Diner (1982)

IMDb plot summary: A group of college-age buddies struggle with their imminent passage into adulthood in 1959 Baltimore.

Directed by Barry Levinson. Starring Steve Guttenberg, Mickey Rourke, and Kevin Bacon.

Diner follows a group of high school friends reuniting for a friend's wedding, and they wander around talking about life and relationships and playing pranks on each other. I am frankly completely confused about the love for this movie. It's a weirdly difficult story to follow, with so many characters who look and act exactly alike so I kept mixing them up, and I couldn't get invested in any of them because none of them are interesting or good people, and there are so many different stories that never actually follow through, just kind of disappear, and we don't even get fun philosophical ruminations on life the way you might get in other similarly structured movies. I know this is a beloved, critically acclaimed film, and I genuinely can't figure out which pieces of this are resonating with others or what it's even trying to do. While I'm posting my thoughts on it now, I may have to do a deeper dive to figure out what landed so badly for me and so well for others, and we'll have to see if that changes my mind.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Diner < Captain Phillips

Diner > Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Diner < Stepmom

Diner > Cinderella (2015)

Diner > A Time to Kill

Diner > Bee Movie

Diner > 10

Diner < Guarding Tess

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

Diner < The Apostle

Diner < Satantango

Diner > Jurassic World

Final spot: #2450 out of 3873, or 37%. That's frankly higher than I expected.

The Holdovers (2023)

IMDb plot summary: A cranky history teacher at a remote prep school is forced to remain on campus over the holidays with a grieving cook and a troubled student who has no place to go.

Directed by Alexander Payne. Starring Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, and Dominic Sessa.

The Holdovers takes place in an elite boarding school during the Christmas break, when most students and faculty have gone home -- except for one student, who has no place to go, and the teacher and lunch lady assigned to stay on campus as supervisors. This is one of those films that I've seen done badly a million times, focusing on small interactions between a unique set of characters, culminating in one or more of them learning some kind of lesson. What makes it work here is smart writing and a stellar trio of performances from Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, and Da'Vine Joy Randolph. All three of them get their own arcs and moments of growth, in a way I really appreciate, and none of them are two-dimensional caricatures for the sake of the story. There's aso a nearly perfect blend of humor and drama in a way that keeps it from ever feeling either too fluffy or too cloying. That's a tough balancing act to pull off, but Alexander Payne nails it. And, of course, it's all couched beautifully in a 1970s visual aesthetic, starting right off the bat with the credits and continuing to immerse us through the end. It's a meticulously crafted and effectively charming holiday movie that I can see continuing to grow on me.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Holdovers > Captain Phillips

The Holdovers > Dark Passage

The Holdovers < The White Tiger

The Holdovers < Nope

The Holdovers > City Lights

The Holdovers > Pig

The Holdovers < Mildred Pierce (1945)

The Holdovers > Manon of the Spring

The Holdovers > The Butler

The Holdovers > 9

The Holdovers > Split

The Holdovers > Them!

Final spot: #757 out of 3872, or 80%.

Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

IMDb plot summary: When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one - until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery.

Directed by Martin Scorsese. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, and Lily Gladstone.

Killers of the Flower Moon is the newest Martin Scorsese epic, a three-hour tale of the horrific plots by white men in 1920s Oklahoma to marry Osage women for their oil-rich land and then murder them. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone as one of these married couples and Robert De Niro as DiCaprio's wealthy boss. Lily Gladstone has been recognized by the Oscars for this role, and deservedly so -- she grounds the movie and keeps it from being solely centered on the murderers. Do I wish more of the movie had been focused on her? Absolutely. But it's well told overall, very much highlighting the deadly cruelty of racism and greed. I was struck especially by how the film chose to end and provide its epilogue to the story -- a bold choice that was at first offputting but then seemed exactly on point with the rest of the movie. While I can't imagine wanting to watch this movie again, I do want to read the book now, and I'm glad I set aside the time to see it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Killers of the Flower Moon > Skyfall

Killers of the Flower Moon < Dark Passage

Killers of the Flower Moon < Kanal

Killers of the Flower Moon > Inspector Clouseau

Killers of the Flower Moon > Mother Night

Killers of the Flower Moon > Kiss Me Kate

Killers of the Flower Moon > The Green Mile

Killers of the Flower Moon > VeggieTales: Where's God When I'm S-Scared?

Killers of the Flower Moon > Love, Life and Goldfish

Killers of the Flower Moon > The Tragedy of Macbeth

Killers of the Flower Moon < Don't Look Up

Final spot: #1456 out of 3871, or 62%.

The Great Beauty (2013)

IMDb plot summary: Jep Gambardella has seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades, but after his 65th birthday and a shock from the past, Jep looks past the nightclubs and parties to find a timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty.

Directed by Paolo Sorrentino. Starring Toni Servillo, Carlo Verdone, and Sabrina Ferilli.

The Great Beauty is an Italian movie following a journalist in his 60s as he wanders around Rome with his friends, looking for creative inspiration. This is more art meditation than narrative, focusing heavily on the use of music and cinematography to create moody spaces to ponder beauty. And I would love to say that it worked for me, but in actuality I was SO. INCREDIBLY. BORED. I'm not creatively captured by any of the visual or musical choices, and I could not care less about this cranky old man wandering around moping about not writing a book. Granted, that's the least generous way I could phrase it, but it's closest to how the movie made me feel. I remember thinking, "That's a very nice shot," a few times while watchng it, but none of the ensuing shots stuck with me long enough to actually remember them, and everything feels so static. If I'm going to immerse myself in this kind of art appreciation, I'd rather do it by going to an art museum with a great Spotify playlist and experience it more spatially rather than spending 2 1/2 hours watching it unfold on a screen in front of me. This was critically acclaimed, so I admit I may be in the minority on this one. It just did absolutely nothing for me.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Great Beauty < Captain Phillips

The Great Beauty < Captain America: The Winter Soldier

The Great Beauty < Mission to Mars

The Great Beauty > Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

The Great Beauty < The Story of the Weeping Camel

The Great Beauty > Get Carter

The Great Beauty > Metal Tornado

The Great Beauty > Courageous

The Great Beauty > 8 1/2

The Great Beauty < The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

The Great Beauty > Wimbledon

Final spot: #3513 out of 3870, or 9%.

The Beekeeper (2024)

IMDb plot summary: One man's brutal campaign for vengeance takes on national stakes after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organization known as "Beekeepers".

Directed by David Ayer. Starring Jason Statham, Emmy Raver-Lampman, and Bobby Naderi.

The Beekeeper is a Jason Statham action vehicle where he plays not only a literal keeper of bees but also a retired member of a super-trained government group known as "the Beekeepers." When someone close to him loses everything in an Internet scam, he goes absolutely nuclear to find the people who targeted her. This is exactly what you think it's going to be going into it, or at least exactly what I thought it would be -- a dumb, loud action flick where our protagonist goes around rampantly murdering people. So much of the beekeeper metaphor and the plot exposition are delivered so clunkily that I honestly can't tell if it's intentional or not. The one saving grace for me was, to my surprise, Josh Hutcherson as the narcissistic startup mogul masterminding the whole thing. Hutcherson plays him with such vapid irritation that I did genuinely laugh out loud at some of his line deliveries. I admit I'm not at all the target demographic for this movie, so if you are someone who will enjoy the big fight scenes and not be bothered by lazy twists and painfully extended metaphors, this might work better for you than it did for me.

How it entered my Flickchart:

The Beekeeper < Captain Phillips

The Beekeeper > Captain America: The Winter Soldier

The Beekeeper < Stepmom

The Beekeeper > Cinderella (2015)

The Beekeeper < The Big Heat

The Beekeeper < Hitch

The Beekeeper < Suspiria (1977)

The Beekeeper < Water for Elephants

The Beekeeper < House of Games

The Beekeeper < The Untouchables

The Beekeeper < The Divorcee

The Beekeeper > Blue is the Warmest Color

Final spot: #2659 out of 3869, or 31%.

All the Best: Fun Begins (2006)

IMDb plot summary: The unexpected arrival of his elder NRI brother and assorted characters complicates the life of a Goan male.

Directed by Rohit Shetty. Starring Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgn, and Fardeen Khan.

All the Best: Fun Begins is a Bollywood comedy about a man who's been financially supported by his brother for years -- and has been lying about being married so he gets more money. But when his brother unexpectedly shows up for a visit expecting to meet the wife, chaos ensues. I appreciate the length of this movie partly because it took me a good hour or so to settle into the very broad, occasionally cartoonish, sense of humor, but once I did, I had a good time. Everything's exaggerated, with the least likely misunderstandings ballooning into entire subplots. But amid all the larger-than-life chaos, what really clinched it for me was the occasional heartfelt moment that provided just enough personal investment in the characters that made the rest of the comedy work better. So goofy, so silly, but absolutely good for a lighthearted watch.

How it entered my Flickchart:

All the Best: Fun Begins > Captain Phillips

All the Best: Fun Begins < Key Largo

All the Best: Fun Begins > Swing Shift

All the Best: Fun Begins < The Country Girl

All the Best: Fun Begins > Crimson Tide

All the Best: Fun Begins > The Pirate Movie

All the Best: Fun Begins > Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

All the Best: Fun Begins > Cargo

All the Best: Fun Begins > Monte Carlo

All the Best: Fun Begins > Memories of Murder

All the Best: Fun Begins < Waking Ned Devine

Final spot: #1212 out of 3868, or 69%.

Journey's End (1930)

IMDb plot summary: In France, 1917, an alcoholic captain is afraid that his new replacement, his sweetheart's brother, will betray his downfall.

Directed by James Whale. Starring Colin Clive, Ian Maclaren, and David Manners.

Journey's End is a 1930 film about a young World War I soldier who gets sent to serve under his sister's fiance. The officer, however, is deeply ashamed of how the war has pushed him into bitter alcoholism and is terrified the young soldier will report the change in him back to his sister. This story feels *very* much like a play, set almost entirely in a single location and featuring long philosophical talks between characters, and while often that's right up my alley, this time it just felt tedious, like I was sitting waiting impatiently for something to happen. When all the character and plot action does suddenly happen in the final 10 minutes of the movie, it felt like too little too late, as I was born long before that. There are other, better war films from this year and other, better melodramas. 

How it entered my Flickchart:

Journey's End < Captain Phillips

Journey's End < Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Journey's End > Mission to Mars

Journey's End > The World Is Not Enough

Journey's End < The Number 23

Journey's End > The Expendables

Journey's End < Speak

Journey's End < Spirits of the Dead

Journey's End < The Jazz Singer (1927)

Journey's End < Batman Begins

Journey's End > The Italian Job (2003)

Final spot: #3079 out of 3867, or 20%.