Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
There have been a lot of long, fun discussion threads over at the James Bond Wiki, but near as I can tell this one has become by far the longest. And it may become among the most fun:
My hopes for Bond 23
Having just seen QOS, one thing that I hope they do (or more accurately, DON’T DO) in the next one:Enough of the rogue agent thing. It’s effective once in a while, but now they’ve done THREE in a row where Bond going rogue has been a major part of the story. Having *really* established a relationship between Bond and M now in QOS, it’s time that Bond go on an assignment where MI6 have his back. Bond having to dodge his own people as well as the villains? Let’s give that device a rest for one or two films, shall we?
Nearly three hundred posts since then. Lots of ideas for locations, girls, weapons. Maybe there’s even a post in there from Yours Truly, about which I completely forgot. Much speculation about the mysterious organization of Quantum. I dunno about that…I think it had a lot of potential, but Marc Forster might have screwed the pooch on it. Could be wrong.
Appended the following to the end:
We seem to have a clear consensus here and I’m just adding to it. But here I go nonetheless:
1. The things that made the old ones kinda silly in a charming way, should be converted to gags. Like “My name is Pussy Galore” “I must be dreaming.” That needs to be “demoted,” in a manner of speaking, to a lady making something up about her name, then Daniel Craig says “You must be joking” and she says “Yeah, actually, it’s Susan.”
2. Agree about the love thing [Bond falling into it]. Enough. He bangs 4 gals in one flick. Anybody who doesn’t like it can work on some other movie.
3. One of the ladies is a “closing-credits girl” of course.
4. Another one is a bad girl he makes good with his awesome prowess. Is that the same as the closing-credits girl? I think it has to be. Dunno.
5. It almost goes without saying that another one of them is a doomed-girl who gets killed.
6. Another one is a “Fiona Volpe” who’s just plain bad and stays bad.
7. Every third or fourth Bond movie, the bad guy died first in the climactic battle scene, and then just as life returned to “normal,” the henchman came after Bond for a final assault. I think it would be pretty cool to do that here.
8. The henchman should be developed into a “real” character. This is one thing that’s been missing from Bond movies. It would be really awesome to have a strained, Vader-vs-Sidious relationship between the 2 bad guys, where it shows they don’t really trust each other.
9. Love the ideas about the locations. Philippines, Australia, etc.
10. Bugatti Veyron. Why not.
11. A little more attention to the actual threat. Le Chiffre was a threat because he was going to direct funds to terrorists who would then do God-knows-what. That was great, but vague. Green just wanted to make poor people thirsty. Please do better. Back to the orbiting laser cannons please.
I have an idea for the discussion thread itself. First of all: Curse you two-thousand-character post limit! Discuss your ideas for the next Bond movie but make it fit in a 2,000-byte buffer? Secondly: Go ahead and allow the use of the word “Pussy” when we’re talking about cool ideas from past James Bond movies. Really, if anyone cannot see the conflict there, I challenge that person’s James Bond Fan credentials on solid grounds.
I’m not terribly pleased with Bond 22, Quantum of Solace, I’m afraid. It remains the one single installment we have not quite yet gotten around to acquiring, here at Freeberg Manor. Which says something; Freeberg Manor has everything. We even have Never Say Never Again. It is likely that we’ll be past the opening weekend for Bond 23 before we ever bother to snag Bond 22.
It broke far too many rules.
Bond should screw every single beautiful woman involved. Ever single one that has a speaking line. Period.
Another rule broken: While sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong is an indispensable part of being a spy, Bond embarks on treacherous territory when he becomes Robin Hood. He has never come out of such a thing completely whole, and there is a reason for it: James Bond is something of an inconsiderate asshole. You make your hero into Robin Hood, to prove his inner, shining, wonderful good-natured qualities. Economic injustice! It cannot stand! This doesn’t fit Bond. Bond comes to find out about an impoverished layer of humanity being oppressed, he walks right past it all and continues with the Big Five: Finding the clues, fighting the henchmen, saving the world, drinking and whoring. Stick to business.
There is a wonderful line in Casino Royale (the book), or maybe I read it in Ian Fleming’s notes somewhere, about how Bond’s value as a good guy, is in the fact that he is just as loathsome and detestable in his methods as any of the bad ones. This is what the Bond franchise is really all about. It is a live-action story that depicts that famous quote questionably attributed to George Orwell, “People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”
I’m not up on Marc Forster’s politics…although, better-than-even-odds, I can make an educated guess. But I suspect Double-Oh-Seven suffered a gaping flesh wound because his story was taken up by someone who doesn’t believe in such a thing.
As the old M might have said: Let’s try to keep that from ever happening ever again, shall we old boy?
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