Posted on Saturday, November 10th, 2012 by David Chen
In addition to having one of the most identifiable pieces of movie music ever written, the James Bond series of films is rich with memorable theme songs performed by popular (and frequently talented!) artists. This year, the Bond series celebrates its 50th anniversary with the release of Skyfall (read Angie’s review with Skyfall’s producers here). It also heralds the release of a 2-disc set, Bond…James Bond: 50 Years – 50 Tracks, which features nearly every single Bond theme song ever written, in addition to a bunch of other assorted score tracks from the series. [Notably, Adele's Skyfall theme is not included on this disc, not is any other music from that film included. Too bad, as Thomas Newman's score is certainly kickass.]
I took this opportunity to look back at some of the highs and lows of the franchise, musically speaking. Check out my rundown after the jump.
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The Bond film has become a genre unto it’s own, with specific rules and tropes. These have been imitated and appropriated, but the rules of a Bond film are very clear. Part of what makes Skyfall interesting is the way in which Sam Mendes and his associated creators try to subvert and circumvent the rules, even as EON Productions attempts to ensure that they’re followed to the letter.
If you need a refresher on the rules of Bond, you could watch one or two of the classic films. Or you could watch all of them, in a manner of speaking.
50 Years of James Bond: The Movie is a feature-length super cut that takes a novel approach to collating the evolution of the franchise: it takes five minutes from each film and puts them in consecutive order. So you’ll see (roughly) the first five minutes of Dr. No followed by minutes 6-10 of From Russia With Love, minutes 11-15 of Goldfinger, and so on. It’s a neat way to look at the series, and while there’s no argument that the transitions are precisely seamless, the fact that it does all flow to a good degree makes a good argument for the consistent rules and evolution (or lack thereof) of Bond. Read More »
The twenty-third James Bond film, Skyfall, opens in the UK today, and if early reviews are anything like a barometer of public opinion, it could be the most successful film of the franchise. We know that Daniel Craig will likely make two more Bond films, and EON Productions isn’t wasting any time setting the twenty-fourth film in motion.
The current report is that Skyfall co-writer John Logan is already set to write the next Bond movie. But there’s a change from the way these films have been scripted in recent years, as he’ll work solo at the outset. Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who have worked on Bond films since The World is Not Enough, are moving on. While Logan rewrote their initial draft for Skyfall, now he’s the first guy in line for the follow-up.
Update: Logan will actually write two films; details are added below.
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Posted on Thursday, October 25th, 2012 by Angie Han
With Skyfall not yet in theaters and Daniel Craig signed on for two more films beyond that, it’ll be some time before the world has to get used to a new James Bond. But that’s never stopped fans from speculating about who could take over the coveted mantle next.
In recent days, the question has gained some renewed attention thanks to a comment by Naomie Harris. While doing the press rounds for Skyfall, the actress revealed that her Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom co-star Idris Elba had met with Bond producer Barbara Broccoli at some point about possibly tackling the role. Read more after the jump.
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Posted on Thursday, October 18th, 2012 by Angie Han
Where most movie franchises are lucky to span one decade, the James Bond franchise is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with its 23rd installment, Skyfall. The trick behind its longevity is no secret — since the ’60s, the producers have reinvented the iconic agent several times so that he always feels of the moment.
But through it all, a few key characteristics remain the same. Bond is always first and foremost a martini man, though he may dabble in beer or other cocktails from time to time, and his knack for ladykilling is almost as well regarded as his talent for killing-killing. So which of the six Bonds is the deadliest, booziest, and sexiest of them all? The infographic after the jump has the answer.
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Steven Spielberg‘s Lincoln is fast approaching, which means soon we’ll hear all the obligatory quotes from the man himself about Indiana Jones 5, Robopocalypse, Jurassic Park 4, Tintin 2 and whatever other movies he’s been attached to or talked about over the years. Two movies that likely won’t be mentioned are Ben Affleck’s Argo and Sam Mendes’ Skyfall, both of which be in theaters at the same time. Maybe they should be, though, because each has an interesting, outside connection to the popular filmmaker.
Ben Affleck’s character in Argo, Tony Mendez, recently recounted the entire ordeal dramatized in that film and revealed that one of the scripts his fictional production company received was written by none other than Steven Spielberg. Then, James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli addressed Spielberg’s very vocal desire to direct a James Bond film in a new interview. Read the details about each, and watch an old E.T. audition that’s currently making the rounds, after the jump. Read More »
Posted on Monday, October 8th, 2012 by Angie Han
It’s a given that movie science needs to be taken with a big fat grain of salt, but even by those standards, some films seem to push the limits of implausibility more than others. And I’m not just talking about obvious nonsense like superpower-bestowing radioactive spider bites here.
So some science-minded folks are fighting back, playfully, by investigating and possibly debunking some of the crazier claims made by Hollywood. On NPR, pop culture’s favorite astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson discusses the viability (or lack thereof) of 007′s coolest gadgets, while over on Mythbusters, the hosts cast doubt on James Cameron‘s insistence that Jack had to die at the end of Titanic.
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Today is Bond Day, which is a fancy way of saying this is the 50th anniversary of the release of Dr. No, the first film in the now long-running series. The release of Skyfall, the twenty-third Bond movie (not counting two unofficial releases in Casino Royale v.1 and Never Say Never Again) is just weeks away, and MGM, Sony, and EON Productions are going all-out to make sure we remember that Bond is back.
Yesterday saw the release of the excellent Skyfall theme song by Adele, and now we’ve got a new trailer that features the tune. In addition to that, a new ‘making of’ video blog has been released, along with quite a few little video retrospectives that offer a fond look back at the series. Read More »
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