Posted on 11/10/2006 6:55:46 AM PST by goldstategop
Just got back from seeing, "Casino Royale," the new James Bond movie, the 21st installment. My reaction:
Bring back Sean Connery . . . . Bring back Roger Moore . . . . Bring back George Lazenby . . . . Bring back almost anybody (but not Timothy Dalton or Pierce Brosnan). This new dude, Daniel Craig, just doesn't cut it. He's DULL. No charisma, no charm, no suavity and debonaireness.
Too old and haggard looking. And he's way too thin (scrawny) and small (hair's too short and ears stick out, too--like Alfred E. Neuman). Very blah. Not sexy. Nice eyes, but nothing behind them. Would Sir Ian Fleming fancy this guy playing Bond? Doubtful.
Daniel Craig
James Bond is meant to be tall, dark and handsome. Not small, blonde, and nebbishy. Jeans, a biker shorts swimsuit? James Bond wouldn't be caught dead in Daniel Craig's "Casino Royale" everyman mallwear.
And the plot . . . oy. James Bond, MI-6 Secret Agent, is fighting the enemy in a boring poker game. Puh-leeze. There's a reason "The World Series of Poker" is not an action adventure spy movie. It's a yawner.
I predict Daniel Craig will last about as long as Dalton. As in not very. He's just not hot. Ironically, both leads, Craig and French Actress Eva Green got had their biggest roles to date in Islamist movies, he in "Munich" (playing Steven Spielberg's phony version of a Mossad agent uttering outrageous statements Mossad agents would never utter, but in which he, ironically, looked more like James Bond--beefier and with better hair) and she in "Kingdom of Heaven."
Gotta say I agree with (the new, female?!) "M"'s line in the movie: "I miss the Cold War." I do, too. Because without it, James Bond is boring. And out.
Stay tuned for my complete review when the movie comes out.
****
Fave DebbieSchlussel.com James Bond flick: "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," starring George Lazenby, the one and only time he played Bond. Also liked, "From Russia With Love," "Goldfinger," and "Dr. No."
Fave DebbieSchlussel.com James Bond: George Lazenby, with Sean Connery a close second.
Fave DebbieSchlussel.com James Bond villain: Blofeld (full name: Ernst Stavro Blofeld), as played by Telly Savalas (Blofeld was also played by Max Von Sydow).
George Lazenby as James Bond & Telly Savalas as Blofeld
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
Yeah, that will happen. I bet they will come up with a plot about some fundamentalist Christian organization that Bond will have to save us from.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
"Bond. James Bond. Whoa."
The computer animation in the tv add looked "cool" like old paperback art (although not necessarily taken from the Bond bookjackets).
Other than that, it looked to me like a REBOOT of the series.
The woman is in charge and it take place in the modern era, no?
Why CAN'T we watch a period film about the Cold War? Why is it we can only have period "bad guy" films about Nazis? Is there THAT much reluctance to say that the USSR was an evil empire?
I have higher hopes than Debbie does..
but then Ive been a 007 fan since I was a wee litttle right winger.
I caught Daniel Craig in an earlier exhibition of talent last night while watching "Layer Cake".
As an up-and-coming, un-named, mid-level criminal, Craig wasn't bad; but nowhere near the perfect fit of Sean Connery's Bond.
Roger Moore was first offered the role of Bond in "Dr. No", but turned it down due to his playing Simon Templar on the BBC's "The Saint".
Connery grabbed it up and made cinematic and iconic history!
George Lazenby wasn't a bad Bond at all, especially opposite Diana Rigg. All other Bonds beyond have had less and less appeal.
"From Russia With Love" is still the best overall Bond film, followed closely by "Goldfinger" and "On Her Majesty's Secret Service".
Jack.
Another person who never read the books. Ian Fleming's Bond had NOTHING in common with the movie Bond.
Who care what Schussel thinks?.
She's a tenth-rate Ann Coulter....with an Anglophobic chip on her shoulder.
The fact that she thinks Craig is 'too thin' make me wonder if she even saw the film.
Im as redblooded as any man,but even I have to admit Craig is fine shape...
...this is too thin?...
http://popcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/Daniel%20Craig.jpg
'Dear Ms Tenth-Rate Ann Coulter,
The whole point and reinvention of Bond in CR IS that it is his first mission.
He is not yet the ultrasophisticate Bond,but an ex-SAS man,a blunt weapon.
Sorry if you didnt grasp this,Miss Schussel.Even if everyone else has...'
Debbie needs to cut back on the coffee. She's always over-the-top in a desperate for attention sort of way. It looks like this Bond is better than the last one, which I consider the worst in the series.
I liked the two Dalton movies and Lazenby in OHMSS, by the way.
Hi,thanks for reply.
I came across Ms Schussel just recently.I dont rate Coulter much,but she is Shakespeare compared to this woman...
Re Bond,I will be going to see it tomorrow night.Ill let you know what I think.
And I too liked Dalton(as a fan of the novels,he was closer to the Bond in them) and OHMSS is my fav Bond film.
Craig 'small'?
I have a friend at 5'10 who was a 'runner' on the excellent 'LayerCake',and he says Craig was taller than him...sorry dear but he IS 6ft....
I liked what Debbie had to say about what was going on in Dearborn, Michigan...
But, in this case, I don't know...
Boring card game? Does Debbie know that there actually was a card game in the novel CASINO ROYALE?
She liked OHMSS...That movie was very close to the novel.
I will listen to Michael Medved on Friday...I am sure that he will review CASINO ROYALE...
Medved liked Pierce B as Bond...He gave favorable reviews of his last two Bond films...
"I'M AN F.B.I. AGENT!!
You crossed the line.
People trusted you and they died.
You gotta' go down."
Looks like the entire planet disagrees with Debbie...96% POSITIVE rating for this film at 'Rotten Tomatoes'...that's almost unheard of.
Just saw it and it was very good. Not as gadgety but it seemed like it was done more professionally. I wanted to hate the new bond but he did a great job. Just one freepers opinion.
Calling MrsEmmaPeel - they are talking about you. ;)
You are too kind
First she trashes Borat which most people in the UK and US,inc conservatives,love.
The she trashes Casino Royale and Daniel Craig...only for critics,fans and filmgoers around the world rave about Craig's performance and the film itself.
Is she bereft of taste or just stupid.....?
Wrong!
The new Bond is razor-sharp, cool, well-dressed but without affectation, and -- I say this with an unblemished record of staunch heterosexuality -- one hot stud.
If the movie were twice as long, I would have been perfectly happy to sit through the whole thing.
Craig and Co. has refreshed, renewed and rethought Bond for our age, one with far more danger and real gadgets (making fictional gadgets obselete). The new Bond is ready to go teeth to teeth with anyone and fight to the death. The new Bond is more chiseled and discplined and athletic. The new Bond loses almost all of the tired old camp (with just a whisper remaining here and there) but still knows how to crack a joke and have a good time.
The new Bond knows just which women (women!) to conquer -- the married ones -- therein making Danger his middle name.
The new Bond fits easily into any drawer. The new Bond has never seen a horse like the Tennessee Stud. The new Bond means well. The new Bond sees you and raises you ten. The new Bond always swings on the first pitch. The new Bond knows when to hold 'em. The new Bond eats dessert first. The new Bond believes everything he reads. The new Bond sees you when you're sleeping. The new Bond builds strong bodies 12 ways. The new Bond always leaves room for Jell-O.
I could go on.
Someone seems to love the old Bond films. Do we look like we give a damn?
What, you say? You disagree? Have at thee -- I have an itch a bit to the right.
I agree. Debbie Schussel is wrong again. I liked Connery's early efforts the best, but this new one is the shot in the arm the franchise needed. I think Schussel was writing a review based on rumors of the film. I doubt she even saw it.
Yeah, something tells me she either didn't see it, or went in with an opinion and didn't pay attention.
If it weren't so late, I'd head into Manhattan right now and see it again. Hey, I might do it anyway!
By the way, the opening credits were so cool. Modern twist on the old tradition of the animated credits.
Even cooler was the way they worked in the trademark "firing down the barrel" opening. As to the complaints some have about the card game: they should blame Ian Fleming. Most of the novel was about the card game (though it was chemin-de-fer instead of poker). The plot of the film was mainly from Fleming's novel.
I actually like the card game. It reminded me of the old Westerns -- except now in the modern saloon, Casino Royale.
But that building coming down -- that really took the cake. Stunning visuals throughout the whole film.
I saw Casino Royale this weekend. Debbie is out of her mind. Daniel Craig is great, and not even close to being a metrosexual.
Sean Connery never had to be told how to wear a tuxedo.
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