the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

Posted on January 10, 2011 by Darren

This post is part of James Bond January, being organised by the wonderful Paragraph Films. I will have reviews of all twenty-two official Bond films going on-line over the next month, and a treat or two every once in a while.

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is a relatively low-key Bond adventure. The action set pieces aren’t spectacular, it’s mostly confined to one geographical locale and it features a genuinely moving love story. Coupled with the fact that George Lazenby is replacing Sean Connery, you’d be forgiven for assuming that you’d accidentally been given the wrong video at the video store. It’s not that the changes are necessarily bad (though, to be frank, some of them are), just that it doesn’t exactly feel like the smoothest possible transition.

… And I thought Bond was only married to his job….

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Aston Martin, Aston Martin DB5, bond, diana rigg, ernst stavro blofeld, film, George Lazenby, james bond, List of James Bond vehicles, Movies, non-review review, on her majesty's secret service, On Her Majesty's Secret Service (film), review, Roger Moore, sean connery, telly savalas | 12 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Austin Powers – The Spy Who Shagged Me

Posted on January 9, 2011 by Darren

I have to admit that I’m quite fond of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Perhaps it’s the way that the film vindicated its direct predecessor – although Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery did very well on video, the sequel made more money at the box office in its opening weekend than the original film did during its entire theatrical run. Sure, watching the film one can spot the cracks developing which would completely envelop the franchise when the third film, Austin Powers: Goldmember, was released. However, while it’s probably not quite as good as the original, it’s still a damn entertaining film.

Time to put the franchise to bed...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, Austin Powers in Goldmember, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, casino royale, Denise Richards, Fat Bastard, Heather Graham, Jay Roach, Movie, non-review review, review, Shirley Bassey, tim robbins | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: The King’s Speech

Posted on January 8, 2011 by Darren

The King’s Speech seems like the perfect storm of awards buzz. Released as we enter the year of a big royal wedding, featuring a lead actor who was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar last year, it seems to have an edge. In fact, my inner cynic went into the cinema listing off all the standard stereotypical Oscar bait criteria that the movie met: person overcoming adversity; unlikely friendship across social class; beautiful period costumes; hint of class; historical true story; tied in some way to the Second World War; a cast of respected and veteran character actors. I don’t think it would have been possible to plan a movie that so perfectly designed to win prestigious awards. I guess we should be thankful that it’s really very good.

Heavy is the head that wears the crown... but it does have great hair, though...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Academy Award, colin firth, David Seidler, Geoffrey Rush, George V of the United Kingdom, George VI of the United Kingdom, helena bonham carter, King's Speech, non-review review, review, Timothy Spall, Tom Hooper, winston churchill, world war ii | 5 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Austin Powers

Posted on January 8, 2011 by Darren

It’s a little sad to think that Austin Powers is the last true comedic character that Mike Myers brought to the screen, and he was created nearly fifteen years ago. Yes, I have seen The Love Guru.

Powers to the People!

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: austin powers, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, comedy, Dr. Evil, ernst stavro blofeld, james bond, Love Guru, Mike Myers, Movies, non-review review, review, Roger Moore, sean connery, spoof | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: You Only Live Twice

Posted on January 7, 2011 by Darren

You Only Live Twice was my favourite when I was younger. It was energetic, witty, bright, colourful and adventurous. The stakes were ridiculously high – no less than the Third World War. Bond’s trip to Japan painted the country as an exotic wonderland to a mind as young as my own. The script was smart and the action was fast-paced – the movie still breezes along even today. The cost of the speed is that the movie is ultimately fairly light – it doesn’t carry anything particularly heavy or thought-provoking. This means that it ends up feeling relatively light-weight when measured against some of Sean Connery’s earlier outings like From Russia With Love or Goldfinger, which worked at least as much with suspense as with action.

Is Bond turning Japanese?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: blofeld, bond, casino royale, Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang, ernst stavro blofeld, film, GoldenEye, Goldfinger, ian fleming, james bond, james bond january, japan, Movie, non-review review, on her majesty's secret service, oriental, quantum of solace, review, roald dahl, Roger Moore, sean connery, you only live twice | 8 Comments »

Hammering it Home: Thor and the Race Issue…

Posted on January 6, 2011 by Darren

A few weeks ago, a debate sparked up on-line about Kenneth Branagh’s upcoming blockbuster, Thor. The debate centred around the casting of superb British actor Idris Elba as Norse god Heimdall in the film. Apparently the “Council of Conservative Citizens” had an objection to this casting decision. It wasn’t that they felt that Elba was a weak actor or that they were lobbying for another actor in the role. It was because Elba is a black actor and Heimdall is a white character.

Do we still live in an age where this matters?

A black and white issue?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: avatar: the last airbender, Black Panther, captain america: the first avenger, Council of Conservative Citizens, Heimdall, Idris Elba, kenneth branagh, Marvel Studios, Norse mythology | 3 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Thunderball

Posted on January 6, 2011 by Darren

Thunderball perhaps gets a bit of a bad wrap because it’s perhaps not quite as good as From Russia With Love or Goldfinger. I’d argue that very few Bond films are. Thunderball perhaps represents the first moment that the series came to a rest – the first three installments had been built around establishing the character, his world and the tropes and clichés that viewers could expect from movie to movie. Sometimes concepts evolved gradually (for example, the novelty henchmen grew from the three blind assassins to Klebb and her knifey boots to Oddjob), while sometimes they were introduced suddenly (Bond’s Aston Martin), but by the time the fourth film came around, all these elements had been fairly firmly established. As such, the fourth film seemed to be more intent on consolidating the series than in breaking new ground. Not that there’s necessarily anything wrong with that.

Bond isn't washed up... yet...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Aston Martin, Aston Martin DB5, casino royale, film, From Russia with Love (film), Goldfinger, james bond, james bond january, Movie, nato, non-review review, nuclear wepons, Pussy Galore, review, sean connery, spectre, thunderball | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Goldfinger

Posted on January 5, 2011 by Darren

Even though it was the third movie in an already iconic and hugely successful franchise, I think that Goldfinger is perhaps the film most responsibly for defining the shape of the archetypical Bond film we’ve been watching for fifty years now. Don’t get me wrong, I love Dr. No and From Russia With Love, but this film defined what an audience could expect from a Bond film. It’s big, it’s bold, it’s confident and it’s flamboyant. It’s also a wonderfully fun cinematic experience which manages to be consistently entertaining but never veering too far into the realm of the ridiculous.

A Golden Girl…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 007, Aston Martin, auric goldfinger, Bond girl, film, gert forbe, Goldfinger, ian fleming, james bond, james bond january, Movie, non-review review, oddjob, Paul McCartney, Pussy Galore, review, sean connery | 7 Comments »

A Tale of the Batman: Gotham By Gaslight (& Master of the Future)

Posted on January 5, 2011 by Darren

After spending the tail end of last year looking at the tangled inter-continuity crossovers at Marvel, I thought I’d spend January looking at some of the looser “out of continuity” tales at the major companies.

Gotham By Gaslight is an out-of-continuity tale which imagines Batman as the protector of a Victorian-era Gotham City, pitting the detective against none other than Jack the Ripper. It’s an entertaining little story which has a bit of fun with its premise, while managing to concisely boil the Dark Knight’s characteristics down to their core components. It’s an efficient tale which works quite well on its own merits, but has subsequently been overtaken by the hype surrounding it.

Making headlines...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: a tale of the batman, a tale of the batman: gotham by gaslight, batman, Brian Augustyn, bruce wayne, Christopher Nolan, comic book, comic book review, dark knight returns, elseworld, elseworlds, Gotham by Gaslight, gotham city, mike mignola, review | Leave a comment »

Doctor, Who?

Posted on January 4, 2011 by Darren

Believe me. Just believe me for twenty minutes…

My blu ray copy of Doctor Who arrived today and I am delighted. I’ve already written a review of the fifth season (and the Christmas special), but I loved it to pieces – despite its considerable flaws. I’ve done a bit of revisiting today and shall likely continue to view the episodes again later into the week. Anyway, just because I feel like celebrating, here’s a little piece of artwork I found on-line from artist Christopher Jones. I figured it was worth sharing.