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.

free counters

Home
Archive
Subscribe (RSS)
Ask me anything
Random post

Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor

 

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.

Originally the part of Octopussy was supposed to be an Indian woman but due to the lack of diversity in Hollywood at the time it would move from an Indian woman, to a woman that looked Indian, to a white woman raised by Indian parents, to finally a European woman living in India. Adams felt the producers had finally gone too far with her character’s name in terms of double entendres but I would argue when you started the trend with Pussy Galore you can’t really top that.

Originally the part of Octopussy was supposed to be an Indian woman but due to the lack of diversity in Hollywood at the time it would move from an Indian woman, to a woman that looked Indian, to a white woman raised by Indian parents, to finally a European woman living in India.

Adams felt the producers had finally gone too far with her character’s name in terms of double entendres but I would argue when you started the trend with Pussy Galore you can’t really top that.

#109 Octopussy (Rewatch) After 009 is found dead in a clown costume holding a fake Faberge egg, James Bond (Roger Moore) is put on the case in an effort to discover the killer and what 009 had discovered. What he finds is a rouge Soviet general attempting to start World War III, a jewellery thief and a cult of circus performers led by the beautiful, yet deadly, Octopussy (Maud Adams). If FYEO was the more serious return to form, then Octopussy is a step backwards towards the more silly nature of Moonraker. The plot of this film is all over the place in terms of narrative, making it harder to hold onto what Bond’s overall goal is. We are given the death of a 00, a smuggling ring, a cult of women, a woman with links to Bond’s past, an exiled Afghan prince turned jewel thief/collector, a tiger hunt, a Soviet plot, a circus attack on a stronghold and an aerial battle. A lot of this is all happening at the same time and it takes some thinking to actually figure out who’s doing what and why. I’m going to blame the fact that this film is inspired by several short stories by Fleming rather than a full novel. Moore is getting tired in this one. He’s looking older and just less interesting in the role. All of his puns seem forced this time around. He had been making rumblings of leaving the series since Moonraker but returned for this one after Never Say Never Again was green lit and it was known that Connery would be returning as Bond. Producers wanted a known actor in the EON series Bond to compete against Connery. Maud Adams returns, after previously playing Francisco Scaramanga’s mistress Andreas Anders in TMWTGG, to play the role of Octopussy. Adams works a lot better than the previous installments girls because she is more age appropriate for Moore. Octopussy as a character is ok but again doesn’t seem that needed. Kamal Khan (Louis Jourdan) is probably the best thing about this film. He is a proper Bond villain right down to his vague threats and his almost mute henchman Gobinda (Kabir Bedi). Everything he does denotes how slimy and evil he is and you’ve just got to love that. Both his and Gobinda’s death are really weak however. We’ve had this giant threatening Indian man crushing die and glaring at Bond the entire film. We expect a big Oddjob style brawl with a cool final kill but what we get is an aerial to the face knocking him off an in flight plane. Weak. The Living Daylights will have a similar situation but a much more satisfying outcome. A lot of people decry the gorilla suit, the clown costume, the fake crocodile and the Tarzan swinging scene and i’d be lying if I said I didn’t think they were stupid. It makes it seem more like a pink panther film than a Bond one. Like OHMSS i will give it it’s dues however and point out some of it’s better attributes after all the bad. As stated the villains are both good, Bond’s ally Vinjay (Vinjay Amritraj) is funny, Bond’s fight with the knife thrower in the woods works well, the Tuk Tuk chase through the Indian market is entertaining (and some what similar to the Indiana Jones films) and Q (Desmond Llewelyn) gets a bigger part to play this time around allowing for more interactions with Bond (which are always a pleasure to watch). I would say this is my least favourite of Roger Moore’s Bond movies. View to a Kill is definitely a worst film but it is a more entertaining to watch. 1/5

#109 Octopussy

(Rewatch)

After 009 is found dead in a clown costume holding a fake Faberge egg, James Bond (Roger Moore) is put on the case in an effort to discover the killer and what 009 had discovered. What he finds is a rouge Soviet general attempting to start World War III, a jewellery thief and a cult of circus performers led by the beautiful, yet deadly, Octopussy (Maud Adams).

If FYEO was the more serious return to form, then Octopussy is a step backwards towards the more silly nature of Moonraker. The plot of this film is all over the place in terms of narrative, making it harder to hold onto what Bond’s overall goal is. We are given the death of a 00, a smuggling ring, a cult of women, a woman with links to Bond’s past, an exiled Afghan prince turned jewel thief/collector, a tiger hunt, a Soviet plot, a circus attack on a stronghold and an aerial battle. A lot of this is all happening at the same time and it takes some thinking to actually figure out who’s doing what and why. I’m going to blame the fact that this film is inspired by several short stories by Fleming rather than a full novel.

Moore is getting tired in this one. He’s looking older and just less interesting in the role. All of his puns seem forced this time around. He had been making rumblings of leaving the series since Moonraker but returned for this one after Never Say Never Again was green lit and it was known that Connery would be returning as Bond. Producers wanted a known actor in the EON series Bond to compete against Connery.

Maud Adams returns, after previously playing Francisco Scaramanga’s mistress Andreas Anders in TMWTGG, to play the role of Octopussy. Adams works a lot better than the previous installments girls because she is more age appropriate for Moore. Octopussy as a character is ok but again doesn’t seem that needed.

Kamal Khan (Louis Jourdan) is probably the best thing about this film. He is a proper Bond villain right down to his vague threats and his almost mute henchman Gobinda (Kabir Bedi). Everything he does denotes how slimy and evil he is and you’ve just got to love that. Both his and Gobinda’s death are really weak however. We’ve had this giant threatening Indian man crushing die and glaring at Bond the entire film. We expect a big Oddjob style brawl with a cool final kill but what we get is an aerial to the face knocking him off an in flight plane. Weak. The Living Daylights will have a similar situation but a much more satisfying outcome.

A lot of people decry the gorilla suit, the clown costume, the fake crocodile and the Tarzan swinging scene and i’d be lying if I said I didn’t think they were stupid. It makes it seem more like a pink panther film than a Bond one.

Like OHMSS i will give it it’s dues however and point out some of it’s better attributes after all the bad. As stated the villains are both good, Bond’s ally Vinjay (Vinjay Amritraj) is funny, Bond’s fight with the knife thrower in the woods works well, the Tuk Tuk chase through the Indian market is entertaining (and some what similar to the Indiana Jones films) and Q (Desmond Llewelyn) gets a bigger part to play this time around allowing for more interactions with Bond (which are always a pleasure to watch).

I would say this is my least favourite of Roger Moore’s Bond movies. View to a Kill is definitely a worst film but it is a more entertaining to watch. 1/5

#100 The Man With The Golden Gun (Rewatch) The British energy crisis requires a solution, and fast, but after receiving a golden bullet with 007 engraved on it, James Bond (Roger Moore) is informed that the million dollar assassin Francisco Scaramanga (Christopher Lee) has him in his sights. Can Bond recover the Solex Agitator to alleviate the crisis with the man who never misses hot on his trail? This one is a little like Roger Moore’s Thunderball. It’s very safe and ticks all the right boxes so ultimately it can’t be considered a bad film however there is nothing really about it which elevates it above just an ok Bond film. Moore is still good in the role and isn’t afraid to show a little bit of the darker side to his Bond this time around when he interrogates Scaramanga’s mistress (Maud Adams) for information.  The leading ladies this time around are really dull. The aforementioned Adams works well enough as Scaramanga’s mistress but she doesn’t do a whole lot. On the other hand there is Mary Goodnight (Britt Ekland) who is probably the 2nd most annoying of all the Bond girls. Her character does little to nothing in the film and it just there to be the eye candy in a bikini. She’s ditzy, she’s clumsy and because of her the mission is put in jeopardy several times. Oh, and I totally admit this is petty, she has the most irritating laugh. Scaramanga is a good villain, but then it’s Christopher Lee, he can do a cool villain character in his sleep. His villain is a little different to all those who have come before however, in that he respects Bond as a fellow assassin. He sees Bond as an equal and actually tells him he would not kill him/track him if Bond would just stay out of his affairs. Bond can’t do this so it comes down to a duel in the end. Ian Fleming, the author of the Bond novels, is actually Lee’s cousin and recommend Lee for the part of Dr No in the first film but by the time he did they had already cast Joesph Wiseman. There isn’t a great deal to draw attention to in terms of action this time around but there are a few good scenes which stand out. The spiral loop with the car is a pretty cool stunt but they ruin it with the slide whistle going at the same time. Again, a martial arts training school is always cool (used here because of the popularity of Kung Fu movies at the time of release) and I especially like the way Bond takes out the first opponent. It’s like the Indiana Jones sword fighter/pistol scene of the Bond universe. Finally, the duel between Scaramanga and Bond is a good finale and the establishing scenes beforehand at dinner are good for building the tension and showing us each man feeling their opponent out. As I say it’s a good enough film but nothing elevates it higher than just good. 3/5

#100 The Man With The Golden Gun

(Rewatch)

The British energy crisis requires a solution, and fast, but after receiving a golden bullet with 007 engraved on it, James Bond (Roger Moore) is informed that the million dollar assassin Francisco Scaramanga (Christopher Lee) has him in his sights. Can Bond recover the Solex Agitator to alleviate the crisis with the man who never misses hot on his trail?

This one is a little like Roger Moore’s Thunderball. It’s very safe and ticks all the right boxes so ultimately it can’t be considered a bad film however there is nothing really about it which elevates it above just an ok Bond film. Moore is still good in the role and isn’t afraid to show a little bit of the darker side to his Bond this time around when he interrogates Scaramanga’s mistress (Maud Adams) for information. 

The leading ladies this time around are really dull. The aforementioned Adams works well enough as Scaramanga’s mistress but she doesn’t do a whole lot. On the other hand there is Mary Goodnight (Britt Ekland) who is probably the 2nd most annoying of all the Bond girls. Her character does little to nothing in the film and it just there to be the eye candy in a bikini. She’s ditzy, she’s clumsy and because of her the mission is put in jeopardy several times. Oh, and I totally admit this is petty, she has the most irritating laugh.

Scaramanga is a good villain, but then it’s Christopher Lee, he can do a cool villain character in his sleep. His villain is a little different to all those who have come before however, in that he respects Bond as a fellow assassin. He sees Bond as an equal and actually tells him he would not kill him/track him if Bond would just stay out of his affairs. Bond can’t do this so it comes down to a duel in the end.

Ian Fleming, the author of the Bond novels, is actually Lee’s cousin and recommend Lee for the part of Dr No in the first film but by the time he did they had already cast Joesph Wiseman.

There isn’t a great deal to draw attention to in terms of action this time around but there are a few good scenes which stand out. The spiral loop with the car is a pretty cool stunt but they ruin it with the slide whistle going at the same time. Again, a martial arts training school is always cool (used here because of the popularity of Kung Fu movies at the time of release) and I especially like the way Bond takes out the first opponent. It’s like the Indiana Jones sword fighter/pistol scene of the Bond universe. Finally, the duel between Scaramanga and Bond is a good finale and the establishing scenes beforehand at dinner are good for building the tension and showing us each man feeling their opponent out.

As I say it’s a good enough film but nothing elevates it higher than just good. 3/5