Cracking the Code of Spy Movies!

Dan and Tom are joined by Vicky as they try to answer the question: DIE ANOTHER DAY - Can this James Bond movie be defended?   Listen to find out! DIE ANOTHER DAY is one of the most divisive movies in the James Bond catalogue.   Why is that? What about it make some people like it while many others despise it? We brought Pierce Brosnan fan, Vicky back to help us with this decoding.   Vicky is a hug...

Dan and Tom look at the pluses and minuses of Amazon controlling James Bond.    Is it the best thing for the franchise? It just may be!   On the other hand, what are the roadblocks they may encounter in making this a success? Listen to find out! We've had a bit of time to digest the news of Eon Productions' selling creative control of the James Bond franchise to Amazon.   At the time, we released...

Join us as Dan and Tom decode the 1967 movie THE DOUBLE MAN . This movie starring Yul Brynner has a great plot twist. But is it any good?   Listen to find out! This movie is set in the Austrian Alps, where we join CIA officer Dan Slater as he investigates his son's suspicious skiing death. Meanwhile, as he digs deeper, he uncovers a Soviet plot to infiltrate the CIA. The film blends Cold War paran...

What makes THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS so good?   Join Dan and Tom as they dive in to discover exactly what does make it so good!   THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS introduced us to a new actor playing James Bond, Timothy Dalton.   This ended Roger Moore's twelve-year run in the role.   With the new actor, the series shifted to a grittier, less humorous James Bond. What we will decode in this episode These are the t...

Dan and Tom are joined by Dr. Wesley Britton to decode the 1987 movie THE IMPOSSIBLE SPY . This movie tells the story of a real Israeli spy, Elie Cohen. Without a doubt, h e was one of the most successful spies in history.   Is this movie worth a watch?   This episode has two sections.   First, we discuss with Dr. Wesley Britton some of the information about Elie's story and the making of the movi...

Join Dan and Tom as they decode the 1943 movie, FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO. Is this World War II movie a spy movie? Listen as Dan tries to convince Tom it is, despite Tom's uncertainty. The story with this menacing title follows the exploits of Cpl. John Bramble in June 1942 after he fell out of his tank in the North African desert.  Later on, he ends up meeting Rommel, The Desert Fox, himself.  Most of...

Join Dan and Tom as they decode the movie CRACKERJACK 3, from 2000. Is this third movie in the series worth a watch? Listen to find out what we think!   This is a "No holds barred" episode!   The first two CRACKERJACK movies were not spy movies.   They were closer to DIE HARD than a spy movie.    CRACKERJACK 3, however, is a spy movie, even though there is no train sequence! This one stars Leo Ros...

Join Dan, Tom, and Mike Reyes as they review ( No Spoilers! ) MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING – This movie stars Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, and Ving Rhames.   Listen to find out what we think! We've seen MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING , and the most recent before this one, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE DEAD RECKONING.    Now we see if they all tie together. In our no-spoiler review,   we d...

Join Dan and Tom as they decode the 1974 spy movie THE TAMARIND SEED . This movie stars Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif.      Listen to find out all the good and perhaps the bad! We've seen Julie Andrews in Torn Curtain with Paul Newman.   Now she is in a romantic spy movie with Omar Sharif.   Does the match work? In this decoding episode we dive into the following about THE TAMARIND SEED : This is...

Join Dan and Tom for their Character Spotlight on Fiona Volpe, played by Luciana Paluzzi in THUNDERBALL . Can she handle the harsh spotlight?     We know that Fiona Volpe was a tough, determined, and beautiful villain. She's willing to do whatever it takes to get her job done .  And she wanted to take James Bond out .     In this Character Spotlight we look at the following about this wonderful ch...

Join Dan and Tom as they decode the 2020 spy comedy movie SPY INTERVENTION .  It is a spy movie, but how is the comedy? I s it worth a watch? Dan and Tom are in a lively discussion answering that question ! Listen to find out why.   SPY INTERVENTION is a comedy starring Drew Van Acker, Poppy Delevingne, and Blake Anderson. There is a strong supporting cast as well. The basic premise is that a spy...

Join Dan and Tom as they decode the 1957 WW II spy movie COUNT FIVE AND DIE.   It has intrigue and espionage. But, is it worth a watch? Listen to find out.  COUNT FIVE AND DIE is based on the true story of how the Allies used deception to try to convince Adolph Hitler that the Allied invasion would be happening anywhere instead of Normandy.   In this movie, the focus is on The Netherlands. This de...

In this episode, Dan and Tom bring in a special guest.   Join us as Raymond Benson, Bond author, talks his new book on Felix Leiter. Novels are being written about some of the non-James Bond characters from the Ian Fleming James Bond novels.   To that end, Raymond Benson, who was the first American James Bond continuation author, is getting set to release his latest book, " The Hook and the Eye "....

Join Dan and Tom as they decode the 1951 World War II spy movie DECISION BEFORE DAWN .   It was the first spy movie nominated for the Best Motion Picture Academy Award. And we think it is likely that you never heard of it. So, take a listen and we'll decode this one for you.   There is a lot of realism in the movie, and we will highlight some of the real-world things that they adapted for this mov...

Join Dan and Tom as they give you their no-spoiler review of the just-released spy movie, THE AMATEUR, starring Rami Malek and Laurence Fishburne.   Our goal is to give you the information you need to see if watching  THE AMATEUR is worth your time and money. Listen to find out what we think. THE AMATEUR is a remake of the 1981 movie which starred John Savage. The cast is excellent with Malek, Fis...

Dan and Tom decode the Timothy Dalton as James Bond.   What was the Good, the Bad, and Unique of his performance?   What worked and didn't work well? Listen to find out. Timothy Dalton only played James Bond movies in two movies, THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS and LICENCE TO KILL .   He brought a much different James Bond to the screen than his predecessor. Reactions were mixed as some people didn't want th...

Dan and Tom decode the Good the Bad and Unique of Roger Moore as James Bond.   What worked and didn't work well?   What made him a unique Bond? Listen to find out. Roger Moore helmed seven James Bond movies.   Some were well-received, and others were not. He had a very different style compared to what we saw with Sean Connery and George Lazenby. We break down Roger Moore's James Bond movies by loo...

There are two types of James Bond women in the movies: those who died and those who survived. Is there a pattern here?  Does it matter if James Bond is romantically involved with them? How about if he is protecting them? We know Bond fails a fair amount trying to keep them alive. In this episode, Dan and Tom examine each of the women that James Bond either was romantic with or protected in the mov...

Join Dan and Tom as they decode the 1980 spy movie HOPSCOTCH . It has a star-studded cast and is a comedy. But, is it worth a watch? Listen to find out. Walter Matthau plays the spy, Miles Kendig who has a run in with his boss. What happens next helps set up the reason for the name of the movie, HOPSCOTCH .   The other lead actors for the movie include Glenda Jackson, Ned Beatty, and Sam Waterston...

Join Dan and Tom as they give you their no-spoiler review of the just-released spy movie: BLACK BAG .   Our goal is to give you the information you need to see if watching BLACK BAG is worth your time and money. Listen to find out what they think. BLACK BAG is a spy movie, not an action movie.   What does that mean?   Well, think of TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY or THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD ....

Join Dan and Tom as they decode the 1943 spy movie  BACKGROUND TO DANGER starring George Raft, Brenda Marshall, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet. Is it worth a watch? We decode all that for you! In this black-and-white World War II spy movie, everyone wants to get their hands on an envelope that contains something strategic for the war.  What's in it? What do they want it for? There are some fu...

James Bond movie posters are very popular with collectors .  And of course , it all started in the 1960 s.  Join Dan and Tom as they welcome the founder and editor of 007 Magazine , Graham Ry e to help decode the 1960s James Bond posters .      We are very happy that Graham was able to join us .  His knowledge of 40 years of James Bond that he has acquired by creating 007 Magazine is amazing.   Ho...

Kidnapping Winston Churchill during WW II is the plot of the 1976 movie, THE EAGLE HAS LANDED .   Yes, the plot sounds intriguing, but is it based on a true mission? We know about failed assassination attempts on Churchill, Hitler, and Mussolini.   But what about a kidnapping? Dan and Tom decode this fun spy movie.   What works and what doesn't in this movie? They examine the following from THE EA...

There was big news in the world of James Bond today !  Amazon/MGM get creative control of James Bond movies from EON Productions .  For some of us, it was our biggest fear for the franchise .  For others, it is a welcome change .   And still others just aren't sure.   I n this episode, we start by giving you the basics of the announcement, including comments from Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broc...

Join Dan and Tom as they decode the James Bond movie's fan-favorite scenes. We know that different James Bond movie fans have their favorite movies and scenes from these movies.   Not everyone likes them all.   Often, we find that the first James Bond movie you saw heavily influences your reaction to the scenes. In this episode, we go through each Eon Productions James Bond movie and call out the...