Espionage

The Old Man – II

  • Title: The Old Man – II
  • IMDb: link

Looking for a spot out of the way to rest up and heal, Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) makes an unexpected new friend in Zoe (Amy Brenneman), a beautiful if troubled woman renting out her guest-house to the spy on the run. There are several great scenes of the two of them together including the final scene of the pair in her kitchen which is set up earlier in the episode. Our spy on the run doesn’t tell her much about his life, although he does mention his wife. Now that a real connection between the two has been made, what happens to her when the government comes calling?

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The Old Man – I

  • Title: The Old Man – I
  • IMDb: link

An old adage for stories like these is how much trouble you can get into when you don’t let sleeping dogs lie. The opening episode of The Old Man introduces us to relatively normal looking Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) whose time in hiding has come to an end when an old file is reopened and agents are sent to find and collect the agent of the CIA who disappeared decades before. I’ll give the show credit in casting Bill Heck as a younger version of the character in flashbacks who fits perfectly into what the show needs (at least for this episode). While we see glimpses into the skills Chase had, he isn’t John Wick or Bryan Mills, he struggles with dealing with the far younger agents sent after him.

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Scarecrow & Mrs. King – There Goes the Neighborhood

  • Title: Scarecrow & Mrs. King – There Goes the Neighborhood
  • IMDb: link

Throwback Tuesday takes us to 80s Washington, D.C. and the unusual partnership between a housewife and a spy. After the agency ties the smuggling of weapons to a Washington suburb, Scarecrow (Bruce Boxleitner) and Amanda (Kate Jackson) are sent in undercover to play husband and wife. While the episode starts with the spy turning Amanda away from agency work, hoping to be rid of her, he quicky has to turn on a dime when he’s ordered into the suburbs with the only person who can show him the ropes. And once again, Amanda will prove her worth in helping uncover the truth of another fine mess Scarecrow has gotten them into.

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Scarecrow and Mrs. King – The First Time

  • Title: Scarecrow and Mrs. King – The First Time
  • IMDb: link

Throwback Tuesday takes us to 80s Washington, D.C. and the unusual partnership between a housewife and a spy. “The First Time” introduces us to unconventional spy Lee “Scarecrow” Stetson (Bruce Boxleitner) and suburban mother Amanda King (Kate Jackson) who meet at the train station when Scarecrow hands Amanda a package he’s unable to deliver while being pursued. The pair keep getting thrown together over the course of the episode to recover the package and uncover the identity of the leak within the Agency which is leading to several agents being killed. Part spy story, part odd couple pairing, and part farce, the show’s first episode sets the tone for the series.

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The Bourne Ultimate Collection

  • Title: The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum, Jason Bourne, The Bourne Legacy
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  • IMDb: link
  • IMDb: link
  • IMDb: link
  • IMDb: link

The Bourne Ultimate Collection Blu-ray reviewThis six-disc set collects all four of the Jason Bourne movies (The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum, and Jason Bourne) along with the single spinoff starring Jason Renner (The Bourne Legacy) as another member of the same secret government program. While the first film, the closest to Robert Ludlum’s source material where an amnesiac Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) left for dead discovers he’s an assassin, remains my favorite, all of the films hold up well (even Renner’s single film).

The series features strong supporting characters throughout Bourne’s attempt to learn the truth about his past including Joan Allen, Franka Potente, Clive Owen, Edgar Ramírez, and Alicia Vikander. Collected in one set, available on both Blu-ray and DVD, the movies include several of the short featurettes and audio commentaries from the previous releases along with a sixth bonus disc.

[Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Blu-ray $69.98 / DVD $38.89]

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