[8] When it comes to graphic novels brought faithfully to cinematic life, 300 is one to beat. It’s the simple story of how three hundred proud Greek soliders stood valiantly against overwhelming Persian forces in the Battle of Thermopylae. More than anything, 300 is an exercise in style, and with its equal doses of bloodshed and ripped male torsos, it’s probably one of the most …
[6] Roger Moore makes his debut as James Bond in Live and Let Die, a weird blend of voodoo magic and blaxploitation that stands apart from any other entry in the Bond ouvre. Moore does an admirable job taking over the role from Sean Connery. I actually prefer Moore, but I grew up with him in the role, so I’m understandably biased. Live and Let …
[7] A woman with amnesia begins discovering her past as a deadly assassin in this high-octane action flick from director Renny Harlin. The Long Kiss Goodnight is good hokey fun at a frantic pace. Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson are both good in an action movie, even if their chemistry leaves something to be desired. Screenwriter Shane Black’s dialogue is hit and miss, sometimes …
[8] A murdered man comes back from the dead to exact revenge on the people who killed him and his fiancee. The Crow is a dark visual delight featuring a charismatic performance from the late Brandon Lee as the title character. (Lee died in an on-set accident before the film was completed.) Stories of revenge always risk a boring second act where we’re forced to watch …
[6] Sean Connery returns one more time (not counting his appearance in 1983’s unofficial entry, Never Say Never Again) in what is easily the silliest of his Bond films. Charles Gray picks up the part of archvillain Blofeld, who this time is hording the world’s diamond supplies so that he can build an orbiting laser gun to terrorize the world. I like the light, breezy …
[2] John Carpenter has given us a handful of gems over the years, but Ghosts of Mars is not one of them. The movie’s too exotic for its own good. It starts with some quick but tedious exposition, then plops us off in a confusing, alienating environment with little to latch onto. The story has something to do with ghosts and a bunch of leftover …
[6] The stakes are lower than usual and the action in short supply, but Roger Moore’s second outing as James Bond almost makes up for it in character. The colorful supporting cast includes Christopher Lee as a three-nippled baddie and diminutive Hervé Villechaize (TV’s Fantasy Island) as his lethal handy-man. Britt Ekland and Maud Adams are the Bond girls this time around, and I’d rank both of …
[6] This may be Roger Moore’s quintessential outing as James Bond, but The Spy Who Loved Me suffers from a wretched co-starring performance from Barbara Bach (Mrs. Ringo Starr) and a boisterous, sloppily choreographed climax on the sea. This is also the Bond that begins to tilt the franchise’s tone from ‘tongue-in-cheek’ to slapstick, thanks primarily to the introduction of the goofy Jaws (Richard Kiel) …
[5] James Bond (Roger Moore) goes into outer space to stop a bad guy’s plot to… you know, destroy the world. While Moonraker packs more action than most other Bond films, it’s also sillier than most. Richard Kiel’s ridiculous Jaws character makes an unwelcome return and the final act aboard the space station is laughably inappropriate for the franchise. At one point, after Bond has …
[3] A detective and a rookie cop team up to find a bad guy. I know. How original. Charlie Sheen gets my nomination for least charismatic performance in a motion picture here. The word “driftwood” comes to mind. The Rookie is hokey in a bad way, probably the worst Eastwood-directed movie I’ve ever seen. The whole thing feels like a studio’s desperate attempt to come …
Copyright © 2025 | Theme by MH Themes