Not everyone sad to see Winehouse off ‘Solace’
Todd Martens of the LA Times music blog Extended Play says that Amy Winehouse would’ve been the wrong direction for the James Bond franchise which shifted into a new gear with Casino Royale in 2006 starring new Bond Daniel Craig.
“A Winehouse song opening the new Bond film would be a step backward for the new Daniel Craig Bond flicks, a nod to a period when the Bond films where championing [Shirley] Bassey, Louis Armstrong and Carly Simon, among others. Winehouse’s music essentially celebrates playing a game of dress-up, and a case could be made that it easily fits within the constraints of the Bond formula — the formula of the pre-Casino Royale Bond films.”
In other words, Winehouse, particularly on her album Back to Black already has a retro James Bond feel, but the franchise has moved on from that.
I see the point, but I’m not sure I agree. A perfect Bond film for me is new and fresh enough to stand on its own, but not completely divorced from the past that gave the franchise life in the first place. A cool, retro-styled tune could easily be a part of that.
Todd Martens’ choice? Gnarls Barkley. I don’t know about that.
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Martens couldn’t be more wrong. It was going back to the Ian Fleming character that made CASINO ROYALE a hit. It’s like saying the Bond theme doesn’t work.
And Gnarls Barkley is exactly the obvious and silly marketing choice. He might as well have said Timberlake. I’ve always thought the most useless critics to be of the music variety.
Anyway, I’m pissed at Amy.
christian, you’ve always impressed me as a sweet, decent sort. Don’t be mad at Amy.
Don’t you think she has enough problems right now? I doubt that she’d be happy to hear you were upset with her.
Don’t be mean. PLEASE?
Whatever people say about Internet film bloggers, I find a lot of them studious and serious about their interest. Don’t get me started on music critics. It’s so solipsistic.
As I said in the other thread, Radiohead. Particularly since the film is allegedly about Bond’s sense of isolation. Who does isolation better? Plus, they’re the only popular band in the world who might name a song or album A Quantum of Solace under normal circumstances.
I’m intrigued by the Radiohead suggestion, but I still think that an Amy Winehouse retro song would have been, as David Brent would say, “perfick.”
Well, I think that no matter what song is used - I will never be much of a fan of Bond films.
I do prefer the “retro” films though - the last one was okay, but whatever.
Gnarls Barkley? They too have a retro vibe to them as well, I disagree with Martens {I might actually have WANTED to see Quantam of Solace is Winehouse was attached to it in some way or another - now, not so much}.
Nick, I think you came along at a time when Bond simply wasn’t that cool anymore. There was a time in the 60s and 70s when he was huge. I missed the 60s Bond, but loved the 70s version. I grew to appreciate the 60s Bond when I got older and my brain finished forming, but I probably never would’ve bothered if he wasn’t already huge.
I pretty much gave up on the franchise though all through the Brosnan years. Nothing against him, but the movies weren’t that interesting to me. I was going to skip Casino Royale until I saw that first black and white teaser trailer and I was hooked. In retrospect, CR wasn’t perfect, but it was enough to give me hope for the next one.
We’ll see.
…not that you asked to hear all that, but there you go :)
Oh, I’m not mad at Amy, Miranda. Just disappointed.
I need a quantum of solace now.
I was lucky enough to happen across the Bond films jumbled all out of order, so I got to begin with Timothy Dalton. There was a list somewhere in which somebody had ranked them from coolest to campiest, and that was my guide, so I knew to start off with On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and then onward (flashing back) to the classic Connerys.
I never liked Roger Moore — Moonraker is not a lot different from Austin Powers — so I haven’t even seen most of those from that era. Brosnan, meh. Like Craig, by then I’d lost interest. The Daniel Craig reboot is terrific.
No franchise was in more need of a reboot than Bond after Brosnan. I still personally think Casino Royale is too long with unwieldy first and third acts but Daniel Craig made the movie work despite its flaws and I’m genuinely excited about the next Bond film, for the first time in my whole life.
Dalton rules. At the time very few seemed to “get” what he was doing with the character. He made Bond human again, not the caricature he slowly became throughout much of the ’70s and early ’80s with Roger Moore as his avatar.
*So* glad to see the love for Dalton here! He is still my favorite Bond with Sean Connery and Daniel Craig vying for second.
It’s only too bad the two movies Dalton was in were so god-awful. You know you’re in trouble when a villian is played by Wayne Newton and Benecio Del Toro is relegated to a non-speaking, look-menacing role.
But it’s likely the first and last time you will ever see someone pop a wheelie in a Peterbuilt…thank god for small miracles.
Dalton was trying to bring Bond back to his roots. The Broccolis were trying to find a surrogate for Roger Moore. It was bound to fail.
Dalton got trapped in a bad situation just like Lazenby. He was like the rebound Bond after Moore. He got everyone used to there no longer being Roger Moore so that Pierce Brosnan could step in later. Same with Lazenby between Connery and Moore.
Dalton was great, but like Joel said the movies sucked. The series had clearly been running on fumes and just needed a decade off.
Lazenby is underrated. Given a chance I think he could’ve grown into the role. It’s too bad that his film gets overlooked because it’s one of the best. Christian will back me on that one…if he knows what’s good for him.
I was skeptical about Daniel Craig, but he’s good. Connery is my favorite though. Sorry to say I think I’ve grown to like Moore the least of them all.
THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS is in my top Bond pantheon. You can’t imagine what a breath of freshj air it was in 1988 to see somebody playing 007 who actually cared about the character. And the film’s story was fairly straight with no laser-beam-about-to-destroy-the-world.
The stunts are FANTASTIC especially that battle outside the plane. And it’s the last John Barry/Maurice Binder.
Christian, I’ll grant you that Living Daylights has better action sequences and is a better film than License to Ill, but that’s where I’ll have to leave it.
I grew up on Moore, so I didn’t mind him as much as some but he did star in some of the worst of the series and his wink-wink, nudge-nudge Bond (which evolved over time) was tiresome at best by the end of his run.
I gotta back Christian up here. The Living Daylights is very underrated; it goes back to the fairly plausible and romantic/down and gritty, (almost the end of) Cold Warrior Bond yarn of the older era. Even that sequence with the cello case on the snow–I read in a magazine that you could actually do that if you wanted to, and I believe everything I read in magazines, so it’s all good.
And, c’mon, it’s got John Rhys-Davies. Like I say, all good.
Seriously, though. That moment where Bond pops that balloon at the carnival after his colleague has been removed is certainly one of my favorite Bond moments. It’s naked emotion in a series that usually shies away from it.
The fact that it’s the last Barry-Binder is another point in its favor.
Christian. Ah, but I CAN imagine and I feel the same way. At the time I was pretty jazzed by it, but it hasn’t held up well for me, action sequences aside. It just feels tired. It’s still better than all the Brosnan Bonds and all but 2 or 3 of the Moore Bonds.
I think the turning point for me Joel on Moore was when I read all the books around 7th grade and the book character was nothing like the character I’d essentially grown up with.
Some of the humor he brought to the role worked, but there’s a certain point where they became afraid to take it seriously and that’s franchise death if you ask me.
I’ll raise the Moore flag here, primarily based on Golden Gun, Spy Who Loved, and one of my favorites, Live and Let Die. His next three weren’t so good, but I’m over it. The main problem with Moore is that he looks like a congressman, not a dashing secret agent.
I was skeptical as you were with Craig, Craig (get it?), but by the end of it I was all in. I found the stunts in CR, especially the parkour, totally thrilling and better than any of Brosnan’s. Speaking of which, I still love Goldeneye, but that might be more because of the N64 game than the actual movie.
Daylights was pretty solid, but Dalton himself didn’t add too much to it for me.
Connery doesn’t belong in this discussion, but I have to embarrassingly announce that I’ll probably skip Dr. No on the big screen tomorrow night as part of the UA 90th Anniv. series. What am I thinking.
I think with Moore, it’s my age coupled with eventually reading the books like you, Craig. When I was just a tot, I liked him a lot as Bond. Then I grew up a little bit, read the books, and liked him less. Now I actively dislike him in the role. There’s a point where he just turned them into something between camp and spoof, or something.
Maybe I’m just maintaining a mental death grip on For Your Eyes Only, which was the last good Bond Moore starred in (possibly the only one by some estimations), where Bond was more human and less comedic and the plot of the story based more in the real-world, less in comic book territory.
Sadly though, for every For Your Eyes Only (Casino Royale or OK, alright…Living Daylights) there’s three Octopussy’s.
Course part of me still likes Spy Who Loved Me and (god forgive me for publicly admitting this) Moonraker. Both of them have a lot of cheese but they both work for me on that bigger-than-life Bond level that I fell in love with as a kid. I can just barely watch either of these now…but I can still watch them.
All this said, I’ve never read any of the books and only know Bond from the films.
Course, now someone will offer a valid premise for Octopussy being a misunderstood masterpiece…
Oh man, Daniel. Are they showing any of the other Connery Bonds or just Dr. No? You can be forgiven for skipping Dr. No. It’s kind of an acquired taste being sort of a proto-Bond. Having said that, I love it.
I see we’re on pretty much the same Bond page Alexander.
That reminds me. Anyone who is interested in contributing to a Big Bond Blog Blowout who hasn’t already emailed me, should do so. Having your own blog is not required.
I can’t side with you on Moonraker Joel, but I’m the guy who loves You Only Live Twice. Octopussy is among the worst of the series for me.
Spy Who Loved Me was my first “See it in a theater when it’s a new release” Bond so I’ll always love it for that…not to mention Barbara Bach in the incredible shrinking wet dress. In retrospect, Jaws is pretty cheesy, but the Lotus is still pretty cool.
I’m sorry kidz, but passing up DR NO on the big screen — assuming it’s a new print — is just not kosher. For one, it’s Connery at his absolute Bond best. Cool, confident, but still not a superman (check out his reaction after the tarantula). And the scenes between Bond and Dr. No are pretty great. Plus, the opening credits will look fantastic on the big screen.
I’m with Alexander on Dalton popping the balloon after the agent has been killed. It’s raw anger and Dalton does it well in TLD. I think the filmmaking is sloppy in that 70’s/80’s Bond way, but it’s Glen’s best.
I do have a soft spot for MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN (I think Moore is at his wittiest) and OCTOPUSSY (there’s some good action scenes). SPY WHO LOVED etc. is probably the best Moore 007. Remember, Kubrick helped light the submarine hold set.
Big Bond Blog Blowout? Do I have to scour all the other comments to find out what this is?
Octopussy the movie sucks.
Octopussy the Bianca accessory rocks.
Well it is just Dr. No, but I’m not sure of the version. I would assume UA has cleaned it up for this series. I’ve got 24 hours to work it out.
No other love for Live and Let Die? The song isn’t the only good part, you know.
Christian, I think Dr. No will be coming to the Arclight in June as part of the same 90th UA thing that Daniel is taking a bite out of right now. I can’t find definitive info though. The first segment of it is playing at Nuart right now, but Dr. No isn’t included.
The Bond thing came up in a previous Winehouse thread. Daniel mentioned just talking about it all was getting him juiced for some kind of retrospective and I suggested Bond fans join together to review all the movies and write whatever they want Bond related. Inspired directly by the fine work MovieZeal did with the Coens last month.
Anyway, nothing is official yet, but I mention it so a core group of interested people can say so before we sit down and hammer out the details. So far there is but a handful of us.
Do we call ourselves The Fellowship of the Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang? Or maybe On LiC’s Satanic Majesties Secret Service Request with a Rolling Stones-influenced take?
Actually, I hope there are seven of us. 007, anybody?
(The more the merrier, of course. There are at least nine 00’s, and if there’s more we can have Craig bumped up to being M.)
I saw Dr. No at Film Night in the Park in San Anselmo, CA last June. Pretty small screen, but it was a fun outdoor event. The scene where Bond kills the tarantula got a big reaction. And the Bond-Dr. No scenes do indeed still sizzle. And there’s Ursula Andress…
Also, I forgot to mention: N64 Goldeneye: One of the best videogames ever.
Played the crap out of that thing.
Danny, do you have a merry wit that I have not yet been introduced to? Hmmm…
Dorothy, before I did that dissection on the year in film for 2004 on your blog, I didn’t notice that comment you made right before concerning Ms. Blanchett. You know I adore you, but we do split on her. However, we are most definitely on the same page regarding Mr. Dalton. (No surprise, as we’re both red blooded girls.)
Mr. Dalton was my favourite Bond (BY FAR) until Mr. Craig came along. Mr. Dalton was drop dead GORGEOUS. That accent and those cool green eyes… Enormously sexy. You knew that under all that refined elegance he could kill you just as soon as look at you, if you were a villain or you got in his way.
Mr. Craig is equally hot but those gentleman are both excellent accomplished actors. They likely bring far more to the table than they need to in terms of talent and charisma. But they both work exceedingly well as Bond. My favourite scene in CR was when he put on the tuxedo in the bathroom. The very first time I saw it, any slight doubts that I had in my mind were totally erased. Every time I viewed it subsequent to that (and I freely admit I got a little obsessed), I went, “WOW,” right in the middle of the theatre. It drove my ex crazy. So he stopped coming with me…
Roger Moore comes off as rather campy, it’s true. But I don’t mind him. It just the tone that he usually goes for. Likely it’s the one he feels most comfortable with. (Did anyone ever see the TV series The Saint that he was on WAY BACK WHEN? ) It doesn’t always serve him well as an actor, however.
I thought Pierce was very good. Mr. Connery NEVER turned my crank in any way, shape or form. JUST DIDN’T DO IT FOR ME. I’ve never seen OHMSS all the way through so I can’t comment on Mr. Lazenby.
christian, I KNEW you would love The Living Daylights. TLD, Moonraker, CR and the 60’s Woody Allen/Peter Sellers/David Niven spoof (shoot me now…) are the only Bonds I currently own. I may add more in the future. Who knows?
But I adore a lot of these films. They are what they are…and that’s all they have to be. But now that Mr. Craig is on board, I think there may very well be a new high in terms of quality. CR is my all time favourite Bond.
By a long shot…
Looking forward to a female perspective on the whole Bond thing Miranda. I hope others will be encouraged to follow your lead.
Craig, as long as no one strenuously objects, I would certainly like to help out.
It’s funny. I’ve had some female friends over the years that were much less committed to feminist principles than I was - and yet they found the Bond movies sexist as hell. I mean, they were genuinely offended.
For the record, I have NEVER felt that way. The Bond flicks are harmless fun and they all have a very cool glamour to them. I dig them endlessly.
PLUS if you’ve seen Casino Royale and heard Vesper Lynn’s crack about JB’s “perfectly formed ass” and then witnessed Mr. Craig (with his SPECTACULAR body) rising out of the ocean in similar fashion to Ursula Andress in Dr. No, then you can’t help but realize how times have changed.
Let me know how things develop and when you’re ready to get started, Craig.
I’ll be there with bells on…
Mmm. I did relish that gratuitous coming up from the water shot, Miranda. I’m a big fan of Daniel Craig as Bond EXCEPT for that thing he does with his lips. He purses them together in this exaggerated, silly way that nobody seems to notice. It’s like he’s impersonating Zoolander. Anyway, other than that, he’s all gold for me.
I’ve always had a soft spot for the Bond movies. Yeah, they’re sexist. But so’s life. It’s kind of like how outraged so many women get about porn. You can condemn pornography all you want, but it’s not going away. As long as there are beautiful bodies and horny people, there’s going to be porn. Bond, too, celebrates all those things most of us never encounter in our own lives–ultra violence and reckless driving of luxury vehicles with little regard for innocent bystanders, glamourous, evil people swimming in wealth and privilege, gorgeous women with naughty names doing naughty things, whiz-bang gizmos. It’s all so over-the-top, it’s like a release for all the rest of us who have no connection to any of those things in our daily drones. It provides fantasy and entertainment without judgment or moralizing, and for that reason (besides being a cash cow) I don’t think the franchise, much like Bond, will ever really die.
Moore was the first Bond I ever saw, then Connery and gradually the others. Because, growing up, most of them I saw only in fragments as my dad flipped channels to and from various Bond marathons, I don’t have very distinct impressions of the films like the rest of you do. They all run together like when AMC does The Godfather Epic as one giant film. One Bond, many faces. Kinda like I’m Not There, I suppose. Though that may be the first time Bond and I’m Not There have ever been linked.
jennybee, as I’ve told you before, you have quite the sparkling wit.
How your husband can object to your leaving your shoes all over the floor when he’s living with such a deeply reflective, sharply intelligent, thoroughly lovely human being as yourself is beyond me. For the record, I’m extremely clean but I do have a tendency to leave things around the house myself. As long as no one falls and breaks their neck, no big deal.
But I digress…
Yeah, I know that women can get outraged about porn. But they should be aware that plenty of other women enjoy looking at it too.
You’re right. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen any kind of a juxtaposition between I’m Not There and the Bond flicks. I don’t expect that it will ever happen again in my lifetime…
“It’s all so over-the-top, it’s like a release for all the rest of us who have no connection to any of those things in our daily drones.” Exactly. It’s not reality people. If it was, we wouldn’t find it so interesting.
I’ll take this opportunity to mention, for the ladies, that Jean Dujardin cuts a striking figure in OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies. The dashing charm of Bond with the crass ego of Austin Powers. And for the gents, his costar Bérénice Bejo is unbelievably gorgeous as well.
OSS 117 opens this Friday at the Nuart for all you citizens of greater (and lesser) Los Angeles.
The only reason Bond is a sexist is because a chick broke his heart. But the bitch is dead.
I wish Casino Royale had been more like the novel in that Fleming’s Bond was originally actually quite repulsed by killing.
And that is exactly what Dalton brought to the role, especially in the assassination opening scene of TLD which is about as close as you can get to a literal adaptation of a Fleming story.
And if you haven’t read any Fleming Bond, summer is the perfect time to crack open the first (and best) Bond novel CASINO ROYALE and start reading in order. They’re wonderfully written.
Exactly, Christian. That’s one of the reasons why The Living Daylights works so thoroughly for me. It’s really Fleming’s Bond on the screen. He’s not a robotic killing machine.
Living Daylights hits that hard with the opening assassination scene, and then again later with John Rhys-Davies in the hotel room, which compliments the earlier scene by showing that Bond can be threateningly brutal when pushed.
And I agree–for the novels you’ve got to begin with Casino Royale, and go from there.
“The only reason Bond is a sexist is because a chick broke his heart. But the bitch is dead.”
That’s right, christian. This is what I tell all my guy friends. Women are the devil.
You guys don’t stand a chance in hell.
*laughs hysterically*
As if I don’t know…or in the immortal words of ABC, “Smashing my Hell with the Heaven she brings.”