Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

General Bond discussion from Sean Connery to Pierce Brosnan
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

Post by Omega »

Do purest exist? CR QOS SF SP but CR especially the forums ignored How bond looked and acted in the books to say Craig is the greatest !


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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

Post by commander0077again »

Omega wrote:It's the same trap the producers fell in, trying to swim in the sea of PC popular culture. The people they are trying to please never liked bond and are eager to see the series pervert itself out of a sense of revenge for its past decadence.

I don't blame brosnan for saying what he says now, I just draw a distinction between bond is supposed to be and the quicksand of multiculturalism.
Roger Moore probably the nicest guy in show business and the new book writer had to go in witness protection because they weren't team Elba.
The press/twitter even tried this on one of the actors from LALD who said what he thought bond should be until they found out he was black.

Nobody would stand against Craig who is a ugly short white guy living in white privilege up to his eyeballs, cast a woman as bond and there is no chance of even holding a conversation on the merits of it, you'll be found dead on facebook the next morning.


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Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

Post by Omega »

They don't have to commit career suicide, and I don't blame them for wanting to be on the right side of the cultural police. IMO praising aweful ideas for bond because the PC crowd like it is just as bad as babs and her Austin powers Batman begins rip off bond.
From a fans point of view. From the original intent of the authors pov .

I think brosnan had some good ideas for bond and really cared, then he gets fired, then his attempt to make his own spy series flops, then he gets a call from EON 2012 and suddenly he's the best evangelist they ever had making roger Moore seem too stiff accepting the Craig anti bond. Again Craig and his crowd are mocking those previous actors and their fans, yet they go to bat like he's too precious to question.

I think there's a point where previous bonds being so accommodating to the series no matter the direction or what popular culture would like to see happen to it hurts the idea bond originally was and what the movies originally were.
Brosnan has left his fans twisting in the wind, now he's hoping beyond hope to get some fresh recognition from the right people today.
I'm fine with that, I just want to recognize he's not the brosnan I liked in the role who could have made a better bond than the producers would allow.


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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

Post by Veronica »

Who knows what's beyond those comments from Brosnan and Moore. I wouldn't bet that they get nothing for praising Craig. Still,I think a lot of that has to do with easy-going sanguine nature both actors seem to have. If Brosnan said something bad about Craig and his time in the role he would come across as still being bitter about his exit(who wouldn't be?). And Moore,well dear old Sir Rog just seems like the nicest person out there who seems to have inability to say anything bad about anything(except DAD and QOS). The thing is,these two get the most crap from Craig's fanboys and yet they are the ones that say good things about Craig.
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

Post by dirtybenny »

Rant 39: Bond the “Cold Blooded” Alcohol “Assassin”


This is actually three rants in one, it encompasses three subjects I’ve touched on in previous rants but want to shine a light on center stage here. Namely the fact that neo fan boys harp on about how “cold blooded” Bond is or how EON has been trying to make Bond out to be an alcoholic and an assassin starting in Brosnan’s time and certainly intensified during Craig’s tenure.

First up, is Bond “cold blooded”? Well let’s define cold blooded:
I think most would agree when someone kills in cold blood it is an emotionless empty killing, taking a life for no reason, killing a random innocent or absolutely defenseless victim. When I think of a cold blooded killer I see a serial killer, a thrill killer, a mugger who guns down his victim even after the mark complies and the robber has what he wanted, a person who would kill a friend or someone who was kind to them in order to steal from them (see: the film/novel In Cold Blood).

I don’t know about you but I don’t see Bond in that statement, I argue that Bond is in fact a very “warm blooded murderer”. Here let me give you an example, all the boys on the forums like to point to a particular scene as the definitive proof of Bonds “cold bloodedness”, the death of Professor Dent. In actuality it’s the perfect argument for my point and the scene is pretty much verbatim in the film as it is in the book so it works for both “literary” and “cinematic” Bond. To see what an actual “cold blooded” killing looks like let us view this scene from Prof. Dent’s perspective.

The good Prof. slips in to the apartment of the traitorous Miss Tarot believing she has effectively rendered Bond blissfully unaware of his impending doom. This agent sent from Dent’s own home country who could disrupt the wicked plans of his evil master Dr. No must be put away. Dent silently opens the bedroom door where he spots a large mass upon the bed before him, is it Bond, Miss Tarot, both? No matter as he raises his pistol, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, six shots find their mark, and Dent enters the room to inspect his handy work and ensure his quarry is dead.

Compare that with Bond’s perspective and you’ll see what I’ve coined a “warm blooded murder”. Many forget or don’t know that Comm. Strangways and Quarrel first appeared in Live and Let Die where they rendered aid to Bond in his mission of revenge against Mr. Big who maimed Bonds friend Felix Leiter. Strangways was more than a contemporary or colleague he was Bond’s friend. Here Bond is on the trail of his friend’s killers, he’s turned over Miss Tarot to the authorities and is lying in wait for her compatriot whom he know aims to kill him. Sure enough his would be assassin arrives and falls for Bond’s ruse. The killer enters the room and Bond is face to face with Prof. Dent, who admits to being culpable in the death of his friend and an innocent young woman, this added to the fact he just attempted to kill Bond moments ago and you get an idea as to where Bond’s mind is. While Bond feigns inattention Dent makes a move to recover his pistol, snapping it up he jerks the trigger to only be met with a deafening click. This is the last straw and Bond reveals his knowledge of the fact Dent was out of ammunition by stating “That’s a Smith and Wesson and you’ve had your six” followed by a shot of his own and one more for good measure. Now we can debate as to whether the murder of Dent was justified or not, but I think you’ll agree Bond had quite a bit of emotion wrapped up in it. I think where people get confused is in Bond’s calm, cool reaction to it all, he’s not screaming and foaming at the mouth with anger but he certainly was full of passion.

In the novels Bond specifically states on several occasions he “detests cold blooded murder” his inner monologue in AVTAK during his counter sniper training comes to mind and of course he deliberately shoots the rifle out of the sniper’s hand rather than kill her as ordered. In short when Bond kills it is not a random emotionless murder.


Next we have Bond the alcoholic. A study was done at one of the great seats of learning, Oxford or Cambridge or some other such place which explored the alcoholism of the literary Bond. To be honest I only made it about a third of the way through the dissertation as I found it far too dry (pun intended). So I will concede that physiologically the literary Bond would be an alcoholic if he were real and existed on our physical astral plane. But I do not content that Fleming’s vision of the character was to be chemically dependent. While Bond drank large quantities he was not meant to be an alcoholic. Fleming’s Bond like his contemporaries, Chandler’s Philip Marlow, Spillane’s Mike Hammer even going back to Hammett’s Sam Spade were hard men who worked hard, played hard, loved hard and to illustrate this they drank hard as was common of the times. Bond doesn’t depressingly drink alone in dark rooms or cry into his martini at the end of the bar (at least not until Babz took the reins of the character, more on that in a minute). Bond is sharing a bottle of fine champagne with a beautiful woman, drinking bourbon with a comrade as they plan their next step in an investigation or meeting a contact over a glass of Ouzo at a Grecian bar.

Also keep in mind Fleming’s Bond exists in a literary world which requires the author to impress upon you the details of Bond’s surroundings as well as the circumstance and emotion of the scene and many times there is no better way of doing this than describing the bottle on the table. Examples would be bottles of red wine between lovers getting to know each other, scotch whiskey between two friends catching up or cognac between a superior and operative while talking shop after hours. You know the tastes of the characters involved and the complexity of the relationship without going into excessive detail.

The cinematic Bond is even less of a drinker (at least until Babz came along). Bond averages roughly 4 drinks a film, some try to imply Bond drinks more by referring to what Bond may be drinking off screen but I contend if we don’t see it or it isn’t specifically inferred it doesn’t happen. To put it another way, you can believe he flaps his arms and files around the room while we aren’t watching but it doesn’t make it so. Now if the film took place in real time 4 drinks could be a bit excessive, however these films take place over the course of days, weeks even months. If 4 drinks in a span of a week are too much, then I guess we’re all drunks!

By contrast once Babz got her hooks into the character she made a conscience decision to depict Bond as a drunk, slowly at first then ramping it up to full on rummy by the present. In GE Trevelyan asks if “All the martinis silence the screams of the men you’ve killed?” (This film also marks the beginning of Babz fascination with Freudian pop psych) In TND we find Bond alone in his room woefully drinking straight shots of vodka until Paris Carver unsuspectingly arrives. In DAD the physician giving Bond a physical after his release from the POW camp makes an offhand remark concerning the poor condition of Bond’s liver. By the time we get to QOS he’s literally crying into his Vesper over Vesper on the plane ride to Bolivia (also the first time we see Bond actually inebriated) and finally in SP he’s gone full “Lost Weekend” (see film of same name) drinking straight scotch all alone in his dimly lit ramshackle apartment giving the whole scene a pathetic “crack house” vibe.


Finally we have Bond the “assassin”. I’ve said it before I’ll say it again, Bond is not an assassin! He is as Dr. No said “…just a stupid policeman” Bond’s mission is to investigate not assassinate. In almost every film (even in the Craig era) Bond’s mission is to investigate some sort of large scale crime, you could just as easily make Bond the employee of some sort of international police force like Interpol rather than MI6. Sure Bond kills in the line of duty and the films for the most part end in the villain’s death, but I can count on one hand the times Bond was actually assigned to murder and even then there are caveats. In TLD Bond is ordered to kill “the sniper” at the beginning of the film and is issued a death warrant for Gen. Pushkin which of course he disobeys both orders. In TMWTGG Bond is ordered (albeit with a wink and a nod) to take out Scaramanga but only because he thinks he must get him before he gets Bond. In TWINE Bond is ordered to kill Renard but only as a preemptive strike to protect Electra King. Finally in OHMSS it is alluded to that Bond has been ordered to kill Blofeld as M states “Your license to kill is useless if you can’t find a target” however Bond attempts to lure Blofeld out of Switzerland to Augsburg, I assume so he can arrest him, because if he were there to kill him he could have done so at Piz Gloria.

In closing if Bond were an assassin he’d be out unapologetically assassinating rather than investigating.
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Post by Veronica »

I think it was one of the characters on Mad Men who said:" We drink...because that's what men do." I think this might be the idea behind Bond's drinking habits. Of course nowdays it's just more "in" to have "vulnerable,suffering" guy who amongst other things has drinking problem and drinks not because he likes it but because that's how he drowns all his sorrows for example not staying in contact with his old groundkeeper/nanny or his pathetic manchild of a brother. Bond was the creation of an swampy old world and in that world people drank simply because they enjoyed a drink or two not because they had to forget all about their family/job/sexual identity(as in Craig's case) issues.
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Post by Omega »

Good points , i assume bond it a Alcoholic because common culture makes fun of the character for boozing it up. Tnd then the last few Craig movies bond is using alcohol as a crutch.
Tnd was a some what subtle softening of the character to the 90s feminist era, oh bond drinks because he haunted by death, not a good excuse to drink but a good emotional bs movie reason .
What I recall of the few book and stories I read is bond was usually a social drinker for enjoyment of the beverage not the guy drinking everybody else under the table.



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Post by Count_Lippe »

Bond in the books often drank alcohol to relieve tension though, even if he wasn't dependent on a daily basis.

And he drank a lot socially as well as you say.

He drank too much for it to be healthy, that's why they sent him to Shrublands health farm.

I think Ian Fleming drank and smoked too much also, that's why he passed away so early.
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dirtybenny wrote: Here let me give you an example, all the boys on the forums like to point to a particular scene as the definitive proof of Bonds “cold bloodedness”, the death of Professor Dent. In actuality it’s the perfect argument for my point and the scene is pretty much verbatim in the film as it is in the book so it works for both “literary” and “cinematic” Bond.
This scene wasn't in Fleming's book though, it was only in the film.

There was never any scene of this kind in Fleming's novels with Bond sitting in a chair and calmly shooting someone in "cold blood" (or warm blood).

The scene works in the film version of Dr No though, but it is indeed a tough scene. Dr No is the toughest of all the classic Bond films, and Sean Connery was a tougher and more nonchalant Bond than Bond in the books.

Bond in the books didn't like killing people which he stated many times, and it's true he was more an investigating agent than an assassin. He did kill a couple of persons in the past to get his double-o prefix though. He had a license to kill after all.
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

Post by dirtybenny »

Count_Lippe wrote:
dirtybenny wrote: Here let me give you an example, all the boys on the forums like to point to a particular scene as the definitive proof of Bonds “cold bloodedness”, the death of Professor Dent. In actuality it’s the perfect argument for my point and the scene is pretty much verbatim in the film as it is in the book so it works for both “literary” and “cinematic” Bond.
This scene wasn't in Fleming's book though, it was only in the film.

There was never any scene of this kind in Fleming's novels with Bond sitting in a chair and calmly shooting someone in "cold blood" (or warm blood).

The scene works in the film version of Dr No though, but it is indeed a tough scene. Dr No is the toughest of all the classic Bond films, and Sean Connery was a tougher and more nonchalant Bond than Bond in the books.

Bond in the books didn't like killing people which he stated many times, and it's true he was more an investigating agent than an assassin. He did kill a couple of persons in the past to get his double-o prefix though. He had a license to kill after all.

Good spot there Count, it seems you caught me relying on on my rather fallible memory. I admit I haven't read the novel in over a decade, add to that the memory of a fraudulent factoid I read that stated the line "you've had your six" was a carry over from from the novel where Dent uses a revolver rather than the semi automatic pistol in the movie. I still stand by my point that this scene depicts Bond's "warm bloodedness". Your fact check lends much more credence to what I'm trying to say here in that Fleming's intention of the character is not that of the emotionless killing machine the fanboys try to retcon upon him.
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

Post by Count_Lippe »

Bond in the books was a brooding person, there is the scene at the beginning of the novel Goldfinger where Bond is thinking about "life and death" as Fleming put it, and there are many other moments like this in the novels.

Fleming's Bond certainly was no "emotionless killing machine", and we had a discussion here on the forum a while back were some guy said Fleming's Bond was a wimp because he was more than just a killer.

Dalton was the closest to Fleming's Bond, he had an aura of world weariness because of his job that you can imagine the literary Bond also had.

This is not the impression you get from Craig's portrayal of Bond, maybe the filmmakers were trying to create something along these lines but they don't get it right and of course Craig is all wrong for the role of Bond.
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

Post by Dalton exMI6 »

Some splendid points raised here by everyone. Bond only kills when he has to. I am reading Goldfinger, which is a novel that has a lot of internal dialogue. Bond is a very feeling fellow and perhaps is haunted by the consequences of killing.

And Bond relies on his wits and intelligence. He analyses a villain's weakness before acting.

I very much picture Connery and Dalton when reading. Connery smooths out elements of the character he did not like. Dalton embraces the rougher aspects and the fleeting outbursts of anger. I love both versions. And Connery in Dr No is phenomenal.

The above is very basic but will do for now.

I must say reading the novels again is worthwhile and I will have more to say in the future.

Bottom line, Craig kills and maims without thinking. And that is not 007. That is Jason Statham.

I mean the carnage he causes at the beginning of CR is more Schwartzenegger in Commando.

Literary standards are dropping if anyone thinks Craggy is close to Fleming.
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Post by Omega »

Even Jason statism is more discerning about who he indiscriminately shoots. Craig is just shoots


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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

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To be honest I don’t particularly enjoy writing these “Article Rants”, where I pick apart the incoherent ramblings of those associated with the franchise. I find it to be a bit lazy, however sometimes an article comes along that needs to be skewered.


“In order to deal with the new challenges that the digital age has brought in and the issue of global threats, he [Denbigh] has new ideas about surveillance and privacy and what he needs to do to protect everyone,” says Scott. “It is important the Bond franchise remains current.”

[highlight=#ffff80]Yes, that would make for an interesting film; my question is what the hell happened between the inception of that concept and the finished product?[/highlight]


While that drive to adapt to the times is true, Bond long ago become a genre in and of itself, meaning that it rigidly adheres to particular codes and conventions, with set motifs – explosions, gadgets, a rogue mission, a doomed love interest, camp wit – that appear compulsory. Wriggling within that tight framework to create something new each time is a daunting task.

[highlight=#ffff80]Rogue mission? While Bond occasionally “went off the reservation”, the mission being rogue didn’t become a “ridged part of the framework” until Danny’s entrance on the scene! As for “camp wit” and gadgets apparently you haven’t seen a Craig film since they’ve been missing the past decade![/highlight]


“I think that is why it’s really important that you have a really clever director,” says Scott. “Some people do like to see exactly what they expect but how you combat that is between them saying ‘Action!’ and saying ‘Cut!’ you do stuff that hasn’t been done before. That means the script has to be really spot on. That is down to casting and it’s down to trying it out in lots of different ways. Like any film.”

[highlight=#ffff80]The script really has to be spot on! HA! However I can’t blame Scott, after all this interview was posted the date of the film’s release meaning the script hadn’t been finalized yet![/highlight]


The casting of Daniel Craig for 2006’s Casino Royale allowed the films to go back to Fleming’s original conception of Bond as a fractured personality – an anti-hero operating in a tightly controlled government system. Like Batman and Judge Dredd, he is ostensibly on the side of good but his actions do not always reflect that purity of intent.

[highlight=#ffff80]Here we go! Bond is NOT Batman in a tuxedo! He is not and never has been a “fractured personality” in Fleming’s work he was introspective as all literary characters are in order to move the plot along and give the reader an insight to the character’s thought process, he was not some broken emo malcontent![/highlight]


“In the books he was orphaned,” explains Broccoli. “He has always carried that notion of the ‘lone man’ in him because of his parents’ death. Although he wasn’t from the upper classes, he could move in that world. He was a blunt instrument but in a Savile Row suit.”

[highlight=#ffff80]Way to latch on to that one throwaway line and turn it into a tedious four film arch there Babz! He wasn’t from the upper classes yet he inherited a bloody Scottish castle! If that’s considered low rent in Great Britain you can expect my application for immigration forthcoming![/highlight]


Naomi Harris, who plays Moneypenny, feels the complexity of the character and his dubious relationship with morality gives the recent wave of films an important heart. “I watched the Bond movies [growing up] and they were glamorous, sexy, romantic and exciting,”[highlight=#ffff80](Yes, they were!)[/highlight] she says. “But I never watched a Bond movie and cried until I saw Casino Royale. [highlight=#ffff80](I guess you never saw OHMSS?)[/highlight] That’s when I thought you could have all of those elements, plus you can touch people’s hearts and move them emotionally. That is something new. That is what Daniel brought. No other Bond brought that.”


[highlight=#ffff80]You were emotionally moved by the visual of a craggy, scowling old man sleep walking his way from set piece to set piece, ok, to each their own I suppose.[/highlight]


Spectre delves even further into his childhood than Skyfall did as a way to explain why he is the way he is. [highlight=#ffff80](Hooray! Because this wasn’t tedious enough in SF, and we didn’t get enough origin story in CR or QOS!)[/highlight] What is his big childhood trauma? [highlight=#ffff80](Would it be, non-spoiler alert, the death of his parents?)[/highlight]That he didn’t get enough pocket money? [highlight=#ffff80](Huh?)[/highlight] “It’s a little bit harsher than that,” is all Harris will say.


If Bond were to genuinely move with the times and embrace technology as he should, then surely he would be on Tinder to avoid all the turmoil that comes with many of his short-lived relationships.

[highlight=#ffff80]Was this article just one big advertisement for a casual sex “dating” app?[/highlight]


“He isn’t someone who wants to get laid for the sake of getting laid,” argues Broccoli. “He works in a very dangerous world. Every meal he has he thinks might be his last. Every sexual encounter he has he thinks might be his last. He is vigorous in his pursuit of that. I don’t think it’s about notches on the bedpost. It’s about living in the moment and making the most of every encounter. The women in the movies are usually fairly eager to participate as well, as they are all extraordinary people with voracious needs and desires.”

[highlight=#ffff80]Wow, Babz actually said something intelligent about Bond, I guess it’s true, a broken clock is right twice a day![/highlight]


Harris adds: “What makes Daniel’s Bond so interesting is that you feel here is someone who is really searching for connection and somewhere to lay his head. I feel that he wants a proper relationship.”

[highlight=#ffff80]Let’s for the sake of argument assume this statement is true, it goes to show how far off EON is from the mark! Bond has always avoided relationships because he couldn’t be an effective agent if he had a wife and family at home, not to mention as Babz herself just said a paragraph ago Bond believes every moment is his last, he doesn’t want to leave a widow or orphans behind![/highlight]


Its saving grace and the thing that separates Bond from glossy but clichéd Hollywood spy films is its inescapable Englishness and its camp humour, which are two sides of the same coin. “It is a requirement,” says Scott. “I think people go to see Bond films as much for the big set pieces as they go for the quips and the fact it is witty.”

[highlight=#ffff80]Is that why those things have been eradicated from the series to date?[/highlight]


In many ways the films are like a love letter to the end of empire – about the grasping for a lost England that becomes more romanticised the further it disappears over the horizon. Part of that is down to Cubby Broccoli moving to England in 1952 and finding a country still muzzled by rationing. That informed the psychology of the film, where Bond is both a secret agent and an agent for the country to try and rebuild, or certainly reimagine, itself on the international stage.

[highlight=#ffff80]That may have been true during the first 20 films, however since then EON has made a conscience decision to vilify the empire at every turn.[/highlight]


While the films are iconic, there is arguably still a sense that they are parables about a certain type of masculinity and a male archetype – hence the Partridge obsession with Bond.[highlight=#ffff80](Oh for shame!)[/highlight]Fast cars, explosions and punching people? Bond is basically Top Gear with tailored suits instead of faded jeans.[highlight=#ffff80](Oh you mean fun; at least it used to be)[/highlight]Magazines like GQ and Esquire will hold up Bond, or whoever is playing Bond, as a style icon and a macho ideal. [highlight=#ffff80](]They did from the very beginning! And the fact they do so for Craig shows they are willing to stretch the truth well beyond the breaking point to do so!)[/highlight] Does swinging so far this way mean it is excluding women from the audience?

[highlight=#ffff80]This paragraph bends and contorts itself in to so many contradictory statements I can’t keep track! They start off stating there is “still” a sense of masculinity denoting that the films are making an attempt to move away from that. Then states they are “swinging so far this way” meaning they are moving the pendulum further to the masculine side which is it? Also god forbid women may actually enjoy the fantasy of being with the “perfect man” after all Harris had this to say during the Tinder digression; “All he’d need to put on there is ‘Bond’ and he’d have every woman going, right?” So forgive me if I’m a bit confused.[/highlight]


Actually the Top Gear comparison is spot on, a fun cheeky franchise had the lead replaced with an ugly annoying albino, stripped away all that was fun and attempted to replace it with a poor facsimile of what made it great![/highlight]


I put it to Harris that all Bond needs is a football match in the middle and it would be the apotheosis of blokeishness. [highlight=#ffff80](Perhaps now with Craig’s “chavy” “dude bro” version of Bond)[/highlight] “I think it was a very male thing but I think you are seeing the evolution of that now,” [highlight=#ffff80](Here we go!)[/highlight]she counters. [highlight=#ffff80](Wait for it!)[/highlight] “You really see the difference with these strong women characters – women of different ages and different ethnicities and countries. [highlight=#ffff80](As in a different kind of Bond Girl right! Can't let that old chestnut go unsaid!)[/highlight] I was just really excited that [Moneypenny] wasn’t a peripheral character and she was very much an equal to Bond. [highlight=#ffff80](Ugh, yes because that’s what the world needed more Moneypenny, and for that matter more M and Q, I thought you said Bond was this solitary figure, why are we adding the whole team!)[/highlight] They are able to spar off each other and there is a mutual respect and admiration – as well as a frisson of sexual chemistry. [highlight=#ffff80](Yeah like there always was!)[/highlight] It makes for a much more interesting relationship when two people are equals.” [highlight=#ffff80]Like they always were![/highlight]
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

Post by Veronica »

"Was this article just one big advertisement for a casual sex "dating" app?" My favorite part hands down.
"You were emotionally moved by the visual of a craggy,scowling old man sleep walking his way from set piece to set piece,ok,to each their own I suppose!" This one is pure gold as well.
Honestly,if I had a coin every time I heard that "Craig is Fleming's Bond" thing I would be in Maldives right now.
And if the smartest thing said about Bond comes from Barbara I have to wonder what the hell is going on...
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Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

Post by Omega »

I might have missed it who is this Scott talking about the script?
I don't think he's wrong it just hasn't happened since 2006.
Bond has not kept up with the times at all since 2005 and only to advertise the highest tech of the new Sony line. Other than that Bond is very much behind the times, even that agent gps chipping, and sifi blood doping in SP. the recent bond movies miss all the technical innovation of the last 17 years.

Also the plots for the movies are antiquated as well, DAD for all it's faults at least freshened up the Moonraker plot with some cutting edge technology and technical theory. The only part that was wrong for the bond movie was the Sifi Gene therapy, the much maligned invisible car was and is cutting edge tech, which today's computers can start to pull off.

Craig's bond fell like they want to make it like the movie payback keeping the viewer guessing if it's set in the past or modern. They throw in technology to move the plot along via product placement.

CR was supposed to answer the war on terror with a laughable plot, there was some truth to the markets being played with but other than that the whole poker game was idiotic.

By QOS bond makers decided the war on terror was wrong and water was the real threat along with evils of the west.

SF & SP were emo dramas about bonds family stories that Fleming didn't write and didn't want the character to have with anti government the west is evil mixed in.

Bond also was never a antihero or a stupid tool for the government. As I saw him he fought for the rights of the societies built on freedom and his own country, some may put that down now reading the book 64 years later but those societies bond fought for evolved in to the more open and freer societies of today, which still compared to the Middle East, most of Asia, most of Africa, some of South America and Russia are the freest populations in the world, bond still has something worth fighting for today, same thing he was fighting for in 1953 onwards.

The whole wannabe Bourne politically correct leftist crap will not work in bond, and hasn't. Craig thinks Bond has to be tortured figuratively and literally and that's all Craig is capable of. He can't pull of a scene Connery, lazenby, Dalton and brosnan did infiltrating the enemy. One look at Craig with a tortured pain face and theyd know something is wrong with the new guy.
Bond and bonds boss were not meant to reflect the real world of CIA mi6 spying where orders were carried out to support poorly conceived directives and misunderstood motivations. Bond and M were trying to cut that crap out, their goal more simplified than the world of tinker tailor soldier spy which while reality sucked.
Bond, M, moneypenny and Q and WWII characters that the world they need to live in, a world where they are fighting a easily definable evil and easily justified good. Muddling that as they have since 2006 doesn't work.

Well I guess DBs rant begot another rant.



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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

Post by dirtybenny »

This is my next rant planned for the DCinB website, since I am sort of speaking for the group in this one I would appreciate some feed back, Thanks!


Daniel Craig is not Bond

It has been said many times before on this website, but it seems many folks just still don’t seem to get it. We do not hate Daniel Craig and this is not a Daniel Craig “hate site”. Sure we don’t particularly think Craig’s hiring was a good bit of casting, but this site is not dedicated to lamenting over Craig’s blond hair, blue eyes and/or short stature, despite being painted as such by those who don’t bother to read what we actually have to say.
Perhaps bemoaning Craig’s hair color may have been the intention when this site was founded a decade ago, I don’t know as I wasn’t here then. However, before you go about casting stones, be sure to confirm your home’s walls are not made of glass. The idea that Craig was a very poor choice was not some fringe belief relegated to madmen roaming the street while muttering to themselves about blond locks. Remember the entire world exploded with indignation over the choice, the media, bloggers, the fans, even Sam “The Great One” Mendes admitted to feeling Craig was miscast upon hearing of the decision, of course he claims to have changed his mind but considering his vision of Bond perhaps he’s the wrong man to ask.

The irony is Craig’s casting had no effect on me either way, I felt he didn’t really look the part but was more than willing to give him a chance. I found Casino Royal and Quantum of Solace underwhelming but it wasn’t until Skyfall when I said enough is enough. I can tell you without a doubt I would not be here if whining about hair color was all we were doing.

No when we say Daniel Craig is not Bond we are speaking of the Craig era. The four films starring Craig are not Bond films; they are generic action movies with a heavy handed pop psych, postmodern nihilism overtone which happen to feature a character with the name of James Bond.

Ever since Craig’s casting EON has turned Bond in to a depressed, self-loathing Bourne/Dark Knight rip-off devoid of what made Bond “Bond”. Before you go on about “double taking pigeons” and “invisible cars” stop. You know d**n well that’s not what I’m talking about or what constitutes “Bond”. Bond has always been a serious man who doesn’t take himself too seriously, not a weeping Freudian case study.

Something else bandied about the internet is the statement we here at DCiNB are not “true Bond fans” whatever that means. Seriously what does that mean? Is it because we don’t lap up any and all tripe regurgitated by EON with the James Bond label pinned to it? Is it because we expect Bond to behave in the manner in which the character has been established over the first 50 years of its existence, that we are not “true fans”?

I’m no hypocrite, if you enjoy Craig’s Bonds I’m not going to down grade your fan status, but if one of Craig’s films is your a number one favorite Bond film of all-time, perhaps you should re-evaluate what you love about it and reconsider how you feel about Bond as a whole.

I do contend however, those who “Didn’t like Bond until Daniel came along” are not “true Bond fans” as they state out right they don’t like Bond, at least the Bond who has been established over 50 years 20 films and 13 novels and 4 short stories and there’s no shame in that just don’t go around advocating the change of an established franchise just to fit your film preferences.
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

Post by Kristatos »

Righteous rant, Benny. One teeny correction: there were 9 short stories, not 4. I assume we're just talking about Fleming here, not the continuation authors.
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

Post by dirtybenny »

Right you are Kris, thanks! Will correct that, that's what I get for relying on my memory!
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

Post by Omega »

Nice!


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