53 posts tagged with spies.
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Book: The Ruins of Gorlan (Ranger’s Apprentice Book 1)

“The sheet of paper, bright white with the reflected moonlight, was within reach. Just look at it, read it, and go, he told himself. That was all he had to do. He stretched out a hand for it. His fingers touched it. And a hand shot out of nowhere and seized him by the wrist.” [more inside]
posted by CMcG on Aug 13, 2024 - 2 comments

Movie: The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

The British military recruits a small group of highly skilled soldiers (Henry Cavill, the Large Guy from Jack Reacher, Henry Golding) to strike against German forces behind enemy lines during World War II. (Guy Ritchie directs.) [more inside]
posted by praemunire on Apr 19, 2024 - 10 comments

Special Event: RiffTrax: Spy High

Next up for MST Club.... this is a fairly recent release, both in movie (2000) and riff (February 2024). Hi-tek hakker kidz, and their dog, are recruited by a government agent to foil the plans of a nefarious video game company to put a mind control weapon on the internet. Think about what it implies to have a movie about hacker kids on the internet in the year 2000. I think a little more kindly of the movie knowing that nowadays the kids would be in their 30s and cursing the name of Elon Musk.
posted by JHarris on Mar 21, 2024 - 1 comment

Movie: Journey into Fear

An American engineer in Istanbul, Howard Graham (Joseph Cotten), becomes the target of a Nazi assassination due to his involvement in improving the Turkish navy. With the help of police Colonel Haki (Orson Welles), Graham escapes from his hotel to board a ship to safety, leaving behind his wife (Ruth Warrick). On board, he encounters a number of passengers, including the dancer Josette Martel (Dolores del Río). However, the passenger Peter Banat (Jack Moss) is not who he appears to be. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Feb 9, 2024 - 1 comment

Movie: Pathaan

[TRAILER] A soldier caught by enemies and presumed dead comes back to complete his mission, accompanied by old companions and foes. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Aug 9, 2023 - 1 comment

The Bureau: (Le Bureau des Légendes) - All Seasons  Season 0, Ep 0

Based on real accounts and inspired by contemporary events, this French spy thriller follows the daily lives and missions of members of the country's external security service -- France's equivalent of the CIA. [more inside]
posted by onya on Jul 21, 2023 - 9 comments

Movie: Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team embark on their most dangerous mission yet: To track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the fate of the world at stake, and dark forces from Ethan's past closing in, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than his mission--not even the lives of those he cares about most. [more inside]
posted by praemunire on Jul 10, 2023 - 42 comments

Movie: Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre

Special agent Orson Fortune (Jason Statham) and his team of operatives recruit one of Hollywood's biggest movie stars (Josh Hartnett) to help them on an undercover mission when the sale of a deadly new weapons technology threatens to disrupt the world order. [more inside]
posted by praemunire on Mar 9, 2023 - 12 comments

Movie: Munich

After the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, the Israeli government secretly assigns Avner Kaufman (Eric Bana) to carry out a series of strategic retaliations. With the help of a driver (Daniel Craig), a forger (Hanns Zischler), a bomb-maker (Mathieu Kassovitz) and a former soldier (Ciarán Hinds), Avner conducts a worldwide operation, targeting 11 individuals. As the assassinations pile up, Avner begins to doubt the morality of his actions. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Feb 6, 2023 - 5 comments

Movie: Operation Mincemeat

During WWII, two intelligence officers use a corpse and false papers to outwit German troops. [more inside]
posted by drewbage1847 on Jun 21, 2022 - 6 comments

Movie: Black Widow

A film about Natasha Romanoff in her quests between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. [more inside]
posted by kitten kaboodle on Jul 9, 2021 - 108 comments

Book: Slough House, by Mick Herron

At Slough House, Brexit has taken a toll. The slow horses have been pushed further into the cold, Slough House has been erased from official records, and its members are dying in unusual circumstances, at an unusual clip. No wonder Jackson Lamb’s crew is feeling paranoid. But are they actually targets? With a new populist movement taking hold of London’s streets and the old order ensuring that everything’s for sale to the highest bidder, the world’s a dangerous place for those deemed surplus. Jackson Lamb and the slow horses are in a fight for their lives as they navigate dizzying layers of lies, power, and death.
posted by The corpse in the library on Feb 14, 2021 - 5 comments

Homeland: The English Teacher  Season 8, Ep 11

Saul backchannels. Carrie needs one more favor. [more inside]
posted by Nelson on Apr 20, 2020 - 7 comments

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Season 2: Venezuela  Season 2, Ep 0

After tracking a potentially suspicious shipment of illegal arms in the Venezuelan jungle, CIA Officer Jack Ryan heads to South America to investigate. Jack’s actions threaten to uncover a far-reaching conspiracy, leading him on a mission spanning the globe. [more inside]
posted by jimw on Feb 18, 2020 - 8 comments

Book: The Catch, by Mick Herron (novella)

John Bachelor is the saddest kind of spy: not a joe in the field, not even a desk jockey, but a milkman—a part-time pension administrator whose main job is to check in on aging retired spies. Late in his career and having lost his wife, his house, and his savings after a series of unlucky choices, John's been living in a dead man's London apartment, hoping the bureaucracy isn't going to catch up with him and leave him homeless. But keeping a secret among spies is a fool's errand, and now John has made himself eminently blackmailable.
posted by The corpse in the library on Jan 30, 2020 - 1 comment

Book: Slow Horses, by Mick Herron

London, England: Slough House is where the washed-up MI5 spies go to while away what's left of their failed careers. The "slow horses," as they’re called, have all disgraced themselves in some way to get relegated here. Maybe they messed up an op badly and can't be trusted anymore. Maybe they got in the way of an ambitious colleague and had the rug yanked out from under them. Maybe they just got too dependent on the bottle—not unusual in this line of work. One thing they all have in common, though, is they all want to be back in the action. And most of them would do anything to get there─even if it means having to collaborate with one another. [more inside]
posted by The corpse in the library on Dec 6, 2019 - 11 comments

Mystery Science Theater 3000: RIDING WITH DEATH  Rewatch   Season 8, Ep 14

Rewatch! It's another packaging of two TV show episodes (of Gemini Man) into a single "movie," such as with Master Ninja and Fugitive Alien. This one's about a Ben Murphy who can become invisible and is a spy, kind of, and a race driver. Previously.
posted by JHarris on Apr 24, 2019 - 8 comments

Mystery Science Theater 3000: CODE NAME: DIAMOND HEAD  Rewatch   Season 6, Ep 8

I have some issues with the internet popularity poll I made that decided the "top 50" episodes of MST3K to watch. This is one of the biggest of those issues. I'm not sure how Code Name: Diamond Head (an actual Quinn Martin, made-for-TV production) got as many votes as it did. I guess some people just like it. It's got the short A Day At The Fair, at least. Anyway, enjoy this failed pilot for a kind of spy series. Previously.
posted by JHarris on Apr 17, 2019 - 4 comments

The Department of Time: Tiempo de espías (Time of spies)  First Watch   Season 3, Ep 2

The agents travel to Spain and France in 1943 to ensure the success of Britain's "Operation Mincemeat" during WWII. A Spanish spy captured in Nazi-occupied France is revealed to be an important figure in the Ministry's past and its present. [more inside]
posted by zarq on Aug 9, 2018 - 3 comments

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Mike Pence  Season 5, Ep 5

This week:
  • Trump fires Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
  • Putin wins reelection as President of Russia to no one's surprise, ensuring horrible threats, poisoned opponents and meddling in foreign elections for foreseeable future.
  • And Now: Local News Cannot Be Trusted With St. Patrick's Day
  • Main Story: Mike Pence, the hyper-fundamentalist, hyper-intolerant Vice President in the Trump Administration, and the one person in it Trump cannot fire. His opposition to gay rights is well known, but, as Oliver admits, he has a cute rabbit named "Marlon Bundo." Pence has a book out, A Day in the Life of the Vice President, about his rabbit. LWT is putting out another book, about a different rabbit named Marlon Bundo, A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, where a boy rabbit falls in love with another boy rabbit. (See inside for more.)
The Mike Pence segment is on LWT's official YouTube channel. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Mar 19, 2018 - 15 comments

The Americans: The Committee on Human Rights  Season 5, Ep 7

As Paige becomes even more enmeshed in her parents' world, tensions with Matthew Beeman come to a head, Philip and Elizabeth's honeytraps take surprising turns, and Stan faces the consequences of overplaying his hand at the FBI. [more inside]
posted by LizBoBiz on Apr 19, 2017 - 28 comments

Quantico: Quantico season 2 discussion  Season 2, Ep 0

Current: A terrorist group attack and block off a section of Manhattan during the G20 Summit. Past: Alex and Ryan are recruited by the CIA and begin their espionage training at The Farm. We meet a bunch of new classmates. [more inside]
posted by numaner on Oct 8, 2016 - 0 comments

Podcast: Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff: Episode 177: You’ve Got Your Chainsaw Working

Can you make it through the terrors of Ask Ken and Robin, when Sean Maclean asks us how to run survival horror? If so, the Tradecraft Hut awaits, where we deliver our promised full segment on legendary M15 counterintelligence honcho Maxwell Knight. [more inside]
posted by graymouser on Feb 13, 2016 - 1 comment

Homeland: Better Call Saul  Season 5, Ep 5

Quinn covers for Carrie. Dar and Allison assess the damage.
posted by roolya_boolya on Nov 2, 2015 - 6 comments

Homeland: Why Is This Night Different?  Season 5, Ep 4

Answers elude Carrie. Saul and Allison run an operation.
posted by roolya_boolya on Oct 27, 2015 - 7 comments

Homeland: Super Powers  Season 5, Ep 3

Jonas and Carrie revisit her past. Quinn stalks his prey.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich on Oct 18, 2015 - 12 comments

Homeland: The Tradition of Hospitality  Season 5, Ep 2

Carrie and Düring visit a refugee camp. Saul and Allison are at odds. Quinn stays on mission.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich on Oct 12, 2015 - 11 comments

Mystery Science Theater 3000: MIGHTY JACK  Season 3, Ep 14

(1968, Color, Japanese, Spies) The only people who can hope to win against "the organization known as Q" is Mighty Jack, a bunch of action spies in a flying submarine. I think. Despite several viewings I don't think I've ever managed to pay complete attention throughout the entire episode. The movie is amazingly lacking in cohesiveness, in large part because it's really the first and last episodes of a Japanese TV spy show tacked together. For Fugitive Alien and Time Of The Apes at least some editing was done for continuity, but not here. I don't recommend this one to casual viewers. Treat Mighty Jack with respect, or Mighty Jack will destroy you. YouTube (1h38m) Premiered September 21, 1991. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Jul 23, 2015 - 8 comments

Smiley's People: Part 6  Rewatch   Season 1, Ep 6

The green light is given, and Esterhase's team moves in on Grigoriev. Will he help them unlock Karla's secret? Can George finally bring down his nemesis and redeem his career, his Western values, his very being? This is George Smiley's last chapter. [more inside]
posted by carsonb on May 15, 2015 - 3 comments

Smiley's People: Part 5  Season 1, Ep 5

George Smiley finally has the whole story, and now must work to put a plan in place. Circus Chief Saul Enderby takes Maude for a spin around the "garden," earning his cold shoulder from Part 4 and blessing him with his totally-deniable approval of the plan to snare Karla (as well as free access to the Reptile Fund). Commence file-digging with Peter Guillam, target-shadowing with Toby Esterhase, and totally ignoring Oliver Lacon at dinner. [more inside]
posted by carsonb on May 7, 2015 - 6 comments

Smiley's People: Part 4  Season 1, Ep 4

Sleepless and relentless, Smiley races across West Germany and finally tracks down Otto Leipzig. He's still a step behind Karla for now, but with a flurry of aliases and feints and a little—OK a lot of help from Peter Guillam (Michael Byrne) all of the bits scattered by the death of General Vladimir are finally being swept up into one place. [more inside]
posted by carsonb on Apr 30, 2015 - 12 comments

Smiley's People: Part 3  Rewatch   Season 1, Ep 3

George drinks his way through three interviews while piecing together the story that General Vladimir died trying to get to him. Bernard Hepton and Beryl Reid reprise their roles from Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy as Toby Esterhase and Connie Sachs, respectively, and then Smiley ventures overseas in search of Otto Leipzig and the Ginger Pig's confession. [more inside]
posted by carsonb on Apr 23, 2015 - 8 comments

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: Part 7 - Flushing Out The Mole  Season 1, Ep 7

Smiley springs his trap and then goes about picking up the pieces and putting The Circus back together. Poor George! Life is such a puzzle to you, isn't it? - Lady Ann
posted by carsonb on Apr 2, 2015 - 18 comments

The Americans: Stingers  Season 3, Ep 10

Paige makes a clear demand. Phillip and Elizabeth wrestle with existential issues. And Henry really digs Eddie Murphy in SNL.
posted by anonymous on Apr 1, 2015 - 19 comments

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: Part 6 - Smiley Sets a Trap  Season 1, Ep 6

With a new light cast on the aftermath of Operation Testify—who told Jim Prideaux to forget it, man... forget it! and move on with his post-Circus life—George Smiley knows who in the Merlin/Witchcraft circle to approach first. But before he heads down that path, a bit of follow-up is in order with old-boy lamplighter and drunkard footie newsman Jerry Westerby. [more inside]
posted by carsonb on Mar 26, 2015 - 21 comments

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: Part 5 - Tinker Tailor  Season 1, Ep 5

George Smiley conducts two interviews, first with old hand Sam Collins, the duty officer on the night Jim Prideaux was shot, then with Prideaux himself. Between the two testimonies a clearer picture is painted of the events of that night, the fateful, failed Operation Testify, as well as its fallout.
posted by carsonb on Mar 19, 2015 - 22 comments

The Prisoner: Fall Out  Rewatch   Season 1, Ep 17

The Last Temptation of Number Six. [more inside]
posted by thesmallmachine on Sep 12, 2014 - 8 comments

The Prisoner: Once Upon a Time  Rewatch   Season 1, Ep 16

The Village, desperate for Number Six's soul, breaks out its most extreme measures. It's Degree Absolute: two men enter, one man leaves. [more inside]
posted by thesmallmachine on Sep 7, 2014 - 7 comments

The Prisoner: The Girl Who Was Death  Rewatch   Season 1, Ep 15

Number Six investigates a murderous young woman and her insane father in an episode featuring the most covetable pint glass in all of television. [more inside]
posted by thesmallmachine on Sep 2, 2014 - 8 comments

The Prisoner: Living in Harmony  Rewatch   Season 1, Ep 14

The Prisoner is now a Western. [more inside]
posted by thesmallmachine on Aug 29, 2014 - 4 comments

The Prisoner: Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling  Rewatch   Season 1, Ep 13

Patrick McGoohan is away filming Ice Station Zebra, and a memory-wiped, body-swapped Number Six carries on in his absence. [more inside]
posted by thesmallmachine on Aug 24, 2014 - 6 comments

The Prisoner: Hammer into Anvil  Rewatch   Season 1, Ep 10

As revenge for the death of a prisoner, Number Six turns the tables on Number Two. [more inside]
posted by thesmallmachine on Aug 19, 2014 - 9 comments

The Prisoner: A Change of Mind  Rewatch   Season 1, Ep 12

Number Six is declared "unmutual" and labeled for conversion. [more inside]
posted by thesmallmachine on Aug 14, 2014 - 6 comments

The Prisoner: It's Your Funeral  Rewatch   Season 1, Ep 10

Number Six is caught up in a plot to assassinate Number Two. [more inside]
posted by thesmallmachine on Aug 9, 2014 - 6 comments

The Prisoner: Many Happy Returns  Rewatch   Season 1, Ep 7

Number Six finds himself in a deserted Village. [more inside]
posted by thesmallmachine on Aug 4, 2014 - 16 comments

The Prisoner: The Schizoid Man  Rewatch   Season 1, Ep 5

Number Twelve is given the assignment of impersonating Number Six. [more inside]
posted by DevilsAdvocate on Jul 25, 2014 - 14 comments

The Prisoner: A. B. and C.  Rewatch   Season 1, Ep 3

Number Two believes Number Six had planned to sell information when he resigned, and tries to discover which of three agents Six was planning on selling out to. [more inside]
posted by DevilsAdvocate on Jul 19, 2014 - 11 comments

The Prisoner: The General  Rewatch   Season 1, Ep 6

"Speedlearn" is the latest thing in The Village — an entire three-year course of knowledge in three minutes; European History Since Napoleon in 15 seconds. Courses taught by the Professor, and promoted by the General. [more inside]
posted by DevilsAdvocate on Jul 11, 2014 - 8 comments

The Prisoner: The Chimes of Big Ben  Rewatch   Season 1, Ep 2

A new prisoner, Number Eight, arrives in The Village. An arts and crafts exhibition is held. [more inside]
posted by DevilsAdvocate on Jul 4, 2014 - 9 comments

The Prisoner: Checkmate  Rewatch   Season 1, Ep 9

Number Six takes part in a chess game. But how to tell white from black? [more inside]
posted by DevilsAdvocate on Jun 28, 2014 - 10 comments

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