Starring: Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, Helen Mirren, Anthony Hopkins & Catherine Zeta-Jones
Written by Jon Hoeber & Erich Hoeber
Directed by Dean Parisot
A team of retired CIA operatives must track down a weapon of mass destruction that’s been hidden for decades.
Keep giving Helen
Mirren guns and camouflage,
I’ll keep paying you.
Grade: B-
c2013
By Daniel J. Hoag
RED 2 is playing now in theaters nationwide.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1821694/?ref_=sr_1
Starring: Richard Gere, Topher Grace, Stephen Moyer, Odette Yustman & Martin Sheen
Written by Michael Brandt & Derek Haas
Directed by Michael Brandt
After a U.S. Senator is murdered, a retired CIA operative teams up with a young FBI agent to hunt down a Soviet assassin who was long thought to be dead.
Cold War-era spies
return in a film that’s as
fresh as the Cold War.
Grade: C
c2012
By Daniel J. Hoag
The Double is available on Blu-ray and DVD.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1646980/
Starring: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Bérénice Marlohe, Albert Finney & Ben Whishaw
Written by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and John Logan
Directed by Sam Mendes
When a cyberterrorist seeks revenge on M., it’s up to James Bond to stop him.
Seems Her Majesty’s
Secret Service has come through
for us once again.
Grade: A-
c2012
By Daniel J. Hoag
Skyfall is now playing in theaters nationwide.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1074638/
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton & Stacy Keach
Screenplay by Tony Gilroy & Dan Gilroy
Directed by Tony Gilroy
A chemically-enhanced special operative goes rogue after his government attempts to eradicate all traces of the black ops program that controlled him.
I’m pretty sure Bourne’s
true legacy would involve
a lot more punching.
Grade: B
c2012
By Daniel J. Hoag
The Bourne Legacy is playing now in theaters nationwide.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1194173/
Starring: Rowan Atkinson, Gillian Anderson, Dominic West & Rosamund Pike
Screenplay by Hamish McColl
Directed by Oliver Parker
Bumbling spy Johnny English returns to stop the assassination of the Chinese premier.
For Anglophiles, Bean
fans, Scully lovers, and dorks.
Yup. I am all four.
Grade: B
c2012
By Daniel J. Hoag
Johnny English Reborn is available on Blu-ray and DVD on 2/28/12.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1634122/
Starring: Romola Garai, Dominic West, Ben Whishaw, Anna Chancellor & Oona Chaplin
Written and created by Abi Morgan
Directed by Coky Giedroyc, Harry Bradbeer & Jamie Payne
In this six-part British mini-series set during the Cold War of the 1950s, the producer of a newly-launched topical news program and her best friend, a passionate journalist, become embroiled in a controversial story that involves politics, murder, espionage, and dangerous international conspiracies.
If they thought the news
was biased then, they didn’t
live to see Fox News.
Grade: B+
c2012
By Daniel J. Hoag
The Hour is available now on Blu-ray and DVD.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1778108/
Starring: Gary Oldman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, Ciarán Hinds, Toby Jones, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong & John Hurt
Screenplay by Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan
Directed by Tomas Alfredson
In the midst of the Cold War, a retired British spy is recruited to uncover a mole at the very highest level of British intelligence.
Not all spies look like
Daniel Craig, but Oldman leaves
your martini stirred.
Grade: A-
c2012
By Daniel J. Hoag
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is playing now in select cities.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1340800/
Starring: Taylor Lautner, Lily Collins, Alfred Molina, Jason Isaacs, Maria Bello & Sigourney Weaver
Written by Shawn Christensen
Directed by John Singleton
After discovering a website that suggests he is a missing person, a high school student uncovers a secret that causes him to flee from both dangerous criminals and the CIA.
Abs win jobs. Lautner
didn’t land the lead with his
talent or that face.
Grade: D-
c2012
By Daniel J. Hoag
Abduction is available on Blu-ray and DVD on 11/17/12.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1600195/
Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton & Michael Nyqvist
Written by Josh Appelbaum & André Nemec
Directed by Brad Bird
Ethan Hunt and his IMF team must go rogue to stop a Swedish terrorist after they are framed for bombing the Kremlin.
Brad Bird performs the
impossible: making us
forget we hate Cruise.
Grade: A-
c2011
By Daniel J. Hoag
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is now playing in theaters nationwide.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1229238/
Starring: Helen Mirren, Sam Worthington, Jessica Chastain, Jesper Christensen, Marton Csokas, Ciaran Hinds & Tom Wilkinson
Screenplay by Matthew Vaughn & Jane Goldman and Peter Straughan
Directed by John Madden
The past comes back to haunt three Mossad agents who, in 1966, were assigned to track down a Nazi war criminal hiding in East Berlin.
Helen Mirren finds
Nazis hard to catch in this
solid suspense flick.
Grade: B
c2011
By Daniel J. Hoag
The Debt is available on Blu-ray and DVD tomorrow.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1226753/
The Haiku Review 