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 Veronica »

dirtybenny wrote:Of course you're correct V, but I didn't post the article to rehash old arguments, but rather to illustrate this is the beginning to Craig's end.
And you are absolutely right in saying that when the day comes Craig will fall harder than anyone before him. The overrated CR is what kept him so high anyway IMO. Skyfall went from "best ever to what's that movie about" in a blink of an eye.
Brosnan might have been let down by the later scripts but the fact remains he elevated those films. That's something Craig hasn't done and simply couldn't do. When the day comes will his defenders be able to say "he was a great Bond but just not in equally great movies"?
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Post by Omega »

Kristatos wrote:I would say that it started in the second half of the Brosnan era. It seems to be very much a Purvis and Wade thing.
Got a point, starting really with LTK,
Staring with Brosnan he had the Cossack BFF and female m putting bond in his place , betrayal and the for England or himself ? To be or not to be?

TnD had the one who got away, his "true love ".
do you still sleep with a gun under your pillow? ( cause that makes sense and is the safest way to store a weapon all the Solders do it) , his true love murdered by the fake news media, the Chinese counter part who is just as good as a man ! hear her roar!

Twine had bond hurt bad enough he can't work and used to do the bad guys job. The psycho drivel Electra and her comedian turned serious actor Russian with a bullet in his brain played out.

Dad had Bond captured and tortured brought home as a traitor. Start of the bond gone rogue meme used for over a decade

At the time Brosnan's bond got just a little of the pseudo-psychologist drivel, in most of the stories I though it worked for what they were doing.


By Craig's era it had Bond starting as a bundle of emotional hurt who can't stand becoming a killer who only found some small quantum of solace with a girl (not a woman or young woman) just as damaged as he was to watch her die in a stupid way. It gets worse from there dipping in to the art house wannabe. Finally (I hope) to the architect of all this pain bro-feld.

I'm glad some are critiquing mendes as a hack, but the problem with Craig is the series took Bond too seriously and every movie attempted to add more hidden meaning. Why skyfall and spectre are not good bond movies is not they brought back some classic elements it's that the formula was ruined back with CR and continued until the flavor of the bad ingredients could no longer by disguised by the garnishes on the side of the plate.
Bottom line Craig and Barbara are the problem along with their enablers, oh and that hack Logan .
Most of the rest I'd give a pass as just doing the kid they were hired to do. Except for Eva Green, she's just awful and continues to play the same sort of character .



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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

Post by dirtybenny »

Well said big O, TLK was ground zero for bonds emotional exposition, but I give it, and the early Brosnan films a pass, as it was fresh at the time and so fleeting it didn't consume the film. What is now delivered with a kick to the groin was once whispered in the ear.

I would add to your point regarding the classic elements as garnish, they can't mask the flavor because they are in poor taste too. Obviously not the fact they were included but that they were constructed with such half assed incompetence they landed with a thud leaving everyone with a disgusting flavor in their mouth.
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Rant: 41 Daniel Craig: Worst Spy Ever


Bond always won in the end… that is until Craig came along. Now some may see that as a “gritty realism” or “vulnerability” in Craig’s character, but in reality it just goes to prove the creative nihilism in the series as of late. You see if the hero doesn’t win then what is the point of the story? Exhibits A through D:

Casino Royal: Bond’s mission is to bankrupt Le Chiffre thus causing him to defect and spill the beans on his organization. Craig does in fact bankrupt Le Chiffre however he is killed before any information can be gathered and in the end the money is recovered by the evil organization, so what was the point? Remember all that harping on by Vesper “Have you given any thought to the notion if you lose our government will have directly financed terrorism?” Well he may have won the card game but terrorism was financed none the less. Before you start screaming “Fleming” as this was based on his novel, keep in mind Bond’s mission did not involve turning Le Chiffre, just breaking him and the money was turned over to the government.

Quantum of Solace: Craig’s mission is to find out all he can about the mysterious “Quantum” organization. Instead he goes off on a rampage killing any and all half-witted thugs he can get his hands on rather than interrogate them. Apparently in the end he does question the leader of the organization off camera, before sending him to die in the desert, but wouldn’t it have been more advisable to bring him in and hold him, should any other questions need addressing? Furthermore his vengeance sub-story falls flat because when he finds the man who ultimately betrayed his one true love Vesper he lets him live!

Skyfall: First Craig is tasked with protecting then ultimately retrieving a hard drive full of western agents stolen as the movie starts, not only does he fail but decides to celebrate this failure with an unauthorized holiday sulking at some third world beach resort gambling on scorpion drinking games. After returning and failing his physical/psychological exam he does in fact achieve his objective, capturing Silva, but only after allowing him to kill the woman who helped Craig get there. Most importantly however Craig buggers up his biggest assignment when M is killed under his protection!

Spectre: I guess in all fairness the only instruction he received in this film was to “Kill Sciarra and attend the funeral” which he did only after blowing up a city block and nearly letting him escape. The rest of the plot is such a jumbled mess I can’t really tell what he’s trying to accomplish. So perhaps he finally did complete a mission?!
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

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Four films of no lasting significance in the franchise D-B.
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Post by Veronica »

This just goes on to show how absolutely pointless these movies are. They tried to make it all connected and meaningful forgetting that isn't what Bond is about at all.
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Post by acid »

Good rant Dirty Benny. Yes for the classic Bond movies, as well as (most of) the Fleming books*, the mission was the main focus. The mission was really the purpose, the raison d'être if you like, of each installment. That gave the movies a good structure even if sometimes it got a little bit repetitive. Now, in the Craig era, the mission is seen as a coincidental inconvenience, a necessary evil, a vehicle to explore Craig-Bond's emotional angst and many character flaws, a way to get loads of people to pay to see artsy stuff and to sell them Heineken and Omega watches. The structure is lost and it all becomes a bit of a mess.

*Fleming did play around with mixing it up occasionally. Like TSWLM written from the Bond girl's perspective, where Bond doesn't even show up until quite some way into the book, and YOLT where half the book investigates Japanese culture. I'm all for mixing it up now and then. I think it worked well in the movies in LTK and OHMSS.
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

Post by acid »

Omega wrote: I'm glad some are critiquing mendes as a hack, but the problem with Craig is the series took Bond too seriously and every movie attempted to add more hidden meaning.
I haven't got a problem with Bond being taken seriously (Edit: I mean "very seriously", of course). It was done to some extent in the two movies I just mentioned, OHMSS and LTK and I like them both. In fact, OHMSS is one of my favorites, as is FYEO which was also fairly serious. FYEO and OHMSS both have plenty of fun, lighter hearted moments as well which I greatly enjoy. I mean life can be fun, it doesn't have to be dreary and depressing to be realistic! Not that realism matters above all else either, but I personally do prefer some level of plausibility. Dammit I'll even admit that I enjoy the first two Bourne movies :oops: ha ha! (They do have a serious tone though there's plenty of outlandish action in those).

The real problem I have with all the obsessive focus on emotion and troubled characters and psychology in Craig's movies is, as we keep pointing out, the character just isn't Bond! The emotions aren't Bond's, the flaws aren't Bond's, the life history is not Bond's! We know this because we have all the Fleming books and decades of classic movies to establish and flesh out this character and tell us so!

OK, trying something new and fresh can work. Sometimes. But why does the character have to be so d**n miserable? And why do the back stories have to be so pathetic? If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

Post by Veronica »

Sadly they though it is broken. The moment I knew this whole era just isn't for me is when the answer to the question "Shaken or stirred" was "Do I look like I give a d**n?!" That,in a nutshell is Craig era. A big f**k you
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Rant: 42 Batman vs. Bond: The Dawn of Injustice

A great many comparisons have been made between Bond and Batman particularly since the great Sammy Mendez lazily concocted a blatant rip off of Nolan’s Dark Knight. If you just brush the surface it makes sense. They both rely on gadgets, they have signature vehicles (also laden with gadgets), and they’re orphan loners. But when you dig deeper in to their psyche you find two totally different men whose films have been executed in two entirely different ways (until recently of course).

Batman is a very solemn figure and has been since the beginning, that’s why he’s the “Dark Knight.” He skulks in darkened alleys and unleashes his pent up angst upon the criminal classes of Gotham City.

Bond on the other hand jets across the globe enjoying the spoils of his wealthy enemies and the company of beautiful women. Bond’s release is the enjoyment of life; he lives each day as if it’s his last, because it very well could be.

Until now, the various Bonds were meant to be the same man, while each film was intended to stand alone a thin thread of continuity ran through to maintain these were not different men each time they recast the role. Remember in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service? Scenes from the previous five films ran through the titles and then there was the scene in Bond’s office where he removed items from those films and reminisced. There were also a great many other call backs to earlier plot points in later films, not the schmaltzy winks and nods to other films as we have now but real plot points to remind us this is the same man.

By contrast Batman was never a serious character until Burton’s Batman with Michael Keaton, up to that point the most famous portrayal was that of Adam West complete with comic book “POW” and “BIFF” imagery. Once Keaton and Burton left the films that followed started to slide back into that mold until Bale and Nolan resurrected the seriousness. The point I’m trying to make is from West to Bale and on to Affleck I never felt any of these men were the same character. I mean were Keaton, Kilmer, and Clooney supposed to be the same Batmen? I never felt so, yet there was never any question despite the difference in interpretations that the first five Bonds were the same man. In my humble opinion this comparison of Bond to Batman opened the door for Craig’s non-Bond performance.

I would also like to address the hypocrisy directed toward Bond when it comes casting time. Every so often when the social justice warriors of the world need a boogieman over which to wring their hands, they point a well-manicured finger at Bond, but why Bond and not Batman? I never see a cry for a minority, gay, or more ridiculously female Batman as we do with Bond, why is that? Why is it so dyer that the world’s most famous super spy be anything other than what he has been since Fleming created him?

Look first of all his name is JAMES Bond that makes him inherently male. I know these “gender neutral” movements are spreading like wildfire throughout the regions of the world where they have run out of real problems, but why force that on Bond and not Batman? If you can change James to Jane why not Batman to Batwoman or better yet Batperson, you don’t want to offend the “gender neutral non-binary” types out there!

An even more viable question is; why isn’t the race of Batman as much an issue as it is for Bond? Bond is an upper middle class Brit with English ancestry reaching back centuries, you know Great Britain that realm where white people are indigenous, though it seems many have forgotten that last part as of late. Batman on the other hand is perfect for a change of race as he’s American. You know, America that great melting pot of ethnicities, races, and colors. There’s no reason Batman couldn’t be black or any other race for that matter, he’s far more made for the part than Bond, yet these “forward thinking” bastions of inclusivity don’t press the point nearly as hard as they do for Bond, if they do at all!

I feel the reason for this can be found in a relatively recent outcry over Captain America. Many a leftist wanted the Cap to be made gay, why him and not say the Hulk or Thor or especially Hawkeye? (Is say especially with Hawkeye as he’s a lesser known character and could get away with it easier.) Because his name is Captain America he represents the evil west, full of “white privilege” and “patriarchy,” these are precisely the reasons Bond must be trans-formed! Only more so, because Capt. America only represents those things in name, but Bond embodies those concepts, he’s a white man who makes love to gorgeous women while furthering the interests of the evil western empire (which ironically is the only safe place for SJWs to voice their ever escalating concerns)! Batman on the other hand just punches thugs while dressed in tights, he’s practically a transvestite already!
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

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DB, the Hollywoodies have usurped the celluloid frames with PC agendas and in the process have tried to redefine classic franchises into their own liberal images. I have commented repeatedly on this website how I resent this strategy. If they want their storylines in their liberal views, create NEW characters and see if the public will accept or reject them. They don't do that because they have a guaranteed lead-in with popular franchise characters so they try to reinvent them with liberalism. It does not work and never will.
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Post by Napoleon Solo »

// I mean were Keaton, Kilmer, and Clooney supposed to be the same Batmen? //

Technically, yes because they all had the same Alfred (Michael Gough) and same Commissioner Gordon (Pat Hingle). Of course, there inconsistencies even there. Gordon wore suits in the first three movies but had a dress police uniform in the Clooney movie.
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

Post by dirtybenny »

Napoleon Solo wrote:// I mean were Keaton, Kilmer, and Clooney supposed to be the same Batmen? //

Technically, yes because they all had the same Alfred (Michael Gough) and same Commissioner Gordon (Pat Hingle). Of course, there inconsistencies even there. Gordon wore suits in the first three movies but had a dress police uniform in the Clooney movie.
Thanks Napoleon, the films were so different with characters coming and going and each actor did so few films I never really knew. That is what separates Bond, he is established and despite each actor bringing their own flavor to the role we know who Bond is and is supposed to be.

bjmdds wrote:DB, the Hollywoodies have usurped the celluloid frames with PC agendas and in the process have tried to redefine classic franchises into their own liberal images. I have commented repeatedly on this website how I resent this strategy. If they want their storylines in their liberal views, create NEW characters and see if the public will accept or reject them. They don't do that because they have a guaranteed lead-in with popular franchise characters so they try to reinvent them with liberalism. It does not work and never will.
They don't work BJ, look at two of the largest superhero films in recent memory, Guardians of the Galaxy and Deadpool, two films that don't take themselves too seriously and aren't packed full of political sledgehammers incessantly pounding the audience over the head with symbolism such as Batman vs. Superman (which as we know, tanked), if only EON would take a page from these books!
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Post by Omega »

The batmen movies were all over the place, read a interesting interview where the director admits where he blew it, part of it was pushing ahead in the Clooney nipplegate Batman project too fast. They were pushing ahead for a second Clooney Batman, it was canceled after Batman and robin tanked, which just goes to show Hollywood is happy to sell complete crap as long as it sells big. Kind of amazing the team WB/D.C. Are still pushing ahead with the synderverse when BVS exploded the trouble.

BTW lego Batman has a funny take on all the different batmen, as Alfred tells it seems like a moody teenager.
Another thing the DC Lego games completely suck starting with the first Batman Lego game, where the marvel Lego games are at least playable.

But as DB said the multibatman problem didn't used to be bonds. Now clearly we have stroke victim Craig bond and the previous normal bonds.


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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

Post by Kristatos »

Napoleon Solo wrote:Of course, there inconsistencies even there. Gordon wore suits in the first three movies but had a dress police uniform in the Clooney movie.
A change of clothes is an inconsistency?
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

Post by Veronica »

IMO this just shows how utterly bored people are with the franchise at this point-to such an extreme that they think changing absolutely everything about Bond would make it more interesting and of course keep those vocal justice warriors happy.
Bond is what he is,he already went through a major change 11 years ago so can we please have a real Bond back? Like one friend of mine said:" It's time to give Bond back to gentlemen."
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Veronica wrote: Like one friend of mine said:" It's time to give Bond back to gentlemen."
An excellent way to put it!
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Post by Capt. Sir Dominic Flandry »

This article repeats the myth that Craig is some great actor who the Bond series is lucky to have.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/a ... -103756753
Doing Bond committed Craig to a plethora of TV commercials, fashion shoots, and commercial campaigns; amply rewarded work that’s no doubt burdensome all the same. The series’ most auteurish directors – Mendes, Martin Campbell – have not stuck around for more than two films, so to expect a performer of Craig’s stature to endlessly return is perhaps a little unreasonable
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Laughable Capt.! Poor Craig doing all those commercials, fashion shoots and T.V. campaigns and getting well paid for them! They no doubt cut in to all those film roles he wasn't offered! More laughable is calling Martin Cambell "auteurish", shame he didn't tap into that talent for the Green Lantern film! Craig's stature as a performer? Yes which is why he hasn't done anything aside from one bit role in a B film since 2015!
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Post by Veronica »

Oh yes dear poor Craig!! Must be terrible to do all those things many would like to do and get payed an awful lot of money!! This last part makes it sound like Craig is the second coming of Cary Grant who just keeps doing C grade films. Hilarious. I hate it when they make Craig look like some demi-god to whom we should be grateful to because he even considered this job.
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