64. UNFORGIVEN (1992)
A masterpiece. The writing, cinematography, the acting (from a tremendous cast), and the directing are all flawless. And the vision of Eastwood’s “reformed” gunfighter Will Munny transforming from a bumbling pig farmer into a demonic angel of death and dealer of justice in the final scenes is a chilling and powerful sight to behold.
Verdict: I’ll say it again. Masterpiece.
Inductee, Laurie’s Cinematic Hall of Fame
65. THE EIGER SANCTION
This flick is so stupid it almost has to be a parody. If it is, though, it doesn’t work either. No one is right for their roles, the story is makes no sense on any level, and there’s a few too many rape jokes for what humor there is to work. But oh, those climbing scenes. White-knuckle spectacular by any standards you want to apply.
Verdict: If you must bother with it, skip to the climbing part at the end. Pretty amazing stuff.
66. JOKER (2019)
There was so much controversy over this when it was released, that I thought I’d tune in for a few minutes to see what the hoopla was about. The movie is too much of a Scorcese rip-off to be great on its own terms, and it falls apart in the final third, but damn…Joaquin Phoenix’s performance is something to behold. I could not stop watching, even when I wanted to. He’s astonishing.
Verdict: Phoenix is the main attraction here. He doesn’t quite save the movie from itself, he does a remarkable job of balancing on a knife edge of sympathy and revulsion. If this doesn’t sound intriguing to you, you might want to skip it, because it’s as ugly and negative a movie as you’ll ever see.