The Best of BOND; Let's get this over with - Page 176

The location cards were something of MK12's, I don't think it's been confirmed they'll return. I liked them but really would prefer Daniel Klienman to return as his last title sequence was one of the best of the series. Since SKYFALL is not gonna be globe trotting like the last two I dunno if they'll bother with location cards.

With Stuart Baird returning for editing and this being an original story who knows how that'll turn out. Also wondering if Thomas Newman is gonna collaborate with an artist for a title song or perhaps that artist will work independently again.

I thought Arnold was slightly involved in the QoS theme song. You can hear what sounds like a piece of it at the beginning here:

 

Might have been his nod to it, but he had no involvement with the process of the song. Basically the same situation with Sheryl Crow and Madonna, every other score he worked on he didn't get involved with the creative process of the song or the song he originally worked on ("Surrender", "No Good About Goodbye") were never used. His song for DAD was only in its infnacy when he began writing it but soon abandoned it when Madonna worked on her own so no theme was ever made.

I would like to see those location titles return.  I really dug that element in QoS.

I definitely agree on Klienman - Casino Royale's title sequence was marvelous. Up there with the best of Binder's work. Strangely enough, lots of casual fans that I meet seem to really dislike it compared to the typical "writing nude women" approach.

 

MK12's QoS title sequence was fine, but if Klienman has another CR up his sleeve, I'd definitely like to see it.

 

 

 

 

 

Those location cards were my favorite part of Quantum!  I often said that as a dig towards how much I disliked the film, but I really did love them. 

 

Love the opening titles for Casino Royale so much.  The one for Quantum started out nicely, but it felt like it overstayed its welcome as well as it being kind of one-note.

 

Yeah, the Casino Royale opening credits are fantastic.  I love the idea of completely changing up that aesthetic as long as they have some great ideas.  They are on their second "series" of Bond films now and there's no reason why they can't continue to add new and interesting stylistic touches for the franchise to continue.  Radical opening credits and those bitchin' title cards are two that they should definitely make a tradition.

 

Remember, the "classic Bond" elements really didn't fully slide into place until the third film, Goldfinger.  Dr. No didn't have a song and while From Russia With Love did, it was NOT used in the opening credits.  Keep to that "formula".  Shake things up a bit and use Skyfall to set a ballsy standard for the next decade of Bond films to live by.

THREE BLIND MICE!  THREE BLIND MICE!!!

 

Sexy...

 

nude...

 

silhouetted...

 

THREE BLIND MICE.

 

Ok...........................ORIGINAL song. 

I'm glad Dennis Gassner is looking to be the regular production designer for the series. Hopefully with Alexander Witt and Stuart Baird returning they'll stick around for the next couple of entries. I like that SKYFALL is looking to combine the best elements of CASINO ROYALE and QUANTUM OF SOLACE.

I think you're right.  Perhaps we will get this second series' version of Goldfinger after all?

The CASINO ROYALE credit sequence is probably my favorite now, despite its lack of dancing naked chicks-- clever and innovative, it's one of the best I've seen for a movie, period. It's even made me like the Chris Cornell song, which I didn't care at all for when I first saw CR.

 

But I think films overall these days are in a kind of golden age of entertaining titles, combining computer animation technique with a resurgence of the Saul Bass, slick 60s aesthetic. And that's one of the reasons the QOS opening, with its murky visuals, was kind of a let down for me. After CR, I expected better (of course, that goes for the picture as a whole). So I wouldn't welcome the return of MK12 on that score.

 

Nice to see Baird coming back, though. Please let's not see solid 2nd unit work and great, dangerous work by stunt teams get chopped into incomprehensible crap again.

WIlson admitted he wasn't a fan of that style of hyper editing which is likely the reason he brought back the crew from CR to do the action for SF. I didn't hate the bullet speed style QOS went for (in some cases I thought it worked great) but I understand it's not something people look for in Bond.

I didn't necessarily mind the speed of QoS.  It was how thoughtless and monotonous most of the sequences came across that I had issue with.  

I sincerely hope that's not something people look for in Bond, Mr. S. There are plenty of other movies around for that.

 

I know the EON series has a nasty habit of chasing cinematic trends-- but for God's sake, the early Bond pictures invented the modern action movie. It seems to me that the best way for the series to distinguish itself from the rest of the current blockbuster dross is to embrace its roots. Real stuntwork. Practical effects. Shot and cut in a way where we can see it all.

 

That's why CR was such a nice change after DAD and Brosnan's computer-generated-parasailing adventures. If the exact same team who brought us CR were to give us three more pictures like it, I'd have been a happy camper.

 

For the record, I did like the location titles in QOS. So, as with CR's credit sequence, I am not opposed to changing things up a little.

Yeah few times it seems Bond films ever tried being themselves after the Connery era. You could say to an extent the success of Bourne influenced CASINO ROYALE and I agree but only on the notion that it gave the producers enough confidence to make a Bond film that's not brainless and can still grab audiences.

And also inspired them to finally move forward with the "newbie" Bond idea they'd been toying with since the mid-80s.

CR is damned near perfection but I still would have loved for them to have gone all the way and made it a period piece set in the 50's or early 60's.

 

The more I read License Renewed the more I picture this as a "Roger Moore" adventure....it just fits. Sort of how I always see Connery when I read the Fleming books. It's peaked my interest enough to pick up the other 2 they have re-issued.

I'd agree with that, the list is really shockingly small. For Your Eyes Only, The Living Daylights, Casino Royale and OHMSS are the only Bond films in my estimation that settled down and just focused on being Bond movies, for better or worse.

 

I'd also argue in favor of Tomorrow Never Dies on that score, as I think it's easily Pierce Brosnan's most ''traditional" Bond outing for the most part.

 

 

I think TOMORROW NEVER DIES is the only Bond film since A VIEW TO A KILL to run with the traditional Bond formula. Bond in a non-related pre-title sequence, Bond getting a quick briefing by M on who the bad guys are then going after them, ect. Besides that, everything since the Dalton era has really tried shaking things up to a certain degree.

Adele has been named the fans’ favourite choice to record the new James Bond theme tune.

The songstress has come out on top in an online poll to sing the song for Skyfall, the upcoming 23rd instalment of the spy series, by 5,000 readers for entertainment website IGN.com, beating Muse, who came in second and Foo Fighters who came third.

http://www.filmnav.co.uk/2012/03/11/adele-is-favourite-for-james-bond-theme/


Given that Foo Fighters and Adele are both under the Sony label they seem likely to record a Bond tune. Both actually make sense too. Adele would work under the more old school Shirley Bassey type while the Foo Fighters could work because they'd continue the tradition the Craig films have been keeping up with two films having a rock tune as the title song as done by Chris Cornell and Jack White.

Either one would be good. Foo Fighters could be kind of amazing. Although if they are going for a more traditional "Bond" flick she'd be the better choice.

I'm hoping for something a little darker and sexier this time out, Depeche Mode or Muse would be great fits for the kind of sound I'm envisioning.

 

Adele might be ok, I just hope she isn't pushed into a Shirley Bassey-esque, TWINE-style overblown ballad.

   While I like the Foo Fighters a lot, Adele seems like a better fit for a Bond movie. While rock songs have worked before, Live and Let Die and You Know My Name,  I still think Bond theme should be classy and sung by a woman.

 

  No One Does It Better is still my favorite Bond theme.

I've always been a You Only Live Twice by Sinatra fan myself.

 

It is related though.  Isn't Ricky Jay present at the military base at the start of the film, buying shit for Carver?

 

How about Adele backed by the Foo Fighters (no duet though)?  Worked for Goldeneye (Tina Turner on vocals, music by Bono & The Edge).
 

 

Yeah, but he's not the main objective, he just happens to be there. You take him out and it really wouldn't change anything about the pre-title sequence. Contrast that with the other PTS in the Brosnan era where they were usually the catalyst for Bond's assignment. CASINO ROYALE however has a standalone mission for Bond, while everything after that isn't the traditional Bond adventure.

Touche!

  I had a idea like that. Song written by Alice Cooper and sung by Pink. If you've ever heard Cooper's Dirty Diamonds, the music is very Bond theme like. If this did actually happen, the song would song like a pop song with more guitar, which is what Pink does.

Very curious about Thomas Newman's overall score. I wonder if he's going to imitate the "sound" of the past 22 Bond scores or go for something more in his own specific style. I am a huge fan of his score for Road to Perdition.

 

I'd like to see him tackle it the same way the non-regular composers did, playing the Bond theme but with their own unique style. David Arnold was always aping John Barry, never really owning it. So this will be refreshing to hear it from someone else. I don't want Thomas Newman to ape Barry, I wanna see his own spin. The best I could hope for is something along the lines of Eric Serra's score where he really played the theme in a way it was never done before and made it sound fresh.

New look at the SKYFALL Bond Girls!

 

 

So I finished reading the 3rd of the re-released Gardner books "Icebreaker". I'm shitty at writing reviews, so I'll just say it was by far the best of the three with the 2nd one "For Special Services" being the worst. At times he tries too hard to ape Fleming, but other times he really puts his own spin on Bond as a bit of an older agent. Like I said before he's essentially writing Roger Moore's James Bond.

 

Barnes and Noble has two more up for pre-sale, gonna be picking them both up.

 

 

......and the author of the next Bond novel is:

 

 

William Boyd

 

 

While it isn't stated, I'm assuming he'll be following from Jeffrey Deaver's reboot novel, Carte Blanche.  It'd be kind of pointless if it didn't.  The still-untitled book should hit shelves Fall 2013.  If they keep to an every other year schedule from here on out, we should be getting a new literary Bond tale on the off years from the film series.  Movies in the even years and novels in the odd ones.  Sounds wonderful to me!

Nope, it's set in 1969.

Weird.  Are they just going to keep cranking out random novels with no connection to one another?

Well, only the last one had no connection to the others. This, being in 1969, is more along Ian Fleming's original timeline.

 

http://www.thebookbond.com/2012/04/boyd-says-his-new-bond-novel-will-be.html?spref=fb

Touche!

 

I read Carte Blanche recently and WHY DIDN'T ANYONE WARN MEEEE! What a crap novel. Good idea for a villain, but up until literally the last two chapters, there's no tension, no suspence, in fact no real indication that Bond is even on the right track. And the "twist" at the end...what utter bullshit. Oh and this is the Modern, Celibate-to-monagamous Bond who almost never actually kills anyone (likes to wing the baddies he does) even though he makes lots of noises (to other characters and to himself) about what a murdering baddass he is.

 

Sorry, just had to get that off my chest. Kept reading this garbage (heh see what I did there?) but it never turned into a real James Bond novel.
 

 

I would have warned you but I just started reading it myself (I dunno why I've been on a Bond book kick lately). Your dead on, I'm only about half way through and it's getting unbareable. The only semi-interesting part was M recruting Bond and the idea of Q being Indian. And yeah the idea for the villain is good but so far the execution is poor. I'm also getting sick of Bond's reliance on Apps and all the coincidences just to bring in Fleming carachters like Leiter, Goodnight, Tanner, etc..
 

 

No talk about the 50th anniversary of the Bond film series this week?

 

The Castro Theatre scheduled eight titles over the weekend, and I caught the triple feature on Saturday: From Russia With Love, Diamonds Are Forever, and The Spy Who Loved Me. All on 35mm, and all good prints. But man, Diamonds is a tacky-looking film. You can tell they spent money but it's all so flat. SWLM, on the other hand, still owns the big screen. And FRWL is all about those great faces in close-up.

 

Two things I hadn't noticed before about SWLM: After enduring Charles Gray's excessively campy Blofeld(s) in DAF, it was a pleasure to see Curt Jurgens play Stromberg absolutely straight. Also, when Q delivers the Lotus, Anya addresses him as 'Major Boothroyd'-- a clever detail and forgive me if it's been pointed out here before.

I watched TSWLM several weeks back and it was the first I noticed that line by Bach as well.  Though I'll admit I wasn't that keen on Q's backstory and, up until a few years ago, was unware that his real name was even Boothroyd.

In FRWL, Desmond Lewellyn's character is introduced as "Major Boothroyd from Q Branch". Nobody calls him 'Q' until Goldfinger.

Yup. In the first two flicks he's Major Boothroyd (first Peter Burton, then Desmond Llewellyn). In a way the Q we see in Goldfinger is an entirely new character.

 

Lookin' good!

Glad I'm subscribed to that one, the alternative cover is pretty naff.

Sony has just confirmed that Bond 24 will be given a 2014 release date.

http://www.mi6-hq.com/news/index.php?itemid=10144

Back to the every other year strategy then, eh?  That was completely expected.  I just hope they don't wait until early 2013 to start spitballing story ideas for Bond 24.  Get on that shit NOW!  As much as I still enjoy it, we don't need another QoS-esque half-baked entry.

The every other year strategy wasn't the problem for QOS, the issue was Forster not being satisfied with the scripts and of course the writers strike. Purvis and Wade wrote the first one, which Forster rejected (despite being credited, none of their work made it into QOS). Paul Haggis was then brought in and wrote a draft involving the whole angle with Vesper having a child left behind and Bond searching for it. EON was not crazy about that idea so it was back to the drawing board again. With time running out, it was decided to make QOS more of a direct sequel that way Haggis would have an easier time developing the story, but then the writers strike happened and EON ended up with a barebones script, Craig says they had to sometimes work on the dialogue on set.

All of these problems can be avoided if EON works with a director and script writers who are in sync with eachother. That seems to be the case for SKYFALL. Question is, would Mendes be interested in returning? It's all up in the air I suppose cause Mendes seems to have a greater love for Bond than many of the past directors who turned down the chance to make a second consecutive film.

That's a ton of absolutely fascinating information, most of which I was unaware of.  Obviously I will negate this statement if Skyfall doesn't turn out as well as it should, but I'd love for Mendes to hang around for Craig's fourth outing.

 

If not though, look for Craig to push for one of his favored previous directors for the job again.  He pushed for Roger Michel to get the job on Quantum of Solace, but it didn't work out.  He actually managed to get his way on Skyfall.  If Mendes doesn't come back, will he try for Michel again?  Matthew Vaughn seems unlikely at this point, since he's basically turned his run of X-Men films into his own Bondian franchise.  Spielberg and Fincher could both be interesting, but there's almost no way EON would go for either.  The only other notable one I can think of that Craig has worked with is Edward Zwick........which could turn out well if the script is well-written.

 

I think they'll probably push hard for Mendes to return.  He just might do it too.  After all, if he snags two big studio hits in a row, he can write his own ticket for awhile and make any smaller projects he's interested in for a few years.  If he opts out, things could really go in any direction.