Subject: Stay At Home Viewing
Posted by: Godwit
Date: Apr 25 20
Curious, what are you watching while the world spins around us?
What's your favorite thing about it? Does it help you get through?
Posted by: Godwit
Date: Apr 25 20
Curious, what are you watching while the world spins around us?
What's your favorite thing about it? Does it help you get through?
979 replies. On page 10 of 49 pages. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49
Godwit 
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Went to find the John Hurt movie, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and I see that Sir John passed away. Gosh. He will be missed. Reply #181. May 27 20, 10:33 PM |
C30
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Yesterday I started watching Snowpiercer...........managed half an episode.............won't be watching more........IMO totally crap! Reply #182. May 28 20, 1:58 AM |
MiraJane
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Oops, didn't see the request about spy movies. I don't know any. I don't like the genre and the closest things to a spy movie I've seen are the old black & white ones Alfred Hitchcock did. I know how Snowpiercer ends if anyone is interested. Reply #183. May 28 20, 6:50 AM |
flopsymopsy
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This show was very popular in the UK but didn't do too well in some other countries, like the USA where it got taken off air after a couple of seasons. It also had a title in the UK which had racist connotations in some other countries so it was renamed. We called it "Spooks", some countries called it "MI-5", because it's about the UK's internal intelligence service. It's a bit old now, the last one was made in 2011 - but if you like spies, you might like it! In the UK, spook is just generic slang for a spy, presumably because they're like ghosts - they're there but you can't see them. Unless you happen to visit the UK's Foreign Office, as I once did on business, and have to wait in reception for the civil servant you've come to see. I'd been there for a few minutes when in walked three very smartly-dressed people; they walked up to the desk and told the receptionist they'd come to see the Foreign Secretary. Ooh, my ears pricked up, important people. She asked who they were and did they have an appointment? They looked around, spotted me, I looked harmless, they looked back "GCHQ". Ooh. They were snooty, they did not speak nicely to the receptionist (as I had done, she liked me!), so she took her time picking up the phone. She dialled. "Margaret? Is the Secretary expecting visitors? Only there are three spooks here to see him." I laughed. Reply #184. May 28 20, 8:18 AM |
odo5435
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IMHO, the best spy stories (many of which translated into good films) were written during the 1960s, the height of the cold war. Films based on the books of John le Carré ('Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy', 'The Spy Who Came in from the Cold', et al) and Len Deighton (the Harry Palmer series which includes 'The Ipcress File') remain some of the most gripping and realistic spy thrillers ever. Not to be outdone the Germans have also produced one of the best ever in the genre - 'Das Leben Der Anderen' ('The Lives of Others' - mentioned in an earlier post), which is well worth the watch if you can find a subtitled version. Then, of course, there is the lighter entertainment offered by the James Bond series. You could add to these the Hitchcock greats of which 'North by Northwest', 'The 39 Steps', and 'The Lady Vanishes' are high on my list. Honourable mentions would go to 'The Manchurian Candidate' (1962 version only) and 'The Good Shepherd'. For action you might want to include Luc Besson's spy/assassin thriller 'Nikita' (which must be watched with subtitles if your French is poor - the dubbed versions are simply atrocious as is the Hollywood remake). I can't finish this post without mentioning the best (small) screen spy character in Edward Woodward's depiction of the jaded, weary and embittered David Callan. The TV series 'Callan' was a huge success in its time and is still very watchable today - if you can find it. Reply #185. May 28 20, 9:20 AM |
Godwit
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WOW thanks you all. Looks like great line-up for a spy-show binge. "Spook" is a valid term in the US military but in certain circles, like a nickname so they can avoid calling them what they are. Using inner circle references in public media gets a little dicey, since as you point out a word might be used in other circles for negative reasons. Even regular military are not supposed to casually use the term spook, for intelligence workers. Interesting those you encountered were snooty. Can't think what about. Unless they were re investigating someone and throwing their weight around a bit. I gotta respond to your story-- a good office manager or secretary can put anyone in their place faster and better than jack robinson. Reply #186. May 28 20, 10:59 AM |
DireWolf74
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Red Sparrow with Jenifer Lawrence is a recent spy movie that's not bad. She's a Soviet agent...or is she? :-) I watched a movie called "MI-5" with Jon Snow himself, Kit Harrington. It was very good. Reply #187. May 28 20, 1:00 PM |
| Godwit
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MI-5 with "Jon Snow", that's interesting. Right in the middle of his epic Game of Thrones. You didn't have trouble seeing him in a new role? I'm afraid Kit might be Jon Snow forever, for me. Anything Judi Dench, I'm in. There's a new ...sci fi thriller I believe, coming out ...tomorrow. Reply #188. May 28 20, 1:12 PM |
| Godwit
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The Vast of Night. Sounds like aliens on radio frequency... Also Painter and the Thief. After someone steals her paintings the painter tracks him down and they become unlikely friends. Legion a Roman war story Reply #189. May 28 20, 2:48 PM |
| flopsymopsy
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"a good office manager or secretary can put anyone in their place faster and better than jack robinson." Or a head porter or janitor. Or a cook. I once had a job that involved organising events and grand occasions attended by all sorts of great and famous people and they always seemed to go well, so much so that I got a bit of a reputation for being a good organiser. "How do you do it?" my colleagues would ask, "whenever I book a buffet I get egg sandwiches with wilting cress, when you do it we get the lightest flakiest pastries, we get canapes that melt in the mouth, and lightly spiced bhaji with dips. How do you do it?" Tell me the head chef's name, I would say, have you ever met him? Did you even know we have a head chef? Or a butler? Did you know they have a secretary? What's her name? Whenever I moved offices I found I always got the best furniture, and if I wanted my old furniture moved, I got that too. Strange what smiling at the porters and saying "thanks!" will get you. Or holding the door open for them when they're pushing a trolley full of buckets and brooms. These spooks were very well dressed. Two men and a woman (and I got the impression she was in charge) in tailored suits and top coats. Have you ever seen a London-tailored suit? Savile Row? There's no mistaking them, they're all fitted and hand-made from the finest cloth. People come from all over the world to have suits made in London, it's all in the cut. And if you work at GCHQ you probably know you're the best at what you do anywhere in the world. They can be snooty if they like, as long as they're on my side! Reply #190. May 28 20, 6:21 PM |
| Godwit
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That's right, the movers and shakers (I guess literally) are in the "invisible" jobs Oh boy that's fancier dress than I was imagining. Berry interesting. Reply #191. May 28 20, 8:23 PM |
FatherSteve
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Members of the United States Naval Security Group (which no longer exists) were called "spooks" by sailors who were not at all clear on what the mission of the SecGru might have been. Even then, in the 1960s, there was a tension between that usage and the racist slang usage of "spook" to mean a black person. This disparaging usage apparently arose in the 1940s. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the term spook was adapted by black people to describe themselves: "Black pilots trained at Tuskegee Institute during World War II called themselves the Spookwaffe." Reply #192. May 29 20, 9:41 AM |
| Godwit
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Thank you for your comments. Back to viewing. A couple in Michigan put up a "Silly Walk Zone" sign at the front of their house. Based on the Monty Python silly walk. Neighbors do their best silly walks as they pass by. On video. Inventive. Whirling kids, dogs on their hind legs...you can search for "silly walk zone" and find them. Reply #193. May 29 20, 11:10 AM |
| DireWolf74
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Godwit, yes it was right in the middle of his time on Thrones. But he was so good in MI-5, that I bought in. It's a good movie, I've seen it a few times. Something to do with a mole inside the agency. Reply #194. May 29 20, 11:43 AM |
| DireWolf74
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Just looked and that movie is based on the tv show. It came out in 2015. And was also released under the title "Spooks: The Greater Good". Reply #195. May 29 20, 11:46 AM |
| Godwit
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Not that word again! Geez it's everywhere. I will definitely watch that M15. I wasn't sure what kind of actor Kit truly is, as they played him primarily Handsome. I'm glad he's having other opportunities. Reply #196. May 29 20, 2:12 PM |
| Godwit
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Here to peruse and choose a new show to try...nice to have all your suggestions Reply #197. May 29 20, 5:37 PM |
| Godwit
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Netflix "Space Force" looks like a fun comedy. Steve Carrell Reply #198. May 29 20, 5:45 PM |
| DireWolf74
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"What We Do In The Shadows" is a pretty good tv show. It's a black comedy style take on vampires. Sort of deadpan humor. Based on a movie from a few years ago. So the opposite of MI-5. Reply #199. May 29 20, 9:49 PM |
| Godwit
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Akin to "Dead Like Me"? I loved that ridiculous, clever show. Reply #200. May 29 20, 11:57 PM |
979 replies. On page 10 of 49 pages. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49
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