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In reply to the discussion: What Are Some of Your Favorite Spy Movies [View all]longship
(40,416 posts)49. Lots of good posts here.
From Russia, With Love. My favorite Bond: no doubt about it. All other Bonds pale in comparison. It has Robert Shaw as a particularly devious baddy. Lotte Lenya as Rosa Krebs! A voice dubbed Daniela Bianchi as Tatiana Romanova. Then there's Pedro Armendáriz, dying of cancer, as Karem Bey, the Turkish station chief. (Terrance Young rushed his scenes in deference to his nearly always painful condition. He was replaced by stand-ins in some scenes and shortly took his own life to avoid a painful death.) This is classic Bond. It has never been surpassed, IMHO. The Istanbul filmed scenes are wonderful. The gypsy camp scene is the film's only arguable fault. Introduced many iconic Bond idioms. Ernst Blofeld. Q. The iconic romantic epilogue. Plus, it has an iconic tangled plot.
North by Northwest. What can one say about this one? It's a movie without a plot. That alone makes it iconic in the spy genre. It also is an iconic example of a MacGuffin, a plot device of absolutely no importance to the narrative, but around which the plot revolves. This is a Seinfeldian flick, a movie about nothing. It's how one gets there that matters. Many stand-outs in the cast, Martin Landau is chilling as James Mason's character gay secretary. Of course, it has Cary Grant and an awesome Eva Marie Saint. And yes, it has a Hitchcockian kiss scene. Beautifully filmed and with a dynamite climax. The measure of good cinema is when one can watch a movie over and over again. This is one of those desert island movies.
Hopscotch. Ronald Neame's wonderful spy spoof, the best of that genre. Brought off brilliantly by Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson with a good supporting cast, especially Sam Waterston, Ned Beatty, and Herbert Lom. This is an unabashed vehicle for Matthau/Jackson who had acted together previously and have an obvious chemistry. One never knows how much of the dialog is scripted. (This is Eleanor Roosevelt.) This is a fun romp from beginning to end in spite of the fact that one has the feeling that it's going off the rails. Maybe that what makes it so much fun. Director Neame wisely lets it go off the rails.
North by Northwest. What can one say about this one? It's a movie without a plot. That alone makes it iconic in the spy genre. It also is an iconic example of a MacGuffin, a plot device of absolutely no importance to the narrative, but around which the plot revolves. This is a Seinfeldian flick, a movie about nothing. It's how one gets there that matters. Many stand-outs in the cast, Martin Landau is chilling as James Mason's character gay secretary. Of course, it has Cary Grant and an awesome Eva Marie Saint. And yes, it has a Hitchcockian kiss scene. Beautifully filmed and with a dynamite climax. The measure of good cinema is when one can watch a movie over and over again. This is one of those desert island movies.
Hopscotch. Ronald Neame's wonderful spy spoof, the best of that genre. Brought off brilliantly by Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson with a good supporting cast, especially Sam Waterston, Ned Beatty, and Herbert Lom. This is an unabashed vehicle for Matthau/Jackson who had acted together previously and have an obvious chemistry. One never knows how much of the dialog is scripted. (This is Eleanor Roosevelt.) This is a fun romp from beginning to end in spite of the fact that one has the feeling that it's going off the rails. Maybe that what makes it so much fun. Director Neame wisely lets it go off the rails.
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I agree. Casino Royal and especially Skyfall were wonderful. I have a crush on Daniel Craig.
liberal_at_heart
Aug 2013
#26
"The Man who came in from the cold." Many here too young to remember that one.
demosincebirth
Aug 2013
#4
I'd say if it involves any of the "secret services" as part of the main plot,
kentauros
Aug 2013
#15
Hopscotch with Walter Mathau and Ned Beattey. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. the mini series
brewens
Aug 2013
#8
I also love the Bourne movies, especially the Bourne ultimatum, which I consider to be a masterpiece
quinnox
Aug 2013
#11
Watch it again if you've only seen it once. Ned Beattys office kills me! On one wall
brewens
Aug 2013
#78
I never forget the coolest guy who ever lived. He used to give cool lessons
Egalitarian Thug
Aug 2013
#42