10 (1979)

IMDb plot summary: A Hollywood composer goes through a mid-life crisis and becomes infatuated with a sexy, newly married woman.

Directed by Blake Edwards. Starring Dudley Moore, Julie Andrews, Bo Derek, and Robert Webber.

It's to Dudley Moore's credit that he makes this character less insufferable than I usually find protagonists of this ilk. There's a genuine sadness to him that makes it easier to empathize with him when he's acting like a jerk. That being said, I DON'T care that much about his character arc or him realizing what he does or doesn't want out of life. There are a lot of moments here that I suspect are being mined for comedy, but they don't land for me, they're too broad and too incongruous when placed haphazardly into the character's much more dismal life story. In short, this is a frequently-told story that I don't find much to like to begin with, and this version has one or two spots of interest but doesn't win me over in the end.

How it entered my Flickchart:

10 < High School Musical 3: Senior Year

10 > The Cocoanuts

10 > Midnight Cowboy

10 < The Boston Strangler

10 < No Highway in the Sky

10 > Bully

10 > Revolutionary Road

10 < Don't Eat the Pictures: Sesame Street at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

10 < Jurassic World

10 > Star Trek Into Darkness

10 > Iron Eagle

10 > Withnail & I

Final spot: #1981 out of 3303, or 40%.

The Paper (1994)

IMDb plot summary: New York City tabloid editor Henry's faced with tough decisions while he faces several serious life challenges, and a tempting job offer.

Directed by Ron Howard. Starring Michael Keaton, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, and Marisa Tomei.

There are moments where this movie seems to be spinning off into soap opera-level drama, particularly in the last half hour, but it never quite falls into absurdity and all seems to fit into the world that has been built for us. Everything is heightened here, and the effect is a little dizzying, but it's a fun and enjoyable watch, especially if you're a fan of newspaper movies already.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Paper > High School Musical 3: Senior Year

The Paper > The Black Cat

The Paper < Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

The Paper < You Can't Take It With You

The Paper < The Inn of the Sixth Happiness

The Paper > Before Sunset

The Paper < Role Models

The Paper < The Man Who Wasn't There

The Paper > Apollo 13

The Paper < This Boy's Life

The Paper < The African Queen

The Paper > The Man in the Iron Mask

Final spot: #765 out of 3302, or 77%.

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library (2017)

IMDb plot summary: Can twelve 12-year-olds escape from the most ridiculously brilliant library ever created? Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library plunks a dozen sixth-graders into the middle of a futuristic library for a night of nonstop fun and adventure.

Directed by Scott McAboy. Starring Casey Simpson, Breanna Yde, Klarke Pikpin, and AJ Rivera.

This is the kind of thing I would have EATEN UP as a child, and I still find myself smiling fondly at it now. The various children in the story are drawn broadly but effectively, there's some simple character growth involved, and none of the child actors are irritating or cloying. It's clearly not intended for adults but it's a cute, charming piece that I can definitely see being a favorite for nerdy youngsters like I was.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library < High School Musical 3: Senior Year

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library > The Cocoanuts

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library > Nashville

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library > The Boston Strangler

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library < Pulp Fiction

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library < Like Crazy

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library < When a Stranger Calls (1979)

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library > Marathon

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library > Moonstruck

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library > Shame (1968)

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library < Notorious

Final spot: #1835 out of 3301, or 44%.

New Faces (1954)

IMDb plot summary: A filmed performance (in CinemaScope) of the highly popular Broadway hit that was basically a collection of skits, sketches, songs and dances built around a flimsy plot to meld them all together.

Directed by Harry Horner and John Beal. Starring Ronny Graham, Eartha Kitt, Robert Clary, and Alice Ghostley.

There's no plot here to speak of, it's mostly just a camera pointed at a stage as the actors perform a series of individual scenes and songs, which, to my understanding, was how the original Broadway production went as well. It's honestly the kind of transfer that's a little befuddling to me -- why adapt this into a cinematic style when a couple cameras pointed at the stage capturing a live performance would have done just as well, probably better, because of getting a genuine audience reaction? Well, whatever the reason, it's fine. The version I watched was pretty clearly an old VHS transfer and both video and sound quality was pretty iffy, but there was still enough I was able to enjoy. Most of the songs are interesting in the stories they tell, and each individual piece is pretty good. A particular favorite was the "Lizzie Borden" number and the short-but-amusing "Waltzing in Venice."

How it entered my Flickchart:

New Faces < To Be or Not to Be

New Faces > The Cocoanuts

New Faces > Nashville

New Faces > The Boston Strangler

New Faces > Pulp Fiction

New Faces > Small Time Crooks

New Faces < The Firemen's Ball

New Faces > Deceiver

New Faces > All the Money in the World

New Faces > The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)

New Faces > Downfall

Final spot: #1677 out of 3300, or 49%.

Bad Santa (2003)

IMDb plot summary: A miserable conman and his partner pose as Santa and his Little Helper to rob department stores on Christmas Eve. But they run into problems when the conman befriends a troubled kid.

Directed by Terry Zwigoff. Starring Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Brett Kelly, and Lauren Graham.

I didn't enjoy a SINGLE second of this. The primary brand of humor seems to be that cursing at/around kids is incongruous and therefore inherently funny, or maybe that seeing someone in a Santa suit spout sexual innuendo is funny. I'm not opposed to dirty humor, but none of these lines are clever or interesting, and I'm done with the shock value after about 5 minutes and ready for it to move on to something else. Unfortunately, it never does, and just treads the same old jokes over and over again, but they never land any better. At least this movie is mercifully short at just barely over an hour and a half.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Bad Santa < To Be or Not to Be (1942)

Bad Santa < The Cocoanuts

Bad Santa < Oklahoma! (1955)

Bad Santa < The Art of War

Bad Santa < Laserblast

Bad Santa > Don't Touch If You Ain't Prayed

Bad Santa < Ladies in Lavender

Bad Santa > Identity Thief

Bad Santa < The Truth About Charlie

Bad Santa < Paulie

Bad Santa < Ella Enchanted

Bad Santa < The Ultimate Gift

Final spot: #3235 out of 3299, or 2%.

The Speed Cubers (2020)

IMDb plot summary: Discover the special bond -- and uncommon competitive spirit -- shared by the world's Rubik's Cube-solving record breakers in this documentary.

Directed by Sue Kim.

This documentary is short and sweet (in both senses of the word), though its length makes the actual championship section itself feel somewhat rushed, as the whole thing is over in a matter of minutes. It's always heartwarming to see young people pursuing something they're passionate about, especially when they've had trouble finding other passions in the past, and even more so to see them encouraging each other over it. It's a charming little film, if not one I'm going to remember for very long.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Speed Cubers > High School Musical 3: Senior Year

The Speed Cubers < Hoop Dreams

The Speed Cubers < Ramona and Beezus

The Speed Cubers > An Affair to Remember

The Speed Cubers > Never a Dull Moment

The Speed Cubers < War Horse

The Speed Cubers < Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

The Speed Cubers > Dark Shadows

The Speed Cubers > Rachel, Rachel

The Speed Cubers < Clueless

The Speed Cubers > Once Upon a Mattress

Final spot: #1317 out of 3297, or 60%.

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)

IMDb plot summary: When two brothers organize the robbery of their parents' jewelry store the job goes horribly wrong, triggering a series of events that sends them, their father and one brother's wife hurtling towards a shattering climax.

Directed by Sidney Lumet. Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney, and Marisa Tomei.

I like that this is almost a half-and-half family drama/crime movie. The tension of the crime only works with the familial relationships underpinning the whole situation. Both primary actors, as well as Albert Finney as their father, are superb in their roles. They really highlight the humanity of fear and loss in a way that I often feel gets overlooked in crime films. I also enjoy how the film plays with time and perspective, moving back and forth in time to highlight one person's experience of this event, and frequently revealing something in each section that forces us to look at the previous entries in a new light. It's a superbly paced film in terms of unraveling the mystery bit by bit, and thoroughly engaging all the way through.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead > To Be or Not To Be (1947)

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead < Hoop Dreams

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead > Ramona and Beezus

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead > Full Metal Jacket

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead < The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead > Undercover Blues

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead > A Christmas Carol (1951)

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead > Logan's Run

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead < Children of Men

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead < RoboCop

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead > The Hudsucker Proxy

Final spot: #937 out of 3298, or 72%.

Serpico (1973)

IMDb plot summary: An honest New York cop named Frank Serpico blows the whistle on rampant corruption in the force only to have his comrades turn against him.

Directed by Sidney Lumet. Starring Al Pacino, John Randolph, Jack Kehoe, and Biff McGuire.

This is definitely an interesting watch in the 2020, as questions of bad police behavior are very much on the public's minds. The film does a great job of showing Serpico's frustration with how deeply embedded this corruption is at every level. I found myself especially moved by one of the scenes where he talks to his girlfriend about why he became a police officer in the first place, and how those dreams of helping people are being dashed as he sees how willing everyone is to do what's best for themselves, not the community. There are also some chilling early scenes where he is flat-out asked to place the wellbeing of his police colleagues ahead of his own sense of personal justice, and they aren't pleased when he doesn't give them the answer they want. It's a little discouraging to see we're still fighting these battles on so many levels, but it's definitely an interesting watch because of that.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Serpico > High School Musical 3: Senior Year

Serpico < Chronicle

Serpico < Ramona and Beezus

Serpico > I Love You, Man

Serpico < Never a Dull Moment

Serpico > State and Main

Serpico > The Sword in the Stone

Serpico < Children of Paradise

Serpico > Trading Places

Serpico > The Sea Gull

Serpico > Ratatouille

Final spot: #1353 out of 3296, or 59%.

Pain and Glory (2019)

IMDb plot summary: An aging film director suffering from chronic illness and writer's block reflects on his life.

Directed by Pedro Almodóvar. Starring Antonio Banderas, Asier Etxeandia, Leonardo Sbaraglia, and Nora Navas.

Antonio Banderas is truly stunning in this role, embodying this aged, exhausted man so perfectly I kept forgetting he was acting at all. He brings a mournful gravitas to the role that serves it beautifully. As with many Almodovar films, I find myself engaged with each individual scene but can't quite make it coalesce into the full story I want it to. These are great individual scenes, though, each one rich with layers of subtext. But as is so often the case with his films, I can't quite track the narrative arc of his central character. What is he searching for? What is the turning point for him? How does he view the world or himself differently at the end as opposed to the beginning? I can see a vague pattern of growth but I wish I were able to get a stronger grasp on this character's journey. Still worth the watch for Banderas' incredible performance.

How it entered my Flikchart:

Pain and Glory > Christine

Pain and Glory < Chronicle

Pain and Glory > The Hidden Fortress

Pain and Glory > Native Son

Pain and Glory < The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

Pain and Glory > Kind Hearts and Coronets

Pain and Glory > A Nightmare on Elm Street

Pain and Glory < Logan's Run

Pain and Glory < High Strung

Pain and Glory < Nick of Time

Pain and Glory < Marjorie Prime

Pain and Glory > Smiles of a Summer Night

Final spot: #951 out of 3295, or 71%.

Mank (2020)

IMDb plot summary: 1930's Hollywood is reevaluated through the eyes of scathing social critic and alcoholic screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz as he races to finish the screenplay of Citizen Kane.

Directed by David Fincher. Starring Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins, and Tom Pelphrey.

This movie feels a little caught between the two stories it wants to tell -- Mank's full life and his work writing Citizen Kane -- and they never meld quite as neatly as I want them to. The latter is far more interesting to me, but the story ends just as it reaches one of the more dramatic moments in that narrative and abruptly jumps to the resolution. I think I'm supposed to fill in the narrative and thematic gaps with what has been revealed about his past, but I still find myself missing what feels like the end of the story. Instead the film meanders and aimlessly philosophizes and feels like it's grasping for *something* it never quite reaches.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Mank > It Comes at Night

Mank < Chronicle

Mank < The Hidden Fortress

Mank < Two Weeks Notice

Mank > The First Wives Club

Mank < Jeff, Who Lives At Home

Mank > Mr. Nice Guy

Mank < Duck Soup

Mank < Frequency

Mank > The Forbidden Kingdom

Mank > The Diary of Anne Frank (2009)

Mank > Anonymous

Final spot: #1512 out of 3293, or 54%.

Point Break (1991)

IMDb plot summary: An F.B.I. Agent goes undercover to catch a gang of surfers who may be bank robbers.

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow. Starring Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Gary Busey, and Lori Petty.

This is a spectacularly goofy, over-the-top movie that somehow seems to be playing itself completely seriously, but I'll be darned if it didn't ultimately pull me into its drama. Once I stopped trying to figure out how to close the plot holes the movie left, I kind of settled into its way-too-sincere atmosphere and found myself enjoying it a lot more, and I was even a little moved by the film's ending. And while I do not care at all about surfing or skydiving on a personal level, the action scenes are filmed well and definitely tap into some vicarious thrills of living life on the edge. Keanu's a little one-note here, and Gary Busey is baffling, but Patrick Swayze is great. I can definitely see how this got its cultlike following of fans.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Point Break > Christine

Point Break < Chronicle

Point Break > The Hidden Fortress

Point Break > Native Son

Point Break < Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)

Point Break > Kind Hearts and Coronets

Point Break > A Nightmare on Elm Street

Point Break < Hell in the Pacific

Point Break > High Strung

Point Break > Bride & Prejudice

Point Break < Logan's Run

Final spot: #941 out of 3294, or 71%.

Strange Days (1995)

IMDb plot summary: A former cop turned street-hustler accidentally uncovers a conspiracy in Los Angeles in 1999.

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow. Starring Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, and Tom Sizemore.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable cyberpunk thriller almost-noir, if a little less grim than most true noir films. The way this slightly futuristic tech is woven into the seedy underbelly of this world seems wholly believable, as do the things people would do for and with it. There are strong themes of police brutality and racism that seem far, far too relevant today. Despite this movie being 25 years old, it still feels extremely current, like this future is still just a few years ahead of us. This is by far the most interesting thing I've seen from Kathryn Bigelow, and I'm bummed it flopped because I would have loved to see her continue exploring strange worlds. Or, well, I suppose, strange days.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Strange Days > As It Is In Heaven

Strange Days > Chronicle

Strange Days > Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

Strange Days < Arrival

Strange Days < The Florida Project

Strange Days > (500) Days of Summer

Strange Days < Oldboy (2003)

Strange Days < Lion

Strange Days < The Fisher King

Strange Days > Pirate Radio

Strange Days < Stranger Than Fiction

Final spot: #355 out of 3292, or 89%.

I Am Number Four (2011)

IMDb plot summary: Aliens and their Guardians are hiding on Earth from intergalactic bounty hunters. They can only be killed in numerical order, and Number Four is next on the list. This is his story.

Directed by D.J. Caruso. Starring Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Dianna Agron, and Callan McAuliffe.

For as much silly sci-fi as this movie contains, it's also a surprising amount of just... normal teen drama. New guy moves to town, gets on the school bullies' bad side, tries to find love despite an overprotective parent... It hits all the expected beats, except the character has superpowers. It doesn't do anything really exciting with this story and is a pretty bland mushing together of all the sci-fi YA tropes, and our leads have zero on-screen chemistry either alone or together. Additionally, the villains' makeup designs are pretty generically goofy and it's hard to take them very seriously, and they set up a HECK of a deus ex machina with characters abruptly discovering new superpowers as is convenient. But it's a harmless kind of bland, and if this is a genre you love already (as I do), you might enjoy it enough.

How it entered my Flickchart:

I Am Number Four < Meet John Doe

I Am Number Four > The Secret of My Success

I Am Number Four < Mission: Impossible

I Am Number Four < Stand and Deliver

I Am Number Four > Pepito and the Magic Lamp

I Am Number Four < Ocean's Twelve

I Am Number Four > K-19: The Widowmaker

I Am Number Four < On the Waterfront

I Am Number Four > The Third Man

I Am Number Four > Apocalypse Now

I Am Number Four < Sand Castle

Final spot: #2330 out of 3291, or 29%.

The Age of Adaline (2015)

IMDb plot summary: A young woman, born at the turn of the 20th century, is rendered ageless after an accident. After many solitary years, she meets a man who complicates the eternal life she has settled into.

Directed by Lee Toland Krieger. Starring Blake Lively, Michiel Huisman, Harrison Ford, and Ellen Burstyn.

The plot and script for this movie are disappointingly unwilling to really dig into the interesting philosophical questions its premise sparks, preferring to focus on much more familiar romantic tropes of learning to trust, but what does shine in this movie are the performances, particularly Blake Lively as the title character and Harrison Ford as someone from her past she never expected to see again. I've never thought of Ford as a particularly talented actor, but he really hits every emotional note here exactly right. And Lively brings a groundedness and solemnity to her role that makes it absolutely effortless to believe that she is actually a 90-year-old woman trapped in a younger woman's body. There's enough good here that I'm confident in recommending it, especially to fans of either actor.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Age of Adaline > Meet John Doe

The Age of Adaline < Hoop Dreams

The Age of Adaline > The Hunt

The Age of Adaline < The Harvey Girls

The Age of Adaline < The Bad Sleep Well

The Age of Adaline < All's Faire In Love

The Age of Adaline > Charlie St. Cloud

The Age of Adaline < The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness

The Age of Adaline < Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India

The Age of Adaline < Stalag 17

The Age of Adaline < Starship Troopers

The Age of Adaline > Being John Malkovich

Final spot: #1206 out of 3290, or 63%.

The Client (1994)

IMDb plot summary: A young boy who witnessed the suicide of a mafia lawyer hires an attorney to protect him when the District Attorney tries to use him to take down a mob family.

Directed by Joel Schumacher. Starring Susan Sarandon, Tommy Lee Jones, Mary-Louise Parker, and Anthony LaPaglia.

Surprisingly to me, this is less of a legal drama and more... legal-adjacent, focusing on the relationship between the lawyer and her 11-year-old client and the occasional thriller sequence of the boy escaping from the people chasing him. The thriller scenes work best out of everything the film has to offer, well-paced and well-shot in a way that really drives up the tension. The film stumbles a bit more in trying to build the characters' relationship, as it always dances just on the edge of lazy stereotype and never quite settles into something that feels fully real. Still it's an enjoyable enough fluffy watch.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Client > Rogue One

The Client < The Black Cat

The Client < Cool Hand Luke

The Client < Minority Report

The Client > Walk the Line

The Client > Celeste and Jesse Forever

The Client > Badlands

The Client > Three Colors: Red

The Client > The Fixer

The Client < VeggieTales: Josh and the Big Wall!

The Client < My Favorite Year

The Client < October Sky

Final spot: #1445 out of 3289, or 56%.

Call Me Madam (1953)

IMDb plot summary: Washington hostess Sally Adams becomes a Truman-era US ambassador to a European grand duchy.

Directed by Walter Lang. Starring Ethel Merman, Donald O'Connor, Vera-Ellen, and George Sanders.

There are definitely some good numbers in here, and they stand out in a way they didn't in the cast album, which I had first listened to just a few days prior. Donald O'Connor's drunken disastrous tap dance "What Chance Have I With Love?" is a highlight. The plot is largely insignificant, as was the case with many 1950s musicals. Everything gets wrapped up very abruptly in the final scene. Sadly, the dialogue just also isn't that great and makes for very bland filler in between the musical numbers. This is one worth seeing for the songs alone.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Call Me Madam > The Chalk Garden

Call Me Madam < Hoop Dreams

Call Me Madam > Logan Lucky

Call Me Madam > The Polka King

Call Me Madam > The Last Metro

Call Me Madam < Re-Animator

Call Me Madam > Children of a Lesser God

Call Me Madam < 42 Up

Call Me Madam > Borat

Call Me Madam < Nights of Cabiria

Call Me Madam < The Cranes Are Flying

Call Me Madam > Song of the Sea

Final spot: #890 out of 3288, or 73%.

Nobody's Fool (1994)

IMDb plot summary: A stubborn man past his prime reflects on his life of strict independence and seeks more from himself.

Directed by Robert Benton. Starring Paul Newman, Jessica Tandy, Bruce Willis, and Melanie Griffith.

When this movie works, it works because Paul Newman is off-the-chart charismatic and you can kind of sort of see how he'd be able to get away with the things he does and still be at least moderately liked by his neighbors. On the page, this character is awful, but when Newman says those lines, you kind of get it. He's also able to portray those subtle moments of change that make me believe his character has actually grown at the end. It's hard to tell whether this would have worked at all without such an accomplished actor in the role, but I'm leaning toward no. This is a very meandering script, and you need someone helming it who is a pleasure to be with, and Newman fits that to a tee. This might not make it into my yearly holiday movie rotation, but it's a sweet movie held together by an incredible performance.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Nobody's Fool > Dogtooth

Nobody's Fool < Hoop Dreams

Nobody's Fool > Hoosiers

Nobody's Fool < The Polka King

Nobody's Fool < Inherit the Wind

Nobody's Fool < The Impossible

Nobody's Fool > Hereditary

Nobody's Fool > Creation

Nobody's Fool > Begin Again

Nobody's Fool > Dan in Real Life

Nobody's Fool < All That Jazz

Final spot: #1184 out of 3287, or 64%.

Queen Margot (1994)

IMDb plot summary: Young Queen Margot finds herself trapped in an arranged marriage amidst a religious war between Catholics and Protestants. She hopes to escape with a new lover, but finds herself imprisoned by her powerful and ruthless family.

Directed by Patrice Chéreau. Starring Isabelle Adjani, Daniel Auteuil, Jean-Hugues Anglade, and Vincent Perez.

I mostly found this... exhausting, for all the reasons I find Game of Thrones exhausting, and other things in a similar vein. Endless scheming and scandals and murders and family intrigue and way, way, way too many dark-haired bearded men who all look the same. I could only recognize about two of them by the end, and I just got tired of watching everyone betray everyone else. Because of that, it was refreshing to have Margot and Henry form an unusual sort of bond by the end of the film -- probably the only ones who had. It's becoming increasingly clear the more 1994 movies I watch that this was a year for bloated period pieces that should have been about an hour shorter, and this falls into that category.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Queen Margot < The Chalk Garden

Queen Margot > The Birthday Party

Queen Margot < Sarah, Plain and Tall

Queen Margot < After the Thin Man

Queen Margot < Rebel Without a Cause

Queen Margot > Bunraku

Queen Margot > Christmas on the Square

Queen Margot < The Little Princess (1939)

Queen Margot < Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Queen Margot < Where to Invade Next

Queen Margot < Ivan the Terrible, Part One

Queen Margot < My Favorite Wife

Final spot: #2388 out of 3286, or 27%.

Look Out, Officer! (1990)

IMDb plot summary: An officer killed on the job returns to Earth as a ghost to solve his own murder and seek justice with the help of a rookie cop and some funky magic.

Directed by Sze Yu Lau. Starring Stephen Chow, Bill Tung, Stanley Sui-Fan Fung, and Vivian Chen.

This movie is beyond silly, with constant mistaken identities and farcical switcheroos that everyone in the world just takes at face value. Chow commits to his goofy hapless character, as does Stanley Fung as his boss and reluctant sidekick, and they make a lot of this nonsense work with how seriously they take it. The film does have a few dated jokes that don't land well at all -- this is the second 90s comedy this week that has featured an extended scene where the punchline is basically "sexual assault is hilarious" -- but overall it is a fun, silly ride if that's a style of comedy you're already a fan of.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Look Out, Officer! > The Chalk Garden

Look Out, Officer! < Chronicle

Look Out, Officer! > Logan Lucky

Look Out, Officer! > The Happening

Look Out, Officer! > The Last Metro

Look Out, Officer! > Re-Animator

Look Out, Officer! > Hawking

Look Out, Officer! > Crocodile Dundee

Look Out, Officer! > Barton Fink

Look Out, Officer! < Whip It

Look Out, Officer! > Robot and Frank

Final spot: #825 out of 3284, or 75%.

Wyatt Earp (1994)

IMDb plot summary: From Wichita to Dodge City to the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, a man becomes a myth in this thrilling journey of romance, adventure and desperate, heroic action.

Directed by Lawrence Kasdan. Starring Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid, Gene Hackman, and David Andrews.

Wyatt Earp came out within a year of the movie Tombstone and is basically the same movie -- a dramatization of Wyatt Earp's life and famous battles, starring Kevin Costner as Earp and a nearly-unrecognizable Dennis Quaid as Doc Holliday. I saw Tombstone ages ago but don't remember it being this agonizingly long or Earp being this unlikable. This version of the story may have possibly been trying to create a more fleshed out character of its title cowboy, but what they ended up doing was showing a bloodthirsty, violent, quick-tempered jerk self-righteously killing as he wished and ruining his family's lives without a care for them... and then backing him up the whole way as a legendary man of principles, which is just NOT the picture of him we actually see on screen. It's a strange, muddy character chosen as the center of this movie. On top of that, the cinematography, which inexplicably got an Academy Award nomination, is frequently so dark I had to turn my laptop brightness up all the way just to make out the bare minimum of what was happening on screen. This is just a long, boring watch with a gross hero, and there's not much to recommend it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Wyatt Earp < The Chalk Garden

Wyatt Earp < Bright Young Things

Wyatt Earp > Gomorrah

Wyatt Earp < Hannibal

Wyatt Earp < Footloose (2011)

Wyatt Earp > Don Juan DeMarco

Wyatt Earp < The Roaring Twenties

Wyatt Earp < Passion

Wyatt Earp < Pinocchio

Wyatt Earp > Wilde

Wyatt Earp > Penelope

Wyatt Earp > Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Final spot: #2817 out of 3285, or 14%.