It’s not even been 24 hours yet and I already have more material to work with for Volume 41, albeit not as much as Volume 40. But it’s more amassed material nonetheless, so let’s begin.
First up, I was going to send “Paid In Full” to the Movie-Ocrity/Dishonorable Mention page, as A] I felt Elise Neal was done dirty in that movie, and B] I can’t see myself evaluating this Ron Cephas Jones movie after evaluating a much more uplifting one of his in “Dog Days”. But after realizing both that the former of the two was in “Hustle & Flow” three years after this movie came out, and that I can just watch “Dog Days” again pretty much whenever I want, I decided to move the 2002 movie from Tier 3 to Tier 8 for a second re-assessment. Of course, Tier 3 meant that the 2002 movie was a fully guaranteed Flickuum movie, therefore I’ve expedited “Concrete Cowboy” from Tier 4 to Tier 2, followed by expediting “Law Abiding Citizen” from Tier 7 to Tier 4. Okay, now there won’t be Flickuum purging ever again.
Out of all the remaining Tier 8 and Tier 10 movies, I mentioned “Julie & Julia” as the one least likely to make The Project, and did so since the much more qualified Tier 7 stragglers not named “Law Abiding Citizen” are still in a bit of a logjam. Plus, I have a feeling that the Amy Adams-Meryl Streep collaboration will just meander for me like “Chocolat” did. But this paragraph isn’t about that movie. Instead, it’s about “I Give It A Year”, which is one of those cringy and meandering British romcoms that thinks its way more clever than it actually is. And given my disdain for movies that think they are way more clever than they actually are, the 2013 movie won’t be allowed in The Project. And not only is the 2013 movie prohibited from The Project because in addition, it was one of the movies that was expected to round out Tier 11, thus freeing one of the stragglers from the logjam. And as to which straggler that I chose, well I chose “Empire Of Light” because of its versatility to work with pretty much any Flickuum movie, whether as the second half of a back-to-back with “The Frisco Kid” or the first half of a back-to-back with “The Menu”.
With decisions to delay certain assessments/re-assessments like “Sling Blade” and “Working Girl” come working the streaming app wire to see what movies can take advantage right now to make Tier 11. And of course, with that being said, I found such a movie, in the form of “The Contractor”. And as to why thhis movie was chosen for this almost immediate opportunity, well 1) It has the potential to be a successful under-the-radar big studio release just like “Horizon Line”, 2) It’s yet another movie that gives off “John Wick” vibes and 3) It has Gillian Jacobs. All three of those components do sound good on paper, but they need to translate to a successful assessment or else this movie will join “Peppermint’ as another failed John Wick inspired movie.
Empire Of Light won’t be alone in joining Tier 11 today/tonight because in addition to the Michael Ward-led movie, the Sandra Bullock-led movie “Murder By Numbers” passed its assessment a few hours ago, thus giving the 2010 Academy Award winner her first successful Flickuum assessment/re-assessment since “A Time To Kill” all the way back in early-November 2020. And not only does a movie of hers finally get this type of success again because in addition, there’s finally a movie of hers that can battle movies that have Nadine Velazquez, Melissa Barrera and Tiffani-Amber Thiessen March Madness style.
And finally, something “Wicked” this Project comes, as John Chu’s two-parter will be added to the group of new/upcoming movies that will be vying for spots 2,201 through 2,300, because I like what I saw in the trailer for Part One and that could set up things perfectly for Part Two. And should this particular package deal be a success, then both movies could beat the New Year’s Day 2026 deadline because they’ll be Universal releases, thus the latter will most likely get a pre-order listing on Amazon before the calendar turns to 2026. And of course, I brought up the possibility of a pre-order listing for the latter in the previous sentence because the former will be on hard copy by the time that November 2025 rolls around. Plus, we know that Universal is fast in getting their pre-order listings out there.
Well, other than a small hiccup that’s already been rectified, things are increasingly heading in the right direction for The Flickuum Project, which is a far cry from the state that it was in a little over two months ago. I guess it took a rotten batch of motion picture kitty litter for me to figure that out. LOL.
Until the next time.