I’m excited about Quantum of Solace, the new James Bond movie releasing in November. Actually I’m excited about quite a few films right now, including The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow’s new film that played at the Toronto Film Festival and just got a distribution deal. Bigelow rocks as a director. And I’m over the moon about True Blood on TV. But we’ll get to all that another time… today is superspy angst and action, baby!
I’m a Pierce Brosnan fan (loved him in The Matador), but my James Bond heart belongs to Daniel Craig. I think he does an excellent job with the essential tension of Bond, the roughness and rage that is intrinsic to the character no matter how well he wears a tux. With Casino Royale I was glad to see a turn back towards the core character, a Bond who relies more on his wits and his gun (or his hands) than on techno-toys. A more human Bond than the screenwriters and producers have allowed for a long time.
And the trend seems likely to continue in Quantum of Solace. If you’re wondering why the wacky title, the story is here. Not the title I would have chosen, but it’s James Bond, you know? People will find it.
I’ve got two trailers to show you today, because it interests me that they are very different in how they frame one’s expectations. The first is a real mood piece without a lot of information, the second more focused on action and the revelation of story. I admire how the two layers come together in the line “You don’t have to worry about me,” which take on such different tones in the two trailers.
The art and science of trailers is fascinating to me, the way they can spin a story just by recombining snips of action and dialogue. I wonder how that would work with books — imagine a word-trailer that would shape expectations of the story just by the phrases one chose to include.
Oh no, I feel my brain saying to itself, Oh cool! Avoidance behavior!. No, no, I have too much to do today. Quick, let’s watch a trailer before I fall down the rabbit hole.
Agreed. For my money, Daniel Craig is the best James Bond since Sean Connery (and if he’s just as good in this one as in Casino Royale, he might edge out Connery as my favorite Bond). I also hope they give Judi Dench more to do in this installment. (I know, I know, M doesn’t usually have that much to do in these movies, but it’s Judi Dench!)
Judi Dench just gets more awesome (grin). I hope they give her more too.
It’s just nice to see everything played more seriously. I was getting tired of all the techno-thrills and the characters/moments played for laughs.
Yay Kathryn Bigelow! The oldest stuff is my fave but I like how every movie is different and interesting in a new way.
I just went to “Frozen River” – hesitated to see it because the ‘talk of Sundance’ is often a big disappointment, but was glued to my seat in an uncomfortable way for the duration – in other words, really well done.
Hey Carrie, nice to see you here!
I love KB. Blue Steel and Point Break are two favorites. And Near Dark is a brilliant film, but it’s harder for me to watch these days because the violence is so relentless and so gleeful, and I don’t seem to have the same stomach for it that I used to. But wow, what a movie.
I am looking forward to Frozen River, although I will have to sneak it onto the Netflix list when N isn’t looking, since it’s a Serious Film About Anguished People (grin).