films | the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: A View to a Kill

Posted on January 19, 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.

A View to A Kill is not fondly remembered. In fact, it frequently finds itself listed amongst the dregs of the Bond films when the time comes to rank the worst of the British secret agent’s on-screen adventures. Truth be told, I find that rather harsh – I’d argue that it’s a significantly stronger effort than The Man With The Golden Gun, at least – as well as possibly Octopussy and Moonraker. After all, both Roger Moore and Christopher Walken look like they are having such a ridiculously good time.

Not quite a towering accomplishment…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: A View to a Kill, a view to a kill (movie), arts, Bond girl, christopher walken, films, grace jones, james bond, james bond january, List of James Bond villains, Man With The Golden Gun, Max Zorin, mayday, non-review review, review, Roger Moore, San Francisco City Hall, sean connery, United States | 7 Comments »

On Second Thoughts Re-View Review: The Town (Extended Cut)

Posted on January 17, 2011 by Darren

Sometimes when I see a movie a second time, I see a little bit more. Sometimes it’s watching an alternate cut or something, but it can be as simple as watching the movie a second time and knowing how it’ll end the whole way through. So I thought I’d try something new. I’d make notes on what I thought of certain films when I saw them a second time – let’s call it a “re-view review”, eh? Maybe they’ll become a semi-regular fixture.

When I first caught The Town, I admitted to being a bit disappointed with it. It was a good film, but it wasn’t quite as consistently brilliant as many people had led to me to believe. Don’t get me wrong – I enjoyed it (get more of my thoughts on it by checking out the review) but it just seemed like something was missing from the film, even if I didn’t know what. So, when dad returned from the video shop with it on Friday, we all sat down to watch the special “extended cut” of Ben Affleck’s film. And I absolutely loved it.

Hamming it up a notch...

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Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: al pacino, arts, ben affleck, boston, Federal Bureau of Investigation, films, heat, John Hamm, michael mann, Movies, re-view review, robert deniro, the town, Town | 17 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Moonraker

Posted on January 15, 2011 by Darren

James Bond has always been susceptible to trends. Be it a nod to the kung-fu craze of the late seventies in The Man With The Golden Gun or the more modern focus on the Bourne film series in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, the film series has always been aware of popular tastes. While certain unions might seem a little eccentric (the fusion of the series with Miami Vice to produce Licence to Kill), there’s probably not a more bizarre blend than the attempt to emulate the success of the original Star Wars films within the framework of a film franchise based around a suave British spy.

Roger Moore’s hanging on in there…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: dolly, films, holly goodhead, Hugo Drax, james bond, james bond january, jaws, moonraker, Movies, non-review review, review, reviews, Roger Moore | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Spy Who Loved Me

Posted on January 14, 2011 by Darren

The Spy Who Loved Me was just what Bond needed after The Man With The Golden Gun. Let’s be honest here, the movie has perhaps the strongest and most iconic opening sequence of any Bond movie – even those who haven’t seen the film know the beats off by heart. Bond is skiing, escaping a Russian ambush in the snow. He’s giving as good as he gets, but he’s cornered – out numbered and outgunned. In a moment of desperation, Bond flees his attackers, skiing off the side of a cliff.

It’s a cliffhanger…

For a moment, there is nothing but silence. As the stunt man tumbles through the air, the music stops cold. It’s not just the audience holding their breath as they watch Bond enter free fall. Is this it for our illustrious secret agent? You know it can’t be more than a couple of seconds, but it seems to last an eternity. And then…

And then…

The Bond music kicks into gear as the parachute opens – a Union flag. And then the opening beats of Nobody Does It Better sound in the background as Bond makes good his escape. Let’s face it, the movie could end there and it would be the best thing to happen to Bond since Sean Connery left.

Nobody does it better…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Anya Amasova, barbara bach, bond, Bonds, films, GoldenEye, james bond, james bond january, List of James Bond villains, Man With The Golden Gun, Movies, nobody does it better, non-review review, review, sean connery, Spy Who Loved Me, the spy who loved me | 2 Comments »

Let Bond Be Bond: What We Want from Bond 23

Posted on January 13, 2011 by Darren

The 23rd Bond movie had its release date confirmed as 9th November 2012, putting an end to the perpetual development hell that it seemed trapped in. With Oscar-winner Sam Mendes in the director’s chair, there would seem to be very little to worry about, but I thought – nonetheless – I’d collect some thoughts on what I’d like to see in the 23rd instalment of the long-running film series.

Shaken... but not stirred...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: bond 23, casino royale, daniel craig, films, ian fleming, james bond, jason bourne, Man With The Golden Gun, matt damon, Movies, quantum of solace, sam mendes | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Man With The Golden Gun

Posted on January 13, 2011 by Darren

The Man With The Golden Gun is frequently derided as the worst film of the Roger Moore era, guilty of taking all the excesses of the period and turning them up to eleven. Being honest, I’m not entirely convinced. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a bad film – one of the worst Bond films – but I’m not entirely convinced that it is as universally disappointing as Moonraker or as ridiculously underwhelming as Octopussy. There is, I’d argue, very possibly one tiny little gem buried amid this trainwreck of a Bond film – the man with the golden gun himself, as played by Christopher Lee.

This foe is going to put Bond through his paces…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, britt eklund, Christopher Lee, daniel craig, Dominic Greene, films, Francisco Scaramanga, Golden Gun, Hugo Drax, james bond, james bond january, List of James Bond villains, Man With The Golden Gun, Movies, review, Roger Moore | 12 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Live and Let Die

Posted on January 12, 2011 by Darren

Who’s the ~~black private dick~~ honky secret agent who’s a sex machine to all the chicks? Bond, James Bond.

It’s blaxploitation, but with a British accent.

Strange bedfellows…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: African American, Caribbean, films, Geoffrey Holder, james bond, james bond january, List of James Bond villains, live and let die, Man With The Golden Gun, Movies, New Orleans, non-review review, racism, Raven Software, review, Roger Moore, sean connery, stereotypes, unfortunate implications, voodoo, Yaphet Kotto | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: From Russia With Love

Posted on January 4, 2011 by Darren

Dr. No demonstrated that Ian Fleming’s suave British secret agent could make it to screen. Sean Connery’s James Bond was on the pop culture map, but perhaps just short of becoming a pop culture icon – that was a sequel or two away. Of course, a second movie was pushed into development, with a rich library of Fleming’s novels to adapt – as faithfully or as loosely as the producers might like. When President Kennedy, one of the other “coolest men of the sixties”, announced that From Russia With Love was his ninth favourite novel of all time, it seemed th choice had been made. Rumour has it that Alfred Hitchcock was at one point intended to direct the film, but Terrence Young’s From Russia With Love is still a wonderfully iconic Bond film, which represents a pretty large step from “an entertaining espionage movie” to “globe-spanning spy franchise”.

Bond was already making a splash at this stage of his career...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: alfred hitchcock, Cuban Missile Crisis, espionage, films, From Russia With Love, ian fleming, james bond, james bond january, Movies, non-review review, review, Roger Moore, sean connery, terrence young | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Dr. No

Posted on January 3, 2011 by Darren

Sure, there’s an opening scene involving the murder of a British agent stationed in the Caribbean, but the start of the movie that everybody remembers takes place in a late-night British casino over a game of card. A beautiful young woman is losing to the suave cigarette-smoking stranger on the opposite side of the table. “I admire your luck, Mister…?” she remarks, locking eyes with the figure. He coyly lights a cigarette.

“Bond,” he introduces himself. “James Bond.”

The rest is cinematic history.

You know the name… You know the number…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: British Empire, Caribbean, Dr. No, films, GoldenEye, Honey Rider, james bond, james bond january, List of James Bond villains, Movies, non-review review, quantum of solace, review, reviews, Roger Moore, sean connery | 4 Comments »

Who is Bond?

Posted on January 1, 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.

If you only count official EON productions, there have been six actors to play the role of suave British Secret Service agent James Bond, 007. However, the continuity of it all gets kind of tangled. Is Roger Moore’s clownish spy the same person as Daniel Craig’s cold-hearted assassin? Has the same agent been in operation since Dr. No (clearly taking place in the 1960s) through to Quantum of Solace (featuring all the technology of now)? There’s a popular fan theory that “James Bond” is just a cover identity, passed down from agent to agent as easily as the number “007” – so each iteration of the character is a different agent given the rank. It actually holds up surprisingly well when you watch the twenty-films in the official series.