Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) - 4 out of 5

A tense, deeply engaging Cold War spy thriller (based off John le Carre's book) it plays out not in shootouts or car chases, but in tense enigmatic conversations held between middle-aged men in suits who smoke and drink way too much. (Yes they smoke. I bet that's why MPAA gave it a R rating.)

But this does work as an entertaining who-dunnit murder mystery, played out by an awesomely Anglophilic cast that it'll probably make you want to go eat spotted dick or something. Gary Oldman, Toby Jones, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong, and John Hurt. BTW, when hasn't Hurt not ever looked old at the movies? Was he born old like Benjamin Button?

Would you believe that in his long career, TTSS scored Oldman his very first Oscar acting nomination? Yeah I know, unbelievable but he earned it here. Just looking at Oldman's face as George Smiley, you don't need exposition detailing all the battles that old spy has fought over the decades and old demons bottled up inside. Controls his emotions, but when he does shall we say "lose his shit," my god you're reminded how damn good Oldman is. That's always a pleasant reminder.

Just one problem this movie has. It's a very complicated mystery, which in mind you need to keep aware of the clues being given for every character. Initially I mixed up Hardy's character with Strong, which sorta confused the shit out of me initially. As long as you keep all the pieces mentally, you'll be fine with this movie.

le Carre wrote some sequels detailing Smiley's continued shadow war with his commie counterpart in Karla. I want those movies with Oldman kicking ass by talking and smoking/drinking too much.

Much like DeNiro and Pacino, Oldman doesn't get the roles he deserves nowadays. Of course, unlike them, he has yet to receive an Oscar; which shows just how much of a joke the Academy is.

Both great movies I just watched again...


The Kingdom

No Country for Old Men

If Sandra Bullock can win an Oscar...who knows maybe Rob Schenider can too...

I wouldn't consider them to be an apt comparison. DeNiro and Pacino were stars who were also widely respected actors, and their problem these days is that their feature film acting careers are secondary for their interests. DeNiro is busy producing movies and his Tribeca film festival and Pacino is off playing theatre. Trust me you think any filmmaker, established and new, would turn them down? Ridiculous. I think they're at the Marlon Brando stage where working movies are now a hobby, not the profession.

Oldman, as loved and admired as he is, was never a star. At best a name, but not a star. Not his fault or anybody's really I suppose, it's just boils down to luck and timing. Also he's still working the movies for a living, hell he just signed up for the ROBOCOP remake.

(What I mean by "luck and timing," look in comparison at Johnny Depp. He was following the same career trajectory, then he did that Pirates movie which made him a star. Or more recently Mark Ruffalo, a guy who previously earned two Oscar acting nominations, but Joe Public couldn't pick him out of a police line-up, much less be considered a star. Yet he was the break-out star from THE AVENGERS.)



I liked Peter Berg's THE KINGDOM too, a solidly entertaining "smart" popcorn thriller. All which doesn't describe Berg's recent BATTLESHIP.

NO COUNTRY I'll always remember for having one of the more fascinating screening crowd reactions I've been to. When that particular plot turn happens, the movie lost half the audience, and the other half were split 50/50 between those hoping for some sort of payoff and the rest were digging this.

Then when the movie suddenly cuts to black, some guy in the back yelled "That's it?!?"

Men in Black III (2012) - ***1/2

After endless bad reports about a troubled production (which started without the script having a 3rd act and caused it to be stopped for 6 months w/ budget ballooning reportedly to $300 million) along with the fact that this was a sequel the masses weren't exactly screaming for (the last one was made a decade ago), this actually turned out to be decently entertaining.

That is if you can through the first 15-20 minutes, which start out unpromising with failed gags and jokes movie threatens to be deaf tone forgettable like the second MIB movie was. (Seeing Emma Thompson making unfunny "funny" noises was painful.) Tommy Lee Jones especially looked terrible, a woman at my screening muttered to her date that he looked like he just had a face lift. He also looked bored being in this movie, a pity really.

But once Will Smith goes back to 1969 to save young Jones, played in masterstroke casting by Josh Brolin, the movie starts working. Hell he and Smith have great chemistry, more much than Smith does w/ Jones this time around. There's still a hit/miss ratio with the jokes, but most are funny and the movie clicks like the first MEN IN BLACK did with the black comic cultural satire.

The highlight is the sequence at The Factory with Andy Warhol and all that. (I fully expected a sketch with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, with the punchline being Lennon was an alien beetle.) Some of my favorite gags were plays on the MIB technology, like the devices looked/acted like people back in '69 would consider to be futuristic. I always dig those little steampunk-esque touches when attempted.

The aliens in this one are interesting. The villain has detachable appendages which shoot darts and freely roam away from his body, with googles for eyes which give off this odd vibe. Then there's the alien who can see the future (and all possible variations), and despite one's expectations if you or me had this power, he's always cheerful and happy and obsesses too much on mundane irrelevant details. For some reason, this was a charming touch for me.

MEN IN BLACK III always had this small cloud of disposability surrounding it, but I still enjoyed. I do wonder if I saw this after drivel like BATTLESHIP and DARK SHADOWS influenced me to embrace any subsequent competent entertainment. But if a fourth MEN IN BLACK movie happens, don't bring back Jones. Have him de-age into Brolin or something.

EDIT - You all realize this is Smith's first movie in 4 years? That fact surprised me too. As much as I never cared for his rap career, I'll admit the track he did for the first MEN IN BLACK movie was memorable and catchy pop-rap. ("Men in Black/Guardians of the Galaxy...") Too bad he didn't do a track for this one since the song Pitbull did is fucking garbage. What do people see in that shithead?

Mmm...I don't know. If that were true, you'd think both DeNiro and Pacino would be more selective in the roles they've accepted over the pasts 15 years or so. As they've gotten older, I don't think they've been as appreciated as before. And so not as used by the industry.



Of course, I don't have to say that star power should have nothing to do with whether an actor wins an Academy Award or not.



The moron probably said the same thing at the end of The Grey.

Watched Sexy Beast again. One of the great British gangster movies. And one of Ben Kingsley's most famous performances. Though I actually thought Ian McShane's character (Teddy Bass) was even scarier.

TCM is NOW airing "The Bad Seed" (1956). Any other oldster remember that one? With Patty McCormack (Actually the only movie I know of that she was in)?

The host describes Patti's character as "The cute, little blonde, pig-tailed sociopath.




TIS

Watched "Wanderlust" last night with Mrs. Mark. We laughed pretty good at that one. Paul Rudd & Jenifer Aniston were hilarious. Great escape movie if you want to laugh at a comedy that is very well thought out and not over the top.

Oh, I definitely remember it. Just like Psycho and other B&Ws of that era, it exemplifies Hollywood's ability to create real suspense and mystery without resorting to technical or other tricks. That little girl was just plain scary.

Watch Hoffa again. Hadn't seen it in a long time. Hard to believe it came out 20 years ago now. As usual, fact mixed with fiction, but worth watching for Jack's performance.

I once won a radio contest on the question, "Name 2 movies that Jack Nicholson played in with Ddanny DeVito?"

It was this movie and Cuckoo's Nest.

I watched my cousin vinny abbout an hour ago can't believe it's the first time i've seen pesci was hilarious

Cam - this is one of those flicks that I always stop on when channel surfing. I agree, it is terrific!

Although cable shows it a lot, I usually don't watch it but the other day they aired "The Shawshank Redemption" again and this time I watched it again. What a great flick. I still keep forgetting it's actually a Stephen King story. Anyway, one of my favorites.


TIS

There should be a "Movies I've Seen a Hundred Times and Can't Wait to Watch Again" thread.

Cable does that a lot...showing same movies over and over. I mean for God's sake, tons of movies made in the last decade(s). Lots of good movies too yet they choose to show the same ones over and over again.

I enjoy watching LMN (I know a chick channel) Yet I notice they'll show the same two movies from late afternoon til evening. So the movie that showed at 5:00 will show again at 7:00. Good grief, I KNOW lifetime has aired way more movies for a lot of years, than it shows.

TIS

IS - Mrs. Mark is a BIG LMN fan. One Saturday night she talked me into watching "The Blue Eyed Butcher" on LMN. It gave me nightmares! I think she stabbed her husband like 100 times?!? Of course it was based on a true story... which made it even more disturbing!

LOL Mark, I saw that when it was first on. By the title, I expected a blue eyed guy who was actually a butcher til I read what it was about. Yea, you wouldn't wanna be messing with her.

I don't watch it all the time but they do have some good movies and sometimes some really good movies.

TIS

That's true. What puzzles me is that I see movies listed that I never heard of and many are with well known stars.

Has anyone ever seen arlington road? My mum suggested it to me and i thought it would be a lmn type movie (in the uk hallmark if i'm thinking about the same type of movie) but i thought it was amazing especially tim robbins being the bad guy so unexpected

It boils down to the price for TV rights.

You think TNT/TBS replayed SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION endlessly because they loved it? No. Ted Turner got those TV rights for dirt cheap (it was a box-office flop despite Oscar nominations) and hey you need programming to fill out all those hours on your TV networks besides wrestling, Braves baseball. Same reason why they replayed BEASTMASTER and ROADHOUSE into oblivion back in the day.

Other movies that are constantly on tv are DIE HARD, DIE HARD 2, IN THE LINE OF FIRE, THE FUGITIVE and KILL BILL.

Kly,

I LOVE Die Hard AND The Fugitive but they air them WAY TOO MUCH. I don't watch them on purpose because they lose their "greatness" if you see them too much IMHO.



TIS

last time i watched rock of ages

Most people I know who saw that walked out of the theater.

yeah I thought that was a very underrated movie!

I just watched the original Gloria with Gena Rowlands. Wow, what a good film and one heck of a performance not only by Gena, but the little kid. How precocious! This is a different kind of Mafia movie that perfectly juxtaposes the endemic horrific qualities of Mafiosi with those which most of us possess. Give it a look.

Great movie, Oli. Rowlands is always worth a look, and Cassavetes may have been the most underrated director of all time.