I think Luke Evans would make an excellent Bond, based on his role in one of the Fast and Furious films. I've recently watched him in Anna and The Alienist, in both of which he has, umm, romantic scenes with women and looks to be having a great time. It would be a shame if it was just his sexuality which prevented him from playing the role.
Starring Roger Moore, Gregory Peck. David Niven.
Based on a true story during WWII. The Germans are transmitting information, used to sink Allied ships, from the neutral harbour of Goa. British veterans from the Boer War are sent to take care of the problem. (This is a brief, simple description, so as not to give anything away, although I’m sure a lot of posters will have already seen it.)
Naomie Harris plays the lead as a rookie police officer in New Orleans (but she is also an Afghanistan veteran) who is trying to balance being a police officer and black, something that's not easy. Then she witnesses corrupt police officers murdering criminals in cold blood and she has to survive alone in the slums while being chased by a group of corrupt cops. The plot is very tense, Naomie does us proud and really convinces as action hero. Don't miss this one!
Invasion of the Body snatchers 1978
This a remake of the original 1950s sci-fi classic and the best version in my opinion. A
fantastic cast the film was remade twice more in 1993 as Body Snatchers ! and with our
Own Daniel Craig's Invasion in 2007
I remember seeing this one in the theatre when it first came out, I was a mere munchkin.
As I recall, the pods were particularly disgusting, good biological horror, and there was a pod-malfunction involving a dog that gave me nightmares.
Invasion of the Body snatchers 1978
This a remake of the original 1950s sci-fi classic and the best version in my opinion. A
fantastic cast the film was remade twice more in 1993 as Body Snatchers ! and with our
Own Daniel Craig's Invasion in 2007
I've seen all three of these. For some reason, whenever I see the title Invasion of the Body snatchers, I think of The Day of the Triffids )
PPK 7.65mmSaratoga Springs NY USAPosts: 1,256MI6 Agent
@Number 24 thanks for the heads up on Black and Blue, I will defiantly check it out in the near future.
I suppose it helps to be knocking on a bit to appreciate this film, and to see it at this time of year as the leaves turn to flame. This was on three years ago when my Mum was in her final nursing home (she died in October) so it has a certain resonance for me.
As the film unfolds it is hard to see how it could be any more enjoyable than it is. Connery and Hepburn, and a score by John Barry. Connery's facing up against his old FRWL adversary Robert Shaw as the Sheriff of Nottingham but the odd thing is, you hardly notice it and if you did, it would not enhance your enjoyment. For this is the Shaw of Jaws and other classics, and this is the Connery not of Bond but The Name of the Rose.
Do watch it from the beginning, which is set in the Middle East Crusades and has Richard Harris as Richard the Lionheart. It nicely sets up the sheer cruelty, pointlessness and brutality of the endeavour.
The film has its flaws. Connery may be a great cinema sex symbol but I'm not convinced by his romantic lead credentials. I can't think of many or any of his films where you truly believe he is in love with the female lead. He is simply too vain or self-centred an actor, or his presence is. (Moore was even more narcissistic but he did have some humility as time went on.) Connery's main interaction lies in sparring with other men - the father figures of M or the Bond villain in early days, the young Hollywood A-listers in his later years. As with his lusty on-screen encounters, it is all about reinforcing his sense of self and persona. Falling in love is more about giving up of yourself. I don't really see Connery's acting doing that.
To be fair, the film does address this as Maid Marion (Hepburn) rebukes him for just going off and leaving her.
The odd thing about the film that hurts on first viewing is that on the one hand it's big on versimilitude and on the other it plugs the Robin Hood myth. Which is it?
The supporting cast is great and after repeated viewings it doesn't matter so much that none of them are given that much to do, none of them really get their 'turn'. That said, the sheer downbeat nature of the film earns it respect, it is so devotedly anti-Hollywood.
I do wish Hepburn had been given less of a mid-70s housewife at C&A catalogue hairstyle.
The ending doesn't quite work for me, or does it?
Maid Marion kills Robin Hood with poison after his victory on the field of battle - is this because he is mortally wounded, in pain and due to die anyway? Or something darker? It is true to some versions of the myth and legend but its ambiguity possibly adds to its power.
The Ian Holm scene as King John is a mis-step - it's like something out of the Time Bandits (which Holm appeared in, as did Connery of course) than this film. His French princess is a bit hot too - you could imagine Bill and Ted whisking her away!
Audrey Hepburn, Robert Shaw, Denholm Elliot, Nicol Williamson, Ronnie Barker, Ian Holm, Richard Harris, Kenneth Haigh, Peter Butterworth, Bill Maynard... How ironic that of all this supporting cast, the only one still alive as I write is old Robin himself - Sean Connery. -{
Not to mention that acc to imdb, the young hot young actress who played Queen Isabella for all of 30 seconds went on to an illustrious career on the French screen where she is hot property today! {[]
Richard Lester the director is still alive but writer William Goldman and composer John Barry shot their final arrow in the air some years ago.
It's a long time since I watched it, but I remember Connery as convinclingly in love in "The Russia House". Then again, who would't look convincingly in love with Michelle Pheiffer?
After my Alien invasion double bill, Tonight I'm hanging with the Anti-Christ.
Damien -The Omen 2. I've seen these films many times, and love them
Satan Jr controlling events like Blofeld to achieve his aims. I also love
the inventive deaths they come up with, and hey a guy's got to have a
role model
"I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
Starring James Mason and based on a John le Carre novel. A British agent, with the help of a retired cop, investigates the apparent suicide of a government employee. Some interesting characters and scenes in this film and I enjoyed watching it.
Naomie Harris plays the lead as a rookie police officer in New Orleans (but she is also an Afghanistan veteran) who is trying to balance being a police officer and black, something that's not easy. Then she witnesses corrupt police officers murdering criminals in cold blood and she has to survive alone in the slums while being chased by a group of corrupt cops. The plot is very tense, Naomie does us proud and really convinces as action hero. Don't miss this one!
Watched this tonight with Mr Spy, (he likes Naomie). Very good film. At one of the tense moments when Naomie's character was hiding from the police but they weren't actually around, we heard a siren and saw flashing blue lights and I thought she was going to get caught, but then I realised it was coming from the street next to ours )
THE MAN WITH TWO BRAINS, 1983. Steve Martin, Kathleen Turner
I like Kathleen Turner better parodying the vampy femme fatale, in this film and Roger Rabbit, as opposed to Body Heat where she played it straight.
I still haven't seen All of Me. Is that the one with Lily Tomlin? there's also Dead Man Don't Wear Plaid. and of course the Jerk. I saw the Jerk as soon as it came out, but for some reason never saw the followups at the time.
speaking of Steve Martin, here's an oddity:
Steve Martin's first comedy special: The Funnier Side Of Eastern Canada, 1974
It's actually a near straight travelogue, where he takes us on a tour of Toronto and Montreal, but all done in his goofball style.
Most of the places he shows us in Toronto don't exist anymore, there's been so much development! The footage of Ontario Place makes me especially nostalgic...
I can't figure out why he did this. Later in his career he collaborated a lot with Lorne Michaels, Dan Aykroyd, Paul Schaffer, John Candy, Rick Moranis, Martin Short ... but none of those guys are involved, so what was his Canadian connection in 1974?
008: Operation Exterminate
Yet another lo-budget Italian spyfilm cranked out in 1965.
Starring Ingrid Schoeller as Agent 008, and Alberto Lupo as Agent 006.
I had recently seen Schoeller in an episode of the Saint, looking up her bio is what led me to this...
So, why did the Italians mass produce such a glut of James Bond ripoffs at the time? something to do with money-laundering perhaps? If other countries' film industries were also trying to cash in at such a scale, I don't stumble across their product so easily. These Italian made Bond-ripoffs are ubiquitous!
Mostly filmed in Egypt, some very nice location shots, with finale in Switzerland.
Schoeller plays the American spy who does most of the work, disguised as a nightclub chanteuse. Lupo is the British agent assigned to team up with her, kinda sorta looking like a more slope-browed Connery. He's basically her sidekick.
Get this: there is a dangerous anti-radar mcguffin that has been stolen and come up for sale in the black market. The spies of two countries are in Egypt, rivals teaming up to recover the technology. The villain traps them in the back of a truck, and drives them out deep into the Egyptian countryside and strands them there. At one point the sexy lady spy drugs her British male counterpart even though they're supposed to be working together. and so on...
I know when EON finally filmed The Spy Who Loved Me they couldnt actually use Fleming's The Spy Who Loved Me for plot ideas, but who woulda guessed they borrowed so much of the plot from this Italian obscurity?
Not to mention borrowing the car - helicopter chase from Italian obscurity Danger Diabolik!
The Game
Slick nourish thriller from David Fincher - not as dark as Seven of course. Released in 1997 it has touches of Tomorrow Never Dies of that year, with BMWs, corporate events and scenes of death set up to frame the innocent.
It has Michael Douglas as the lead, a dour rich businessman who is sent a mysterious present by his unreliable younger brother played by Sean Penn. But when he reluctantly engages with it, he finds he's bitten off more than he can chew and may be victim of a massive scam.
It reminds me of a 1980s film with Rosanna Arquette in which the guy is stranded in New York all night after losing his wallet and can't get home.
To say more would spoil what is pretty much a one-note movie but done with such style that you do wish Fincher had done Bond - but would he want to?
hey I've actually heard of Danger Diabolik!
...or maybe I just heard of the comic strip its based on, and didnt realise theres a film until you mentioned it?
but now I have to see this film: I see it's got Largo in it.
according to wikipedia, Dino deLaurentis produced this Diabolik film at the same time he made Barberella (which I certainly have seen), sharing supporting actors and technical talent between the two adaptations to save money. I would imagine these two Euro-comics films must make a good double bill!
Danger Diabolik is a fun movie. It was directed by Mario Bava and like many of his movies, some of it is a bit disjointed and the dubbing can be dodgy at times but overall it has a sense of style to it that belies its relatively small budget.
THE MAN WITH TWO BRAINS, 1983. Steve Martin, Kathleen Turner
I like Kathleen Turner better parodying the vampy femme fatale, in this film and Roger Rabbit, as opposed to Body Heat where she played it straight.
I still haven't seen All of Me. Is that the one with Lily Tomlin? there's also Dead Man Don't Wear Plaid. and of course the Jerk. I saw the Jerk as soon as it came out, but for some reason never saw the followups at the time.
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with Steve Martin and Michael Caine is a good one.
My hubby seems to be on sort sort of mission to find the worst British gangster film ever made.
I can't begin to tell you what rubbish I've watched the past couple of weeks.
We've watched all the 'Rise of The Foot Soldier' films which weren't that bad initially but did progressively worse as they went on.
We also watched a load where we didn't get past the first 20 minutes.
The most disappointing was one called 'We Steal The Old Way'. I had high hopes for it. It stars Ian Ogilvy, Julian Glover, Chris Ellison, Billy Murray and a load of others ... what a load of tosh!! First of all it had Ian Ogilvy doing some sort of cockney accent and then the acting was so hammy I couldn't watch it. Turns out there were two follow ups to it!!
I've also noticed how Steven Berkoff keeps popping up in these things.
Just watched Ad Astra. The only thing I knew about it going in was that it was Brad Pitt in space—had no idea of the plot, any of the other cast, or even whether it was set in an early, modern or future space exploration era. Ended up really liking the film. The story could have been a bit stronger and the pacing improved but the effects and cinematography—wow! In a pitch-black room with a big screen and surround sound, I was absolutely blown away.
Hoping to watch it this weekend sometime Tonight I watched a classic Halloween (1978) not the abomination of the Rob Zombie crap re-make
J Carpenter's homage to A Hitchcock still a masterpiece -{
"I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
I suppose it helps to be knocking on a bit to appreciate this film, and to see it at this time of year as the leaves turn to flame. This was on three years ago when my Mum was in her final nursing home (she died in October) so it has a certain resonance for me.
As the film unfolds it is hard to see how it could be any more enjoyable than it is...
Audrey Hepburn, Robert Shaw, Denholm Elliot, Nicol Williamson, Ronnie Barker, Ian Holm, Richard Harris, Kenneth Haigh, Peter Butterworth, Bill Maynard... How ironic that of all this supporting cast, the only one still alive as I write is old Robin himself - Sean Connery. -{
Me and my big mouth.
Still, if want a film to do the late Sir Sean justice at this time, you could do a lot worse than Robin and Marion.
Tonight I'm watching "The first great train robbery" from 1978 starring none other than Sean Connery. A leftfield choise perhaps, but that's partly why I'm watching it.
Is that the one where Connery says "I wash born and raished in he deshert" in his usual Scottish accent? I haven't seen that movie yet, but I'll love to.
Comments
So we're agreed ... Luke Evans for Bond??
The Welsh make great 007's
Starring Roger Moore, Gregory Peck. David Niven.
Based on a true story during WWII. The Germans are transmitting information, used to sink Allied ships, from the neutral harbour of Goa. British veterans from the Boer War are sent to take care of the problem. (This is a brief, simple description, so as not to give anything away, although I’m sure a lot of posters will have already seen it.)
Naomie Harris plays the lead as a rookie police officer in New Orleans (but she is also an Afghanistan veteran) who is trying to balance being a police officer and black, something that's not easy. Then she witnesses corrupt police officers murdering criminals in cold blood and she has to survive alone in the slums while being chased by a group of corrupt cops. The plot is very tense, Naomie does us proud and really convinces as action hero. Don't miss this one!
This a remake of the original 1950s sci-fi classic and the best version in my opinion. A
fantastic cast the film was remade twice more in 1993 as Body Snatchers ! and with our
Own Daniel Craig's Invasion in 2007
https://youtu.be/vc_0dlmSq7I Trailer
Later Donald Sutherland would also star in another alien invasion conspiracy film
" The Puppet masters " in 1994
As I recall, the pods were particularly disgusting, good biological horror, and there was a pod-malfunction involving a dog that gave me nightmares.
I've seen all three of these. For some reason, whenever I see the title Invasion of the Body snatchers, I think of The Day of the Triffids
I suppose it helps to be knocking on a bit to appreciate this film, and to see it at this time of year as the leaves turn to flame. This was on three years ago when my Mum was in her final nursing home (she died in October) so it has a certain resonance for me.
As the film unfolds it is hard to see how it could be any more enjoyable than it is. Connery and Hepburn, and a score by John Barry. Connery's facing up against his old FRWL adversary Robert Shaw as the Sheriff of Nottingham but the odd thing is, you hardly notice it and if you did, it would not enhance your enjoyment. For this is the Shaw of Jaws and other classics, and this is the Connery not of Bond but The Name of the Rose.
Do watch it from the beginning, which is set in the Middle East Crusades and has Richard Harris as Richard the Lionheart. It nicely sets up the sheer cruelty, pointlessness and brutality of the endeavour.
The film has its flaws. Connery may be a great cinema sex symbol but I'm not convinced by his romantic lead credentials. I can't think of many or any of his films where you truly believe he is in love with the female lead. He is simply too vain or self-centred an actor, or his presence is. (Moore was even more narcissistic but he did have some humility as time went on.) Connery's main interaction lies in sparring with other men - the father figures of M or the Bond villain in early days, the young Hollywood A-listers in his later years. As with his lusty on-screen encounters, it is all about reinforcing his sense of self and persona. Falling in love is more about giving up of yourself. I don't really see Connery's acting doing that.
To be fair, the film does address this as Maid Marion (Hepburn) rebukes him for just going off and leaving her.
The odd thing about the film that hurts on first viewing is that on the one hand it's big on versimilitude and on the other it plugs the Robin Hood myth. Which is it?
The supporting cast is great and after repeated viewings it doesn't matter so much that none of them are given that much to do, none of them really get their 'turn'. That said, the sheer downbeat nature of the film earns it respect, it is so devotedly anti-Hollywood.
I do wish Hepburn had been given less of a mid-70s housewife at C&A catalogue hairstyle.
The ending doesn't quite work for me, or does it?
The Ian Holm scene as King John is a mis-step - it's like something out of the Time Bandits (which Holm appeared in, as did Connery of course) than this film. His French princess is a bit hot too - you could imagine Bill and Ted whisking her away!
Audrey Hepburn, Robert Shaw, Denholm Elliot, Nicol Williamson, Ronnie Barker, Ian Holm, Richard Harris, Kenneth Haigh, Peter Butterworth, Bill Maynard... How ironic that of all this supporting cast, the only one still alive as I write is old Robin himself - Sean Connery. -{
Not to mention that acc to imdb, the young hot young actress who played Queen Isabella for all of 30 seconds went on to an illustrious career on the French screen where she is hot property today! {[]
Richard Lester the director is still alive but writer William Goldman and composer John Barry shot their final arrow in the air some years ago.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
It's a long time since I watched it, but I remember Connery as convinclingly in love in "The Russia House". Then again, who would't look convincingly in love with Michelle Pheiffer?
Damien -The Omen 2. I've seen these films many times, and love them
Satan Jr controlling events like Blofeld to achieve his aims. I also love
the inventive deaths they come up with, and hey a guy's got to have a
role model
Starring James Mason and based on a John le Carre novel. A British agent, with the help of a retired cop, investigates the apparent suicide of a government employee. Some interesting characters and scenes in this film and I enjoyed watching it.
Watched this tonight with Mr Spy, (he likes Naomie). Very good film. At one of the tense moments when Naomie's character was hiding from the police but they weren't actually around, we heard a siren and saw flashing blue lights and I thought she was going to get caught, but then I realised it was coming from the street next to ours
A brilliant movie {[] so many
Quotable lines.
I still haven't seen All of Me. Is that the one with Lily Tomlin? there's also Dead Man Don't Wear Plaid. and of course the Jerk. I saw the Jerk as soon as it came out, but for some reason never saw the followups at the time.
Steve Martin's first comedy special: The Funnier Side Of Eastern Canada, 1974
It's actually a near straight travelogue, where he takes us on a tour of Toronto and Montreal, but all done in his goofball style.
Most of the places he shows us in Toronto don't exist anymore, there's been so much development! The footage of Ontario Place makes me especially nostalgic...
I can't figure out why he did this. Later in his career he collaborated a lot with Lorne Michaels, Dan Aykroyd, Paul Schaffer, John Candy, Rick Moranis, Martin Short ... but none of those guys are involved, so what was his Canadian connection in 1974?
008: Operation Exterminate
Yet another lo-budget Italian spyfilm cranked out in 1965.
Starring Ingrid Schoeller as Agent 008, and Alberto Lupo as Agent 006.
I had recently seen Schoeller in an episode of the Saint, looking up her bio is what led me to this...
So, why did the Italians mass produce such a glut of James Bond ripoffs at the time? something to do with money-laundering perhaps? If other countries' film industries were also trying to cash in at such a scale, I don't stumble across their product so easily. These Italian made Bond-ripoffs are ubiquitous!
Mostly filmed in Egypt, some very nice location shots, with finale in Switzerland.
Schoeller plays the American spy who does most of the work, disguised as a nightclub chanteuse. Lupo is the British agent assigned to team up with her, kinda sorta looking like a more slope-browed Connery. He's basically her sidekick.
Get this: there is a dangerous anti-radar mcguffin that has been stolen and come up for sale in the black market. The spies of two countries are in Egypt, rivals teaming up to recover the technology. The villain traps them in the back of a truck, and drives them out deep into the Egyptian countryside and strands them there. At one point the sexy lady spy drugs her British male counterpart even though they're supposed to be working together. and so on...
I know when EON finally filmed The Spy Who Loved Me they couldnt actually use Fleming's The Spy Who Loved Me for plot ideas, but who woulda guessed they borrowed so much of the plot from this Italian obscurity?
The Game
Slick nourish thriller from David Fincher - not as dark as Seven of course. Released in 1997 it has touches of Tomorrow Never Dies of that year, with BMWs, corporate events and scenes of death set up to frame the innocent.
It has Michael Douglas as the lead, a dour rich businessman who is sent a mysterious present by his unreliable younger brother played by Sean Penn. But when he reluctantly engages with it, he finds he's bitten off more than he can chew and may be victim of a massive scam.
It reminds me of a 1980s film with Rosanna Arquette in which the guy is stranded in New York all night after losing his wallet and can't get home.
To say more would spoil what is pretty much a one-note movie but done with such style that you do wish Fincher had done Bond - but would he want to?
Roger Moore 1927-2017
...or maybe I just heard of the comic strip its based on, and didnt realise theres a film until you mentioned it?
but now I have to see this film: I see it's got Largo in it.
according to wikipedia, Dino deLaurentis produced this Diabolik film at the same time he made Barberella (which I certainly have seen), sharing supporting actors and technical talent between the two adaptations to save money. I would imagine these two Euro-comics films must make a good double bill!
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with Steve Martin and Michael Caine is a good one.
I can't begin to tell you what rubbish I've watched the past couple of weeks.
We've watched all the 'Rise of The Foot Soldier' films which weren't that bad initially but did progressively worse as they went on.
We also watched a load where we didn't get past the first 20 minutes.
The most disappointing was one called 'We Steal The Old Way'. I had high hopes for it. It stars Ian Ogilvy, Julian Glover, Chris Ellison, Billy Murray and a load of others ... what a load of tosh!! First of all it had Ian Ogilvy doing some sort of cockney accent and then the acting was so hammy I couldn't watch it. Turns out there were two follow ups to it!!
I've also noticed how Steven Berkoff keeps popping up in these things.
As you would expect, I watched most of it through my fingers and cringing.
How he does it I'll never know.
Halloween (1978) not the abomination of the Rob Zombie crap re-make
J Carpenter's homage to A Hitchcock still a masterpiece -{
Me and my big mouth.
Still, if want a film to do the late Sir Sean justice at this time, you could do a lot worse than Robin and Marion.
Roger Moore 1927-2017