Tag Archives: thriller

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 →

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

GoldenEye (1995) Movie Review

 

In the cold open to GoldenEye, spy James Bond (Pierce Brosnan, in his first outing as the franchise character) bungee jumps off of a dam in Arkhangelsk in order to covertly infiltrate a Soviet chemical weapons facility. Once inside, he rendevouses with fellow agent 006 Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean). Together they easily break into the loading dock where gasoline tankers are kept. Here we get one of my personal favorite exchanges in the Bond series:

 

Bond: That was too easy.

Trevelyan: Half of everything is luck.

Bond: And the other half.

Trevelyan: [alarm sounds] Fate.

 

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Bond plants explosive charges on the tankers, but Trevelyan is Continue reading GoldenEye (1995) Movie Review →

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

The Living Daylights (1987) Movie Review

 

In The Living Daylights, James Bond (Timothy Dalton) allies in the escape of a defecting KGB agent, General Koskov (Jeroen Krabbe). Koskov is transported via natural gas pipeline into Austria and then taken to London, where he informs MI6 that the head of the KGB has reinstated an order to assassinate a series of international spies. The order, he believes, will bring about a world war. Concurrently to this debriefing, a KGB agent infiltrates the building and captures Koskov.

 

As one might guess, 007 is on the KGB hit-list. It’s a strong premise: it’s kill or be killed for Bond.

 

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Dalton plays a moodier Bond than we are used to. He leans toward the dark as opposed to the sly. Some witty remarks and comedic moments are Continue reading The Living Daylights (1987) Movie Review →

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

A View to a Kill (1985) Movie Review

 

In the cold open of A View to a Kill, James Bond (Roger Moore) is in Siberia attempting to locate the body of missing agent 003. Upon finding the body, and the microchip that the dead agent had recovered, Bond is immediately hunted down on skis and snowmobiles by Soviet military.

 

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Moore’s stunt double skis, rides a snowmobile, and snowboards in this sequence. The stunt work is all well and good, but the ADR lines of grunts falling on the slopes is laughable. Equally laughable is how Continue reading A View to a Kill (1985) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Quickie Reviews (<400 Words)

Octopussy (1983) Movie Review

 

When MI6 agent 009 (Andy Bradford) arrives dying at the British Embassy with a gold Faberge egg, which turns out to be a fabrication, MI6 sends agent 007 James Bond (Roger Moore) to seek out the real egg’s owner. It turns out that the egg can be traced back to Soviet general Orlov (Steven Berkoff).

 

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Octopussy breaks the fourth wall in the strangest way possible when Bond meets a connection in India. The agent in the field, disguised as a snake charmer, plays the Continue reading Octopussy (1983) Movie Review →

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

For Your Eyes Only (1981) Movie Review

 

The cold open to For Your Eyes Only is immediate action. James Bond (Roger Moore) is taken on a helicopter ride from Hell. The pilot is inexplicably murdered and the plane becomes remotely piloted by Ernst Stavro Blofeld, who commandeers the vehicle toward Bond’s demise. Or so it seems. Bond takes control of the cockpit, flies the chopper to Blofeld, picks the arch-nemesis up, and drops him from a high altitude. It seems an unfitting death for such a pivotal franchise villain, Blofeld having appeared in more Bond films than any other of the spy’s adversaries.

 

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After this diversion, which seems to only serve as an answer to the question as to when Blofeld will return (the answer given is never), we get the real opening to the film. A British naval boat is sunk by an underwater mine, and Bond is sent to investigate. He does, and is promptly captured. The action sequence that follows is Continue reading For Your Eyes Only (1981) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Halloween Horror, Horror, Lists

Best Horror Movies on Netflix Right Now

 

It’s October, which means its time to watch some horror movies. Instead of combing the rather unhelpful Netflix website to find the best selections, head to the search bar and check out these gems.

 

Note: this list is in absolutely no particular order. I just picked and grabbed as I perused the films that are available on Netflix.

 

 

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night

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I’ve talked extensively about this movie in previous posts, so I’ll be brief: this movie is horror art. If you want a scream-filled gore fest, this isn’t the movie for you. But if you want horror as high cinema, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night is a beauty.

Continue reading Best Horror Movies on Netflix Right Now →

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

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) Movie Review

 

When Soviet and British submarines disappear, the KGB and MI6 make moves to investigate. Super spy James Bond (Roger Moore) is led to Egypt, where plans for a submarine tracking system are apparently on the black market.

 

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Bond’s travels turn into a cat and mouse game as he searches for contacts, only to find them murdered just prior to his arrival. The killer, Jaws (Richard Kiel), is one of the most Continue reading The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) Movie Review →