Five Reasons Why... Andrew Loves The James Bond Series

Andrew: So far during our 7 Days of 007 week, Sarah and I have been able to watch and review a James Bond movie every night, but tonight Sarah had to work late, so we’re not going to be able to review one tonight. Instead, I felt like this would be a good chance to share exactly why I love this series so much. I thought about it all day, and these are the Five Reasons Why I love the James Bond Series.

When I was a kid I almost felt like Desmond Llewelyn's Q was
another grandfather to me. That's how often I watched thesefilms.

1.) The Gadgets – Let’s be honest, there isn’t a single guy out there who has seen any of the Bond movies who WASN’T jealous of all the cool gadgets MI6’s Q Branch creates. Off the top of my head I can think of a watch with a laser cutter (GoldenEye), a jetpack (Thunderball), a briefcase with hidden guns and knife (From Russia With Love), the Aston Martin DB5 (Goldfinger),  a magnetic watch (Live and Let Die) and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Bond used Q’s gadgets to get out of jams, to gain information…pretty much anything you can think of (yes, including undressing women!) Q Branch was absent from Daniel Craig’s first two Bond films, but Skyfall sees the character resurrected by Ben Whishaw in a nice modern take on Major Boothroyd. I’m excited to see what inventions he comes up with for 007 in future installments. 

2.) The Girls – Oh c’mon, of course I couldn't leave out the Bond girls. I am a red-blooded male after all. But it’s not just the attractiveness of the Bond girls, it is how they increasingly became stronger female characters as the series progressed. The series has come a long way since Honey Rider’s famous introduction; from Bond girls like Honey and Tatiana from From Russia With Love who were almost nothing more than pretty faces, to Grace Jones’ May Day, Famke Janssen’s Xenia Onatopp and Halle Berry’s Jinx being strong soldiers/spies on par with 007. Craig’s films have been a mixed bag in this regard with Vesper Lynd being a great one, Quantum of Solace’s being absolutely forgettable, and Skyfall has one hit (Naomie Harris’ Eve) and one miss (Berenice Marloh’s Severine).

7 Days of 007: A Two Tickets For... Retro Review of "Goldfinger" (1964)

Andrew: Hello readers! It’s Day 3 of our 7 Days of 007, and tonight we concluded our Sean Connery portion of the series by watching the 1964 classic Goldfinger. Sarah, what were your thoughts on it? 

Sarah: I liked From Russia With Love better.

A: And why is that?

S: I can’t quite put my finger on it. I think it’s because I had a hard time with the villain being this chubby white guy from England. I had a tough time because he’s more like the intelligent banker who likes his gadgets versus a villain with some brawn that can hit you where it hurts, like we saw with Robert Shaw’s villain in From Russia With Love.

A: To play Devil’s advocate, Goldfinger’s plan was to hit everyone where it, arguably, hurts more – fiscally.  He wasn’t trying to take over the world, he was just trying to get rich.

S: Yes, there are very different bad guys in these first few movies. I think I like the taking-over-the-world bad guys better for James Bond. It’s just personal preference, and I’m aloud to have a personal preference.

A: Absolutely.

S: I will say though, Pussy Galore is by far the strongest Bond girl so far. She’s a take-no-prisoners girl, although she’s wooed by Bond, but let’s be honest what woman isn’t? Yet she’s still kicking ass and taking names later, and I think that shows a shift in the way women were portrayed in the films and maybe even culture at the time. It was very interesting.

A: Ok, so you weren’t a fan of Auric Goldfinger as a villain, but what did you think of his henchman, Oddjob?

7 Days of 007: A Two Tickets For... Retro Review of "From Russia With Love" (1963)

Andrew: Hello readers! It’s Day 2 of our 7 Days of 007. Yesterday we kicked off our weeklong celebration of Skyfall’s release by watching the very first Bond movie, Dr. No. For our second night I felt it was prudent to have Sarah and I watch the second Bond movie, From Russia With Love. I feel, and it’s generally believed by Bond fans, that From Russia With Love was not only an improvement on Dr. No but is still one of the best films in the franchise. 

So Sarah, now that you’ve seen the first two Bond films on back-to-back nights, how would you compare From Russia With Love to Dr. No?

Sarah: It’s leaps and bounds better. It’s like the filmmakers went back to the source material and decided they needed to choose a certain path to take Bond and go with it. I found that this film was more the Bond we know and love today. He was more a spy, there were more gadgets for him to play with…and you know, we’re introduced to the characters better in the second film.

The villain has an ominous feel to him because you never quite see all of him but you hear his voice. He has these henchmen working for him, we see them, we know what part they play. It’s just so much better than the first one.

They kind of finally figured out the way they wanted to take the series.

A: Now the villain you mentioned, the unseen man who was stroking a white cat, is Ernst Stavro Blofeld – the big baddie in the series. But the actual henchmen that Bond are two SPECTRE agents named Grant, played by a much younger looking Robert Shaw (Jaws), and Rosa Klebb, played by Lotte Lenya.

7 Days of 007: A Two Tickets For... Retro Review of "Dr. No" (1962)

Andrew: Hello readers! In honor of this upcoming Friday’s domestic release of Skyfall, the 23rd (official) entry in the James Bond film series, we are doing a little thing we like to call 7 Days of 007! Each day this week we will be watching and discussing one of seven Bond films I have chosen for this endeavor. 

Essentially, Sarah hasn’t seen any of the Bond films prior to Pierce Brosnan taking over the role of Bond. So I have selected seven pre-Daniel Craig Bond films for us to watch; seven that I have deemed more essential than the others for Sarah’s crash course in 007 history.

To begin our 7 Days of 007 where else would we start but the very beginning with 1962’s Dr. No, starring Sean Connery as everyone’s favorite MI6 agent.

Sarah, just to confirm first: You hadn’t seen ANY of Connery’s Bond films before today, correct?

Sarah: Correct.

A: So I guess the best way to start this off is to ask what your initial thoughts are on Dr. No?

S: My initial thought is that is this is definitely THE original James Bond. Connery has a definite presence about him, he’s very suave, he’s very much a ladies man. But the action aspect of James Bond wasn’t quite there yet in the first film.

The movie is VERY 1960’s. It’s a little cheesy, but other than that it was a great introduction to the character of James Bond on the silver screen.

A: You say it’s “VERY 1960’s.” What do you mean by that?

007 Returns With Quite Possibly the Best Bond Film Ever: Our Review of "Skyfall" (2012)

Directed By: Sam Mendes (American Beauty) 

Starring: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes

Rating: PG-13 for intense violent sequences throughout, some sexuality, language and smoking

Run Time: 2 hours, 23 minutes

Synopsis: Following a mission gone wrong in which critical information on undercover NATO agents is stolen and 007 (Craig) is shot and presumed dead, M (Dench) and MI6 are brought under attack by a hacker named Silva (Bardem) with a vendetta against M, and a bureaucrat (Fiennes) looking to force M into retirement.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello readers! Last week Sarah and I were fortunate enough to catch a screening of the new James Bond movie Skyfall a full two weeks before its wide release. Skyfall stars Daniel Craig (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) in his third turn as 007, Judi Dench (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) in her 7^th appearance as M, and Javier Bardem (No Country For Old Men) as a villain named Silva who has a personal vendetta out against M. We also get some new additions to the franchise in Ralph Fiennes (Schindler’s List) as Gareth Mallory, the Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, who believes MI6 and M’s ways to be antiquated, and Naomie Harris (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End) as a new MI6 agent named Eve.

I, personally, have been REALLY looking forward to this film because the Bond series is by far my favorite film series (as I’m sure it is for a lot of people). I thought Casino Royale was breath of fresh air to the series and possibly even the best of them all so far, which some traditionalists might find blasphemous. Quantum of Solace was a bit of a letdown but I like it when you put it back-to-back with Casino Royale…

Sarah: Yeah, it was definitely a follow-up to Casino Royale, it fit in quite nicely following up on the effects Vesper Lynd’s death had on him. As a stand-alone film, it’s not that great.

But now you have Skyfall. Bond got his revenge for Vesper in Quantum of Solace so now we’re back to more of a stand-alone Bond film. We’re back to BOND, as it were.

Bond is back, ladies and gents, and better than ever!

The Full-Length Version of Adele's "Skyfall" Theme Is Here!

Andrew: Hello readers! The other day a snippet of the theme song Adele is singing for this fall's new James Bond movie, Skyfall, was leaked on the internet and we posted it here on our blog. After a day or so though, the media player with the snippet was taken down and we promised to repost it once it was up and working again.

Well something better is here and it's the full-length version of the song complete with a lyric music video! Gotta say, it sounds even better than the snippet promised and it makes us ever MORE excited for Skyfall (which looks like it's going to be amazing).

Check out the song below and let us know what you think!



Skyfall, Daniel Craig's third go-round as 007, hits IMAX theatres in the United Kingdom on Friday, October 26th, debuts in the US on Thursday, November 8th and goes wide on Friday, November 9th.


Source: The Film Stage

Listen to a Preview of Adele's Theme Song for "Skyfall"!

UPDATE: The 90 second snippet of the song that hit the internet yesterday has been taken down. Our apologies! As soon as it's back up somewhere we'll update the post again!

Andrew: Hello readers! Just a quick little post here about something that hit the web today that got me excited. It was revealed not too long ago that Adele, probably the world's most popular singer right now, would be singing the theme song for this November's new James Bond film Skyfall.

Well evidently she's already hit the recording studio because a preview of said song, aptly titled "Skyfall," has hit the web and you can listen to it right here, right now! My favorite part is towards the end when the classic slow Bond theme comes in.

We can't wait to hear the whole thing! Check it out!




Skyfall hits IMAX theatres on Wednesday, November 8th and then goes wide on Friday, November 9th. Daniel Craig returns for his third go-round as 007, Judi Dench returns in her 7th turn as M, and we get some new faces in Ben Wishaw as Q, Naomie Harris and Berenice Marlohe as the Bond girls, Javier Bardem as the villain and Ralph Fiennes in a not-quite clear role yet.

The Full Length Trailer for "Skyfall" is Here!

Andrew: "That was dope." "Wow."


Those are the first things Sarah and I said, respectively, after we finished watching the new full length trailer for this fall's new James Bond movie, Skyfall. Needless to say, we're pretty damn excited for this (as you might have surmised if you've read our favorite films lists or our Lieber Award post). I'm absolutely loving the premise of this entry into a great franchise (leaving behind the relative stink of Quatum of Solace).Just.......just watch this trailer below. November 9th can't get here soon enough.





Skyfall stars Daniel Craig in his third turn as 007, Judi Dench as M (she's the best M in the series, in my humble opinion), and Javier Bardem in what looks to be a pretty sweet villain role.

The First Trailer for the New 007 Movie "Skyfall" is Here!

Andrew: Hello readers! I'll keep it short and sweet. Very exciting movie news today as the first trailer for the new James Bond movie, Skyfall,  has hit the web and IT. LOOKS. AWESOME. Check it out below! (Note: There is a trailer for a new Bond video game after the movie trailer. That's not so exciting.)

OFFICIAL TEASER TRAILER FOR SKYFALL

Ok Sarah, now that we've both seen the trailer, what is your immediate reaction to it?


Sarah: We're back to the Bond movies that are supposed to grace the silver screen! None of this revenge stuff. None of this pining after women. This is James Bond we're talking about! Killing bad guys and slaying the ladies with his sexy bad-boy demeanor. This teaser trailer seems to bring this back and I am so excited!


A: I 100% concur. Skyfall looks SO much better than the last Bond film, Quantum of Solace, and I LIKED that one! As I've mentioned on my Favorite Films article, Casino Royale is one of my top 10 favorite movies of all-time and I've loved the James Bond franchise since I was little kid. So I'm very excited to see Skyfall bring back the same level of awesomeness that Casino Royale did.

Skyfall stars Daniel Craig in his third go-round as James Bond, Judy Dench returns as M, and Ralph Fiennes and Javier Bardem join them in roles I'm excited to see play out. This film can't come out soon enough, in my opinion.


S: It will be here soon! So excited for this little tease!