Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy // Gary Oldman {Movie}

Why I'm watching
Okay, the Cumberbatch kick inspired me to finally borrow it, and it came on my radar because of Tom Hardy... but I’m really watching this for Gary Oldman. And, y'know, because it looks like a legitimately interesting movie.

Where I got the movie
Greenwich. What what.

Expectations
A great spy thriller.

So how was it?

Oh my god, this was the best spy thriller… and absolutely not what you probably want or expect when looking for a spy thriller. It’s quiet. It’s desperate. There are zero gun fights, kung-fu fights, crazy surprise plots -- but if you have the attention span, it will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Basically, it follows the interpersonal drama of a spy agency in the 70s, on the tail end of the Cold War. Yeah, I said interpersonal. That’s real espionage, folks: finding out which one of your trusted allies is the mole. George Smiley (Gary Oldman) is the main character, brought out of retirement to find the mole among his former peers -- peers who forced him into retirement in the first place. He enlists two younger spies (Hardy and Cumberbatch) to quietly sort everything out.

The timeline jumps all over the place, which makes it a little hard to follow, but pulls the mystery together beautifully.

Recommendation
Fans of quiet suspense. Not for anyone expecting Bond or Bourne.

Feels
Sly. Thrilling, but realistic. Quiet.

Favorites
Gary Oldman, oh my lord, that creepy-sly-good poker face.

Least favorites
Getting ahold of the timeline was a struggle -- especially because I wasn’t expecting it.

Sherlock // Benedict Cumberbatch

This isn’t getting a review because a) it’s TV, and b) I’m absolutely bonkers for it. Like, if I had more free time (and less fanfiction to read) I would be re-watching it to review every little nuance in its own little google site. So if I’m going to review it, I’m going to review it hard core.

Which may or may not be on my list of things to do after completing the same for Star Trek TOS and possibly all the other Treks.

Yeah, I spend my time wisely. You know it.

I've gotten super behind on this blog, thanks to not having quite so much down time -- and the number of audio books I blew through once I figured out Overdrive at work. So time to post some backlog, now that I've been knee-deep in fanfiction slowed down a bit. Skipping stuff like Arthur Conan Doyle's original Sherlock adventures, since I'd like to read them in order at some point, rather than half-listening to the audiobooks.