**Note: The following content has some controversial wording. Discretion is advised
Doing cap gymnastics for The Project, from the standpoint of rounding out the remaining pre-Dream Scenario Flickuum spots, has given me one massive headache over the past two days to the point that the only way that I can A] Accept additional external recommendations, B] Not overlook pre-2023 movies that are deserving of Flickuum status, and C] Not over exert myself in creating pre-Dream Scenario cap space is to expand The Project and expand it in a big way. And when I mean in a big way, I mean by 1,000 more spots to cover all the bases, including granting expansion protections to the 33 Tier 7 bubble movies and the top three (possibly four) movies of Tier 13.
Let’s begin.
First up, six of the eight movies that I blogged about in volume 143 of Flickasbord have been added to the roster, thus making them beneficiaries of this expansion. And why I say six of the eight, well both “French Connection” movies need to be pardoned prisoner exchange style, as I will no longer grant pardons to Movie-Ocrity/Dishonorable Mention movies without an even trade. So, in other words, the other two “Christmas Prince” movies need to be eliminated in Tier 13, in order for the even trades to happen. Stay tuned.
One of the major movie gut-punches that I endured very recently was how slightly nonsensical and annoyingly open-ended that “F Marry Kill” was, as I wanted Lucy Hale to succeed in the thriller/horror genre just like Minka Kelly (The Roommate), Jessica Rothe (both Happy Death Day movies) and Melissa Barrera (the fifth and sixth Scream movies) all did. But instead, it has a Project probability rate of 71% in Tier 12, and that tier doesn’t even have the maximum of 99 movies nor is it anywhere near being done accepting new movies in its rankings. So, in other words, that 71% could plummet to the point that that movie could be eliminated. And given that I really want a Lucy Hale mulligan, I added four of her other movies in “Borrego”, “The Storied Life Of A.J. Fikrey”, “Inside Man” and “Which Brings Me To You” to the roster, with the hope that one of them can heal that gut-punch. Stay tuned.
Both “French Connection” movies aren’t the only ones that will need to be the beneficiaries of even trades as both “Odd Couple” movies, “Dante’s Peak” and “Sequoia” are also in that same boat. But this paragraph isn’t about the “where” for all four of those movies, as it’s instead about why they will all be pardoned. So, with that being said, the “why” for the two Walter Matthau-Jack Lemmon movies is that there’s a funny line (deserving of Flickuum lore) in the former installment and both installments are a package deal, while the aforementioned “Dante’s Peak” has potential Project versatility and I like Sophi Bairley’s character in the aforementioned “Sequoia”. Now it looks like that I’ll have to fish for four more future Project rejects.
The roommate of mine who mentions so many movies to me has mentioned the two Paul Newman-Robert Redford collaborations (Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, The Sting) multiple times to me to the point that I feel like she’s pushing for those movies to get scouted for The Project. Of course, under the previous 3,000-movie system, it would have taken a lot of roster gymnastics to get both of those movies such opportunities, especially since there are a lot of viable options to round that amount of Flickuum movies. But after the leeway that was gained via expanding to 4,000 movies, I made it a priority to get those two movies on the roster, so that they won’t get phased out by 2023 (and beyond) bias this time around. Now let’s see if they both can make the most of the new life that has been given to them.
Earlier this year, I added both Ewok movies to the roster, as there is no way that I’ll overlook those creatures for The Project. And with that being said, it got me thinking that I’ll need to add the franchise that introduced us to them, with that franchise being “Star Wars”. Of course, I don’t know off-hand which installment introduced us to them, so I’ve gone ahead and added all 12 installments to the roster.
Prior to this expansion, 16 (possibly 15) of the 33 Tier 7 bubble movies were going to count against the pre-Dream Scenario cap, which meant an overage of 19 (possibly 18) movies. But thanks to this expansion, performing cap gymnastics in addressing this particular aspect of the cap situation is no longer necessary. Regardless, I’ll still write three more progress reports, one of which will include “The Company Men” because maybe it can co-exist with “Legacy: Black Ops” in The Project after all, so expect a 14-movie progress report for the second quarter.
Just because the Final 99 Flickuum spots are reserved for 2023 movies and post-2023 movies doesn’t mean that such movies will be excluded from competing for a pre-Dream Scenario spot, especially since the likes of “John Wick: Chapter Four” and “Arthur The King” are both too damn good to wait that long. So, with that being said, “The Electric State” has also been added to the roster, simply because the robot designs in that movie are way too cool to overlook.
Sometime during this most recent NFL postseason, I saw a stuffed toy version of Kermit The Frog getting ruined, all because some NFL fan wanted to stick it to Patrick Mahomes in that particular way. Look, I’m not a fan of Mahomes, but I can’t support destruction of a piece of my nostalgia, therefore “The Muppet Movie”, “The Great Muppet Caper”, “The Muppets Take Manhattan, “The Muppet Christmas Carol” and “Muppet Treasure Island” have all been added to the roster.
In two of the other prior paragraphs in this entry, I alluded to the top four movies of Tier 13, as three (Killer High, Over Her Dead Body, See How They Run) of them are all too damn good to not be granted expansion protection, while the fourth one (You Again) has a lot going for it, thus it could likely be granted that same protection. However, it will be quite some time before any of those bridges will be crossed, as 1,414 more pre-3,801 spots still need to be filled.
Just when I thought that I was done handing out pardons to Movie-Ocrity/Dishonorable Mention movies, seven more movies made cases for why they all should be re-assessed and for various reasons at that. Let’s start with the James Cagey combo of “The Public Enemy” and “White Heat”, as each of those movies feature an iconic scene involving the late actor. Next, let’s stay on the topic of late actors, as the very end of the Gene Hackman movie “Scarecrow”, which he co-starred with Al Pacino, might be more complete than I had originally thought, thus it will most likely be my second amended movie review. Third, the likely addition of “September 5” to the roster made me realize that I should give the Eric Bana movie “Munich” another look, despite the bizarre scene involving him and the character of Ayelet Zurer. Fourth, staying in the month of September, I’m willing to give the Charlie Sheen-led movie “9/11” a second re-assessment, as I’m convinced that he was sincere about the apology for his conspiracy theory about the tragic day of September 11, 2001, along with wanting to get another look at that movie’s ending. Fifth, the Tom Cruise-led movie “War Of The Worlds” will be pardoned because if “Oblivion” can be re-assessed, then the 2005 movie should be as well. And sixth, a Flickasbord entry can’t be a Flickasbord entry without an A24 mention, as this time it’s about the movie “Minari”, which might be the most wholesome movie ever released by that company. Of course, I felt a bit letdown by that movie, but re-assessing it could help me see it in a whole different way. Now I need to find seven more patsies for the Movie-Ocrity/Dishonorable Mention page.
And finally, it’s rare that I permit an old Disney movie without 2D-animated graphics of any kind, as such movies get overshadowed by the likes of “Mary Poppins”. But external wordplay and a not somewhat recent Jeopardy! clue both kept planting a seed in my mind, with that seed being about the movie “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea”. Of course, much splashier movies kept working their way onto the roster, thus the Kirk Douglas-led movie kept getting lost in the shuffle. But now that The Project has expanded to 4,000 movies, the mathematical fact of 4,000 being a fifth of 20,000 suddenly helped me remember that movie, thus it is now on the roster.
Well, the New Year’s Day 2027 deadline just got way more interesting, as what once again became a massive headache has now become a much more thorough searching process in adding to this very massive roster. And given that there is a surplus of 942 open pre-Dream Scenario spots, there is no way that I can badly mismanage the roster this time around.
Until the next time.