Posted on November 8, 2012 at 3:55 pm
M (Judi Dench) quotes a stirring passage from “Ulysses,” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson in the new James Bond movie, “Skyfall.”
Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 3:39 pm
As “Skyfall” opens, we look back on 50 years of James Bond on screen, and that means some great assessments of the best of Bond. My favorite Bonds are Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan, but “Skyfall” may be my favorite Bond movie and I love Adele’s theme song. My favorite Bond villain is Goldfinger and my favorite Bond car is the Aston-Martin with the ejector seat.
What about you?
Fandango has a delectable gallery of the best of the Bond girls. My three favorites are:
Michel Dunaway’s definitive ranking of all the Bond themes is a pleasure to read.
1. It’s not about the best song. No list worth anything will merely rank the best songs that happen to have been Bond themes. Otherwise, the producers could just stick “Stairway to Heaven” or “Satisfaction” or “Try a Little Tenderness” into the next installment of the series and assure themselves the new No. 1 spot. No, the songs shouldn’t only (or even primarily) appeal as songs per se, but as icons of Bond. They should exude Bondness. When you hear one of them, you shouldn’t first think “What a great song!” Instead, you should immediately be plunged into visions of a Bond film, preferably with yourself as either the titular hero or as his love interest.
2. What is Bondness? Entire books have been written on the appeal of Bond, but two of the most important aspects of that appeal need to be expressed in the song. First is a sense of momentousness, of earth-shattering urgency. It can be expressed through the arrangement, through the vocal performance, or the lyrics, but we’d better get a sense that big things are at stake. Second, and seemingly paradoxically, there must be an element of offhand elegance, almost a casual air. James Bond makes it look easy. So the song should make it sound easy.
3. Bondness is forever. In the original, instrumental James Bond theme, John Barry gave the franchise a gift of inestimable worth: so many signature moments. Go on the street and ask four people to hum the James Bond theme, and you’re likely to hear four different parts of the same composition. There’s the menacing four-note opening, the wildly discordant second portion, and the full-out orchestral jazzy vamp, all of which lead to the orgasmic “BAH-BAH-bummmmm, BAH-BAH-bummmmm, BAH-BAH!” ending, which then returns to the original sequence. The best Bond songs recognize Barry’s genius by incorporating the iconic instrumental theme into themselves, however subtly.
Here’s a compilation of Bond’s “coldest kills:”
There’s a marvelously entertaining documentary about The Cars Of The Bond Movies, one of which makes a return appearance in “Skyfall
And compilations of the best of the car chases:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjXhSbPUHnc
Posted on November 8, 2012 at 8:00 am
A-| Lowest Recommended Age: | High School |
| MPAA Rating: | Rated PG-13 for intense violent sequences throughout, some sexuality, language, and smoking |
| Profanity: | Strong language |
| Alcohol/ Drugs: | Drinking, smoking |
| Violence/ Scariness: | Extended spy-style peril and violence with many characters injured or killed and some graphic images |
| Diversity Issues: | Diverse characters, strong women |
| Date Released to Theaters: | November 9, 2012 |
| Date Released to DVD: | February 11, 2013 |
| Amazon.com ASIN: | B007REV4YI |
James Bond goes home in every sense in this ravishingly entertaining entry in the series. Five decades later, it all of a sudden feels fresh, fun, and utterly engaging. This is the best Bond in decades.
We are in the middle of the action almost before the lights go down in the theater. Two quick but unmistakable notes on the soundtrack as Bond (Daniel Craig in his third outing) enters a room with dead and dying agents. He looks like a million bucks. Or, I should say, a million pounds. Sterling.
A quick communication and then a chase, and what a chase. Not since “Raiders of the Lost Ark” has a movie begun with such a knowing shot of adrenaline. It’s action as ontology recapitulating phylogeny. On one level, it’s a world-class heart-thumper, brilliantly staged and paced. But it’s also a witty meta-take on chase scenes in general and Bond in particular, with everything from an exotic open market to a shootout and a motorcycle and hopping on a train. And by that I mean hopping ON a train. And a pretty girl. With a gun. And a missing hard drive. He also stops to adjust his cuffs.
So, we’re good to go, and it just keeps getting better.
Things are not going so well back at MI-6, where M (Dame Judi Dench) is in a meeting with a rather stiff government official (Ralph Feinnes) who is displeased about the way things are going. “Are we to call this civilian oversight?” she asks with asperity. “No, we’re calling this retirement planning,” he responds. MI-6 itself is attacked and this time, as they say, it’s personal.
Bond has had a tough time of it lately. The heightened stylization of the “Austin Powers” parodies made it more difficult to take Bond’s glossiness and the over-the-top total world domination-style bad guys seriously and the grittiness of the “Bourne” movies made the sophistication and brio of the series and its lead character seem superficial. The series was in danger of becoming a parody of itself, with its over-the-top plot twists and villains. And it was choking on product placement. “Skyfall” is forthright in confronting the challenges of our time, with both spies and bureaucrats well aware that our enemies are harder to identify than they were in the Cold War era, and more damage can be done with a laptop than a bomb.
“Skyfall” kicks it old school, with more heart, meaning, and character — and a more deliciously twisted villain (Javier Bardem) than the last dozen in the series combined. This is much more than the usual girl and a gun and a villain and only seconds to save the world from various exotic locations. The locations are fabulously chosen, however, from MI-6’s transplanted underground lair to a deserted island city with a toppled Ozymandias-style statue, a motorcycle chase along Istanbul rooftops, and an estate in Scotland. And Ben Wishaw (“Cloud Atlas”) makes a lovely young Q with mad computer skillz and madder hair.
Adele provides the best Bond theme song since the 60’s, her husky voice reminiscent of the Shirley Bassey era. Director Sam Mendes is not known for action or genre but he has a great eye and he is totally up to the task here, delivering a story that gives depth to the characters and moral complexity to the storyline. Mendes deftly explores variations on the themes of compromise, consequences, context, and choice, while never letting up on the action and glamour. It wouldn’t be a Bond movie without some reason for our hero to don black tie for a visit to a swanky gambling den that happens to have a pit with Komodo dragons, any more than it would without some doomed beauty with time for one last romantic encounter. “Skyfall” has tremendous understanding and affection for the legacy of Bond, but, more important, it makes us excited about the next 50 years.
Parents should know that this film has spy-type action and peril with chases, explosions, and guns, many characters injured and killed, sexual references and situations,some strong language,drinking, and smoking.
Family discussion: Characters in this film have to make some very tough choices that risk or sacrifice the lives of their colleagues. What factors do they consider? What are the consequences? How does what we learn about Bond and M change the way you think about them? Why does MI-6 like orphans?
If you like this, try: the 23 other Bond films, especially “Goldfinger,” “You Only Live Twice,” and “Goldeneye”
Posted on November 7, 2012 at 8:00 am
Jonathan Keogh brilliantly edited the top 250 movies from the Internet Movie Database into this tw0-minute tribute.
And designer Larry Gormley created this sensational poster that summarizes the history of film genres, with more than 2000 titles.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 3:59 pm
As soon as movies were invented, Presidents started appearing on screen. I love to watch these early films of the men we learn about in history books.
