Spooks: The Greater Good (aka MI-5) movie review: game of moles
A ridiculous, rote action thriller, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t entertaining, crammed with all sorts of macho emoting and spy nonsense as it is.
CIA
Bridge of Spies movie review: the lawyer who went out in the Cold War
Presents American hypocrisy in defense of America with the snorting derision it warrants, while also being a gripping and intense Cold War thriller.
Sicario movie review: lies, injustice, and the American way
The “War on Drugs” has never felt more like an actual war in this brutal, scathing condemnation of the lawlessness of the battle… on the “good guys” side.
American Ultra movie review: Bourne to lose
It’s one joke dragged out for 90 minutes, and while it’s not entirely unamusing, the comedy feels mired in the same stoner fog as its slacker protagonist.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. movie review: Cold War, lukewarm
Guy Ritchie’s spy-themed GQ fashion shoot. Pure popcorn nonsense, sleek and chic and vaguely funny, but instantly forgettable.
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation movie review: familiar yet fresh
Works for your appreciation with gasp-inducing action sequences and an ethos that has fun with its legacy while moving in a new direction.
Spy movie review: the other gals
Does some wonderfully seditious feminist things while also being funny as hell. Finally, we are asked to laugh with Melissa McCarthy, not at her.
Where Are the Women? Big Game
There is exactly one woman with a speaking role in this film, and I don’t think she has more than three lines of dialogue. [This post is not behind the paywall.]
Kill the Messenger movie review: all the news that’s fit to quash
A passionate and intense drama — fueled by a fierce Jeremy Renner — that furiously underscores the problem of lickspittle corporate “journalism.”
Rosewater movie review (London Film Festival)
Jon Stewart’s first film is passionate and principled, as I expected, but also hopeful, almost serene, and even gently amusing, which I did not.
