by 007hertzrumble | Jul 12, 2013 | My Favorite #Bond_age_
When the Best Really Is the Best
by Cameron Bowman (@festivallawyer)
It’s rare when something is the consensus “best” of something and it actually IS. I mean, I love the Doors, but “Light My Fire” is probably my least favorite song of theirs. In fact, my personality is such that when everyone thinks something is the best I am usually the guy saying, “nah my favorite is___(insert unpopular opinion here) ”
That’s why it’s nice when popular opinion and the critics agree with what is personally my favorite. Not only is Goldfinger my favorite Bond movie, I think I can make a convincing case that Goldfinger is also the BEST Bond movie. (more…)
by 007hertzrumble | Jul 9, 2013 | My Favorite #Bond_age_
From Russia With Love: The Master of Suspense and Calculated Visual Pleasure
by James David Patrick (@007hertzrumble)
Hitchcock’s sphere of influence over popular cinema cannot be overestimated. He perfected the psycho-drama, created the slasher and excelled at popcorn action thrillers in addition to technical innovations in camerawork and editing. In fact, his North by Northwest (1959) heavily influenced the direction of Dr. No (1962) and From Russia With Love (1963). EON (Harry Saltzman and Cubby Broccoli) not only tried to hire Cary Grant to play James Bond, but Ian Fleming sent a telegram with the intention of gauging Hitchcock’s interest in directing the first Bond movie (which, at the time of the telegram concerned the script that would eventually become Thunderball). Not that Hitch would have agreed, of course, because as far as I know, he dismissed the enterprise without so much as a conversation. After all, he was more interested in how extraordinary events affected the layman rather than the tales of the world’s most famous agent of espionage.
From our perspective, looking back on 50 years of Bond, the idea that James Bond could even be considered a project for the great and legendary Alfred Hitchcock appears farcical. We’ve seen Bond drive invisible cars, diffuse a bomb dressed as a circus clown, steamroll a henchman with a Zamboni and command a legion of screaming ninjas in a volcano assault (just to name a few isolated events). Despite our collective affection for the Bond franchise, it must be admitted that Bond is Hitchcock material in fanciful theory only. But it wasn’t always that way. Once upon a time, Bond seemed like a logical receptacle for Hitchcock’s talents. (more…)
by 007hertzrumble | Jul 4, 2013 | My Favorite #Bond_age_
The Simplicity of Dr. No
by Eric Jones (@deacon05oc)
Dr. No was not my first James Bond film. As a child growing up in the late 80’s and early 90’s, before the release of GoldenEye, it was actually one of the last movies in the series that I watched. It is however my favorite movie in the franchise. Are there better Bonds? I certainly believe so. Do some of them have better stories, better villains or more in-depth characterization? Absolutely. Dr. No is more known for being a watershed moment in film history than it is, perhaps to say, a watershed film. This is the introduction of Agent 007. And boy is it an introduction.
Dr. No is both a James Bond movie and not at the same time. Being the first big screen version of Ian Fleming’s literary spy, no one knew if this enterprise would be a success or a failure. It certainly has elements of the movies that would follow, the theme, the gun barrel, his briefing with M, flirting with Moneypenny, exotic locations, beautiful women, megalomaniacal villain. But it wasn’t yet meshed together as the formula had yet to be written. For the most part, the movie feels like a two-part episode of Hawaii Five-O set in Jamaica. It sounds as if I am nitpicking, but these are exactly the things that make this movie my personal favorite. (more…)
