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.

My Top 10 Villains/Henchmen from the James Bond Series #1 Oddjob (Goldfinger) #2 Auric Goldfinger (Goldfinger) #3 Red Grant (From Russia With Love) #4 Ernst Stavro Blofeld (You Only Live Twice) #5 Jaws (The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker) #6 Francisco Scaramanga (The Man With The Golden Gun) #7 Hugo Drax (Moonraker) #8 Xenia Onatopp (Goldeneye) #9 Alex Trevelyan aka 006 aka Janis (Goldeneye) #10 Karl Stromberg (The Spy Who Loved Me)

My Top 10 Villains/Henchmen from the James Bond Series

#1 Oddjob (Goldfinger)

#2 Auric Goldfinger (Goldfinger)

#3 Red Grant (From Russia With Love)

#4 Ernst Stavro Blofeld (You Only Live Twice)

#5 Jaws (The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker)

#6 Francisco Scaramanga (The Man With The Golden Gun)

#7 Hugo Drax (Moonraker)

#8 Xenia Onatopp (Goldeneye)

#9 Alex Trevelyan aka 006 aka Janis (Goldeneye)

#10 Karl Stromberg (The Spy Who Loved Me)

Holly Goodhead: Take me around the world one more time James. *camera comes online* Minister of Defence: My God, what is Bond doing? Q: I believe he’s attempting re-entry Sir. Oh Bond you cheeky little scamp! It doesn’t top The Spy Who Loves Me’s final quote but it’s pretty good none the less.

Holly Goodhead: Take me around the world one more time James.

*camera comes online*

Minister of Defence: My God, what is Bond doing?

Q: I believe he’s attempting re-entry Sir.

Oh Bond you cheeky little scamp!

It doesn’t top The Spy Who Loves Me’s final quote but it’s pretty good none the less.

Hugo Drax: You missed. James Bond: Did I?

Hugo Drax: You missed.

James Bond: Did I?

Bernard Lee in Dr No and Moonraker. He appeared in the first 11 Bond films and is only beaten by Lois Maxwell (Miss Moneypenny) and Desmond Llewelyn (Q) for actors to star in the most James Bond films. Moonraker would turn out to be the last film Lee would play the head of the 00 program, M. He died of stomach cancer in 1981 whilst the next film was being shot. Out of respect for the actor no new M was cast in For Your Eyes Only, instead using the Minister of Defence (Geoffrey Keen) and M’s Chief of Staff Bill Tanner (James Villiers) in his place. Robert Brown would replace him as a new M in Octopussy.

Bernard Lee in Dr No and Moonraker. He appeared in the first 11 Bond films and is only beaten by Lois Maxwell (Miss Moneypenny) and Desmond Llewelyn (Q) for actors to star in the most James Bond films.

Moonraker would turn out to be the last film Lee would play the head of the 00 program, M. He died of stomach cancer in 1981 whilst the next film was being shot. Out of respect for the actor no new M was cast in For Your Eyes Only, instead using the Minister of Defence (Geoffrey Keen) and M’s Chief of Staff Bill Tanner (James Villiers) in his place. Robert Brown would replace him as a new M in Octopussy.

#105 Moonraker (Rewatch) After the space shuttle Moonraker, on loan to the British from the Americans, is hijacked mid-flight everyone is understandably on high alert. James Bond (Roger Moore) is called in to talk to Hugh Drax (Michael Lonsdale), the man who built the shuttles, in hopes he can figure out who stole it. Soon Bond begins to suspect Drax of the theft itself and something far more sinister concerning nerve gas. Originally For Your Eyes Only was supposed to follow on from The Spy Who Loved Me but the extreme success of Star Wars meant that it was time for Bond to shoot off into space as well. This is where the Moore era Bond movies begin to wane for me a little. There are a lot of good elements to this film but it all becomes just a little too jokey and liberal with the puns. The story is quite farfetched but it feels grand enough to be a James Bond adventure so i’m able to suspend my disbelief and accept that a space station could be completely constructed without anyone noticing and that Q branch has invented laser guns. Our leading lady this time around is Dr Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles), CIA agent and trained astronaut. Chiles performance is ok but after the impression made by Barbara Bach in the previous installment she comes off as fairly one note and bland. There’s nothing wrong with her; there’s just no overwhelming elegance, flair or character trait (other than a silly name) which makes her stand out amongst the Bond girls. For me Drax’s pilot Corinne Dufour (Corinne Clery) makes much more of an impression as one of Bond’s conquests due to her likeable character and allure. She also has one of the more brutal deaths of the series (ripped apart by dogs) to leave her mark. Drax makes a good villain. He must have some of the best villain monologues from the entire series and it’s all acted really well. It could have been really easy to make killer orchids being launched from a space station to allow for a repopulate of the Earth with a master race seem very stupid but the serious way in which Lonsdale delivers his performance has you believing every word of it. As stated Jaws (Richard Kiel) is back in this installment. He’s played up for laughs a lot more but that doesn’t really bother me. I also like that he finds love and turns good in the end. What’s even better, is the reasoning behind it makes sense within the confines of the plot. Other films will just have people switch sides because they’ve become a fan favourite but here you can see the cogs working as he figures out he and his girlfriend will not fit into the master race if the plan succeeds and he reacts accordingly. Stunt wise the opening sequence, yet again, succeeds in delivering a superb action set piece in which Bond is tossed out of a plan with no parachute. It might actually be the highlight of the film. It took 88 sky dives to get correct but they definitely nailed it. How they managed to simulate the weightlessness of space with so many extras in the station is also a great effect and pretty impressive considering the time period. We’re moving down the slippery slope of Bond getting sillier with each passing film, but, despite this, Moonraker is still an enjoyable film to watch and always worth a look 3/5

#105 Moonraker

(Rewatch)

After the space shuttle Moonraker, on loan to the British from the Americans, is hijacked mid-flight everyone is understandably on high alert. James Bond (Roger Moore) is called in to talk to Hugh Drax (Michael Lonsdale), the man who built the shuttles, in hopes he can figure out who stole it. Soon Bond begins to suspect Drax of the theft itself and something far more sinister concerning nerve gas.

Originally For Your Eyes Only was supposed to follow on from The Spy Who Loved Me but the extreme success of Star Wars meant that it was time for Bond to shoot off into space as well.

This is where the Moore era Bond movies begin to wane for me a little. There are a lot of good elements to this film but it all becomes just a little too jokey and liberal with the puns.

The story is quite farfetched but it feels grand enough to be a James Bond adventure so i’m able to suspend my disbelief and accept that a space station could be completely constructed without anyone noticing and that Q branch has invented laser guns.

Our leading lady this time around is Dr Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles), CIA agent and trained astronaut. Chiles performance is ok but after the impression made by Barbara Bach in the previous installment she comes off as fairly one note and bland. There’s nothing wrong with her; there’s just no overwhelming elegance, flair or character trait (other than a silly name) which makes her stand out amongst the Bond girls. For me Drax’s pilot Corinne Dufour (Corinne Clery) makes much more of an impression as one of Bond’s conquests due to her likeable character and allure. She also has one of the more brutal deaths of the series (ripped apart by dogs) to leave her mark.

Drax makes a good villain. He must have some of the best villain monologues from the entire series and it’s all acted really well. It could have been really easy to make killer orchids being launched from a space station to allow for a repopulate of the Earth with a master race seem very stupid but the serious way in which Lonsdale delivers his performance has you believing every word of it.

As stated Jaws (Richard Kiel) is back in this installment. He’s played up for laughs a lot more but that doesn’t really bother me. I also like that he finds love and turns good in the end. What’s even better, is the reasoning behind it makes sense within the confines of the plot. Other films will just have people switch sides because they’ve become a fan favourite but here you can see the cogs working as he figures out he and his girlfriend will not fit into the master race if the plan succeeds and he reacts accordingly.

Stunt wise the opening sequence, yet again, succeeds in delivering a superb action set piece in which Bond is tossed out of a plan with no parachute. It might actually be the highlight of the film. It took 88 sky dives to get correct but they definitely nailed it. How they managed to simulate the weightlessness of space with so many extras in the station is also a great effect and pretty impressive considering the time period.

We’re moving down the slippery slope of Bond getting sillier with each passing film, but, despite this, Moonraker is still an enjoyable film to watch and always worth a look 3/5