Ace of Spades HQ

January 03, 2013

Recommendation: "OSS 117"
— Ace

Streaming on Netflix now (and available on disc, I imagine) are a couple of French movies. They're parodies of James Bond films, but a little backstory:

Apparently this "OSS 117" character predates James Bond by four years -- and the "117" might be where Fleming got his own "007." (A commenter reminds me that "007" was taken from the nom de cipher of Elizabeth I's occultist adviser, John Dee.) The writers, a guy named Bruce, and then, when he died, his wife and son, churned out over 250 books about OSS 117. (There's a tradition in France of hiring ghost writers to continue popular series.) There were some serious films about "the James Bond of France" made in the 50s and 60s.

While these new movies, 2006's OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies and 2009's OSS 117: Lost in Rio feature the same character and same basic situation (a French secret agent operating in the 50's and 60's), they are parodies of spy movies, especially James Bond films, and pretty hilarious -- even in French.

I'd say it's a French version of Austin Powers but that's not quite right-- people say Austin Powers was a parody of James Bond, but Austin Powers was such a singular mutant creation it's hard to see much of James Bond in him. And to the extent he's a parody, he's more a parody of the 60s era James Bond parodies Matt Helm, Derek Flint, and the Avengers. Stuff that only real spy geeks even remember.

These movies are actually closer to a real parody of James Bond, down to having Connery's exact suits and haircut and a funny actor who looks strangely like a goofy version of Sean Connery. The main actor was the lead in The Artist, where he played a silly, goofily mock-heroic version of Douglas Fairbanks, and here does the same sort of thing with his Bond pastiche.

The schtick in the movies is that the title spy is dumb -- of course. But he's also sexist, absurdly patriotic, and a ridiculous cultural chauvanist; he hands out pictures of the French President to Egyptians he meets and tells them the the picture depicts France's king and will bring them great luck. He also comments, with charming aplomb, on the backwardness of Islamic countries -- "What kind of stupid religion bans alcohol?" He also punches out a muzzein for waking him up with his caterwauling morning call to prayer.

The movies are pretty damn funny -- again, even in French; it's not the wordplay that's funny, just this guy's never-ending cocksure dimness -- but what's really surprising to an American viewer is how politically incorrect this all is. The French are, to put it in a nice way, not as hung up as we are about cultural sensitivity, and, to put in a not nice way, completely racist. Now, the movies are lampooning OSS 117's cringe-worthy cultural insensitivity, but along the way you get some of the most shocking racial humor I've seen since Blazing Saddles.

And I think the movies, especially the sequel, go even further than Blazing Saddles. The first one had some limits, but once that became a hit, the second one pushed everything to 11. Unfortunately, in the second one, he teams up with the Mossad... and his ideas about Jews are, like so much about him, extremely French. The second one really starts to push the envelope into areas where I thought they shouldn't go. Because I like the movies, I sure don't want to think they let themselves go further with the spy's anti-semitism than they did with his anti-Islamism simply because the filmmakers are, in fact, anti-semitic. I'd prefer to think that, as the Spy Who Shagged Me was just the first one again but going even further with the same basic joke, it's just a matter of the sequel going further than the original, and, alas, the sequel explores the infamous French attitude about Jews. And, cringing aside, it's pretty funny.

That warning aside, the movies are pretty damn funny and the character -- a good-natured but dim bumbler like Maxwell Smart but sexist, racist, anti-Semitic, colonialist, and homohobic (but homophobic while barely suppressing strong homosexual tendencies) is completely likable.

Oddly enough the movies take a lot of shots at France, too, and almost none at America. (The only real America-bashing happens in the second when OSS 117 meets his CIA friend, a foul-mouthed Felix Leiter parody who actually looks, when we first see him, a little like Jack Lord in Dr. No. And the only bashing is that this character is a boor and an idiot. But then, so is the French hero.)

Really an unexpected treat. I hope I haven't oversold it. Kind of a must-see for any James Bond fan. The director really gets the look of the early Bond films (especially Dr. No) just right. And the actor is just hilarious.

Posted by: Ace at 01:05 PM | Comments (192)
Post contains 827 words, total size 5 kb.

1 Yeah, but it's French! (I might have a look, in all seriousness. I could use some comedy right now.)

Posted by: joncelli at January 03, 2013 01:09 PM (RD7QR)

2 Boy you can tell your vacation worked well for ya, Ace

Posted by: DAve at January 03, 2013 01:09 PM (XDC0v)

3 Oh, and Frist!

Posted by: joncelli at January 03, 2013 01:10 PM (RD7QR)

4 Saw them abt 6 mos ago. The one in egypt is esp funny

Posted by: Uncle Jed at January 03, 2013 01:10 PM (AVfT8)

5 Ace must be bored. He's reviewing French films. The French, for fuck's sake.

Posted by: BCochran1981 at January 03, 2013 01:10 PM (IvVLN)

6 Second to None!!! Well except for joncelli

Posted by: DAve at January 03, 2013 01:11 PM (XDC0v)

7 I missed getting the lead by t h a t much.

Posted by: Agent 227 at January 03, 2013 01:12 PM (eHIJJ)

8 How low has the American cinema sunk? Ace is now watching French films! Scare Bleu!

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 03, 2013 01:12 PM (fpSpD)

9 I know when you think "French film" you think slow, ennui-filled arthouse stuff. This is not that. This is really much closer to Blazing Saddles. I have to recommend it just for the sweet, sweet racism.

Posted by: ace at January 03, 2013 01:13 PM (LCRYB)

10 >>> Saw them abt 6 mos ago. The one in egypt is esp funny ah good! Please tell these guys I'm not completely insane.

Posted by: ace at January 03, 2013 01:13 PM (LCRYB)

11 Heartily concur on the OSS 117 movies. The protagonist ir portrayed by Jean Dujardin, of "The Artist." Same director, too.

Posted by: BUTCH at January 03, 2013 01:13 PM (0APJ3)

12 The first one was hilarious. The second one went, as Ace mentions, a little overboard.

Posted by: Waterhouse at January 03, 2013 01:13 PM (S/WR4)

13 The technical term for a French parody is "documentary".

Posted by: @PurpAv at January 03, 2013 01:14 PM (hc3eM)

14 Scare Bleu! Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 03, 2013 05:12 PM (fpSpD) That's almost barrel worthy.

Posted by: BCochran1981 at January 03, 2013 01:14 PM (IvVLN)

15 Inspector Cleaseau, OSS 117 has stolen your schtick and made it truly funny.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 03, 2013 01:14 PM (fpSpD)

16 Actually, when I think of "French film," I think of Jerry Lewis.

Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at January 03, 2013 01:14 PM (eHIJJ)

17 9 I think of Sophie Marceau and Juliette Binoche

Posted by: DAve at January 03, 2013 01:15 PM (XDC0v)

18 BCochran, barrel time means I wont post any more links from Japan or Maid Cafe for you. Never mind the Olivia Munn videos.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 03, 2013 01:15 PM (fpSpD)

19 So, the live action inspiration for Archer?

Posted by: Joe at January 03, 2013 01:15 PM (7pOq5)

20 Hubby and I watched both OSS 117 movies and found the one in Cairo hysterical. Not excited about the second one. There were some chuckle worthy moments but overall it wasn't really funny, IMO.

Posted by: Mandy P., lurking lurker who lurks at January 03, 2013 01:15 PM (qFpRI)

21 9 I know when you think "French film" you think slow, ennui-filled arthouse stuff.

So it's no "Henri the Cat."

Posted by: Jane D'oh at January 03, 2013 01:16 PM (UOM48)

22 >>>So,the live action inspiration for Archer? actually, yeah-- I don't know why that didn't occur to me. It's Archer, basically.

Posted by: ace at January 03, 2013 01:16 PM (LCRYB)

23 Who's this "James Bond" cat you are going on about?

Posted by: Charlie Gibson at January 03, 2013 01:16 PM (8lB0x)

24 Jerry Lewis lived briefly in the little town in northern NY I grew up in. I'm not proud of that.

Posted by: @PurpAv at January 03, 2013 01:16 PM (hc3eM)

25 18 BCochran, barrel time means I wont post any more links from Japan or Maid Cafe for you. Never mind the Olivia Munn videos. Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 03, 2013 05:15 PM (fpSpD) LOL Well, the Maid Cafe thing didn't really do much for me. And I was the one that posted Olivia with the hotdog...

Posted by: BCochran1981 at January 03, 2013 01:16 PM (IvVLN)

26 Catherine Deneuve

Posted by: mrp at January 03, 2013 01:16 PM (HjPtV)

27 the Chattering Classes in France are as PC as their ilk in the USA, but working class Frogs haven't been as intimidated by poofters and wankers

They also think that everything French is better ...bien sur

Posted by: Rod in Rotterdam at January 03, 2013 01:17 PM (Dll6b)

Has there been a more recent version? I could have sworn I saw a preview on a recent dvd (I have no idea what) that looks like this.

Yeah, I didn't pay much attention because it was french, but maybe I'll look these up.

Posted by: BurtTC at January 03, 2013 01:17 PM (TOk1P)

29 Thank goodness its not Babbette's Feast.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 03, 2013 01:17 PM (fpSpD)

30
Why are your cars so feelthy?

Posted by: 0SS 117 at January 03, 2013 01:17 PM (NFVkx)

31 When I think of French entertainment, I think of mimes......and Jerry Lewis.

Posted by: Soona at January 03, 2013 01:17 PM (l3DV6)

32 31
Why are your cars so feelthy?

We'll burn them for you.

Posted by: Muslim Yoots at January 03, 2013 01:18 PM (UOM48)

33 >>>Has there been a more recent version? I could have sworn I saw a preview on a recent dvd (I have no idea what) that looks like this. well these are recent -- 2006 and 2009. I imagine they're be a third film coming out in the next year or so.

Posted by: ace at January 03, 2013 01:18 PM (LCRYB)

34 I swear if James Bond puts mayonaise on his fries

Try tartar sauce. You're welcome.

Posted by: HeatherRadish™ needs a beer at January 03, 2013 01:18 PM (ZKzrr)

35 Hot chicks too

Posted by: Uncle Jed at January 03, 2013 01:19 PM (AVfT8)

36 >>>Why are your cars so feelthy? Chickens and watermelons in your roads -- how rustic. It's kind of fun.

Posted by: ace at January 03, 2013 01:19 PM (LCRYB)

37 if you don't mind subtitles, watch "Nobody Else But You" on Netflix

some French movies are Two Hours of Nothing ( especially by Chabrol ), but good French movies are very good

Posted by: Rod in Rotterdam at January 03, 2013 01:19 PM (Dll6b)

It's Archer, basically.

The 3-word movie review.

Posted by: Joe at January 03, 2013 01:19 PM (7pOq5)

39 22 Archer is amazing. So I'll definitely watch these.

Posted by: Big T Party at January 03, 2013 01:20 PM (WiQr+)

40 There is always Bloody Mallory if you want a red headed demon fighter
http://youtu.be/DxhVmrmZcjQ

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 03, 2013 01:20 PM (fpSpD)

41 The best part is, the American left is left gobbling and choking over these movies because "RACIST!" and yet, "French!"

Posted by: Pentangle at January 03, 2013 01:20 PM (/Uf4s)

42 Thank goodness its not Babbette's Feast. Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 03, 2013 05:17 PM (fpSpD) Mother. Fucker. Now I have to go kill a turtle. brb

Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD. Team Stompy. at January 03, 2013 01:21 PM (VtjlW)

43 BCochran, you went there. I merely offered up Olivia Munn in a maid's outfit slathered in chocolate pudding.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 03, 2013 01:21 PM (fpSpD)

44 If they feature Whatshisface from "The Artist," I'd sure be willing to give them a try. That guy is one hell of a comedic actor and I can just picture him doing a Bond parody. I don't care what you guys say, the French are hilarious. Okay, rarely intentionally so, but damned funny nevertheless. Okay, okay, maybe it's not the French that are hilarious. Maybe it's the Brits and Americans making fun of the French. Still, that world-famous superstar who won the Oscar last year even though no one knows who he is and can't remember his name even if they ever heard it is really very, very good.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at January 03, 2013 01:22 PM (C8mVl)

45 Maybe Gerard Depardieu can play the Russian spy in then next installment.

I just wrote that because I like the name, Deh--pahr-dyooo.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at January 03, 2013 01:22 PM (QKKT0)

46 Could be wrong but i thought they were dubbed into engrish; or maybe i was drunk...

Posted by: Uncle Jed at January 03, 2013 01:22 PM (AVfT8)

47 LMFAO Anna....

Posted by: BCochran1981 at January 03, 2013 01:22 PM (IvVLN)

48
Mother. Fucker. Now I have to go kill a turtle. brb

Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD. Team Stompy. at January 03, 2013 05:21 PM (VtjlW

Watch out! The clown behind you, with a spider on his shoulder!!

heh *gulp*

Posted by: Jane D'oh at January 03, 2013 01:23 PM (UOM48)

49 in the 70s, Gerard D. was the French Brando

then carbohydrates kicked in ( as they did with Brando )

Posted by: Rod in Rotterdam at January 03, 2013 01:23 PM (Dll6b)

50 Netflix and food? Try Barbecue Pitmasters

Posted by: mrp at January 03, 2013 01:23 PM (HjPtV)

51 >>> Stuff that only real spy geeks even remember. Sandbaggers!

Posted by: red at January 03, 2013 01:23 PM (ymJbM)

52 I had this in my instant queue on Netflix (based on the stars and director, since I really loved The Artist), now I will have to check it out.

Posted by: Karusky at January 03, 2013 01:24 PM (dO4L7)

53 Oh no, what have I caused Alexthechick to do? Or is it because Babbette's Feast is one of those movies you watch once just to say you suffered through it?

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 03, 2013 01:24 PM (fpSpD)

54 Speaking of the French and racism, the entire plot of District B13 centers around the French saying fuck it and walling off certain areas of Paris and then saying oh fuck it sideways, let's nuke 'em. Oddly enough, those certain areas seem to be run by criminals who do not at first blush appear to be native French.

Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD. Team Stompy. at January 03, 2013 01:24 PM (VtjlW)

55 Oh Jane.....it was nice knowing you....

Posted by: BCochran1981 at January 03, 2013 01:24 PM (IvVLN)

56 it's not the wordplay that's funny

I was so proud of myself that me with my high-school French caught a pun in the first movie.

Posted by: Waterhouse at January 03, 2013 01:25 PM (S/WR4)

57 The only real America-bashing happens in the second when OSS 117 meets his CIA friend, a foul-mouthed Felix Leiter parody who actually looks, when we first see him, a little like Jack Lord in Dr. No The most memorable moment of Dr. No, when Ursula Andress steps naked out of the decontamination shower, is the best part of the movie you actually can't see. Despite repeated attempts by my DVD player to show that moment, it simply doesn't exist.

Posted by: Schrödinger's cat [/i] at January 03, 2013 01:25 PM (feFL6)

58 The last French film I enjoyed was La Femme Nikita.

Posted by: mrp at January 03, 2013 01:25 PM (HjPtV)

59 27 I swear if James Bond puts mayonaise on his fries, I'm gonna start shootingat the WII! ------ Indeed. He should at least have the decency to mix it with ketchup.

Posted by: Just about anybody in Utah at January 03, 2013 01:26 PM (NmR1a)

60 Lupin IIIrd, anyone?

Posted by: soothsayer at January 03, 2013 01:26 PM (jUytm)

61 ...and the "117" might be where Fleming got his own "007." Fleming got the "007" from one of Elizabeth I's trusted advisers, Dr. John Dee. "The 007 was the insignia number that Elizabeth was to use for private communiques between her Court and Dee. Dee signed his letters with two circles symbolising his own two eyes and indicating that he was the secret eyes of the Queen.The two circles are guarded by what may be considered a square root sign or an elongated seven. For Dee, seven was a sacred cabbalistic and lucky number." http://www.sirbacon.org/links/dblohseven.html

Posted by: BuddyPC at January 03, 2013 01:26 PM (jfUIE)

62 When I was a kid, I thought the Pink Panther films were the bomb. And I giggled over Jerry Lewis.

*alexthechick is going to kill me, isn't she?*

Posted by: Jane D'oh at January 03, 2013 01:26 PM (UOM48)

63 I actually quite like the original "Casino Royale" with Peter Sellers, Woody Allen, Ursula Andress and an amazing all-star cameo cast.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at January 03, 2013 01:26 PM (XkWWK)

64 Soothsayer, you not talking of the 1970s live action Lupin III movie are you?

Monkey Punch!

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 03, 2013 01:26 PM (fpSpD)

65 >>> Fleming got the "007" from one of Elizabeth I's trusted advisers, Dr. John Dee. oh that's right. I knew that but forgot.

Posted by: ace at January 03, 2013 01:27 PM (LCRYB)

66 Oddly enough, those certain areas seem to be run by criminals who do not at first blush appear to be native French.

No striped shirts, skinny mustaches and berets then?

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at January 03, 2013 01:27 PM (QKKT0)

67 actually, the cartoons I never saw the human version of Lupin.

Posted by: soothsayer at January 03, 2013 01:28 PM (jUytm)

68 Loved the first OSS movie (haven't seen the 2nd). Jean DuJardin is hilarious.
Reminds me that the French have done a much bolder job of mocking Islamic culture in print, too: Charlie Hebdo.

Posted by: Lizzy at January 03, 2013 01:28 PM (amaU1)

69 I can't believe no one's mentioned Bridget Bardot. Is she still alive?

Posted by: Jane D'oh at January 03, 2013 01:28 PM (UOM48)

so do the Frenchy chicks scrape their pits or are they like French in the film?

Posted by: Moron #3 at January 03, 2013 01:28 PM (W6iIX)

71 70 I can't believe no one's mentioned Bridget Bardot. Is she still alive? ----------- Last I heard, she was hanging out with a lot of cats. Large, wild cats, mind you, but cats nonetheless.

Posted by: Citizen Anachronda at January 03, 2013 01:29 PM (NmR1a)

72 Two elements that made the Sean Connery films so great were John Barry's musical score, the Monte Norman theme and the incredible production design of Ken Adam.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at January 03, 2013 01:29 PM (XkWWK)

73 Watch out! The clown behind you, with a spider on his shoulder!! heh *gulp* Posted by: Jane D'oh at January 03, 2013 05:23 PM (UOM4 *narrows eyes* I did not deserve that. Or is it because Babbette's Feast is one of those movies you watch once just to say you suffered through it? Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 03, 2013 05:24 PM (fpSpD) No, actually it's because I went to see Babbette's Feast with a bunch of my artsy fartsy friends who had no idea that making turtle soup requires, you know, the lopping off the head of a turtle. Oh the reactions were priceless.

Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD. Team Stompy. at January 03, 2013 01:30 PM (VtjlW)

74 Ursula Andress NSFW http://tinyurl.com/bago4a8

Posted by: BCochran1981 at January 03, 2013 01:30 PM (IvVLN)

75 For all their talk of sophistication (i.e. amorality) and liberte, egalite, and fraternite, the French are pretty ass-backwards as far as diversity goes. Check out "The Names of Love" (Le nom de gens), if you're in a Frenchy mood, and you'll see what I mean: The controversy revolves around a mixed couple (i.e., French and light-skinned Algerian). http://bitmaelstrom.blogspot.com/search?q=french

Posted by: moviegique at January 03, 2013 01:30 PM (Cepxj)

76 *pleads with atc to forgive me*

Posted by: Jane D'oh at January 03, 2013 01:31 PM (UOM48)

77 Alexthechick, a video of their reaction... #1 YouTube for 6 months running.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 03, 2013 01:31 PM (fpSpD)

78 26 Catherine Deneuve Posted by: mrp at January 03, 2013 05:16 PM (HjPtV) If Catherine Deneuve married Burt Lahr, she'd be "da noive!"

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at January 03, 2013 01:31 PM (XkWWK)

79 Wait, the link should be: http://bitmaelstrom.blogspot.com/2011/07/names-of-love-le-noms-de-gens.html For "The Names of Love". But half the French stuff we get out here is based on their apparently disgraceful treatment of Algerians.

Posted by: moviegique at January 03, 2013 01:32 PM (Cepxj)

80 So Bridget Bardot is a cat lady now? Yikes.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at January 03, 2013 01:32 PM (UOM48)

81 I can't believe no one's mentioned Bridget Bardot. Is she still alive?

She bitched about how stupid Sarah Palin was in 2008.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at January 03, 2013 01:32 PM (QKKT0)

82 Ursala Andress is Swiss

Posted by: Rod in Rotterdam at January 03, 2013 01:33 PM (Dll6b)

83 59 The last French film I enjoyed was La Femme Nikita. Posted by: mrp at January 03, 2013 05:25 PM (HjPtV) "The Professional" with Jean Reno and pre-pubescent Natalie Portman was quite good.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at January 03, 2013 01:34 PM (XkWWK)

...the French are pretty ass-backwards as far as diversity goes. ....

The controversy revolves around a mixed couple (i.e., French and light-skinned Algerian).

well, yeah, since his light skinned fellow Algerains and this darker skined friends burnt 1200 cars in Paris on New Years eve

tribalism > diversity, every time

Posted by: Moron #3 at January 03, 2013 01:34 PM (W6iIX)

85 *pleads with atc to forgive me* Posted by: Jane D'oh at January 03, 2013 05:31 PM (UOM4 Ohhhh I suppose. Just this once. Alexthechick, a video of their reaction... #1 YouTube for 6 months running. Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 03, 2013 05:31 PM (fpSpD) It was hilarious, I nearly peed laughing.

Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD. Team Stompy. at January 03, 2013 01:34 PM (VtjlW)

86 The War of Axillary Hair is over. The hirsute lost.

Posted by: moviegique at January 03, 2013 01:34 PM (Cepxj)

87 "The Professional" with Jean Reno and pre-pubescent Natalie Portman was quite good. Posted by: J.J. Sefton at January 03, 2013 05:34 PM (XkWWK) Damn good.

Posted by: BCochran1981 at January 03, 2013 01:35 PM (IvVLN)

88
Ursula Andress NSFW

I was gonna post another 'OMGWTFBBQ post about how Ace just took a header into the shallow end of the loony pool. But then I clicked your link....and all is right with the world. Possibly even Ace...whom, if the stories are true, watches French films.

Posted by: Sticky Wicket at January 03, 2013 01:35 PM (L7hol)

89 Wait, can somebody tell me whether these movies have subtitles? 'Cause I sure as shit don't know French.

Posted by: Jeff B. at January 03, 2013 01:35 PM (/COnL)

90 "If Catherine Deneuve married Burt Lahr, she'd be "da noive!" "

Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Posted by: mrp at January 03, 2013 01:35 PM (HjPtV)

91 I was gonna post another 'OMGWTFBBQ post about how Ace just took a header into the shallow end of the loony pool. But then I clicked your link....and all is right with the world. Possibly even Ace...whom, if the stories are true, watches French films. Posted by: Sticky Wicket at January 03, 2013 05:35 PM (L7hol) Tits have that effect. They're wonderful things.

Posted by: BCochran1981 at January 03, 2013 01:36 PM (IvVLN)

92 burnt 1200 cars in Paris on New Years eve

Actually, they burned over 1,900. They were practicing their annual "tradition" according to the gendarmes.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at January 03, 2013 01:36 PM (UOM48)

93 I found these films to be too derivative of Goddard.

Posted by: Woody's Dad at January 03, 2013 01:37 PM (nZvGM)

94 The suck alum face followed by retching into their soda cups? Was that their reaction?

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 03, 2013 01:37 PM (fpSpD)

95 Le sigh.

Posted by: Henri the Cat at January 03, 2013 01:37 PM (UOM48)

96 #85-- Ah, but it's fascinating how they got to that point. Remember that the Algerians were a huge help in WWII, and big contributors to the French rebuilding themselves after the war. But they were NEVER allowed to be FRENCH. Nobody ever forgot that they were Algerian, and they were shut out of society. Two generations of alienation later, it's not surprising if virulent Islamism has taken over. Note that the movies they send over here are not about French SOCIETY alienating Algerians, but French GOVERNMENT. The elite make movies that make collective shame largely the fault of powerless non-entities. Kind of like the way Republicans are demonized here...

Posted by: moviegique at January 03, 2013 01:37 PM (Cepxj)

97 >>>"The Professional" with Jean Reno and pre-pubescent Natalie Portman was quite good.

It has my single favorite Gary Oldman moment of all time in it:

Oldman: Benny, bring me everyone.
Benny: What do you mean, everyone?
Oldman: EVVVVVVERYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNE.

Posted by: Jeff B. at January 03, 2013 01:37 PM (/COnL)

98 93 Actually, they burned over 1,900. They were practicing their annual "tradition" according to the gendarmes. Posted by: Jane D'oh at January 03, 2013 05:36 PM (UOM4

Two things Paris and Detroit have in common: Muzzies and rampant arson.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at January 03, 2013 01:38 PM (XkWWK)

99 ""The Professional" with Jean Reno and pre-pubescent Natalie Portman was quite good."

I thought about that, but except for Reno and Oldman, it was an all-American film shot in NYC.

And Reno was very good in "Ronin", too. I love that film.

Posted by: mrp at January 03, 2013 01:39 PM (HjPtV)

100 #90 The films are minimally subtitled. I'd imagine some are dubbed, too.

Posted by: moviegique at January 03, 2013 01:39 PM (Cepxj)

101 Didn't Bardot get in some deep legal trouble for trashing Muslims a few years ago? And I think she had to pay a big fine for "hate speech."

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at January 03, 2013 01:39 PM (C8mVl)

102 98 Posted by: Jeff B. at January 03, 2013 05:37 PM (/COnL) Wait, is "The Professional" a French film or is it just the lead actor? Or was this a remake of an original French production. Will have to check IMDB.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at January 03, 2013 01:39 PM (XkWWK)

103 And Reno was very good in "Ronin", too.

She was a real bitch in "Waco."

Posted by: Jane D'oh at January 03, 2013 01:39 PM (UOM48)

104 Ursala Andress is Swiss Her bone structure gives my bone structure.

Posted by: Schrödinger's cat [/i] at January 03, 2013 01:39 PM (feFL6)

105

I'm eating quiche and reading a review of a French Film.

You fucking Rinos have ruined me.

Posted by: garrett (AtC minion) at January 03, 2013 01:40 PM (+JFJ+)

106 Sooth, not seen the live action either. Japanese live action adaptions of comics and cartoons tend to leave me going 'WTF!?! I want the time I lost watching this trash back!' Like for instance the Japanese live action Spiderman series. Spiderman had his own transforming mecha.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 03, 2013 01:40 PM (fpSpD)

107 Take that, Spam filter!

Posted by: garrett at January 03, 2013 01:41 PM (+JFJ+)

108 Kind of like the way Republicans are demonized here...

Posted by: moviegique at January 03, 2013 05:37 PM (Cepxj)

yes, of course, it's "not surprising that violent Islamism has taken over"

'tard

Posted by: Rod in Rotterdam at January 03, 2013 01:41 PM (Dll6b)

109 >>>Wait, can somebody tell me whether these movies have subtitles? 'Cause I sure as shit don't know French. yes, I couldn't follow them if they didn't. When I said the joke isn't about wordplay I mean that the words are funny, read in English, as almost no jokes rely upon some particular French expression to be funny. It's just funny stuff like him asking: 117: Which Chinamen worked with the Nazis? DELORES: You mean Japan? 117: Ah yes, Chinamen from Japan. They're the worst.

Posted by: ace at January 03, 2013 01:42 PM (LCRYB)

110

#97

and that explains why Islamisism is taking off in Norway, England, Holland, Germany, Spain, etc.

Posted by: Moron #3 at January 03, 2013 01:42 PM (W6iIX)

111 105 Ursala Andress is Swiss Her bone structure gives my bone structure. Posted by: SchrÃ¶dinger's cat at January 03, 2013 05:39 PM (feFL6) Very well played, sir. **polite golf clap**

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at January 03, 2013 01:43 PM (XkWWK)

112 Just watched a little bit of the film. It's live action Archer.

Posted by: Big T Party at January 03, 2013 01:44 PM (WiQr+)

113 >>>yes, I couldn't follow them if they didn't.

I dunno, you'd been talking about teaching yourself French lately. Figured this might be a subtle way of flaunting your new skillz.

But then of course that would presume that you had anything more than a passing acquaintance with the idea of "subtlety."

Posted by: Jeff B. at January 03, 2013 01:44 PM (/COnL)

114 It's not The Red Balloon? Shocking!

Posted by: Count de Monet at January 03, 2013 01:45 PM (BAS5M)

115 104 And Reno was very good in "Ronin", too. She was a real bitch in "Waco." Posted by: Jane D'oh at January 03, 2013 05:39 PM (UOM4

Every time I hear "Folsom Prison" there is a particular lyric that I always change...

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at January 03, 2013 01:45 PM (XkWWK)

116 I love the Archer / Burt Reynolds episode. I laugh thinking about it.

Posted by: polyspurwing at January 03, 2013 01:45 PM (m2CN7)

117 Just put a hold on it at the library. Free (for me at least)

Posted by: Eaton Cox at January 03, 2013 01:46 PM (q177U)

118 Ursula Andress is to Brigitte Bardot as Vittorio Gassman is to Marcello Mastroianni

Posted by: Rod in Rotterdam at January 03, 2013 01:46 PM (Dll6b)

119 119 Posted by: Rod in Rotterdam at January 03, 2013 05:46 PM (Dll6b) Mary Stuart Masterson Elizabeth Mastoantonio Conchita Alonzo.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at January 03, 2013 01:47 PM (XkWWK)

120 If you liked Jean Reno and La Femme Nikita, then you will love this movie Jean Reno and Beeson made later - Wasabi.

http://youtu.be/RJqaTHn9s54

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 03, 2013 01:47 PM (fpSpD)

121 "Ursula Andress is to Brigitte Bardot as Vittorio Gassman is to Marcello Mastroianni"

Vittorio Gassman is to Marcello Mastroianni as Ursala Andress is to Laura Antonelli.

Posted by: mrp at January 03, 2013 01:49 PM (HjPtV)

122 Ursula Andress married her 28 year-old "Class of the Titans" co-star, Harry Hamlin (who is now married to Lisa Rinna).

Early cougar.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at January 03, 2013 01:49 PM (UOM48)

123 I really liked "Delicatessen," "Amelie" and "A Very Long Engagement." I have a crush on Audrey Tatou.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at January 03, 2013 01:50 PM (XkWWK)

124

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at January 03, 2013 05:47 PM (XkWWK)

such matters are not to be trifled with, sir

Posted by: Rod in Rotterdam at January 03, 2013 01:50 PM (Dll6b)

125 As for the mention of Matt Helm, while the Dean Martin movies sucked, the actual books by Donald Hamilton are great.

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at January 03, 2013 01:50 PM (1+CnU)

126 125 Posted by: Rod in Rotterdam at January 03, 2013 05:50 PM (Dll6b) Are you really in Rotterdam or are you just happy to be here?

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at January 03, 2013 01:51 PM (XkWWK)

127 Maria Conchita Alonzo ripped Sean Penn into little pieces when she ran into him at an airport. God bless her.

Posted by: mrp at January 03, 2013 01:51 PM (HjPtV)

128 Anyone enjoy "Chocolat" with Juliette Binoche?

Posted by: Jane D'oh at January 03, 2013 01:51 PM (UOM48)

129 "A Very Long Engagement", then----if you like French puns

and WWI

Posted by: Rod in Rotterdam at January 03, 2013 01:51 PM (Dll6b)

130 I'm all for raunchy and un-PC racial humor, but this is where I just have a totally different view of Bond films. I think they all sucked ass UNTIL they rebooted the character with Daniel Craig. They took it from the realm of incredibly unbelievable mega-villains with retarded grandiose plans and replaced it with more human characters with more mundane, yet believable aims. After the first Pierce Brosnan one, I stopped going to the theatre to see the new ones. Now I find myself looking forward seeing Skyfall. I just cannot reconcile all the nitpicking in Ace's Skyfall review with say, a man firing a pistol made of gold, one of the softest metals available.

Posted by: Empire of Jeff at January 03, 2013 01:52 PM (QVmdM)

131 129 Anyone enjoy "Chocolat" with Juliette Binoche? Posted by: Jane D'oh at January 03, 2013 05:51 PM (UOM4

It depends where you spread it. Almost anywhere on her would be fine.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at January 03, 2013 01:52 PM (XkWWK)

132 I haven't been to Rotterdam since 1983

Posted by: Rod in Rotterdam at January 03, 2013 01:53 PM (Dll6b)

133 "It depends where you spread it."

It wouldn't take long.

Posted by: mrp at January 03, 2013 01:53 PM (HjPtV)

134 Speaking of French heroes and Dean Martin. I highly recommend the Martin and Lewis movie Sailor Beware for what I believe is the funniest physical comedy scene of all time. Actually the entire boxing scene from the locker room to the fight is stomach hurting comedy.

Posted by: polyspurwing at January 03, 2013 01:54 PM (m2CN7)

135 >>>As for the mention of Matt Helm, while the Dean Martin movies sucked, the actual books by Donald Hamilton are great. I just read on Wikipedia they were serious and considered "good," and was looking to buy them -- alas, they're not on Kindle. I'm on a spy kick, obviously.

Posted by: ace at January 03, 2013 01:54 PM (LCRYB)

136 The first one is great, but the repeated gay implications take away from the Archer similarity. Except for maybe that one episode where Archer tries to set a honey trap for that Cuban spy by dressing up as a flaming Miami roller skater.

Posted by: Gristle Encased Head at January 03, 2013 01:54 PM (+lsX1)

137 Ace:

It kind of sounds like you're describing early Peter Sellers flicks, from the Pink Panther series. Overtly racist, sexist, and with smug, self assured French superiority.

Posted by: Sticky Wicket at January 03, 2013 01:54 PM (L7hol)

138 If you like Luc Besson movies give District B13 a try (Amazon Prime for free w/subtitles).

Posted by: Lizzy at January 03, 2013 01:55 PM (amaU1)

139 >>> I just cannot reconcile all the nitpicking in Ace's Skyfall review with say, a man firing a pistol made of gold, one of the softest metals available. I was thinking about my own double-standard and wondered if maybe, just because I'd seen all those movies as a kid, all the goofy stuff is effectively "grandfathered in" in my head so I don't mind it so much. Remember the caliber of Scaramanga's gun? 4.2 mm. What?

Posted by: ace at January 03, 2013 01:56 PM (LCRYB)

140 I haven't been to Rotterdam since 1983

Posted by: Rod in Rotterdam at January 03, 2013 05:53 PM (Dll6b)

So you read the ONT durring the day?

Posted by: Moron #3 at January 03, 2013 01:56 PM (W6iIX)

141 I just watched Vicky Christina Barcelona, another really pretentious Woody Allen movie. All the dialogue is the same and totally foreign to the human experience unless you live in NYC and an actress/writer/artist/work at an art gallery. Those are the only jobs - evah.

Posted by: red at January 03, 2013 01:57 PM (ymJbM)

142 "Brotherhood of the Wolf" is pretty good for a action/horror frog movie. That's all I got.

Posted by: naturalfake at January 03, 2013 01:57 PM (G9qZk)

143 Anyone enjoy "Chocolat" with Juliette Binoche?

Posted by: Jane D'oh at January 03, 2013 05:51 PM (UOM4

I watched about 10 minutes of it before I look at my wife and we turned it off.

Posted by: Vic at January 03, 2013 01:57 PM (53z96)

144 #109 & #111 I'm not sure what you guys are objecting to. Before it became cool to call it "multi-culturalism" it was called "segregation" and the Europeans do it better than we could ever dream of. The French aggressively imported Algerians and then just as aggressively segregated them. That's a natural resource for radicals. (cf. Soviet solicitation of black American groups.)

Posted by: moviegique at January 03, 2013 01:58 PM (Cepxj)

145 So you read the ONT durring the day?

Posted by: Moron #3 at January 03, 2013 05:56 PM (W6iIX)

WOW, I can't read without moving my lips

my bad for being illeterate

Posted by: Moron #3 at January 03, 2013 01:58 PM (W6iIX)

146 Woody Allen does not make movies. He makes fodder for the old Roman Vomitoriums.

Posted by: Vic at January 03, 2013 01:58 PM (53z96)

147 I liked the Reno movie where he is a medieval knight and is transported with his squire to 21rst Century France.

Posted by: red at January 03, 2013 01:59 PM (ymJbM)

148 Remember the caliber of Scaramanga's gun? 4.2 mm.

Most super-villains prefer to use some kind of wildcat round that is handcrafted by a single shady gunsmith in Bangkok or maybe Ankara. It's a good way to hide your tracks.

Posted by: Gristle Encased Head at January 03, 2013 02:00 PM (+lsX1)

149 I am just glad no one asked for a plot summary for Babbette's Feast.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 03, 2013 02:00 PM (fpSpD)

150 "I am just glad no one asked for a plot summary for Babbette's Feast."

That's OK. Just let me order from the menu.

Posted by: mrp at January 03, 2013 02:02 PM (HjPtV)

151 mrp, lol!

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 03, 2013 02:04 PM (fpSpD)

152

#145

What I'm trying to point out that mixing red ants and black ants never ends up well.

It is the same with people,

Tribalism>diversity

eventually everyone reverts back to their tribe, if they ever left it

Posted by: Moron #3 at January 03, 2013 02:05 PM (W6iIX)

153 150 I am just glad no one asked for a plot summary for Babbette's Feast. Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 03, 2013 06:00 PM (fpSpD) Sounds like a good title for a lesbian pron flick. Not that I'd know anything about that.... *shifty eyes*

Posted by: BCochran1981 at January 03, 2013 02:05 PM (IvVLN)

154 These Matt Helm books by Donald Hamilton are all over the internet as free downloads.

Posted by: red at January 03, 2013 02:05 PM (ymJbM)

155 there's a re-make of 'District B19" === "Return to District B19 "

Netflix

Posted by: Rod in Rotterdam at January 03, 2013 02:06 PM (Dll6b)

156 The French can be devastatingly funny. Their television show "Kamelott" is one of my favorite things. It chronicles the adventures of King Arthur and his screwball assortment of Knights of the Round Table, and it is extremely well done. Better than Monty Python's Arthur, if you ask me, and I'm a huge fan of Python.

Posted by: Cowboy at January 03, 2013 02:06 PM (tfMGP)

157 Sounds like there is some Police Squad / Frank Drebbin action going on here. I'll check it out.

Also, +1 on Wasabi with Jean Reno.

Posted by: Phelps at January 03, 2013 02:06 PM (9Kx2Z)

158 Go right ahead and write that script and get it filmed BCochran. Since you got the connections to all those beautiful gals.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 03, 2013 02:09 PM (fpSpD)

159 He also comments, with charming aplomb, on the backwardness of Islamic countries -- "What kind of stupid religion bans alcohol?" He also punches out a muzzein for waking him up with his caterwauling morning call to prayer.

I like this Frog.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at January 03, 2013 02:09 PM (TIIx5)

160 My favorite spy movie parodies are the two Derek Flint movies; In Like
Flint and Our Man Flint, starring James Coburn. There were no "Flint
Girls," he had a whole harem. Derek Flint made James Bond look like
a flaming homosexual!

Posted by: Leonard Jones at January 03, 2013 02:10 PM (wJEzU)

161 I'm on to Ace. He tossed some red meat to those of us who aren't crazy about French films in the new thread.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at January 03, 2013 02:10 PM (UOM48)

162 The French movie to watch this year is "Intouchables", the story of a white upper class quadriplegic who hires, essentially, a street thug to be his body man (i.e., to haul him around, bathe him, etc.). Based on a true story. Sounds awful, I know, but it's funny and largely unsentimental. Likely candidate for Foreign Language Best Picture. http://bitmaelstrom.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-intouchables.html

Posted by: moviegique at January 03, 2013 02:10 PM (Cepxj)

163 >>>Sounds like there is some Police Squad / Frank Drebbin action going on here. I'll check it out. again, yeah, that's the right comparison. I don't know why it didn't occur to me.

Posted by: ace at January 03, 2013 02:11 PM (LCRYB)

164 "Nice beaver!"

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 03, 2013 02:11 PM (fpSpD)

165 Thanks for the recommend Ace, and perfect timing; I have a Bond crazy friend I am hanging out with tonight, I think we'll give these a shot. Plus Dujardin mmmmm. "The French are, to put it in a nice way, not as hung up as we are about cultural sensitivity, and, to put in a not nice way, completely racist." Berenice Marlohe, the new Bond girl in Skyfall, basically said as much in an interview she did in GQ. She is Cambodian/Chinese/French and felt that worked against her. No one in the film industry there wanted her before Skyfall; now they all do but to hell with them. It was actually a great interview; she sounds crazy but the good kind of crazy. She'll fit in well in Hollywood, except for the fact she actually likes guns.

Posted by: LizLem at January 03, 2013 02:13 PM (8wqqE)

166 159 Go right ahead and write that script and get it filmed BCochran. Since you got the connections to all those beautiful gals. Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at January 03, 2013 06:09 PM (fpSpD) You really thing that if I could pull that off it would ever see the light of day?

Posted by: BCochran1981 at January 03, 2013 02:14 PM (IvVLN)

167 >>>Woody Allen does not make movies. He makes fodder for the old Roman Vomitoriums.

Erm....this word, it does not mean what you think it means. A "vomitorium" was (and is) a large exit from the seating area of a coliseum to the surrounding internal structure. Every single large sports arena in existence has them -- it's the structure you walk through to get from the concession area inside the stadium to the seating area.

Oops.

Posted by: Jeff B. at January 03, 2013 02:14 PM (/COnL)

168
By the by, the Frogs are the only ones in the movie business today who have the balls to consistently depict RoP'ers as villains. Mostly the crew around Luc Besson.

Which is why I fucking hate Besson: he made me describe Frogs as having balls. I'm so ashamed.

On the plus side though, Besson refused to sign that letter supporting the Kiddy Raper Polanski.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at January 03, 2013 02:15 PM (TIIx5)

169 i'll watch wasabi (also on netflix) and maybe download the Matt Helm books. not sure how to get downloads on to the kindle, though. >>>"Brotherhood of the Wolf" is pretty good for a action/horror frog movie. I remember the photography being good and the color nicely amped up.

Posted by: ace at January 03, 2013 02:16 PM (LCRYB)

170 Can't you put pdf files on Kindle? I thought epub can be converted to pdf and then transferred to Kindle. Anyway, Hamlton is all over the internet.

Posted by: red at January 03, 2013 02:26 PM (ymJbM)

171 As to the anti semitism in the second picture, the director is Jewish, and not the self hating kind. If you have ever spent time among Frenchman of the hero's class (upper middle class and of pseudo-aristocratic background) it barely qualifies as paridy. It is hysterical though. I am actually something of a francophile, but to be clear, as I have tried to explain to confused American liberals, it is the "evil" French that I am fond of, even with their reflexive anti americanism. I am in the oil industry though so most Frenchmen I know are mining and oil executives.

Posted by: Roy at January 03, 2013 02:26 PM (EuD1c)

172 I was thinking about my own double-standard and wondered if maybe, just because I'd seen all those movies as a kid, all the goofy stuff is effectively "grandfathered in" in my head so I don't mind it so much. ~~~~~~~ I definitely enjoyed the Bond movies much more as a kid.

Posted by: Empire of Jeff at January 03, 2013 02:28 PM (QVmdM)

173 >>>As to the anti semitism in the second picture, the director is Jewish, and not the self hating kind. If you have ever spent time among Frenchman of the hero's class (upper middle class and of pseudo-aristocratic background) it barely qualifies as paridy. It is hysterical though. oh thank god, because I found most of it laugh-out-loud and didn't want a dirty feeling about it. I still don't get the Nazi doing Shylock's speech at the end, though.

Posted by: ace at January 03, 2013 02:28 PM (LCRYB)

174 There was a French movie I saw many years ago called "Metro," I think, with Cristophe Lambert. Very good. Funny.

Posted by: Empire of Jeff at January 03, 2013 02:34 PM (QVmdM)

175 I believe there were serious movies made about OSS 117 as well.I wonder if someone who created Halo was a fan(Master Chief is John-117)

Posted by: steevy at January 03, 2013 02:50 PM (9XBK2)

176 Is your name not 'Bruce', Ace?

I think that'll cause some confusion around the blog so we'll just call you 'Bruce' for now, Bruce.

Posted by: Bruce at January 03, 2013 02:53 PM (jPVBi)

177 Thanks for the non political posts ace. Beats reading about politics lately.

Posted by: waelse1 - SMOD 2016 at January 03, 2013 03:02 PM (Hq7Uy)

178 Okay so I downloaded both films and I'm watching the first one right now. It's very good. Not wildly, insanely funny, but authentically amusing, especially for fans of classic Connery-era Bond. It also has quite a bit of an Archer vibe to it, which is interesting because it predates Archer by several years.

I fucking LOVE the scene at the ball. It's so successfully weird that it's hard to describe in words...the scene where the three "meat magnates" (our hero, plus a Russian and a German who are obviously both spies too) move to another room and engage in a totally surreal conversation that begins as one of those cliched 'philosophical French' dialogues (old men discussing the significance of the Pyramids) and brilliantly begins to unspool as Our Hero has no idea how to keep up. It has to be watched to be fully understood, but it ends up with all three trading non-sequitur bits of homespun folk-wisdom, acting like they're communicating Great Meaning. Awesome stuff.

Posted by: Jeff B. at January 03, 2013 04:01 PM (/COnL)

179 After your abysmal review of Skyfall, you boost a fucking rip-off?

Someone please castrate Ace. Shit. Too late.

Posted by: MadisonConservative at January 03, 2013 04:48 PM (sb+ta)

180 I'm not sure about that gag but I think it's more of a parody of the one-upsmanship conversations in spy movies, where the hero meets the villain and it goes like "You live dangerously, Mr. Bond"/"There are those who say only in danger is there life." Like that, but random. But I don't really know.

Posted by: ace at January 03, 2013 04:49 PM (LCRYB)

181 Watched the first hour. It's fun--agree with Jeff B, not insanely funny but still worth it for genre fans. Some of it is excellent. However, that meat-magnates scene--which is really good--hinges on one of the meat magnates not keeping up--OSS 117 is as smoothly senseless as the other two guys.

Not filmed for this purpose but fun to see a few subtitle flubs. E.g. at one point he's saying the word for pistol, but the translation is revolver. On a quick walk to the car, the (enchanting) secretary gives the customary blessing inshallah and the subtitle reads Inch Allah.

Also when they enter that ballroom, the music you hear is all strings even though all they have in that department is a stand-up bass.

Posted by: Chriscom at January 03, 2013 04:53 PM (HQlwL)

182 Dead thread, probably, but the music for the OSS 117 series is by Ludovic Bource, the same fellow who wrote the music for The Artist.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at January 03, 2013 05:22 PM (LAyBb)

183 These films are great ... He makes me laugh even nothing is being said.... His facial expressions are priceless.

Posted by: Rex at January 03, 2013 06:06 PM (/5apW)

184 OH MY FUCKING GOD THE SECOND FILM IS OUTRAGEOUSLY FUNNY.

Ace is right -- the "French anti-Semitism" jokes are SOOOOOO cringe-inducingly hilarious. The pokes at Gallic anti-Semitism are just...it's amazing stuff, working even moreso if you know French upper-/middle-class cultural attitudes, too.

My favorite bit has to be when the "Bond Girl" (a foxy Israeli commander with the Mossad working with 117) tries to smooth over Our Hero's earlier cloddishly anti-Semitic comments by saying "Don't worry, you weren't speaking viciously. We're used to it. Our people have always provoked wild fantasies." To which an ebulliently relieved OSS 117 blurts out "THANK YOU for admitting it -- you're obviously a little bit responsible."

I was both laughing and looking away from the screen in embarrassment.

Posted by: Jeff B. at January 03, 2013 06:46 PM (/COnL)

185 Another great little moment: OSS 117 is looking for ex-Nazis hiding in Brazil, right? So...where to go to find any potential information about ex-Nazis? That's right, the information desk at the West German Embassy:

OSS 117: Would it be possible, if it exists, to consult a list of former Nazis residing in Brazil?
German diplomat: [galled silence]
OSS 117: There must be a...society of former Nazis? A club, an association?
German diplomat: [galled silence]
OSS 117: A Nazi Guild?

Posted by: Jeff B. at January 03, 2013 06:56 PM (/COnL)

186 Cued up the Egypt one on Netlix, and have started. Seems like a good recommendation Just in time, too. I'm down to the last episode of Breaking Bad, and am anticipating serious withdrawal.

Posted by: theforgetler at January 03, 2013 07:11 PM (25DM7)

187 Can I steal that 'In Texas, even our Guns carry guns"? It is so true, but I had to laugh. An armed society is a polite society.

Posted by: Judge_Roy_bean at January 03, 2013 08:05 PM (/b6fH)

188 Oh crap, I posted in the wrong section.

Posted by: Judge_Roy_bean at January 03, 2013 08:06 PM (/b6fH)

189 Good recommendation, Ace. I just finished Cairo, will watch Rio tomorrow. Dujardin mimics Connery's Bond so very well, that's what really makes the movie work. Cairo co-stars Dujardin's beautiful wife Berenice Bejo, who also co-starred in The Artist. I'd watch her in anything.

Posted by: gp at January 03, 2013 09:23 PM (mk9aG)

190 Saw Nest of Spies last night on your recommendation. Very funny, and I need to get one of those paddle ball games.

Posted by: Surellin at January 04, 2013 03:24 AM (WhVod)

191 The two films were made by the same team who made The Artist, which is also well worth a look. The first is screamingly funny, the second less so, but both are wonderful parodies of "Our Man Flint"-style spy movies. They make a lot more sense if you've lived in France, but stand well on their own. I don't find them shocking in any way-- the sexism, racism, and homophobia is utterly typical of the early 60s, in which the films are set, and reflect France's deep shame and political sense of impotence in those years. Not only does the racist, anti-Sejmitic protagonist fall in love with an Arab woman in the first flick and an Israeli in the second, he has a several homoerotic beach encounters, as well. That's the joke...

Posted by: Kegger at January 04, 2013 04:23 AM (b+j9Y)

192 We saw these films before "The Artist," and they are indeed very funny. The second one has some great jokes at the expense of the French regarding their collaboration with the Nazis during WWII. The director gets all of the details right, from Dujardin's Connery-esq swagger, to the 60s style lighting and costumes to old-fashioned bad (and obvious) back-projection. Dujardin is a great actor and deserved his Oscar for "The Artist" - the best French export since the baguette.

Posted by: Darwin Akbar at January 04, 2013 12:46 PM (SsSMj)

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