Vice (2018)

IMDb plot summary: The story of Dick Cheney, an unassuming bureaucratic Washington insider, who quietly wielded immense power as Vice President to George W. Bush, reshaping the country and the globe in ways that we still feel today.
Directed by Adam McKay. Starring Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell, and Sam Rockwell.

Adam McKay's last big comedy-biopic-drama endeavor, The Big Short, became one of my favorite movies of the year. I loved how it took this complicated concept that people brushed off as too difficult to explain and simplified it to give a general idea of how, in fact, the 2008 housing crisis had happened (and the effects those actions still have today). Vice attempts to do the same thing with the Iraq War invasion and Cheney's involvement with it, but focusing the story all on one man does not seem to be McKay's strength. While Big Short deftly delved into the "why" of a system, Vice attempts to explore the "why" of a human... but then does not do it particularly well. It feels stretched and aimless, and the sharper points McKay wants to make get lost in all of it.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Vice < 300
Vice > Mulan
Vice < Good Morning, Vietnam
Vice > Charlie Wilson's War
Vice > Hellraiser
Vice > Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Vice > Holiday (1938)
Vice < Melinda and Melinda
Vice < The Pajama Game
Vice > Where the Red Fern Grows
Vice < The Year Without a Santa Claus
Final spot: #1882 out of 2980.

Bullitt (1968)

IMDb plot summary: An all guts, no glory San Francisco cop becomes determined to find the underworld kingpin that killed the witness in his protection.
Directed by Peter Yates. Starring Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, Jacqueline Bisset, and Don Gordon.

I struggle to figure out what I want to say about this one because I don't really have any strong feelings about it. The car chase was great, as expected. I liked the moments with Bullitt's wife where it toyed around the idea of whether living in a world of violence has a long-term effect on you (even if it didn't actually dig depeer into that than just her one musing). The mystery itself just didn't grab me, and every time it seemed like the movie was going to incorporate a more interesting aspect, it seemed to give up pretty quickly. I'd definitely believe this is a personal anti-crime-movie bias keeping me from fully appreciating this, but as it is, I'm mostly just kind of bored.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Bullitt < As It Is In Heaven
Bullitt > The Cocoanuts
Bullitt < Bounce
Bullitt > Rango
Bullitt < The King and I
Bullitt > Captive State
Bullitt > Gilda [2164]
Bullitt < Bowling for Columbine
Bullitt < It Could Happen to You
Bullitt < Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging
Bullitt > Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Final spot: #2163 out of 2979.

Who's That Knocking At My Door (1967)

IMDb plot summary: A young man struggles with the fact that his girlfriend was once raped.
Directed by Martin Scorsese. Starring Zina Bethune, Harvey Keitel, Lennard Kuras, and Michael Scala.

Martin Scorsese's first full-length feature is pretty rocky at times (I actually got bored and went to go get a snack during a particularly long, dull sex montage that I have learned upon research was a later addition to get film distribution -- no wonder it didn't quite gel with the rest of the film). But there are also some really fascinating moments. The use of deliberately upbeat music for some of the most upsetting moments in the film is especially intriguing and definitely conveys a sense of dissonance. It's more interesting to me as a glimpse into Scorsese's early technique than as a film in and of itself.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Who's That Knocking At My Door < 300
Who's That Knocking At My Door > The Cocoanuts
Who's That Knocking At My Door < It Comes at Night
Who's That Knocking At My Door > Rango
Who's That Knocking At My Door > Carol
Who's That Knocking At My Door > Hiroshima mon amour
Who's That Knocking At My Door < Funny Girl
Who's That Knocking At My Door > How to Deal
Who's That Knocking At My Door > Nashville
Who's That Knocking At My Door > Madeline
Who's That Knocking At My Door > The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
Final spot: #1885 out of 2978.

The Kid Who Would Be King (2019)

IMDb plot summary: A band of kids embark on an epic quest to thwart a medieval menace.
Directed by Joe Cornish. Starring Louis Ashbourne Serkis, Dean Chaumoo, Angus Imrie, and Denise Gough.

This is most definitely a movie that would appeal more to a younger audience. I thought maybe it'd be a strong contender for adults too, since it got off to a great start, but as it treads into more serious/action-heavy territory, it loses a lot of the lightness that made it engaging in the first place and becomes a much more traditional kids' fantasy action flick. Not bad, but not as well-done as I hoped it would be.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Kid Who Would Be King < 300
The Kid Who Would Be King > The Cocoanuts
The Kid Who Would Be King > It Comes at Night
The Kid Who Would Be King > Paris, je t'aime
The Kid Who Would Be King > Cinderella (1950)
The Kid Who Would Be King < The Family Man
The Kid Who Would Be King < Fish Tank
The Kid Who Would Be King > Coraline
The Kid Who Would Be King < Wedding Crashers
The Kid Who Would Be King < A Star Is Born (1954)
The Kid Who Would Be King < Stepmom
The Kid Who Would Be King > Revolutionary Road
Final spot: #1569 out of 2977.

Roma (2018)

IMDb plot summary: A year in the life of a middle-class family's maid in Mexico City in the early 1970s.
Directed by Alfonso Cuarón. Starring Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Diego Cortina Autrey, and Carlos Peralta.

There are pieces of this I like very, very much, particularly in the second half. But so much of this has the eternally meandering tone that is so common in self-autobiographical films. (I didn't realize it was until I looked it up on Wikipedia, but I maybe should have guessed.) In scene after scene, I find myself wondering why this is here and where this is trying to take me. I do like Cleo a lot, especially in the latter half when both she and the family she works for find themselves relying on each other in ways that don't entirely compensate for the power dynamic but are fascinating regardless. And I absolutely adore the martial arts training sequence -- the moment where everyone is poorly attempting to copy the teacher's stance and the eye is drawn to Cleo, in the center, perfectly balanced, nailing it, is such a gorgeously framed and executed shot. There's a lot to like, but there's also a lot I felt I just had to sit through to get there.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Roma > Wild Zero
Roma < It (2017)
Roma < You Can Count on Me
Roma > Stage Fright (2014)
Roma < Arthur Christmas
Roma > The Elephant Man
Roma < Duel
Roma < Borstal Boy
Roma < The Revenant
Roma > Mudbound
Roma > A Chorus of Disapproval
Roma > Arctic
Final spot: #1250 out of 2976.

The Boys of Paul Street (1968)

IMDb plot summary: In Budapest, two rival gangs of young boys lay claim to a vacant lot.
Directed by Zoltán Fábri. Starring Anthony Kemp, William Burleigh, John Moulder-Brown, and Robert Efford.

(Major spoilers ahead.)

There's something very interesting about watching these young boys take this fictional war so seriously, but it never delves into Lord of the Flies territory. The humanity of everyone involved is always still present and recognized, especially since both sides have affection for the same youngest member of one of the groups. His death at the end brings an interesting tone to the film. Up until that point, it had all been fairly light, even given all the talk of war, but that and the reveal that the Plot they fought so hard would be torn down the next day, suddenly cast a darker tone over the film. I had a very similar reaction to the leader of the group -- having this dark ending all sink in at once and wondering where to go from here. I think this is one that is likely to stick with me.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Boys of Paul Street > Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
The Boys of Paul Street < It (2017)
The Boys of Paul Street > Josh and the Big Wall
The Boys of Paul Street > Meet Joe Black
The Boys of Paul Street < What's Eating Gilbert Grape
The Boys of Paul Street < The Mummy (1932)
The Boys of Paul Street < Crossing Delancey
The Boys of Paul Street > Beauty and the Beast (2017)
The Boys of Paul Street > Le bonheur
The Boys of Paul Street > Akira
The Boys of Paul Street < Moonwalker
Final spot: #827 out of 2975.

Cocktail (1988)

IMDb plot summary: A talented New York City bartender takes a job at a bar in Jamaica and falls in love.
Directed by Roger Donaldson. Starring Tom Cruise, Bryan Brown, Elisabeth Shue, and Lisa Banes.

I'm not sure what this movie is actually *about*. Pursuing your dreams? Settling down? Trying to be about both but then kind of half-heartedly mashing it together into an abrupt ending where nobody appears to be on any kind of actual arc? Yeah, probably that one. Tom Cruise is a strange choice for the lead, too. This character is weird and mysterious in his motivation, but I don't think he's *supposed* to be that way, I feel like there are things that were written poorly and then got even more lost in translation in the hands of the wrong actor. I told one person I was watching this and they made a comment about Tom Cruise flipping bottles and glasses around and, yeah, that's basically the height of it. I think it wants to be more but doesn't know what "more" it actually wants to be.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Cocktail < Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
Cocktail > The Cocoanuts
Cocktail > Vera Drake
Cocktail > Ray
Cocktail < The French Connection
Cocktail > Alice in Wonderland (2010)
Cocktail > Harold and Maude
Cocktail < Green Lantern
Cocktail > Play It Again, Sam
Cocktail > Nicholas Nickleby
Cocktail < Bright Young Things
Final spot: #2338 out of 2974.

Shame (1968)

IMDb plot summary: In the midst of a civil war, former violinists Jan and Eva Rosenberg, who have a tempestuous marriage, run a farm on a rural island. In spite of their best efforts to escape their homeland, the war impinges on every aspect of their lives.
Directed by Ingmar Bergman. Starring Liv Ullmann, Max von Sydow, Sigge Fürst, and Gunnar Björnstrand.

One of two Ingmar Bergman films made in 1968. I definitely prefer this to Hour of the Wolf, if only because I can better sense what Bergman's getting at here. The sense of the chaos of war coming right to your house is captured so well. The interactions between Jan and Eva and the strain this outside stress puts on their already-wobbly marriage is also very interesting. It doesn't intrigue me as much as I want it to, but I appreciate where it's going.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Shame > Call Me by Your Name
Shame < Henry V
Shame < You Can Count on Me
Shame < Last Holiday
Shame < Star Trek: First Contact
Shame > Tokyo Story
Shame < Splice
Shame < Yellowbeard
Shame < Lord of War
Shame < Five Graves to Cairo
Shame > Air Force One
Final spot: #1438 out of 2973.

The Fixer (1968)

IMDb plot summary: In Czarist Russia, around 1911, a Russian-Jewish handyman, Yakov Bok, is wrongly imprisoned for a most unlikely crime.
Directed by John Frankenheimer. Starring Alan Bates, Dirk Bogarde, Georgia Brown, and Hugh Griffith.

There's a lot to enjoy aesthetically about this movie. There are some really lovely shots and some especially effective uses of lighting. I found myself always interested by the images I wa watching, if seldom by the words I was hearing. I feel like I simultaneously get too much and too little context for this story. There are plenty of moralizing speeches about anti-Semitism, so it makes it very clear what this movie is "about," but at the same time I can't quite figure out how the story fits into its specific place and time, how the history is being told, why this particular time and place and situation is the story being used to convey the message. I think it's a very well-made movie but I struggle to grasp it fully.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Fixer > Call Me by Your Name
The Fixer < It (2017)
The Fixer < Rabbit Hole
The Fixer > Molly's Game
The Fixer > The Majestic
The Fixer > The Lair of the White Worm
The Fixer < The Thing
The Fixer < Who Framed Roger Rabbit
The Fixer < Good Time
The Fixer > 1408
The Fixer < Hamlet (1990)
Final spot: #1157 out of 2972.

The Subject Was Roses (1968)

IMDb plot summary: A young man returning home from World War II finds himself caught up in his parents' turbulent relationship.
Directed by Ulu Grosbard. Starring Patricia Neal, Jack Albertson, and Martin Sheen.

This is one of the most based-on-a-play movies I've seen awhile. This FEELS like a play, but not in a way I particularly like. The best plays (and filmed plays) have a sort of electricity to them. Even these one-room character dramas can have an exciting momentum to them. This... just kind of sits. Apparently both the male actors were brought over from the Broadway production of the play, which makes sense -- something about the mismatch in energy between them and Patricia Neal makes it feel flatter than if they were all big or all subtle. The script itself is subtle, but the theater actors play it big (as is needed on stage), and the camera doesn't temper it, so Neal is clearly the best part of it. This is one I'd be fascinated to see on stage, to see if the magic I was hoping for is present in a way it was not here.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Subject Was Roses < Call Me by Your Name
The Subject Was Roses > Brother Bear
The Subject Was Roses > 13 Going on 30
The Subject Was Roses < King Kong (2005)
The Subject Was Roses > Beach Party
The Subject Was Roses < The Lost Weekend
The Subject Was Roses > Jack Strong
The Subject Was Roses < Marvin's Room
The Subject Was Roses < The Robe
The Subject Was Roses > Blue's Big Musical Movie
The Subject Was Roses > Monsters University
The Subject Was Roses < The Whistleblower
Final spot: #1736 out of 2971.

Arctic (2018)

IMDb plot summary: A man stranded in the Arctic after a helicopter crash must decide whether to remain in the relative safety of his makeshift camp or to embark on a deadly trek through the unknown.
Directed by Joe Penna. Starring Mads Mikkelsen and Maria Thelma Smáradóttir.

This film takes a little while to get going. It's like a virtually silent Cast Away/127 Hours mashup. I often have trouble staying interested in one-person survival stories, but this one is all right. It's structured pretty well, and it manages to really latch onto that sense of "this is my last chance" toward the end. Pretty decent adventure drama, if a little slow moving at times.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Arctic > Call Me by Your Name
Arctic < It (2017)
Arctic < Total Recall (1990)
Arctic > The Gift
Arctic < Fury (2014)
Arctic > Le Week-End
Arctic < Munich
Arctic < The Birds
Arctic > The Trojan Women
Arctic < Frank
Arctic > A Chorus of Disapproval
Final spot: #1244 out of 2970.

Serenity (2005)

IMDb plot summary: The crew of the ship Serenity try to evade an assassin sent to recapture one of their members who is telepathic.
Directed by Joss Whedon. Starring Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, and Morena Baccarin.

I am a pretty devout Whedonite -- the one major exception being Firefly. Maybe it was too western-y, maybe it built the characters too slowly and didn't give them time to really blossom, I don't know. I enjoyed a couple of the individual episodes, but it never really gripped my heart the way so much of Whedon's work has. I am far, far in the minority on this one, as most folks I know cite Firefly as their favorite thing Whedon's done.

So I was not particularly excited for Serenity. I figured I'd mildly enjoy it but that it wouldn't have any deeper impact on me. And that's exactly what it felt like, like it just... slid off of my brain. Like all sequels, it's almost impossible for me to assess them apart from the whole franchise, and that's definitely the case here. I feel incomplete here, not because it wasn't a satisfactory ending for the series, but because I feel like I was asked to watch a TV season finale and judge it as somehow separate from the episodes building up to it. I think I've been partly avoiding this movie not because I thought it would be unpleasant, but because trying to find a framework for it is kind of exhausting.

The movie itself? Um, it was fine, I think. I knew about the most significant twists already, so they didn't hit me. There were some cool shots, particularly River-centric ones. Kaylee is delightful as always.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Serenity > No Highway in the Sky
Serenity < It (2017)
Serenity > Josh and the Big Wall
Serenity < Australia
Serenity < Ant-Man
Serenity < Foolproof
Serenity < Gentleman's Agremeent
Serenity > Kind Hearts and Coronets
Serenity < Brothers
Serenity < Winnie the Pooh
Serenity > The Descendants
Final spot: #1099 out of 2969.

Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)

IMDb plot summary: Six years after the events of "Wreck-It Ralph," Ralph and Vanellope, now friends, discover a wi-fi router in their arcade, leading them into a new adventure.
Directed by Phil Johnston & Rich Moore. Starring John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Gal Gadot, and Taraji P. Henson.

*shrug* As is the case with most sequels, and as was the case with the first Wreck-It Ralph movie, this just doesn't do much that's interesting or creative. It's serviceable. It's not, like, WRONG in any way. Well, maybe a little too choatic and dependent on Internet and pop culture references. But that's not new to Disney or children's animation in general. This is at least tethered to an emotional character arc. It just always sits in the exact middle of the spectrum between good and bad, making it almost impossible to evaluate except to shrug and toss it into the center somewhere.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Ralph Breaks the Internet < Call Me by Your Name
Ralph Breaks the Internet > Brother Bear
Ralph Breaks the Internet > Top Hat
Ralph Breaks the Internet > 17 Again
Ralph Breaks the Internet > Ever After
Ralph Breaks the Internet < Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey
Ralph Breaks the Internet > V/H/S
Ralph Breaks the Internet < Bully
Ralph Breaks the Internet < Fish Tank
Ralph Breaks the Internet < Batman: Under the Red Hood
Ralph Breaks the Internet > The Whole Nine Yards
Final spot: #1551 out of 2968.

Kuroneko (1968)

IMDb plot summary: Two women are raped and killed by samurai soldiers. Soon they reappear as vengeful ghosts who seduce and brutally murder the passing samurai.
Directed by Kaneto Shindô. Starring Kichiemon Nakamura, Nobuko Otowa, Kei Satô, and Kiwako Taichi.

I should really make it a point to seek out more classic Japanese horror, as I like nearly everything I watch that falls in that genre. This one in particular grabs me because of how it mixes horror with a story about loss and taking revenge against powerful systems. The final seven minutes or so have some very genuinely creepy moments, and there are some truly gorgeous shots throughout. A very satisfying watch!

How it entered my Flickchart:
Kuroneko > No Highway in the Sky
Kuroneko > Smiles of a Summer Night
Kuroneko < Big Hero 6
Kuroneko < Beetlejuice
Kuroneko > The African Queen
Kuroneko < 25th Hour
Kuroneko < Robin Hood (1973)
Kuroneko < Akira Kurosawa's Dreams
Kuroneko < The Great Race
Kuroneko > Woman in the Dunes
Kuroneko > Deadpool
Kuroneko < Autumn Sonata
Final spot: #645 out of 2967.

First Man (2018)

IMDb plot summary: A look at the life of the astronaut, Neil Armstrong, and the legendary space mission that led him to become the first man to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969.
Directed by Damien Chazelle. Starring Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, and Kyle Chandler.

This is in many ways a very... obvious biopic. With the exception that it doesn't hit any of the expected beats regarding his interest in traveling to the moon. But rather than replace those with unexpected or original character arcs, Chazelle mostly replaces them with... nothing. It feels like a movie too concerned with portraying the character to the satisfaction of those who knew him, and as such it takes no risks with that character's journey. It's a very dry, very passionless film, and Claire Foy provides the only level of tension the film feels at all. It's rather baffling that Chazelle, who made a drum solo one of the most intense finales I'd ever seen in a movie, couldn't bring that dynamic intensity to a movie about man's voyage to the moon.

How it entered my Flickchart:
First Man < Call Me by Your Name
First Man > In the Line of Fire
First Man < The Rocky Horror Picture Show
First Man < Con Air
First Man > The People vs. Larry Flynt
First Man < Nine
First Man < The Score
First Man < The Rescuers
First Man > American Graffiti
First Man > Hush (1998)
First Man > Firewall
First Man < Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Final spot: #2122 out of 2966.

Murder à la Mod (1968)

IMDb plot summary: Naive young lady Karen wants to help her struggling amateur filmmaker boyfriend Christopher raise enough money so he can divorce his wife. Meanwhile, jolly psycho prankster Otto stalks the building where Christopher is shooting a low-grade adult movie in order to keep himself afloat.
Directed by Brian De Palma. Starring Andra Akers, William Finley, Margo Norton, and Jared Martin.

Soooo I hate everything about this. It's messy and gross and weird and maybe I think sometimes trying to be funny but it most definitely isn't. Not much else to say about it.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Murder a la Mod < No Highway in the Sky
Murder a la Mod < Davy Crockett and the River Pirates
Murder a la Mod < The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Murder a la Mod > Charlie Chan at the Opera
Murder a la Mod > The Stupids
Murder a la Mod < Avalanche
Murder a la Mod < Surf's Up
Murder a la Mod < The Little Princess (1939)
Murder a la Mod < Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Murder a la Mod < A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
Murder a la Mod < Bye Bye Birdie (1963)
Murder a la Mod < 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Final spot: #2688 out of 2965.

Mirai (2018)

IMDb plot summary: A young boy encounters a magical garden which enables him to travel through time and meet his relatives from different eras, with guidance by his younger sister from the future.
Directed by Mamoru Hosoda. Starring Moka Kamishiraishi, Gen Hoshino, Kumiko Aso, and Haru Kuroki.

You guuuuuUUUYYYYYYS. This movie is wonderful and adorable. It is one of the best possible uses of magic realism, exploring the fears and desires of its very young protagonist through magical adventures. But the magic is never the point in and of itself, it's all there to deepen the understanding and appreciation of the characters. This is a story about parenthood and family, and how the choices we make get passed down and can continue to make the younger generations braver and kinder and more creative, and it's just a truly lovely movie. Kun especially feels *very* much like a realistic portrayal of a just-barely-post-toddler, who is frustrated by his world and does not have the words or the tools to express that yet. It also is a kind and compassionate look at the difficulties of parenthood and how that changes. It's just a really good, really sweet movie, folks.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Mirai > Mother!
Mirai > A Nightmare on Elm Street
Mirai > Breaking Away
Mirai < Take the Money and Run
Mirai > The Fountain
Mirai > Rashomon
Mirai < Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Mirai < Unforgiven
Mirai > Akeelah and the Bee
Mirai < Waking Life
Mirai < Ruby Sparks
Mirai > August Rush
Final spot: #224 out of 2964.

The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)

IMDb plot summary: A debonair, adventuresome bank executive believes he has pulled off the perfect multi-million dollar heist, only to match wits with a sexy insurance investigator who will do anything to get her man.
Directed by Norman Jewison. Starring Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, Paul Burke, and Jack Weston.

This is one of those heist movies that I think is trying to convey a sense of fun and danger throughout, but it falls flat for me here. Maybe it's that I don't find Steve McQueen terribly charismatic, and thus have difficulty buying Faye Dunaway's attraction to him as genuine. The use of split screen to show multiple actions is used to great effect early on in the film and then is repeated later with less clarity. The score also makes some unusual, rather abrupt, choices at times. Overall, it's a movie I didn't dislike but found largely forgettable. I haven't seen the 90s remake, but since it features Pierce Brosnan, another actor whose charisma I find unconvincing, I suspect it wouldn't fare well. However, Wikipedia reports that there's another remake in the works starring Michael B. Jordan, which might be the first one I can get behind. We'll have to see.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Thomas Crown Affair < Lady Bird
The Thomas Crown Affair > Young Mr. Lincoln
The Thomas Crown Affair < The Pajama Game
The Thomas Crown Affair > Robots
The Thomas Crown Affair > Copying Beethoven
The Thomas Crown Affair > As Good As It Gets
The Thomas Crown Affair > You Only Live Once
The Thomas Crown Affair > BASEketball
The Thomas Crown Affair < My Favorite Wife
The Thomas Crown Affair < Lazer Team
The Thomas Crown Affair > Metropolis (1927)
Final spot: #1861 out of 2963.

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

IMDb plot summary: After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War (2018), the universe is in ruins. With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers assemble once more in order to undo Thanos' actions and restore order to the universe.
Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, and Chris Hemsworth.

(Some spoilers ahead.)

It feels almost unfair to review this movie. It was so clearly not made for me. Basically, if you're already on board with the entire MCU, I bet you'll like this. If you're not, it offers nothing on its own. I found it an unsatisfying "ending" to the story -- it is wildly overstuffed with characters but don't really bother to do anything in terms of character growth with any of them but Tony and Thor. Everyone else has their character growth happen either offscreen (Nebula and Bruce) or in a single line (Black Widow, Captain America I think?) or have none at all (Ant-Man, Captain Marvel, Rocket). The female characters have distressingly little to do -- the two who do the most get sacrificed and victimized. (After all that outcry about Danai Gurira not being on the poster, turns out there's a reason -- she has like ONE line in the film.)

It's just too giant and overwhelming a film to give any kind of satisfying character conclusion for more than one character. I guess the fight scenes are fun. Time travel is fun but didn't get played with too much. I found it an exhausting finale to an exhausting series. But if you haven't found the series exhausting, you probably will get more out of this.

*shrug*

How it entered my Flickchart:
Avengers: Endgame < Ballet Shoes
Avengers: Endgame > Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Samson's Hairbrush
Avengers: Endgame > Where the Red Fern Grows
Avengers: Endgame < Captain Marvel
Avengers: Endgame < Dark City
Avengers: Endgame < The Verdict
Avengers: Endgame > The Crazies
Avengers: Endgame > Cropsey
Avengers: Endgame < The Fortune Cookie
Avengers: Endgame > Goldfinger
Avengers: Endgame > High Society
Final spot: #1811 out of 2962.

Countdown (1967)

IMDb plot summary: Desperate to reach the moon first, N.A.S.A. sends a man and shelter separately, one-way. He must find it to survive. He can't return until Apollo is ready.
Directed by Robert Altman. Starring James Caan, Joanna Moore, Robert Duvall, and Barbara Baxley.

This is the most tedious landing-on-the-moon story I think I've ever seen. The fact that it was released just two years before the actual moon landing is fascinating, but the actual story itself is slow and tedious and largely about bureaucracy and procedures. There's very little tension or drama here, and even when they try to incorporate some late in the film, it resolves far too quickly and is disappointingly tame.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Countdown < Ballet Shoes
Countdown < The Hoober-Bloob Highway
Countdown > Hart's War
Countdown > Nick Nolte: No Exit
Countdown > 17 Miracles
Countdown > King of the Zombies
Countdown < A Man Called Peter
Countdown < Braveheart
Countdown > Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)
Countdown < Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Countdown < The Matrix Reloaded
Countdown > American Made
Final spot: #2260 out of 2961.