tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32442582011-04-21T22:32:49.827-05:00Usual SuspectRobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04720153601036556044noreply@blogger.comBlogger201100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244258.post-1166541045197174202006-12-19T09:03:00.000-06:002006-12-19T09:10:45.236-06:00Casino Royale (2006) - Insanely Long Preliminary CommentsFour years ago I left the theaters a broken man - filled with self-disgust and loathing. The franchise that I had obsessively loved for nearly my entire life had produced a massive steamer that can be ranked second only to Gigli in the annals of cinematic stench. Should I try to spark my tiny brain into generating the electric impulses Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04720153601036556044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244258.post-871364882003-01-08T17:51:00.000-06:002003-01-25T13:21:31.000-06:00Sorry guys!
I know I have readers out there even though I rarely hear from you. I have taken some time off from the countdown because a computer crash totally wiped out my new review. I just couldn't work up the energy to begin again from scratch typing exactly the same thing over. I will continue counting down to number one, but I just needed some time away before commencing the recovery of Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04720153601036556044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244258.post-864555622002-12-23T18:04:00.000-06:002002-12-26T21:07:49.000-06:00#10 - The World Is Not Enough
Since I've branded The Spy Who Loved Me as being the dead center of the Bond movie bell curve, it necessarily follows that we've now arrived at the films that constitute superior, if not yet classic, Bond fare. It struck me upon glancing at the master list of films that this next burst of reviews are of films that can be considered to be in the nature of not quite Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04720153601036556044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244258.post-859769322002-12-13T22:08:00.000-06:002002-12-26T21:09:03.000-06:00#11 - The Spy Who Loved Me
As we take another step up in the countdown, we come to another film whose financial success was instrumental in ensuring the series continuation. Just as Goldeneye's triumph at the box office rejuvenated the franchise after its financial troubles in the late 80's, The Spy Who Loved Me marked the series return to major profitability after the artistic and financial Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04720153601036556044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244258.post-854043202002-12-02T18:41:00.000-06:002002-12-02T18:46:05.000-06:00Die Another Day - Preliminary Comments
I've been pretty pessimistic about Brosnan's Bond films in general every since the disappointing Goldeneye so I certainly didn't approach his latest opus expecting all that much. On top of that I'm a man that goes through life preternaturally disposed towards pessimism. And while there are certain obvious drawbacks toward such a proclivity, at least I Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04720153601036556044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244258.post-848998752002-11-21T19:54:00.000-06:002002-12-14T08:23:52.000-06:00#12 - Goldeneye
After glancing over the master list of Bond films the other day, it occurred to me that at this point in the countdown we're going to discuss a couple of films that I probably should have more respect for than I do. The current subject of discussion, for instance, was a kind of make or break film for the franchise. Goldeneye was released to theaters after six hard years of Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04720153601036556044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244258.post-846445742002-11-16T21:18:00.000-06:002002-11-21T20:10:36.000-06:00#13 - Never Say Never Again
Ian Fleming actually made several attempts to bring James Bond to the small (TV) and big (movie) screens before the making of Dr. No. In one of these early attempts, Fleming met with movie producer, Kevin McClory, and screenwriter, Jack Whittingham, and sketched out a movie script for what was hoped to be Bond's first screen adventure. When the plans for the pictureRobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04720153601036556044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244258.post-839844772002-11-03T21:07:00.000-06:002002-11-16T21:20:59.000-06:00#14 - Thunderball
Please indulge me for a moment before we get to the matter at hand. With apologies to both Joe Walsh and Tom Jones:
He lives in hotel rooms and tears out the walls,
and he strikes like Thunderball
Or the one that runs through my head each time I hear the theme song:
He has accountants pay for it all,
and he strikes like Thunderball.
To return to more serious matters, Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04720153601036556044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244258.post-830194352002-10-15T11:19:00.000-05:002002-11-03T21:10:53.000-06:00#15 - A View To A Kill
After Roger Moore's very disappointing initial outings in the role of James Bond, the producers of the films resorted to sheer over-the-top spectacle to sell their product. It is a measure of their commitment to high-quality stunt work that Moore's extremely silly final film is nevertheless something of a guilty pleasure. Please don't misinterpret my remarks as implying Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04720153601036556044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244258.post-830193942002-10-15T11:18:00.000-05:002002-10-27T11:21:21.000-06:00#16 - Diamonds Are Forever
What is possible to write about Sean Connery's amazingly successful run as James Bond that hasn't already been written? How can the Bond fanatic refrain from heaping even more laurels on his big, fat head? Would James Bond even be appearing in films today if someone else had starred in Dr. No? It's easy to make the case that without Connery, the franchise may never Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04720153601036556044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244258.post-829034102002-10-12T20:32:00.000-05:002002-10-20T19:53:06.000-05:00#17 - Tomorrow Never Dies
The Bond franchise came close to being a thing of history in the late '80's. While quite anemic box office receipts from Licence To Kill had quite a bit to do with the disappearance of Bond from theaters in the early 90's, it's also true that the franchise was tied up in quite a few complicated legal battles during this time. When, after a six-year hiatus, plans for aRobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04720153601036556044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244258.post-825443922002-10-04T22:34:00.000-05:002007-06-23T15:58:51.961-05:00#18 - Live And Let DieWhen I first sketched out my ranking of Bond movies, I had originally put this one at the very bottom. It was only after watching this back to back with the extremely tedious The Man With The Golden Gun that I had to grudgingly admit that it was somewhat better than I had remembered it to be. Still, saying that Roger Moore's first outing as Bond is less tedious than his Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04720153601036556044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244258.post-825366542002-10-04T18:19:00.001-05:002002-10-25T16:05:35.000-05:00Now that the release of the new Bond film, Die Another Day, is less than two months off, old Bond diehards such as myself can't help but be seized by a combination of optimism and nostalgia. While I have to admit that I am quite pessimistic about the quality of Die Another Day, its up-coming release has tempted me to try to follow through on a long-standing desire of mine. I've always wanted toRobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04720153601036556044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244258.post-825366692002-10-04T18:19:00.000-05:002007-06-23T15:40:15.328-05:00#19 - The Man With The Golden GunAn early turning point in the James Bond movie franchise was reached when Sean Connery issued his most adamant refusal to date concerning his continuation in the role that made him a star. He had given up the role earlier only to be lured back by a big, beefy paycheck. While he returned many years later to plague us in a sub-par independent Bond film, his final Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04720153601036556044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244258.post-97075512002-02-13T22:14:00.000-06:002002-02-15T13:26:35.000-06:00The better half had to spend some time this weekend studying for her actuarial exams, so a combination of fancy footwork and vague promises to help out around the house at some indefinite time in the future allowed me to slip the leash for a couple of hours on Sunday and head out to see Schwartzenegger's latest, Collateral Damage. Unfortunately the heady feeling of freedom quickly dissipated Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04720153601036556044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244258.post-92113262002-01-30T17:27:00.000-06:002002-01-30T17:28:31.000-06:00I'm proud to say that I've always been a voracious reader, but I will freely admit that my choice of reading material may have at times been dubious. When I was a kid in grade school, I'll admit to be an avid reader of books on the paranormal and the shamelessly speculative. I regularly made trips to the library to check out books on U.F.O.'s, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, the search for Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04720153601036556044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244258.post-84064882002-01-04T10:43:00.000-06:002002-01-04T10:43:39.966-06:00I want to get back to political comments, but a recent trip over to the Jabootu chat room has called my attention to commentary on one of filmland's ghastliest apparitions. Ask yourself this question - What is the worst possible idea for a major motion picture? How about a movie about a lovable concentration camp clown who entertains little children on their way to the gas chambers at AuschwitzRobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04720153601036556044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244258.post-83806282002-01-03T13:43:00.000-06:002002-01-03T13:56:02.000-06:00I've been entertaining some visting relatives the past few days and have been only able to manage a couple of hours here and there to work on the template of this blog. After many fits and starts, I've been able to add the links you need over to the left. Since I am new to HTML, I spent quite a bit of time futzing around with the colored blocks and links above before hitting on a much simpler Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04720153601036556044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244258.post-79632002001-12-15T23:39:00.000-06:002001-12-17T12:59:05.000-06:00Anybody with kids probably finds themselves frequently attending amateur theatrical events in the form of band and/or choir concerts and music and/or dance recitals. It is best, in fact it is necessary, to be good-natured about these, although they do have a tendency to turn grueling when the teachers lard the things up with too many numbers. The events are almost invariably net-less performingRobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04720153601036556044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3244258.post-79522962001-12-15T10:50:00.000-06:002001-12-15T11:07:58.000-06:00God bless the movie spoiler guy! Just as his domain name would imply, he is in the business of spoiling movies. Whenever a new movie is released some poor sap presumably spends his or her hard earned money to see it, and they then write up a synopsis of the entire plot, ending and all, to post on the Movie Spoiler's site.
I discovered this site around the time the movie The Others was releasedRobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04720153601036556044noreply@blogger.com