Coughing Up Fleming: A Look Back At Mad Magazine's Take On Daniel Craig's James Bond And The Film 'Skyfall'

The web site 007dossier.com offers a look at Mad magazine's take on Daniel Craig's James Bond and the Bond film Skyfall. 

You can check out the clever satire via the below link:

http://www.the007dossier.com/007dossier/post/2014/12/01/Casebook-Spyfail

Yahoo Movies: 25 Things We Learned About 'Skyfall' And The Future Of James Bond

Orlando Parfitt at Yahoo! Movies offers a piece on the film Skyfall and the future of the James Bond films.

To mark the DVD release of ‘Skyfall’ (out now), Yahoo! Movies was invited to travel from London to Edinburgh aboard the magnificent 'Skyfall' train.

When we weren’t marvelling at the ‘Skyfall’ seat covers, we chatted to producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson, writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, and star Naomie Harris.

With the film now done and dusted at cinemas (it did okay), we felt safe to discuss why they killed off a main character and introduced some new (actually old) ones. We also got some candid answers on Oscar and BAFTA snubs, as well as tantalising tidbits on the future of the franchise.

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

http://uk.movies.yahoo.com/25-things-we-learnt-about-the-origins-of-skyfall-and-the-future-of-bond--132513731.html 

Funny Satire Of Bond Film Skyfall

The web site Digitalspy.com links to a funny Skyfall trailer satire.

You can watch the trailer via the below link:

http://www.digitalspy.com/odd/news/a457138/skyfall-honest-movie-trailer-watch-video.html

You can also check out an earlier post on Skyfall via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2013/01/author-sebastian-faulks-pans-latest.html

Author Sebastian Faulks Pans Latest James Bond Film 'Skyfall'

Ruth Whitehead at the British newspaper the Daily Mail reports on the poor review author Sebastian Faulks gave the latest James Bond film Skyfall.

Skyfall, the latest James Bond blockbuster that grossed more than US$1 billion in ten weeks, has been lambasted by author Sebastian Faulks.

Faulks, who was commissioned by the estate of Bond creator Ian Fleming to write a Bond novel, described the film as 'pretty distasteful', criticised some of the acting and said the film's attempts to show a sensitive side to the spy hero had failed.

He told an audience at India's Jaipur Literature Festival, as reported in the Telegraph: 'I found the last film pretty distasteful. One [of the Bond girls] couldn't act and the other had been previously exploited as a sex worker. And Bond walks into the shower and makes love to her. Casino Royale was much better.'

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

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2268672/Box-office-busting-Skyfall-ridiculed-distasteful-Bond-author-Sebastian-Faulks.html

You can also watch a video of the discussion via the below link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEb8Q6N66M4

Note: I agree with Faulks that Daniel Craig's Casino Royale was a better film than Skyfall and that Albert Finney, an otherwise great actor, was truly awful as a Scottish groundskeeper with an English accent.

I also thought that Javier Bardem, an otherwise fine actor, looked more like a Batman or a Dick Tracy villain than a Bond villain with that awful blond wig.

I could criticize the film more, but I don't want to spoil the plot for those who have not yet seen it.   

I thought Skyfall was a well-made thriller and Daniel Craig was very good as James Bond, but I don't  agree with many of the film critics who hailed the film the best of the Bond series.

In my view, Skyfall is no Goldfinger and Daniel Craig is no Sean Connery.

You can read my Philadelphia Inquirer review of Faulks' continuation James Bond novel via the below links:

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/DevilMayCarereview.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/DevilMayCarereview2.jpg  

Give Oscar To James Bond Film 'Skyfall,' Says Former James Bond Actor Timothy Dalton

Henry Fitzherbert at the British newspaper the Daily Express offers a piece on former James Bond actor Timothy Dalton, who believes the new James Bond film deserves an Oscar.

AND the Oscar goes to…James Bond. Well, if former 007 Timothy Dalton has his way then the world’s most famous secret agent will finally receive awards recognition at next year’s Academy Awards.

 

“It is absolutely time for Bond to get proper attention at the Oscars,” says Dalton, 68, who was hugely impressed with Skyfall. “On almost every level this Bond movie is right at the forefront of what cinema is capable of. It is an absolutely modern James Bond, a movie truly of its time. Daniel Craig is fantastic and it feels very real. It has also got a great story about M with a nice streak of cynicism. I thought the film was fabulous.”

 

In 50 years of Bond movies the series has received only a handful of nominations and then in only the technical and music categories, winning best sound effects for Goldfinger in 1964 and best visual effects for Thunderball in 1965.

 

No Bond movie has received any acting nominations but that could change with recognition for Dame Judi Dench, Javier Bardem who plays the villain or possibly Craig himself.  

 

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

 

http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/view/367782/Give-OO7-Oscar-says-licence-to-bleed-James-Bond

 

Timothy Dalton, who in my view, ranks only behind the great Sean Connery in his portrayal as Ian Fleming's iconic character James Bond, is generous and modest. He is a gentleman.

 

You can read an earlier post on Dalton as Bond via the below link:

  

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2012/12/a-q-with-john-glen-director-of-licence.html  

James Bond Incorrectly Portrayed On The Screen As A "Cartoon Character," Says Author William Boyd

William Boyd, the author of Restless, Any Human Heart and an upcoming James Bond continuation novel, says that Ian Fleming's iconic character James Bond has been portrayed on film as a "cartoon character."

William Boyd, the historical novelist, has been commissioned to write a new Bond novel by the estate of Ian Fleming, who charted the character’s career in 14 books.

But he has dismissed the work of others who have brought the character to life, deliberately not going to see Skyfall, the latest film starring Daniel Craig and Dame Judi Dench, and claiming the spy was “not the suave Roger Moore-type English toff at all”.

Screenwriters have underplayed his true alcohol consumption, he said, pointing out that in Dr No 007 drank two bottles of bourbon, a bottle of champagne, a Calvados and four dry martinis in one night.

“In the films Bond is a cartoon character but in the novels he is far more troubled, nuanced and interesting,” Boyd told Radio Times. 

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

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/jamesbond/9737200/Cartoon-film-James-Bond-should-be-massive-boozer-claims-William-Boyd.html 

A Q & A With John Glen, Director of 'Licence To Kill' And Seven Other James Bond Films

Peter Howell at thestar.com offers an interesting Q & A with John Glen, the director of eight James Bonds, including one of my favorites, Licence to Kill.

With Roger Moore, he’s a fairly light actor, not a hard-edged one, and he always used to say to me, “Oh, what would the kids think?” He was always very conscious of that. He’s more of a personality actor. He’s very, very good and very charming and very good with his one-liners and humour. All his films had to be designed that way, I think, so that Roger could do his best with what he’s comfortable with.

And funnily enough, looking back at the two films that I did with Timothy Dalton, The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill, I find him to be quite similar to the new Bond. He and Daniel are both harder-edged Bonds. I think Timothy was before his time. You look at Licence to Kill now and it keeps up. It’s more in vogue now than when I shot it, I think. I still think it’s one of the best Bonds, certainly the best that I directed.

... Up until now, I’ve always thought that probably Goldfinger had the best original story, because we’ve now run out of original Fleming stories. But I think Skyfall really got that; I’d certainly rank it amongst the top three.

I’d say The Spy Who Loved Me was the best one I did with Roger — and it’s his favourite, too — and I’m still very fond of Licence to Kill.

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

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/article/1299261--john-glen-james-bond-s-main-director-q-a

Note: I agree with John Glen that Licence to Kill is one of the best Bond films.

Although I believe Sean Connery is the best Bond actor, Timothy Dalton in my view is the second best actor to portray James Bond.

He is a very good actor and he looks and acts like Ian Fleming's James Bond. I wish he had made more Bond films.

I also like Robert Davi as the drug lord villain in the film. Murderous, vicious and a bit crazed, Davi is one of the best villains since the Sean Connery-Bond films from the 1960s.

The supporting cast is also very good, including the two women in the film, Carey Lowell and Talisa Soto, who offer strong performances as well as being very attractive.

The other good supporting cast includes Anthony Zerbe as a criminal associate to Davi, and a nasty young Benicio Del Toro as Davi's henchman. David Hedison portrays Bond's CIA pal, Felix Leiter, repeating the role he portrayed in Live and Let Die, and Desmond Llewellyn gives an expanded performance as "Q" as he aids Bond' in the field.      

You can read my earlier post on Licence to Kill via the below link:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2012/01/look-back-at-timothy-dalton-as-james.html

A Montage of Sean Connery As Ian Fleming's Iconic Character James Bond

 

While Daniel Craig is receiving rave reviews as James Bond in the film Skyfall, and deservedly so, I thought I should remind people of the first, and in my view the best, actor to portray James Bond in the film series - Sean Connery.

Below is link to a montage of Sean Connery as James Bond that Ian Connor MacLeod placed on youtube.com:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84dX-gLHjKI

Lunch With James Bond Creator Ian Fleming And A Look Back At His Time As A Journalist For Reuters

With the success of the new James Bond film Skyfall a good number of magazines and newspapers have offered articles on James Bond's creator, the late great thriller writer Ian Fleming.

Joshua Rothamn at The New Yorker offers a piece on the lunch New Yorker writer Geoffrey Hellman had with Ian Fleming in 1962.

It’s a little hard to believe, but the first James Bond movie, “Dr. No,” was released more than a half-century ago, on October 5, 1962. At that time, Ian Fleming, the writer of the James Bond novels, was fifty-three. In April of that year (when Daniel Craig, it’s worth pointing out, was negative five), The New Yorker’s Geoffrey Hellman met Fleming for lunch at the Pierre (now the Taj). Fleming was in New York to visit his publishers. He’d stopped en route between his vacation house, in Jamaica (where Dr. No also has a hideaway) and his home in London.

You can read Joshua Rothman's piece and link to Geoffrey Hellman's 1962 piece via the below link:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/backissues/2012/11/lunch-with-ian-fleming-bond-at-fifty.html

John Entwisle also offers an interesting piece on Ian Fleming's time as a young journalist for Reuters.

Ian Fleming was the man behind Bond. Born in 1908, he died in 1964 at the age of 56.

From 1945 to 1959, he worked as Foreign Manager for Kemsley (later Thomson) newspapers. But early in the 30s, when still a young man, he was a Reuters journalist.

Fleming never forgot his time with Reuters. He frequently recalled those years in interviews, describing the British newsagency as “a very good mill”. “The training there gives you a good, straightforward style” he said.

In February 1988, retired Reuters journalist, Basil Chapman, wrote an excellent account of Fleming’s time with the company for its then house-magazine ‘Reuters World’.

You can read the piece via the below link:

http://blog.thomsonreuters.com/index.php/ian-fleming-the-reuters-journalist-who-gave-us-all-a-run-for-our-money/

Bond. Evolving Bond

Steven Rea, the Philaelphia Inquirer's movie critic, looks at the 50-year cinematic history of Ian Fleming's iconic secret agent character James Bond.

On Friday, Skyfall, the 23d 007 enterprise, with Daniel Craig in his third turn as the British intelligence operative, opens in theaters - the 50th anniversary of the formidable franchise. (The rogue 1967 romp Casino Royale, with David Niven and Peter Sellers, isn't considered part of the official 007 oeuvre.) To date, the Bond movies have earned more than $5 billion in worldwide box office.

Yes, people have been ordering their vodka martinis shaken, not stirred, for 50 years.

"Ian Fleming created an amazing character," says Craig, who has followed in the footsteps - and the tailored suits - of Connery, George Lazenby (an Aussie, and the forgotten Bond, appearing only in 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service), Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, and Pierce Brosnan. "There's this internal conflict in the way Fleming wrote Bond," Craig says, in an interview.

"You know, he's an assassin. The whole idea that he kills people is something that Fleming really fought with. . . . He fought with that emotionally. That's who the character is."

The character is more than that, though. Down through the decades, the different Bonds, and the men who played them, mirrored what was happening in the culture, in the tenor and temperament of the day.

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

http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20121103__I_wish_I_had_had_James_Bond_on_my_staff__quot__John_F__NO_HEAD_SPECIFIED.html

You can also read my 2006 column about Ian Fleming and James Bond via the below link:

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

'Skyfall' Miraculously Resurrects Sean Connery's Audience Gripping James Bond

 

D. Chandler at the Guardian Express wrote an interesting piece about the new James Bond film  Skyfall.  

After 50 years, in which the movies have often descended to abject self-parody, Bond is a hero who should, by rights, have long ago shuffled off to the retirement home.

Instead, as Mail film critic Christopher Tookey wrote in later editions of Saturday’s paper, the new 007 adventure, “Skyfall,” is ‘one of the finest of all time’.

Intelligent, bursting with thrilling action set-pieces and filled with top-drawer turns by some of Britain’s finest acting talents — Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Albert Finney — in Tookey’s words, this is a film that assures the future of the Bond franchise ‘for years to come’.

The film hits cinemas a week on Friday and its opening sequence is dynamite.

Now the critics have my attention. I have been on the fence since Sean Connery bowed out decades ago. In fact, I have not seen a James Bond movie since “Thunderball” and “You Only Live Twice” that I can honestly say rose to the level of the classic spy movie Ian Fleming perfected. So when I hear a critic emphasizing the opening sequence, pointing out that it explodes, which is what dynamite does, I am encouraged because Ian Fleming’s James Bond featuring Sean Connery gripped its audience from its opening scene until its equally attention-grabbing, closing foray.

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

http://guardianlv.com/2012/10/skyfall-miraculously-resurrects-sean-connerys-audience-gripping-james-bond/ 

Picking The best James Bond: Connery And Craig Rise To The Top

 

Bill Chappell reports on the NPR.org poll on the best actor who portrayed Ian Fleming's iconic secret agent character James Bond.

It's official: Sean Connery IS James Bond, according to NPR readers who weighed the question this week. The final results show that Connery set the gold standard as 007, the spy known for his playfulness, his ruthlessness — and his ability to look good in a suit. Today marks the Bond film franchise's 50th anniversary.

Six actors have played James Bond in the Eon Productions films that began in 1962, when Connery established the role in Dr. No. He went on to star in six of the first seven Bond films. And more than 50 percent of those who voted think that he made the most of his head start.

"Sean Connery," commented reader Pops Parker, is "the clear number one. There is humanity behind the noble facade and the man has an unassuming style."

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

http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2012/10/02/162175114/picking-the-best-bond-connery-and-craig-rise-to-the-top

Lucy Fleming: If I Reveal The James Bond Skyfall Plot I Might Be Shot

Nick Curtis at the British newspaper the Evening Standard interviews Lucy Fleming, the niece of James Bond creator Ian Fleming.

Lucy Fleming hasn’t seen the new James Bond film, Skyfall, which has been shrouded in as much secrecy as a royal wedding dress. But she has read the script. She had to, as Ian Fleming’s niece and one of the controllers of his literary estate. “We look at the things about Bond that might be inaccurate, but the film-makers generally know as much as we do,” says the elegant 65-year-old actress. “If there’s a glaring thing, such as that Bond loves tea, we point it out — Bond hates tea.”

So there’s no tea-drinking in Skyfall, I say? Obviously I’m fishing for details, especially after she tells me the producers wanted to clarify something in Bond’s past. Possibly, we will learn something about Bond’s family. Very probably, Bond will learn something awful about his spymaster, M. Almost certainly, Sam Mendes’s movie, released on the 50th anniversary of the first film, Dr No, will complete the revisionist arc that began with Casino Royale in 2006, taking Bond back to his literary roots, not just as a ruthless assassin but as an emotional man capable of love, loss and feelings of betrayal. Won’t it?

“I think you’re right, but I’d rather not comment. I might be shot,” Fleming says pertly.

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

 

http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/lucy-fleming-if-i-reveal-the-james-bond-skyfall-plot-i-might-be-shot-8195413.html   

Digital Spy: What's Your Favorite James Bond Film

 

The staff of the Digital Spy web site weigh in on their favorite James Bond film and offer an online poll where readers can vote for the best film in the 50-year-long series about Ian Fleming's iconic secret agent character.

James Bond fans have plenty to celebrate in 2012 with the release of a 22-film Blu-ray box set and Daniel Craig returning to the 007 role in Skyfall.

As the suave secret agent celebrates his 50th cinematic anniversary, we here at Digital Spy want to know which Bond movie is your favorite. Do you love the ruthless steak of Sean Connery, or the arched eyebrow of Roger Moore? How about the darker movies led by Timothy Dalton and Daniel Craig?

To help make up your mind, DS staff have had their say on which films are their personal favorites.

You can read the rest of the piece, vote in the online poll and watch a video about the James Bond film series via the below link:

http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/at-the-movies/a405176/whats-your-favorite-james-bond-movie-poll.html

Note: As I noted here before, my favorite James Bond film is From Russia With Love.

The above photo shows Sean Connery (who is far and away the best James Bond) and Pedro Armendariz in From Russia With Love. (You can click on the photo to enlarge). 

LIFE's 50 Years Of James Bond

MI6, the James Bond web site, not the intelligence agency, previewed LIFE's new coffee table book on the 50 years of Ian Fleming's iconic character in cinema.

Fifty years (and five billion dollars in ticket sales) ago, the dashing Scottish actor Sean Connery declared suavely that he was "Bond, James Bond." Thus began a cinematic series unlike any other. In November 2012, Skyfall, the 23rd movie in what is seen as the authorized line of Bond films, will be released, with Daniel Craig (the sixth Bond) again in the lead role. The world will once more stream to the theaters for another dose of Bond. LIFE was on the scene in the swinging '60s when James Bond became a cultural icon (in fact, when LIFE put the gold-painted actress Shirley Eaton on the cover in 1964, they helped him along), and now LIFE tells the whole story in this commemorative book.

 

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

 

http://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/articles/literature_life_50_years_of_james_bond_preview.php3?t=&s=&id=03265

You can also read my piece on the Ian Fleming and James Bond phenomenon via the below link:

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

Film Producer Barbara Broccoli On New James Bond Film and Daniel Craig As Bond

Liz Haggard at the British newspaper the Evening Standard talks to film producer Barbara Broccoli about the new James Bond film Skyfall and her leading man, Daniel Craig, who portrays Ian Fleming's iconic character, Bond, James Bond.

As with The Dark Knight Rises, with its scenes of bloated bankers and a nascent Occupy movement, she believes Skyfall has a lot to say about contemporary evil.

“It’s extraordinary Ian Fleming wrote the books 60 years ago. It feels like we’re in the right groove now for what he had to say about how real villainy is coming from individuals — not just political states, but individuals who are wielding all sorts of treacherous plans on the earth.”

Of course Broccoli was instrumental in casting Craig in the first place. “One of the things about Daniel is he’s let us into Bond’s inner life, we see and feel him from a much more intimate place. In the books you get a look into his inner conflicts and fears and anxieties, but it’s very hard to put that on the screen without making him look neurotic as a leading man. A lot of the books focus on accidie — this revulsion he had for his profession; it’s not easy killing people. He fell completely in love with Vesper and she betrayed him, so he realises, from that point, he can never be susceptible to a relationship again.”

That loneliness fuels Bond’s hedonism. “He has this voracious appetite for life; he’s going to drink and eat and have sex because he doesn’t know in the next moment if he’s going to be killed. The black humour is his way of dealing with death, he laughs in its face.”

You can read the rest of the piece and watch the film's video trailer via the below link:

http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/barbara-broccoli-i-thought-james-bond-was-a-real-person-until-i-was-seven-8052861.html?origin=internalSearch

New Trailer For Upcoming James Bond Film 'Skyfall'

Cinemaretro.com offers a short piece, a couple of photos and a link to a new trailer for the upcoming James Bond film Skyfall.

You can visit the web site via the below link:

http://www.cinemaretro.com/index.php?/archives/6928-SKYFALL-WATCH-THE-NEW-FULL-LENGTH-TRAILER.html 

James Bond Director Says Henry Cavill Could Be Future 007

 

Digitalspy.com reports that a former James Bond film director claims actor Henry Cavill could be portraying Ian Fleming's iconic fictional secret agent James Bond in the future.

GoldenEye and Casino Royale director Martin Campbell has said that Henry Cavill could potentially play James Bond in the future.

Man of Steel star Cavill auditioned for the 007 role in 2005, eventually losing out to Daniel Craig. Campbell told The Express that Craig had the edge thanks to his turn as a gangster in Layer Cake.

You can read the rest of the piece and view a trailer for the new James Bond film Skyfall via the below link:

http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/news/a392307/james-bond-director-henry-cavill-could-be-a-future-007.html

 

James Bond Film Exhibition Marks 50 Years Shaken, Not Stirred

AFP.com reports on the James Bond film exhibition in London.

Tuxedos, bikinis and vodka martinis are among hundreds of items going on show in London to mark 50 years since James Bond made the jump from Ian Fleming's novels to the silver screen.

More than 400 archive items from the Bond movies are on display from Friday at London's Barbican Centre in "Designing 007: 50 Years Of Bond Style," a celebration of the British spy's evolving style.

From the black dinner jacket worn by Sean Connery in "Dr No" to a crystal-covered dress seen in the forthcoming "Skyfall", the exhibition is a journey through the British spy's glamorous world from 1962 to the present day.

You can read the piece via the below the link:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i-u4dtUEDcnlWO_1jpFh7RGW2h3A?docId=CNG.b918f47fa06e0e3e9fdee19bf4e2ae76.4f1

Below are some photos from the exhibit:

Skyfall: New James Bond Film Offers Teaser

Kimberly Dadds at the British newspaper the Daily Mail offers a piece on the upcoming James Bond film Skyfall's new teaser.

It's one of the most highly anticipated movies of the year.

And with just a week away before filming is finally wrapped up on the new James Bond film Skyfall, have now released the first teaser trailer of the movie.

It conincides with the 50th anniversary of the iconic franchise so producers have ensured excitement reaches fever pitch as Daniel Craig returns to take on the super spy role.

You can read the rest of the story and watch the teaser via the below link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2147500/Skyfall-teaser-trailer-released-Daniel-Craig-returns-James-Bond.html