Act, Kill, Win: Anthony Horowitz, The Author Of The James Bond Continuation Novel, 'Trigger Mortis,' Wants The Old Blunt Instrument Back: Says Recent Bond Movies Portray 007 As Weak

John Binham at the British newspaper the Telegraph offers a piece on Anthony Horowitz, the author of the new James Bond continuation novel, on how the recent Bond films have portrayed 007 as weak.

For more than 50 years, James Bond films have been feted as the ultimate action movies, with ever more spectacular special effects, sinister villains and an endless stream of glamourous love interests.

But, according to the author officially anointed as successor to 007’s creator Ian Fleming, modern James Bond films have lost their way because they make the fictional secret agent appear too soft.

Anthony Horowitz, who was chosen by the Fleming estate to write the latest James Bond novel, Trigger Mortis, said Skyfall – the first Bond film to smash through the $1 billion mark in global box office takings – just makes him “angry” because of the way it portrays 0007 as “weak”. 

And he voiced dismay at signs that the upcoming film Spectre will delve into Bond’s “doubts” and “insecurities” instead of concentrating on defeating villains.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11833706/Modern-James-Bond-films-too-soft-says-Flemings-successor.html

'You're A Kite Dancing In A Hurricane, Mr Bond': Brooding 007 Confronts A Face From The Past In Dramatic FIRST Teaser Trailer For SPECTRE

Jason Chester at the British newspaper the Daily Mail reports on the recently released SPECTRE trailer showing Daniel Craig as Ian Fleming's iconic character James Bond.

You can watch the interesting trailer and see photos of the upcoming film via the below link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3015208/James-Bond-onfronts-face-past-dramatic-teaser-trailer-SPECTRE.html
 

Goldeneye: Where Bond Was Born, Ian Fleming’s Jamaica by Matthew Parker, Review: 'Melancholic And Thought-Provoking'

Sinclair McKay at the British newspaper the Telegraph offers a review of a new book on Ian Fleming and the Jamaican villa where James Bond was born.

While the pleasure of reading Ian Fleming’s James Bond thrillers never diminishes, the irony is that 007’s creator is actually the more compelling figure of the two. The Bond novels were once described by Fleming’s biographer John Pearson as exercises in “the autobiography of dreams”. 
 

So the spy who goes into battle with diabolical masterminds and gets soppy over women such as Galatea Brand and Tiffany Case is the wish-fulfilment of an author who was forced to stay behind a desk at Naval Intelligence throughout the war. Fleming’s knowledge of Britain’s greatest secrets (including the Bletchley code-breaking triumphs) meant that capture in the field could never be risked. But throughout Matthew Parker’s account of Fleming’s post-war sojourns in Jamaica, and how they shaped his fiction, we can imagine Bond himself looking on and feeling a perverse stab of envy.
 

Not that Parker glamorises: the story of Goldeneye, the house that Fleming built, is shot through with melancholy and creeping mortality. In the later stages of the war, Fleming became infatuated with Jamaica. This was still a colonial world, though independence was fast approaching. Immediately after the war, in 1946, he found a plot of land and arranged to have a stark property constructed – plain bedrooms, hard floors, rudimentary plumbing that “hissed like vipers and ululated like stricken bloodhounds”. The point of Goldeneye was communion with the fecund life outside, as well as a retreat from freezing, grey Britain – a refuge in which Fleming could write books. It was an uncompromisingly masculine place.

You can read the rest of the review via the below link:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/11002831/Goldeneye-Where-Bond-Was-Born-Ian-Flemings-Jamaica-by-Matthew-Parker-review-melancholic-and-thought-provoking.html

Note: I was fortunate to have spent a week at Goldeneye with my wife in the mid-1980s before the villa and estate was upgraded and modernized.

When we visited the villa it was basically as rustic as when Fleming lived there. I sat and wrote at Fleming's desk, eat at his dining table, and was served by his former housekeeper Violet. I also lounged on his private beach, and went free diving in his cove. Goldeneye was a magical place.      

A Look Back At James Bond Author Ian Fleming 50 Years After His Death

Ian Fleming died 50 years ago today, as many newspapers, magazines and Internet publications have noted.

To learn more about Ian Fleming and his iconic character James Bond you can read my Crime Beat column via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2010/06/casino-royale-revisited-film-that.html

You can also read my Counterterrorism magazine piece on Ian Fleming's WWII commando group, the 30 Assault Unit, via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2011/11/look-back-at-30-assault-unit-british.html

Comprehensive Guide To James Bond Creator Ian Fleming Was Four Years In The Making

Brian Ferguson at the Scottish newspaper the Scotsman reports on the upcoming book on Ian Fleming.

IT PROMISES to be the ultimate Christmas guide for fans of Britain’s favourite spy – and his enigmatic creator.

Ian Fleming’s surviving relatives have helped to compile the most comprehensive guide to the writer’s colourful life, the development of the James Bond novels and their enduring influence.

But it will set fans back £175 to lay their hands on the lavish bibliography, which has been four years in the making and runs to more than 750 pages.

It explores Fleming’s richly varied life, as a journalist, travel writer, stockbroker and Royal Navy intelligence officer – the job that famously inspired him to pen his first Bond novel, Casino Royale, which he wrote 60 years ago. It was published on 13 April, 1953.

Charting every stage of his career, the new bibliography is said to feature every aspect of Fleming’s writing, from his earliest Bond manuscripts, typescripts and uncorrected proofs to rarely seen travel articles. Material held by Fleming archives and enthusiasts around the world has been brought together for the massive tome, while anecdotes been collected by many of Fleming’s surviving relatives, former colleagues and close confidants.
 
Included are more than 1,000 illustrations, including the rarest of book covers, as well as numerous photographs of Fleming throughout his life.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/film/comprehensive-guide-to-bond-creator-ian-fleming-was-four-years-in-the-making-1-2591389

Fergus Fleming, Ian Fleming's nephew, wrote the introduction to the book. I interviewed Fergus Fleming a while back and you can read my piece via the below link:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2009/10/through-thriller-writers-eyes-life-work.html 

The Cinematic Bond At 50: 'Goldfinger' Still Stands Out As The Best James Bond Film

 

Justin Craig at FoxNews.com writes that Goldfinger is still the best James Bond film as the Bond film series marks its 50th anniversary.

We raise our first glass to “Goldfinger,” the third, and arguably best, film based on Ian Fleming’s 007 series. Fast cars, double-crossing women, slick gadgets and outrageous megalomaniacs spell Bond, James Bond and “Goldfinger” is the most essential, most quintessential of all Bond films.

Dodging bullets, hats and an army of beautiful women,007 -- with a license to kill -- races to stop international criminal Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe), the man with the Midas touch, from infiltrating Fort Knox and destroying all its gold, thus making his own stash of treasure rise significantly in value.

Just as exciting, smart and sexy as when it premiered 48 years ago, “Goldfinger,” more than any other Bond film, is a cinematic icon; From Robert Brownjohn’s archetypal opening credits with images projected over a scantily clad Margaret Nolan, to Bond’s signature Aston Martin DB5, to Shirley Eaton’s naked, gold-painted body, to henchman Oddjob’s weapon-of-choice: his hat, to Shirley Bassey’s propulsive and legendary opening title song, “Goldfinger” remains a staple in movie history.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/09/12/bond-turns-50-goldfinger-still-stands-out-as-best-007-bunch/

Note: I agree with Craig that Goldfinger is a great film, but in my view From Russia With Love is the best Bond film and Goldfinger is the second best Bond film.

Also, Craig is mistaken when he notes that the Q character portrayed by Desmond Llewlyn was introduced in Goldfinger. Desmond Llewlyn first appeared as Q in From Russia With Love. And the first Bond film Dr No introduced Q by his name and title Major Boothroyd. The character was portrayed by actor Peter Burton.

The James Bond Film 'The Living Daylights' Is 25 Years Old Today

The web site MI6 reports that the James Bond film, The Living Daylights is 25-years old today.

Timothy Dalton's 007 debut in "The Living Daylights" was released in the UK on 29th July 1987.

Dalton brought a harder, grittier James Bond to the silver screen  

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.mi6-hq.com/news/index.php?itemid=10270&t=mi6&s=news

You can also read an earlier post on Timothy Dalton and The Living Daylights via the below link:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2012/06/look-back-at-james-bond-film-living.html   

Amazon Publishing Has Aquired Ten-Year License For North American Rights To Ian Fleming's James Bond Thrillers

You can read a report on the deal made between Amazon Publishing and the estate of the late, great thriller writer Ian Fleming (seen in the above photo at his Jamaican villa Goldeneye) at the web site thebookseller.com.

Amazon Publishing has bought a 10-year license for North American rights to the entire series of Ian Fleming's James Bond books in both print and e-book form. The deal was done with Fleming's family company Ian Fleming Publications Ltd via Jonny Geller, managing director at Curtis Brown.

All the Bond titles will be reissued by Amazon Publishing's Thomas & Mercer imprint from the summer.

You can read the rest of the story via the below link:

http://www.thebookseller.com/news/amazon-acquires-us-rights-flemings-bond-books.html

William Boyd To Pen New James Bond Continuation Novel Set In The Late 1960s

 

Paul Casciato at Reuters reports that author William Boyd will write the next James Bond continution novel. The novel will be set in the late 1960s.

The best-selling British novelist told Reuters on Thursday that he will put his knowledge of Cold War espionage to good use to pen the next adventure of the 007 character created by Ian Fleming, who has grown into a global book and film phenomenon.

You can read the rest of the story via the below link:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/11/us-williamboyd-jamesbond-idUSBRE83A1HL20120411

You can also read the BBC report on Boyd writing the next Bond continuation novel via the below link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17677611

A Q & A With George Lazenby, The Man Who Was Once James Bond

MI6 - the James Bond web site, not the British intelligence agency - offers a good Q & A with George Lazenby, the man who portrayed James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

You can read the Q & A via the below link:

http://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/articles/event_george_lazenby_qa.php3?t=&s=&id=02886

Despite the absence of Sean Connery, I think On Her Majesty's Secret Service is a terrific Bond thriller.

You can read my earlier post on On Her Majesty's Secret Service via the below link:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2009/11/bringing-in-christmas-season-with-james.html