Sam Mendes Returns to Direct Bond 24!

Alrighty then time to post up some news and boy is it some good news. There hasn’t been much new information on the next installment in the Jame Bond film series and who the director will be, but it seems like we have some new developments on those issues as you can see from the following article from superherohype:

“Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, EON Productions; Gary Barber, Chairman & CEO, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; Michael Lynton, CEO, Sony Entertainment, Inc, and Amy Pascal, Co-Chairman of SonyPictures Entertainment today announced that Daniel Craig will once again return as the legendary British secret agent in the 24th James Bond filmand Sam Mendes will also return to direct the screenplay written by John Logan. The film is set for release in UK theaters on October 23, 2015 and in US theaters on November 6, 2015 (currently the same date as Ant-Manand Peanuts).

Skyfall, the 23rd James Bond film, took in $1.1 billion worldwide and set a new mark as the highest-grossing film of all time in the UK; it was the best-selling Bond film on DVD/Blu-ray and was the most critically acclaimed film in the history of the longest-running film franchise.

Commenting on the announcement, Wilson and Broccoli said, “Following the extraordinary success of ‘Skyfall,’ we’re really excited to be working once again with Daniel Craig, Sam Mendes and John Logan.”

“I am very pleased that by giving me the time I need to honour all my theatre commitments, the producers have made it possible for me to direct ‘Bond 24.’ I very much look forward to taking up the reins again, and to working with Daniel Craig, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli for a second time,” said Mendes.

Barber added, “We are thrilled to reunite the extraordinary talents of director Sam Mendes with our star Daniel Craig for the next great Bond adventure.” He added, “As evidenced by the phenomenal success of our last collaboration with EON Productions and Sony, the incredible legacy of this 51-year-old franchise continues to amaze.”

Lynton and Pascal said, “It’s a privilege to work on the Bond films. EON, John Logan and Sam Mendes have come up with an extraordinary follow up to ‘Skyfall’ and we, along with our partners at MGM, can’t wait to share this new chapter with audiences all over the world.””

Okay all I have to say is, YES! It seems like after all the reports of Sam Mendes openly stating that he would not return to direct another Bond film he has just decided to do it anyway. I am kind of surprised considering how adamant he was that he wouldn’t return due to numerous factors that he listed, but hey he’s back and I’m not complaining  To be honest I think this is really the best option for the Bond series, don’t  get me wrong I would have loved to see another director helm the famous spy series, but when you have a great director like Mendes that practically gave you the most commercially successful film (Skyfall) in the series’ entire history, you’re gonna want him back to do it again right? Skyfall was wonderful and I liked what Mendes did with it, I can’t wait to see what he and Daniel Craig get up to in the next installment. Now we’ve got another film to add to the year that is 2015, fucking hell that’s gonna be a BEAST of a year yo! 😀 XD

 

Skyfall Review

I have waited a very long time for this film and not since The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises have I been this hyped for a film. I feel like the wait for Skyfall has been a very long and painful one, but now it’s here and I’ve finally seen it. So was it worth the effort? Well I can easily say that this is one of the best films this year.

The premise for the story in this film goes something like this:

“Bond’s loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.”

The plot in Skyfall is very good, the script is well-written and there’s a surprising level focus on the characters that was very welcome for me. What I mean by that is that this film’s story really does center around the main characters of Bond, Raoul and M, as the plot thickens things get more complicated for each of them and there is a great deal of drama and revelations to discover. I also liked how much danger there was in this film, and as seen in the trailer the identities of undercover agents gets leaked online, MI6 HQ is attacked and then there’s the obvious fact that Bond gets taken out of action then has to get back into his groove when all of this chaos is going on around him. There are also some interesting secrets to discover in Skyfall and some great nods to the past for fans to enjoy.

But what’s a good story without a good cast? Luckily Skyfall has a brilliant cast in place. Let’s start with Daniel Craig as Bond. Now he’s been playing the character for 3 films over the space of 6 years and since Casino Royale he’s become one of my favourite actors. In Skyfall he continues to show me why I think he’s so badass, Craig is totally relaxed in the role and displays Bond in some of his coolest and most badass moments, but also at his most emotional too. Now let’s talk about Javier Bardem, he has always been known as this badass in most of the films he’s been in and his acting skills are pretty damn good. I still haven’t forgotten his awesomeness from No Country For Old Men and in Skyfall he is just the best guy ever as Raul Silva he was intimidating, had a great presence and a level of charisma that makes him stand out from many previous Bond villains. Bardem is just simply wonderful in this film, I loved how his character interacted with Bond and M, and I do believe he’s the best Bond villain for a while. And Judi Dench as M was wonderful, I’ve always liked Judi Dench as M, but this is the first time where her character has come to the forefront of the story and been very relevant to happens, all I can say Dench was wonderful in the film.

Then there’s Ralph Fiennes as Gareth Mallory, Fiennes is just badass in everything he’s in and that’s no exception here. While his role isn’t as big as say Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter, he was still cool in the film and had his moments to shine. Naomie Harris as Eve was pretty awesome, I thought she had good chemistry with Bond and it was great to see not only a female MI6 agent, but also a Bond girl who could handle herself in the field of battle. Bérénice Marlohe as Sévérine was totally classy and sexy, I liked her part in the film and I just wish her character had been in the film a lot longer. And lastly Ben Whishaw as Q was awesome, I don’t really recall about the old Q to draw up comparisons, but I thought that Whishaw brought a lovely well of intelligence and wit to his role and I liked his conversations with Bond, they were pretty humourous.

When it comes to the presentation, Skyfall has all bases covered. The action scenes and sequences are really great, with some great camera work and some really crazy and creative scenes for the good guys and bad guys to work with. But it’s really all about the cinematography in Skyfall. The cinematography is insane! I loved a lot of the scenery from the scenes in Istanbul to London, but I really loved the scenes in China, that’s when the cinematography comes alive. The use of lighting, colours and shadows is especially impressive! Also the soundtrack by Thomas Newman was great and very memorable which I was very surprised about. Now obviously David Arnold handled the previous two Bond soundtracks and while Casino Royale‘s soundtrack was awesome, Quantum of Solace‘s wasn’t very memorable at all. Newman’s soundtrack for Skyfall is very different in tone and feel from the previous Bond films, but it sounds undoubtedly sexy, cool, emotional and most importantly it sounds like a Bond soundtrack! And obviously I made my thoughts clear on the song “Skyfall” by Adele, if you haven’t read that post you can see it here. But in short I think it’s pretty good, though I feel like it could be better.

Its been said by some critics that Skyfall is the best Bond film since Daniel Craig starred as the character back in 2006 and in a way it really is. Sam Mendes was a great choice to direct this film because of his understanding of the Bond series and also because of his great film career too. There is many things to love about the film like how there is this central link between Bond, Raoul and M or the way Skyfall manages to fuse the newer Bond film elements with some of the older elements from the former films and just I loved the level of nostalgia in this film whether it be visual or audio-based. For me while this film is clearly better than Quantum of Solace, I still feel like Casino Royale was superior, why? I guess it’s because it first Bond film in a while to be really different, edgy and dark, plus I’ve watched it so many times already haha.

In conclusion Skyfall is a great return to form for this series, this film feels bolder, darker and connects with you on a much deeper emotional level. And with brilliant direction from Sam Mendes, awesome action sequences, fabulous lead performances from Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem and Judi Dench, and sexy presentation both from the visual and audio standpoints, Skyfall is a great Bond film to watch at the cinema and I highly recommend it!

Happy 50th anniversary to the James Bond film series, it kicks so much ass!

Rating: 8.5/10

Well there’s my review peeps, thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts on the film in the comments below! Until the next time, laters! 😀

 

Counting Down The Days Til Skyfall!

Okay so here we are on October 19th, exactly one week away from the release of the next James Bond film, Skyfall. And to be honest my hype is building with each passing day, I just want the film now!

I’ve started seeing this poster all over the place, I can’t escape the hype of Skyfall!

I really have been looking forward to this film for a long time and now that is so close I’m freaking out almost as much as I was when I was waiting for Sonic Generations last year. And it I am trying to avoid all of the TV spots and behind-the-scenes stuff because I want to fully enjoy this film and not be spoiled by the media promotion beforehand like I was with The Amazing Spider-Man earlier this summer. It also didn’t help when I was at the cinema last week in 3 of the 5 films I saw they were playing the Skyfall trailer and I had to try avert my eyes. So now I’m being very cautious on the internet and trying to avoid everything so that when Friday comes around next week I’ll be clean and ready to watch the film. I’m probably going to re-watch Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace again to gear myself up for Skyfall and then hopefully leave the cinema after seeing Skyfall feeling ultimate satisfaction.

BRING ON NEXT WEEK FRIDAY YO! 😀

 

Adele’s Skyfall Song Review

So here we are just weeks away from the 23rd entry in the James Bond film series, Skyfall. And after months of rumours and speculation, the main new theme song for latest Bond film by Adele has been released and to be honest it sounds pretty good!

 

Now I have been looking forward to this new theme for a while, I mean I remember around 2 years ago when Muse were rumoured to do the new Bond theme song, and while I would have loved to have heard a Muse-styled theme song, solid information on that never materialised. So I think it was at some point last year or earlier in 2012 it was rumoured that singer Adele would be the next in line to produce the next Bond theme and with her track record in the music industry it would seem like a safe bet. And now here we are in the early part of October and the song “Skyfall” from the film of the same name has been released.

For me I listened to it as soon as it became available and from the time the song started I listened to it very attentively because Bond theme songs are very important and really do shape the style and atmosphere of the film it accompanies. The song is a very nice, original and nostalgic-feeling type of Bond theme and the key thing that stands out about “Skyfall” is that it really does sound like a classic Bond song like something along the lines of Shirley Bassey’s “Goldfinger” or “Diamonds Are Forever” mixed with some of 90’s Bond themes like Garbage’s “The World Is Not Enough“. This song feels modern, but also established. I love orchestrated music and the way it’s implemented in this song along with Adele’s vocals is nice. It is a great theme song, however I wish it had a bit more power to it. Adele’s vocals weren’t pushed to the limit and prefer when singers go the full 10 miles for Bond songs. The classical instruments didn’t fully explode and I love theme where this build up and then have a massive breakdown or get really hyped up towards the end like my personal favourites “Live And Let Die“, “A View To A Kill“, “Goldfinger” or “Goldeneye” to name a few.

Overall “Skyfall” by Adele is pretty good and even though the song’s only been out for around 3 days, the early reception it has received has been very good. Most fans and critics agree that it was better than “Another Way To Die” (even though I kind of like that song, it really grew on me). It’s hard to tell how well this Bond theme will hold up in years to come or how it will stack up against Bond themes of the past. I guess we’ll see after the release of the Skyfall film when it hits UK shores on October 26. Bring on Bond! 😀

 

My Response to My Favourite Version of James Bond

I found this article to be very interesting and great to read as I do love the James Bond films and there are always going to be occasions where you get asked which actor was your favourite version of the James Bond character. I like how in this article the writer brings some interesting and great points about each individual actor’s interpretation of the Bond character and the films that they were in. I’ve been watching Bond films since I was a kid and since then my interest in the Bond film series has grown and changed a great deal. At first Pierce Bronson was my favourite Bond because the way he looked, but as I grew up I came to appreciate Sean Connery and quickly became my favourite version of Bond. There was something about the way he moved and spoke that just screamed out ‘cool’ and sophisticated to me. He was just the pure awesomeness. At the same time I’ve come to like Roger Moore to some degree as Live and Let Die is one of my favourite Bond films. Obviously in more recent years I have gained a great appreciation for Daniel Craig especially after Casino Royale came out (one of my favourite films ever!). And if Skyfall is as good as I hope it’ll be and he does a few more films I think Craig will be my new favourite Bond. Only time will tell.

Fandango Groovers Movie Blog

Talking about James Bond in last weeks Radio Times, film critic Barry Norman made the statement: Ask anybody: who is your favourite James bond? I guarantee the answer will be the first one they ever saw”. I’m not sure if I am more discerning or just awkward, but it isn’t true of me. To the best of my knowledge and memory the first Bond I saw was Roger Moore in Live and Let Die. Moore is far from my favourite Bond, but I have recently come to the conclusion that I don’t know who my favourite Bond is! For years I have always claimed it is Sean Connery with the caveat that Timothy Dalton is the closest to the character from Ian Fleming’s novels.

I hold with the popular opinion that George Lazenby was the worst Bond, and this is a great shame as On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is…

View original post 395 more words

 

My Comic-Con News Round-Up Part 2

Okay so here’s the second half of all the stuff I’ve read up on and feel is relevant from all the happenings at Comic-Con 2012.

Man of Steel

Besides all the crazy stuff going down at Marvel this was something I was curious to know more about. The new Superman film entitled Man of Steel has me intrigued. To be honest I would really like to watch a good Superman film, besides the first Superman film with Christopher Reeve in the 1970s and even that doesn’t really hold up well in the current world of superhero films in my opinion (besides having a badass theme song by John Williams!). There hasn’t been a proper good, modern Superman film to compete with the likes of Spider-Man and Batman and while I don’t like Superman nearly as much as the two previous superheroes  just mentioned, I do have a nostalgic place in my heart for Superman from watching the 90s animated TV series and Justice League too. So when I heard Zack Snyder was gonna direct the film I was hella worried, while he has the action side of things down, not many of his films have much beyond that, but since Christopher Nolan is supervising the project too it gave me some hope.

So at Comic-Con there was much to be said about Man of Steel and from what I’ve read on multiple websites the overall response to the new film is very positive and shows good promise for the future… And it’s all thanks to the trailer that was shown at Comic-Con. The trailer happens to have a much more grounded and realistic tone to it and it also features a lot of connections to the comics too. The fan response has been amazingly positive with many saying that any doubts about the film have been discarded altogether. As far as I know the trailer won’t be released to the public until The Dark Knight Rises comes out, but since that’s not that far away now I really can’t wait to see it myself. Other than the trailer that was shown, the new Superman costume was on display giving us a much better look at the finer details of costume and there’s also been the confirmation that Hans Zimmer’s score of Man of Steel will not feature the classic Superman theme song as they want to create a soundtrack of their own as if the original one didn’t exist. Overall I am really interested in seeing how this new Superman film turns out, I just Zack Snyder’s crazy influence doesn’t mess up the good source material.

Godzilla Reboot

Now this was something I was not expecting to hear about at all. I was just cruising through IGN checking through a lot of the Comic-Con news and then out of nowhere I was stuff about the Godzilla reboot and I mentally blew up! This is something that I have been paying attention to for quite some time and the fact that there was even just a poster shown meant that this film was definitely going into production sooner rather than later with Monsters director Gareth Edwards at the helm. Apparently there was some sort of test footage shown which was apparently a short CGI video made by Industrial Light & Magic and apparently it was well-received by most who saw it and it set the tone for this new film. I for one am interested to see where this new Godzilla film goes, I mean it can’t be any worse than the that American version from the 90s right? Haha.

Deadpool Game

Okay when I heard this game was announced on Superherohype I was automatically happy and excited for the prospect of a comic book character like Deadpool getting his own video game. For me Deadpool is one of the most underappreciated comic book characters and to be honest he deserves as much as publicity as Spider-Man, Batman and Superman because he is that awesome. So I thought we were just gonna get the announcement and nothing more and then I went back to Superherohype the day after and saw this trailer was out:

 

Now I don’t know about you guys but thing this is one of the coolest trailers I have seen for a video game in a while. It hits all of the right notes when it comes to Deadpool’s personality and character traits, its violent, action-packed, has sexual references and feels like the comic come to life. This game just looks like a right good time and I love how it’s being developed by High Moon Studios the developers behind Transformers: War for Cybertron and the upcoming sequel Fall of Cybertron. I think it also helps hat Deadpool has gained popularity in the last 3 years thanks to the Wolverine film and his increased appearances in video games from the Marvel Ultimate Alliance games to Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 too. This new Deadpool game is slated to come out in 2013 and I for one can’t wait to see how it turns out yo! Rock on Deadpool!

Well that’s it ladies and gentlemen, there was many other things going on at Comic-Con that I really didn’t have much time to write about but some of those films and TV shows were: The Hobbit, Pacific Rim, Community and Fringe. But obviously there is the big vast internet to use to catch up in all the big happenings at Comic-Con. I’m still trying to catch up on all the live panels I missed lol. Alrighty well at the next time people, laterdays!! 😀

 

The First Trailer For Skyfall

Howdy ladies and gentlemen of the web, just thought I’d drop by and do a blog post on the first trailer for the new James Bond film, entitled, Skyfall. If you haven’t seen the trailer watch it below:

Now I don’t know about you guys but I’ve been waiting for a trailer for this film for ages! I have been following this film since the time it was still known as Bond 23, when MGM was having its financial issues back in 2010 and then when production finally got off of the ground last year and everything that followed. So then in October last year we got the name of the film and in recent times there’s been video blogs of the behind-the-scenes action going on in Skyfall and it all seems sooooooooooooo cool. and just the other day we got the first official poster…

Looking fabulous, very classic, very stylish.

But now we finally have a trailer and it’s frigging awesome! It is technically just a teaser trailer, but I think it’s totally great. What we get here is an interesting interrogation scene with Bond as he’s asked a series of questions, at first it’s just the audio from their voices over other footage on-screen, but then the scene is intercut with other footage. And afterwards what we get is some shots of beautiful scenery, action, explosions and some lady time with Bond. This trailer gives a lot of the codes and conventions that come with a Bond film; we get suspense, action, chase sequences, explosions, love scenes and most importantly mystery. What this trailer does best is leave you asking many questions about what will follow. I also like how the James Bond theme song was incorporated into the trailer ever so slightly with a more electronic sound to it. For me it was lovely. Also as I mentioned before there is some lovely scenery in this film, the cinematography looks incredible from the footage that this trailer provides especially the shots from China, they look insane! The overall look of this film has a very classic Bond feel to them, but it also has the look of the modern-styled Bond films too. I’ve watch the trailer like 3 times already and I’m stupidly hyped for this now. The Avengers started off the “Awesome films of 2012” train and Skyfall looks like it will follow-up that awesome train after the summer’s over. If this trailer is anything to go by, then the end result for this Bond film will be bloody awesome! 😀

 

Films I’m Looking Forward to in 2012: Skyfall

Good day to you ladies and gents, welcome to another blog post about Films I’m Looking Forward to in 2012. And today’s film is a very interesting and exciting one, it is the next instalment in the James Bond film series; Skyfall.

Like many other people in the world I love the James Bond film series, I’ve been watching the Bond films since I was young and have loved the different interpretations that each actor has brought to the films. Though I’ve never read the books and have only really seen around half of the full 22 current films out I do appreciate the film series highly. My favourite Bond film is Goldfinger and in turn it should come as no surprise to find out my favourite portrayal of the Bond character is Sean Connery because he is just the best. It’s fact. Now of course in recent years the mantel of James Bond has been taken up by Daniel Craig who so far in my opinion has done a pretty damn good job.

Daniel Craig first came onto the scene as James Bond in Casino Royale back in 2006 with Martin Campbell as directors. This film rebooted the franchise to make way for new and exciting ideas and the film shook the world when it came out. Prior to the film’s release everyone thought Craig was the wrong choice and that the style of the film was far too removed from the original formula, however the film was a financial and critical success. The film was praised for its story, characters, edginess and action sequences. Many fans and critics viewed Casino Royale as a Bond film that had several of the conventions found in previous instalments, but also as a film that changed the formula by having a darker and grittier elements in place. Bond himself was less experienced, more rough around the edges and a little more emotional and it was unlike anything audiences had seen before. So with the success of that film in play the sequel followed in 2008 in the form of Quantum of Solace with new director Marc Foster in the director’s chair. QoS continued the story arc from Casino Royale which had Bond head off on a mission that was not only personal but was also very difficult too. Unfortunately QoS wasn’t the sequel most were hoping for, it couldn’t outdo its predecessor and though the film did make a lot of money, it got a mixed reception. Most reviewers continued to praise Daniel Craig’s performance and a many agreed it was the best aspect of the film along with the action sequences, however most agreed the film had a weak plot, bad characters and that the film wasn’t as good as Casino Royale. It was at this time that most people thought Bond was becoming too much like Jason Bourne and that action was becoming too much of the focus over the character-driven style of previous films.

The first official picture from Skyfall where we see Daniel Craig sporting his swimming trunks again like in Casino Royale.

And so here we are in 2012 on the dawn of a new Bond film, 4 years since Quantum of Solace and the signs for this new film is very interesting, mysterious and intriguing. Let’s start with the cast, returning again are Daniel Craig and Dame Judi Dench as James Bond and M respectively, oh and we also have Rory Kinnear as Bill Tanner (MI6 Chief of Staff) returning from Quantum of Solace. But its the new cast members that cause eyebrows to be raised in curiosity. Firstly we have Javier Bardem as the main villain, a very impressive and interesting choice, after seeing him in No Country For Old Men I’m really interested to see what he does here. And there’s appearance of Ralph Fiennes that has me super excited, he is a brilliant actor from his work in The English Patient and Schindler’s List to the Harry Potter film series as Lord Voldemort he’s just all-round brilliance and I have no doubt that whatever he does in Skyfall is going to be amazing. Another interesting actress in this cast is Naomie Harris. Man, since the time she was cast there was rumors circulating throughout the news tabloids and internet that she was going to be the new Miss Moneypenny which caused some people who believed the rumor to go into an uproar saying that she can’t be Moneypenny simply because she was black, reminds me of the hate that Idris Elba got when he became Heimdall in Thor. Though Harris was eventually cast a field agent named Eve and she dismissed the speculation about her attachment to the role as Moneypenny. Also speaking of veteran characters, in Skyfall we have the return of the character of Q who will be played by Ben Whishaw. And the rest of the cast look varied and cool so I’m definitely watching out for these guys in the film.

The plot of this film sounds pretty badass too as it seems to be much deeper and more interesting than the previous two films as it can be seen from this short premise:

“James Bond’s loyalty to M is challenged over secrets from her past. When MI6 is attacked, it falls to Bond to seek out and eliminate the threat regardless of the cost to himself.”

It has already been noted by Daniel Craig that the story in this film isn’t related to Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace and I think that is a good thing because I feel that story arc was concluded and to drag it out would be unnecessary. From reading this premise it also seems like the writers of this film are continuing the edgy style of story that has preceded this film, but it has a greater level of because M is involved and can see that there will definitely be some high stakes and character-driven storylines in Skyfall. I also want to talk about Sam Mendes as Skyfall‘s director. Now as many people may be aware he was the director of award-winning films American Beauty and Road To Perdition and he was also responsible for directing Jarhead, Revolutionary Road and Away We Go, so when it comes to directors I feel like Skyfall is in good hands and I think maybe Mendes may be the one to bring the human side to Bond films after Quantum of Solace‘s efforts.

With all of the set pictures, story information and cast members announced so far Skyfall is shaping up to be a great Bond film. There is a lot of mystery surrounding this film and a lot of answers still needing to be answered. In my opinion it has been too long since the last James Bond film, sure I understand that MGM had financial issues and there were other complications with this film being made, but now its in production and I’m getting excited and impatient as always haha. When this film comes out here in the UK on the 26th of October I’ll be one of the first to run into the cinema and watch this film, may even watch it in IMAX if I have the funds 😀 I guess we’ll have to wait until after the principal photography ends to gain more information on the film, as for now all I can say is I’m super excited for Skyfall and a trailer couldn’t come any sooner. Bring on the next James Bond film!