovovich, and Shawn Andrews.

As much as I love Linklater's writing, this one doesn't do a lot for me. Maybe I had to be a high school partier or a teenage boy in the 70s or the 90s to really get it. There were so many characters to keep track of, and none of the female characters were anything interesting, and Linklater's dialogue was not nearly as interesting as it usually is. It's fine, but it missed the mark for me.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Dazed and Confused < The Asphalt Jungle
Dazed and Confused > Withnail & I
Dazed and Confused > X-Men
Dazed and Confused > Checking Out
Dazed and Confused < Twin Sisters
Dazed and Confused < Ready Player One
Dazed and Confused < Dear Frankie
Dazed and Confused < Solo: A Star Wars Story
Dazed and Confused > A Knight's Tale
Dazed and Confused > The Disappearance of Alice Creed
Dazed and Confused > The Spanish Prisoner
Dazed and Confused < The Man in the Iron Mask

Final spot: #1595 out of 2853.

Venom (2018)

IMDb plot summary: When Eddie Brock acquires the powers of a symbiote, he will have to release his alter-ego "Venom" to save his life.
Directed by Ruben Fleischer. Starring Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, and Scott Haze.

My hope going into this was that it was ridiculous enough that I would have a good time with it, since I had a tough time imagining it would be an objectively *good* movie in any sense. Fortunately, it was just as ridiculous as I expected. Our antagonist had such deliciously cartoon villain line deliveries that I had a ton of fun from the moment he showed up, and Eddie and Venom's interactions added to that over-the-top nonsense. It's wildly messy and frequently doesn't make a lot of sense, but oh boy was it fun.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Venom > Batman Forever
Venom < Breaking Away
Venom < Good Time
Venom < Hugo
Venom < Interiors
Venom > Adventures in Babysitting
Venom < The Family Man
Venom > Away From Her
Venom > One, Two, Three
Venom > Choke

Final spot: #1361 out of 2852.

Monsters and Men (2018)

IMDb plot summary: The aftermath of a police killing of a black man, told through the eyes of the bystander who filmed the act, an African-American police officer and a high-school baseball phenom inspired to take a stand.
Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green. Starring Chanté Adams, Giuseppe Ardizzone, Nicole Beharie, and Cara Buono.

This is an interesting concept for a movie, but the individual pieces to it aren't quite as interesting. The final piece is definitely the highlight of the film, which is kind of unexpected, since it's the least directly connected to the central conflict.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Monsters and Men > The Lion in Winter (2003)
Monsters and Men < Breaking Away
Monsters and Men > Captain Phillips
Monsters and Men < American Teen
Monsters and Men < Hannah and Her Sisters
Monsters and Men < The Happening
Monsters and Men < The Minus Man
Monsters and Men > Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles
Monsters and Men < Lilies of the Field
Monsters and Men > Guys and Dolls
Monsters and Men > Away We Go

Final spot: #1053 out of 2851.

A Star Is Born (2018)

IMDb plot summary: A musician helps a young singer and actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.
Directed by Bradley Cooper. Starring Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Sam Elliott, and Andrew Dice Clay.

I've only seen one of the previous versions of this story, and that one a long time ago, but I didn't remember that one being quite so... purposelessly depressing. This movie is clearly trying to be *about* something, but what that is is very muddled, and that makes it messy. Gaga sounds great in all her songs, even if they're not interesting, and Bradley Cooper does more interesting acting than he usually does, but it all comes together very clumsily.

How it entered my Flickchart:
A Star Is Born > The Lion in Winter (2003)
A Star Is Born < How to Train Your Dragon
A Star Is Born < Good Time
A Star Is Born < Hugo
A Star Is Born < Interiors
A Star Is Born > Dirty Dancing
A Star Is Born > Office Space
A Star Is Born < The Last Unicorn
A Star Is Born > Marathon
A Star Is Born > Star Trek Into Darkness
A Star Is Born < The Road

Final spot: #1349 out of 2850.

Double, Double, Toil and Trouble (1993)

IMDb plot summary: On Halloween night, two precocious little girls try to save their parents from the greedy clutches of their nasty old Capitalist aunt. Magic abounds and they meet new albeit strange friends along the way.
Directed by Stuart Margolin. Starring Mary-Kate Olsen, Ashley Olsen, Cloris Leachman, and Phil Fondacaro.

My husband and I started watching this on Hulu because it looked ridiculous and then kept watching because it was, indeed, ridiculous. Cloris Leachman as the evil witch is so delightfully over the top and nonsensical.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Double, Double, Toil and Trouble < Lolita (1997)
Double, Double, Toil and Trouble < Anastasia
Double, Double, Toil and Trouble > Mamma Mia!
Double, Double, Toil and Trouble > The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Double, Double, Toil and Trouble > Nick Nolte: No Exit
Double, Double, Toil and Trouble > Out of Time
Double, Double, Toil and Trouble > Moms' Night Out
Double, Double, Toil and Trouble > Passion
Double, Double, Toil and Trouble > Sideways
Double, Double, Toil and Trouble > Wild Strawberries
Double, Double, Toil and Trouble > Nine

Final spot: #2138 out of 2849.

The Christmas Toy (1986)

IMDb plot summary: It's Christmas Eve, and Rugby the Tiger remembers how he was the Christmas Toy last year, and thinks he's going to be unwrapped again. And it's up to Apple the Doll, whom Rugby supplanted as favorite toy, to tell him what's in store. 

Directed by Eric Till. Starring Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmore, Kathryn Mullen, and Jerry Nelson.

It's kind of tough to figure out how to review a children's Christmas puppet show made for television. And this is definitely FOR children, as opposed to some of the other Henson/Muppet stuff that is clearly meant for the whole family. But there's nothing in here for adult viewers. It's a very simple story with childlike logic. It's kind of cute, I guess, but nine years later Toy Story would come out and tell the exact same story but in a much more widely relatable way.

I'm so clearly *not* the audience for this that I'm having a tough time figuring out how to rank it. I was bored about half the time and annoyed by some of the voices, but that's not a fair judgment of it since it is in no way trying to appeal to adults, so... maybe it's effective with kids? *shrug*

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Christmas Toy < Captain Fantastic

The Christmas Toy > Nine (2009)

The Christmas Toy < The General

The Christmas Toy > Brokeback Mountain

The Christmas Toy > McLintock!

The Christmas Toy > Meet the Parents

The Christmas Toy > Haxan

The Christmas Toy < X2

The Christmas Toy < The Sound of Music

The Christmas Toy > 12 Days of Terror

The Christmas Toy < Spy

Final spot: #1799 out of 2848.