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This is the Way.

Listen up. See these two lemons? The one on the left is fair game, as it is hanging over a public thoroughfare. The one on the right? This one his not hanging over a public thoroughfare. It is not fair game. It is not to be touched.

This is the Way. This is the Law of the Suburban Walker.

2023 Movie Diary, Part 22

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.

2023 Movie Diary, Part 21

61. MEMENTO (2000)

I had forgotten how great this film is. The manner in which is uses non-linear storytelling to reveal a story that in a bizarre way you still take in in a linear manner (learning more and more as you go along), using the most unreliable of narrators is gripping and increasingly frightening. This is truly underrated jewel.
Verdict: Very much worth it if what I described above sounds good to you.

62. NOPE (2022)

Low-key but mostly effective sci fi thriller, highlighted by well-drawn characters, a story with depth, the occasional striking scene, and strong performances. A little slow and scattered, at first, but stay with it and it will all come together. Mostly.
Verdict: Overall, yup.

63. FACING MONSTERS (2022)

Come for the stupendous cinematography, stay for a well-told story of a man who is just wired…differently. Suffice it to say, the story told here did not come out the way everyone thought it would going in. That’s not necessarily good for Kerby Brown, the movie’s subject, but the movie itself is better for it.
Verdict: I’m glad I’m not related to, or otherwise in a position to personally care about, this guy, and if you watch this film, you will be glad too.