Category Archives: Long Reviews (>400 Words)

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Love (2015) Movie Review

 

Gaspar Noe’s Love opens on an intimate sex scene. The couple is splayed on a bed, engaged in fervent foreplay. It is a single, long take of the two. They do not move. They do not speak. They just do. All the while, orchestral music rises and falls to the tempo of their rhythm.

 

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We cut to the man, Murphy (Karl Glusman), waking, the soundtrack a voiceover narration lamenting his current life and the choices that got him there. He was high the night before. He is worried that Continue reading Love (2015) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Spectre (2015) Movie Review

 

In the new outing for James Bond (Daniel Craig), we open on a gun barrel sequence. The classic gun barrel sequence, which we haven’t seen up front in a Daniel Craig Bond film until now. Signifying a return to classic Bond form, perhaps?

 

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In Mexico City on Dia de Los Muertos, Bond stalks through a parade in a skeleton mask. He is on an off-book mission to assassinate a series of targets before they Continue reading Spectre (2015) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Drama, Long Reviews (>400 Words), Love It

Bridge of Spies (2015) Movie Review

 

Bridge of Spies is a Cold War espionage drama from Steven Spielberg. The FBI infiltrates a hotel room held by a man they address as Colonel. Calmly, the man, Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance), continues about his business as the FBI agents strip his room looking for signs of espionage. All the while, the man destroys the signs of espionage.

 

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James Donovan (Tom Hanks), an insurance lawyer with a history in the Nuremberg Trials, is assigned to defend Continue reading Bridge of Spies (2015) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Skyfall (2012) Movie Review

 

Skyfall opens on an extended foot and car chase, which is choreographed beautifully. It also ends with the apparent death of James Bond (Daniel Craig), shot and left for dead in the sea as Adele’s thunderous theme kicks in. Of course, Bond survives, but MI6 doesn’t know this. M (Judi Dench) must write his obituary. Her job is also threatened for her reckless actions with her agents in the field.

 

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Following this, MI6’s computers are hacked and their headquarters are destroyed. Bond returns to help remedy the situation, but he’s Continue reading Skyfall (2012) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Quantum of Solace (2008) Movie Review

 

The cold open to Quantum of Solace depicts shadowy shots of cars riding through the Italian countryside. Then, the scene kicks into gear and we get a brutal, tight-traffic car chase. Stunt choreography is intricate and editing is tight. It is the way a Bond film should start.

 

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Secret agent James Bond (Daniel Craig) escapes his pursuers and rides into the city of Siena. Out of eyesight, he parks his heavily damaged Aston Martin and pops the trunk to reveal Continue reading Quantum of Solace (2008) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Casino Royale (2006) Movie Review

 

The cold open to Casino Royale shows, in sleek black and white, James Bond (Daniel Craig, in his debut as the character) waiting in the shadows of an office for a corrupt MI6 agent. Bond explains to the man that he killed his contact. The scene is essentially a gritty fist fight cross-cut with a noir-style confrontation. It is also essentially MI6’s test to Bond, a mission that gives Bond his 00 status (because killing two people while working for MI6 makes you a 00-agent, arbitrarily). Albeit brief, it is a wonderful opening.

 

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We then see a meeting of evil minds. Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), leader of global crime organization Quantum, is setting up private banker (for terrorists) Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) with a terrorist outfit. Later, Continue reading Casino Royale (2006) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Halloween Horror, Horror, Indie Films, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Gravy (2015) Movie Review

 

The horror comedy Gravy opens with Anson (Michael Weston) buying sorbet in a gas station on Halloween, where he has the most unrealistic, awkward conversation with Bethany (Sarah Silverman). It is charming in the characters’ simplicity, but it avoids realism entirely.

 

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After this, we leave these characters in lieu of those working in a bar at closing time. The ensemble all work off of each other like Continue reading Gravy (2015) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Halloween Horror, Indie Films, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Circle (2015) Movie Review

 

Following an alien invasion, a diverse group of 50 people are sucked up into a black void space that is meant to be a spaceship. Each person is forced to stand on a red circle, or they’ll be struck by a killer lightning bolt. Touch one of the other people. Killer lightning. Do nothing for too long. Killer lightning. Turns out, each person gets a vote as to who gets killed every few minutes. It’s like some perverted democracy.

 

And that’s where the ethical questioning begins.

 

As the ensemble tries to logically break down the situation at hand, they bicker about Continue reading Circle (2015) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

The World is Not Enough (1999) Movie Review

 

 

In The World is Not Enough, MI6 super spy James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) is sent to hunt down terrorist Renard (Robert Carlyle), the man behind the assassination of a billionaire oil tycoon who is also attempting to instigate a nuclear meltdown. Additionally, Renard has a bullet lodged in his skull that renders him with diminishing senses and the inability to feel pain.

 

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Now that we have contextualized the absudity, let’s begin.

 

This is Brosnan’s third outing as James Bond. It is hard to say that he has “settled in” to the role at this point in his tenure. His acting as the spy certainly Continue reading The World is Not Enough (1999) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) Movie Review

 

On the Russian border, super spy James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) infiltrates a terrorist arms deal in order to steal a plane carrying nuclear torpedoes before a British launched missile hits the site. One “techno terrorist” involved in the deal, Henry Gupta (Ricky Jay), is working with media mogul Elliot Carver (Jonathon Pryce), whose plan is to start World War III in order to profit off of the headlines it would provide.

 

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The villainous plot is bonkers, don’t get me wrong. And Jonathon Pryce’s performance is exceedingly over-the-top. But it’s Continue reading Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) Movie Review →