Spy / ***½ (R)

Susan Cooper: Melissa McCarthy

Rayna Boyanov: Rose Byrne

Rick Ford: Jason Statham

Nancy B. Artingstall: Miranda Hart

Sergio De Luca: Bobby Cannavale

Aldo: Peter Serafinowicz

Karen Walker: Morena Baccarin

Elaine Crocker: Allison Janney

Bradley Fine: Jude Law

20^th Century Fox presents a film written and directed by Paul Feig. Running time: 120 min. Rated R (for language throughout, violence, and some sexual content include brief graphic nudity).

Daniel Craig will have one more movie as James Bond left on his contract after the new Bond film “Spectre” is released this fall. After Bond 25, should Craig or the Bond producers decide to go in different directions, it will be time once again to consider a new Bond. Jude Law might very well be in the running, as I believe he was when Craig was cast in the role. He’s handsome, charming, has a dreamy smile, and yet he can be deftly serious and people are willing to let it slide when he uses a woman or two to get what he wants. These are all traits of his character, Bradley Fine, in the new movie “Spy”. The catch is that although Fine is a successful spy for the CIA, he is not the spy of which the title refers.

No, comedic character actress Melissa McCarthy plays the spy of the film’s title. You see the movie is a send up of a sort of spy flicks like the James Bond series. Even more so the movie is an overt criticism of the ideology and clichés of the spy genre and of Hollywood in general. McCarthy is plump and short and funny and everything that a serious action movie heroine is not. And yet, considering all of that, I would hesitate to call “Spy” a spoof of the super spy genre. The opening credit sequence and song could very well pass for an actual James Bond credit sequence. Director Paul Feig and McCarthy approach the movie with a sincerity that would make it an almost plausible spy action/comedy thriller if it weren’t so openly criticizing its own inspirations.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—The Longest Yard (1974) ***

R, 121 min.

Director: Robert Aldrich

Writers: Tracy Keenan Wynn, Albert S. Ruddy

Starring: Burt Reynolds, Eddie Albert, Ed Lauter, Michael Conrad, Jim Hampton, Harry Caesar, John Steadman, Charles Tyner, Mike Henry, Jim Nicholson, Bernadette Peters, Pervis Atkins, Tony Cacciotti, Anitra Ford, Michael Fox, Joe Kapp, Richard Kiel

Long before 7’2” tall actor Richard Kiel portrayed one of the most famous James Bond henchmen in “The Spy Who Loved Me”, he appeared in a smaller role in the Burt Reynolds prison football comedy “The Longest Yard”. You wouldn’t have noticed from his performance as Jaws in the two Bond films in which he appeared, but Kiel had a very clear speaking voice. Seeing him speak in “The Longest Yard” is somewhat shocking, because you’re really expecting him to sound a little more like he has marbles in his mouth.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Octopussy (1983) **

PG, 131 min.

Director: John Glen

Writers: George MacDonald Fraser, Richard Maibaum, Micheal G. Wilson, Ian Fleming (stories “Octopussy” and “The Property of a Lady”)

Starring: Roger Moore, Maud Adams, Louis Jourdan, Krystina Wayborn, Kabir Bedi, Steven Berkoff, David Meyer, Anthony Meyer, Desmond Llewelyn, Robert Brown, Lois Maxwell, Michaela Clavell, Walter Gotell, Vijay Amritraj, Albert Moses

Sochi has inspired me to watch some Russian themed movies. First up, “Octopussy”. Huh? Yes, one of the least impressive James Bond movies sees the end of The Cold War coming and invents a plot where a Russian general bent on keeping up the image of Soviet strength is caught up in a counterfeiting ring to raise money for and implement a war by detonating a nuclear devise on an American military base located in Germany. It’s all done under the cover of a Circus run by the mysterious Octopussy, who is apparently a pawn in the game.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Skyfall (2012) ***½

PG-13, 143 min.

Director: Sam Mendes

Writers: Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, John Logan, Ian Fleming (characters)

Starring: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Bérénice Lim Marlohe, Rory Kinnear, Ben Wishaw, Ola Rapace, Albert Finney

You can read the majority of my thoughts on the most recent James Bond film, “Skyfall”, in my original review. What I want to concentrate on in this first Penny Thoughts for the movie are the reasons why I didn’t go all the way and give this movie four stars. Many called it the best Bond ever. I can see where they’re coming from. I liked this one almost as much as the last two. In some ways I liked it even more, but there was a little intangible something missing for me.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Moonraker (1979) *½

PG, 126 min.

Director: Lewis Gilbert

Writer: Christopher Wood, Ian Fleming (book/characters)

Starring: Roger Moore, Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale, Richard Kiel, Corinne Cléry, Bernard Lee, Geoffrey Keen, Desmond Llewelyn, Lois Maxwell, Toshiro Suga, Emily Bolton

“Moonraker” is often thought of as the worst of all the Bond films. Perhaps it is. Its existence is certainly the result of the flimsiest inspiration for a James Bond film ever. In 1977, a little film called “Star Wars” was released. Calling “Star Wars” a “little film” now might seem absurd, but it was at the time. The studio didn’t put much money or faith into it. Lucas took what was then thought to be a ridiculous pay deal from the studio, which ended up making him rich and costing the studio fairly little. Sci-fi wasn’t popular at the time. Nobody wanted another “2001: A Space Odessey”, but after it was released, everybody wanted another “Star Wars”, and so every studio in Hollywood went green light crazy on space adventures.

Skyfall / ***½ (PG-13)

James Bond: Daniel Craig

M: Judi Dench

Silva: Javier Bardem

Gareth Mallory: Ralph Fiennes

Eve: Naomie Harris

Sévérine: Bérénice Lim Marlohe

Q: Ben Whishaw

Tanner: Rory Kinnear

Kincade: Albert Finney

MGM and Columbia Pictures present a film directed by Sam Mendes. Written by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and John Logan. Based on the character created by Ian Fleming. Running time: 143 min. Rated PG-13 (for intense violent sequences throughout, some sexuality, language and smoking).

James Bond has now been thrilling audiences for 50 years. “Skyfall” marks the 23^rd official Bond film and is the third starring Daniel Craig as the British secret agent, having been awarded the role for the redefining “Casino Royale” in 2006. In many ways this film is a kind of reconciliation between the Bond films that came out that redefinition of the character and the Bonds that came before it.

Penny Thoughts ‘12—Thunderball (1965) ***½

PG, 130 min.

Director: Terence Young

Writers: Richard Maibaum, John Hopkins, Jack Whittingham, Kevin McClory, Ian Fleming (novel)

Starring: Sean Connery, Claudine Auger, Adolfo Celi, Luciana Paluzzi, Rik Van Nutter, Guy Doleman, Molly Peters, Martine Beswick, Bernard Lee, Desmond Llewelyn, Lois Maxwell

There is something so raw about the first four Bond films. Bond is really a prototypical hero, and the casting of Sean Connery in the role was a masterstroke to capture that quality in the character. This was the last film to come out before the character really started to wink at himself and become aware of his own chauvinism and irreverence.

Penny Thoughts ‘12—OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006) **½

NR, 98 min.

Director: Michel Hazanavicius

Writers: Jean-François Harlin, Michel Hazanavicius, Jean Bruce (novel)

Starring: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, François Damiens, Khalid Maadour, Aure Atika, Youssef Hamid, Arsène Mosca, Constantin Alexandrov, Claude Brosset, Laurent Bateau, Saïd Amadis, Eric Prat, Abdallah Moundy, Philippe Lefebvre, Richard Sammel

Michel Hazanavicius. Jean Dujardin. Bérénice Bejo. Where have I seen those names before? They are the director and stars of this year’s Academy Award winning Best Picture “The Artist”. Apparently they’ve done this filmmaking thing before. “OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies” is no silent film, however it does homage a cinematic style from a bygone era.

Penny Thoughts ‘12—For Your Eyes Only (1981) ***½

PG, 127 min.

Director: John Glen

Writers: Richard Maibaum, Michael G. Wilson, Ian Fleming (stories “For Your Eyes Only” and “Risico”)

Starring: Roger Moore, Carole Bouquet, Julian Glover, Topol, Lynn-Holly Johnson, Cassandra Harris, Jill Bennet, Michael Gothard, John Wyman, Lois Maxwell, Desmond Llewelyn

Perhaps James Bond is not what you typically think of when you think of for Valentine’s Day, but 007 films consist of two things—action and sex. When Bond isn’t saving the world by blowing up submarines and turning to bad guys’ torture death traps against them, he’s saving the world by having sex with the most beautiful women in the world, good and bad alike.