The Forger (2012)

IMDb plot summary: A teenager wanders into Carmel, California, where he is soon introduced to the art-forgery community.

Directed by Lawrence Roeck. Starring Lauren Bacall, Josh Hutcherson, and Alfred Molina.

The Forger stars Josh Hutcherson as a troubled teenager whose mom has gone missing and Alfred Molina as the grumpy renowned artist who thinks Hutcherson shows some talent. Of course, as the title of the film implies, Molina doesn't actually want to mentor Hutcherson so much as put him to work on creating art forgeries. For such an interesting cast, that includes Molina and Lauren Bacall, this actually ends up being a very boring film. The stakes are extremely muddy throughout, and it offers neither insight into these characters' personal development nor a glimpse into the world of art forgery or even the world of being an artist. It's primarily a script problem, so even some very good actors cannot make this work. What we're left with is the most mediocre of mediocre movies that barely even attempts to do anything interesting. This one can be skipped.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Forger < The Last Dragon

The Forger > Susannah of the Mounties

The Forger < Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town

The Forger < Paint Your Wagon

The Forger > Snakes on a Plane

The Forger < King Kong (1933)

The Forger < Two for the Money

The Forger < Lovelace

The Forger > Dear Evan Hansen

The Forger < Andrei Rublev

The Forger < The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach

The Forger > Luther

Final spot: #2723 out of 3801, or 28%.

The Black Pirate (1926)

IMDb plot summary: Seeking revenge, an athletic young man joins the pirate band responsible for his father's death.

Directed by Albert Parker. Starring Douglas Fairbanks, Billie Dove, and Tempe Pigott.

The Black Pirate is a silent action adventure film starring Douglas Fairbanks as a young man who joins a group of pirates to get revenge for them murdering his father. Silent adventure films are very much not my genre, as I often have difficulty tracking visual movement without any sound to help me process what's going on, but if I'm going to watch a silent adventure film, I absolutely want it to be one that stars Douglas Fairbanks. Everything I've ever seen him in, he is so dynamic and uses his physicality to its absolute maximum. He reminds me a little bit in an odd way of Toshiro Mifune, another actor who is very skilled at using his physical charisma to heighten the story in the character. Even if the story itself didn't do a lot for me, I'm always happy to spend an hour or two watching Fairbanks jump around. A worthwhile performance to watch, even if the movie as a whole didn't quite speak to me.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Black Pirate < The Last Dragon

The Black Pirate > Susannah of the Mounties

The Black Pirate > Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town

The Black Pirate > Wind River

The Black Pirate > The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)

The Black Pirate < Star Trek: Nemesis

The Black Pirate > A Lady to Love

The Black Pirate < To Be Or Not to Be (1942)

The Black Pirate < A Delicate Balance

The Black Pirate < As It Is in Heaven

The Black Pirate > Spider-Man: Homecoming

The Black Pirate < Meet John Doe

Final spot: #1986 out of 3800, or 48%.