Petulia (1968)

IMDb plot summary: An unhappily married socialite finds solace in the company of a recently divorced doctor.
Directed by Richard Lester. Starring Julie Christie, George C. Scott, Richard Chamberlain, and Arthur Hill.

This is not a French movie, but it has a very French New Wave feel to it, in its near-incomprehensible character choices and its awkwardly nonlinear storytelling. It has a few moments of resonance (Petulia's relationship with her husband had some fascinating moments) but on the whole it's a movie at a distance, but from a distance these characters are muddled and I can't figure out why I'm supposed to be watching them.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Petulia < Blow Out
Petulia > A Farewell to Fools
Petulia < Definitely, Maybe
Petulia > The Birth of a Nation (1915)
Petulia < Blue Valentine
Petulia < Fame (1980)
Petulia < Highlander
Petulia < What Lies Beneath
Petulia < Sorry, Wrong Number
Petulia < 12 Days of Terror
Petulia > Talk to Her
Final spot: #2077 out of 3023.

Star! (1968)

IMDb plot summary: A musical biography of Gertrude Lawrence, who led a hustling and bustling life on the stage.
Directed by Robert Wise. Starring Julie Andrews, Richard Crenna, Michael Craig, and Daniel Massey.

A year or two ago, I asked my Facebook friends if they could think of any gender-swapped versions of the "awful man is awful but he's a genius so the women in his wife choose to support him anyway." This COULD have been an example of that, but instead of embracing or really even emphasizing Gertrude Lawrence's talents, it spends a lot of time trying to teach her that she's doing it wrong and needs to be brought down a peg. It's kind of a messy script, too. Watching Julie Andrews sing and dance is always a delight, but this is a strange, muddled script that really doesn't play to her strengths as an actress and pushes her into a lot of very broad comedy, which she tackles with far too much elegance to be convincing. A weird, messy flick.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Star! < Blow Out
Star! > A Farewell to Fools
Star! > Definitely, Maybe
Star! < Cellular
Star! < Anonymous
Star! > Thoughtcrimes
Star! > Company (1997)
Star! > Ready Player One
Star! < SpaceCamp
Star! > Jack Strong
Star! < Lovelace
Final spot: 1802 out of 3022.

Miller's Crossing (1990)

IMDb plot summary: Tom Regan, an advisor to a Prohibition-era crime boss, tries to keep the peace between warring mobs but gets caught in divided loyalties.
Directed by Joel & Ethan Coen. Starring Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, John Turturro and Jon Polito.

This was one of the few Coen brothers movies I haven't seen, so I was glad to get the push to see it as part of a movie challenge group, even if the Coens and I have a weird relationship where I only really like the movies people forget about or actively hate.

This is fine, I guess. It does that thing a lot of noir does where it puts in just a WHOLE bunch of characters and secret plots and double crosses and I think it's also maybe trying to say something about humanity but it mostly just leaves me kind of exhausted. When anyone can turn on anyone else, I have trouble finding any purpose or satisfaction to it, it just feels... random. There is certainly a lot of very stylish, atmospheric cinematography, and it's definitely a moody piece, which worked in its favor. But it didn't really grab me at all.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Miller's Crossing < Blow Out
Miller's Crossing > A Farewell to Fools
Miller's Crossing > Ulysses
Miller's Crossing > Cinderella (2015)
Miller's Crossing < V/H/S
Miller's Crossing < The Avengers
Miller's Crossing < Rebecca
Miller's Crossing < Chaos Theory
Miller's Crossing < Water for Elephants
Miller's Crossing > House of Games
Miller's Crossing < The Boston Strangler
Final spot: #1696 out of 3021.

Shalako (1968)

IMDb plot summary: In 1880 New Mexico, a group of European hunters runs afoul of the Apache but is aided by an ex-cavalryman turned guide.
Directed by Edward Dmytryk. Starring Sean Connery, Brigitte Bardot, Stephen Boyd, and Jack Hawkins.

Sean Connery as the most Scottish cowboy is pretty fun, but the movie as a whole is pretty boring. It starts off seeming like it's going to give a slightly more interesting take on Native American life than most classic westerns, but that gets abandoned pretty quickly and it's just a bland story overall.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Shalako < Run Fatboy Run
Shalako < Deja Vu
Shalako < Gigi
Shalako > Detropia
Shalako > Stand Up and Cheer!
Shalako < The Talk of the Town
Shalako > To Kill a King
Shalako < Song of the South
Shalako < Mamma Mia!
Shalako > Ali
Shalako < Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
Final spot: #2710 out of 3020.

The Boston Strangler (1968)

IMDb plot summary: A series of brutal murders in Boston sparks a seemingly endless and increasingly complex manhunt.
Directed by Richard Fleischer. Starring Tony Curtis, Henry Fonda, George Kennedy, and Mike Kellin.

This is... a messy movie. It's very sensationalist and has a very over-the-top view of this character's psychology, but it paints itself (especially in the final on-screen text) as being a very serious docudrama with an important message for humanity. The split-screen used throughout is really only effective for the early scene in which it shows all the different people looking for or calling in people they think might be the Strangler -- it helps enhance the sense of paranoia -- but the technique is used many other times in much less effective ways. Overall, kind of a cheesy pulpy flick that wants to be more.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Boston Strangler < Run Fatboy Run
The Boston Strangler > A Farewell to Fools
The Boston Strangler > Ulysses
The Boston Strangler > Cinderella (2015)
The Boston Strangler < Wedding Crashers
The Boston Strangler < Into the Dark: Pooka!
The Boston Strangler < Scrooge
The Boston Strangler < Dear Frankie
The Boston Strangler < Shane
The Boston Strangler > House of Games
The Boston Strangler < Father of the Bride (1950)
Final spot: #1695 out of 3019.

The Green Berets (1968)

IMDb plot summary: Col. Mike Kirby picks two teams of crack Green Berets for a mission in South Vietnam. First off is to build and control a camp that is trying to be taken by the enemy the second mission is to kidnap a North Vietnamese General.
Directed by Ray Kellogg and John Wayne. Starring John Wayne, David Janssen, Jim Hutton, and Aldo Ray.

While I like the idea of watching a movie made about a war while that war is still going on, it still comes down to a lot of combat scenes and discussion of strategies, which never interest me. I zoned out with 30-40 minutes left to go and had real serious difficulty refocusing on the film. Genre bias is a thing.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Green Berets < Knight and Day
The Green Berets < Deja Vu
The Green Berets < Mr. Mom
The Green Berets > Detropia
The Green Berets > Sumo of the Opera
The Green Berets < Fist of Legend
The Green Berets < To Kill a King
The Green Berets > Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Green Berets < Moonfleet
The Green Berets < Love in the Afternoon
The Green Berets < The Merchant of Venice (2004)
The Green Berets > Surf's Up
Final spot: #2722 out of 3018.

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968)

IMDb plot summary: When deaf mute Singer moves to a small city to be near his only friend confined in a hospital, he grows attached to his landlady's sensitive 16-year-old daughter.
Directed by Robert Elis Miller. Starring Alan Arkin, Sondra Locke, Percy Rodrigues, and Cicely Tyson.

Well, this is a heartbreaking film. Alan Arkin's performance is brilliant, in how without any words at all he still conveys so much about this character. Watching all the various characters look for happiness, which seems more and more elusive as the story goes on, held my attention the entire time. The ending is the only piece of this I didn't love -- it seems a little abrupt and eager to moralize in a movie that didn't have a lot of that up until that point -- but it's still a fascinating flick.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter > Run Fatboy Run
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter > Dangerous Liaisons
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter < Citizen Kane
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter < Rise of the Guardians
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter < The Florida Project
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter > Hannah and Her Sisters
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter > Father of the Bride (1991)
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter > Robot and Frank
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter > The African Queen
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter > The Graduate
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter > The Great Race
Final spot: #660 out of 3017.

Pretty Poison (1968)

IMDb plot summary: When a mentally disturbed young man tells a pretty girl that he's a secret agent, she believes him, and murder and mayhem ensue.
Directed by Noel Black. Starring Anthony Perkins, Tuesday Weld, Beverly Garland, and John Randolph.

I... have no idea what this movie is doing. A huge part of it is how much it tries (I think) to paint Anthony Perkins' character as sympathetic, but he's extremely unpleasant in his efforts as an adult to lie to and seduce a high school girl. I can't tell if I'm supposed to read the couple's love for each other as genuine in any way. I just can't figure out what I'm *supposed* to think of these characters or get out of this, and I definitely didn't get anything on my own, so it all just ended up muddled.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Pretty Poison < Run Fatboy Run
Pretty Poison < Deja Vu
Pretty Poison > Mr. Mom
Pretty Poison > K-19: The Widowmaker
Pretty Poison < Snatch.
Pretty Poison > There's Something About Mary
Pretty Poison > The Out of Towners
Pretty Poison < Footloose (2011)
Pretty Poison > Palo Alto
Pretty Poison > Baby Mama
Pretty Poison < Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical
Final spot: #2370 out of 3016.