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The Top 10 US G-Men In Film – As MiB’s J & K return, we look at the best agents on screen

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With the Men In Black back in cinemas this Friday (May 25th), it started us thinking about all the great US government agents there have been in the movies. Whether it’s the FBI, CIA or a fictitious agency like the IMF or MIB, investigating for the Americans government has given us a lot of good movies over the years. So who are the best agents? Here’s our top 10.


10. Dale Cooper
 From: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)
Played By: Kyle McLachlan
Agency: FBI
Although his best work was on TV, the quirky, idiosyncratic Special Agent Dale Cooper did get to make an appearance on the big screen in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. Prone to strange visions of backwards-talking dwarfs in red rooms – which give him odd clues for his investigations – Cooper certainly doesn’t go by the FBI handbook. On TV he was sent to Twin Peaks to investigate the murder of young Laura Palmer, which comes to a head in Fire Walk With Me, where the strangeness of the town goes into hyperdrive and we discover what actually happened. Sadly Cooper isn’t in it a huge amount, but at least he makes an appearance.


9. Gracie Hart
 From: Miss Congeniality (2000)
Played: Sandra Bullock
Agency: FBI
I can’t imagine that in reality the FBI would send an agent undercover as a beauty pageant contestant (it would be asking for a sexual harassment lawsuit), but that’s Gracie Hart’s assignment in Miss Congeniality. When someone threatens to bomb the Miss United States competition, the unkempt and constantly tripping over herself Gracie is given an extreme makeover and sent to join the beauty contest. Although she at first thinks the whole thing is ridiculous, she soon learn perhaps it’s not so bad after all. A lot of fun, Bullock’s charm and wit make her one of the most entertaining FBI agents we’ve ever had.


8. Joseph Turner
 From: Three Days Of The Condor (1975)
Played By: Robert Redford
Agency: CIA
Films normally concentrate on the field agents who are out there fighting crime, shooting the bad guys and constantly in danger, but what about the people behind the scenes putting together important info and doing the background investigations? That’s Joseph Turner, who works for the CIA as a researcher. He pops out of the office and returns to find all his co-workers have been killed. Not knowing what’s going on, he’s forced to go on the run, unravel a complex conspiracy, work out who he can trust and try not to get killed. Robert Redford is superb as an ordinary trying to deal with extraordinary circumstances in one of the best conspiracy thrillers ever made.


7. Evelyn Salt
 From: Salt (2010)
Played By: Angelina Jolie
Agency: CIA
Is she a loyal US agent or a secret Russian mole? That’s the question in Salt, and as the film plays out the answer seems to change just about every 10 seconds. Evelyn is a highly respected CIA Agent who seems shocked when a Russian agent walk in and claims Salt is a double-agent who’s about to assassinate the US President. She goes on the run, and while normally in this sort of film we discover there’s no truth to the allegations at all, it turns out there may be some reason why the Russian Agent thinks Evelyn is a secret assassin. But is she? Although a bit silly, Salt is great fun and it’s always nice to see a woman being allowed to kick ass as an agent, especially if she’s in the form of Angelina Jolie. 


6. Ethan Hunt
 From: Mission: Impossible (1996)
Played By: Tom Cruise
Agency: IMF
He’s now taken on impossible missions in four movies, working for the IMF (Impossible Mission Force), an independent agency of US government who get involved in the things it would be difficult to do officially. Ethan’s been involved in all sorts of adventures, often getting set up and having to clear his name, as well as trying to destroy a genetically modified disease called Chimera, taking on a ruthless arms dealer and in his latest outing, crawling all over the tallest building in the world. While Mission: Impossible is always in danger of being a very generic franchise, it’s given us four surprisingly fun films, with a fifth in the works. 


5. Samuel Gerard
 From: The Fugitive (1993)
Played By: Tommy Lee Jones
Agency: US Marshals
Samuel Gerard searched every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse for Richard Kimble and won an Oscar for Tommy Lee Jones in the process. Gerard’s single-minded approach and shrewd attitude marks him out as a superlative G-Man, something brought to bear even more strongly a couple of years later when Jones joined the Men In Black. The US Marshal is brought in when Dr. Richard Kimble goes on the run after being accused of killing his wife. Kimble insists a one-armed man did it, but all Gerard cares about is tracking down Kimble and bringing him in to face justice. Gerard got his own movie, US Marshals, a couple of years later, but the less said about that the better. 


4. Clarice Starling
 From: The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)
Played By: Jodie Foster
Agency: FBI
Clarice Starling is just a trainee when she’s brought in to consult with genius serial killer Hannibal Lecter. The powers that be hope the young woman will entice Lecter to start talking and help with their investigation of a new murderer, known as Buffalo Bill, who kills and skins his victims. Lecter is onto their games immediately, but does begin to talk to Clarice, quid pro quo. The scenes between Hannibal and Clarice are some of the best ever filmed, helping to make this one of the few movies that have ever won the big five Oscars (Picture, Director, Screenplay, Actor and Actress). While it’s normally Lecter people concentrate on, Foster’s Clarice Starling should not be underestimated, with a superb mix of innocence and toughness. 


3. Black Widow
 From: The Avengers (2012)
Played By: Scarlett Johansson
Agency: S.H.I.E.L.D.
While she appeared in Iron Man 2, Joss Whedon introduced us to a more interesting Black Widow in The Avengers, an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who’s more than able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the superpowered likes of Hulk and Thor. What makes her particularly interesting isn’t just her astonishing fighting skills, but her almost preternatural ability to get people to reveal the information she’s after without them realising, or indeed knowing what it is she’s trying to discover. It’s extremely well done and ensures she’s a vital member of the Avengers team. We can only hope she’ll get her own movie soon! 


2. Jason Bourne
 From: The Bourne Identity (2002)
Played By: Matt Damon
Agency: CIA/Treadstone
It must be pretty disconcerting to wake up with absolutely no memory but soon discover you have innate talents at killing people. But then, I suppose if you can’t remember anything, you wouldn’t know whether everyone went round killing each other all the time and so you were juts normal. However Jason Bourne assumes there’s something unusual about him, not least because of the tracking chip under his skin. He goes on the run across Europe, enlisting the unwitting Marie to help him as he tries to avoid a series of assassins. But what’s going on and what does it have to do with something called Treadstone? Well, there’s this film and two more where he gets to uncover all the CIA’s covert secrets about exactly what sort of agent he is. 


1. Agents J & K
 From: Men In Black (1997)
Played By: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones & Josh Brolin
Agency: MIB
The MIB is an unusual government agency in that it looks like it actually might be quite fun to work for, even if the three Men In Black movies have proved it’s a pretty dangerous job. Agents J & K are part of a team that monitors alien activity on Earth, ensure that it’s kept secret from the human population and ward off extra-terrestrial trouble. While many aliens are nice, every so often there’s one who has nefarious plans and wants to take cause major problems, whether it’s a ‘Bug’ who wants a powerful energy source known as The Galaxy, aliens looking for the Light of Zartha that could destroy the Earth, or in the latest film, killing Agent K in the past, so J has to go back in time to stop him from being killed (oh, and preventing the invasion of Earth too). Plus, they get to use some of the greatest gadgets ever. What more could you want?

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Iron Sky (DVD) – In 1945 The Nazis Went To The Moon. In 2018 They Are Coming Back!

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Do you like your movies to be fun? Seriously, there are many different types of film out there that tailor for various audiences: the Oscar crowd, the indie lover, the Saturday night movie goer, the blockbuster addict and people who just want to watch something silly and entertaining.

So, if your idea of Nazis on the moon planning to invade the Earth sparks your curiosity then you’re in luck. In a nutshell this film is a blend of Starship Troopers (1997) and Dr Strangelove (1964), both excellent examples of political and military satire.

Plot: as established in an opening scene set in a classroom, Nazis fled to the dark side of the moon in 1945, where they somehow built a swastika themed base, several spaceships and the biggest war machine in the history of human existence.

Fast forward to 2018 where an astronaut and a model chosen to be the first black man on the moon (called James Washington) arrive to aid the president’s re-election campaign.

They discover the Nazi’s base and the astronaut is quickly taken out, while Washington is taken captive. The stereotypical mad Nazi doctor Richter discovers that Washington’s smartphone can process and launch their warship, thus enabling the invasion to begin. Unfortunately the device’s battery dies, so Nazi commander Adler and the doctor’s daughter, Renate (who is destined to be the mother of Adler’s children), travel to earth to collect another device with similar processing power. Oh yeah, they also take Washington with them, who is now white thanks to the mad doctor!

They meet the president’s campaign aid who decides to use them (and Hitler’s propaganda speeches) for the campaign trail, and hilarity ensues. I don’t want to spoil too much, but an invasion begins, there’s lots of dog fighting and the film gets sillier as it goes along until the bitter end when we realise how idiotic the human race is in its pursuit of war and control.

I first heard about this film a few years ago and I was hooked by the idea of Nazis hiding on the moon, and I’m pleased to say that this film had enormous support from the online community through various media channels. The fans and buzz generated an extra £500,000 towards production costs and I have to say that the CGI is impressive for an independent production. I should add that the design of the moon base and the grey lighting sets the mood for 1940’s Nazi Germany perfectly.

As I’ve stated before, the film’s tone is generally silly but very entertaining. It covers a lot of old Nazi propaganda and how Hitler’s goal was to unite the world in peace. It’s just that he was a genocidal maniac and his methods proved to be wrong. But this is juxtaposed by America’s dominance in the world today, mostly through force to exploit natural resources (George W Bush is a perfect example of this). Although the film does focus on politics, some may say this needs to be elaborated on to make the film more realistic. Personally, I don’t. The satire is spot on, such as the Sarah Palin look-a-like being pleased with the fact that all presidents who start a war in their first term get re-elected.

The DVD menu is impressive but slightly spoilerish showing the invasion, but the design mixes modern and retro and is aesthetically pleasing. The picture and sound quality are great and I especially enjoyed the 5.1 mix. Unfortunately there were no special features on the review disk, which is a shame, as there’s been a lot of test footage and things like that floating around the web to help generate a buzz around the movie.

I have to say it’s a shame this film will only get a 1 day cinema release in UK cinema on May 23rd, a decision the filmmakers are unhappy about. Many friends want to see this on the big screen so I hope this film makes it into cinemas for random late night screenings.

There are wooden performances, intentionally bad dialogue and copious amounts of cheesy moments, and in that respect this film draws its strengths.

This film has been clearly influenced by Dr Strangelove (1964) and some bits are straight out of Fritz Lang’s classic Metropolis (1927), but it’s also full of fun stereotypes.

Overall Verdict: If you are after a film that doesn’t take itself too seriously and it’s sole purpose is to entertain then you’re in for a treat.

Reviewer: George Elcombe

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Paul Dano Joins Twelve Years A Slave – Alongside Michael Fassbender in Steve McQueen’s film

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Steven McQueen is going from sex addiction in Shame to slavery in 12 Years A Slave. He’s already got Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt and Chiwetel Ejiofor signed up to star, and now Deadline reports that Little Miss Sunshine and There Will Be Blood’s Paul Dano has joined him.

The project is based on the true story of Solomon Northrup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man in the mid-19th Century who was kidnapped in Washington and sold into slavery. He was rescued from a Louisiana cotton plantation in 1853. Dano will be play one of the slave owners who beats the lead character unmercifully

McQueen is directing 12 Years a Slave from a screenplay he co-wrote with John Ridley.

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Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues Teaser – Ron Burgundy and co. are back

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Last week an Anchorman 2 teaser debuted ahead of The Dictator. Now it’s arrived online, so we can all enjoy the return of Ron Burgundy. However, while we have a teaser, the movie itself is yet to shoot, with director Adam McKay last week saying that, “Nothing’s set. Right now I can say for sure there is no Ghost Rider cameo or a scene where Ron fights a wolverine on a nose-diving helicopter. We’re either going to shoot the movie in 3D or 1/2 D.” It’ll arrive in cinemas 2013.

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The Master Teaser Trailer – First look at Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest

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One of the effects of the financial crisis is that many directors who everyone agrees are extremely good but not particularly commercial have found it tough to get movies made. We haven’t had a film from Paul Thomas Anderson since 2007’s There Will Be Blood, largely he couldn’t get funding for love nor money. Now he’s back with The Master. The first footage debuted yesterday at Cannes and now we get a teaser trailer for the film, which undoubtedly has a bit of a There Will Be Blood vibe. Set in America in the years following World War II, a charismatic intellectual (Philip Seymour Hoffman) launches a faith-based organization and taps a young drifter (Joaquin Phoenix) as his right-hand man. But as the faith begins to gain a fervent following, the onetime vagabond finds himself questioning the belief system he has embraced, and his mentor.

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New Dark Knight Rises Poster – Batman gets a bit explosive

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A brand new poster for The Dark Knight Rises has arrived, which you can see above. To be honest it’s a little bit lazy, as it’s essentially just bits and pieces of old posters shoved together to create a new one, but we’re sure Bat fans will get excited anyway.

The movie hits July 20th, so less than two months to wait!

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