What I'm watching

Hi all, this tumblr mainly exists as a way of tracking all the movies I've been watching and some of the initial thoughts, and general feelings, I've had about them.

5/5 - Fantastic movies; movies which need to be seen and enjoyed by everyone.

4/5 - Movies which are very good but don’t have that spark which compels you to make others watch them as well.

3/5 - Average movies; watchable and enjoyable, but nothing which elevates them higher. The baseline all movies are given before watching.

2/5 - Can be watched but really bland and forgettable.

1/5 - Minimal to no reason to watch these films. It may have some redeeming factors e.g. it’s so bad it’s good or there’s one character that’s awesome enough to make it not a total waste of time.

0/5- Total waste of time. Nothing redeemable about these films.

As with every review blog/site, this is all my own personal opinion so feel free to take everything with a grain of salt.

Also I'm Scottish so all reviews will be in UK English. Get used to theatre, colour and words ending in -ised.

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Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor

 

How I rank the James Bond Movies #1 Goldfinger 5/5 #2 From Russia With Love 5/5 (These two are basically joint first. Goldfinger is a better Bond film while FRWL is a better film overall) #3 The Spy Who Loved Me 4.5/5 #4 Goldeneye 4.5/5 #5 Casino Royale 4.5/5 (This would be #16 If taken purely as a Bond film rather than a really good action film) #6 The Living Daylights 4/5 #7 You Only Live Twice 3.5/5 #8 Tomorrow Never Dies 3.5/5 #9 Live And Let Die 3.5/5 #10 Licence To Kill 3.5/5 #11 Moonraker 3/5 #12 The Man With The Golden Gun 3/5 #13 The World Is Not Enough 2.5/5 #14 Dr No 2.5/5 #15 Thunderball 2.5/5 #16 For Your Eyes Only 2/5 #17 Diamonds Are Forever 2/5 #18 Quantum of Solace 1.5/5 #19 View To A Kill 1/5 #20 Die Another Day 1/5 #21 Octopussy 1/5 #22 On Her Majesty’s Secret Service 0.5/5

How I rank the James Bond Movies

#1 Goldfinger 5/5

#2 From Russia With Love 5/5

(These two are basically joint first. Goldfinger is a better Bond film while FRWL is a better film overall)

#3 The Spy Who Loved Me 4.5/5

#4 Goldeneye 4.5/5

#5 Casino Royale 4.5/5 (This would be #16 If taken purely as a Bond film rather than a really good action film)

#6 The Living Daylights 4/5

#7 You Only Live Twice 3.5/5

#8 Tomorrow Never Dies 3.5/5

#9 Live And Let Die 3.5/5

#10 Licence To Kill 3.5/5

#11 Moonraker 3/5

#12 The Man With The Golden Gun 3/5

#13 The World Is Not Enough 2.5/5

#14 Dr No 2.5/5

#15 Thunderball 2.5/5

#16 For Your Eyes Only 2/5

#17 Diamonds Are Forever 2/5

#18 Quantum of Solace 1.5/5

#19 View To A Kill 1/5

#20 Die Another Day 1/5

#21 Octopussy 1/5

#22 On Her Majesty’s Secret Service 0.5/5

Order in which I rank the James Bonds #1 Sean Connery (Dr No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever) - The first and the best. #2 Pierce Brosnan (Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day) - Made Bond fun again after the seriousness of the late 80’s. #3 Timothy Dalton (The Living Daylights, Licence To Kill) - A little bit too intense in the role but what the series needed after the descent into comedy with Moore. #4 Roger Moore (Live And Let Die, The Man With The Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View To A Kill) - A different type of Bond but enjoyable all the same. Stayed with the series to long however. Should have stopped after FYEO. #5 Daniel Craig (Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, signed on to do Bond 23 and Bond 24) - Good actor but trying to make Bond too real. Bond needs a touch of the extreme and the fanciful to work properly. To much of a thug. #6 George Lazenby (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service) - Bland Bond in a Bland film. Glad he only did one.

Order in which I rank the James Bonds

#1 Sean Connery (Dr No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever) - The first and the best.

#2 Pierce Brosnan (Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day) - Made Bond fun again after the seriousness of the late 80’s.

#3 Timothy Dalton (The Living Daylights, Licence To Kill) - A little bit too intense in the role but what the series needed after the descent into comedy with Moore.

#4 Roger Moore (Live And Let Die, The Man With The Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View To A Kill) - A different type of Bond but enjoyable all the same. Stayed with the series to long however. Should have stopped after FYEO.

#5 Daniel Craig (Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, signed on to do Bond 23 and Bond 24) - Good actor but trying to make Bond too real. Bond needs a touch of the extreme and the fanciful to work properly. To much of a thug.

#6 George Lazenby (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service) - Bland Bond in a Bland film. Glad he only did one.

A young Dolph Lundgren (left corner) in A View to a Kill. Originally not supposed to be in the film but visiting his then girlfriend, Grace Jones (May Day), on set he filled in for an extra which was injured and unable to perform. Another interesting cameo is Maud Adams returning for a 3rd time to the series as one of the crowd members during the fisherman’s wharf scene. She was also only visiting the set, this time to meet her friend Roger Moore, and was included in a scene.

A young Dolph Lundgren (left corner) in A View to a Kill.

Originally not supposed to be in the film but visiting his then girlfriend, Grace Jones (May Day), on set he filled in for an extra which was injured and unable to perform.

Another interesting cameo is Maud Adams returning for a 3rd time to the series as one of the crowd members during the fisherman’s wharf scene. She was also only visiting the set, this time to meet her friend Roger Moore, and was included in a scene.

As well as Roger Moore’s final film, View to a Kill would mark the 14th and final time Lois Maxwell would play the part of Miss Moneypenny. Having been present since Dr No she would only be out done by Desmond Llewelyn in the part of Q in number of total films present in but is still the longest running recurring character in terms of uninterrupted films (Llewelyn wasn’t present in Dr No or Live and Let Die). She would leave the producer Albert Broccoli as the only remaining participant in the series which had been present since Dr No. Maxwell asked that her character be killed off but Broccoli was against it, instead recasting Caroline Bliss in the role for the Living Daylights. In Octopussy a new secretary to Moneypenny, Penelope Smallbone (Michaela Clavell), was introduced in a seemingly similar role to Moneypenny’s in order to interact with a new younger Bond once Moore left but was never seen or dealt with following the film.

As well as Roger Moore’s final film, View to a Kill would mark the 14th and final time Lois Maxwell would play the part of Miss Moneypenny. Having been present since Dr No she would only be out done by Desmond Llewelyn in the part of Q in number of total films present in but is still the longest running recurring character in terms of uninterrupted films (Llewelyn wasn’t present in Dr No or Live and Let Die). She would leave the producer Albert Broccoli as the only remaining participant in the series which had been present since Dr No.

Maxwell asked that her character be killed off but Broccoli was against it, instead recasting Caroline Bliss in the role for the Living Daylights.

In Octopussy a new secretary to Moneypenny, Penelope Smallbone (Michaela Clavell), was introduced in a seemingly similar role to Moneypenny’s in order to interact with a new younger Bond once Moore left but was never seen or dealt with following the film.

#112 A View to a Kill (Rewatch) After recovering a microchip from a dead 00 agent, James Bond (Roger Moore) is assigned the task of looking into Max Zorin (Christopher Walken) and his industrial empire. It appears Zorin and his faithful associate May Day (Grace Jones) are up to something in California and it’s up to Bond to discover and stop it before it’s to late. And so we come to the end of Moore’s run as 007. Does it end with a bang or with a whimper? Unfortunately the latter. Until Die Another Day came out this was considered by many to be the worst of the Bond films and that is not without merit. Personally I rank OHMSS and Octopussy both lower than this film but it is in no way the example I would use to try and introduce someone to the series. If Moore was looking old in the previous two installments he looks ancient in this one. Even Moore himself has said that he was too old in this film and if he had the chance to do it over again would have stopped after Octopussy. His interactions with the ladies in this film have moved from awkward to creepy. He’s like that Uncle who hits on his niece’s friends at parties. It’s just not right. Tanya Roberts plays the Bond girl Stacey Sutton this time around and she is by far the worst of them all. She starts off somewhat acceptable playing a slightly aloof guest of Zorin who rebukes Bond’s advances and leaves for about 1/2 hour. As soon as she’s given any real screen time however, she quickly displays how far we’ve fallen for the smart and elegant Bond girls of the previous films. She and Moore have no chemistry and half of her lines are either screaming or saying “Oh James!” in a really high pitched yell. She’s also not believable in the role. She’s supposed to be a geologist but she’s as convincing as the women playing the palaeontologist in Shark Attack 3.  Walken as a villain and Jones as a henchwomen are actually probably the saving grace of this film. Walken is the first of Bond’s villains to purely be a psychopath. Others have been crazy but they’ve always been able to keep it together to conduct their plan. Zorin just does things because they feel good at the time. Walken has a certain charisma about himself anyway so it just lends itself to the role. Jones is a bit nuts as well and she makes for an interesting character. Unlike Jaws however, when she turns on Zorin in the end if feels tacked on and we as an audience feel cheated because we didn’t get to see her and Bond go at it in some crazy final battle. In terms of stunts and cool gadgets there aren’t really any this time around. There are action sequences for sure but none of them are really anything to write home about. Overall, this film has most of the worst attributes of Moore’s type of Bond and it showed the desperate need for some fresh blood in the role 1/5

#112 A View to a Kill

(Rewatch)

After recovering a microchip from a dead 00 agent, James Bond (Roger Moore) is assigned the task of looking into Max Zorin (Christopher Walken) and his industrial empire. It appears Zorin and his faithful associate May Day (Grace Jones) are up to something in California and it’s up to Bond to discover and stop it before it’s to late.

And so we come to the end of Moore’s run as 007. Does it end with a bang or with a whimper? Unfortunately the latter. Until Die Another Day came out this was considered by many to be the worst of the Bond films and that is not without merit. Personally I rank OHMSS and Octopussy both lower than this film but it is in no way the example I would use to try and introduce someone to the series.

If Moore was looking old in the previous two installments he looks ancient in this one. Even Moore himself has said that he was too old in this film and if he had the chance to do it over again would have stopped after Octopussy. His interactions with the ladies in this film have moved from awkward to creepy. He’s like that Uncle who hits on his niece’s friends at parties. It’s just not right.

Tanya Roberts plays the Bond girl Stacey Sutton this time around and she is by far the worst of them all. She starts off somewhat acceptable playing a slightly aloof guest of Zorin who rebukes Bond’s advances and leaves for about 1/2 hour. As soon as she’s given any real screen time however, she quickly displays how far we’ve fallen for the smart and elegant Bond girls of the previous films. She and Moore have no chemistry and half of her lines are either screaming or saying “Oh James!” in a really high pitched yell. She’s also not believable in the role. She’s supposed to be a geologist but she’s as convincing as the women playing the palaeontologist in Shark Attack 3. 

Walken as a villain and Jones as a henchwomen are actually probably the saving grace of this film. Walken is the first of Bond’s villains to purely be a psychopath. Others have been crazy but they’ve always been able to keep it together to conduct their plan. Zorin just does things because they feel good at the time. Walken has a certain charisma about himself anyway so it just lends itself to the role.

Jones is a bit nuts as well and she makes for an interesting character. Unlike Jaws however, when she turns on Zorin in the end if feels tacked on and we as an audience feel cheated because we didn’t get to see her and Bond go at it in some crazy final battle.

In terms of stunts and cool gadgets there aren’t really any this time around. There are action sequences for sure but none of them are really anything to write home about.

Overall, this film has most of the worst attributes of Moore’s type of Bond and it showed the desperate need for some fresh blood in the role 1/5