spy – Looking to God

Ethan Hunt

Posted on January 20, 2016January 19, 2016 by Jack Flacco

When I think of Mission: Impossible, I think of the old sixties series with Mr. Phelps, played by Peter Graves, as an aging leader to a crack team of secret agents given the missions no one else can accomplish. I also think of Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt. And although Hunt works best alone, he would give his life for any member of his team.

For today’s Wednesday Warriors, I’d like to have a look at Ethan Hunt: his strengths, his weaknesses and why he always makes the Mission: Impossible franchise a treat to watch.

A long time ago, I once saw Tom Cruise on Oprah—no, not the couch-jumping episode. In this episode, he described Mission: Impossible as one of his most successful movies he had made. Many folks have their opinions about Tom Cruise the man, but I have my opinion of Tom Cruise the actor. Say what you will, the man can act. I use Magnolia as one of the best films he had ever starred. No one can convince me that after watching the quietly-judging-you scene he didn’t deserve an Oscar for that performance.

Yet, as much as I admire his dramatic roles, his action roles, including his role in the film Edge of Tomorrow, is where Cruise really shines as a big audience draw.

Enter Ethan Hunt, the Impossible Missions Force‘s (IMF) top agent and leader. His expertise lies in virtually everything. He has an extensive background in explosives, weaponry and stealth. He can get in and out of a target’s home and before anyone knows what is happening, the target will have met its fate.

Ethan is also a master of disguise. One time he posed as an elderly man taking his enemy by surprise, disarming and capturing him. He also has a good command of languages, useful for when he needs to get himself out of a jam.

Martial arts? Ethan knows that, too. Whenever an adversary presses Ethan for a fight to the death, it isn’t difficult to know who will win.

But the best thing I enjoy about Ethan Hunt is not so much his mastery of disguise, command of languages, or him being a martial arts expert. No. What I like about Ethan is his ability to get out of one jam after another while showing his humanity along the way. Whether he’s fighting for his life on a speeding train, racing down a highway on a motorcycle at 140 MPH, or latching his fingers on the belly of an aircraft with the intention of securing its cargo, Ethan Hunt does the impossible. He will take the shots, in not only opportunities but also punches to the face, and fight the bad guy until the end.

Lastly, Ethan Hunt possesses a will never to surrender. In every mission he picks himself up, dusts the dirt from his clothes and continues his fight against the enemy, whoever that enemy is.

If I can say anything more about Ethan Hunt, it’s that he will do his best in whatever assignment he has going at the time. To me, such a character is a great lesson for any of us facing challenges greater than ourselves.

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Have you seen any of the Mission: Impossible movies? What are your thoughts on Ethan Hunt?

Facebook

Posted on July 24, 2015May 9, 2017 by Jack Flacco

I’m not seeing my friends’ posts on Facebook anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I’m seeing a lot of their activities, their comments, their likes, but I’m not seeing their actual posts on my news feed. I don’t know why. Then again, on a good day my care less factor when it comes to Facebook ranges between 9 and 10. So, yeah, I guess I’ll tell you a bit about my experience with the platform for Freedom Friday and hopefully I’ll make some sense of this predicament.

The news feed is a good place to start. I loved Facebook a few years ago. I could pop in, check to see how my friends were doing and if I found anything they had written interesting, I’d interact with them like a cool drop-in or social. I loved the photos they shared and the cute stories attached to the memory.

I don’t see any of that now. My news feed has become a mishmash of so-and-so commented on this and so-and-so liked that. It’s become more of a reporting system for anyone curious to see what their friends are into. I liken the current environment to someone walking through our backyard and peeking through our window to spy on who we’re hanging with. The whole idea has shifted from seeing what others are posting to what others are commenting on and liking. I’m not sure when it changed, but lately I’ve been trying to bring back the old news feed in order to not feel so much as a Peeping Tom than anything else.

First order of business was playing around with the “Follow” button. I notice when I unfollow someone on Facebook, I don’t see anything of theirs on my news feed. No likes. No comments. Nothing. That sort of defeats the purpose of wanting to only see their posts. Next, I worked through all my friends’ walls to like and comment on things I found interesting much like I would have as if the posts had appeared on my news feed. Facebook took my actions to indicate I enjoyed following those friends and shortly thereafter, my news feed once again became a hodgepodge of nonsense. You got it. Facebook enabled the “Follow” button for my friends’ activities and thought I’d appreciate knowing what my friends commented on and liked. I was back to the very beginning.

For several days, I worked through the problem trying various combinations of “Follow” button and “Acquaintance” status changes as a way to achieve my goal of bringing back the old news feed. Nothing worked. No matter what I did, Facebook wanted to show me what my friends were doing through their kitchen windows as opposed to admiring their rose gardens out front.

Then, in the middle of dinner one night, a bright idea hit me. I say a bright idea because it was as if someone had flipped the switch in my brain and I could finally see the answer in front of me.

Lists. Yep. Lists.

Apparently, if I add all my friends to a list I can see their posts just like the good ol’ days. Well, guess what I did? Yep, I added all my friends to a list and I’m back to the way I like it—admiring the rose gardens at the front of my friends’ homes.

Facebook makes sense again.

Do I regret not going to my news feed to check out what my friends are commenting on and liking? Not really. I just want to know what they want me to know, not what Facebook thinks I should know.

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Have you had a similar experience with Facebook? What have you done about it? What is your experience with using Facebook? Do you like it?

Wednesday Warriors

Ethan Hunt

Posted on June 3, 2015May 31, 2015 by Jack Flacco

No matter how many iterations Mission: Impossible will go through, versions, remakes, reboots—I will always be a fan. And no matter how many heroes/anti-heroes the series gives birth to, I will always be a fan.

What makes Mission: Impossible such a great TV/movie series to follow is not only the awesome music—does anyone not know the Mission: Impossible theme?—but also the premise to the franchise. The premise is simple, spies try to outwit each other in a game of cat and mouse until there’s a winner. There’s more to it than that, but as a general rule, that’s what Mission: Impossible is all about.

In the Sixties, the coolest part of the series is the self-destructive tape recorder Mr. Phelps (Peter Graves) has five seconds from which to escape. The other part is the pull-away masks. These two items is the meat and potatoes of the Mission: Impossible series that carries over remake after remake. No matter how many versions I’ve seen of the series, how many times have I seen an MI agent remove a face and trick us all into believing the agent was someone else?

As a leader and a very smart individual, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is one of those agents. He has the cool gadgets. He has the masks to boot. However, nothing in his box of magic does he pull off the greatest spy capers without the help of his loyal team.

The current incarnation makes Ethan into an action hero. He can do anything. He can hop out of planes, drive fast cars, blow away enemy agents with his dead-accurate aim, and he can wow a woman simply by his charm. If I didn’t know better, he was a superhero.

Ethan’s big thrill is to catch an enemy agent in the act. If that means he has to scale a castle wall, knock out four guards, dive through a corridor booby-trapped by lasers, then that’s what Ethan will do. He will do whatever it takes to get the job done.

The cool gadgets are a bonus. From pen lasers to invisible ink, Ethan has it all. The best gadget however, is the one he uses against another agent during a dinner meeting. Green light, red light is how Ethan puts it. He bends a piece of chewing gum in half and tosses the piece on the face of an aquarium. It is one of the most thrilling scenes in the series. I believe it’s the same scene where he says, “Upset? You haven’t seen me upset.”

Lastly, what would Ethan Hunt be without his team? He needs the help of other agents to accomplish his missions. His team consists of experts in the field of technology, physics and the human condition. They follow his lead in everything. The tougher the mission, the more his team provides their loyalty to him.

What else can one say about Wednesday Warriors‘ Ethan Hunt? He’s a secret agent. Knowing that, he might as well be a superhero.

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Have you watched any of the Mission: Impossible shows or movies? What do you like about it?

Wednesday Warriors

Jason Bourne

Posted on May 13, 2015May 13, 2015 by Jack Flacco

Found floating in the middle of the ocean with a bullet hole that should have ended his life, a man awakens with no memory of who he is and no idea why he’s still alive. All he knows is he needs to find his identity. Imbedded below his skin is a small laser device that when pointed to a wall reveals a number: 000-7-17-12-0-14-26.

So begins today’s Wednesday Warriors‘ feature with Jason Bourne taking center stage.

My wife, being a fan of Matt Damon, introduced me to the Bourne Trilogy. At the time, I wasn’t much for the spy genre, but if my wife liked it, then I thought I’d take a shot. Well, not only did I enjoy the series, I also read the first book The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum.

Jason Bourne has lost his memory. However, due to some inexplicable reason, he can quickly memorize the layout of a restaurant, its patrons, objects, and formulate an exit strategy. His acute sense of awareness of his surroundings have proven on more than one occasion to have rescued him from harm’s way.

For instance, when Security traps him in an American Embassy, his instincts switch to automatic. He doesn’t know how it happens, but once an officer lays his hands on him, batons twirl and crash to the ground. Hands fly in a series of self-defense moves only a government agent or assassin could execute. His mark end up kissing the floor.

As part of the mystery, Bourne also discovers he has an ability for stealth. He can blend in and not bring attention to his movements. He drifts through crowds with little effort, deflecting tails from capturing him.

His talents also include driving at heart-pounding speeds without causing harm to him or his passenger.

Overall, Jason Bourne is a master of camouflage, deadly with weapons, and—as clichéd as it may sound—a one-man-army. The moniker suits him well.

But if anything were to stand out as the telltale attribute for this character, it would have to be his resourcefulness handling situations as they come. He doesn’t gripe or complain. He handles it. With a firm lower lip and a solid stare, everything he does has purpose. From the smallest matchbook to the largest plank, whatever he uses can become either a weapon or an object to save someone’s life. Add to it his resilience to beat the odds, and Bourne becomes an unstoppable machine.

Thank you Robert Ludlum for creating the amiable Jason Bourne. He truly is a character worth admiring.

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Have you seen any of the Bourne movies? What do you like about the films?

Monday Mayhem

Plan B

Posted on May 11, 2015May 10, 2015 by Jack Flacco

The other day I was at the station waiting for the train into the city. As I was sitting on the bench, a thought ran through my mind and I haven’t been able to shake it. What if a zombie appeared and began attacking those waiting on the platform? What would I do? Where would I go? After all, I don’t think about these things every Monday Mayhem. Wait. Maybe I do.

Then I remembered a scene out of the movie The Bourne Identity where the main character Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is sitting in a restaurant and while he’s talking with someone, he is scanning his surroundings. He is accessing the people, the objects at his disposal and formulating an exit strategy—all within a matter of seconds.

It got me thinking. If there ever were a zombie attack, would I be ready?

Subsequent to thinking about this, I began a little exercise to see if I could actually accomplish doing what Bourne did, which was to assess my environment, catalog people and objects, and plan a quick exit.

Believe me—the exercise is much harder than it sounds.

The first time I did it, I failed miserably. I couldn’t keep track of the comings and goings of people because too many things changed within a minute, and I didn’t realize the amount of things I had to take into account to remember. Then again, it didn’t help that I tried this walking through a department store.

My next attempt was in a much more controlled environment. I’d chosen our town’s library. This time around, I did a bit better. I was able to memorize the exits, track people’s movements and keep a running tally of objects I could use in case of a zombie attack. I actually saw a letter opener on someone’s desk behind checkout that would come in handy for such an occasion.

A donut shop became my next assignment. I was feeling like a secret agent already!

As soon as I walked in, I committed the exits to memory. As opposed to remembering those working behind the counter, I counted them. Uniforms are far easier to remember than plain clothes. I also took separate counts of people standing up, such as waiting in line, and those sitting at the booths. As one would get up from their table, I subtracted one from those sitting at the booths and added it to those standing up. Obviously, I couldn’t stare at the people my whole time, so I looked for reflections where I could, using those as prompts for maintaining the count.

The other thing I found I was doing was that unlike the library exercise, where I was looking for specific weapons (eg. scissors, rulers, pencils, etc.), I now simply took an inventory of items on the counter and around the shop. This allowed me the freedom to know what my inventory would be in case the zombies came at me from all directions.

I know. I’m weird. But I had fun doing it in spite of the fact I had to commit so much to memory. One thing’s for sure—Plan B has become more real to me should a zombie attack actually take place.

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RANGER MARTIN AND THE SEARCH FOR PARADISE, on sale October 20.

Have you thought about inventorying your surroundings? What is your Plan B?

Wednesday Warriors

James Bond

Posted on February 25, 2015February 27, 2015 by Jack Flacco

Stuck in bed for two days with flu-like symptoms, I had a choice of watching Hogan’s Heroes or 007. Given I’d watched every Hogan’s Heroes episode ever made at least two thousand times, I went for the James Bond marathon. I couldn’t deny myself the pleasure of spy vs. spy while my fever climbed to unprecedented levels.

Daniel Craig as Ian Fleming's James Bond 007 — Daniel Craig as Ian Fleming’s James Bond 007

For today’s Wednesday Warriors, I’m going to share a few thoughts about my love for James Bond and the reason why I think this franchise will be around long after I’m gone.

Shaken, not stirred. Tuxedo at the ready. Casino primed for his entrance. Beautiful women pining for his affection. Q. Moneypenny. M. The list goes on.

Every Bond movie has its differences, though. As much as things change, things remain the same. The villain. The Bond girl. The villain’s girlfriend who seems good at the time but changes sides halfway through the story. And let’s not forget the villain’s right hand man who always gets his in the end.

Formulaic. Predictable. Yes, and yes. You know what? Who cares? They’re movies. Eon Productions made them to entertain us. Whenever I pop one into the player, my jaw drops by the opening sequence wondering what else I may have not seen in my lifetime.

Let’s not forget the actors who played (currently playing) Bond. They have their own style and their own unique way of interpreting England’s finest spy. For instance

Sean Connery (Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever): Some may consider him the true Bond of the franchise. Is it because he was the first?

George Lazenby (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service): One shot deal, but he performed as one would expect for the demanding role—perfectly.

Roger Moore (Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy and A View to a Kill): The funny Bond who I grew up with. I used to watch him during the lull times of the Jerry Lewis MD Telethon. He was my favorite until Daniel Craig came along.

Timothy Dalton (The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill): Back to the basics with a darker flavor of Bond. He studied Ian Fleming’s books between takes and brought the literary character to life.

Pierce Brosnan (GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day): Hands down, GoldenEye has to be one of the best in the series. Brosnan had Connery’s charm and Dalton’s strength. I call him the balanced Bond.

Daniel Craig (Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall): I can only describe him as the action hero. Chiseled. Worn. Craig’s Bond seeks to bring justice to an unjust world. A superhero? Possibly.

Certainly, many actors have played James Bond, and I’m sure many more will continue to do so. I don’t see the character dying any time soon. The point of the matter though, has to do with escapism. I can’t think of a better way to spend a weekend in bed than with a stack of movies featuring the world’s favorite spy: Bond, James Bond.

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Have you seen any Bond movies? Which ones? Did you like it? What drew you into the story?

Women Who Wow Wednesday

Nikita

Posted on December 4, 2013December 6, 2013 by Jack Flacco

Convicted for the cold-blooded murder of a police officer, Nikita finds herself at the end of a needle crying for her mother. Women Who Wow Wednesday celebrates Luc Besson’s signature character in the 1990 film La Femme Nikita.

She awakens in a sterile, white room thinking she may have gone to heaven. But a man dressed in black tells her otherwise. On the record, she died committing suicide taking a massive dose of tranquilizers and her remains lie in Maisons-Alfort, Row 8, Plot 30. The man reveals he works for the government and the government is willing to give Nikita a chance to make amends for all the wrong she had committed.

If she refuses—Maisons-Alfort, Row 8, Plot 30

Nikita’s first order of business entails her to undergo a rigorous set of training exercises dedicated to computer wizardry, weapons mastery, martial arts and beauty. Her task? To become someone else. Someone she would never have imagined possible of becoming when she had taken the life of that police officer.

The film stars Anne Parillaud who underwent a year’s transformation to make her believable as the rogue government agent Nikita. She had received the script ten days prior to filming, allowing her to create realistic reactions to many of the film’s brutal scenes.

Nikita came from the cold streets of drug abuse. She eyed every pharmacy as a potential score. The company she kept equally hated society. Their dark world consisted of scoring and getting high. Between the binges of scores and drugs, they lived empty lives lacking hope for the future and direction for a better life.

In some ways, when her mentor and boss, Bob (Tchéky Karyo), recruits her, he did her a favor by removing her from the streets, saving her life in the process.

And when she meets Marco (Jean-Hugues Anglade), the wave of an ordinary life washes over Nikita. She finds happiness for the first time in her abused life. She finds love for the first time as well. His love for her grounds her, keeping her sensibilities pure.

But as in every fairy tale, reality sets in forcing Nikita to realize there’s only one solution to ending her double life.

Don’t worry I won’t spoil it for you. Suffice it to say her reality is what she wished for all along.

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Have you seen the movie La Femme Nikita? What did you think of it?

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