Movie Review Thread

[Kane]

Moses knows.

[PoS]

Skyfall 8.5/10

Probably the best non-Connery Bond film yet.

PROS:

-Javier Bardem is the most original Bond villain since the Connery days- mixture of Wint and Kidd (Diamonds are Forever) as well Boris and Trevelyan (Goldeneye).

-Better story this time.

-Cool cameo of the Aston Martin from Goldfinger

CONS:
-I still find Daniel Craig to be lacking in what Bond should be, he has got the physical aspects down but doesnt have Connery's charm or charisma.

-Action sequences somewhat predictable (in the Bourne series its the protagonist who gets chased by the bad guys, in the Bond series its always Bond chasing after the badguys in elaborate sequences).

[Kane]

Daniel Craig has charisma and charm in the movies...I just don't find it very convincing. His body language is one of constant rigidity and defense, he doesn't know how to show that he's putting his guard down.

[Spider]

For me its the other way around. Old school pompous Bond makes me want to punch him in the face. 21st century bond is where its at.

[Kane]

Pffft. Sean Connery was awesome. He was more suave and his masculinity was more derived from the company he kept than his own physical attributes.

New Bond seems to be more narcissistic or at least molding itself to fit contemporary understandings of strength and how its best projected (Prominently through brute physical strength). Sean Connery came off a bit more witty.

Just me.

[exploited]

Sean Connery
Daniel Craig
Roger Moore
Pierce Brosnan
Timothy Dalton
George Lazenby

That is the order of Bonds. Any fan of the series has to name Connery as the best, because frankly, nobody has gotten close. If Connery were Craig's age, and was operating within the sophistication of modern action movies, he would make Craig look like a wimp. The guy has three titles: Mr. Universe. Mr. Bond. Sir Connery. Anyone else can STFU.

Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan... well, that one was close, but I had to go with Moore because he put out less shitty movies. The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day were fuc*ing terrible.

I liked Dalton more than most people. I thought he was tough, but he just wasn't James Bond. He couldn't quite manage it.

Craig is the evolution of Bond. Ladies these days aren't interested in suave anymore. They want tough, intelligent, sensitive. You know, the Renaissance Man. So he is doing the sexy thing still, just not in the usual Bond way. At least this is what my wife tells me. She thought Brosnan was cheesy; I won't even tell you the sexually-suggestive filth she says about Craig (mostly because I don't want to talk about it). I personally think he is going to do amazing things with the series - Quantum of Solace was a disappointment, but Casino Royale? Epic.

[PoS]

Good list. I would rank Brosnan higher than Moore but I would also consider Roger Moore to be in a class by himself- Bond had become a joke by the 70's and he knew it so he played it for laughs, I cant blame him for that, he went along with popular culture. Having watched On Her Majesty's Secret Service a few times now I would rank Lazenby to be slightly ahead of Dalton (who imo was the worst). Brosnan was trying to channel Connery in his performances but he really got sabotaged by generic scripts and too much FX.

Now as to the top two: I always notice how Connery moves so effortlessly in every scene he is in. Tall guys over 6 feet tend to move awkwardly because of their size (Craig walks forward with his head stooped like a penguin) but Connery moves with a grace and dexterity of a man much shorter than his 6'2 frame. Craig to me also comes off as a laconic killer, its not that he treats his women any better than Connery does, its just that he doesnt dominate the scene he is in. Craig seems to react rather than gracing his presence; not to mention he looks like a corpse in a number of scenes in Skyfall- Connery shows style and panache when he puts his suits on or orders his drinks, Craig just sorts of does it mechanically.

[The Comrade]

i do not enjoy the bond movies. at all. not a single one.

are they supposed to just be cheesy spy films or is there some meaning i'm missing? i don't get it.

[Dylan]

Magic mike. 9.5/10.

[Nico]

Argo:

7/10

Pretty good. I actually like Afleck's acting in this as he's reasonably self-effacing and sympathetic. Downer being how it took a dump on historical accuracy. There are plenty of ways this could have told the actual story accurately and been awesome. But that's hollywood I guess. Good film, bad account of events and a wasted opportunity not to do the usual historical re-write to play to the home crowd. Mind you at least it wasn't a remake of an awesome swedish film.