7/22/2015 2:37:31 PM

Bond 24: Daddy Issues

7/23/2015 7:44:27 AM

So I bought Heineken the other day for the first time since Skyfall came out. If you go to Heineken.com/bond and scan the Bond logo on the bottle, and enter your email you have a 1/7 chance to get 2 free tickets via Fandango.

I guess what I'm saying is that including the opening night ticket I bought a month ago I now have 7 tickets.

10/19/2015 11:33:51 PM

Thank you for sharing.

10/20/2015 9:23:07 AM

Anything for you shoot.

10/20/2015 8:28:05 PM

While everyone was busy the other day pre-ordering Star Wars Tickets, I was buying 5 tickets for SPECTRE for opening night at the Raleigh Grande.

Assigned seating FTW!

10/21/2015 8:40:30 AM

Spectre implies the communist party?

[Edited on October 21, 2015 at 9:32 AM. Reason : ^^ My pleasure]

10/21/2015 9:30:12 AM

I'll bet he gets captured in this one.

10/21/2015 6:50:04 PM

looks like it might borrow a bit from on his majesty's secret service

[Edited on October 21, 2015 at 11:21 PM. Reason : ^^^ haha i did the same]

10/21/2015 11:20:33 PM

Currently sitting at 84% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The consensus seems to be is that it's more of a typical Bond film than Skyfall is (although I honestly think that's a good thing). I liked Skyfall a lot, but never really understood the overwhelming praise it got from critics, I thought Casino Royale was a much, much better film. The opening night IMAX poster looks pretty great too.

10/24/2015 9:56:22 AM

That image is back to the 70s' Bond film Live and Let Die

Casino Royal and Skyfall are ranked as top 5 Bond films of all time.

10/24/2015 8:12:25 PM

Am I the only one that didn't like Skyfall? The first half was great. I absolutely hated everything after Bond getting captured by Bardem's crew. I only sAw it once but maybe I need to see it again.

[Edited on October 24, 2015 at 9:09 PM. Reason : X]

10/24/2015 9:08:05 PM

That's because the 2nd half is the 007 version of The Dark Knight. But I may watch it again soon.
The best part is the Asia adventure imo

10/24/2015 10:32:38 PM

[Edited on October 27, 2015 at 11:08 AM. Reason : ;]

10/27/2015 11:07:04 AM

https://new.spectator.co.uk/2015/10/i-wept-only-with-frustration-spectre-reviewed/

10/29/2015 11:25:32 AM

Even though it's not getting stellar reviews, its still Bond. Got my tickets for Friday in IMAX.

11/2/2015 11:26:20 AM

Quote :

"That's because the 2nd half is the 007 version of The Dark Knight. But I may watch it again soon."

The 3rd act is Home Alone.

11/2/2015 1:50:21 PM

And No country for old men

11/2/2015 2:12:37 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCC0wG5eibI

Spectre Ultimate trailer

11/2/2015 3:33:08 PM

just got back from Mexico City so I am psyched to go watch this! Hype was real there for sure.

11/4/2015 9:51:52 AM

Got my seats reserved for the Friday night showing at Raleigh Grande, woohoo!

[Edited on November 4, 2015 at 4:23 PM. Reason : k]

11/4/2015 4:23:07 PM

I got to see an early showing at North Hills tonight.

I liked it fine, but it wasn't what I was hoping for after a 3 year wait. People have made a big deal about more humor being added in compared to the other Craig films, but I didn't notice a huge leap in that regard other than just a couple scenes.

My biggest issue was that the plot felt overly contrived and too many characters felt pretty thin. I was really hoping he'd go in to M's office, get a mission and then that would be it. Instead they tried way too hard to tie all Craig's films together and it felt really forced.

The 1st half is really fun though, 2nd half definitely is weaker. The ending kind of backed them into a corner with what they'll do next though. I'd go Casino Royale 9/10, QoS 6/10, Skyfall 8/10, Spectre 7/10.

11/4/2015 10:39:09 PM

Quote :

"People have made a big deal about more humor being added in compared to the other Craig films,"

Then it's Jacky Chan's movie.

11/4/2015 11:34:12 PM

^ Exactly. Bond should never be about humor, sure some is fine if it is natural. I think Casino Royale worked because it was what a Bond movie should be. Dark, good plot, classy but yet gritty. You could sense Bond's ego in Casino Royale. Casino Royale may be my favorite Bond movie but it is also a great stand-alone action movie.

Skyfall was great as well but I liked CR a lot more. If Spectre is in between those two I will be happy. Any sense that this is the last Craig Bond film? I would love to see Idris Elba play Bond next. Elba just adds so much more to any character he plays.

11/5/2015 10:43:17 AM

Skyfall was doing the whole Bond anniversary thing. Really really had to many call backs to older bond films. And M's death was a let down. And the motivation to kill M seemed odd given the scope of the organization.

Hope this movie stays true to itself and the tie ins to all the other movies make sense.

11/5/2015 11:21:58 AM

CR is the all-time best I guess. At least top 3

11/5/2015 11:31:15 AM

I just think they tried to do too much to tie in the previous 3 films and write in how SPECTRE fits into it all as well. As a normal movie fan I think I still would've been slightly disappointed, but as a huge fan of the Bond films I was really disappointed with how lackluster SPECTRE's re-introduction was to the series. And in regards to the added humor - I thought Casino Royale had more than enough humor for a Bond film. It wasn't in your face, slap stick type stuff, but it was more in line with what you'd seen in the first 4 Connery films. SPECTRE adds in more humor, but that isn't what's wrong with the film.


*****spoilers*****

They basically had 2 years to work on the plot and it felt absurdly thin. Blofeld's whole ambition centered around his Dad liking Bond more as a kid when they were younger. It's literally what Goldmember used as the plot in 2002.

And even that whole bit was only mentioned in the last 30 minutes of the film. If I hadn't been someone who'd kept up with the film's development then I would've been totally lost as to why anyone in the film was doing what they were doing. Even then I wasn't quite sure why Bond cared so much about trying to find Blofeld, why anyone thought that the Bond/Blofeld connected backstory was ever a good idea, or why Swann existed in the movie at all.

Bautista's character Hinx gets no scenes with his supposed boss in Blofeld, Swann is made out to be a big love interest for Bond, but they have virtually no relationship shown, and the film seems to try and put the whole Bond/Blofeld relationship at the center of it yet devotes no time to it. And with the way they ended it I feel like they're setting up an angle in Bond 25 where Blofeld escapes, kills Swann, and then we see a OHMSS/YOLT situation from the novels play out. It just felt super, super weak to bring SPECTRE back for this. I was really excited to see Blofeld & SPECTRE back, but in retrospect I really would've preferred a Bond 24 where they didn't try to ret-con SPECTRE into the Craig movies.

********

11/5/2015 5:13:55 PM

I think one of the main factors determining if a Bond film is successful or not is the Bond Girls.

This episode, there are four stunning beauties. So it's already a success.

11/6/2015 12:01:56 PM

Where did I get it in my head that Daniel Craig was retiring from the Bond series?

Bond vs. Papa Emeritus II. Should be awesome.

11/6/2015 12:48:46 PM

Not in the near future. Bond 25 is already planning according to IMDB.

Although the rumor is Huge Jackson SERIOUSLY considers playing the next Bond.

11/6/2015 1:17:46 PM

I don't like Hugh Jackman as bond. No problem with him being Australian, but he seems too big/muscular. Bond obviously gets into plenty of physical altercations but that isn't his main strength. And yeah he may be eye candy for the ladies but he just doesn't seem to have the right amount of suave. Still think it should be Idris Elba.

11/6/2015 2:56:37 PM

He fits better for wolf.

11/6/2015 3:10:09 PM

Saw it tonight and came away really disappointed. No depth at all to the plot. Kind of just felt like mindless action movie with mediocre action.

11/6/2015 10:23:55 PM

SPOILERS!


Agree with you almost 100%, fenway. I find it absolutely ridiculous that Blofeld's entire motivation for the first three Daniel Craig films was because his dad liked Bond more than him. I get that the guy is a psychopath but I'd think he'd just kill Bond when he was a little boy and move on with his life. I mean he seriously founded this multi-billion dollar criminal organization with super high ranking members all over the world for the SOLE purpose of messing with Bond?

Also not too pleased with the henchman. Was really hoping to see more from him. It just made him out to be a giant oaf -- essentially Jaws but without the metal teeth and not as novel. After he killed that guy at the Spectre meeting I was thinking he'd have more character development. I get that they were making a reference to the train fight scene from From Russia, With Love, but still. Meh henchman. I too felt like they were going to set up an OHMSS situation (with Swann dying in the building explosion), but it looks like that will be the next one.



Okay so anyway, I still did like the movie. Action scenes were fun, pleased to see M get more of a role than just an old guy in a leather chair, cool to see Q in the field, and lots of classic Bond stunts. I'd personally rate it about the same level as Skyfall myself (I may get hate from that statement), but nowhere near as good as Casino Royale.

[Edited on November 6, 2015 at 11:13 PM. Reason : From Russia, With Love]

11/6/2015 11:12:33 PM

I was never a huge fan of Skyfall. I liked it fine, but critics in the reviews for SPECTRE are still raving about how it's one of the series' all time best. If I were to rank it with the other 23 movies I'd put it around 10.

With SPECTRE though, the whole shared Bond/Blofeld back story thing was so ridiculously stupid on it's own, but then they doubled down on that when they tried to rewrite the events of the first 3 films to tie them all together. They gave virtually no explanation for how Quantum tied into SPECTRE, no reason why SPECTRE would ever want Swann dead, etc. Then there was the stuff like where in one scene Swann is telling Bond that she loves him, 5 minutes later she's leaving him, and then 10 minutes after that they're leaving the bridge in London together. And then on top of it all Bond quits MI6 for the 3rd time in 4 movies.

The first half of the film was fine - not great, but fine. The second half (especially the stuff in London) I really didn't like at all. Up until the last 5 minutes of that film I would've said it was Craig's last film with the way they tried to bring it all full circle. But now Blofeld's been introduced, and Bond has quit MI6 to go be with Swann. I've always wanted to see the You Only Live Twice novel actually be made into a film, and I feel like that's where they're heading with this, but after seeing SPECTRE I really just hope they start fresh with Bond 25 whether that means with or without Craig.

11/6/2015 11:28:45 PM

Saw it last night, thought it was garbage, I'm glad everyone else agrees. I'm not super big on the Bond fiction so I wasn't sure if I was missing some connection between the movies, but it felt pretty loosely tied together. A lot of scenes felt pretty lazy/heavy handed and I thought the relationship with Swann made no sense.

And for the record - why does Casino Royale get so much praise? I watched it yesterday and thought it was awful as well. Maybe its just because I play a ton of poker but any of the poker scenes just immediately ruined the movie for me, they were almost worse then Rounders poker scenes. I definitely would rank Skyfall as my favorite of the Craig movies.

[Edited on November 8, 2015 at 9:18 AM. Reason : a]

11/8/2015 9:17:33 AM

Quote :

"And for the record - why does Casino Royale get so much praise? "

Reasons why CR gets a lot of praise (just off of the top of my head, I'll list seven for 007):

1. It humanized Bond to make him out to be an assassin on the job as opposed to a lady killer relying on totally unrealistic gadgets and a plethora of quips to get the girls wet. There is the one classic scene where he is mending his wounds and stares alone at himself in the mirror with a hint of disgust, almost as if he is sickened by the dark and evil person that he is becoming.

2. The hero was constantly in peril. Previous Bonds appeared to be unrealistically in control, whereas this bond was hammered on and bested by the villain in every act.

3. The main villain is one of the best in Bond cinema history, as he is a humanized version of a person that is running out of options for his own survival, and absolutely requires the money that he owes to avoid his imminent murder. He is not some evil guy that wants to destroy the earth for reasons. That makes it easier for the audience to connect with the story, and to understand why the villain has to carry out his plan.

4. Along a similar theme as #3, the bond girl is as equally cunning and smart as bond himself, and challenges him in every way with her intellect, her authority over him, and in the end with her cunning deception.

5. If every Bond film has to have a love story, this one actually made complete sense. Bond doesn't just run into a hot chick that he wants to have sex with, they both end up falling in love after experiencing a world of violence and betrayal together, and decide to leave it behind together.

6. What casual film goers may not pick up on is that the CR was filmed magnificently featuring wide angle shots with long cuts and amazing stunt work. There was no hyper editing and shaky cam that often make it difficult to see the action for what it actually is.

7. Chris Cornell performs the tone-setting opening theme song that actually ties directly into the eventual ending of the movie. What more could you ask for? How many times are bond theme songs just thrown in for no reason other than to have a main theme song?



[Edited on November 8, 2015 at 9:53 AM. Reason : h]

11/8/2015 9:50:36 AM

I guess that is true, it does have a lot of great elements and certainly was one of the best looking Bond movies. I just thought the whole plot of poker being so central was so poorly handled.

11/8/2015 9:59:27 AM

^^ Agree.
I still remember the night I watched CR in the poor college cinema at Clemson. The cinema is gone already.

11/8/2015 10:29:04 AM

I've never even played poker, so that might be why I'm willing to overlook how unrealistic those scenes were. But CR is my personal favorite Bond film. It took the character seriously and took modernized Fleming's first novel.

I loved the poker scenes because it allowed the story to build between Bond & Le Chiffre without having to throw in a random backstory like Spectre did. Bond was assigned to a mission and then throughout him carrying out that mission, the relationship was built between him and the Bond girl and between him and the villain. Nothing felt forced story-wise.

I like QoS fine, and normally place SF around 10 or 12 in my rankings of all the Bond films, but they've made a ton of missteps since CR was released with Craig's whole era. Better than Brosnan's - which went way off track half way through Tomorrow Never Dies - but them trying to make elements of Craig's films so personal and emotional has been way over done in the last 3 films.

11/8/2015 5:04:33 PM

I watched it near Christmas eve, 2006. After that, I started preparing qualifier.

11/8/2015 7:38:06 PM

Also, sidenote: Bond destroyed the ENTIRE Spectre facility with one well placed bullet. Seriously, all those guards are walking around with guns and stuff. They know that any outsiders that are being brought to this facility are probably gonna be enemies and potential shootouts could occur, but they still have a single point failure where a single bullet can cause that much damage? Spectre really needs a safety guy.


Also, Bond shot down a helicopter with a handgun from like 300 feet away.

11/9/2015 10:38:12 AM

He is Rambo!

11/9/2015 10:56:19 AM

I just felt pretty 'Meh' about the whole movie. Granted, I've never been the biggest Bond guy in the world, but it just felt like they were going through all the motions of a Bond movie. There wasn't anything particularly BAD about it...but there wasn't anything particularly GOOD about it either.

Christopher Waltz seemed way under-utilized, and personally I would've liked to see more Monica Bellucci (double entendre implied).

11/9/2015 11:14:41 AM

CR is almost perfect in EVERY aspect: theme song, Bond girl, action scene, plot, etc

http://www.popoptiq.com/casino-royale-a-thrilling-bond-movie-that-tries-hard-not-to-be-a-bond-movie/

[Edited on November 9, 2015 at 1:22 PM. Reason : ;]

11/9/2015 1:15:47 PM

I liked Casino Royale at the time but it does look better in hindsight. Vesper Lynd is arguably one of the best Bond girls of all-time, not in the sense of beauty but in the sense of challenging Bond/rising to be his equal in the story.

I also liked Quantum of Solace which is a less popular opinion. I absolutely love the opera scene in it. Spectre tried to recreate that a bit with Bond observing the shadow meeting in Rome.

Skyfall was just not my cup of tea.

As far as Spectre, if it wasn't due to I know they spent a ton of money on this film and therefore that meant it was intentional, the Mexico City chase with shaky camera was incredibly blurry and in a lesser film would be called poor filmmaking. The family politics confused the hell out of me. I just don't think Blofeld should have any past relationship with Bond. That's too Star Wars to be honest. Blofeld should be an evil villain hellbent on world domination by some means, and Bond is the man to stop him. If not Bond, it could be any other secret agent: 004, 008, Felix Leiter, the Russians' top agent, etc.

Quote :

"Christopher Waltz seemed way under-utilized."

He'll be in the next movie and will be responsible for Swann's death.

[Edited on November 9, 2015 at 2:53 PM. Reason : /]

11/9/2015 2:47:14 PM

Vesper Lynd has impressive boobs

11/9/2015 3:06:06 PM

Wasn't a big fan of this one. Loved Casino Royale and Skyfall but this was just kinda meh. It had its moments and I love how how Lea Seydoux is but it moved slow, had a confusing plot/motive, and they really didn't use Waltz to his full potential.

11/15/2015 11:59:21 PM

Quote :

"Christopher Waltz seemed way under-utilized, and personally I would've liked to see more Monica Bellucci (double entendre implied)."

Agreed.

Still a great flick that I'll see in the theater again, but it could have been better.

11/16/2015 10:06:16 AM

Her boobs look fake.

11/18/2015 1:34:06 PM