INDYATMN
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| 75 39% | For Your Eyes Only (1981) - Apr 19, 2019
"B/c of the rigid formula, the quality of the variables dictates how good a Bond film is. This splits the difference. There're 2 great stunts here (1 very suspenseful on the side of a cliff), but most of the action isn't memorable. The villain’s also lame, but Bond gets a Greek buddy which is a change of pace, as is the ending, which shocks b/c of its lack of explosions. Conti's score is awful but the title song is great. Bouquet's stunning & although she's no Diana Rigg, she’s no Bach either"
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| 89 81% | True Romance (1993) - Apr 15, 2019
"Slater's miscast (too good-looking), but he's a solid actor & has the Nicholson eyebrows to pull off crazy. Arquette's great. Tarantino's script is filtered through Tony Scott, but fortunately that just means that Scott keeps things moving briskly. The slower arthouse pacing & self-indulgent refusal to edit any of his dialogue or tangential storylines QT was prone to between Pulp & Basterds is thankfully gone. The unforgettable monologues, crackling dialogue & memorably amusing reprobates remain"
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| 78 48% | Moonraker (1979) - Apr 11, 2019
"First & perhaps most importantly, the main Bond girl, Lois Chiles, is a huge improvement over Bach in the last one: she can act & has a fire in her eyes that one expects from a secret agent. She still goes to bed far too easily with Bond, as does every other female. It's eye-rollingly ridiculous male fantasy & the finale shamelessly tries to copy Star Wars to no great effect. Fortunately some of the locales are beautiful & there's some fantastic aerial stunts even if you can see it isn't Moore."
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| 72 29% | The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) - Apr 08, 2019
"Only nostalgia keeps me from grading this worse. As an adult I can see why my parents didn't think much of Moore's Bond. After so many installments this must've felt tired indeed. Moore's fight scenes are unimpressive & even the opening ski sequence is quite lame esp after having just seen OHMSS. Too much here is also played w/ a wink & nothing feels at stake. The new thing is a female secret agent but Bach's not only wooden, she has no fire in her eyes & may as well be a damsel in distress"
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| 90 85% | On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) - Apr 05, 2019
"Hard to imagine a better Bond film than this. Although some of the series' dumbest cliches are here - the shoehorned-in one-liners, the randy sex humor ripe for parody, villains not recognizing Bond & egregious sexism (from Tracy's father) - this also has the most unformulaic & compelling storyline of any installment. Bond finally meets a woman who's not a badass, but can still literally keep up with him. HIs battle w/ Blofeld also hits a zenith w/ great stuntwork & action that still holds up"
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| 72 29% | Resident Evil: Retribution (2012) - Apr 03, 2019
"The last 2 films each had an unpredictability as to what would come next in Anderson's gleeful worldbuilding (deserts, zombie birds, powers, clones, bag-headed giants, etc), but there's no new directions this time. It quickly tells us exactly what we're going to see (lots of shooting & fighting in backdrop cities) & delivers just that, plus returning characters we didn't care about before. The explanation for this set-up makes less sense than ever, but Anderson still shoots stylish action. "
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| 82 59% | Who is America? (2018) - Apr 01, 2019
"As in his first show, there are characters I find much funnier than others. The Italian guy offers few laughs and the Israeli gun instructor tends to run too long even though he gets some right wing extremists to do some pretty outrageous stuff. If I were him I'd be worried about someone wanting revenge. However, the diehard Trump conspiracy theorist is hilarious, and the best (& most cathartic) is the lefty extremist with the ultra-partisan NPR t-shirt who Cohen captures perfectly. "
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| 73 32% | Wonder Woman (1974) - Mar 31, 2019
"Trying to not let my childhood fondness for this alternate WW overshadow my more discerning viewing as an adult. Some of the dialogue’s painfully stilted (esp the early banter between George & WW); the Amazon battle choreography’s lame; & why is the best agent still a secretary? But Crosby’s good enough as an unflappable super agent, Montalban is great as a smitten bad guy with integrity (their banter’s as good as George’s is bad) & it’s fun to watch WW escape from all those traps."
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| 60 12% | Superman III (1983) - Mar 29, 2019
"Making a movie around Pryor, a comic star at the time, makes sense. Unfortunately, although the script is not the plothole-ridden mess that part 4 is, it can't include Pryor in any way that works. His adult humor can't exist here & so we get jokes only small children would enjoy. He's also not really a villain so none of the plots involve lives at stake. Even "Evil" Supes isn't really. The only thing that works are the romantic scenes w/ O'Toole. She highlights how superficial Lois really is."
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| 74 35% | Hotel Artemis (2018) - Mar 24, 2019
"There's some beautifully shot & well-acted world building here - an occasionally resonant dystopian vision. There's also some mostly compelling narratives w/ mysterious but interesting characters we progressively learn more about. Unfortunately, the plot-holes are enormous: why does everyone feel they must leave immediately? Why not just hide the cop until later? Why does "the man who owns LA" get medical help from a dump? Why does the assassin stay behind? How does Quinto find them in the end?"
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