OSS 117: Lost In Rio Screening In Los Angeles This Week

Other French Spy Films As Well

No sooner did I complain about probably having to wait years to see the new OSS 117 sequel than reader Matthew (aka The Solex Agitator) left a comment calling my attention to this week's ColCoa Film Festival, which showcases contemporary French Cinema. And among that contemporary French cinema is the very James Bond/Eurospy parody I was talking about, OSS 117: Lost In Rio! It plays this Friday night, April 24, at 5:45 PM at the Director's Guild Theater on Sunset and Fairfax. (Which is a great theater, by the way, and home to a Live And Let Die cast reunion screening several years ago.) Not only is this an exclusive opportunity to see the movie in America before it even has a U.S. distributor, but Co-Writer/Director Michel Hazanavicius will do a Q&A following the screening. If you're in the Los Angeles area, this is likely to be an unmissable event for spy fans, so plan accordingly! And if you haven't yet seen the first film, OSS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies, do yourself a favor and check it out right away to see why I'm so excited for this sequel! Read the festival's description of the film here and see reviewer quotes and (if you happen to be a film distributor eager to net yourself a surefire comedy hit) international sales information. Go here to purchase advance tickets, which is recommended because several movies in the festival have already sold out.

But OSS 117: Lost In Rio isn't the only spy film playing at ColCoa. Secret Defense (aka Secrets of State) is a (much) more serious espionage thriller starring Casino Royale's Simon Abkarian (Solange's husband, who has it out with Bond in the body exhibition) as a terrorist mastermind. It plays at 7:30 on Tuesday, April 21.

Finally, Espion(s) aka Spy(ies), follows two baggage handlers at the Paris airport whose on-the-job petty thievery gets them unwittingly caught up in a terror plot. One of them (played by Tell No One's Guillaume Canet) finds himself recruited by the DGSE and sent on an assignment to London. There, his MI-5 contact (played by Stephen Rea) instructs him to seduce the wife of a terror suspect. Spy(ies) plays at 10:30 Friday night, following OSS 117: Lost In Rio.

Tickets for all ColCoa events are available here.