CT: The Spy Who Loved Me
Friends, it has been a week. Even in this long, long year, the last week or so has been 100% exhausting. And we're not a political blog- we don't write about politics or climate change or really anything more serious than say, Scott Pilgrim. But man oh man does it also feel wrong to just write a normal "Hey, wasn't Spiderman awesome?" post at the same time.
So instead we're going to do a little bit of both and hope that it's not horrendously inappropriate. Or more horrendously inappropriate than we normally roll around these parts. So let's do it. Let's talk about our favorite Russian spies (fictional edition).
Elizabeth & Philip Jenning - The Americans
We haven't actually talked a lot about The Americans here on the blog, but let me just gush about it for a second. This is honestly one of the best written shows that TV has seen in a long time. The characters are round and interesting and complex. The plots are never predictable. It never lets you rest on what you think is going on, and that means that you have to pay a lot of attention to each episode. But oh man is the payoff worth it because this show never disappoints.
The Jennings are spies, but they're never stereotypes. And seeing them find their way through this incredible Cold War narrative is simply awesome.
Illya Kuriyakin - The Man From UNCLE
And now for something completely different. I mean, The Man From UNCLE is still Cold War, but it couldn't be a more different tone.
Kuriyakin is played by Armie Hammer who infuses every line, every action with his incredible energy. He's the "stoic" one, but easily the most hilarious and entertaining part of the film. The play between him and Henry Cavill (and him and Alicia Vikander and the three of them together) made what could have easily been a very weird, sort of standard goofy Guy Ritchie movie into a super enjoyable romp. Cannot wait for the sequel.
Kirill - The Bourne Supremacy
While a lot of so-so things can be said about the second installment of the Bourne movies, Karl Urban as Russian Operative Kirill isn't one of them. Basically, Karl Urban is one of the single most charming things to exist on the planet and I would watch him read the phone book. It would probably actually be super entertaining.
Here you get to watch him frame Matt Damon for a CIA Operation gone awry, shoot some stuff, fight some dudes. And maybe forget that our precious, precious democracy feels like it's seconds from falling apart at the seams for a couple hours, eh?
Rosa Klebb - From Russia With Love
You guys didn't think we were actually going to get through this without a single James Bond movie, did you? Let's talk for a second about Rosa Klebb. This movie is honestly not my favorite Bond film. It's a classic, for sure, but relatively unremarkable other than that. Klebb though? This girl is not done until the final freaking curtain. She's going to make Number 1 happy, and kill Bond if it is literally the last thing she does.
Gotta admire a girl with that kind of drive.
Who Even Knows? John Malkovitch Maybe? - Red 2
Straight talk time. This movie did not make one single, dusty, damn bit of sense. I swear I watched every second, but I could not have told you at any point who was good or bad or pretending to be good but secretly bad but going to wind up being good at the end. Zero sense. Someone was selling something to the Russians, though. Because we had some gorgeous (if gratuitous) shots of the Kremlin.
But Helen Mirren kicks every available ass so I am contractually obligated to own a copy and promote it at every opportunity. Them's the breaks.
Well at least we all got a bit of a break from the news and the constant sense of low level panic we're all feeling every time any new revelation about anything happens.
But also, for real guys. Spiderman was great.
Happy Watching!
CT
So instead we're going to do a little bit of both and hope that it's not horrendously inappropriate. Or more horrendously inappropriate than we normally roll around these parts. So let's do it. Let's talk about our favorite Russian spies (fictional edition).
Elizabeth & Philip Jenning - The Americans
 |
| Image from IMDB |
The Jennings are spies, but they're never stereotypes. And seeing them find their way through this incredible Cold War narrative is simply awesome.
Illya Kuriyakin - The Man From UNCLE
 |
| Image from IMDb |
Kuriyakin is played by Armie Hammer who infuses every line, every action with his incredible energy. He's the "stoic" one, but easily the most hilarious and entertaining part of the film. The play between him and Henry Cavill (and him and Alicia Vikander and the three of them together) made what could have easily been a very weird, sort of standard goofy Guy Ritchie movie into a super enjoyable romp. Cannot wait for the sequel.
Kirill - The Bourne Supremacy
 |
| Image from IMDb |
Here you get to watch him frame Matt Damon for a CIA Operation gone awry, shoot some stuff, fight some dudes. And maybe forget that our precious, precious democracy feels like it's seconds from falling apart at the seams for a couple hours, eh?
Rosa Klebb - From Russia With Love
 |
| Image from IMDb |
Gotta admire a girl with that kind of drive.
Who Even Knows? John Malkovitch Maybe? - Red 2
 |
| Image from IMDb |
But Helen Mirren kicks every available ass so I am contractually obligated to own a copy and promote it at every opportunity. Them's the breaks.
Well at least we all got a bit of a break from the news and the constant sense of low level panic we're all feeling every time any new revelation about anything happens.
But also, for real guys. Spiderman was great.
Happy Watching!
CT
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