55. MOULIN ROUGE! (2001)
Great movie in it’s completely unhinged way. And it’s as visually gorgeous a film as you’ll ever see. It helps that Nicole Kidman and Ewan MacGregor go all-in with the mood of the thing…their play their paper-thin, stereotypical roles with great energy and heart, and they also sing pretty darn well too.
Verdict: It’s all a little much to take at times, but the two leads, against all odds, make you care. Quite a lot, in fact.
56. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007)
There’s a lot of ways to take this movie, and I chose to take it as a scathing commentary on the degradation of society and the brutal toll this takes on good people who care about order and decency. I don’t buy the apparent conclusion that there’s nothing good can do in the face of evil, but we sure have a battle on our hands. Did I say “we”? I did.
Verdict: Everyone seems to think this is a truly great movie. I tend to agree, but I can tell you what, I’m never watching it again.
57. DAYS OF HEAVEN (1978)
With the exception of the beautiful cinematography and one performance, this is just a bad movie. Most of the acting, the entire story, and the script is just really awful. Linda Manz, who plays Richard Gere’s tough/tender little sister is great, and she also contributes all of the good dialogue in the form of voice-over narration that she ad-libbed. Shockingly over-hyped.
