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No Time To Die
Barely OK 66 Points 2021

James Bond is dead, literally and figuratively. Daniel Craig resurrected him better than any actor ever, but has now acquiesced to character suicide in the depressing and desultory No Time To Die. Sorry for the plot spoiler, but a lifetime of rushing to see James Bond movies is now yet one more…

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WikChip Image Ana de Armas dazzled, thankfully
Casino Royale
Perfect 75 Points 2006

Is there a better Bond movie? From the B&W opening’s clever incorporation of Bond shooting at the camera, to ‘Bond, James Bond’ not coming till the final line, Casino Royale visits the de rigueur touchstones in fresh, inventive ways. Daniel Craig barely cracks a smile or a smirk, yet is funny…

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Lust, Caution
Really Great 79 Points 2007

Lust, Caution is well titled. If you go for the NC-17 lust, make yourself comfortable because the build-up outweighs the slow-to-arrive albeit hot climax. Whatever, this superbly accomplished film immerses us in a foreign and bygone world, one timeless in its passions (yes, its lust), jealousi…

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The Debt
Really Great 83 Points 2011

A mashup of Israel’s bravura capture of Adolph Eichmann and the moral confusion of Munich, The Debt pays off almost completely, missing perfection by ceding reality. Well that and because the Mossad agents’ reluctance to kill the fictional Surgeon of Birkenau annoys as much as it galvanizes….

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WikChip Image The two visages of Rachel Singer.
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Tinker Tailor S...
Great 83 Points 2011

The best spy movie ever isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Why? Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy unspools its complex story in non-linear fashion via a swirl of supporting characters declaiming with extreme British reserve. Many people thus find the movie nigh on impossible to follow and deadly solemn to …

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WikChip Image Deep Gravitas: Oldman's Quiet Man
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Salt
Great 83 Points 2010

Angelina Jolie does everything but introduce herself as Salt, Evelyn Salt in this geopolitical ultra-action thriller. Possessing the suave savoir-faire associated with Bond, James Bond, her Salt is the kind of old-school secret agent that trades in glamour as much as grit. Put it this way: …

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WikChip Image Mata Hari: Angelina Jolie as Evelyn Salt
Mission: Imposs...
Good 83 Points 2011

Your mission, should you choose to accept it: Pay $15 for an IMAX sequel that spurns the music and conventions that defined Mission Impossible in the first place and that fails to induce vertigo, IMAX or no. Doesn’t seem a worthwhile value in these recessionary times.

MI – GP is a good movi…

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WikChip Image Famous nose meets self-destructing fone
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A Most Wanted Man
Very Good 83 Points 2014

Noted mostly as Philip Seymour Hoffman’s cinematic swan song, A Most Wanted Man is also a clear-eyed look at the long twilight struggle that we in the West have with the Islamists who are trying to kill us. Hoffman goes deep – real deep – as a 21st century German intel officer trying to keep Ha…

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WikChip Video 60 Minutes revisits Philip Seymour Ho...
Kingsman: The S...
Great 83 Points 2014

The same brilliant, depraved and amoral crew who brought us Kick-Ass have now delivered Kingsman: The Secret Service, another comic take on a well-trod movie topic. James Bond movies are the inspiration this time. The result is tremendously entertaining, albeit as sordid as it is sleek. And i…

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WikChip Video Samuel L. Jackson talks Evil Genius
Spy
Barely OK 83 Points 2015

Spy’s spinster-styled spoof of James Bond never comes off the hook. It may have worked in a theater with gals all around. But it sure as hell didn’t work 40,000’ over the Atlantic. I’m hardly the target demographic, but only counted three laughs – meager ones at that. When the funnies don’t com…

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WikChip Image Too clever by half = half the comedy