Thursday Movie Picks: Secret Agents/Spies
This week's theme is movies with spies/secret agents in them. There's so many to choose from, and a few I used already, so here's what I came up with.
1) The East
Sarah goes undercover to spy on a group of eco-terrorists. I love Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, they make a wonderful team, and this film is my favorite of theirs.
2) Skyfall
I don't like Bond movies. Blasphemy, I know, but this is the exception. It's just stunning.
3) The Bourne Supremacy
I always say that this film has one of the best car chases in cinema history. The Bourne trilogy is a fun ride, this one being my favorite.
No qualms with any of these picks. I will say you're the first person I have heard who likes Supremacy best of the Bourne flicks.
ReplyDeleteI will also say you're intro to this post might be the best in TMP history.
lol, why thank you! I thought most did like Supremacy the best? Maybe it's just me and my husband. I haven't talked about the Bourne movies for awhile.
DeleteBest intro to any post, ever! Love your picks this week, too :)
ReplyDelete- Allie
lol Thank you! :)
DeleteI agree with Allie and thank you for listening to me :)
DeleteThank you for hosting. :)
DeleteI remember hearing good things about The East a while back, I really need to track down that film.
ReplyDeleteThe East is excellent. Mostly everything Brit Marling gets her hands on it, it's definitely worth seeing.
DeleteLOL at your intro this week. Perfect! I thought there would be more Bourne this week so I didn't pick it. I really like all three of them - don't know if I could pick a favorite, but I really didn't like that they killed off my beloved Franka Potente in Supremacy. Despite that, I still liked it, though. I'm honestly not a big Bond fan either, haven't felt the need to see any of them, but I did see Skyfall and it was good. Some of the cinematography (particularly the scene you gif-ed here) was just stunning.
ReplyDeleteI worried about my Bourne pick because he was an assassin, but I still think that qualifies him as a secret agent. Losing Franka shocked me. Didn't see that coming at all. Yes, that scene in Skyfall was STUNNING. I wanted to get up and make out with the movie screen, basically. lol
DeleteI love that intro:) I am a big Bond Fan and Skyfall is excellent-one finds out more about who Bond is. It was a very well-rounded film. I love the whole Bourne series and loved the car chases in both the first and last one. I have not seen East though
ReplyDeletelol thank you. My husband is a massive Bond fan, I just never got into it other than Skyfall. The East is very good, you should see it.
DeleteI'll join in the chorus of praise for you intro, gave me a chuckle. I'd never heard of The East until I saw it mentioned earlier, sounds good I'll be checking it out.
ReplyDeleteI'm a casual Bond fan, meaning I've seen most of them by happenstance and liking them but not feeling compelled to track them all down. That said I did really enjoy Skyfall with its darker tone, though I hope the series doesn't feel the need to continue in that vein. Adventure series usually turn dour if they become too reflective.
Love the Bourne films about equally though like Dan I was sorry to see Franka Potente leave the series after this one.
I went with a mix of light-hearted and deadly serious for the week:
If Looks Could Kill (1991)-High school senior Michael Corben, then hot young actor Richard Grieco, headed to France with the French club is mistaken for international spy Michael Corbin and finds himself, now outfitted with all sorts of spy paraphernalia, pursued by an evil cartel that is planning to take control of the European money markets. Fun spoof on the spy genre with Roger Rees and especially Linda Hunt chewing the high grade ham and Robin Bartlett hysterical as The French Teacher.
Three Days of the Condor (1975)-Joe Turner code name Condor (Robert Redford) a CIA reader whose function is to search literature for conspiracy theories works with a small group in a quiet neighborhood in Washington D.C. One day he slips out the back door for lunch and when he returns finds everyone dead. He phones the agency to be brought in but when he arrives at the rendezvous another attempt is made on his life. A hunted man now he must stay one step ahead of the covert agency within the CIA while trying to solve the puzzle of what the murders mean.
Pick-up on South Street (1953)-Small time hood Skip McCoy (Richard Widmark) pickpockets a young woman’s purse on a crowded subway. Unknown to both is that along with the money she was carrying a piece of top secret microfilm planted by her boyfriend, a Communist agent. Under duress the young girl, Candy, contacts Moe Williams (Thelma Ritter) a police informant to discover Skip’s whereabouts and recover the purloined article. She reluctantly attempts to seduce Skip to recover the film but falls for him instead. The agent desperate to get the incriminating item takes extreme measures causing Skip, now determined to stop him, into a confrontation.
Honorable Mention- Gotcha! (1985)-Jonathan Moore, played by Anthony Edwards when he had a full head of hair, is a puppyish UCLA college student who is also the reigning champ at “Gotcha!”, a paintball game played throughout campus. On vacation in West Germany with his best friend he’s seduced by the mysterious Sasha (Linda Fiorentino) a sexy slightly older woman who turns out to be an international spy. When she suddenly disappears he finds himself pursued by mysterious men who are trying to kill him for reasons unknown. When he returns home to LA he finds a strange canister of film in his backpack and a team of KGB agents in pursuit. All at once Jonathan is in a real life or death game of “Gotcha!”. As serious as it sounds this is played in a lighthearted vein. It’s fluff but good fluff.
That's kind of why I liked Supremecy, because I did not see that bit with Franke Potente coming. That legit shocked me. I haven't seen any of your choices, but I hope you like The East when you see it.
DeleteBest car chase, eh? Them some tall words!
ReplyDeleteIt is! I loved it, especially at the time the film was first released.
DeleteThe East has cropped up again - really must see this film. Great picks here - oh Skyfall, such a good film.
ReplyDeleteThe East was one of my favorite movies the year it came out. It's wonderful.
DeleteSkyfall is great. It's the sort of Bond film that people who don't like Bond will like! ;)
ReplyDeleteLOL that must have been why I liked it.
DeleteYAY! The Bourne Supremacy is SO good! My favorite as well.
ReplyDeleteYes! :)
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