Henry V (1989)

IMDb plot summary: In the midst of the Hundred Years War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France in 1415.
Directed by Kenneth Branagh. Starring Kenneth Branagh, Simon Shepherd, James Larkin, and Brian Blessed.

I've certainly read Henry V before, and I may even have seen a production of it once, but it never quite sits with me. This film feels like it has the potential to finally make it stick. What makes Kenneth Branagh's Henry more interesting is that it's willing to play more with the character's "goodness" or lack thereof. In front of his soldiers, we see him portrayed as a nearly flawless hero, but we are also privy to his back story (thanks to some flashback scenes taken from Henry IV) and his determination to abandon his friends for a change at the throne. Taken alone, Henry V seems like a straightforward hero's tale, but forced into the context of these earlier plays, he becomes a more nuanced and intriguing character. Overall a very engaging filmed version of the play.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Henry V > Kicking and Screaming (1995)
Henry V > Last Year at Marienbad
Henry V < E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
Henry V < Take This Waltz
Henry V < Jack Goes Boating
Henry V < Nights of Cabiria
Henry V < The Shallows
Henry V < The Lady Vanishes
Henry V > A Nightmare on Elm Street
Henry V < It (2017)
Henry V > Red Eye
Final spot: #732 out of 2960.

The Yellow Birds (2018)

IMDb plot summary: Two young soldiers, Bartle (21) and Murph (18) navigate the terrors of the Iraq war under the command of the older, troubled Sergeant Sterling. All the while, Bartle is tortured by a promise he made to Murph's mother before their deployment.
Directed by Alexandre Moors. Starring Alden Ehrenreich, Tye Sheridan, Jennifer Aniston, and Jack Huston.

A moody, dark film that I think might be trying to make a statement about war but I'm not sure what it's actually saying? But nor is it really a character piece. There are bits of this that stand out to me as compelling, but a lot of it just feels kind of muddled, and I'm unsure what I'm supposed to get out of it.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Yellow Birds < Kicking and Screaming (1995)
The Yellow Birds < The Hoober-Bloob Highway
The Yellow Birds > War and Peace (1956)
The Yellow Birds > Sahara (2005)
The Yellow Birds > Play It Again, Sam
The Yellow Birds > City Slickers
The Yellow Birds > Bus Stop
The Yellow Birds > Animal House
The Yellow Birds > The Life of David Gale
The Yellow Birds < The Hunt
Final spot: #2226 out of 2959.

The Accidental Tourist (1988)

IMDb plot summary: An emotionally distant writer of travel guides must carry on with his life after his son is killed and his marriage crumbles.
Directed by Lawrence Kasdan. Starring William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Geena Davis, and Amy Wright.

I read this book several years ago and remember being charmed by it, so the film adaptation has been on my watchlist for a little while. I don't remember the dialogue being nearly this clunky in the book, though. There's a lot of character motivation conveyed through awkward exposition-style dialogue. It doesn't ruin the movie, but it does make it pretty bland. I would have loved to have gotten more of a sense of the women in this story as well -- there's definitely some Manic Pixie Dream Girl stuff going on in here. Overall, it's all right but not great.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Accidental Tourist < The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Accidental Tourist > Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
The Accidental Tourist < My Favorite Wife
The Accidental Tourist > Die Hard With a Vengeance
The Accidental Tourist > Thank You for Smoking
The Accidental Tourist > Annie (1999)
The Accidental Tourist > The Lorax (1972)
The Accidental Tourist < Rigoletto
The Accidental Tourist > Bunraku
The Accidental Tourist < Little Women
The Accidental Tourist > You Only Live Once
Final spot: #1864 out of 2958.

Hour of the Wolf (1968)

IMDb plot summary: While vacationing on a remote Scandanavian island with his younger pregnant wife, an artist has an emotional breakdown while confronting his repressed desires.
Directed by Ingmar Bergman. Starring Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Gertrud Fridh, and George Rydeberg.

There's no doubt Ingmar Bergman was a talented filmmaker, but I tend to appreciate his films most when they land in a more concrete, less surreal place (The Virgin Spring and Autumn Sonata, for example). There are pieces of this that are compelling -- particularly some of the ending shots of the ghosts/demons/whatever -- but it's clearly trying to create an emotional atmosphere that largely gets lost on me.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Hour of the Wolf < Santa Claus is Comin' to Town
Hour of the Wolf > Running With Scissors
Hour of the Wolf < Holiday (1938)
Hour of the Wolf > Life with Father
Hour of the Wolf < Thank You for Smoking
Hour of the Wolf > The Birth of a Nation
Hour of the Wolf < Highlander
Hour of the Wolf > What Lies Beneath
Hour of the Wolf < The General
Hour of the Wolf > A Christmas Carol (2004)
Hour of the Wolf < Syrup
Final spot: #1971 out of 2957.

Role Models (2008)

IMDb plot summary: Wild behavior forces a pair of energy drink reps to enroll in a Big Brother program.
Directed by David Wain. Starring Seann William Scott, Paul Rudd, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Bobb'e J. Thompson.

I'd seen the last 20 minutes or so of this on TV at the gym once and have been interested in checking it out ever since.  While every so often the overtly crude jokes wore out their welcome for me, it was for the most part a really funny and enjoyable flick. I love how it used LARPing as a plot device but in a way that ultimately kinda validates it as a quirky but fun hobby. There's a lot of clever dialogue and smart jokes that elevate it above something by, say, the Farrellys.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Role Models > Santa Claus is Comin' to Town
Role Models > Ran
Role Models < E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
Role Models < Take This Waltz
Role Models < Jack Goes Boating
Role Models < Nights of Cabiria
Role Models > The Shallows
Role Models > Auntie Mame
Role Models > Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book (1994)
Role Models > Song of the Sea
Role Models < The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Final spot: #695 out of 2956.

The Cameraman (1925)

IMDb plot summary: Hopelessly in love with a woman working at MGM Studios, a clumsy man attempts to become a motion picture cameraman to be close to the object of his desire.
Directed by Edward Sedgwick. Starring Buster Keaton, Marceline Day, Harold Goodwin, and Sidney Bracey.

I always forget how much I enjoy Buster Keaton, especially in comparison to other silent era comedians. His sense of comic timing and build aligns with mine so well. There were quite a few moments in this where I found myself laughing out loud. I'm not going to say much more about it -- it's fun and funny and worth a watch.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Cameraman > Adam
The Cameraman > Do the Right Thing
The Cameraman < E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
The Cameraman < Take This Waltz
The Cameraman > My Name Is Joe
The Cameraman < The Talented Mr. Ripley
The Cameraman > Le trou
The Cameraman > Fever Pitch (1997)
The Cameraman > Philadelphia
The Cameraman > Face/Off
The Cameraman > Amelie
Final spot: #601 out of 2955.

The Seventh Continent (1989)

IMDb plot summary: A European family who plan on escaping to Australia, seem caught up in their daily routine, only troubled by minor incidents. However, behind their apparent calm and repetitive existence, they are actually planning something sinister.
Directed by Michael Haneke. Starring Birgit Doll, Dieter Berner, and Leni Tanzer.

(Spoilers ahead.)

...Oh my gosh.

OK, so I just watched Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon a week or so ago, and was exhausted with how slowly it moved, so when this movie began, I saw it was another Haneke film, and it seemed to be moving equally slowly, I braced myself for a rough ride. And, I mean, it was, but not at all for the reason I thought it would be. It was a rough ride because starting in act three, it just becomes ominous and horrifying with no reason at all. Wikipedia cites a real-life crime as inspiration for the film, especially the seemingly out-of-nowhere violence of it. Haneke here tries to craft a meaning or at least a spark of it, looking at the mundanity of car washes and eating cereal and moving up the corporate ladder as a sort of breaking point, but the strength lies in its terrifying finale. It kind of broke me, but in a good way. This makes me anxious to search out more Haneke in a way The White Ribbon definitely did not.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Seventh Continent > Adam
The Seventh Continent > Zootopia
The Seventh Continent > E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
The Seventh Continent < Take the Money and Run
The Seventh Continent < Nativity!
The Seventh Continent < Footloose (1984)
The Seventh Continent > Best in Show
The Seventh Continent > Shutter Island
The Seventh Continent < Double Indemnity
The Seventh Continent < Les Miserables in Concert (1995)
The Seventh Continent > Benny & Joon

Final spot: #331 out of 2954.

Mute (2018)

IMDb plot summary: A mute bartender goes up against his city's gangsters in an effort to find out what happened to his missing partner.
Directed by Duncan Jones. Starring Alexander Skarsgård, Paul Rudd, Justin Theroux, and Seyneb Saleh.

Well, this is an ugly movie in every sense of the word. It looks ugly, the world and characters are ugly, the plot is ugly. The film clearly wants to be Blade Runner-esque, a crime story set a generation or two in the future, but it neglects any meaningful use of that world -- it doesn't impact our story in any way. Which is baffling, because how could it NOT when dealing with an Amish man in an even more tech-heavy world? And yet the movie just doesn't even care about that. It's that kind of thematic sloppiness that drags the movie down and makes it nearly unwatachable at times. It's a good elevator pitch that feels like it got pasted onto a much less interesting already-written crime film.

Edited a moment later to say: Wait, I just realized this is Duncan Jones' new movie. Wow. I don't even know how you make something as great as Moon and as silly-but-fun as Source Code and then eventually do this slog.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Mute < Ramona and Beezus
Mute < The Life of David Gale
Mute > Spy Kids
Mute > Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted
Mute < Convict 13
Mute < Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Mute < Maggie's Plan
Mute > Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed
Mute < Opening Night
Mute < Quigley Down Under
Mute < Rio Bravo
Mute < Julia
Final spot: #2387 out of 2953.

Hamlet (1948)

IMDb plot summary: Prince Hamlet struggles over whether or not he should kill his uncle, whom he suspects has murdered his father, the former King.
Directed by Laurence Olivier. Starring Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Basily Sydney, and Eileen Herlie.

I'm a theater person. I like Shakespeare. I do not like Hamlet. I'm with the crew that says Hamlet spends most of his time just wandering around being sad and not doing anything. It's extremely difficult as an actor to pull off his mood swings and shifting motivations, and I have yet to be convinced by anyone in that role, and it's CERTAINLY not going to be Laurence Olivier, whose Hamlet seems to have no core at all. I haven't the faintest idea who his Hamlet is, or, really, what he wants -- even the "revenge for his father" bit gets lost in all his mood swings and meandering. The story itself still has some cool elements, and I enjoy the interesting cinematic choice to sometimes shift between scenes by having the characters fade into existence, giving it all a sort of dreamlike quality. But this is not the version of Hamlet that is going to change my mind about the show.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Hamlet < Ramona and Beezus
Hamlet > The Life of David Gale
Hamlet > Nashville
Hamlet > The Women
Hamlet < The Tempest (2010)
Hamlet > House of Games
Hamlet < Must Love Dogs
Hamlet < Interstate 60
Hamlet < Imitation of Life (1959)
Hamlet > Shane
Hamlet > Stagecoach
Hamlet < Cast Away
Final spot: #1610 out of 2952.

The White Ribbon (2009)

IMDb plot summary: Strange events happen in a small village in the north of Germany during the years before World War I, which seem to be ritual punishment. Who is responsible?
Directed by Michael Haneke. Starring Christian Friedel, Ernst Jacobi, Leonie Benesch, and Ulrich Tukur.

Roughly an hour into this movie, I couldn't wait for it to be over. I found the multiple different families and relationships unnecessarily difficult to keep track of, and it didn't seem to be going anywhere. There are a handful of individual scenes that are nicely written, acted, and shot, but outside of the necessary context of the whole it didn't really work for me. The second hour picks up a little bit, at least to the point where I could understand what the film was trying to do. Its deliberately slow style does make sense if you're trying to really look at the roots and effects of evil in this small town. That being said, it is still, by and large, very boring. I can appreciate what people liked about it but I have zero interest in watching it again.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The White Ribbon < Boogie Nights
The White Ribbon > Napoleon
The White Ribbon > To Have and Have Not
The White Ribbon < Runaway Jury
The White Ribbon > How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
The White Ribbon < SpaceCamp
The White Ribbon > Dakota Skye
The White Ribbon > Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
The White Ribbon > The Core
The White Ribbon > The Perks of Being a Wallflower
The White Ribbon < Lovelace
Final spot: #1709 out of 2951.

Devil's Knot (2013)

IMDb plot summary: The savage murders of three young children sparks a controversial trial of three teenagers accused of killing the kids as part of a Satanic ritual.
Directed by Atom Egoyan. Starring Reese Witherspoon, Colin Firth, Alessandro Nivola, and James Hamrick.

Oof, this is a messy movie. It is a dramatized account of the West Memphis Three trials, but it seems more interested in providing factual information than in providing an actual emotional narrative base to the story. The characters' emotional arcs are handled in such a clumsy manner. It makes Reese Witherspoon look extremely untalented, which she is not. It did spark my interest in the case itself and in the series of documentaries about it, so that's a good thing, but this is a pretty sloppy flick.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Devil's Knot < Ramona and Beezus
Devil's Knot < The Life of David Gale
Devil's Knot > Never Been Kissed
Devil's Knot < Dracula (1931)
Devil's Knot > The Omega Code
Devil's Knot < Dr. Seuss on the Loose
Devil's Knot > My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2
Devil's Knot > Gangs of New York
Devil's Knot < Analyze This
Devil's Knot < The Matrix Revolutions
Devil's Knot > The Searchers
Final spot: #2452 out of 2950.

The Mummy (1999)

IMDb plot summary: At an archaeological dig in the ancient city of Hamunaptra, an American serving in the French Foreign Legion accidentally awakens a mummy who begins to wreck havoc as he searches for the reincarnation of his long-lost love.
Directed by Stephen Sommers. Starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, and Arnold Vosloo.

I have seen the old classic monster movie version of this and had a pretty good time with it. I had probably the same amount of fun with this remake, though I had hoped to enjoy it more. It just always teeters on the edge of really leaning into its place as a campy action movie, and never quite seems to be enjoying itself enough. The effects have also definitely not aged well, though their design is creative and interesting. (I do love the opening scene when Brendan Fraser runs away from the sand that then turns into a giant face. That's pretty eerie.) Overall it's pretty fun, which is less than I'd expected but much better than it could have been.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Mummy < Ramona and Beezus
The Mummy > The Life of David Gale
The Mummy > To Have and Have Not
The Mummy > The Women
The Mummy < Batman Forever
The Mummy > The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
The Mummy > She Loves Me
The Mummy < Birdman of Alcatraz
The Mummy > Wild
The Mummy > Marie Antoinette
The Mummy > The English Patient
Final spot: #1580 out of 2949.

The Emperor Waltz (1948)

IMDb plot summary: A brash American gramophone salesman tries to get Emperor Franz Joseph's endorsement in turn-of-the-century Austria.
Directed by Billy Wilder. Starring Bing Crosby, Joan Fontaine, Roland Culver, and Lucile Watson.

There's something kind of refreshing in today's age of nitpicky "plot hole" criticism to watch a romantic comedy that's just so overtly ridiculous. This movie pretends to be loosely set in the real world, but the plot devices involving the dogs are just so silly that they make me smile. But in no way does it acknowledge the silliness of it -- it just asks us to live in this goofy world, and I was quite happy to do so. It reminded me a bit of the Rogers/Astaire vehicle Carefree I watched earlier this year in its cheerful disregard for accuracy. This isn't stellar but I enjoyed it quite a bit.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Emperor Waltz > Ramona and Beezus
The Emperor Waltz < A Grand Day Out with Wallace and Gromit
The Emperor Waltz > Marjorie Prime
The Emperor Waltz > The Exterminating Angel
The Emperor Waltz > Flushed Away
The Emperor Waltz > M
The Emperor Waltz < The Dictator
The Emperor Waltz < What's Eating Gilbert Grape
The Emperor Waltz > Under the Skin
The Emperor Waltz < Frankenweenie
The Emperor Waltz > The Happening
Final spot: #775 out of 2948.

If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

IMDb plot summary: A woman in Harlem embraces her pregnancy while she and her family struggle to prove her fiancé innocent of a crime.
Directed by Barry Jenkins. Starring KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King, and Teyonah Parris.

I've been trying to sort out for a day now what I want to say about this -- not because it's so complex, but because my response is so simple: "Yeah, that was pretty good." I feel a little guilty for not really having the words for what made this good, or for having a bigger emotional response to what is clearly a well-made film. Solid writing, solid acting, solid camera work. I like that it ends on a note of hope even while allowing things to play out badly. It didn't blow me away the way I hoped it might, but it's well worth watching.

How it entered my Flickchart:
If Beale Street Could Talk > Mad Max
If Beale Street Could Talk < A Grand Day Out with Wallace and Gromit
If Beale Street Could Talk > Lord of the Flies
If Beale Street Could Talk < The Exterminating Angel
If Beale Street Could Talk > The Horse's Mouth
If Beale Street Could Talk > You Can't Take It With You
If Beale Street Could Talk > The Curse of the Jade Scorpion
If Beale Street Could Talk < The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
If Beale Street Could Talk > The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes
If Beale Street Could Talk > Idiocracy
If Beale Street Could Talk > Young Frankenstein
Final spot: #934 out of 2947.

My Name Is Joe (1998)

IMDb plot summary: Two thirtysomethings, unemployed former alcoholic Joe and community health worker Sarah, start a romantic relationship in the one of the toughest Glasgow neighbourhoods.
Directed by Ken Loach. Starring Peter Mullan, Louise Goodall, David McKay, and Anne-Marie Kennedy.

I sought out this movie because earlier this year I fell in love with Kes, also from director Ken Loach. I'd never seen any of Loach's films before, so I hunted up this one, the next-ranked on Flickchart. While I'm less invested in this central character than I was in our young protagonist from Kes, it does an extraordinary job of humanizing the person at the center of all the drama -- in this case, crime and drugs drama. My complaint about crime movies is so often that they are all the same, but this one really manages to dig into its main character's personality, life, and heart, and it ends up much the better for it. And, much like Kes, the movie ends before I'm quite ready for it to, but in hindsight feels like the only ending it could have had. It's overall quite a good movie, even if I wasn't as emotionally connected to it as I was with the previous Loach film I'd seen.

How it entered my Flickchart:
My Name Is Joe > Mad Max
My Name Is Joe > A Grand Day Out with Wallace and Gromit
My Name Is Joe < Big Hero 6
My Name Is Joe < Beetlejuice
My Name Is Joe > National Lampoon's Vacation
My Name Is Joe < The Sting
My Name Is Joe < Bernie
My Name Is Joe < The Great Race
My Name Is Joe < The African Queen
My Name Is Joe > Dust
My Name Is Joe < Jack Goes Boating
Final spot: #641 out of 2946.

Wuthering Heights (1939)

IMDb plot summary: A servant in the house of Wuthering Heights tells a traveller the unfortunate tale of lovers Cathy and Heathcliff.
Directed by William Wyler. Starring Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, David Niven, and Flora Robson.

Ah! Maybe this is the movie that is to blame for painting Wuthering Heights as a romantic story. Because it truly, truly isn't. I read the book for the first time in full last year and found myself horrified by how toxic and abusive the characters were to each other. This film comes down heavily on the other side. It sides with Heathcliff here, who never does anything too bad apart from marrying someone he doesn't love, and even then she herself vindicates him by claiming he's not evil, he's just "full of pain." Multiple times Heathcliff chides Cathy for being "childish" and "vain" in refusing to marry him, as if everything would have gone just fine if she had gone to him like he deserved. It's a very unsettling attitude for our romantic hero to have, and since this film, unlike the book, DOES paint him as the romantic hero, it's an unsettling watch.

The bookended scenes are probably the best -- they both attain a creepy gothic tone that gets lost in the middle of the movie but are fun to watch. I want to say something else good about it -- the cinematography or something -- but even that doesn't do much. It all looks kind of stagey and drab and most of the shots of the moors are pretty uncompelling. It's not necessarily a bad movie, but when its entire premise is something you can't get on board with from the start, it's not going to fare that well.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Wuthering Heights < Liz & Dick
Wuthering Heights < Rebel Without a Cause
Wuthering Heights > Never Been Kissed
Wuthering Heights < Dracula
Wuthering Heights > Toby Tyler, or Ten Weeks with a Circus
Wuthering Heights > Raid on Rommel
Wuthering Heights > Gomorrah
Wuthering Heights > 27 Dresses
Wuthering Heights < The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Wuthering Heights > The Star of Christmas
Wuthering Heights > Deliverance

Final spot: #2401 out of 2946.

Elevator to the Gallows (1958)

IMDb plot summary: A self-assured businessman murders his employer, the husband of his mistress, which unintentionally provokes an ill-fated chain of events.
Directed by Louis Malle. Starring Jeanne Moreau, Maurice Ronet, Georges Poujouly, and Yori Bertin.

(Spoilers ahead.)

It's kind of interesting how this film sets up one character as our protagonist, only to abandon him in a trapped elevator for most of the movie and focus on what's happening while he's incapacitated. Like many noir-ish crime films, this one comes around full circle and ends in the criminals being punished for their crimes, and this is somewhat satisfying, but the in between is varying levels of satisfying. Mrs. Carala's wandering through the streets of Paris is much less interesting to me than the accidental Bonnie and Clyde couple (particularly the woman -- I was intrigued with how she responded to her boyfriend's increasingly criminal and antisocial behavior). I'm not sure it does much overall that any other crime movie doesn't do, but it's got enough bright spots that I'm glad I saw it.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Elevator to the Gallows < Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
Elevator to the Gallows > Sands of Iwo Jima
Elevator to the Gallows > The Shaggy Dog (1959)
Elevator to the Gallows > Whisper of the Heart
Elevator to the Gallows > The Avengers
Elevator to the Gallows < South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
Elevator to the Gallows < Cool Hand Luke
Elevator to the Gallows > Gypsy (1962)
Elevator to the Gallows > The Double Life of Veronique
Elevator to the Gallows < A Time to Kill

Final spot: #1546 out of 2945.

Senna (2010)

IMDb plot summary: A documentary on Brazilian Formula One racing driver Ayrton Senna, who won the F1 world championship three times before his death at age 34.
Directed by Asif Kapadia.

Let me preface this by saying that sports movies are very much not my thing and I always have trouble ranking documentaries alongside other movies. Documentaries so often seem more like textbooks in visual form, rather than anything -- for lack of a better term -- artistic. So I went into this a little uncertain. And most of it does fall into a fairly dry cataloging of Ayrton Senna's accomplishments. Two things help it stand out for me, however. One is how it ends. I knew nothing about Senna, had no idea he died tragically in a racing accident at a young age, so seeing it follow him up to the very ending of his life was startling but also ultimately very moving. The clips of the people of Brazil talking about what he had meant to them as a popular figure were very touching. The other thing that I didn't necessarily notice at first but that really started hitting me when I thought about it, was how firmly the documentary stayed in the years it was talking about. All the footage came from those years in the 1980s and 1990s, with any after-the-fact commentary being provided solely in voiceover, and even then, there wasn't much of it. Most spoken comments came from then-current interviews or discussions. This had the effect of not feeling like someone is lecturing me about the past from the present, but really trying to recreate the sensation of being part of this world at this time. It's fairly effective -- just about as effective as an athlete's documentary bio can be for me, I think!

How it entered my Flickchart:
Senna > Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
Senna < The Village
Senna < Death to Smoochy
Senna < Journey to the Center of the Earth
Senna > Adama
Senna > Once Upon a Time in the West
Senna > The Silver Chair
Senna > Neighbors
Senna > No eres tu, soy yo
Senna < The Good Dinosaur
Final spot: #1294 out of 2944.

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)

IMDb plot summary: An account of Baron Munchausen's supposed travels and fantastical experiences with his band of misfits.
Directed by Terry Gilliam. Starring John Neville, Eric Idle, Sarah Polley, and Oliver Reed.

(Very mild spoilers ahead.)

I frequently love Terry Gilliam. His work with Monty Python is great, of course, but as a director, The Fisher King is in my top 250 movies and Brazil is a fascinating watch. 12 Monkeys didn't make an impact on me when I first watched it but I've grown to appreciate it. It's kind of interesting that Gilliam's distinctively whimsical tone plays best for me in less whimsical genres: psychological drama and post-apocalyptic sci-fi. With Baron Munchausen, the genre Gilliam's going for is adventure fantasy, and while you'd think that would be the perfect fit, it's not as interesting to me as I expected. Maybe it's that I need something to ground Gilliam's work, to be the basis for his whimsy. Here, the adventure is all play and nothing deeper. The few attempts to reach slightly more emotional depths (for example, when Sally urges him not to give in to Death) come seemingly out of nowhere with no impetus, so they can't make much of a mark. The adventuring parts are fun, and there are funny and entertaining moments throughout, but it feels hollow when it comes down to it.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen > Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen < Extremities
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen < Death to Smoochy
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen > Blade
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen < Be Kind Rewind
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen > Invictus
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen > The Master
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen < The Cutting Edge
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen < Monsters
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen > Mudbound
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen > A Chorus of Disapproval
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen > Frank
Final spot: #1214 out of 2943.

Andhadhun (2018)

IMDb plot summary: A series of mysterious events change the life of a blind pianist who now must report a crime that was actually never witnessed by him.
Directed by Sriram Raghavan. Starring Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, and Anil Dhawan.

This movie started off as what looked like a typical romance, and then it took a HARD right turn into a pretty entertaining thriller, which is a fun path for it to take. A lot of the acting and beats are a little over-the-top, but they kept me thoroughly engaged, and I found the ending extremely satisfying. This isn't a great profound work of art but it's an entertaining movie that is just a lot of fun.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Andhadhun > Liz & Dick
Andhadhun < Extremities
Andhadhun > Run Fatboy Run
Andhadhun > Spanglish
Andhadhun > The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
Andhadhun < Carefree
Andhadhun > Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Andhadhun > Billy Elliot the Musical Live
Andhadhun < Roxanne
Andhadhun > Trouble in Paradise
Andhadhun < The Mummy (1932)

Final spot: #789 out of 2941.

A Silent Voice (2016)

IMDb plot summary: A young man is ostracized by his classmates after he bullies a deaf girl to the point where she moves away. Years later, he sets off on a path for redemption.
Directed by Naoko Yamada. Starring Miyu Irino, Saori Hayami, Aoi Yûki, and Kenshô Ono.

(Spoilers ahead.)

This film has pieces that work really well but most of them don't come together into a satisfying whole. I'm willing to blame part of this disconnect on the badly translated subtitles I had on my copy of the film -- I could understand what was going on, but it wasn't eloquent, and I'd be willing to believe something got missed in that process. However, overall I had trouble buying into Ishida's redemption arc. Taking an overt bully and telling the story of him being victimized later requires some darn good storytelling to pull off, and it just feels haphazard here, which left me feeling very uncomfortable rooting for someone who was clearly in a lot of pain, but who had responded to that pain by bullying a disabled student out of her school. If you're going to tell this story, it has to be done carefully, and there was not a lot of care taken here. That being said, it has some really beautiful moments portraying the difficulty of living with mental illness -- I was particularly struck by the early scene of Ishida's mom frantically trying to make him promise not to attempt suicide again. But these great individual moments don't add up to a great movie.

How it entered my Flickchart:
A Silent Voice > Music Within
A Silent Voice < Extremities
A Silent Voice < 12 Angry Men (1997)
A Silent Voice > Blade
A Silent Voice > Now You See Me
A Silent Voice < Eyes Wide Shut
A Silent Voice > We Need to Talk About Kevin
A Silent Voice < The Last Unicorn
A Silent Voice > Following
A Silent Voice < The Call
A Silent Voice > Wide Awake
Final spot: #1163 out of 2940.

Woman in the Dunes (1964)

IMDb plot summary: An entomologist on vacation is trapped by local villagers into living with a woman whose life task is shoveling sand for them.
Directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara. Starring Eiji Okada and Kyôko Kishida.

I knew absolutely nothing about this going into it. My reaction to it is... a little torn. I love a lot of it -- it brilliantly builds this very distinct location. I could almost feel the sand watching it. And I enjoyed the process, and could see how this could be someone's favorite movie. But it never gelled with me emotionally as much as I wanted it to. More of an instance of quietly nodding and thinking, "Ah, yes, that was good," but without hitting any deeper emotional connection for me, which is surprising and kind of disappointing. I suspect it's one that will climb higher on my chart with a little distance -- we shall see.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Woman in the Dunes > Interiors
Woman in the Dunes > Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Woman in the Dunes < Breaking Away
Woman in the Dunes < What We Do in the Shadows
Woman in the Dunes > Brave
Woman in the Dunes < Open Your Eyes
Woman in the Dunes < A Raisin in the Sun
Woman in the Dunes > La La Land
Woman in the Dunes < Dark Passage
Woman in the Dunes < The Great Race
Woman in the Dunes < Autumn Sonata
Woman in the Dunes < Deadpool
Final spot: #631 out of 2939, or 79%. That is much higher than I thought it would land, but I think I'm OK with it.

Sliding Doors (1998)

IMDb plot summary: A London woman's love life and career both hinge, unknown to her, on whether or not she catches a train. We see it both ways, in parallel.
Directed by Peter Howitt. Starring Gwyneth Paltrow, John Hannah, John Lynch, and Jeanne Tripplehorn.

This is a very cool concept for a movie, one that I've seen done several times since then (and frequently referenced as being "Sliding Doors" stories, so this has definitely left its mark on pop culture). That being said, the stories they choose to tell after the two paths diverge aren't that interesting. They follow very typical (and even very similar) narrative paths. Maybe they were trying to make some kind of point about small changes making a life seem radically different, but I just kind of felt like I was watching two different drafts of the same uninteresting romance. I would have loved to see a tone shift or a drastically different outcome rather than the tedious "will that dude leave the woman he cheated on Gwyneth Paltrow with?" question. Disappointing.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Sliding Doors < Interiors
Sliding Doors > Pretty in Pink
Sliding Doors > Deceiver
Sliding Doors < Aladdin
Sliding Doors > Bobby
Sliding Doors < After the Thin Man
Sliding Doors < The Man in the Iron Mask
Sliding Doors < The 5th Wave
Sliding Doors > Lust for Love
Sliding Doors > 10 Things I Hate About You
Sliding Doors > Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Sliding Doors > Checking Out
Final spot: #1733 out of 2938.

Akira Kurosawa's Dreams (1990)

IMDb plot summary: A collection of tales based upon the actual dreams of director Akira Kurosawa.
Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Starring Akira Terao, Mitsuko Baishô, Mieko Harada, and Chishû Ryû.

I've never seen a Kurosawa I didn't like, though I was a little nervous as this one got going and I realized it was a series of fable-like dreams rather than a strong narrative. However, I shouldn't have been nervous. Kurosawa is a unbelievably compelling storyteller, even when there isn't much story to be had, and I ultimately really enjoyed this. I liked that while there were some prevailing themes throughout (particularly toward the end, with the final three all looking at man's relationship to nature), there was a lot of variety in the tone of the pieces, from sad to scary to triumphant to peaceful. This film is going to sit with me for awhile.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams > Incredibles 2
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams > Rock of Ages
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams < E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams < Shoplifters
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams > The Bells of St. Mary's
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams < Philadelphia
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams < The Goodbye Girl (2004)
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams > The African Queen
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams > The Great Race
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams > Key Largo
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams > Elf
Final spot: #620 out of 2937.