Hulu lost me.
Hello Netflix.
Hulu is like an inept intelligence agency.
They had the goods.
The Criterion Collection.
But as that oeuvre was surreptitiously phased out, Hulu was unable to offer any value whatsoever to the thinking person.
And so perhaps it is ironic that my Netflix relationship (no chilling here) starts with a spy spoof of sorts, but make no mistake (as the woeful Barack Obama is wont to say): this is a very intelligent film.
It was a childhood favorite of mine.
Perhaps I was a strange child.
[no doubt]
But we all want to be James Bond to a certain extent, right?
Details disappear.
Even Putin had his cinema heroes.
Consider the film Щит и меч from 1968.
iMDB seems to fill in where Wikipedia fails.
Because these details tell so much.
To know one’s opponent.
But Vladimir Putin is not our opponent.
As long as our election stands.
Perhaps the answer is Stanislav Lyubshin.
Or was it Oleg Yankovsky?
The real answer is comedy.
Even spies need a laugh.
Spies are humans too.
Spy lives matter.
And so we get the provenance of the Pentagon basement meme.
A favorite of mine.
And this film.
Integral to who I am.
I had a cousin who worked in the Pentagon.
I don’t think she worked in the basement 🙂
But God rest her soul.
She is no longer with us.
And she was the most kind lady perhaps I ever knew.
She served her country.
I believe she did something in the health care field for veterans.
But yes…I identify extensively with Austin Millbarge.
In my own way.
Dan Aykroyd is stellar here as Mr. Millbarge.
And then there’s Emmett Fitz-Hume.
Chevy Chase is at his best in this film as Mr. Fitz-Hume.
Frank Oz is classic in his role as a test monitor.
Yes, Yoda and Miss Piggy were the same person.
How’s that for a mind fuck?
For young know-nothings like myself, this was a likely first exposure to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).
And it speaks volumes that the DIA “recently” fielded its own band of covert operatives (in direct competition with the CIA).
There is, it seems, a palpable mistrust between the CIA and the U.S. military.
Different cultures. Actually, a class difference.
[Not to get all Marx here…]
But it’s real.
I can’t define the parameters other than those intuitive, nebulous sentiments just expressed.
It is (very) interesting to note that Dan Aykroyd’s wife Donna Dixon, who stars in this film, was born in Alexandria, Virginia…
Hmmm…
NoVA.
We get Pamir Mountains.
We get Tajikistan.
But before that, we get Pakistan…and Budweiser…and Old El Paso tortilla chips.
And the intel cutout Ace Tomato Co.
And while we’re on the subject of failed businesses (Hulu), we should note that we definitely shan’t be accepting Indra Nooyi’s invitation (“Why don’t you gentlemen have a Pepsi?”) any time soon.
No…we’d much prefer to look at B.B. King’s Jheri curl blowing in the Nevada breeze…or watch Bob Hope “play through” on the Road to Bali.
But let us get back to that old enigmatic chestnut of our youth: the road to Dushanbe.
“It’s…’Soul Finger’…by…The Bar-Kays.”
“They must be having trouble getting gigs.”
God damn…best line ever!
“Doctor. Doctor. Doctor. Doctor. Aaaaand Doctor. Did we miss anyone?”
So many lines in this film which hit just the right mark.
Rarely do I write about screenwriters (it’s the auteur theorist in me), but Dan Aykroyd and his cowriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo (!) Mandel deserve major credit for the quality of Spies Like Us.
And yet, the direction of John Landis is fabulous as well!
Landis is no slouch.
I’ve previously written about the timelessness of Trading Places.
And I am sticking with that assessment.
But let’s take a break here…
Is there anything more lovely than seeing Vanessa Angel emerge from that tent?
Well, at least we get the cultural edification of some Lithuanian dancing to a boombox blasting Stax/Volt goodness around a Stolichnaya campfire 🙂
Back to the essential stand-down aspect of the false flag/stand down.
And for this we will always be indebted to Dr. Steve Pieczenik (and to a far lesser extent Roberta Wohlstetter).
We again refer to the FBI’s 1989 raid of Rocky Flats and the heavily-armed DoE agents guarding that facility.
Perhaps some U.S. Army Rangers are in Michael Chertoff’s not-too-distant future (to name but one grand conspirator).
“Ohh…I’m sorry Paul Wolfowitz! The correct answer is ‘The Girl Can’t Help It’!!!”
-PD
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