Shot/Reverse Shot: 117 - Spies

For this episode, Matt and I thought it would be fun to watch the new James Bond movie, Spectre, and use it as a jumping off point to discuss Bond and cinematic spies more generally. In the end, neither of us managed to see the film due to other things getting in the way (like our lack of enthusiasm for it), but we were still able to have a fairly involved conversation about the history of the spy genre, the ways in which it served to reflect and distract from audiences' concerns about World War I/World War II/The Cold War/insert conflict here, as well as why it's in such rude health considering that 2015 has seen the release of half a dozen spy films from major Hollywood studios.

We also find time to talk about our cautiously optimistic response to the Preacher trailer, our somewhat less optimistic feelings about Warcraft, and the odd circumstances of Star Trek's latest televised incarnation.

Film Review: Spy (2015)

Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) is an analyst working for the CIA. She's good at her job, but that job mainly consists of providing support to Bradley Fine (Jude Law), a stereotypically brilliant and dashing field agent who Susan not so secretly pines for. When a mission goes awry, Cooper volunteers to leave her desk and go after Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne), the one person who knows the whereabouts of a nuclear weapon which will be auctioned off to the highest bidder in a matter of days. As she travels across Europe, Cooper has to contend with hordes of assassins who are after Rayna, but also her colleague Rick Ford (Jason Statham) who has gone rogue in pursuit of the same mission.

Film Review: A Most Wanted Man (2014)

John le Carré's fiction is marked by a key contrast between his methodical plotting and the sweaty desperation of his characters. The spies that populate his novels are often middle-managers trying to achieve a small victory in a conflict in which they no longer believe, and who sacrifice their chance to be a whole person in the pursuit of a greater good. They live only half a life by agreeing to look through the windows of people living their own. One of the reasons that Martin Ritt's The Spy Who Came in from the Cold remains the definitive feature film adaptation of le Carré's work is that it manages to create an air of tragic inevitability, a sense that there are forces at work that will crush the characters no matter what they do, while also imbuing its characters with a faint yet potent belief that maybe they'll be the ones to escape a situation that has already claimed so many lives.

A Man out of Time: Timothy Dalton as James Bond

When Dr. No opened in October of 1962, few could have imagined that the series would still be a going concern fifty years later. Fewer still could have foreseen that the series would still be in robust financial health. Within three weeks of its release, Skyfall overtook Quantum of Solace to become the highest-grossing film in the series, far surpassing what the two previous Daniel Craig-fronted outings accrued, both worldwide and domestically. Though there is always the caveat of inflation to be considered - Skyfall has still got a long way to go to match the talliess of the top grossing Bond films when accounting for the rising ticket costs - that Skyfall is even getting close (at the time of writing it has taken a staggering $800 million worldwide) is nothing short of astonishing. It seems that the Bond franchise is stronger than it's ever been.

Film Review: Skyfall (2012)

One of the key images in Skyfall, the twenty-third James Bond film and the third to star Daniel Craig as the super-spy, is of Bond standing on a London rooftop. As he gazes out over the city, he is framed alongside such indelible symbols of Britishness as The Houses of Parliament and the Union Jack. It's a quiet and contemplative moment, particularly in comparison to the percussive, rollicking juggernaut that surrounds it, but it's one that underscores one of the underlying ideas behind the film. Seeing as its release coincides with the fiftieth anniversary of the series, Skyfall has to pay due diligence as a celebration of the legacy of EON and Cubby Broccoli, who helped to make James Bond as much an icon of British culture as the aforementioned building and flag.

Film Review: Haywire (2011)

As he hurtles towards 50, the age at which he claims he will retire, or at the very least will take a prolonged break, from film-making, Steven Soderbergh seems intent on burning through as many genres as possible. The already prolific director, who has made 25 feature films in 23 years, will have released three films in the space of twelve months before this year is out, all of which are radically different. Contagion was a stark and bleak look at what could happen in the case of a cataclysmic pandemic, the forthcoming Magic Mike is a comedy about a male stripper played by Channing Tatum, and the recently-released Haywire is an action-thriller that, on the surface at least, seems pretty standard.