Callan (1974)

Director:  Don Sharp

Writer:  James Mitchell

Composer:  Wilfred Josephs

Starring:  Edward Woodward, Eric Porter, Carl Mohner, Catherine Schell, Peter Egan, Russell Hunter, Kenneth Griffinth, Michael Da Costa, Veronica Lang, Clifford Rose, David Prowse, Don Henderson, Nadim Sawalha

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  Callan... doesn't make friends - and all his enemies are dead!

Plot:  Greg Callan's cousin David Callan top agent/assassin for the S.I.S., was forced to retire because he had lost his nerve. Now, Callan is called back into service to handle the assassination of Schneider, a German businessman. His former boss promises Callan that he'll be returned to active status if he follows orders, but as always Callan refuses to act until he knows why Schneider has been marked for death.

My rating:   8/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

A long while ago I watched the last of the Callan movies, WET JOB (1981), and I liked it.  Now that I've seen the first, I'm full-on ready to tackle the TV series that started it all.  This movie is great.  Woodward is great as top assassin, David Callan.  He's really good at his job.  The rest of the cast do a wonderful job, too.  Eric Porter is Hunger, Callan's old boss, Peter Egan kills it as Toby Meres, Hunter's right hand man and Callan's replacement, Carl Mohner as Schneider, Callan's target, Catherine Schell as Schneider's girlfriend, Jenny and Russell Hunter as Lonely, an old contact of Callan's who gets him what he needs and takes Callan's shit when there's no one around to beat on.  It's swell cast and they all step up to James Mitchell's tight and sharp script.  

This has got two very good action sequences; one is a fight between Callan and Meres and the other is the excellent car chase in the video above.  This is some good shit!  I did not expect them to be this good.  Because this is a movie I expect the show didn't live up to this kind of quality often but I sure hope it did.  The story moves along nicely without any fat needing to be trimmed.  It's satisfying throughout but there were only two things that bothered me.  One is the odd harmonica-heavy score.  It's just damn strange and felt weird from the first few seconds of the film.  I thought it would disappear after the opening but it didn't.  The other is Callan the man and the ending.  He indicates that he knows he's being set up and he goes through with it anyway.  Now, one would assume that he's prepared something special off camera for the viewer so that we be be surprised and be impressed by his cunning.  But he doesn't have anything planned.  If he did, we don't see what it is because something unexpected happens and Callan improvises.  What he does with his improvisation is brilliant in its own right.  Sadly, what happens next with his (unbeknownst to Callan) re-classification at the hands of Hunter we'll never know what happens next.  It's a neat little suspenseful set-up for a sequel ala JOHN WICK (2014).   Having not seen the preceding series, I feel like this movie as a stand alone story is a great watch and highly recommended. 

Triple Cross (1966)

Director:  Terence Young

Writers:  Rene Hardy, Frank Owen, William Marchant

Composer:  Georges Garvarentz

Starring:  Christopher Plummer, Romy Schneider, Trevor Howard, Gert Frobe, Claudine Auger, Yul Brynner, Anthony Dawson

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  MASTER-CRIMINAL! SUPER-SPY! AND ALL TRUE!

Plot:  During WW2, convicted bank robber Eddie Chapman becomes a triple agent working for both the British and the Germans.

My rating:   6/10

Will I watch it again?   No.

SPY SPOILERS AHEAD!  YARRRRRR!!!

I like the cast even though some of them don't sustain the level of quality they generally maintain in this picture.  For example, Brynner is does a fine job, playing his usual stern self until the end when it's time for his overly dramatic exit.  It's all too easy for him to over do it.  The rest of the cast does a fine job.  But when it comes to Plummer in the lead, he's mostly great except he sometimes comes off as a super cocky narcissist which makes him difficult to like, and he's the lead so you're kind of supposed to get behind this guy.  Plummer seems quite good at accents.  At times he sounds like a young Errol Flynn which only got me wanting to turn this off and watch a good ole Flynn adventure.  

 

As the title suggests, there's some double and triple cross action going on.  We spend more time with the Germans than with the Britich and most of the Germans aren't all that bad.  They don't display any of the evil side that we know about.  All that means is these Germans have personalities and they're not saying or doing evil things.  Maybe that's on purpose to give the audience room to suggest that maybe Chapman (Plummer) could genuinely be working for the Germans.  It really doesn't matter where his loyalties lie (except really you know he only seems to care about himself and which way the wind is blowing - he doesn't want to get stuck playing on the losing side no matter what).  

 

 Look at how shoddy this shot is?  I promise you they had a budget but they didn't always use it.

The plot moves at a nice enough pace but only once do you get a sense that he's in danger and that's on his first 'mission' for the Germans which ends up being a test that he barely catches onto in time to save his ass.  And that's part of the problem.  Aside from that tension-filled moment, there's little to no suspense.  It doesn't feel like it matters who's side he's really on.  You hope that he's really helping England more than Germany but you don't know until the end.  And by then I almost didn't care.  Speaking of not caring, what about that song playing over the end credits?  That's really out of left field.  It's more appropriate at the end of a Bond spoof.  With this being directed by Terence Young, the director behind 3 of the first 4 Bond pictures, that sounds about right but it's still beneath him.  But this isn't a spy spoof, it's based on a real guy that did these things.  There are enough ingredients in this picture that should've yielded something better and darker.  They had the opportunity to make a strong thriller taken from true events but instead they made a passable WWII spy drama that casually entertains and doesn't try too hard to not be forgettable.  

Wet Job (1981)

Director:  Shaun O'Riordan

Writer:  James Mitchell

Composer:  Cyril Ornadel

Starring:  Edward Woodward, Russell Hunter, George Sewell, Angela Browne, Helen Bourne, Hugh Walters, Anthony Smee, Milos Kerek

More info:  IMDb

Plot:  Ten years after leaving the S.I.S., former agent/assassin David Callan is living a quiet life as the owner/operator of a militaria shop. He is forced out of retirement to participate in one final assignment.

My rating:  6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

For the most part, this is pretty good.  The story and dialogue, acting, direction and editing are well done.  It's the music that is all over the place from awful to suitable.  And being how this is a British TV movie, it was shot on video which is a drag since the quality isn't on par with the quality of the product.  Woodward is excellent as the former spy, Callan, and Callan is a beast of a professional.  The way he handles the Ruskies at the end when he's got the drop on him is so good that filmmakers need to watch this brief scene to see how a pro handles a gun.  There's not over-talking the situation and dragging out the moment.  He's efficient and understands not to fuck around and to quickly turn the situation in his favor.  Anyway, this has only whetted my appetite for more Callan adventures.  WET JOB was the last of three projects Woodward did as the character, preceeded by the film, CALLAN (1974) and the series of the same name which ran for 43 episodes from 1967-1972.

The Black Windmill (1974)

Director:  Don Siegel

Writer:  Leigh Vance, Clive Egleton

Composer:  Roy Budd

Starring:  Michael Caine, Donald Pleasence, Delphine Seyrig, Clive Revill, John Vernon, Joss Ackland, Janet Suzman, Catherine Schell, Joseph O'Conor, Denis Quilley, John Rhys-Davies

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  Seven days to a killing...the ultimate exercise in controlled terror.

Plot:  A British Agent's son is kidnapped and held for ransom.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

I'm such a big Michael Caine fan that I'll watch everything he did before 1980.  After then, it's pick and choose time.  This one's OK.   The performances across the board are good.  I particularly liked John Vernon (McKee) as the super good at his job villain.  He had this shit thought out down to the smallest detail...until the end, that is.   The set-up and McKee's fucking with Tarrant (Caine) are most enjoyable.  Of course, it helps to have someone on the inside of the agency to help McKee with his task.   The picture is moving nicely until the final act when the tables are turning and it's a race against time for Tarrant to take care of the bad guy and save his son (all the while being hunted down by his spy agency employer as they suspect he's working for the bad guys) and for the mole to be discovered.  It's this last twenty minute or so of the movie that falls into the typical Hollywood device of "let's hurry and wrap this up".  And it's because of that, I was left underwhelmed.  I don't know what they could've done different but what's there is rushed and unsatisfactory.  But up until then, it's pretty darn good.

Operation C.I.A. (1965)

Director: Christian Nyby

Writers: Bill S. Ballinger, Peer J. Oppenheimer

Composer: Paul Dunlap

Starring: Burt Reynolds, Kieu Chinh, Danielle Aubry, Cyril Collick, Bill Catching, Vic Diaz, Marsh Thomson, John Laughinghouse, Frank Estes, Santi, Michael Schwiner, Robert Gulbranson, Janet Russell, John Hoyt

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Our C.I.A. man in Saigon ... The hottest spot on Earth!

Plot: A young CIA agent is assigned to Saigon to stop a planned political assassination.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

For a low budget movie like this (purported to be 70k) it looks great.  The Warner Bros. Archive Collection DVD sports a marvelous B&W widescreen print.  And the location shooting in Thailand does the flick a good turn, too.  I rather dig the movie poster (above) although there's too much empty space in the middle on both sides of Burt.  The story is pretty simple but it's not too bad.  It's a low budget Bond film but with one locale, a couple of hot chicks (one local), some bad guys and a plot to kill the American ambassador and other dignitaries with a race against the clock for Mark Andrews (Burt) to save the day.  Although Burt had a lot of acting experience under his belt by this time with lots of TV work, this was his third feature film and his first as the lead.  He's not bad but you can see he needs a few more gigs to hone his craft.  Part of the problem is the mediocre dialogue.  Some of the interior scenes feel more suited for television, especially with Burt's first scene.  You guessed it, the director and one of the writers (Ballinger) worked almost exclusively in TV.  But these folks sure knew how to stretch a dollar.  The best moments are the action scenes, especially the big chase and fight at the end.  Those are quite good...but then I could be remembering them being so much better than the rest of the picture.  There's nothing about this that stands out all that much except for a familiar face or two (like the always fun Vic Diaz) and of course seeing a super young Burt Reynolds in a James Bond kind of role where he gets the chicks, gives the baddies what fer and saves the day in the end...and gets more chicks after that.

Red Sparrow (2018)

Director: Francis Lawrence

Writers: Justin Haythe, Jason Matthews

Composer: James Newton Howard

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Charlotte Rampling, Mary-Louise Parker, Ciaran Hinds, Joely Richardson, Bill Camp, Jeremy Irons, Thekla Reuten, Douglas Hodge

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Seductive. Deceptive. Deadly.

Plot: Dominika Egorova, a famous Russian prima ballerina for the renowned Bolshoi Ballet, sees her brilliant career end abruptly--and as a result--she is faced with a difficult decision when her shady uncle, Vanya Egorov, sends her to serve the State. Now, as a secret agent or, a Sparrow, Dominika after intensive training to learn how to use her body as a weapon to sexually manipulate prestigious targets, is recruited to make contact with CIA Agent, Nate Nash, to reveal the identity of his unknown Russian informant.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

I saw the trailer only once and I couldn't help but think this is the Marvel Black Widow origin story.  But then I saw it and that notion fell fast.  This movie is fantastic.  I loved it.  It is a well made picture in every department.  Lawrence's performance is quiet and reserved and that serves her character's deception well.  I didn't know where her loyalties lay until shortly before the end credits rolled.  The story is intriguing without being overly complicated but it's strength is playing to the danger and deceit.  I can see how people might be turned off to the length and deliberately slow pacing but I found it necessary to tell the story properly.  Every scene has a purpose and the character moments and actions serve the story.  Yeah, it's two hours and twenty minutes but every minute adds to the characters, their motivations and to the picture as a whole.  I wouldn't change any of it.  At first I was struck by how much time was spent with Dominika and her build up to becoming a Sparrow but as I got more into the picture I realized that there wasn't a wasted moment.  It's not an action filled spy thriller but there are moments when it's necessary like the knife fight in the final act.  It's brutal and everyone is getting cut.  I cringed a lot.  It's a beautifully shot film and it needs to be seen on the big screen.  It's only been out two weeks but with the speed at how fast movies leave these days unless it's making seriously large dollars, it's not likely to be around much longer.   I'm looking forward to spending more time with this one and I hope the Blu-ray is loaded with extras and a commentary.  I saw that the novel this is based on has two sequels.  I sincerely hope this picture does well enough that those that matter film them but I suspect, without having read them, that they might be more traditional spy thrillers than this one. 

Archer (2009) TV series

Creator: Adam Reed

Directors: Adam Reed, Bryan Fordney

Writer: Adam Reed

Composers: J.C. Richardson, Michael Kohler, J.G. Thirlwell

Starring: H. Jon Benjamin, Judy Greer, Amber Nash, Chris Parnell, Aisha Tyler, Jessical Walter, Adam Reed, Lucky Yates

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Espionage never tasted so salty.

Plot: Covert black ops and espionage take a back seat to zany personalities and relationships between secret agents and drones.

My rating: 9/10

Will I watch it again? YES!!!

I was hooked on this show since the first episode aired.  The dialogue is faster than any show I know and it's funny as hell.  The voice talent is incredible.  It's outrageous and crass and that's part of the charm.  Every season was hilarious until season 7 when the gang moved to Los Angeles and that's when something drastic happened that shocked the shit out of me.  It wasn't funny.  I even gave it some time and started season 7 over and I still wasn't laughing.  I could probably count on both hands how many times I laughed for that ten episode run.  What the hell happened?  And season 8, while I appreciate the departure into something different, it was largely unfunny.  The end is near.  I read somewhere they were only doing a total of 9 or 10 seasons and that would end the series.  I hope it picks up.  I love this too much to want the quality to drip.  I don't care what they do or where the plot goes.  I just want the funny back.  Regardless, we'll always have the first six seasons. 

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Writers: Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn, Mark Millar, Dave Gibbons

Composers: Henry Jackman, Matthew Margeson

Starring: Taron Egerton, Edward Holcroft, Gordon Alexander, Mark Strong, Hanna Alstrom, Calvin Demba, Thomas Turgoose, Tobi Bakare, Julianne Moore, Keith Allen, Tom Benedict Knight, Colin FIrth, Michael Gambon, Channing Tatum, Halle Berry, Elton John, Jeff Bridges, Pedro Pascal, Bruce Greenwood, Emily Watson

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.

Plot: When their headquarters are destroyed and the world is held hostage, the Kingsman's journey leads them to the discovery of an allied spy organization in the US. These two elite secret organizations must band together to defeat a common enemy.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

If there's a problem with the first film it's that I can't see it again for the first time.  The freshness of it played a large part of that first watch.  It's also part of what lessened my enjoyment of this one but I still dug the shit out of it.  The picture starts off with a wild and fun car chase that really gets things going.  Julianne Moore has a blast playing the big baddie.  It was a hoot getting to meet the American side of the Kingsman, the Statesman.  Seeing Jeff Bridges with lighter hair AND no facial hair is weird.  I don't know why people bitch about Channing Tatum 'barely' being in the movie when he's in it more than they lead on.  I'm just lovin' the shit out of Pedro Pascal lately.  There's tons of action, lots of funny and it's just a crazy ride from start to finish.  What they do with Elton John is fucking hilarious.  Don't think about it too hard because there are plot holes and that shouldn't detract from the movie too much.  I just let myself go along for the ride but after it was over I started thinking about a certain 'bad guy's' motivation and it turns out to be very, very weak to the point I'd normally call bullshit if it weren't so damned fun spending over two hours watching these characters do their thing.

A Southern Yankee (1948)

Director: Edward Sedgwick

Writers: Melvin Frank, Buster Keaton, Norman Panama, Harry Tugend

Composers: David Snell, Robert Franklyn

Starring: Red Skelton, Brian Donlevy, Arlene Dahl, George Coulouris, Lloyd Gough, John Ireland, Minor Watson, Charles Dingle, Art Baker, Reed Hadley, Arthur Space, Joyce Compton

More info: IMDb

Tagline: See Red in a Union Suit with Southern Exposure!

Plot: A hapless bellboy in a St. Louis hotel near the end of the Civil War is recruited by the Union secret service to impersonate a notorious Confederate spy.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Probably.

This isn't as funny as it could be but when it is, it's hilarious.  One of the best bits is when Skelton is marching down the middle of the front line in between the opposing sides causing a cease fire.  He's carrying a flag but half of him is dressed as a Union soldier holding the Stars and Stripes and the other half (facing the Rebs) he's dressed as a Confederate soldier with the Rebel flag.  He's being cheered on by both sides until the wind changes direction and his ruse is exposed.   The performances by everyone are good.  I just wish there were more great gags and laughs.

Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Writers: Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn, Mark Millar, Dave Gibbons

Composers: Henry Jackman, Matthew Margeson

Starring: Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Mark Hamill, Samuel L. Jackson, Jack Davenport, Michael Caine, Mark Strong, Sofia Boutella, Samantha Womack, Sophie Cookson, Geoff Bell

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Manners maketh man.

Plot: A spy organization recruits an unrefined, but promising street kid into the agency's ultra-competitive training program, just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

After seeing the trailer for the sequel so many times I finally got around to catching the first one and I loved it.  It's so much fun and 'fun' is the key word here.  They're taking the Bond thing to the next level.  The film takes lots of jabs at the Bond tropes, some while naming Bond in the process.  But being the lifelong Bond fan since the 70s that I am, there are many subtle references that ticked the piss out of me.  The cast is fantastic.  The movie has a playfulness to it that feels most refreshing.  The one thing I kept thinking about while watching it was how amazing it would be if this team of filmmakers would make one of these set in in the 60s.  I would drop my pants to see that.  The action scenes are very well done.  A couple of them had me on the edge of the seat and my heart rate increased by a few notches.  The Blu-ray looks superb, too.  I haven't delved into the extras (if there are any - I didn't even check) but I will and now I'm really looking forward to the sequel coming out September 22.

The Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go (1970)

AKA: The Third Eye

Director: Burgess Meredith

Writers: Burgess Meredith, Joseph Zucchero, Alvin Ostroff

Composer: Robert O. Ragland

Starring: James Mason, Jack MacGowran, Irene Tsu, Jeff Bridges, Peter Lind Hayes, Clarissa Kaye-Mason, Burgess Meredith, Gigo Tevzadze, King Hu, Broderick Crawford, Jay Alder, June Sampson

More info: IMDb

Tagline: "I Was Made in Hong Kong!"

Plot: Buddha has the power to change the nature of a person into their opposite. He uses this power only when the world is in danger. When a villain obtains plans that could be used for peace or war, Buddha turns him into a good guy. Now what?

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Introducing Jeffrey Bridges!  Of Bridges' first two films, and both released in '70, I think this one came out first.  At times this movie is a wild ride.  You've got James Mason playing a half Mexican/half Chinese man bent on taking over the world.  It sounds like Fu Manchu territory but there's a twist.  Buddha instantly transforms him from a bad man to a good man.  Along the way you've got Bridges as a man who will do anything for money, including blackmail gay sex.  The music and songs are bonkers and are definitely a product of its time.  The action scenes are equally bonkers.  Meredith throws in a couple of wild angles from his days as The Penguin on the '66 BATMAN show.  The story is a silly spy story but it is entertaining.  I can't see watching this again but when you consider the talent involved, it's definitely worth a look. 

Sabotage (1978)

Original title: Last Target

AKA: Geheimcode Death-Force

Director: Efren C. Pinon

Writers: Efren C. Pinon, Jerry O. Tirazona

Composer: Tito Sotto

Starring: Tony Ferrer, Susan Henson, Charlie Davao, Alex Bolado, Mike Cohen, Romy Diaz, Jim Gaines, Val Iglesias, Ramon Revilla, Nick Romano, Rey Sagum

More info: IMDb


Plot:  Super spy, Agent X-44, must stop the evil Doctor Ivskovsky from launching nuclear missiles against the Philippines. 

My rating:

Will I watch it again?  No.

I learned something today.  In the mid-60s, at the height of the James Bond craze, a Filipino actor, Tony Ferrer, began starring in the long running series of spy pictures as Tony Falcon Agent X-44, the Bond of the Philippines.  LAST TARGET is one the last (if not the last?) in the series and it's the only one I could find.  It definitely feels like some of the other Philippine movies I've seen from the late 70s but it's also got something the others didn't have and that's some tight, well-edited fight scenes.  As a spy movie, it's OK.  It's got that overall Bond villain thing going on (except for the part where the villain in this one is literally sitting in the same chair for almost the entire movie AND he's almost always on the phone with the good guys) but it's the action that kicks it up a notch.  It's over the top but Ferrer brings a physicality to it and when you add the quick editing, it makes for some great action sequences - over the top but fun.  There's one scene where X-44 and three other agents fire their pistols, each agent alternating shots, and blow up a helicopter.  It's dumb as fuck but that's the charm and that's why this goofy movie shouldn't go un-seen.  I sure would like to see the films in this series from the 60s.  Anyone know where to find them? Oh, and fans of FOR Y'UR HEIGHT ONLY (1979) will recognize this guy...

Count Five and Die (1957)

Director: Victor Vicas

Writers: David Pursall, Jack Seddon, Barry Wynne

Composer: John Wooldridge

Starring: Jeffrey Hunter, Annemarie Duringer, Nigel Patrick, David Kossoff, Rolf Lefebvre, Larry Burns, Anthony Ostrer, Claude Kingston

More info: IMDb

Tagline: A true story of undercover agents

Plot: American and British counter-espionage combine to convince the Germans the cross-channel invasion will be in the Netherlands instead of France.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Supposedly based on a true story, this British war spy thriller isn't as thrilling as it maybe could've been.  The story is OK but it's not much compelling and it makes me wonder if the real events were more interesting than what's on screen.  All of the actors do a fine job but so much of the picture feels by the numbers.  The ending was very good, though, and those final ten minutes are the best in the film but by then I was waiting for the picture to end.  It was shot in 2:35 Cinemascope but the print I have was fullscreen and a dirty one at that.  I might have a better impression of it sitting in a theater watching the original aspect ratio but you work with what you have available to you.  You can watch the entire film above courtesy of YouTube.

Foxhole in Cairo (1960)

Director: John Llewellyn Moxey

Writer: John Llewellyn Moxey

Composers: Douglas Gamley, Ken Jones, Wolfram Rohrig

Starring: James Robertson Justice, Adrian Hoven, Niall MacGinnis, Peter van Eyck, Robert Urquhart, Neil McCallum, Fenella Fielding, Gloria Mestre, Albert Lieven, John Westbrook, Lee Montague, Michael Caine

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The Greatest Spy Story of the Desert War!

Plot: A German agent in Libya is allowed to get back to Rommel with false information.

My rating:  6/10

Will I watch it again?  Probably not.

This average British WWII thriller can get a little ho-hum but there are some things that are worth your while.  Michael Caine has a few lines and minutes on screen, the very scrummy Gloria Mestre belly dances a couple of times and provides a little skin, there are some nice moments in the story that kept me alert and it plays out like a procedural but set in WWII North Africa.  Oh, and this guy is the British leader kick some ass and do it with class:

Minor spoilers but you know this is going to end with the Brits winning the day against the Nazis, the best moment in the picture is at the end when he storms into the room, slapping the Luger out of the bad guy's hand and gives a rousing, air punching speech to the woman he saved from death.  It's one of those, "We've outsmarted the Jerrys and Rommel has a surprise coming when we push him and his nasty boys back to the Rhineland" kind of speech.  It's hilarious and super fun.  But then it's at the end of 75 minutes but it's not a bad 75 minutes and that should be enough to justify watching it.

When Eight Bells Toll (1971)

Director: Etienne Perier

Writer: Alistair MacLean

Composer: Angela Morley

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Robert Morley, Nathalie Delon, Jack Hawkins, Corin Redgrave, Derek Bond, Ferdy Mayne, Maurice Roeves, Leon Collins, Wendy Allnutt

More info: IMDb


Plot: A British agent, Philip Calvert, is on a mission to determine the whereabouts of a ship that disappeared near the coast of Scotland.

My rating:

Will I watch it again?  No.

This rather dull spy adventure has enough going for it to justify giving it a watch.  It's neat seeing Anthony Hopkins (in his first top-billed role) as a secret agent ala James Bond.  He's a down and dirty, no frills man of action.  It's odd seeing him in light but fun just the same.  Stunt legend Bob Simmons is the main stuntman on this picture who also played Hopkins' stunt double.  Simmons is most famous for being the stunt coordinator and double for Connery and Moore in nearly every Bond picture from '62 to '85.  The rest of the cas does fine and having Robert Morley and Jack Hawkins in the mix never hurt anyone's picture.  I learned something about Hawkins that I never knew.  He was dubbed in all of his roles after surgery for throat Cancer in 1965.  He was dubbed by Charles Gray (as he was in this film) or Robert Rietty.  Angela Morley's (as Walter Stott) score sometimes works well.  Her main theme is outrageous and outdated for what this movie is (but I really dig it).  It would be perfect for an over the top Eurospy film from say 1965 but one that would have the action to match it.  This film is at odds with the theme as there's rarely any moments that compliment the brashness of the music.  Most everything about this picture is low key and is void of the bright, outdoor settings and action you'd find in the Bond pictures.  It's probably the story and drabness of the locations that hurt this movie more than anything else.  There's not much excitement and considering MacLean's other work, this one is a low point for sure.

Clear and Present Danger (1994)

Director: Phillip Noyce

Writers: Tom Clancy, Donald Stewart, Steven Zaillian, John Milius

Composer: James Horner

Starring: Harrison Ford, Willem Dafoe, Anne Archer, Joaquim de Almeida, Henry Czerny, Harris Yulin, Donald Moffat, Miguel Sandoval, Benjamin Bratt, Raymond Cruz, Dean Jones, Thora Birch, Ann Magnuson, Hope Lange, James Earl Jones, Ted Raimi, Clark Gregg

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Truth needs a soldier.

Plot: CIA Analyst Jack Ryan is drawn into an illegal war fought by the US government against a Colombian drug cartel.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

I much prefer this one to PATRIOT GAMES (1992).  It's just a better story.  Plus you've got Dean Jones!!!!!  I love that guy.  Ford is in weight of the world on my shoulders mode and he plays it well.  Hell, he plays the Boy Scout well at the same time.  I'd sure like to have this guy on my side when the chips are down and some asses need to be kicked.  I like the little twists and turns, especially with what happens in the final act.  And then he stands up to the President and throws it right back in his face.  Fuckin' A!  James Horner's score is good but he's plagiarizing himself with the theme from COMMANDO (1985).  I loved that movie to pieces when it came out.  My brief thoughts on that one from the last time I saw it weren't favorable.  Maybe I was having a bad night.  Anyway, every time Horner's theme popped up it took me to a different movie and that's not cool.  The Paramount DVD for this one is in non-anamorphic widescreen as is the only extra, the theatrical trailer.

True Lies (1994)

Director: James Cameron

Writers: Claude Zidi, Simon Michael, Didier Kaminka, James Cameron

Composer: Brad Fiedel

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Bill Paxton, Tia Carrere, Art Malik, Eliza Dushku, Grant Heslov, Charton Heston, Marshall Manesh

More info: IMDb

Tagline: When he said I do, he never said what he did.

Plot: A fearless, globe-trotting, terrorist-battling secret agent has his life turned upside down when he discovers his wife might be having an affair with a used car salesman.

My rating: 8.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

It's been ages since I last saw this and I'd forgotten how brilliantly awesome and fun this picture is.  I think you'll find in Writing a Screenplay 101 that you only include scenes that further the story.  If it doesn't move the plot then it needs to go.  The first half hour has our heroes going after the bad guys.  Suddenly all of that takes a backseat to focusing on Harry's (Schwarzenegger) suspicion that his wife, Helen (Curtis), is cheating on him and that's where we spend the next third of the movie without hardly a word spoken about the big terrorist threat.  Then it's back to the business at hand as we finish the picture.  Technically it sounds all wrong but Cameron & Co. make it one hell of a fun ride which makes that diversion insignificant.  The action is fantastic (blowing up the bridge was amazing), the humor is hilarious (Tom Arnold deserves a lot of credit for what he brought to the film) and the actors are having a blast.  Curtis is as sexy as she is funny and everybody wins.  One thing I noticed this time was how nice it was not to get the usual Schwarzenegger quips after he offs somebody.  The silence was sweet.  This really is a super fun ride.  Unfortunately there's no friggin' Blu-ray.  The 20th Century Fox DVD has the film in non-anamorphic widescreen which is unacceptable.  Oh, and the only extra is the trailer.  Very weak considering how good and popular this movie is.

Murderers' Row (1966)

Director: Henry Levin

Writers: Herbert Baker, Donald Hamilton

Composer: Lalo Schifrin

Starring: Dean Martin, Ann-Margret, Karl Malden, Camilla Sparv, James Gregory, Beverly Adams, Richard Eastham, Tom Reese, Duke Howard

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Matt Helm outdoes Matt Helm in his new all-out adventure!

Plot: The handsome top agent Matt dies a tragic death in his bath tub - the women mourn about the loss. However it's just faked for his latest top-secret mission: He shall find Dr. Solaris, inventor of the Helium laser beam, powerful enough to destroy a whole continent. It seems Dr. Solaris has been kidnapped by a criminal organization. The trace leads to the Cote D'Azur.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? Yeah.

Anyone who's seen Dean Martin in action knows that he's very relaxed.  These Matt Helm pictures are relaxed spy comedies.  The pacing is the biggest problem they have (at least so far, I've only seen the first two).  THE SILENCERS (1965) is too long.   This one's 3 minutes longer but it is more entertaining.  Martin is cool and charming as hell and he's got some really funny lines.  The biggest laugh came when Julian (Malden) has Matt (Martin) captured in the bucket of a crane high in the air.  Julian is trying to find out what Matt knows.

JULIAN: Now, can you give me one good reason why I shouldn't drop you to the ground?
MATT: Certainly, I'll get killed.

This picture's got lots of goofy moments like that but, in this case, the editing isn't quick enough to make the punchline faster and funnier.  Ann-Margaret is gorgeous as hell and she's fun to watch like everyone else.  The sets are run, locations are pretty, there's lots of drinking (of course) and Dean's in control of the show.  If you can handle the casual pace of these films AND you love Dean then you're in a better shape to enjoy these mid-sixties, swingin' spy flicks.  I do but I think it'd help to have some friends over and make some cocktails to get you through them. The Columbia DVD box set of all four pictures delivers beautiful anamorphic widescreen prints.  The only extras you get are trailers for THE AMBUSHERS (1967) (fullscreen), CHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE (anamorphic widescreen) and one for the DVD set of SEINFELD.

Fathom (1967)

Director: Leslie H. Martinson

Writers: Lorenzo Semple Jr., Larry Forrester

Composer: John Dankworth

Starring: Anthony Franciosa, Raquel Welch, Ronald Fraser, Richard Briers, Greta Chi, Tom Adams, Elizabeth Ercy, Ann Lancaster, Tutte Lemkow, Reg Lye, Clive Revill

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The world's most uncovered undercover agent!

Plot: In Southern Spain with a U.S. team, skydiver Fathom Harvill is approached by a Scottish colonel working for a top-secret Western agency. He's after a vital lost atomic device, and wants her to parachute into a house occupied by some Red Chinese agents to help get the thing back. Apart from all this there is a predatory continental doctor on his yacht to take account of. Fathom soon realizes nothing is what it seems to be, but can she fathom the truth out?

My rating: 4/10

Will I Watch it again?  No.

I'll say this much, no one looks as sexy packing a parachute as Raquel Welch.  That's how the film opens and it's all downhill from there.  Really downhill.  Like Ms. Welch, the scenery is pretty.  I can't blame anyone on this picture for making it.  Getting to hang out in Spain and make some money isn't a bad gig.   This movie has a huge problem and that it's dull as dirt.  I was hoping for some fun 60s cheese but this picture just goes on and on and on.  It's one big audition tape for Welch to get a Clairol sponsorship.  Look at me as I fall from a plane and land with perfect hair.  It's remarkable how slow this picture is.  The images move but the story becomes so bland after twenty or so minutes that by the time Fathom gets into her mission, I couldn't care less.  It took three attempts to get through it.  I've had the DVD since 2002.  It's taken me 14 years to get around to watching it.  Woof.  The 20th Century Fox DVD has a great looking anamorphic widescreen print and the only extras you get are the theatrical trailer and the trailers for IN LIKE FLINT, OUR MAN FLINT and MODESTY BLAISE (all widescreen but MB is the only one that's anamorphic).

Criminal (2016)

Director: Ariel Vromen

Writers: Douglas Cook, David Weisberg

Composers: Brian Tyler, Keith Power

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot, Alice Eve, Kevin Costner, Antje Traue, Gary Oldman, Tommy Lee Jones, Scott Adkins, Michael Pitt, Colin Salmon, Natalie Burn, Robert Davi

More info: IMDb

Tagline:  The CIA's last hope is in the mind of a criminal

Plot: The memories & skills of a deceased CIA agent are implanted into an unpredictable and dangerous convict.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Maybe.

I just got back from seeing an advance screening of this courtesy of Carmike Theaters (free tickets, yay!).  I didn't know anything about it except seeing the top cast list.  The premise sounds silly (and now that I read the plot and tagline on IMDb it looks REALLY ridiculous) but they do a quick and good enough job in giving an explanation on how it's possible.  In reality it's a bunch of horseshit but it works well enough in the film to not tax your suspension of disbelief.  To help that along, the cast is great.  I REALLY dig Costner in this.  It's great seeing him as a psycho killer but he's more of a soon-to-be-reformed psycho killer.  He's really a lot of fun and he's got the only moments of humor in the picture.  Tommy Lee Jones is always a hoot but he doesn't get as much screen time as you'd like.  The same can be said for Ryan Reynolds and Gary Oldman.  I finally got to see Gal Godot in something for more than five minutes and she does a fine job.  It's almost entirely filmed in London and they do a nice job of taking us all around the city.  There's plenty of action and tension to keep things going until the very end.  I can totally see how people will think the last scene could be bullshit but if you think about what Jericho has done, it makes it a lot easier to digest.  Costner fans are going to have a blast with this picture.  Mrs. Scorethefilm and I were very pleasantly surprised at how good it was all the way through.  This comes out in a couple of weeks and I fear that it'll get buried by some blockbusters.  It deserves better.  It's a good picture and if you like the cast, I think you should see it.  It probably won't make anyone's future classic list but it's a fine film with fine performances and a sense of fun that makes this an entertaining 113 minutes (which FLEW by).