This week #Bond_age_ turns five. Like telling “The Night Before Christmas” on Christmas Eve let’s share some #Bond_age_ origin-story nostalgia.
Five years ago, a few Twitter acquaintances jumped on my enthusiasm for Skyfall and suggested I write a regular column about James Bond to be posted on a literary magazine. One essay per movie. Then I had one further bright idea. I thought it would be fun to host a live tweet for each movie and write the essay based on thoughts and suggestions culled from the experience. What did I know about live tweeting? I was aware of #TCMParty and had been recently turned onto #DriveInMob. It was certainly one of those “seemed like a good idea at the time” kind of things.
I initiated that first Dr. No live tweet on December 12th, 2012 with my regular “INITIATE MISSION” call to arms and mentioned how the opening Bond theme still managed to thrill after hundreds of Bond viewings. I had pages and pages of movie info and factoids about the production. And one person showed up. I am indebted to @jennjaysleafs for joining me on that first evening. Hell, everyone that’s ever enjoyed a #Bond_age_ live tweet during these last five years owes a small debt to her. If she didn’t show up that first night, I might not have continued with the live tweet portion of the series. One person became two for From Russia With Love the next week.The other was the editor of the literary magazine that was publishing the Bond essays so I wasn’t exactly emboldened by the turnout.
I returned after the holidays to give the live tweet thing a shot through Thunderball. This is where @CulturalGutter and @DriveInMob came to the rescue. They may not even remember at this point that they helped promote these live tweets and kickstarted the project. By the time we live tweeted Thunderball on January 16th, we had a proper #Bond_age_ turnout… and yada yada yada here I am in 2017 still doing this.
Enough of that detour down memory lane. This year the #Bond_age_versary falls on the 20th Anniversary of the release of TOMORROW NEVER DIES so that’s conveniently what we’re watching.
Join #Bond_age_ to celebrate the #Bond_age_versary 5 and the 20th Annivesary of Tomorrow Never Dies at 9pm Et on December 13th, 2017. Use #Bond_age_ and #TND20 hashtags.
We are Bond fans. Bond fans watch James Bond. Good Bond. Bad Bond. The rule says we will watch it. The movie that’s always put that rule to the test was 2002 special effects and CGI extravaganza, Die Another Day, aka Bond xXx, aka Jesus Bond Rises Again. But the #Bond_age_ treatment presents the loophole most Bond fans need to get over their Die Another Day hesitancy — good goddamn Twatter and the company of cynical friends.
Die Another Day was the first Bond film I saw in the theater with my wife (then girlfriend). I remember being largely speechless upon exiting the theater. Searching for some explanation for what we’d just seen. She wasn’t a Bond fan, and I’d pinned a lot of hopes on this film to help her see the light. Suffice to say, I’d have to wait until Casino Royale in 2006 to make that final conversion.
Join #Bond_age_ for the “celebration” of 15 years of disillusionment, I mean Die Another Day, on Wednesday, November 15th @ 9pm ET. Follow #Bond_age_ hashtag and sprinkle in #DAD15 to confuse the interwebs.
Every so often the stars align in the #Bond_age_ universe. Sometimes by accident. Sometimes with much forethought. Okay, maybe not “much forethought.” “Some forethought” maybe. When I first started the Ladies’ Night series of live tweets to celebrate the women of the James Bond films, I went through the list and picked the movies I’d like to live tweet. When I arrived at Britt Ekland, I stumbled. How could I pick just one. Let’s be honest here; Britt Ekland made a lot of movies worthy of #Bond_age_ live tweet fodder. I left that box on the Excel spreadsheet blank.
As I input the dates into the calendar, roughly one per month, I noticed that Ms. Ekland’s date fell in October. Without hesitation, I went back to my Ladies’ Night spreadsheet and typed in:
WICKER MAN, M’F’ERS.
Christopher Lee. Britt Ekland. Halloween. Not since the great Zardoz live tweet of 2016 had I had the opportunity to program something as batcrap unusual as the original 1973 Wicker Man. Unsettling and unlike anything you’ve ever seen, The Wicker Man serves up a delicious Christopher Lee performance and more WTF moments than one live tweet can handle. But goshdarnit we’re professionals by now and we’ll roast it with the best of them.
Join #Bond_age_ on Wednesday, October 25th for the First Annual (?) #Bond_age_ Spook_tacular_ live tweet of THE WICKER MAN. Follow #Bond_age_ hashtag. Programming begins at 9pm ET. The embed will go live on Wednesday.
Because Moneypenny has the week off, I messed up the calendar for October and had misplaced DR. NO’s 55th Anniversary date. Now that I’ve got the #Bond_age_HQ mostly back on track (I still need someone to pick up coffee filters), I can confidently say that this week we celebrate the 55th Anniversary of James Bond’s emergence from the cinematic birth canal.
Join us on Wednesday, October 4th for the 55th Anniversary of Dr. No! Live tweet begins at 9pm ET. Follow #Bond_age_ hashtag and use the #DrNo55 tag liberally.
You love Jane Seymour. We love Jane Seymour. Let’s live tweet a Jane Seymour movie, shall we? But where in the world do you start? What movie could offer both Jane Seymour and enough silliness to play the muse of a great evening of live twatter?
…what movie… what movie, indeed…
Oh Heavenly Dog? Ugh.
How about Somewhere in Time!?! No. You’re right. Maybe lacking in the prime twatter fodder.
The TV movie Praying Mantis co-starring Barry Bostwick! Bingo! Ehhhh… maybe another time.
Damn. Well, we’ll think of something.
In the meantime, join #Bond_age_ for the live tweet of Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger on Wednesday, September 27th at 9:00pm ET. Follow #Bond_age_ hashtag.
1967. Raquel Welch as an American skydiver named Fathom Harvill.
Do you need another reason to watch Fathom? Let me answer that for you. Tony Franciosa? Clive Revill? Okay. I can’t vouch for the film, necessarily. There is a reason we haven’t presented this film in a “just because” presentation. I will vouch for it’s live tweet possibilities and mention that Roger Ebert gave this film ZERO stars. Babes, beaches and bullfighting. Did I mention Raquel Welch? Yes? Well, I just wanted to make sure.
Join #Bond_age_ on Wednesday, September 20th at 9pm ET for the Fathom live tweet. Follow #Bond_age_ hashtag.
Here’s the opening of Fathom to tease your sensibilities.
