Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

Okay, this is another Bond film about which I probably part ways with most James Bond fans, because I absolutely love Diamonds Are Forever, even more than Thunderball.  If it weren’t for Daniel Craig’s movies, this would probably be my all-time favorite James Bond film.  That doesn't mean it's a great film, it just means it's a personal favorite.  This is, by far, the funniest Bond of them all, and I spend the whole movie laughing, in the best way possible.



This film is intrinsically tied up with family memories as well.  It's not just my favorite, but my sister's and my parents love it too.  We watched this one on video an awful lot growing up, mostly because it was so amusing.  It's the only Bond film we quote on a regular basis.  Nearly daily.  And not just a couple lines, but tons of dialogue from it.  It is SOOO quotable.  I can't say that about any other Bond film.  Oh, there's usually a few one-liners from any given film, but the entire movie isn't quotable the way this one is!  "Would you settle for a tulip?"

I particularly admire the extremely effective intro to the problem at hand.  While Bond and M listen to a verbal explanation of how the diamond industry works, we see what’s really going on visually.  Scenes like that just makes me bounce with writerly joy.  It’s such a great way to streamline the story.  We’re also immediately introduced to Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd, this movie’s hilarious henchmen who single-handedly take out half a dozen people and nearly kill Bond three times, while talking in nothing but wisecracks the whole time.  “Heartwarming, Mr. Kidd.”  “A glowing tribute, Mr. Wint.”  They’re here from start to finish, and every time they’re around, I start laughing just anticipating what they’re going to say.  They’re perfectly cast too.  Putter Smith and Brian Glover are like the least likely looking bad guys and that just makes them even funnier.  Okay, maybe not Brian Glover.  He looks kind of creepy.  But Putter Smith just looks like a used car salesman or something.  Together, they're just priceless.



A big part of what I love so much about this movie, and what I find hilarious, is how often Bond pretends to be someone else throughout the film.  He pretends to be Peter Franks, pretends to be an Amsterdamer, complete with accent and lines my family quote all the time:  “I speak English!  Who... is your floor?”  He pretends to be a grieving brother.  He pretends to be Klaus Hergersheimer...  It’s too funny.  Bond rarely puts on an act, particularly not a whole string of them in the same movie.  He usually just goes in and does the job, or when he does impersonate someone, it's usually someone serious, like a businessman.  Except in this movie.  Connery seems to be enjoying his turns in Bond's different disguises way too much, and that enthusiasm is infectious.  I think this is the only Bond movie I start grinning just thinking about it.

Then there’s all the other crazy and awesome characters in this movie.  Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd I already talked about.  But there’s Morton Slumber, and Shady Tree, and Jimmy Dean as Willard Whyte (“Baa-ah-ha-ah?  I don’t have anything in Baa-ah-ha-ah!”  Actually any time he opens his mouth, he’s funny.  “Burt Saxby?  Tell him he’s fired!”)  Bruce Cabot plays Burt Saxby!  Marc Lawrence plays a henchman (“I didn’t know there was a pool down there.”)!  These guys are just so distinctive and so great.




Now, let’s get the things I don’t like out of the way...  Plenty O’Toole.  Bambi and Thumper.  The car chase with the cops (although I do like the way the sheriff approaches the car looking all grim and serious and Bond just reverses the car and peals away.  But the rest of the chase?  I’m really not fond of when cops are portrayed as stupid, and I'm not overly fond of chases that really don't do anything but show off stunts.

But besides those few moments, everything else is just plain, awesome fun.  “I was just out walking my rat, when I seem to have lost my way.”  “Your troubles are all behind you now.”  "Weren't you a blonde when I came in?"  "You just killed James Bond!"  Why yes, the dialogue is one of the biggest selling points of this movie.

Our Bond girl this time out is Tiffany Case.  I used to think I just tolerated Jill St. John as Tiffany Case, but I've come to realize she’s quite perfect in this particular movie and I love her here.  I can't imagine anyone else in the role, and she fits with the general tone of Diamonds Are Forever.  Same with the Las Vegas setting.  Not a place I like, but it fits this movie.  Bond climbing around the outside of the Whyte House makes me cringe.  Not so fond of the heights!



I also quite like Charles Gray as Blofeld.  He also fits in well with this movie.  None of the other Blofeld actors would work here.  Well, Telly Savalas might have worked.  I'm always amused when Blofeld escapes from under the CIA's nose by dressing up as a woman, carrying his cat, and walking right out.  Hee.



Favorite parts:  Bond impersonating Klaus Hergersheimer, and the real guy coming in to the lab after Bond leaves.  Bond nonchalantly stepping on top of the outside elevator to ride it up.  Bond using Blofeld's mini submarine to destroy the place.  The fight in the elevator with Peter Franks.  The "brain trust."  Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd.  Tiffany Case's last dress/robe outfit.  The fact that none of the construction crew notices an unconscious man in the tubing they are laying.  Q cheating at the slot matchines, but only really interested in seeing how well his gadget works.  Bond bored stiff while listening to M read off info about the diamonds in the case. Bond pretending to make out with a non-existent partner.



Music:  Great, particularly love the “driving into Las Vegas” theme.
Theme song:  Fabulous
Credit sequence:  Cool... has a cat with a diamond necklace!
Bond girl:  Really like her
Bad guys:  Like Blofeld, and the henchmen are spectacularly funny
Felix:  I like this Felix.
Overall personal rating:  5 out of 5 stars

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

So, where You Only Live Twice let me down since the last time I saw it, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service has gone the other direction.  I remember when I was young, we sort of scoffed at it.  Maybe now we’re just used to Bond being played by many different actors.  Anyway around, George Lazenby’s only outing as Bond is a quite enjoyable film, and I think he does a fine job in the role.  What I like in a Bond, he provides.  He’s got the right arrogance, the right confidence, the right physicality.  Is he Sean Connery?  Of course not, but he’s a credible Bond, aided by a solid script, with solid direction, possibly the best John Barry music of the entire series, fabulous scenery, and some of the best action sequences in all of Bond.



And so, yeah, I really like this one nowadays.  I love the Bond/M/Moneypenny dynamic that just gets stronger with each film, regardless of the actor playing Bond.  I can’t say enough for Bernard Lee’s work as M.  He’s the only character who isn’t intimidated or outwardly impressed by Bond.  He is the only one who can take Bond down a peg with a mere look, and yet backs him implicitly when anyone but himself questions Bond.  And in this movie, there’s the great sequence where Bond angrily dictates his resignation memo to Moneypenny, only to have her quietly change it to a leave of absence request before she passes it to M.  Great scene.  Throw in Q, and those four have just about the best “office” relationship ever.  And I love that Bond actually has an office in this film.  With a desk and files and everything.

As opposed to the You Only Live Twice rather sedate Blofeld, Telly Savalas’s version is quite amazing.  This is not a villain who sits back and pets his cat and lets others do his dirty work.  This guy is right in the thick of things!  I mean, when Bond escapes from Piz Gloria?  Sure, he sends his men after him, but that isn’t enough for him.  He jumps on his own skis and pursues – at night, over dangerous terrain with precipices, etc.  He sets off avalanches, he tries to escape Bond at the end in a bobsled!  This is one seriously active Blofeld, and it quite fun.  This is a return to Largo’s style of bad guy, and I love it.  His obsession with his name/title, and his plans with his hypnotized/programmed girls are a bit daft, but I suspect he probably could have pulled it off.



I also really like Draco, Tracy’s father played by Gabriele Ferzetti, who Bond turns to for manpower and tactical support when he can’t get the same officially from M.

And then there’s Tracy, played by Diana Rigg.  She’s beautiful, a bit troubled, strong-willed, and more than holds her own in a fight with one of Blofeld’s bad guys in the end fight.  She really is a good match for Bond.  She’s got the right vulnerability to make him feel needed, but she’s independent enough to stand by him as a partner.  They save each other’s lives in this movie more than once.  I love the scene where she skates up to him, and the camera pans upwards.  Of course, if Bond finds the perfect mate, he’s not going to be allowed to keep her, and I admit I can get teary at the end when Blofeld takes his revenge.  I love Lazenby’s reaction to Tracy's death, and how he sells it.  It works for me.  Add on Louis Armstrong's end title song, "We Have All the Time in the World," and it's a very sad ending.



Favorite parts:  Bond’s angry, violent reaction to British agent Campbell’s death.  That’s the human side of Bond I just love seeing, and that moment is my favorite part of the whole movie.  Of course, I’m also extremely fond of Campbell, (even if Campbell is too impatient and brings his demise upon himself), so Bond’s reaction is my reaction.




Other favorite parts: Cable car!  Bobsled chase!  Amazing ski chases!  The “Escape from Piz Gloria” cue, my favorite John Barry Bond action cue of them all, out of a whole series of great Bond scores.  Bond in a kilt.  The wedding at the end and Tracy’s lovely dress.  Moneypenny’s tears at the wedding, and Bond throwing her his hat.  Draco making up stories on the radio to cover their helicopter approach to Piz Gloria.  The gorgeous mountain scenery.  “This never happened to the other fella.”



Music:  Awesome
Theme song:  Love it – instrumental and works great
Credit sequence:  okay
Bond girl:  I love Tracy, and I also love that I always start out not particularly liking her, and she wins me over every time.
Bad guys:  I always have a bit of a hard time remembering he’s Blofeld and not Telly Savalas.  But he makes up for it for by jumping into things.
Overall personal rating:  4 out of 5 stars

You Only Live Twice (1967)

Oh dear.  I used to love this movie growing up.  I used to think it was one of my favorites.  Boy, does it not hold up!  I couldn’t believe how cheesy this one was.  Not that there aren’t quite a few things I still love about it, but overall?  This is the first Bond that feels quite dated.  All the space stuff just looks... well, not good.  I’m usually quite okay with outdated and cheesy special effects.  I tend to think of the intent, not how it was actually filmed.  But this time... I couldn’t escape the bad space effects.  Or the fact that when Blofeld’s base blows up it somehow causes the volcano that housed it to erupt.  Spare me.



Besides that, I found I have a lot of issues with this one, the primary issue being the lack of a good bad guy.  Oh, I love Blofeld in general, but he doesn’t do anything in this movie.  He sits around, he gives orders, he escapes...  There’s just no meat there.  Too bad because I’m quite fond of Donald Pleasance, but the script does him no favors.  And the rest of the bad guys are either anonymous assassins, or Osato, who is so not threatening and isn’t funny, either.  And none of them can get the job done.  Helga is a Fiona wannabe who lacks Fiona’s cold efficiency.  I personally wouldn’t trust Helga to get anything done.  Blofeld seems to think the same thing, as he sends her to her death in a pool full of piranha.  This film’s plot runs a bit amuck with a series of chases that don’t really do anything to advance the plot.  They're there more as cool, look-what-we-can-do moments, rather than doing anything to move the plot forward.  The plot about stealing American and Russian manned spacecrafts to start a war between them doesn't particularly grab me.



Things I do like.  Tanaka and Aki.  I love both characters immensely.  I love Tanaka’s private train, the ninja training camp, how they deal with cars full of bad guys chasing the good guys, etc.  I love the Japanese setting in general. 





 And I love the gigantic volcano crater set.  Holy smoke that set is huge.  And very cool.  In the beginning, when Blofeld’s spaceship captures the first space capsule, bad effects or not, it has always freaked me out how the astronaut floating around outside dies when his air hose is cut.  Gads.



Favorite parts:  Bond running along the roof by the docks, fighting off bad guys, while the camera pulls way back to circle and show the whole scene.  That’s one of my favorite moments out of all of the James Bond movies put together.  Little Nellie.  Bond getting dumped down the floor slide by Aki.  The pre-credits scene where Bond is “killed.”  A submarine!



Music:  great
Theme song:  one of my favorites
Credit sequence:  okay.  I had forgotten about the hot lava/volcano background.  Kind of cool.
Bond girl:  I adore Aki.  Her death really hurts.  Kissy never makes much impression on me, other than the fact that Bond trusts her to get from the volcano base back to Tanaka – swimming a pretty large distance to do so.  Go Kissy!
Bad guys:  Meh.  Blofeld doesn’t have enough to do, the rest are lacking in menace or serious threat
Overall personal rating:  3 out of 5 stars (which is higher than it deserves. I'm giving it an extra point for sentimental value and the fact John Barry's score is so fantastic.  A good score always elevates even a bad movie)

Thunderball (1965)

And now we hit my favorite Bond so far.  I love this movie.  LOVE.  I love just about everything about it, from the plot to the actors to the music to the locations.  This movie hits all the right notes for me.

This movie stays focused for me.  We find out from the beginning what the bad guys intend, and it sticks with that straight through.  I love Largo as our main bad guy, as played by Adolfo Celi.  He’s much more menacing than the villains who came before, and he’s got the right elegant charm too.  He’s got everything a proper Bond villain needs – good henchmen, a lovely expensive place, a fantastic yacht, an “unusual” way to get rid of people (dump them in the shark pool!), a solid plan, and he’s willing to get his hands dirty.  His main henchman, Vargas (played by Philip Locke), always reminds me of a skinnier version of Robert J. Wilke.



Luciana Paluzzi as Fiona is my favorite bad Bond girl.  She’s beautiful, she’s tough, she’s smart.  She is, in many ways, the female equivalent of Bond.  She uses whatever means necessary to do her job, and she does her job well.  And she neither turns on her boss nor aids Bond.  I had the privilege of meeting Ms. Paluzzi a couple years ago, and we got to chat.  I have a signed picture of her as Fiona that I treasure.



At the same time, Domino (Claudine Auger) is also one of my favorite good Bond girls.  She’s smart, pretty, and has her own inner strength, and she’s the one who ends up taking out Largo at the end.



I also love Bond’s helper, Paula, who takes her own life rather than betray Bond.

And then there’s Felix.  Even my own family shakes their collective heads at me, but I adore this Felix, played by Rik Nutter.  He’s my favorite of them all.  I can’t exactly tell you why, either.  Maybe cuz he’s the best-looking of the Felixes (my opinion only).  Maybe it's the prematurely grey hair.  Maybe because he can fly a helicopter.  Maybe it’s just the Hawaiian shirts.  I have no idea, I just know he makes me smile, and I think I have always had a bit of a crush on him.  (My sister swears my love of Hawaiian shirts on guys came from this movie, LOL!)



I have never thought of this as a particularly humorous Bond film, but this re-watch made me realize just how many funny lines there are in it.  I don’t think I quite realized it before, but that is also one of the things that draws me so much to this film.  The humor.

Favorite parts:  Bond having lunch with Largo at Palmyra.  I am a sucker for scenes where the hero and villain meet and still behave honorably and like gentlemen even though they know they’re going to try to kill each other the next chance they get.  Cranky Q (in a Hawaiian shirt!  Have I mentioned I love Hawaiian shirts?).  Any scene underwater.  Any scene with Fiona.  Any scene with Felix.  Bond’s jet pack.  The crazy ending where the plane yanks them into the air (and Bond manages to hold on to Domino somehow... right, but I love it anyway).



Really, there isn't anything I dislike about this film.  This is a darn near perfect James Bond film for me.

Music:  love it
Theme song:  one of my favorites
Credit sequence:  love it
Bond girls:  love them
Bad guys:  love them
Overall personal rating:  5 out of 5 stars

Goldfinger (1964)

It’s with Goldfinger, that, to me, the Bond series really starts feeling like it’s found its stride.  It always surprises me how short this movie is, under two hours.  I usually forget what happens in the pre-credit sequence of this one.  This is because, for an unknown reason, the video we had of this movie growing up (taped off television) started with the main title, which is one of my favorite of the Bond main title sequences.  The theme song, so famous now, and deservedly so.  I love the images from the previous movies shown on the gold-painted girl.  Really cool.

The humor – a key point for me – is much stronger in this film, with quite a bit of funny dialogue.  The repartee between Moneypenny and Bond – always a highlight – is spot on.  And the priceless look Bond has when Q tells him he needs an hour to show him all the ins and outs of the Aston Martin.  The “pressing engagement.”


And, of course, the lovely Aston Martin, with its full array of weaponry, defenses, and ejector seat.  Oh how I love that car!  There’s a reason when, in the newest Bond, Skyfall, the audience cheers when the garage opens and there’s the Aston Martin (at least they did in my theater!).  It’s a beautiful little car loaded with awesome gadgets.

Goldfinger is a great bad guy, cold, calculating, but also rather harmless-looking – which just makes him more dangerous, and he has the perfect loyal henchman:  Oddjob.  Oddjob is willing to give his life to see his boss's plan succeeds.  I love how Goldfinger explains one version of his plan to a roomful of men, convinces them of the awesomeness of said plan – then kills them all with deadly nerve gas.  Hah!  Now that’s a great egotistical, classic Bond film bad guy.  The real plan is quite awesome, and I love the scene when Bond figures it out, and Goldfinger smiles on, encouragingly.  I love this movie for the sheer simplicity of what Goldfinger intends to do:  make the US gold supply radioactive so that his own gold becomes worth a fortune.  It's quite brilliant.




Pussy Galore, as played by Honor Blackman, is quite lovely and cool, very unruffled, very capable.  However, I never understand why she switches sides.  It happens so suddenly, with no explanation.  There she is, telling Goldfinger how she intends to spend her cut of the money, and then BAM!  She just up and betrays her boss.  That abrupt change of heart bugs me every time I see the movie.  Like really bugs me.  Betrayal is a huge deal for me (for either side), and this betrayal of Goldfinger's trust seems unjustified.  It's that plot failure that keeps me from rating this movie higher.



Other than the beautiful scenery driving around Europe, the locations in this film are very non-exotic.  Miami, Fort Knox, Tennessee… Not that that’s bad, it’s just rather boring after Jamaica and Istanbul in the previous two films.


Favorite parts:  the golf match.  Bond’s anger over Jill’s death in front of M.  Bond and Q.  "No, Mr. Bond.  I expect you to die."  Bond scruffy when he wakes up on the plane.  Bond's peek-a-boo match in his jail cell with the guard.

I really like this movie, and I think it’s one of the best Bonds; however, it’s not one of my top five favorites.

Music: Great
Theme song:  One of the best.
Credit sequence:  Great
Bond girls:  Pussy is cool, but... bugs me.  I like Jill Masterson a lot.  Tilly isn’t there long enough to make much of an impression.
Bad guys:  Excellent
Felix:  I’m quite fine with this Felix.
Overall personal rating: 4 out of 5 stars

From Russia With Love (1963)

I always want to like this one more than I do.  And yet, every time I see it, it never quite does it for me.  I like many elements of it, but ultimately, it just doesn’t satisfy me.  Bond movies typically meander and can be slow, which is fine, but the whole gypsy camp section -- even when the bad guys arrive and shoot the place up -- just makes me yawn.  And for no reason I can figure out, I can’t seem to retain the gist of the plot when I watch this one.  In the beginning, I’ll think, Okay, I have it.  Then I always get midway through and think, what’s going on again?  Then Grant shows up, and I get it again.  I think I just never get invested in the plot enough to really get wrapped up in it.  Going after the decoder, while actually a really good spy plot, just isn't carried off in a manner that pushes my personal buttons.



On the other hand, I love Lotte Lenya as Colonel Klebb, and I love Robert Shaw as Grant.  Two top notch, distinctive bad guys.  I particularly love how you don’t hear Robert Shaw speak until he finally hooks up with Bond.  The whole section on the Orient Express is my favorite part of the movie, with the tension between Grant and Bond slowly increasing until their showdown.  Every time I see this movie I think that if it had been made in the 1980’s, Rutger Hauer would have played the Grant role.  I should mention that I also love Vladek Sheybal is in this.  He’s one of those unmistakable actors I first saw in The Wind and the Lion and watched for ever after.  He is great as Kronsteen.  And Walter Gotell, who will go on to have a recurring role as General Gogol in future Bond films, gets to play a menacing henchman.





I love Pedro Armenderiz as Karim Bey, with all his sons who work for him.  I LOVE the Istanbul scenery, particularly the cisterns under the city that they row through.  Connery’s Bond is perfect throughout, from his playfulness, to the violent side of him when he thinks Tanya’s betrayed him.  He's fabulously good-looking, as always.  I particularly love the scene when he throws his hat onto the rack from the doorway, only to find Moneypenny is not alone, and M is with her.  Classic and awesome.



Favorite parts – Bond on his date in the beginning with Sylvia Trench, just relaxing on a day off.  Everything with Bond and Grant on the train.  Rosa Klebb and Bond’s fight at the end.

Music: Good
Theme song:  Good. Instrumental during credits, sung at the end, and I like both versions a lot
Credit sequence:  Meh, kind of boring
Bond girl:  Gorgeous, but… bland? 
Bad guys:  Love them all
Overall personal rating:  2 out of 5 stars

Dr. No (1962)

I’m quite fond of Dr. No.  Solid, but not outstanding.  It’s rather raw and violent and lacks polish, not bad things.  This is a cold and efficient Bond, who is perfectly willing to kill some time making love to the woman he knows is arranging to kill him before he has her picked up.  Sean Connery is oh-so-young-and-handsome and looks great the entire movie.  He gets beat up physically a bit more than usual as well.



The plot is interesting and engaging but not one of my favorites.  I love the beautiful beach and island scenery.  I love the intro to Moneypenny and M and Spectre.  I love the playful flirtation between Bond and Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell) that continues throughout the series.  And I love the easy way M (Bernard Lee) can always take Bond down a peg.





Dr. No himself is more scary when he’s just a voice giving orders than when you finally meet him.  But I do like villains who are willing to get their hands dirty fighting Bond, and Dr. No runs right after Bond when Bond starts the place self-destructing.  I appreciate that.  I also like his quite creepy visit when he stands over Bond while the latter is sleeping.  I do like the way he delivers his lines when he’s conversing with Bond, with that just perceptible sneer of disdain when Bond refuses to join him.  He’s very serious, has no sense of humor, and really needs to select more capable henchmen.



I am not fond of Jack Lord as Felix Leiter.  Just… no.  Least favorite Felix.  Makes me grumble every time he’s in a scene.  The less said about him the better.

Our main Bond girl, Honey, played by Ursula Andress, is pretty cool.  Beautiful, of course, and she has that fabulous, iconic entrance.  I find it fascinating that she plays an innocent bystander who has nothing to do with the good guys, bad guys, or even plot, who gets sucked in to danger by being at the wrong place at the wrong time.  She might be unique in that aspect.  I believe most lead Bond Girls are either working for/associated with the bad guys, or the good guys, or have something someone needs in the story.  Although, now that I think about it, there’s some secondary role women who are wrong place/wrong time characters.  None of them as memorable as Honey, however, and I don’t think any are leads.  Will have to wait and see!



Favorite parts:  “Bond. James Bond.”  The tarantula... and the crazy music that goes with its demise.  Bond singing on a beach.  Bond barefoot on a beach.  Bond wading through rivers.  Bond getting zapped by the electrified air vent.

Music: Meh
Theme song:  Well, the intro to the Bond theme is, of course, awesome.
Credit sequence:  A very scattered affair.  Starts out promisingly, but isn’t one song the whole time, cuts abruptly, so it’s rather lame.
Bond girl:  I like Honey, don’t love her
Bad guys:  Okay
Overall personal rating:  3 out of 5 stars

Bond. James Bond.

Well, it is James Bond time over here!  I’ve started watching them, in order, and plan to write up my thoughts on each as I go.  Unfortunately, I’m having issues with my main computer right now, so we’ll see how this process goes.

But for starters, let me talk about James Bond in general.  I love James Bond.  Bond was a huge part of my childhood and life.  Still is.  Growing up, I wanted to be James Bond and go on missions to save the world.  Everything about those movies appealed to me, and yeah, I’m sure they shaped quite a bit of who I became.  Back in the '70s, when they’d play a Bond movie Sunday night on television, my parents would let me and my sister watch the pre-credits teaser, then we’d have to go to bed when the main title credits rolled (though we could still hear the theme songs from our bedrooms!).  Then, slowly, as we got older, we were allowed to watch more and more of the movies.  I couldn’t tell you what my first Bond film was on television, other than it was one of the Sean Connery ones.  I can tell you my first Bond film in the theater was The Spy Who Loved Me.  Roger Moore was the active Bond during my youth and teenage years, so he’s the one I got introduced to on the big screen.  I’ve been watching them in the theater ever since…

One of the things I love about James Bond movies is that there are so many flavors of Bonds and films to choose from.  There’s something for most people.  There are advocates for every actor who has played Bond, there’s someone who loves or hates each film, etc.  Even my own family can get into enthusiastic discussions defending one Bond over another, one movie over another... We're very passionate about our favorites.

The following reviews have nothing to do with what’s best, but simply what I like.  At the end of watching and reviewing all of them, I’ll post my Bond favorites lists, from bad guys, girls, films, music, theme songs, credit sequences to James Bond himself.  I’m sure some of my choices will make people go, what??? That’s your favorite???  Hee.  But, hey, Bond and everything about the movies is very subjective, and for me, it's also tied up with my family and growing up.

All reviews will contain spoilers, I’m sure.  And so, first up soon will be Dr. No.

Edited to add links here:

Dr. No
From Russia With Love
Goldfinger
Thunderball
You Only Live Twice
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Diamonds Are Forever
Live and Let Die
The Man With The Golden Gun
The Spy Who Loved Me
Moonraker
For Your Eyes Only
Octopussy
View to a Kill
The Living Daylights
Licence to Kill
Goldeneye
Tomorrow Never Dies
The World is Not Enough
Die Another Day
Casino Royale
Quantum of Solace
Skyfall

Millions (2004)

I rented this one solely because I am a fan of director Danny Boyle.  I first saw Trainspotting, which while I can't say I liked, was very affecting and had some moments I still love.  Shallow Grave was terrifying and creepy and has haunted me ever since, but in a good way.  A Life Less Ordinary is one of the few comedies I really really love, and Sunshine is a great sci-fi thriller that I had to buy on DVD after my first viewing of the film.  I wasn't sure what to expect from Millions, as Boyle's work is so frequently dark, and it concerns one of his favorite themes:  what happens when people unexpectedly have a ton of money drop into their lap.  I was very curious to see which direction he'd take that premise in this movie, and I was not disappointed.

Millions is a really charming and sweet movie... sort of the exact opposite of Shallow Grave, and really was quite lovely.  In this one, a satchel of cash thrown from a train lands on a young boy's, Damian (played wonderfully by Alex Etel) cardboard playhouse.  He spends his days talking with the various Saints he reads about, and he thinks the money has come from Heaven for him to do good with.  However, this movie takes place just days before pounds are going to be converted to Euros, so the money must be spent or converted immediately or it will be worthless.  Damian shares the find with his older brother, Anthony, who has distinctly different ideas on what they should do with the fortune.  The movie follows their adventures, as Damian gives it away to the poor and needy, and Anthony secures himself a position at their new school and starts buying things.  I love when Anthony wants to invest in property and meets with a real estate agent.

Of course, the money is stolen money, and the thief comes looking for his satchel, but while there is some mild suspense and danger, the film never crossed over into the darker places it could have gone.  It stays light and I was never too worried for the kids.  This stayed a serious, but ultimately happy movie, and I really liked that.  I smiled a lot during this movie.  The scene with Damian on the train tracks at the end is very touching.  It's filmed in part with a fantasy-like quality that really just keeps the whole film clearly in Damian's point of view (he's the narrator).  At the same time, it's got so much heart and tenderness, and I just loved the whole thing.  I love Damian's scenes with the Saints, I love him trying to locate more people in need he could give money to.  I love the kid's dad, played by James Nesbitt, who's trying to raise his kids the best he can after the death of their mother. 

This may be one that I have to buy on DVD, I loved it that much.

What's up, Netflix?

Please please please tell me Netflix did NOT change their search views of movies for actors/directors from an easy-to-read, all-movies-on-one-page display, to a new view with like only ten movies on a page, with a picture of the DVD cover and a description all on the main page now.  Those latter two items used to be in a nice little pop up only if you wanted to see them.  Because this new display is not an improvement.  This is frustrating.  And awkward.  And why the heck would I want to now scroll through multiple pages to see all movies for a certain performer?  Netflix just made browsing for movies twice as hard and twice as long. 

Was there something wrong with all movies displayed on one page where I can see what I've seen and not seen in one spot??

Please tell me this is a temporary glitch, and I'm not going to begin to hate going to Netflix's website.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

I guess I’ll be saving my Skyfall review for the end of my James Bond marathon.  My sister just picked up Dr. No for me, so… that will get under way shortly!  In the meantime, there has been almost no DVD movie watching going on here.  Just a couple more trips to the theater to see Skyfall again, and today… The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.  (In 2D, cuz while I loved Avatar in 3D, that seems to be the only film I like, and I’ve found zero use for 3D elsewhere.)

Spoilers on the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings in general follow, so stop now if you don't want spoilers!

Some personal background… I love the Lord of the Rings trilogy, particularly the first movie, Fellowship of the Ring.  Saw that one a lot.  But then, Boromir (favorite character in the book, favorite character in the movie) gets killed and… well…  I like Two Towers and Return of the King a lot… but I love Fellowship.  It doesn’t help that I got the worst migraine of my entire life from my first Return of the King viewing and barely could convince myself to go back and see that one a second time.  I haven’t seen that one since the theater, either.  It's very hard to watch these films on a small screen.

But the look, the feel, the gorgeous landscapes, the music, the emotion… I love these things about the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  I’ll admit, I got teary a lot during the trilogy, but probably not at the parts where you’d think.  Return of the King was the biggest “culprit” and there must be seven or eight parts where I could not stop from crying.  Like when the beacons of Gondor are lit.  That’s one of the most beautiful sequences I’ve ever seen on film, and the visuals coupled with Howard Shore's music… I bawl.  Return of the King has quite a few of those type of moments.  And I cannot make it through Fellowship without tearing up when the eagle rescues Gandalf from Saruman’s tower.  That giant bird is so beautiful, so awesome… usually, I’m in tears the minute the moth returns, just knowing what's coming.

How does that bear on The Hobbit?  Well, because… it was beautiful and emotional, and I got teary-eyed at quite a few places.  Darn near started sobbing at one point.

So, on to The Hobbit.  I went into this movie with rather low expectations, actually.  I read the book only once, around twenty years ago, where I’ve read Lord of the Rings quite a few times.  Other than a few key scenes, I actually don’t remember what happens.  I intend to keep it that way, as not remembering what happened in the book freed my brain up from doing the constant comparison thing.  Thank goodness.  I have also avoided almost all reviews, another good thing.

I was delighted to find out how wrong I was.  I quite enjoyed the whole thing.  I know this movie has a long running time, but it sure didn’t seem long at all to me.  I liked all the new characters (favorite of the new dwarves?  The archer, of course… Kili.  Why yes, I am so predictable.  Sigh.), I loved seeing all the familiar places and faces.  And most importantly… it felt just like Lord of the Rings, and that’s all I really wanted.  To return to that world and share in an adventure.  Some of my family complained about too much CGI, but that comment seemed odd.  I mean, there was no less CGI in the first trilogy, and with the exception of the wargs (which just looked terrible and fake to me), I thought the CGI was better and more seamless here than in the earlier films.

The negatives: oddly, the movie felt rushed!  I think this is a focus issue with the script.  By the end of Fellowship, you knew all the main characters quite well.  Not so in this one.  By the end I had little knowledge of who the individual dwarves were or even Bilbo.  The defining character moments seemed distinctly lacking.  No "it comes in pints?  I'm getting one!"  No conversations like the one between Aragorn and Boromir after they've reached Galadriel where Boromir talks about his love of Gondor (one of my favorite moments in all of the films).  You feel what those characters felt, and by extension, cared about them.  I didn't bond with the characters in Hobbit and that is unfortunate.  I'm hoping that will be remedied in the next films.

Another negative was the lack of menacing bad guys.  The goblins/trolls/orcs were icky and way too disgusting... but not actually scary.  Gross does not equal scary.  I think the only truly scary bad guy was the Witch King... and he's a familiar face and only in the film for a tiny moment.  And speaking of gross... a little too much of that, was it necessary?

So what did I cry at?  Stuff no one else ever cries at, LOL!  Mostly scenery -- aerial shots of our group trekking through absolutely gorgeous country.  And at the end, because the eagles are back.  I hadn’t remembered that, and all it took was Gandalf whispering to a moth, and I was already tearing up.  Then I had to wait and wait for them to actually arrive, but then they came, in all their swooping glory, and yeah, much waterworks.  They’re just too beautiful.  I cannot NOT cry. 

I'm still processing and need to see it one more time after things settle in my mind, but overall, it is still a worthy addition to the Middle Earth films, and I am quite looking forward to the next ones.

December

During December (and probably well into January), I was going to be re-watching all of the James Bond films, in order, including the ones I'm not fond of.  I was going to start on the 1st, except that Netflix has Dr. No on long wait right now.  Grrrr.  They are messing up my grand plan!  The question then becomes, do I start with From Russia with Love and come back to Dr. No when I can get a copy?  Or wait?  Come on, Netflix, it's not like it's an obscure flick!

So, instead, I got Road House (1948), with Richard Widmark, Cornell Wilde, and Ida Lupino.  I had mixed feelings about this film.  I really loved the first half.  The first half of this film great.  Then we had a courtroom scene (yawn), and then the movie lost momentum and tension for me and sort of wandered around until it finally ended.  This does seem to happen with a lot of noir movies of this time period.  I had the same split feelings for They Drive By Night.  First half is great, second half... not so much.  Probably, not coincidentally, has a courtroom.  I know there's a few other films too, but I can't think of them off the top of my head.

The first half of the film is tense, sexy, and intriguing.  I loved Cornell Wilde as the sensible business partner in Richard Widmark's business.  He's the one who manages the finances, looks after Widmark, and in general really keeps the road house of the movie's title running smoothly.  I loved the scene where he meets Ida Lupino's character, a singer from Chicago that Widmark's brought back to sing at the road house.  It was beautifully filmed, with smart dialogue.  Ida Lupino was also great as the singer who both Wilde and Widmark fall for.  And I loved Celeste Holm as the fourth member of the group.  She might be my favorite character in this movie. Of course, this film is very early in Widmark's career, which means his character's not playing with a full deck, and his character's full psychotic rage will come into play.  I much prefer Widmark's later films where he's playing heroes, or morally ambiguous shady characters.  But he sure can play violent-crazy like nobody's business when he wants to. 

Unfortunately, the second half of the film lacked all the real tension of the first half and seemed to depend instead on the audience being worried about what Widmark will do.  That isn't enough for me, and where I wasn't sure where the first half was going (I admit, I had not actually read the Netflix DVD sleeve which gives the plot synopsis before watching the movie, so I did not know what it was about or where it was going), the second half was predictable and just made me roll my eyes.  But the first half sure was entertaining!