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Now You See Me (2013)
Lame and uninteresting
This was a major disappointment. I really did not know what to expect, but it certainly was not this mess. The only things I did like was the acting of Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine, and I suppose Woody Harrelson did a pretty good job too. Other than that, this was just awful. The characters are all as shallow as a puddle, with all the likability of the drunk college frat boys across my street. Seriously, I was cheering for the Four horsemen to be caught and flogged in jail because they were all irritating, ungrateful, and nearly got several innocent people killed. Jesse Eisenberg's character and Franco's character and acting are very bad. Eisenberg is still the character he was in the Social Network, and I did not even like him or that movie then. I really do not see the big deal about this guy. And James Franco's brother has about as much talent as Patrick Wayne did in comparison to his father (I'll give you a hint; it is not a whole lot). The Story was rendered completely and utterly pointless by the stupid "twist" at the end, which to be honest was not that interesting, and was contrived and devoid of logic to begin with so it did not do as much harm as it should have. The effects were the final nail in the coffin, As soon as I saw the utterly cheap and shameless CGI I felt like leaving. It was a depressing experience to see this film literally butchered by crap CGI and cheesy cinematography within the first five minutes. This film, on the surface is close to a modern equivalent of Arabesque; a film that has as little logic as possible peppered with crazy cinematography. But Arabesque at least had Gregory Peck, and Sophia Loren who were better actors than any of the four horsemen here, are Sophia was easily better looking than anyone in this movie. Do not waste your time here, this was garbage. While technically a far worse film, Sharknado is easily better than Now You See Me, or any other film this year for sheer unpretentious fun. Aren't the summer blockbuster's supposed to be fun anyway?
Goldfinger (1964)
Not the worst Bond, but maybe the most disappointing
Goldfinger is probably the most popular and most beloved Bond movie of the entire series but for some reason it did not do much for me. Do not get me wrong, it was by no means horrible; it was a certainly a decent and watchable flick, but I can't help but feel disappointed by it.
The acting is solid enough, with Connery giving a very confident and convincing portrayal of 007, and his usual supporting cast at MI6 doing decent jobs as well. Gert Frobe was also quite good as goldfinger. In addition there are some great one-liners, a memorable henchman in Oddjob, the introduction of the fully equipped Aston Martin, a great pre-credits sequence with the explosion and fight at the Caribbean party, and the theme song, performed by Shirley Bassey is one of the best in the entire movie series. Certainly Goldfinger has some of the greatest moments in Bond history, so where does it go wrong?
While Goldfinger essentially invented the now standard "fun" Bond blueprint that everyone knows and loves (the crazed villain, the cheesy one liners, the tricked out car, the gadgets, the epic battle at the end, Bond bedding girls left and right throughout the picture, etc.), it all feels strangely pedestrian when compared to the later pictures that nailed the crowd-pleaser style of Bond movie. Goldfinger's biggest crime is that it is just rather dull and uninteresting most of the time. Instead of taking the viewer to marvel at some of the most beautiful locations in the world, most of this movie takes place in Kentucky (although Geneva was cool). The fight scenes are mostly clumsy, except for the one in the beginning. Instead of saving the day, Bond basically just sits in jail most of the time and lets other people do the work for him (he did not even defuse the bomb at Fort Knox). Goldfinger is a transition between the earlier Fleming inspired movies, and the later more outrageous ones without having the benefits of either. There is no sense of danger or suspense in the entire movie; mainly because Auric Goldfinger was one of the lamest, and most nonthreatening villains in Bond history, and add to the fact that his motives were vague and unclear, it is easy not to care about the plot of the movie or its outcome. At the same time it lacks the balls of the later flicks that had over the top ninja battles in Volcanoes, or Bond fighting a seven- foot behemoth while falling out of a plane with no parachute. Goldfinger had a mildly exciting car chase, and the likewise somewhat stimulating finale on the jet.
There really is not much more to say. Goldfinger is a decent, but highly disappointing Bond flick. I personally found Dr. No to be far more interesting and suspenseful than anything in this movie, and also From Russia With Love ,and You Only Live Twice, and Thunderball, and Live and Let Die, and The Spy Who Loved Me, and Moonraker, and For Your Eyes Only, and Octopussy (yes even that one, at least it was more fun and had better action, even if it did have a similar plot) and even Goldeneye (though I thought it was kind of weak too).
Live and Let Die (1973)
Very Good
I really did not know what to expect with this one, as it seems to be one of the most polarizing to Bond fans. Turns out this is actually a darn good James Bond Movie, even if it does not even come close to the classic formula, and it filled with some of the most downright weird moments in any Bond Film.
This Movie works for several reasons. The plot is not very complicated, and is actually rather grounded in reality, despite the voodoo stuff, which surprising does not hurt this film at all, and just adds an extra sense of mystery and foreboding to the plot and the locales. The Acting is actually some of the strongest in a Bond film, with a good, and very funny, and for the most part confident Roger Moore as Bond. Moore's Bond may be not very much like Fleming's character, but he is still my favorite portrayal because he is easily the most interesting and likable of the lot. Don't get me wrong, Connery, Dalton, Craig, Lazenby, and Brosnan are good in their own ways, and are far superior as the literary Bond, but I find that Moore is best all around action hero in general, and is the most accessible to outsiders/non-fans of Bond. Acting from the villains are great, especially from Yaphet Kotto as Kananga and Julius Harris as Tee-Hee. Geoffrey Holder did not have a whole lot to do, but he left his mark on this film as the awesome Baron Samedi. His part in the ending is classic, gets my vote for the best bond ending of all time. Jane Seymour here does a decent, if a little bland and forgettable, performance as Solitaire. Still, she is far better than most of the other leading ladies like Britt Ekland, Tanya Roberts, Carole Bouquet, Cary Lowell, Halle Berry, Jill St. John, and Denise Richards, not to mention that she is easily one of the most attractive. The Stunts/fights are uniformly good especially the fight with Tee-Hee on the train, and the bus chase. The Boat Chase was literally jaw dropping, but was nearly ruined by the worst part of the movie; Clifton James as Sheriff Pepper. He was funny for the first few minutes, but the scene just keep on going and going until he became a nuisance. He had nothing to do with the plot, and it would have been better if they just cut him out. The second worst thing is Rosie Carver, who was pretty enough, but had an annoying and grating character. Thankfully she is barely in the film, so it is not that big of a deal. The film occasionally drags, but is never really boring, and the writing stays relatively strong and focused
Despite what others may have said, the humor actually works very well, and is mostly subtle, (except for the boat chase and Pepper, and while Bond uses gadgets, he uses his wits more than you may think to escape situations. Overall this is actually a very good Bond film, and action film in general, and it is one of Moore's best, and actually one of the series' best too.
The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
A truly unique artwork
This Film was one of the most intriguing and interesting I have watched in years. I first encountered this movie one slow afternoon, with nothing else to watch. I was hooked about 1 minute into the film, It was that good, and whatever flaws it may have are vastly overshadowed by the positives.
I believe that the first thing worth noting is how the film looks, and it looks stunning in all of its eccentric marriage of 1920's Art-Deco and early 70's vibe. This might sound odd on this review, but trust me it looks beautiful (in an odd but compelling way) and only makes this film stand out from the pack of its contemporaries and even films today. Truly marvelous.
The story is sublime, and very original for its time. Of course, the idea of a man getting revenge on those who failed him may be a cliché today in many horror style movies (Err, the entire SAW series), but Phibes arguably was the birth of such an idea made over 30 years before the first SAW movie. Unlike in SAW, Phibes actually has clear motives from the get-go, and his reason for revenge is truly touching actually(His Wife died on the operating table and he blames it on the surgeons). I won't give the whole movie away, but I will mention that the methods of revenge are some of the best parts of the movie, using inspiration from the Old Testament to carry out some of the most creative kills ever.
The movie's ace card is undeniably the acting/dialogue. The role of Dr. Phibes is played by none other than the one and only Vincent Price, and his performance here (even though all of his dialogue was pre- recorded) proves just how irreplaceable the man truly was. Price went from campy, and actually rather humorous, to warm and sentimental, to ice-cold murderer sometimes in the same scene, handled with aplomb by the master. The facial expressions he pulls of sync perfectly with the solid dialogue pre-recorded (check out the scene where Phibes gives his first lamentation to his dead wife,- "Nine Eternities in Doom!" couldn't have been pulled off better by ANY other actor!. While Price is the greatest acting force here, Terry Thomas and Peter Jeffrey also have likable characters and do solid acting efforts as well. Even Joseph Cotten was not nearly as bad as everyone else says he was. Virginia North as Vulnavia may not have much to do and her character is unexplained, but she sure does look good, and same with Caroline Munro as Victoria Phibes who has even less to do (lie in a coffin), but is easily one of the most stunning actresses in the history of film.
The film is not without its flaws though,as sometimes the humor can get too silly for its own good, the pacing can occasionally slow, the sometimes shoddy SFX, and fact that some of the deaths are so OTT they are hard to believe.
None of this though affects Phibes' shining credentials. This film cannot really be pigeonholed. It is officially known as a horror film. It is not a horror, but it does contain some genuinely horrific scenes.
Sometiems it is called a comedy, though it is not really a comedy, though it does contain truly funny moments. It is even considered a romance movie by some, but i believe it is not a romance either, even though the pain that Phibes feels for his wife comes off as shockingly authentic, and translates well to the attentive viewer. The ending in particular is actually one of the most poignant and emotional in any film. The fact is, Phibes combines the best things about different types of genres, and largely it succeeds. I suggest to anyone sick of the mostly hackneyed garbage that is modern horror movies, to check out this little gem immediately. Better yet, anyone who loves film should see this at least once. You won't be disappointed.
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Awesome
This is my favorite James Bond movie, and definitely one of my favorite movies overall. Why is it so good? Well for starters, it contains literally everything that was cool about the cinema James Bond in its running time. Charismatic and cool hero? You bet, as Roger Moore turns in his best and one of his most complex interpretations of James Bond. Evil antagonist with an insane, over the top plot? This movie has it in Curt Jurgens genuinely creepy,(even if he was sparsely used)villain who plans to blow up the world, and create a civilization under the sea; it does not get much more over the top than that. Evil henchman? Oh boy this movie delivers there with probably the best one of the whole series with Jaws, who is scary and fearsome in his role (unlike in Moonraker). How about the gadgets and car? They are also among the best with the submersible Lotus Esprit; which is pretty much tied with the DB5 as the best Bond car ever. Is there exotic locations? Yes, Egypt and Sardinia fit the bill nicely. Lastly, and most importantly there are several drop-dead gorgeous women, like Barbara Bach, Valerie Leon, and (my personal favorite actress) Caroline Munro. The Spy Who Loved Me is like a greatest hits collection of Bond, but what pushes the familiar elements over the top is the level of execution, polish, and creativity shown here. There have been ski-chases in the series before, but oh my none of them before or even after have lived up to the jaw-dropping chase and stunt that was in the opening teaser, it perfectly set the tone for the movie as an action packed thrill ride, which it definitely is. There have also been massive conflicts that pit the evil mastermind's forces against the good guys before in the series, but few have ever lived up to the titanic clash in the submarine hold near the end of the film. That is what makes the movie great, everything is bigger, better, and bolder than virtually everything else in the series. Even the story is somewhat familiar, as it hearkens back to You Only Live Twice, but once again it is improved on. The entertainment value in this movie is through the roof with some of the best stunts and fights in the series, and the story itself is good enough to keep the viewer interested until the conclusion. To top it all off this movie has one of the best opening songs in the entire series with "Nobody Does It Better", a departure from other songs before this movie in style and name, but it is a beautiful piece that arguably sums up why James Bond is such an awe-inspiring cinema legend for over 50 years This film is just amazing ,and any true fan of the movies will love this piece of classic cinema.