Strawberry and Chocolate (1994)

IMDb plot summary: This Oscar nominated film is the story of two men who are opposites, one gay, the other straight, one a fierce communist, the other a fierce individualist, one suspicious, the other accepting, and how they come to love each other.

Directed by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Juan Carlos Tabío. Starring Jorge Perugorría, Vladimir Cruz, Mirta Ibarra, and Francisco Gattorno.

This feels like a movie I should REALLY love, and I like a lot of what it does, but there are also a lot of scenes that feel... less focused than I wish they were, and I end up with a muddied sense of overall arc. What it does well is make Diego incredibly likable and demonstrate clearly the connection between his personal life and his political one, and why he isn't just happy to sit back and ride along with the Revolution. He's by far the most interesting character in this story, and I'd frankly rather have seen more of him and his personal life than watch David struggling through his epiphany.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Strawberry and Chocolate < To Be or Not to Be (1942)

Strawberry and Chocolate > Big Business

Strawberry and Chocolate > Snatch.

Strawberry and Chocolate > Hellfighters

Strawberry and Chocolate > Gran Torino

Strawberry and Chocolate > The Savages

Strawberry and Chocolate > Twisted Nerve

Strawberry and Chocolate > Pitch Perfect 2

Strawberry and Chocolate < Spider-Man: Homecoming

Strawberry and Chocolate > Closer

Strawberry and Chocolate > Rogue One

Strawberry and Chocolate > The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

Final spot: #1666 out of 3317, or 50%.

The Boy Friend (1971)

IMDb plot summary: When the leading lady of a low-budget musical revue sprains her ankle, the assistant stage manager is forced to understudy and perform in her place, becoming a star and finding love in the process.

Directed by Ken Russell. Starring Twiggy, Christopher Gable, Max Adrian, and Bryan Pringle.

This is a loose adaptation of a Broadway musical that was a pastiche of 1920s musical comedy, but in the film version we are seeing the story of a theater troupe putting on that musical with a Hollywood casting director in the audience. The result is over two hours of watching people uncomfortably, deliberately hamming up an already-hammy script, and it's one of the cringiest things I think I've ever watched. I felt like I was in the audience of an absolute trainwreck of a show, and it wasn't entertaining, just unpleasant. Some of the dancing is quite nice, and the songs might have been if they weren't mostly performed in obnoxious "character voices." The weirdest thing to me of all of this is that the show was a parody of hammy shows in the first place, and that style is serve best by embracing the cheesiness of it, not by creating a frame work in which it appears clear that you're mocking it. This reads like the director absolutely *loathed* the original play and decided to transport the hideousness he saw in his mind to the film so we'd all hate it too. Well... I mean, it worked. But was that anyone's actual goal here? Probably not.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Boy Friend < One, Two, Three

The Boy Friend < Horton Hears a Who

The Boy Friend < VeggieTales: The Star of Christmas

The Boy Friend > The Art of War

The Boy Friend > Get Carter

The Boy Friend < Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

The Boy Friend > Metal Tornado

The Boy Friend > Nell

The Boy Friend > 8 1/2

The Boy Friend > The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

The Boy Friend < Mr. Mom

Final spot: #2956 out of 3316, or 11%.

Carousel (1956)

IMDb plot summary: Fifteen years after his death, a carousel barker is granted permission to return to Earth for one day to make amends to his widow and their daughter.

Directed by Henry King. Starring Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones, Cameron Mitchell, and Barbara Ruick.

This story is... so strange, largely because Billy is portrayed as pretty much unredeemable throughout. I kept waiting for him to turn a corner, to apologize for his violent actions, to admit maybe hitting people you say you love isn't a good thing, but... he doesn't. Ever. Instead, Julie defends his terrible behavior over and over again, and so he gets away with it and never learns, not even after death. I have no idea what message the film was even TRYING to send. There are some great tunes in here ("You'll Never Walk Alone" and "If I Loved You" in particular), but they deserve to be in a much better show that doesn't glorify abuse.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Carousel < One, Two, Three

Carousel < Horton Hears a Who

Carousel > VeggieTales: The Star of Christmas

Carousel > Captive State

Carousel > 30 Minutes or Less

Carousel < The Jazz Singer (1927)

Carousel < Sorry, Wrong Number

Carousel < Howl's Moving Castle

Carousel > Green Book

Carousel > Einstein and Eddington

Carousel < Throw Momma from the Train

Final spot: #2580 out of 3315, or 22%.

1917 (2019)

IMDb plot summary: April 6th, 1917. As a regiment assembles to wage war deep in enemy territory, two soldiers are assigned to race against time and deliver a message that will stop 1,600 men from walking straight into a deadly trap.

Directed by Sam Mendes. Starring Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay, Daniel Mays, and Colin Firth.

This film got a ton of acclaim for seeming to be in two long uninterrupted shots, and that definitely does a lot to heighten the tension and immerse you in the characters' world. Director Sam Mendes has directed a lot of theater, so he knows how to keep long scenes engaging to his audience. The extremely narrow focus on these characters does a lot to make the tone of the story resonate as well. There are a few final scenes where it seems like all is lost, and when those obstacles are overcome and the hero makes it through, it's hard not to cheer. But it's also more than just adrenaline-fueled action, as these incredibly high stakes seem to melt away entirely at the end with a meditation on the futility and emptiness of war in the first place, and I found that moment more moving than I do in many films which have a similar goal. The score is also particularly strong here, bringing home a lot of the necessary emotional beats. While I'm skeptical that this movie will stick long in my mind, it is certainly well-written and I'm glad I finally sat down and watched it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

1917 > One, Two, Three

1917 < Hoop Dreams

1917 > Now You See Me

1917 > Full Metal Jacket

1917 < Frankenweenie

1917 > Undercover Blues

1917 > Smiles of a Summer Night

1917 < Hell in the Pacific

1917 > High Strung

1917 > Bride & Prejudice

1917 > Point Break

1917 > Logan's Run

Final spot: #945 out of 3314, or 71%.

Oh Darling Yeh Hai India (1995)

IMDb plot summary: Miss India and an aspiring actor spend a night together roaming the streets of Mumbai and unwittingly clash paths with a megalomaniacal gangster planning to take over India.

Directed by Ketan Mehta. Starring Shah Rukh Khan, Deepa Sahi, Javed Jaffrey, and Anupam Kher.

This Bollywood movie tells the story of an unnamed aspiring actor and a prostitute who despite to spend an evening together, only to find themselves mixed up in a mob plot to replace the president of India with a surgically manufactured identical twin. This is obviously a LUDICROUS plot, but it only really becomes the central plot in the film's second half -- the beginning is mostly just the two main characters dancing around India escaping the police, the leading lady's pimp, and the mob boss' son who wants her for himself. It's an over-the-top zany story with some absolutely delightful song and dance numbers. (I particularly liked the dance-off between our hero and the mafia prince.) And the story gets more ridiculous as it continues on -- I chuckled out loud at several moments. It is a good 2 1/2 hours long, like many Bollywood films, but this film really flew by for me. I was having so much fun with it and the characters and wondering what the movie would come up with to throw at us next. Definitely a fun watch.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Oh Darling Yeh Hai India > To Be or Not to Be (1942)

Oh Darling Yeh Hai India < Hoop Dreams

Oh Darling Yeh Hai India > Harakiri

Oh Darling Yeh Hai India < Full Metal Jacket

Oh Darling Yeh Hai India < To Kill a Mockingbird

Oh Darling Yeh Hai India > All's Faire in Love

Oh Darling Yeh Hai India > The Blind Side

Oh Darling Yeh Hai India > Ballet Shoes

Oh Darling Yeh Hai India > The Trojan Women

Oh Darling Yeh Hai India > Inherit the Wind

Oh Darling Yeh Hai India > An Education

Oh Darling Yeh Hai India > The Bad Sleep Well

Final spot: #1139 out of 3313, or 66%.

Maverick (1994)

IMDb plot summary: Bret Maverick, needing money for a poker tournament, faces various comic mishaps and challenges, including a charming woman thief.

Directed by Richard Donner. Starring Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, James Garner, and Graham Greene.

This feels most in the vein of a heist movie, where everyone is out to get everyone else all the time but it's somehow fun and playful. This movie has a lot going for it but has aged badly in one aspect: it's tougher to buy Mel Gibson now as a likable rogue now that we know his unpleasantness as a person. That's not always a disqualifier, but this movie ABSOLUTELY relies on us buying into Gibson's charm, hook, line, and sinker, and as a result it loses a lot of its luster if that can't happen. The script is a lot of fun, though. I didn't expect it to be as overtly comedic as it was -- there's one bizarre moment of breaking the fourth wall to make a Lethal Weapon joke. Some of the jokes land better than other, and all would land better if I felt Gibson's charm, but there's enough enthusiasm for the jokes to sell me on their effort overall. Not stellar, not without its problems, but still a medium-enjoyable popcorn movie.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Maverick < One, Two, Three

Maverick > Horton Hears a Who

Maverick > The Hurt Locker

Maverick > Hellfighters

Maverick > Gran Torino

Maverick > The Savages

Maverick > Twisted Nerve

Maverick < Wreck-It Ralph

Maverick < The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini

Maverick < The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe (1988)

Maverick > Smokin' Aces

Maverick < The Librarian: Quest for the Spear

Final spot: #1679 out of 3312, or 49%.

Viva Zapata! (1952)

IMDb plot summary: The story of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, who led a rebellion against the corrupt, oppressive dictatorship of president Porfirio Díaz in the early 20th century.

Directed by Elia Kazan. Starring Marlon Brando, Jean Peters, Anthony Quinn, and Joseph Wiseman.

I knew very little about Zapata or about the Mexican revolution going into this film, but it sounds like director Elia Kazan really did his homework to try to capture this story. I do want to mention the fact that many of the central characters are played by white people, though I did learn that Anthony Quinn was Mexican-American, which was fun. The story, however, is a powerful and interesting one, despite its outdated casting practices. Zapata is a messy character, especially in the interactions we see between him and his romantic partner, but he seems to be the only one able to resist the temptation to use his power for personal gain. As he has to step up over and over again to use his influence to kick out a corrupt politician, you see him losing faith in the idea that he'll ever be able to stop fighting. The final scenes of this movie however make this a hopeful story, not a despairing one. It's a fairly well-crafted movie about a subject I didn't know much about, but I don't know that it would hold up to multiple viewings.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Viva Zapata! > To Be or Not to Be (1942)

Viva Zapata! < Chronicle

Viva Zapata! < Harakiri

Viva Zapata! < Holiday Inn

Viva Zapata! > 21

Viva Zapata! > Heaven Knows What

Viva Zapata! > Pather Panchali

Viva Zapata! < Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella (1997)

Viva Zapata! > Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

Viva Zapata! > The Master

Viva Zapata! > Alice (1990)

Final spot: #1463 out of 3311, or 56%. That seems low but The Chart Does Not Lie.

Running On Empty (1988)

IMDb plot summary: The eldest son of a fugitive family comes of age and wants to live a life of his own.

Directed by Sidney Lumet. Starring Christine Lahti, River Phoenix, Judd Hirsch, and Martha Plimpton.

Running On Empty focuses on a family who have been on the run for 15 years after the parents blew up a napalm manufacturing facility as part of a political effort to stop the Vietnam War. They then spend the next decade and a half, constantly moving and changing their names whenever they worry authorities might be getting too close. The story picks up when their oldest child, now 17 and played by River Phoenix, finds himself struggling with the idea that if he wants to pursue his own life as an adult, he'll most likely never see his family again. Director Sidney Lumet does such a great job of showing how close-knit this family has necessarily become, and even when they are angry with each other they're also determined to fiercely protect each other. Their oldest pokes around at possible college options but genuinely worries that him leaving would destroy his parents, and he doesn't want to be responsible for that. Phoenix does a great job of portraying that dilemma -- in fact, he's pretty great in this whole story overall. I'm not entirely convinced that the film earns its ending, but it is a satisfying one, and it's a new and unique take on both fugitive stories and coming-of-age dramas. Well worth a watch.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Running on Empty > To Be or Not to Be

Running on Empty > Hoop Dreams

Running on Empty < Leap of Faith

Running on Empty > The Martian

Running on Empty < Safety Last!

Running on Empty < Queen of Katwe

Running on Empty < Sorry to Bother You

Running on Empty < Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

Running on Empty > Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie

Running on Empty > Coherence

Running on Empty > Lolita (1962)

Running on Empty < Diabolique

Final spot: #609 out of 3310, or 82%.

The 101-Year-Old Man Who Skipped Out on the Bill and Disappeared (2016)

IMDb plot summary: The 101 year old man Allan Karlsson goes through Europe in search for a Russian soda recipe he lost during the early 70s. Unfortunately, he is not the only one who is looking for it.

Directed by Felix Herngren and Måns Herngren. Starring Robert Gustafsson, Iwar Wiklander, David Wiberg, and Shima Niavarani.

The 101-Year-Old Man Who Skipped Out on the Bill and Disappeared is apparently a sequel to the movie The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. I did not know this when I watched it and was a little lost at first. In the first film, apparently a 100-year-old man and his 80-year-old friend run away and steal a bunch of money together. The sequel never really addresses the crimes he may have committed, there are just a whole bunch of people who are angry at him and trying to find him. This particular entry in his story focuses on him trying to find the missing recipe for an unbelievably delicious Russian soft drink. There are a lot of twists and turns and farcical mistakes and monkeys and CIA agents and all kinds of other characters who make their way into the story, but it all just felt empty. I'm not sure if seeing the first film would have made this story feel more complete, but it certainly doesn't stand very well on its own. It's all just kind of... blah, but I can see them TRYING to be really absurdly funny, and that makes for a very uncomfortable watch.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The 101-Year Old Man < To Be or Not to Be

The 101-Year Old Man > Big Business

The 101-Year Old Man < Snatch.

The 101-Year Old Man > Ted

The 101-Year Old Man > The Conjuring

The 101-Year Old Man < Dracula (1931)

The 101-Year Old Man < Water for Elephants

The 101-Year Old Man < The Inspector General

The 101-Year Old Man > Saboteur

The 101-Year Old Man < Burlesque

The 101-Year Old Man < Master Harold and the Boys

The 101-Year Old Man > Beach Party

Final spot: #2163 out of 3309, or 35%.

Blue Sky (1994)

IMDb plot summary: Jessica Lange stars in a period drama about a family moving to a military base, and she quickly becomes part of a cover-up involving nuclear bomb tests.

Directed by Tony Richardson. Starring Jessica Lange, Tommy Lee Jones, Powers Boothe, and Carrie Snodgress.

The shining piece of this film is Jessica Lange's performance. She does such an incredible job at making this character more than the caricature she could be. We can see her fears and her thought processes and root for her to do the right thing and not fall into her self-destructive habits, and in the later half of the movie when she really does step up into being the protagonist, it's a really lovely moment. I also appreciate the frequent focus on the children of this marriage and how their parents' volatility affects them even as they've learned to live with it as a constant factor in their lives. A messy movie at times but worth seeing for Lange if nothing else.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Blue Sky > To Be or Not to Be (1942)

Blue Sky < Chronicle

Blue Sky > Harakiri

Blue Sky < Full Metal Jacket

Blue Sky < Suspicion

Blue Sky < Kajaki

Blue Sky < Starship Troopers

Blue Sky > Kiss Me Kate

Blue Sky > I Saw the Devil

Blue Sky > Charlie St. Cloud

Blue Sky > Being John Malkovich

Blue Sky < The Age of Adaline

Final spot: #1216 out of 3308, or 63%.

The Great Muppet Caper (1981)

IMDb plot summary: Kermit the Frog, The Great Gonzo, and Fozzie Bear are reporters who travel to Britain to interview a rich victim of jewel thieves and help her along with her secretary, Miss Piggy.

Directed by Jim Henson. Starring Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, and Jerry Nelson.

I've never really been sold on the Muppet movies. I didn't grow up with them so I don't have any nostalgic fondness for their films. That being said, this one is GREAT. Lots of clever and funny jokes, like the scene with Piggy and Kermit sneaking around in John Cleese's house, or the running gag that Fozzie and Kermit are identical twins. But the thing that really swayed me here was the musical numbers. A lot of Muppet songs are good tunes but still always feel like they're for kids, so there's a layer of distancing. But here, the songs hold just as much weight and emotional power as any other musical film, and they're used in quiet, subtle ways, not always just loud and bombastic. That bike ride song was a particular favorite. I was just blown away but how enjoyable this was. I may have found the one Muppet movie that I really LOVE, and it's not one I'd ever have guessed!

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Great Muppet Caper > High School Musical 3: Senior Year

The Great Muppet Caper > Hoop Dreams

The Great Muppet Caper < Leap of Faith

The Great Muppet Caper > Super 8

The Great Muppet Caper > William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet

The Great Muppet Caper > It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown

The Great Muppet Caper > Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

The Great Muppet Caper > Broadway Danny Rose

The Great Muppet Caper > Crimes and Misdemeanors

The Great Muppet Caper > He Loves Me ... He Loves Me Not

The Great Muppet Caper > Revengers Tragedy

Final spot: #415 out of 3307, or 87%.

Brainscan (1994)

IMDb plot summary: A teenager is part of an interactive video game where he kills innocent victims. Later, the murders become real.

Directed by John Flynn. Starring Edward Furlong, Frank Langella, T. Ryder Smith, and Amy Hargreaves.

For as much fun as that premise is, I had higher expectations for the movie as campy fun, but it never quite meets those. Part of this is due to the movie not being fully sure what side of camp it wants to land on, whether to go with the over-the-top terror of "I may have murdered my best friend" or just plain goofy with the appearance of the Freddy Krueger-esque demon living inside the video game. The two styles just don't mesh very well, with the actual deaths and danger seeming just slightly too real for the goofy body horror gags of the central villain. That's not to say that ANY of this feels "realistic," but it's hard to combine existential "what have I done" horror with quippy men in silly monster makeup. It's not terrible, but it could have been a lot more fun than this.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Brainscan < To Be or Not to Be (1942)

Brainscan > Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier

Brainscan < Snatch.

Brainscan > Tiramisu

Brainscan > Burning Annie

Brainscan < Dracula (1931)

Brainscan < Water for Elephants

Brainscan < The Inspector General

Brainscan < Saboteur

Brainscan > Frida

Brainscan < The Unsinkable Molly Brown

Final spot: #2165 out of 3306, or 35%.

Kismet (1955)

IMDb plot summary: A roguish poet is given the run of the scheming Wazir's harem while pretending to help him usurp the young caliph.

Directed by Vincente Minnelli. Starring Howard Keel, Ann Blyth, Dolores Gray, and Vic Damone.

So let's address the elephant in the room - every single main character is a person of color played by a white person, and the show makes a lot of use of exotic Arabian Nights-style stereotypes which are very messy. That being said, this movie looks GORGEOUS. It's got these vivid colors and these great big dramatic shots that make the whole thing feel very musical theater and very larger than life in all the best ways. The songs themselves don't really stand out in and of themselves (I can't remember a single one now that the film's over), but the vocal performances are lovely, and I was certainly never bored watching them. This has all the earmarks of a classic Golden Age Hollywood musical, and I adored all those trappings, while always wishing that it wasn't quite so much cultural cosplay.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Kismet > High School Musical 3: Senior Year

Kismet > The Black Cat

Kismet < Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

Kismet < The Martian

Kismet < We're Not Married!

Kismet > Before Sunset

Kismet > The Impostors

Kismet > Cloud with a Chance of Meatballs

Kismet > The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

Kismet > Is It College Yet?

Kismet > City Lights

Final spot: #724 out of 3305, or 78%.

Hero (2002)

IMDb plot summary: A defense officer, Nameless, was summoned by the King of Qin regarding his success of terminating three warriors.

Directed by Yimou Zhang. Starring Jet Li, Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, Maggie Cheung, and Ziyi Zhang.

There's a Rashomon-style quality to this narrative, as we see different versions of the story until finally the truth is revealed at the end. It adds some liveliness to the narrative, which otherwise drags for me. The bright spots here are absolutely the fight scenes, which are visually stunning, with vivid colors and carefully-crafted shots and moments of fantasy where characters fly and run across water. It's one of those unusual instances where I actually felt like the story in between was just a placeholder until we got to those gorgeous combat sequences. But there aren't as many of those as I wish there were, and I just had very little interest in the central story, and every time we moved back to another bit of exposition or explanation I sighed a little. It's well worth watching for its astonishing visuals, but I was less sold on the rest.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Hero > High School Musical 3: Senior Year

Hero < Hoop Dreams

Hero > The Hidden Fortress

Hero < Native Son

Hero < To Kill a Mockingbird

Hero < All's Faire in Love

Hero > Being John Malkovich

Hero < The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness

Hero < Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India

Hero > Stalag 17

Hero > Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie

Hero < Battle Royale

Final spot: #1208 out of 3304, or 63%.