**Note: The following content has some controversial wording. Discretion is advised
Consistency in finding overall guaranteed Flickuum movies has been anything but, as long stretches of questionable movies occur in between successful moments, such as three questionable movies being assessed/re-assessed in between the successful re-assessments of “French Connection II” and “Wicked Little Letters”. And given that such a drought is typically way more energy-draining than any very long Art Infliction update, I sometimes wonder why the hell I have such a massive roster of assessments/re-assessments. And while some of the 20 movies (that are in the next batch of additions to the massive roster) will add to that wonderment, I have a feeling that 70% of them will punch their tickets into The Project.
Let’s begin.
First up, Sony Pictures thriller movies that are rated PG-13 have had a successful track record in making The Project, as “The Roommate”, “Flatliners”, “Tarot” and “The Invitation” each defied their respective Rotten Tomatoes scores to make it in an almost eight-year period. And of course, with that being said, the vibes of those four movies are noticeable in the trailers of both “Escape Room” movies, thus the Taylor Russell-led movies being one tenth of this next batch.
Prior to 2003, Jason Bateman was active in the industry, with the movie “Love Stinks” being among those acting credits of his. But of course, 2003 was when his career really began to explode via the sitcom “Arrested Development”, which then led to other movies of his popping up on TV not too long after that show had launched. Of course, one of those movies was “No Way Out”, which I added to the roster four days ago. However, there was another movie of his that popped up on TV during that time, with it being the buddy road dramedy, entitled “Breaking The Rules”. So, because I saw a bit of it on TV before flipping channels during the Monday before Christmas 2003, I’ve decided all these years later to add that movie to the roster, especially since I want to see if it will be a “post-Necessary Roughness” success for him or not.
During my compiling of movies for volume 155, I added two Tommy Lee Jones that I was able to recollect, with them being “Volcano” and “Blue Sky”. However, I forgot to include “The Missing”, which I didn’t completely assess on Black Friday 2011. Of course, that movie was being looked at as a then-final piece for The Project since expansion wasn’t even contemplated at that time. But given that I like to finish what I start, and expansion to 800 in 2013 eventually leading to “Pitch Perfect” developing into a frontline foundational piece, I have decided to bring in the Ron Howard-directed movie to see if it can be a quality depth piece this time around.
The 1999 version of “The Mummy” is one of the three then-undocumented movies that doesn’t need to wait until the 3,748 through 3,800 selection protocol to make The Project, as it’s one of the most Project-ready re-assessments on the roster. Of course, I am aware that that movie has a sequel and I did see a bit of it in passing to the point that I liked what I saw of it. So, with that being said, the aforementioned sequel “The Mummy Returns” will get a full-on assessment to prove whether it’s a worthy sequel or a pointless Hollywood crash-grab. Stay tuned.
Prior to this entry being written, I don’t think that I’ve ever added both a movie that I briefly saw in passing and a movie that I caught in its tail-end to my pending roster additions list at the same time. But reminiscing is powerful in making you remember things that you almost forgot, thus I remembered the Jodie Foster movie “Nell” being applicable to the former and the James Caan-led movie “The Program” being applicable to the latter. So, because reminiscence wasn’t the name of a Hugh Jackman in this scenario, both movies now account for the sixth and seventh movies in/of this batch.
Made-for-TV movies are a mixed bag, as for every “Save By The Bell: Wedding In Las Vegas”, there’s a “No One Would Tell”. Of course, I’m not going to let the dismal experience of re-assessing the latter deter me from made-for-TV movies, as there was a movie (Escape From Sobibor) that a friend of mine let me borrow, only for me to fall asleep during some of it via experiencing flu-like symptoms. So, because of that, I want to re-assess that movie in its entirety, especially since I liked what I saw of it. Maybe I’ll re-assess that one this upcoming afternoon.
The mid 2000s to early 2010s were a recurring theme for me, which was quitting on movies without finishing them. But I’ve crossed off two such movies from my list in “Trainspotting” and “Flawless” in a little over a year and a half. And of course, they were chronologically third and first, respectively, in my quitting without finishing phase, thus the question “What was the movie that I quit on in between those two?” Well, how about “Four Rooms”, a movie with Quentin Tarantino-type story-arching and co-directed by Robert Rodriguez, minus the violence. Initially, the talented cast in that movie was what drew me to it back in the summer of 2006 yet I struggled to stay with it. But maybe (just maybe) I’ll have a totally different (and fully-developed) opinion about it as a 41-year-old in 2025 than I did as a 22-year-old back in 2006, thus making it the ninth movie that’s now been accounted for in this batch.
Every year, it seems that there are one or two actresses that come out of nowhere, followed by being highlighted as unforgettable catalysts for the success of their movies. In 2017, it was Eiza Gonzalez via “Baby Driver”. In 2023, it was Melissa Barrera via “In The Heights”, although that movie was released in 2021. And last year, it was both Humberly Gonzalez via “Tarot” and Marisa Abela via “Back To Black”. And now you can add this year and Emeraude Toubia to that category, as the movie “Rosario” really jumped out at me via web-surfing a week ago. But unlike those four actresses, she has an unknown-at-best body of work and with very little to choose from, so expectations will be high for the May 2 release. Stay tuned.
Nearly four months ago, another friend of mine texted me some (four to be exact) recommendations for the roster, although two of them (Love Hard, Klaus) were already assessed, thus leaving me with two. Of course, I forgot to put them on the roster, due in large part to me wanting to make the January 26 deadline (I did) for 1,200 Flickuum completions. But now that expansion to 4,000 has gone into effect and during a two-plus month evaluation moratorium, I decided to go back into the text chain to find those two movies, thus scrolling that particular text chain to late-December 2024. And sure enough, I found their names, which are “The Six Triple Eight” and “Meet Me Next Christmas”. Now let’s see if both recommendations succeed in their assessments.
Actresses, such as Gillian Jacobs, have appeared in movies (The Incredible Hulk Burt Wonderstone) that I like yet had no idea that they were in them until after the fact, so re-watchability is in the cards for that movie. The same can be said for Sheila Vand via “Argo”, but there’s also “Bold Native” waiting to compete March Madness style and there’s another movie that gives her a substantial role. And as to what that movie is, well it’s “We The Animals”, which looks like a mash-up of “Room”, “Where The Wild Things Are”, “Secondhand Lions” and “The Tree Of Life”. And given that three of those movies are already enshrined and the fourth one looks like it will pass its re-assessment, all of those vibes bode well for the 2018 Sundance release.
Going to movie theaters as much as I have been lately, I always seem to find at least thing to tweak for the assessment/re-assessment roster, whether it’s granting a pardon or seeing a title and picture of a movie that both look interesting. Of course, the latter applies here, as the movie “Predestination” jumped at me when I went to go see the Naomi Watts movie “The Friend” theatrically six days ago. So, with that being said, I wrote it down in my phone as a reminder to eventually add to the roster. Now let’s see if its cool blue color pallet is cool enough for it to join The Project.
Ever hear two awesome songs from a soundtrack of a movie that you’ve never seen? I have via the soundtrack of the movie “Save The Last Dance” having the Montell Jordan song “Get It On Tonite”, and the Donell Jones song “U Know What’s Up”. And given that the latter of the two songs has been living rent-free in my head since this most recent Monday night, I have decided to add the movie to the roster.
When it comes to judging a movie by its poster/DVD cover art, I tend to get drawn in by the color pallet, as mentioned two paragraphs ago. And with that being said, that’s the case via this paragraph, as the red color pallet has me sold on the movie “Red Lights”. And not only does it have that gravitational color pallet because in addition, it’s six-deep with name celebrities, such as Oscar winners Cillian Murphy and Robert De Niro. So, given those factors, this movie is under the same amount of pressure as “Predestination”.
There are some highly-touted movies that are difficult to watch, such as “Platoon” for the destruction that was inflicted upon that village in Vietnam. And of course, with that being said, the difficult to watch label is also applicable to “Boys Don’t Cry”, albeit for a totally reason, thus why I never assessed it after renting it. However, since I pondered assessing it, I must go through with it and see if that pondering back in 2007 was really worth it or not.
If there is one thing that I take with a grain of salt, it’s watching a movie in school because I have no idea if the teachers allowed my (different groups of) classmates and I to watch all of those various movies in their entireties, whether it was a movie like “Selena” or a movie like “Sarafina!”. And of course, those are of just two of those such movies, as there are many others that fall under that category, i.e. “Monty Python And The Holy Grail”, which I’ll probably catch flak about if I don’t document it in this now 355-week history of Art Infliction content. So, with that being said, that’s been added to the roster, along with “Life Of Brian”, per the recommendation of my buddy named Chris.
Staying on the topic of movies that were shown during class time in 13 years of grammar school, another one that was shown to me was “Edtv”, which is the funny and non-emotionally manipulative version of “The Truman Show”. And yes, I added that movie to the roster as well, but given how nonsensical that the latter of the two movies was to me, I’m not expecting anything from the former. Stay tuned.
And finally, all 20 movies of this next batch have been documented in this entry, but there’s a big decision, pertaining to “Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse”. And as to what that big decision is, well barring any more delays, it will be released on June 4, 2027 and via Sony Pictures just like its two predecessors were. And should that hold up, then the deadline for movies being eligible to compete March Madness style will be extended to June 11, 2027, thus allowing some extra time for the roster to fully clear and a possible name change to both 99ers pages. Actually, a name change will go into effect, as I’m confident that we will get the Shameik Moore-led threequel exactly a month before Independence Day 2027. And as to when the name change will go into effect, well it will go into effect either this coming Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. Stay tuned.
Well, the assessment/re-assessment marathons haven’t been coming as I had hoped. But that’s going to change this weekend, as I’m going into today on both the momentum of “Wicked Little Letters” having a successful second re-assessment, and not biting off more than I chew from a content-updating standpoint. Late-2024 levels of completing assessments/re-assessments are ahead. 🙂
Until the next time.