Need help understanding phrases of the form "x if y"

Ah awesome word! It fits under defintion 3 at dictionary.com (the World English Dictionary part) and definition 4 at Merriam. I like Merriam's better:

: even though : although perhaps; an interesting if untenable argument

I think it can be used both as a way to make a good quality not as strong, or show some saving grace of a good quality. an interesting if untenable argument says that although the argument is interesting, it is untenable. On the other hand, from your TV guide article, formulaic if handsome genre films says that the films are formulaic, but at least they're handsome.

I just connected this to a Russian word, зато, which I think can only be used to make bad situations better. тупая зато красивая = stupid but pretty.