Sir Roger Moore, 1927-2017

Roger Moore, famous for his portrayals of master spy James Bond and master criminal Simon Templar, is dead at 89, reports the BBC.

Behind the scenes with James Bond in 'You Only Live Twice'

from Dangerous Minds:

 

The revolution of the sixties kicked off on October 5th, 1962. This was the day The Beatles released their first single “Love Me Do” and Sean Connery was launched on to the big screen as James Bond in Dr. No. Between these twin poles of movies and music the decade began. By 1967, The Beatles were the most influential band on the planet while Connery was the world’s best known actor, and iconic star of the most successful movie franchise of all time.

During the filming of the fifth James Bond movie You Only LIve Twice journalist and presenter Alan Whicker—best known for his rather snide, tabloid and often condescending reporting—made a documentary examining the success and cultural obsession with Ian Fleming’s super spy, or as he termed it “Bondomania.” Whicker bangs on about sex, sadism, amorality and violence, quizzing Connery, producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and screenwriter Roald Dahl—who disagrees with Whicker’s insinuation, describing Bond as a “tough, rather insensitive fellow who’s very good at his job.”

 



 

The Bond format of gadgets, girls and guns was set by the previous two movies Goldfinger and Thunderball. This time Dahl’s screenplay pushed the form to the limit—dumping most of Ian Fleming’s original novel and inventing his own comic book narrative—an action scene on average every five minutes—throwing Bond into unrelenting danger until the final climactic moments.

Dahl considered You Only Live Twice to be “Fleming’s worst book, with no plot in it,” and he therefore filled the movie with his own quirky inventions—rocket gobbling spacecraft, a volcanic island disguised as a mini Cape Canaveral, and so on. I think Dahl’s criticism harsh, as I am on the side who think Fleming’s books are actually superior to the films, as they reveal a conflicted Bond, insecure, violent, remorseful, smoking, drinking and popping pills to keep himself functioning. Fleming gave Bond an emotional narrative—from strong, confident agent to broken, haunted spy obsessing over his own mortality—which the films have generally ignored.

You Only Live Twice was the last Bond novel published in Fleming’s lifetime—he died of a heart attack, aged 56, two months after its appearance—the last novel The Man with the Golden Gun and the story collection Octopussy and The Living Daylights were published posthumously. The film was to be Connery’s last Bond until Diamonds Are Forever in 1971. The title comes from a haiku Bond writes when he is “reborn” as “Taro Todoroki,” a mute Japanese coal miner, to gain access to Dr. Guntram Shatterhand or rather Ernst Stavros Blofeld’s Garden of Death.

You only live twice:

Once when you are born

And once when you look death in the face.

In Whicker’s film Sean Connery ‘fesses up to having only read one-and-half of the Fleming’s novels (which two I wonder?), and said that although he liked the author, he thought Fleming had no sense of humor. It’s one of the many little highlights this Whicker’s World special contains (others include Ken Adams discussing his set design—which apparently cost as much as the first Bond Dr. No—and an interview with Roald Dahl), but as Whicker obsesses about the “sadism and sex,” he tends to ignore the bigger issue why Bond is such an attractive figure to millions of fans.

 



 



 



 



 

 

GO See The New "SPECTRE" it's great!

Celebrating the new BOND film opening tonight!

James Bond Sensitivity Training with Jane Seymour from Funny Or Die

I just got home from a premiere of the new 007 film SPECTRE...

it was DOPE.

"My name is Bond, James Bond..."

off topic i know, had to escape for a few hours...

Having just seen Skyfall and finding it thoroughly entertaining, I thought I’d share this collection of previews from [almost] all of the series. Enjoy.

Dr. No (1962-Sean Connery)
From Russia With Love (1963-Sean Connery)
Goldfinger (1964-Sean Connery)
Thunderball (1965-Sean Connery)
You Only Live Twice (1967-Sean Connery)
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969-George Lazenby)
Diamonds Are Forever (1971-Sean Connery)
Live and Let Die (1973-Roger Moore)
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974-Roger Moore)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977-Roger Moore)
Moonraker (1979-Roger Moore)
For Your Eyes Only (1981-Roger Moore)
Octopussy (1983-Roger Moore)
A View to a Kill (1985-Roger Moore)
The Living Daylights (1987-Timothy Dalton)
Licence to Kill (1989-Timothy Dalton)
GoldenEye (1995-Pierce Brosnan)
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997-Pierce Brosnan)
The World is Not Enough (1999-Pierce Brosnan)
Die Another Day (2002-Pierce Brosnan)
Casino Royale (2006-Daniel Craig)
Quantum of Solace (2008-Daniel Craig)
Skyfall (2012-Daniel Craig)

Thanks, DangerousMinds

James Bond 50 Years Mini Mix Compilation

I can't front. I've done some stupid things in my life, in the name of James Bond. He's the motherfucking man! Seriously looking forward to the new flick. My personal favorites include mostly Roger Moore versions, including the incredible Blaxsploitation Bond: "Live and Let Die", also "The Man with The Golden Gun", and "Diamonds Are Forever". I think i've seen everyone, "Thunderball", "Goldfinger", etc. I think the only one I didn't like was "Moonraker".

James Bond for International Woman's Day

Daniel Craig as the international symbol of machismo, James Bond, goes through a dramatic transformation to help send a message about the inequalities that exist between men and women.

Directed by Sam Taylor-Wood and scripted by Jane Goldman, the video Equals was created for the Equals partnership, a coalition of charities brought together by Annie Lennox to celebrate the centenary of International Women’s Day on March 8th.

“Together we’re stepping up the call for an equal world. And we want you to join us.”

The voice-over is Dame Judi Dench reprising her role as “M.”

from DangerousMinds

Just like out of a Bond film: Inside the astonishing subterranean WikiLeaks bunker

Obviously my support of Wikileaks is unwavering and it's hard to imagine anyone thinking otherwise. Indeed THE REVOLUTION is being downloaded. But we've all read so much on our favorite blogs about every fucking angle on the story, i liked this unique one. And you know whenever anything BOND is involved, any guy from my generation ear's pop up.

from the Daily Mail (UK)

With his eccentric personal life and air of mystery, the flamboyant WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange seems to be doing his best to impersonate a James Bond villain.

How appropriate, then, that he has chosen what looks like an 007 film set as the back-up store for the thousands of confidential emails and documents that have shaken the world. These pictures show the Pionen data centre, 100ft below ground in a former Cold War nuclear bunker, where all the WikiLeaks files are being kept.


Nerve centre: Super-servers which act for storage for many companies are also used by WikiLeaks to store its information


U-boat back-up: Submarine engines are used as emergency generators at the Bahnhof internet service provider, in Stockholm, Sweden

The vast cave, drilled into granite under the Vita Berg Park in Stockholm, houses dozens of computer servers used as storage by many companies. Complete with a 'floating' conference room, suspended glass corridors, lunar landscape flooring, designer furniture, and even, intriguingly, German U-boat engines as back-up generators, all that is missing is the bleached-blond Assange himself, stroking a white cat.

The disused bunker was reopened in 2008 with its futuristic design the brainchild of Swedish architects Albert France-Lanord, who were inspired by Bond sets created by Sir Kenneth Adams. The brutalist design is softened by plants kept alive by brilliant solar lighting and artificial waterfalls. While on the run from Swedish and American authorities, Assange has had to use this secure base for his files.


Chilly reception: The bunker, drilled into granite under the Vita Berg Park, could withstand a nuclear attack


Plant life: The offices feature lunar-landscape flooring, glass corridors and a 'floating' conference room

WikiLeaks was hosted by internet retailer Amazon but it was kicked off its website following intense pressure from American politicians. Assange then used a French firm before being expelled from there as well. As a result, WikiLeaks has set up numerous 'domain names' in dozens of countries, each linked to one that keeps copies of the original files. Assange has turned to Sweden because the country's laws are some of the best in the world for protecting the work of freedom of speech campaigners.

Under Swedish law, WikiLeaks cannot be prosecuted and neither can the people who pass it information. Wikileaks is funded by a mixture of public donations, help from Assange's wealthy patrons and, so far as anyone can tell, a fair bit by Assange himself. But the cost of this storage will be very little, because although Assange's team have released several million documents, in data terms this is not a large amount. Everything WikiLeaks has in its possession could probably be stored on a high-capacity memory stick. However, putting it into the trust of this set-up - which any self-respecting Bond villain would be proud of - must surely pander to Julian Assange's huge ego.


Space age: Under Swedish law, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange cannot be prosecuted for publishing the sensitive information


Rock solid: The entrance to the Pionen high-security computer storage facility

A few more good pieces: Debating the changing nature of protest, Michael Moore "'Leaks Don't Kill People, Secrets Do" , WikiLeaks and 9/11: What if?