Espionage

The Old Man – XI

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: The Old Man – XI
  • IMDb: link

The Old Man - XI

Episode “XI” feels a bit as if multiple episodes have been condensed into one due to time constraints. We get the conclusion of Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) and Harold Harper’s (John Lithgow) time in Afghanistan, Angela (Alia Shawkat) choosing to stay and the death of her father, the return of Zoe (Amy Brenneman), Dan and Harold confronting Morgan Bote (Joel Grey), who never got developed as much as I would have liked, and also his murder. It’s an insane amount to somehow fit together in one episode, but it does allow the story to finish on another cliffhanger with Angela’s best chance now dead by the minions of Suleyman Pavlovich (Rade Serbedzija) who has overtaken both Hamzad (Navid Negahban) and Bote as our true villain (at least for now).

…

The Old Man – XIRead More »

The Old Man – XI Read More »

The Old Man – IX & X

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: The Old Man – IX & X
  • IMDb: link | link

The Old Man - IX & X

Episode IX catches up with Angela (Alia Shawkat) since her abduction. We see her learning the truth about her biological parentage and some antagonistic back-and-forth dialogues with Faraz Hamzad (Navid Negahban) including one where the pair attempt to murder each other. What’s surprising is the turn that happens afterwards with Angela being invited into the family and the shift in focus from what her abduction means to these core characters to what it means for the region.

…

The Old Man – IX & XRead More »

The Old Man – IX & X Read More »

The Old Man – VIII

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: The Old Man – VIII
  • IMDb: link

The Old Man - VIII

The Old Man returns for its Second Season with Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) and Harold Harper (John Lithgow) attempting to work together. Having successfully infiltrated Afghanistan, things quickly go wrong leaving them with few allies to find and save Emily (Alia Shawkat). The episode stays with the old couple pairing of the two, and sharing thoughts on Emily and the steps Dan went to to hide the truth from her, with the action coming from dangers they run into including a friendly face who turns out to be anything but and nearly ends the pair’s adventure before it gets started. Good stuff here, although Emily’s own thread isn’t picked up on just yet and I do miss Amy Brenneman.

…

The Old Man – VIIIRead More »

The Old Man – VIII Read More »

The Union

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Union
  • IMDb: link

The Union

Thu Union is dumb even by the sliding scale of throwaway action movie standards. A blue collar intelligence organization (which no one has ever heard of) has allowed a list of all the spies in the world (which shouldn’t even exist) loose into the world which will be sold at a blind auction to the the highest bidder. To get the list back, and prevent its sale by a privateer (Jessica De Gouw), one of the agents (Halle Berry) of “The Union” chooses to recruit her high school prom date (Mark Wahlberg) who never made it out of New Jersey and lacks both useful experience or a desire to get involved.

…

The UnionRead More »

The Union Read More »

Argylle

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Argylle
  • IMDb: link

Argylle

Argylle is bonkers. The latest from director Matthew Vaughn, in his collaboration with screenwriter Jason Fuchs, contains more than a little Kingsman DNA in an over-the-top tale of a best-selling author who discovers the characters and stories she has been writing about are real. As a one-time experience, Argylle may be worth a viewing. As a film, the over-the-top tone is inconsistent for both the serious and comedic sequences it is constantly applied to. When the film leans into its inherent goofiness ratcheting up to levels that make Kingsman: The Secret Service look like a spy documentary, Argylle can be fun, but when it attempts to be serious about a story we simply can not take seriously the entire movie grinds to a screeching halt.

…

ArgylleRead More »

Argylle Read More »