Summers can be brutal. Aside from sweltering temperatures, an acute sense of melancholy has replaced the end of the NBA and NHL seasons, the Vanderpump reunion finale came and went like a whoopee cushion in the wind … and now the Hollywood writers strike has proven that even Guy Ritchie movies are unwatchable without the help of a creative assist.
With so little going on, our Top 10 creative well has gone dry, leaving us little inspiration to draw from outside of regurgitated content.
Basically, we are admitting our apathy, but found this week’s Top 10 in our archives, which does have some situational relevance based on current events in Russia. So here are our…
Top 10 Cold War (or Cold War-inspired) movies…
10. “Charlie Wilson’s War” (2007) — “Why is Congress saying one thing and doing nothing? / Well, tradition mostly.”
9. “Bridge of Spies” (2015) — “We have to have the conversations our governments can’t.”
8. “Red Dawn” (1984) — “But when you’re fighting in your own backyard, when you’re fighting for your family, it all hurts a little less, and makes a little more sense. Because for them, this is just a place. But for us, this is our home.”
7. “Miracle” (2004) — ““That look like hockey to you? To me it looks like two monkeys trying to hump a football.”
6. “Rambo: First Blood Part II” (1985) “Sir, do we get to win this time?”
5. “WarGames” (1983) — “Would you like to play a game?”
4. “Firefox” (1982) — ““Don’t say anything. Your words would be useless, maybe even insulting. Just fly the damn plane.”
3. “Atomic Blond” (2017) — “I never worked for you. You worked for me… Every false intel I gave you, a rip in the iron curtain. Every piece of intel you gave me, a bullet in my [f-ing] gun. I want my life back.”
2. “Hunt for Red October” (1990) — “Your sub captain’s going to make it to America, Mr. Ryan. And he’s going to die within sight of it.”
1. “Rocky IV” (1985) — “If I can change, and you can change, everybody can change.”
Honorable Mentions: Aside from threats of violence and hate mail directed at our Top 10s, we do occasionally receive constructive feedback and ideas. This Top 10 was originally published in February 2022 and readers have since offered some additional nominations for “Best Cold War-Inspired Movies.”
“First Man,” “Spies Like Us,” “The Manchurian Candidate,” “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” “Good Night and Good Luck,” basically every 1980s Chuck Norris movie, “The Queen’s Gambit” and “Three Days of the Condor.”
