The Rundown 8/11/12

In honor of one of the shows I've watched lately, I'm going to put together a catch-all post RIGHT NOW. Okay, it's not that big a deal, but anyway...

Mission Impossible 4 - I watched MI4 this week and had a reasonably good time. Lots of running, fake outs and high tech stuff going on to hold my interest. A little more humor this time out as well. The movie does get carried away with the CGI though, there are sequences (like the sandstorm chase in Dubai...I think that's where the chase was) where I felt like I was playing a video game more than watching a film. Seems like a good warm up for Jeremy Renner in getting down the whole spy moves thang for his Bourne films.

The Newsroom - The new HBO series is for the most part a winner. It kicks off with a fictional news anchor making one of the best public speeches I've heard (and can only exist in fiction) before portraying a news program attempting to adhere to strict journalistic standards. Shades of Broadcast News, one of my all time favorite films, runs through the whole bit with moralistic ethics being discussed among soap opera characters sweating out each others love lives. Jeff Daniels goes gunning for Emmy glory with a strong turn as a hyper intelligent, narcissistic, insecure news anchor. There are some weak points, Daniel's character Will McAvoy is the most left leaning Republican ever and as my wife has noted there is a blatant The Office style Jim and Pam relationship going on with two characters. Plus when it comes to ethics, they are sticklers on verification of information on specific news stories (and make a big deal about it), yet feel free to carry out their personal political agendas on air (such as doing a week long tear down of the Tea Party). The Newsroom does capture a feeling of an adrenalin rush in the pursuit of factual information as well as reveal some nice pocket sized bits of knowledge (the 1 minute modern economics lesson was cool). And hey, Sam Waterston sighting!



Skyfall - The James Bond trailer is out and I have the same reaction every time before I see the whole movie. This movie's gonna be dope yo! Even if they did bring back the "signature gun" gimmick like in Licence To Kill.


Already Gone - I haven't had a song follow me around in many a moon, but it happened today. Kelly Clarkson's "Already Gone" played twice in my presence at two different places. I think this was the song co-written by that guy from One Republic, that Clarkson said he recycled the beat he already had given to Beyonce for her hit "Halo". Meaning that the beat to her song was...you know what I'm going to say...already gone...


The Olympics - Just can't get excited about this thing. I saw the women's bronze volleyball match on tv though, that was a good match. Also saw some of the closing ceremonies. What a weird program that was. It was supposed to invoke the best of Britian, but after witnessing warmed over new wave hits, a creepy giant sized John Lennon face and too much Jessie J it all seemed like a big mistake. On the upside, USA won the medal count.

Midnight Madness - Chuck Edition

Chuck has made his return to NBC with new episodes, three eps in two days, and brought the magic back. Go Chuck!

And Away We Go - art house director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road To Perdition) is in talks to direct the next 007 outing. This sounds really promising, Road To Perdition had a great mix of interesting characters, dark drama and shoot out action. I hope he gets the job and sounds like a great pick.

American Oh No - More British news, Simon Cowell has made this upcoming season the last he will be on American Idol. Enjoy the scathing sarcasm directed towards young adults while it lasts folks. Who else has a knack for crushing young people's hopes as good as Cowell? My wife and I discussed it, our best bets are David Lee Roth or Howard Stern. I think Stern would be awesome, he'd bring a rude crassness that could up the ante from Cowell's harshness. Though Roth would definitely be flashy and fun.

What's The Key? - No one will mistake me for a hip hop kinda guy, but I do like the R&B ways of Alicia Keys. The first two singles from her recent album have come and gone with little notice, though her album is selling well. But why the lack of hit songs (not including her #1 hit team up with Jay Z)? Particularly since the recent "Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart" was good? At least she can always fall back on her booty call.

Boulevard Of Broken Dreams - Green Day's stage adaptation of American Idiot is going to Broadway. If it becomes the new Mamma Mia, that will be scary. Grandfolks all over New York singing Green Day...or should it be Greed Day.

I'm Gonna Break My Rusty Cage And Run - Chris Cornell announced the long awaited reunion of grunge masters Soundgarden. Sludgy guitar riffs and soul shredding screaming will rule again!

Overexposed Movie Advertisement Of The Week - I think they'll finally stop now that the movie has opened, but I say enough of the adverts for Daybreakers. Vampires that rule the world and are running out of humans to suck on. A "where are they now" cast of Ethan Hawke and Sam Neill. Can you say overblown high concept hooey filmed through an annoying green tint? Can you say bad cash in on left over ideas from this Vampire thing that has been beaten to death? I predict the next Vampire movie will have something to do with space, it makes no sense, but I just think it will. And monkeys. Blood sucking space monkeys from outer space starring Mark Wahlberg. You heard it here first!

Nothin' Matters And What If It Did - No reason to type this other than I always wanted to lead off a post with this John Cougar album title.

What's a Nine? - Seriously, I haven't bothered to look this up but see this CD everywhere I go. What is it?

Big Poppa Pump - Psyche! Thought I was going to say something about Scott Steiner (and all the non wrestling fans say "Who's that?")? Mark McGwire finally finally finally admits to using steroids in his baseball career. In the early 90s when I worked in a theme park, McGwire once walked past me. The man's bicep was literally as big as my head. His admission explains a lot.

Mini DVD Reviews:

• Slumdog Millionaire (2008) - The Academy Award winning movie for Best Picture actually lived up to it's hype. The gimmick of revealing a character's life through flashbacks of a game show is ingenious. Director Danny Boyle gets the right balance of humanizing characters and telling a moving story of an earnest underdog. Good flick.


• The Hangover (2009) - I got this movie as a Christmas gift and had read a lot about how this was supposed to be funny. Good comedy is one of the toughest types of movies to make, surprisingly The Hangover actually is funny. Breakout comedy performances, mainly by Zach Galifianakis as the slightly off odd ball, power a strong ensemble of no name actors. Todd Phillips gives fine direction capturing the boys club atmosphere ably as he has in the past (Old School). Funny and well executed


• Race To Witch Mountain (2009) - The Rock says this: I want you to take that space ship, shine it up real nice, and shove it straight up your candy ass!!! A remake of a beloved 70's Disney favorite (well, beloved by me I worshiped Escape To Witch Mountain as a kid) is simplistic to a fault but I was real tired and wanted a no brainer movie to watch. This fit the bill nicely. It's disposable film making on a big budget (the special effects were decent).

I Live And You Die

...is the title I thought was more fitting for James Bond's adventure Live and Let Die. The 2nd novel in Ian Fleming's seminal series, Live and Let Die takes 007 from the streets of Harlem to sunny Florida and across to tropical Jamaica. Reading this book, it seemed closer to the James Bond movies in scope and expanded on Bond's friendship with CIA agent Felix Leiter. Having said that, it differed quite a bit from what would become the movie that served as Roger Moore's debut (I often thought Moore looked the closest to Fleming's description of James Bond physically, minus the facial scar).

First, the pluses of Live and Let Die. Fleming does a great job of broadening Bond's character, his attitudes towards women (very sexist - women are to be desired, pursued and protected only), towards other races (pre civil rights benign racist) and food (one thing I have noticed in these books is every freakin' meal gets detailed. Dude loves his eggs in the morning). A slow tension builds throughout the story, the feeling of always being watched and worrying about every move being a give away to his cover is almost palpable.

At the same time the cause of the tension is troubling because the book has such a pre-civil rights attitude towards other races. This made the first half of the novel hard to get through because it's built on the premise that all black people know each other and form a network that leads to a Mr. Big who keeps authority through fear of his voodoo powers. I guess I shouldn't be surprised by this approach since the book was written in the '50's when people referred to each other in more openly racial tones, just from modern eyes it's hard to stomach.

The second half of the book is when the story gets cracking. A great section comes when Bond decides to sneak into an exotic fish warehouse maintained by Mr Big at the docks in Florida. After CIA agent Felix Leiter investigated the same place and was half eaten by a shark, 007 stealthily sneaks into the building and finds the hidden criminal loot he's after in a fish tank before he's spotted and dodges enemy fire. Though he is temporarily captured, Bond is able to overpower his holder and force the enemy into the shark pit. This whole part was adapted in the Timothy Dalton era Bond movie Licence To Kill (1989) and comes across even better on page then it did on film (which was pretty good on this part).

An even better section occurs with Bond's approach of Mr. Big's Jamaican base. He has to walk underwater through shark and squid infested territory to sneak up on the island. You can feel fear as every air bubble risks detection as squids and sharks swim around while Bond carries a large explosive with him. This part I don't remember being in any Bond film (though I guess Thunderball could get close) and is a thrilling part of the book.

Live and Let Die was used as a sort of general outline as Moore's first cinematic venture as the famed spy bears only slight resemblance to the source material. Because the movie was made in the early 70's it edged more towards the popular exploitation films of the time ("Did you mess with that?") and had bigger stunts of course (the book doesn't have record breaking boat jumps). Plus you can't hear a killer Paul McCartney theme song from a piece of paper. And I kept picturing Jane Seymour as Solitaire, she does fit the description Fleming gave of the virginal psychic. Still, the book is miles ahead of the movie, you almost can't compare the two. So for Live and Let Die the book, Dixie says:

Royale With Cheese

The artwork on this book reminds me of the decor of a Korean restaurant I ate at yesterday.

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His name is Bond...James Bond. The original James Bond. My cousin picked up a full collection of James Bond novels written by Ian Fleming in a nice paperback set. She lent the set to me so I'm going to do some book reviewing on these as well as comparing it to the movies they spawned. I've been a fan of James Bond for a long time now, since College though I've seen some of his movies before then. Of the books, I've only read two or three so this should be fun. A new discovery so to speak.

The first book in the series is Casino Royale. Being a book instead of a movie, it functions differently just by its nature. James Bond in the book is more of a brooding type of fellow, more emotional and nervous. It seems Timothy Dalton had the right approach as far as bringing this version of the character to life on screen. Bond is not cool and impervious as he waltzes through danger zinging one liners left and right. This James Bond is a tense man, always aware of his role as a spy and trying to figure out the schemes he's embroiled in. Sometimes he's right, sometimes he's way off. He is given to more emotions than the films imply, showing anger or love or surprise openly.

There are similarities to the films though, James Bond is a spy with a double O number (meaning he has killed in the line of duty) who is a bit of a risk taker. He goes to exotic locations and meets beautiful women and evil men. The evil men are not people out to rule the world, just small parts of it so to speak. Not a lot of gadgetry and there are some differences in his trademark devices: Bond carries a Baretta with a skeleton grip as his gun of choice and drives a Bentley instead of an Aston Martin.

Reading the book, of course I was picturing Daniel Craig because this was his first movie as 007. I was surprised that the film more or less followed the story presented in the book. James Bond is sent to Casino Royale to gamble against Le Chiffe (an overweight monger as presented in the book versus the sleek red blood crying guy in the film) to force the bad guy to lose money needed to fund Russian operations. Assassination attempts are made against Bond which he survives by luck and desperation. Like the film, Bond defeats Le Chiffe at the tables so Le Chiffe kidnaps his female partner, the beautiful Vesper Lynd. Le Chiffe captures Bond by forcing a car accident (with a spike strip) and tortures Bond similarly to the movie. But SMERSH, the Russian killer arm of their secret service, is unhappy with Le Chiffe's activities and kills him.

So very close to the movie so far, minus the Die Hard / Raiders Of The Lost Ark like airport fight and the assassination attempts are carried out differently. Being the 1950s when the books are written, James Bond is much more sexist here than in the films. When Lynd is kidnapped he goes to rescue her out of duty more than affection because it feels its her sex that causes her stupidity in capture.

It's the second half of the book that differs from the movie a bit. It takes Bond longer to recover in storytelling time and it is during that recovery that he falls for Vesper. They take a vacation together that has a bit of a Vertigo feel as the pace of the story slows. 007 becomes reflective and philosophical about his line of work and whether he would be happier married to Vesper doing something else. Meanwhile Lynd becomes mysterious, running hot and cold on Bond depending on the day. An underlying tension develops as Lynd seems to panic about mysterious men and secret phone calls until she eventually kills herself. Her suicide note to Bond reveals she loves him but is a double agent working for the Russians (this is the Cold War, working for Russians is very bad!). She was trying to keep her first love held by the Russians alive by being a double agent.

Further than the movie goes, it was Lynd who tipped off the Russians of Bond's assignment including developing opportunities to have 007 killed. Granted this isn't as exciting as a fist fight in Venice inside a crumbling building and because of the movie I knew a betrayal was coming, yet this version of Lynd's death had a lot more power. Like Jimmy Stewart in Hitchcock's famed film, he discovers true love only to have it taken from him like a kick to the stomach. I actually wish it was the book version of the story that was filmed, but then again who knows? When Casino Royale was made it was rumored to have reshoots because there wasn't enough action.

As a book on its own, Casino Royale is packed with adventure to far off places. More background on the places Bond goes is here. He is less of a ladies man in the book and is fooled more easily as well. The story is told in a taut pace and I finally learned how baccarat works. Because this is pre-Civil Rights, the book take on Vesper Lynd is that she is appears less intelligent and accomplished than her cinematic version. Much more manipulative though.

The movie adaptation introducing Daniel Craig as the super secret agent stays true to the most part to the spirit of the book which is cool. Even though details are changed the story arc and intent is pretty faithful to the source material.

Casino Royale is a strong spy story with a nice angle focusing on the intense gambling of the first part and the Vertigo like mystery of the second part. Dixie likes this one, she gives Casino Royale the book an:

Quantum Mechanics

Getting cover from enemy fire is easy in Quantum of Solace, it's getting out of cover that's hard.

Like movies, there are certain games that define a franchise. For James Bond that game was Goldeneye, the classic first person shooter that combined stealth and button mashing frenzy into a Walther PPK of fun. Except for the excellent Everything or Nothing at All or From Russia With Love games, the James Bonds that followed were copies or updates of Goldeneye. And in the first video game of the Daniel Craig era, the Bond formula stays intact. Goldeneye it is then.

The heart of the game is still sound, you try to sneak around buildings and bases disabling security equipment until you're spotted. Then, you pull out a personal armory and unload all kinds of weaponry on the bad guys who saw you. As an update of Goldeneye, the surroundings have gotten more detailed and the artificial intelligence of the opponents are much smarter than in the past. No more camping in a safe spot and picking off eight people in a row as they run through the same doorway, oblivious to the stack of dead bodies in front of them. No, this AI dodges your aim and thinks pretty reasonably. The environments come with exploding and breaking parts which add to the fun. A lot of natural gas canisters litter the playing field, shoot one of those and watch three or four enemies go up in smoke. Story wise, they manage to combine Casino Royale and Q of S together albeit clumsily. Sounds like Quantum of Solace is off to a good start.

My only real issue with the game is the controls. The Wii's controls for movement are extreme, even with sensitivity settings I find the foot movement and buttons sluggish. You try to run away from a timed bomb but Bond moves slow, so you push the button to sprint and suddenly you're stopping to hide behind a box instead. At the same time, the shooting and turning movement is hypersensitive and has a tendency to get stuck. Though to be fair, when it is working properly, the targeting is fairly accurate. And once I learned to minimize use of cover, jumping or running my game play improved.

There are some graphical glitches too but those are forgivable. Even with the game play issues I find I'm pretty addicted to Quantum of Solace, shoot 'em up games are a favorite of mine and the stealth system is pretty good here. Once I accepted the control issues, Quantum of Solace became a solid sequel to Goldeneye. I'm already going through the game a second time at a higher difficulty setting and enjoying my temporary licence to kill. It's fun to be a blunt instrument.

Top Five Favorite TV Shows and Movies

The end of 2008 creeps even closer, time to close the year out. Here's my five favorite TV shows and Movies of the past twelve months.

TV Shows

5. The Big Bang Theory

In it's second season, I found the Geekamania even more appealing as more focus fell upon supernerd Sheldon. Sheldon's anal retentive ways, cold logic and lack of understanding about human beings is like Mr. Spock in Star Trek IV minus the innocence. While Big Bang Theory won't be confused with great television, it's a fun time passer.

4. WWE Raw

How could I not pick the grappler's premier program? Wrestling still lacks the excitement of the 90's Attitude era though it has levelled off into a consistent spree of choke holds and jumps. And it's interesting to see people who were mid carders when I started to follow wrestling now get the Top Belts (the high flying mic fearing Hardy Boyz are both Champions now). Best of all, Chris Jericho dominated with his egotistical gimmick and rightfully was named Superstar of the Year.

3. The Clone Wars

The idea of a CGI cartoon Star Wars didn't appeal to me initially and poor reviews of the movie didn't help. But I gave the Cartoon Network series a chance and was rewarded with something better than 90% of the junk in those prequel movies. Better acting and tighter stories makes The Clone Wars light years ahead of any Phantom Menace. It's not amazing or at the level of the Original Trilogy, but at least you can watch The Clone Wars without shaking your head at how much what you're seeing sucks.

2. Family Guy

Lots of Animation Domination here, The Griffin clan is still my favorite comedy on TV. However, for the second straight season new episodes were hard to come by after the first four episodes. And with all those spin offs it seems like the jokes are getting spread thin. I really can't stand that I can see two new episodes of American Dad for every one Family Guy. The proposed Cleveland spin off means even fewer jokes to go around, I'm still a fan but a little disappointed. Disappointed didn't mean I stopped loving the crude and insane antics of Peter Griffin and gang, so they'll still rate high with me.

1. Chuck

The human dork computer rolled into the second season and caught fire. This year saw deeper characterizations while maintaining its tone of lovable farce. While too many episodes took place at the main set (the Best Buy knockoff Buy More), Chuck's canny use of spy head game madness, sexual tension (between Chuck and protector spy Sarah) and all out doofiness (an entire episode revolved around a secret code if you defeated Missile Command) made for a weekly hour of entertainment fun.

Movies

5. There Will Be Blood

"I...drink...your...milkshake!" With that phrase, Daniel Day Lewis put the crown jewel on yet another dazzling performance. This time as a paranoid oil Barron, Lewis amazes in this epic meditation on greed and corruption. The story of a thoroughly unlikeable but completely relatable person writ large, There Will Be Blood is a textbook on how to make a good movie.

4. Quantum of Solace

Daniel Craig's second outing as 007 had good and bad points, action excitement and more insight on the soul of James Bond versus well intentioned yet overly stylized direction. Sort of reminiscent of Licence To Kill and The Man With The Golden Gun in tone, Craig expanded on his gritty Bond. I'm sure once it's on DVD I'll watch it 50 more times and get even more out of it. For now, Quantum of Solace is an interesting, deeper yet intermittently exciting addition to the 007 canon.

3. Iron Man

Shellhead locked and loaded with a stand out popcorn flick. Robert Downey Jr brought in an offhand sense of humor while maintaining enough gravitas to sell the drama. Backed by a cast of Academy Award winners and nominees, director Jon Favreau delivers the goods. Like Iron Man himself, the film is part man part machine and designed for maximum impact. Though it didn't answer the one question I've had about Iron Man through the years: how smart is it to place weaponry built into your palm? You go to scratch your head and boom! No more head.

2. Wall - E

Pixar continues to create groundbreaking CGI, though this time out it was less about the actual graphics than the content. The first half hour was almost silent which is asking a lot of a kids audience. But it worked, it worked because Wall-E is well made by creating lovable characters that appealed to both children and adults. Sly social commentary about pollution and sloth also gets worked in nicely. A kids movie that has an artistic edge is tough to pull off. Wall-E makes it work.

1. The Dark Knight

The greatest Superhero movie ever made, The Dark Knight hits all its marks. Adrenalin pumping action, characters that stand out yet are true to the comic roots, brilliant direction and art direction, first class acting performances...the list goes on and on. While there certainly will be a Batman 3, The Dark Knight is so good it's actually worth stopping the series now. You just can't beat perfection. Plus, we all get to do that low gravelly "Batman" voice for fun. Talk like you're taking a big dump that's stuck and say "I'm Batman". Guaranteed hours of entertainment! Okay, maybe I need to find higher forms of entertainment.

And that wraps up the high points of 2008 for me. All right 2009, bring it on!

The Bond Identity

You're all talk: The new 007 adventure focuses on characters and feelings more than gadgets and explosions.

Today my wife and I went to the movies to check out the latest 007 adventure, Quantum of Solace. The second film to feature Daniel Craig as James Bond. This time out, Bond somberly pursues revenge on the mystery men who killed his girl Vesper Lynd in the prior film. The trail leads Bond to a shadow company of intelligence operatives and big money buisness people that none of the official intelligence community has a clue about. Tracking down these people is Bond's professional assignment as he knows its all tied together with whoever is responsible for Vesper's death.

Revenge has been done before with Bond in the equally somber Licence To Kill (1989) but the results are far more satisfying here. Real effort is made to deepen the character of James Bond in ways that hit closer to the Ian Fleming origins. In Q of S, Bond is a hard drinking insomniac haunted by the death of both Vesper and the people he's killed. Craig owns his performance, commiting fully to making his Bond the most lethally cunning of them all. Also developed in this movie is a better relationship with his boss M. While Dench's M remains a maternal scolder, her role is similar to Richard Crenna's Colonel Troutman in Rambo. Her exasperated responses to Bond's latest killing spree hypes his character to new levels.

Quantum of Solace also gets a little deconstructionist of the Bond legacy by bringing in a real artsy director, Marc Forster. Forster plays against the traditional 007 structure by playing up his surroundings. In most Bond films, 007 is the center of attention everywhere he goes. Forster shows Bonds locations in detail through scenery and overlapping dialogue with extras, whether its in dilapilated cities, shiny buildings or the desert-Bond is a moving piece in a puzzle and not the final solution. Quantum of Solace, more than any James Bond film that has ever preceded it, is set in a current political climate of Foreign Wars, Oil shortages, the interlocking of international events and a wave of resource hording set in motion by the U.S. A fairly stinging indictment coming from the best known fictional Western spy in history.

The direction leans heavily on mood and characters, delving into the emotions of people more than blowing things up. In the film's best sequence, Bond crashes a secretive meeting of bad guys during a play. The movie toys with sound, sometimes even no sound and juxtaposition of the events in the play versus the action to strong effect. This new approach effectively shakes things up and makes you see 007 in a new way even as certain imagery (such as a blatant nod to Goldfinger mid film and the return of the Walther PPK as a weapon of choice) reminds you this is a Bond film. The villian, played by Mathieu Americ, continues Casino Royale's penchant for middle men bad guys. This time the baddie is the head of a conservationist company that comes off more like a ruthless buisnessman than a mastermind.

There are weak points to the movie though. Forster (Monsters Ball, Finding Neverland, Stranger Than Fiction, The Kite Runner) directs the action sequences in a way that is exciting but confusing. The shaky closeups create a splashy style that makes it easy to lose your bearings in. The Bond girl, Olga Kurylenko, is given a superfluous role that the movie would have actually benefited without. And while I was digging the focus on characters and spy agency vs spy agency interplay, there are some long gaps between action sequences that left some of the audience yawning.

But the real weakness in Quantum of Solace is how much it borrows from The Bourne Supremacy, the best of the Jason Bourne films. In Bourne Supremacy, Jason Bourne is out for revenge of his murdered lover to a certain degree, the early hand to hand combat scenes and high tech spy agency quarterbacking also echo in Q of S. Even the muted coda at the end has shades of Bourne Supremacy to it.

With these critcisms you might think I didn't enjoy Quantum of Solace, but I actually liked it a lot. The Bond film makers are trying to give Craig his own style and succeed in giving James Bond some emotional weight. It was fun to see how 007's actions reverberate across the spy and governmental community. Also, I think James Bond hasn't done this much intelligence gathering since From Russia With Love (1963). Quantum of Solace is likely going to go down as a "stand alone" venture like On Her Majesty's Secret Service because of its art house leanings making it hard to categorize. For my money, I consider Quantum of Solace to be one of the better Bond films even though it falls short of the great ones.

The World is Not Enough for James Bond

James Bond goes digging for information on Sylvia Trench in Dr. No.

"Family motto" is what James Bond says of the phrase and title of the 1999 adventure The World is Not Enough. Over the years, the world of James Bond has developed in various ways to change with the times. To wrap up my cluster of Bond posts, I'm going to run through my most and least favorite Bondian items. Just because it's fun.

Favorite Bad Guy - Good villains are hard to come by so the evil scheming Goldfinger is the best in my book. Ruthless and greedy in every way with no conscience whatsoever. He'll even try to do his own dirty work if he has to. And a fetishist to boot. Plus the originator of that famous quote, "No Mr Bond, I expect you to die!" Next Runner Up: Rosa Klebb from From Russia With Love. Stern and severe in appearance, she schemes to kill others with true conviction and a poison tipped shoe.

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Least Favorite Bad Guy - General Koskov from The Living Daylights is a worthless waste of space played maybe a little too well by Jeroen Krabbe. A spineless fool that presented a greater challenge to Bond than he should have. Next Runner Up: The infamous Ernst Starvo Blofeld because in each movie he appeared in he was a different actor and character, really. Other than the grey suit and white cat, there was no consistency going from the scar faced slug Donald Pleasance to the athletic Telly Savalas to the mundane, cultured Charles Gray. Really frustrating in that during the early Bond era his character was the top dog and yet changed from one film to the next. I'll also give an honorable mention to Drax from Moonraker, he was like Orson Welles without any charisma so all you got was annoying pomposity.

Favorite Henchman - Richard Kiel's mighty metal fanged Jaws was a formidable foe. A giant of a man with nigh indestructibility, the only weak point he had was speed (or lack of it). Even though his edge was watered down considerably by the end of Moonraker, Jaws remains the most famous of the Bond thugs. Next Runner Up: Red Grant from From Russia With Love sidled up to Bond like a colleague before betraying him. He gets the upper hand on 007 and would have killed Bond if not for the old exploding brief case trick.

Least Favorite Henchman - Reynard from The World is Not Enough, obviously this film is a mixed bag to me. Because of a bullet travelling slowly through his brain he cannot feel pain. This is supposed to make him dangerous, but unless you're in a fist fight I really can't see how. And for the first half of the movie you're led to believe he's the main bad guy, but in the end he's not even that. Massively unimpressive. Next Runner Up: The dude from Thunderball who gets shot with a harpoon gun on the beach. So weak I can't remember his name. I just remember Bond harpooning him and saying "I think he got the point."

Favorite Bond Girl - My favorite of the Bond Girls (or Women, whichever your preferred term) is Diana Rigg as Teresa Di Vicenzo from On Her Majesty's Secret Service. I was a fan of Rigg anyway from her work in The Avengers where she played a superspy of her own, Emma Peel. With Rigg, Teresa had guts, razor sharp intelligence and a karate chop you could believe in. Beautiful and dangerous plus maybe a touch unbalanced, the ultimate Bond Girl (or Woman). Next Runner Up: Sophie Marceau as Elektra King from The World is Not Enough. Her character was similar to Rigg's except she was wwaayyy unbalanced and not handy in a fight at all. Sex was her weapon and she wielded it well. An honorable mention for Halle Berry as Jinx in Die Another Day. Then again, she is an Oscar winner so how could she not be great? Oh yeah, Catwoman. It is possible for her to be bad after all.

Least Favorite Bond Girl - I guess I gave it away by naming Tanya Robert's Stacy Sutton from A View to A Kill in the prior post. So I'll give a shout out to the Next Runner Up: Denise Richards as Christmas Jones in The World is Not Enough. By far the most vapid "nuclear specialist" to ever split the atom, all the eye candy on the planet couldn't keep her from dragging the movie down. She reels off her lines about nuclear power like its the first time she's ever heard the words.

Favorite Bond Girl Sexual Innuendo Name - You can't beat Pussy Galore from Goldfinger. The first time I heard that name, I laughed out loud in disbelief. Next Runner Up: A tie! It's Holly Goodhead from Moonraker. That's Dr. Goodhead to you. And Sylvia Trench from Dr. No and From Russia With Love. She's the one who says her name backwards first to serve up the opportunity for the famous 007 line "Bond...James Bond."

Least Favorite Bond Girl Sexual Innuendo Name - Plenty O' Toole from Diamonds Are Forever is a name that really overstates the case. Next Runner Up: Octopussy from the movie...well, you know what movie. The name is so funny you can't take anything seriously about it. They were being true to Ian Fleming in that it did originate with him though.

Favorite Gadget - The Sony Ericsson phone from Tomorrow Never Dies. It can break codes, scan fingerprints, fire an electric shock and remote control a gadget car. Being able to drive your car from the back seat while calling and getting your e-mail plus tazering anyone you don't like is a really good deal. Don't taze me bro! Though I have no idea about its actual phone plan, does James Bond get rollover minutes and what's his roaming charges? Next Runner Up: The jet pack from the opening moments of Thunderball. Borrowed from the military, the item actually works. People have fantasized about rocketing around the sky ever since.

Least Favorite Gadget - Little Nellie, the helicopter put together from suitcases, from You Only Live Twice. What's funny is that Little Nellie actually flies and works the way it is shown in the film minus the weaponry. You open a bunch of suitcases to take the parts and connect them together into a one man flying machine. But the way it was filmed looked so fake it may just as well been made up as far as the film goes. It should have been mindblowing because it's real, but the intercut close ups of Connery clearly on a rear projection sound stage ruins it. Next Runner Up: The mini bear claw in Bond's shoulder holster for Diamonds Are Forever. It is used when a bad guy tries to disarm Bond and ends up with a metal clamp cutting into his fingers. A gadget like that is just an accident waiting to happen.

Favorite Bond Car - It's the classic Aston Martin DB5 with the oil slick, smoke screen, front machine guns, tracking device and rear metal shield from Goldfinger. An iconic vehicle that never goes out of style. Next Runner Up: The BMW Roadster from Goldeneye. The thing didn't even have any gadgets, but did you notice how many seemed to get bought after the movie got out? It's a nice looking car.

Least Favorite Bond Car - I don't have one, they're all cool rides. Although Bond may have been driving a Ford Escort in Casino Royale.

Favorite Action Sequence - The Tim Dalton era may have been weak, but the last 30 minutes of Licence to Kill is heavy duty action. Big Rig Tanker Trucks pursue, roll around and collide into each other as Bond hunts down the drug dealing Sanchez. Yes, the truck stunts are obviously unrealistic with the driving on one side of tires or wheelies but I'm willing to buy into it for that half hour. The image of the flaming jeep flying off the road and clearing over a plane? Awesome. Next Runner Up: Speed boats go crazy in Live and Let Die as they ramble through the rivers of Louisiana including a record setting boat jump.

Least Favorite Action Sequence - The showdown between Scaramanga and James Bond at the finale of The Man With The Golden Gun. It just lacks tension and after a whole movie of hype about how bad ass this confrontation would be, the actual event dragged to a close. Next Runner Up: The fire truck chase in A View To A Kill, it goes beyond fantasy into pure stupidity. Somehow Tanya Roberts was supposed to be racing a firetruck all over the hills of San Francisco while screaming her head off and taking her hands off the wheel.

Favorite Death Trap - Sometimes the simplest is the best, in Casino Royale Bond is tied up naked to a chair with no bottom. Then he is mercilessly beat down under with some heavy object tied to a rope. Sympathy pains! Next Runner Up: The underwater dragging of Bond and his girl by a boat in For Your Eyes Only. Of the many death traps, this one seemed very plausible as something that has probably happened in life.

Least Favorite Death Trap - The laser beam machines in Die Another Day, a clear homage to Goldfinger that doesn't quite cut it. Next Runner Up: All of the trap doors in elevators, bridges, etc. How many times can you have someone fall into a water tank filled with sharks? No wonder Dr. Evil wanted laser beams on the Shark's heads, you've got to do something to up the ante.

Favorite Pre Title Sequence - The opening minutes to The Spy Who Loved Me has Bond doing some razzle dazzle on skis before going off a cliff into a deep chasm. Just when you think he's a goner, out pops a parachute with the British Flag. It's the best of the Bond in-your-face-bad-guys moments. Next Runner Up: In Goldeneye, Pierce Brosnan and his stunt double does a huge leap off the top of a dam to descend to the bad guy base at the bottom. It's a fantastic stunt and big intro for the Brosnan 007.

Least Favorite Pre Title Sequence - Licence to Kill opens with promise as bad dude Sanchez arranges for his lover's lover's heart to be cut out. Then it falls into silliness as Bond captures Sanchez by descending on a flying plane via crane hook from a helicopter. Bond and Felix Leiter parachute down to the exact church Leiter is being wed at. Even when you suspend disbelief, this is hard to swallow. Next Runner Up: Blofeld meets an inglorious end at the start of For Your Eyes Only, as helicopter mayhem and eurodisco background music lead to Blofeld being dumped in a smoke chimney.

Favorite Theme Song - The Roger Moore era got off to a good start with this dynamic dose of Paul McCartney rock and roll, Live and Let Die. It's just a great song on it's own without any movie to back it up. Next Runner Up: Carly Simon's Nobody Does it Better extols the greatness of 007 to a sweeping 70's soft rock backdrop.

Least Favorite Theme Song - Swanky 70's vibes can't save The Man With The Golden Gun by Lulu. To Sir With Love it ain't. Next Runner Up: Matt Munro's From Russia With Love is a victim of it's time, probably perfectly acceptable in the early 60's but dull dull dull now.

Favorite Title Sequence - The Spy Who Loved Me is classic Maurice Binder, slo mo nude silohuettes, guns and gymnastics. Next Runner Up: You Only Live Twice has a great mix of Asian women, Japanese fan designs and volcanos. One of Maurice Binder's most facinating sequences.

Least Favorite Title Sequence - Casino Royale had a lot of great things going for it, but the title sequence wasn't one of them. Weird computer animated cut outs break apart and form together in a playing card theme. Next Runner Up: Tomorrow Never Dies is just OK with its various computer effects. Seems there is just no replacing the original as both sequences were made after Binder's passing.

Favorite Location - The island of Crab Key in Dr. No. A tropical paradise that looks very relaxing when not getting shot at or attacked by mechanical dragons. Next Runner Up: The famed Volcano base in You Only Live Twice. The definitive bad guy lair for Bond films, metal ramps and monorails hidden inside a volcano.

Least Favorite Location - The Ice House in Die Another Day. There's extravagant and then there's dumb. A whole building interior made to look like the inside of an ice cube. Lame! Next Runner Up: Las Vegas in Diamonds Are Forever. What happened in Sin City should have stayed in Sin City, cheesy decor included.

Favorite Felix Leiter - It was unofficial Bond, but Bernie Casey was my favorite Leiter from Never Say Never Again. He was believable as a fellow secret agent that helps 007 along while poking fun at him. Next Runner Up: Jack Lord in Dr. No. Book 'em Dano.

Least Favorite Leiter - John Terry was the Leiter for The Living Daylights, Terry was bland and forgettable. To be fair though he wasn't given the chance to play the role with meatier material in Licence To Kill. He might have been able to turn it around.

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Favorite Cameo - Geoffrey Palmer appears as a British Admiral in Tomorrow Never Dies and promptly gets into it with Judi Dench's M. Palmer and Dench co-starred on the British series As Time Goes By and their familiarity shows.

Least Favorite Cameo - Madonna in Die Another Day as a fencing master. It's a blatant star move that takes me right out of the movie.

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This post ended up being a bit longer than I originally planned, that's all of the categories I can think of right now. Will Quantum of Solace add to the list?