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Bring back the personal observations. They were enjoyable.
That is exceptionally kind of you to say, but as I think I mentioned once somewhere on the Message Board, since the fall of 2005, writing for the FSM site has been a time-consuming hobby rather than an actual job, and between the time demands of my day job, and the copious number of films I am seeing in theaters, it's all I can to do supply the regular elements of the Friday columns.
That said, I really enjoyed Dune (I saw it in IMAX and will see it again in traditional scope in a week or two), though the Zimmer score left me cold; Interstellar, it wasn't.
As a lifelong 007 devotee (I was first indoctrinated into the series, thanks to one of my older brothers, with a triple-feature of Dr. No, From Russia with Love and Goldfinger in 1972 [I originally typed 1927 - I am old, but I am not THAT old]), I was disappointed by No Time to Die though I enjoyed it more the second time. The Craig Bonds never have the cheesy lows of the Moore films (Moonraker for me is the nadir of the series, followed by The Spy Who Loved Me - they both feel like imitations of Bond movies rather than attempts to make interesting new movies, though I still prefer them to the bland snooze that is Never Say Never Again, whose Fleming-esque title is the best thing about that fundamentally misguided and unnecessary movie), but like Quantum of Solace it's a bit forgettable (most of the cool stuff is in the trailer), and the big surprise at the ending did not please me - not in a Last Jedi "How dare they!" way (I'm actually a big Last Jedi fan, which makes sense since Star Wars isn't a particularly favorite franchise of mine), but more because I didn't feel the movie was good and emotionally strong enough to earn that ending.
I'm a little tired of the endless reboots (though Tom Holland's Spider-Man is my favorite, and I'm eagerly looking forward to The Batman), so I'm hoping that - considering the third act of No Time to Die makes obvious references to Fleming's You Only Live Twice - they take a similar tack when the series resumes rather than a full reboot.
A filmmaker friend of mine thinks that Bond crying over M's death in Skyfall "ruined" the series, but I've just re-read the first four Fleming books, and the Bond of the books would cry if the original, male M died - in Diamonds Are Forever, he actually compares their relationship to a marriage.
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It's because you see so many movies that you've earned some authority. I try to limit myself to 2-3 (in all mediums) per week.
To see so many of them in a cinema -- when you factor in the logistics of doing so -- shows real dedication.
But I must disagree. I actually think THE SPY WHO LOVE ME is the quintessential Bond film (and I think Christopher Nolan agrees). Partly because Barbara Bach, even if she can't act, is the most gorgeous of Bond girls and her adversarial relationship with Bond is well-conceived.
And DUNE, I think, is the best movie of the year. Villeneuve makes movies that would have fitted very comfortably into the '70s and '80s. Flawed, languid, but deeply immersive: APOCALYPSE NOW, THE SHINING, BLADE RUNNER, even Lynch's DUNE.
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