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Good 66 Points 1994

Movies from Tom Clancy novels reliably deliver realistic military trappings and brisk plotting, with Clear and Present Danger a classic of the breed. Dating from the era when cocaine kingpins effectively controlled Columbia, it still seems relevant now that endemic narco-crime has moved north …

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WikChip Image USS Kitty Hawk: realistic military tr...
Jason Bourne
Barely OK 66 Points 2016

The only smile triggered by Jason Bourne comes after the very long end credits, where the fine print under a “Green is Universal” logo brags about how this steroidal killfest used Sustainable Filming Practices. So let’s get this straight. After the private jets used by Matt Damon and his large …

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WikChip Image Mighty Matt rocks his upside-down grin.
American Assassin
Good 66 Points 2017

The War Against Islamist Terror gets short shrift in the nearly risible American Assassin, which starts well, powerfully well, but then goes mostly downhill. Quality aside: Sequel or No Sequel? That is the question. This origin story sets a low bar, yet made money, so why not a sequel. It’ll al…

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WikChip Video Lame conversation misses the point
Sicario: Day of...
Really Great 66 Points 2018

Sicario 2 couldn’t be more timely, even if its extreme surrealism is an only-in-the-movies depiction of what’s happening today on the TexMex border. That unfenced divide, with traffickers running rampant, makes an ideal milieu for a heavily militarized action thriller. And *Sicario: Day of the …

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The Equalizer 3
Really Great 66 Points 2023

Formulaic sequels like The Equalizer 3 don’t get any respect. However, they make for immensely satisfying cinematic experiences when executed to perfection. E3 pretty much executes to perfection.

Indeed, it fires on damn near all cylinders: a perfect film led by a nonpareil moviestar, work…

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Operation Finale
Perfect 66 Points 2018

The banality of evil gets a powerful debunking in Operation Finale, an awkwardly if accurately titled docudrama about the Mossad’s 1960 capture of Final Solution logistics chief Adolf Eichmann in Argentina. Little Adolf was famously said to embody “the banality of evil” as he dissembled during …

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WikChip Video The (real) Man Who Got Eichmann
The Lives of Ot...
Perfect 68 Points 2006

The Stasi employed 100,000 East Germans, who maintained a network of 200,000 informants, in a country of 16 million people. So roughly 1% of the population controlled the other 99%. Ring any bells America? 1

The Lives of Others, a Stasi romantic drama, was the first perfect movie about t…

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WikChip Video "Do you think we imprison people on a...
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  • galinatwpg – Regarding "galinatwpg's Review":http://www.viewguide...
  • Wick – Regarding "galinatwpg's Review":http://www.viewguide...
The Good Shepherd
Very Good 69 Points 2006

Terrifically well acted by a bevy of single-name movie stars (Damon, Jolie, De Niro, Hurt, Baldwin, Pesci), and more than competently directed by De Niro himself, this is a high quality – albeit long and fictionalized – exploration of how the CIA found itself at odds with the values of the Americ…

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WikChip Image Single-Name Stars Acting Well
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  • MJ5K – Regarding "Phillip's Review":/movie_reviews/591-the-...
  • Wick – Regarding "Wick's Review":/movie_reviews/5-the-good-...
  • MJ5K – Regarding "Wick's Review":/movie_reviews/5-the-good-...
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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Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Really Great 83 Points 2005

Moviestar movies get no better than this one. Super hot, totally cold and dead-bang funny, this huge hit could have been overwhelmed by the fusion of its soon-to-be-coupled stars. Instead Brangelina’s debut perfectly serves the power-couple satire, even more so in hindsight given how their real…

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WikChip Image Moviestar Chemistry Incarnate
3 Replies
  • Wick – She's so fine she blows my mind. If you hate the mo...
  • MJ5K – But I gotta give it credit where credit is due, Ange...
  • MJ5K – Ugh, I hate this movie. Brad Pitt's an on again, off...