You Only Live Twice 50th Anniversary Live Tweet

by | Jun 13, 2017 | Blog

You Only Live Twice 50th

On June 12th, 1967, You Only Live Twice premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square in London. James Bond had reached a cultural apex with Thunderball — and in fact, Thunderball remained the biggest Bond moneymaker until Skyfall rolled up in 2012. Queen Elizabeth II attended the premiere, her first. James Bond had become omnipresent. According to the genre lists at flickchart.com, 1966 and 1967 together witnessed the release of more than 60 non-James Bond spy films. Quite simply no one was bigger in 1967 than 007.

Critics largely praised the scope and scale of the film, but many were left nonplussed by the increasing importance of the gadgets and nonsense finale. Roger Ebert said You Only Live Twice failed “to work its magic.” The film continues to cause a schism among fans. IGN ranked YOLT as the 4th best. Entertainment Weekly, the 2nd best. The proprietor of this here #Bond_age_ project (that would be me) just yesterday on Twitter called it “creatively bankrupt.” (Yes. I just cited myself, goddammit.)

But none of that matters. In the realm of #Bond_age_, we bring our snark and reverence and sincere enjoyment of James Bond. And in the live tweet arena, few James Bond films provide greater opportunity for both snark and reverence than You Only Live Twice.

As much as I love to hate You Only Live Twice, I love to love the You Only Live Twice Live Tweet.

Join #Bond_age_ on Wednesday, June 14th @ 9pm ET for the You Only Live Twice 50th Anniversary Live Tweet extravaganza. 

The Heist Live Tweet (aka Happy Birthday, Fluffy)

by | Jun 7, 2017 | Impostors!

Some time ago… our dearly beloved Pierce Brosnan turned 64. Because #Bond_age_ had a previously scheduled date with Deadlier Than the Male and we celebrated Roger Moore the following week, I made the executive decision to postpone the official birthday festivities until NOW.

happy birthday pierce brosnan

With so many excellent Fluffy films from which to choose, the choice of film weighed heavily on my mind. Do we go with a lesser Fluffy film? Or a more recognized success? My first choice– The Matador (2005) remains a film that deserves broader appreciation. Brosnan deliberately plays against the Bond persona as a bedraggled and unpredictable contract killer that befriends a put-upon schlep (Greg Kinnear). The outcome is a low-key rambling character-driven comedy. But would it make a good live tweet? Comedies are often hard sells, especially in films that essentially make the wise-cracks for us.

So… now what?

So I moved on. What else did I have in my bag of Fluffy tricks? I was tempted by The Mirror Crack’d, an Agatha Christie film featuring a very youthful Brosnan in an uncredited role. Another time, perhaps. A bit part wasn’t sufficient enough celebration. I still want to do After the Sunset, but that’s really just not reflective of the mood I’m in.

I went back to Taffin. How could we recreat Taffin? I recalled I picked up the HBO film The Heist on DVD for just such an occasion. Fluffy plays Neil Skinner, an ex-con framed by his partner Ebbett (Tom Skerritt). His partner now runs security at a race track and in order to seek his revenge, Neil’s going to steal the track’s daily take right out from under his old partner’s nose. Before you go looking for the @007hertzrumble seal of approval, I can’t offer any. Because I haven’t seen it! We’re going in blind here people! For Fluffy!

Join #Bond_age_ on Wednesday, June 7th for the THE HEIST live tweet, starring Pierce Brosnan, Tom Skerritt, Wendy Hughes and a whole bunch of “those guys” you know from somewhere else. Show starts at 9pm ET. Follow #Bond_age_ hashtag.