Category: Movies (Page 161 of 191)

007 One by One – Dr. No

October 12, 2012 / Bob Westal

The girls, the gadgets, the stylish violence and absurd deeds of derring-do… It’s no wonder that the handsome and ruthlessly heroic James Bond has been an icon of masculine wish fulfillment and feminine desire for 50 years. Harry Potter and “Twilight” films might sell more tickets at the moment, but Bond belongs to an elite group of internationally popular, impossible to kill, long-running heroes.

One thing that distinguishes Bond from your Superman, Batman and Sherlock Holmes types is that, with three quirky exceptions, the Bond character has been exclusively handled by the same small, family-owned production company which has maintained a tight creative grip on the franchise since the very first Bond movie. This has led to a remarkable degree of consistency, which can be a mixed blessing.

Keeping things fresh is surely a concern on the upcoming 23rd entry in the series, which was intelligently rebooted with 2006’s “Casino Royale,” but it’s been an issue since the Bond craze first kicked into overdrive with “Goldfinger” and “Thunderball” in the mid-sixties. In fact, there’s something enjoyably ritualistic about the Bond films, which repeat the same elements with just enough variation to keep fans returning film after film, even as they might grumble that the series hasn’t been the same since Sean Connery stopped playing Bond. Without the Bond girls, the amazing stunts, the pre-credit sequence and elaborate credits, and especially the theme, Bond just wouldn’t be Bond.

And so, we at Bullz-Eye will be looking at 007 film by film, with a special emphasis on those key ingredients in the Bond martini, both familiar and hopefully somewhat surprising, that have kept so many of us devoted to the series, movie after movie after movie, year after year after year. We’ll start at the beginning…

“Dr. No” (1962)

The Plot

James Bond, an MI6 spy with a “double O” designation which means he is both an investigator and an occasional assassin with a “license to kill,” is sent to investigate the murder of British operative and his secretary in Jamaica. The man behind it turns out to be a Chinese-German millionaire with an unhealthy interest in America’s space program and scores of expendable extras on his payroll. 007 gets his man, kills a few others, and makes a few new female friends.

Entertainment, Movies

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The Light from the TV Shows: A Chat with Julian Jarrold (HBO’s “The Girl”)

October 10, 2012 / Will Harris

Given how much media attention has been drawn by the upcoming Alfred Hitchcock biopic starring Anthony Hopkins, it’s no wonder that some may see HBO’s upcoming movie, “The Girl,” which debuts on Oct. 20, to be a pretender to the throne. In fact, they’re both perfectly viable entities in their own right, each covering a different aspect of the director’s career. Hopkins will be playing Hitchcock as he’s in the throes of making “Psycho,” whereas “The Girl” finds Toby Jones’s version of Hitch as he’s obsessing over Tippi Hedren (played by Sienna Miller) during the filming of “The Birds” and “Marnie.” Bullz-Eye caught up with Julian Jarrold, director of “The Girl,” just before a panel for the film at the summer Television Critics Association press tour, during which time he chatted not only about his look into the darker side of Hitchcock but also some of the other films and television efforts he’s tackled in his career to date.

Bullz-Eye: How did “The Girl” land in your lap? Or did you go looking for “The Girl”?

Julian Jarrold: No, it was sent to me ages ago, and…it was a little bit more based around the making “The Birds” and “Marnie,” but obviously it was still an exploration of this relationship. The writer (Gwyneth Hughes) had done quite a lot of research and come over here and met Jim Brown, the assistant director, and Rita Riggs (wardrobe supervisor), and Tippi, obviously. So he’d kind of pieced together this sort of fascinating script, and I loved Hitchcock, but I didn’t know this at all, so it was a bit of a shock, actually, to read it. [Laughs.] I knew he was odd, but I didn’t know he was that odd. Yeah, it totally changed my view of Hitchcock. Actually, what was fascinating was…I knew “The Birds” and “Marnie” and “Vertigo,” and they’re strange films. You kind of wonder where they’re coming from. And then finding out about this story, you certainly go, “Ah, I see where he was coming from…and where his personal obsessions are and his attitude to women and everything.” So it sort of illuminated all that. Which was very interesting.

BE: Tippi Hedren is here at the TCA tour, so presumably she’s supportive of the film, but how interactive was she you were making it? Did you speak with her in advance?

JJ: Well, no. I mean, she obviously spoke at length with the writer, and Sienna met her. But she didn’t come on set. I think she read the script. It’s obviously difficult when someone’s making a film like this. How do you compute that? Because it’s 90 minutes revolving around her life. But she said she saw it recently, and she seemed to love it. She saw it with her kids, Melanie (Griffith) and everybody, and it seemed to go down okay. But it’s difficult. It must be a painful, difficult thing to look at. You know, she had such a complex relationship with Hitchcock. It was daunting, because you mustn’t judge that. I wanted to show the sunny side of the relationship, where there was a sort of optimism at the beginning and he was such a fantastic teacher, but then how it changed and darkened and was abusive, really.

Entertainment, Interviews, Movies, News, Television

Alfred Hitchcock Anonymous Rex Anthony Hopkins Appropriate Adult Boy George Brideshead Revisited Crime and Punishment Crispin Glover Culture Club David Peace Dominic West Fred West Gwyneth Hughes Infamous James Marsh Jim Brown Julian Jarrald King Lear Kinky Boots Mad About the Boy Marnie Melanie Griffith Menahem Golan Neil McKay Psycho Red Riding Rita Riggs Sienna Miller Steven Spielberg The Birds The Girl The Light from the TV Shows Thomas Hardy Tippi Hedren Toby Jones Vertigo Will Harris

Bond Vehicles, in the Metallic Flesh, at Comic-Con

October 10, 2012 / Bob Westal

Imagine your humble writer as being like James Bond at the beginning of “From Russia With Love,” relaxing with a beverage and a special lady when suddenly the call came in from HQ. I was needed. There would be four vehicles featured in James Bond movies at Comic-Con and, as the guy who’s been working on an upcoming Bond movie series for these here pages at Bullz-Eye, I was just the man for the job.

Of course, this is completely misleading, but I thought I’d pump myself up a bit before we get started. Basically, what this is all about is promotion for the upcoming James Bond Blu-ray set of all 22 extent canonical Bond films (slobber, slobber!). With the help of the good people at the Ian Fleming Foundation, the folks at MGM/Fox were allowing Con-goers to line up for an opportunity to have their pictures taken with these various mean machines.

The only problem was, it’s not like a simple freelancer like me arrives at Comic-Con with a bevy of men’s magazine models and, alas, Bond Booth Babes weren’t in anyone’s budget, it appeared. The thought of forcing innocent readers to view repeated pictures of me in front of four of these machines seemed almost Blofeldian in its wrongness.

Instead, I did the natural thing at Comic-Con. With a little help from my photographin’ pal Rodney Reynaldo, I recruited some of the costumed denizens of the Con to provide the visual pizzazz that I thought I needed. Fortunately, we also have some additional photos.

And so we begin at the beginning….

The Q Boat — This number was featured in the Thames boat chase sequence from 1999’s “The World is Not Enough.” In the film, Bond (as portrayed by Pierce Brosnan) appropriates the boat to give chase to a bad guy who has committed a dastardly murder at a party, though the fact that the event was in honor of good ol’ Q’s retirement adds a slightly ironic note.

I’m not quite sure what kind of note our anime-inspired friends provided, but there they are, along with a shot from the movie, in our gallery. And, yes, you can’t see the front of the vehicle from the shot on the floor of the San Diego Convention Center, but get a load of this shot of the vehicle in action from the movie.

The Ground Parahawk — This snow vehicle also turned up in one of the action sequences in the 1999 Bond opus.

What, you don’t remember Fred and Wilma Flintstone posing in front of it? Well, here’s how it looked in its more natural state.

The Jaguar XKR

The coolness factor went up considerably with the first of two actual cars, this one from 2002’s “Die Another Day.” To be honest, as far as I can find out without having the movie handy, it appears that Mr. Bond never actually drove this car. Instead, he was nearly done in by it, as suave bad guy Zao (Rick Yune) tried his best to deprive 007 of his license to live.

Of course, if Spider-Man and Spider-Girl had been along for the ride, things might have gone a bit differently. Or not.

The Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante

It would have been way too much to expect the original and greatest James Bond supercar, the Aston Martin DB5 from 1964’s “Goldfinger” (AKA the most famous car in the world). Still, we got close enough for Comic-Con with the amazing Aston Martin V8 from 1977’s “The Living Daylights,” one of two Bond outings starring Timothy Dalton.

It might not have been as famous as the original Bond car with its built-in machine guns and ejector seat but, at least in terms of numbers, it out-gadgetted the original. The Volante in the film came come complete with, among other features, guided missiles, tire-slashing lasers, and a self-destruct capability in case everything went to hell in a hand basket.

It was our determination that only James Bond himself was cool enough to stand in front of an Aston Martin of this caliber. Since we didn’t happen to spot him wandering the convention floor, this one stands alone.

Cars, Entertainment, Movies

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Blu Tuesday: Reese’s Pieces, Serial Killers and Hitchcock

October 9, 2012 / Jason Zingale

After taking last week off due to a disappointing lack of quality releases (don’t waste your time with “Dark Shadows”), my column is back this week with a number of films from the back catalog. Though it’s always nice to see any Alfred Hitchcock film get the Blu-ray treatment, this has truly been the season of Spielberg, following up the release of “Jaws” and the Indiana Jones movies with the debut of “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.”

“E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial”

I’ve never understood why so many people place “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” on such a high pedestal, because it’s easily one of Steven Spielberg’s most overrated movies. Though the nostalgia factor has certainly played a role in its sustained popularity over the years, when viewed without those rose-colored glasses, the film’s flaws are pretty evident. Not only is the acting terrible for the most part, but a lot of the special effects don’t hold up that well, particularly the flying bikes. It’s also way too long – a fact that’s even more incredible considering the director cut 40 minutes from the original version – and it has some strange tonal issues, including the arrival of those creepy men in the astronaut suits in the final act. Still, while “E.T.” is hardly worthy of joining “Jaws” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” on the list of cinema classics, it’s a sweet and often funny film that every parent should show their children at least once.

Blu-ray Highlight: There are two new extras included on the 30th Anniversary release, and they’re both excellent. “The E.T. Journals” offers nearly an hour of behind-the-scenes footage from production, while “Steven Spielberg and E.T.” features the director reflecting on the making of the film, including where the idea originated from, showing the movie at Cannes and the White House, the aborted sequel talk and much more.

“The Raven”

The latest in a growing line of projects driven by Hollywood’s fascination with revisionist history, James McTeigue’s “The Raven” proposes that in the weeks leading up to his death, American poet Edgar Allen Poe helped solve a series of copycat murders based on his grisly tales. It’s difficult to view the film as anything other than a half-hearted attempt at cashing in on the success of Warner Brothers’ “Sherlock Holmes” reboot, because it’s every bit the dull, cookie cutter thriller that the trailers suggested. Not only is the premise ridiculous, but it’s executed so tediously that McTeigue could have lopped off 20 minutes from just about any part of the movie and no one would have noticed. The legacy of Poe deserves so much better than this generic murder mystery, and although John Cusack has some good moments as the eccentric writer, it would have been a lot more interesting to see the actor play him in a traditional biopic as opposed to this preposterous and lifeless piece of schlock. The next time Hollywood thinks about defiling a respected literary figure, they would be wise to heed Poe’s famous words and simply say “nevermore.”

Blu-ray Highlight: There aren’t any extras on the disc that stand out, but the making-of featurette “The Raven Guts: Bringing Death to Life” provides the usual behind the scenes fluff on things like casting and production design for those who are interested.

“Strangers on a Train” / “Dial M for Murder”

With the upcoming release of Universal’s “Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection,” it only seems fitting that Warner Bros. should take the opportunity to debut some of their Hitchcock films on Blu-ray as well. Though “Strangers on a Train” and “Dial M for Murder” predate many of the director’s most popular movies, they still showcase the Master of Suspense at the top of his game. “Strangers on a Train” is probably the better known of the pair, but despite a solid turn by Robert Walker as the eccentric villain, the film’s sluggish pacing and ridiculous finale prevent it from being as great as its reputation might suggest. In fact, although it doesn’t get as much credit, “Dial M for Murder” is the stronger movie – an adaptation of the Frederick Knotts stage play that’s as taut and thrilling as it is smart. It also helps that everyone in the cast is so good, from Grace Kelly’s adulterous victim to John Williams’ police inspector, but it’s Ray Milland who absolutely steals the show as a “villain” so likable that you’re practically rooting for him to get away with murder. Though it’s a bit strange that Hitchcock would chose one of his less visually interesting movies to shoot in 3D, “Dial M for Murder” is every bit as captivating without the silly gimmick.

Blu-ray Highlight: Though most of the bonus material is from previous DVD releases, there’s a retrospective on each film – “Strangers on a Train: A Hitchcock Classic” and “Hitchcock and Dial M” – that provides some excellent insight from various friends and historians about the movies’ productions and the key Hitchcockian elements in both.

Entertainment, Movies

Blu Tuesday Dial M for Murder E.T.new Blu-rays Strangers on a Train The Raven

Weekly Web Series Review: Futurestates

October 4, 2012 / Ezra Stead

“A minute ago, this moment was the future. A minute from now, everything could change.” So says the website for “Futurestates,” an intriguing web series from the Independent Television Service (ITVS), and this is a pretty good mission statement for the series. A collection of unconnected short films by various writers and directors, “Futurestates” explores the not-too-distant future by looking at what is already happening in the world today, from immigration issues to environmental and economic ones. Some of the shorts begin by informing the audience exactly what year it is in which their stories take place, while others do not. Many of them feel as if they could be happening in the present, and this is clearly an intention of the filmmakers behind them.

Amyn Kaderali‘s “The Other Side” thrusts the viewer into the year 2040, after “everything changed,” as Jeff (Brady Smith) puts it when explaining what a cheeseburger is to his young son, Tyler (Jake Short). Along with his sister, Jenny (Abigail Mavity), Tyler is traveling the desert with his father in search of access to the other side, across a border protected by the government. This short film explores the issue of illegal immigration in an unusual and effective way, casting it in a new perspective that might make a viewer think twice about his or her own views on the issue. Annie J. Howell‘s “Tia and Marco,” on the other hand, explores the same issue in a more heavy-handed and obvious way, which offers little justification for its 2025 setting.

Garret Williams‘ “The Rise” and Aldo Velasco‘s “Tent City” both explore the current housing crisis in very different ways, with “The Rise” ultimately touching on environmental issues more than economic ones, while Tze Chun‘s “Silver Sling” manages to comment on a number of current issues, including immigration, economic desperation and fertility technology. Now in its third season, “Futurestates” has many such issues to explore, and a panoramic array of viewpoints from which to explore them. Below is perhaps the most unique and original short film from the series’ first season, Ramin Bahrani‘s “Plastic Bag,” featuring legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog as the title character.