Yaphet Kotto Top Ten

 A great actor

1) Midnight Run (1988)

2) Alien (1979)

3) Blue Collar (1978)

4) Truck Turner (1974)

5) Live and Let Die (1973)

6) Across 110th Street (1972)

7) The Running Man (1988)

8) Raid on Entebbe (1976)

9) Fighting Back (1982)

10) Bone (1971) 

Movie review - "Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die" (1966) **1/2

 Silly Eurospy spoof from Dino de Laurentiis which gives you everything you need from a Bond spoof - mad villain (Raf Vallone) with outlandish plan, hero agent (Mike Connors), female lead (Dorothy Prvine), exotic locations (Brazil).

Connors is a little dull as a hero but he's offset by Provine and Terry Thomas in an outrageous rip off of Lady Penelope and Parker from Thunderbirds - they're a lot of fun.

Critical reception was hostile, in part I think because so many films like this were then being made. But the time of this genre has passed so we can appreciate that Provine never got another role this fun, and Connors didn't get another chance to run around Brazil, nor did Terry Thomas to play a skilled secret agent. 

Movie review - "Goldeneye" (1995) **** (re-watching)

 Splendid theme song and romancing tune. Lousy action score. Pierce is very handsome and plays it well - he fits right in. Strong script. Memorable pieces. Why no Felix Leiter?

Movie review - "For Your Eyes Only" (1981) ***1/2 (re-watching)

 Excellent script but probably needed Sean Connery rather than Roger Moore. Can't think of the point of the Lyn Holly Johnson character. Loved Topol, Julian Glover, Cassandra Harris, Carole Boquet is dreadful. Suspenseful end. Wonderful locations.

Movie review - "You Only Live Twice" (1967) **** (re-viewing)

 Connery seems bored at times but he's still Connery. Great settings and lines and moments. Tanaka is tremendous. Blofeld fun. Piranha lakes and Ninja armies and secret trains and Ken Adams being a genius. They kill off Aki too late and Bond gets over her too soon - that's the main flaw.

Book review - " The 007 Diaries: Filming Live and Let Die" by Roger Moore (1973)

 I don't know if Moore actually wrote this or if it was ghosted but it definitely feels like him, the wry humour, the self deprecation. He lived a glamorous life, lots of lunches and dinners, and exotic locations. Did plenty of charity work, especially for a "spastic" association as it was called then. I do think that generation had a greater public service aspect, at least in Britiain. His wife Luisa is often mentioned as a figure of fear especially when doing love scenes.

Antics with Jane Seymour and Gloria Henry, a good relationship with Guy Hamilton, hints at an unhappy Yaphet Kotto (who clashed with Hamilton; Moore says he played a joke on Kotto listing a black entertainer that Kotto criticised on the call sheet). Refers to a film that he hoped to direct, written by Bryan Forbes based on Moore's own story. 

The references to other incidents in Moore's life are interesting such as a one night appearance on Broadway, acting with Lana Turner. Filming the Bond movie has some accidents but is pretty smooth. 

Moore would have been pleasant to deal with after Sean Connery. He praises Connery, makes jokes about Harry Salztman beating him at cards. His behaviour may have been boorish if you weren't in the mood, but most people have nice things to say about Moore.

Entertaining.

Movie review - Bond#8 - "Live and Let Die" (1973) ***1/2 (re-watching)

 Random notes 

- I did an earlier review and my opinion hasn't changed much I think this is a solid entry

- superb galaxy of villains, all are strong: Kanaga, Tee Hee, Whisper, the cab driver, the singer - they are scary opponents

- Bond being a white man in an unfamiliar world helps add a lot of tension (though he can always draw on Felix Leiter for help)

- two annoying bits - the baddies constanly try to kill Bond as they should but then they later do it by putting him in an alligator farm and dangling over sharks instead of killing him - I mean, his escaping is fun but it's just a little silly

- Jane Seymour a little young but achingly pretty and a good actor - Roger Moore just young enough to not make it too icky (he gets her into bed by lying) 

- Yaphet Kotto a superb actor and David Hedison was the best Felix Leiter until Jeffrey Wright

- fairly witty script full of memorable bits

- Roger Moore very confident from the get-go.

Movie review - "The Living Daylights" (1987) **** (re-watching)

 The rhythm is a little bit off in spots - I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Like Dalton's performance. And like that when it gets in the groove it's extremely entertaining. Myram d'Abo's character is sweeter than usual but it works for the story - an innocent in the world of killers - but they give her a world class skill (cello) and she's European. 

Consistently strong action and a superb array of suppor characters - Jerome Krabbe's buoyant defector, Joe Don Baker's military enthusiast arms dealer, the blonde assassin, John Rhys' tough Russian, Art Malik's Afghanistan fighter.

Love John Barry's music score, the exotic settings, defending Gibraltar.

Movie review - "The Ipcress File" (1965) ****

 Harry Saltzmann's anti-Bond is still about a sexy agent who beds women, has some sophistication (he's a cook), outsmarts the bad guys and is cocky to his superiors - but he wears glasses, is unapologetically working class, and there's nice touches about filling out forms and bureaucracy.

It's very stylishly directed by Sidney J Furie, clearly loving having more of a budget. The music score is very James Bond-y as are Ken Adams' sets.

The plot was a little confusing but basically it's whether Nigel Green is the baddie or Guy Doleman is the baddy. You know that Gordon Jackson is going to be killed.

Some Aussies in the cast like Guy Doleman and Ric Hutton.

Louis Jourdan Top Ten

 In honour of his birthday

1. Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948) - the perfect cad. I still think about this film.

2. Octopussy (1983) - never regarded as a top level Bond villain but I thought he was good.

3. Gigi (1958) - so dodgy. Yet a good performance.

4. The Paradine Case (1948) - Hitchcock wanted Robert Newton but I thought Jourdan was fine.

5. Dangerous Exile (1958) a very fanatical hero for a swashbuckler

6. Three Coins in the Fountain (1954) - The American public didn't like heroic Jourdan but liked him in roles like this.

7. The Best of Everything (1959) - career girl stuff, he works well as one of an ensemble.

8. Julie (1956) - a great abusive spouse

9. Fear No Evil (1969) - I've got a memory of this being good. Vague. But it's there.

10. Man in the Iron Mask (1977) - effective as D'artagnan.

Movie review - "No Time to Die" (2021) **** (warning: spoilers)

 Some of this ranks with top level Bond - the gloom, the references to On Her Majesty's Secret Service (including a reprise of "We Have All The Time in the World"), the new 007 (I loved that), the locations, Bond's dream house in Jamaica, Ana de Armas' Cuban agent, the acting, Remi Malek's villain, the action scenes.

The debits are clear and frustrating because so avoidable. Well, in a way. Lea Seydoux is gorgeous, can act and I loved her character and the romanticism of her relationship with Bond... but she looks so much younger than Daniel Craig it's like he's romancing his daughter. It never goes away. If only Monica Belluci had played this part in Spectre. Or they'd recast. But I guess they had to double down on a bad decision.

I didn't like that they killed off Felix Leiter. I guess they figured they needed motivation but if you can't get motivation in a film where Bond finds out he has a daughter... I mean, seriously?

The third act is a mess. And this was easy to fix. Just have them discover the plan, and the island, the world leaders get together (why keep it a secret, really? I know they try to explain it by having it be a secret British operation but it wasn't necessary), they decided to blow up the island, they need to open the hatch, Bond asks if he can extract his daughter and Seydoux, so you have a ticking clock I wish they'd brought along de Armas for the final attack. She was fun. The ending is messy. Malek is there, then he's gone, then he conveniently comes back.

And the death. It's a cheat. Because you know he's coming back and a missile hits him. They didn't even set up a clever "out". It's enough he can't see the woman he loves and his kid again. That's enough. Death is a cheat.

I think I could spot some Phoebe Waller-Bridge bits like the Ana de Armas being a bit ditsy and the associate of Leiter gushing over Bond. I could be wrong.

Movie review - "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" (1968) **1/2

 It looks gorgeous. I think people took the quality of photography in films like this for granted at the time. Huge budget. Ken Adams' sets are stunning. Lovely costumes. Well cast. Dick Van Dyke ideal for this. Sally Ann Howes is very winning. I liked the kids. Benny Hill is fun as is Robert Helpmann. Loved seeing Bond actors like Gert Frobe. Pleasant tunes.

It's just too long. Pointlessly so. The car doesn't start to play a role until 50 minutes in. Fifty minutes. They don't get to the land until ninety minutes in. They could and should have junked most of the first half, just made it a nice tight ninety minutes.

And why make the whole thing a dream? Why not have it just as a pure fantasy?

Movie review - "Casino Royale" (1967) **

 It's not fun but it's like a colourful museum and every Bond fan should see it. And because there is so much happening with so many actors I like I got something out of it.

Where to start:

- Woody Allen has genuinely funny gags with the firing squad

- I liked Peter Sellars as a Bond type

- Orson Welles is a terrific Bond villain

- quite a few women have agency: Ursula Andress as Vesper, Barbara Bouchet as Miss Moneypenny, Joanna Pettet is the hero of her own segment

- Terence Cooper gets a big intro then disappears

- Deborah Kerr really really overacts

- I don't think David Niven was anything like Bond, in the books or movies

- Bouchet and Jackie Bisset should have been real Bond girls they are gorgeous

- there is a lot of genuine cleverness

- there is a lot more laziness

- it piles it on but then many 60s comedies did (The Great Race, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World)

- the music score is great - the theme and "The Look of Love"

- there's genuine emotional moments which could have (don't laugh) been more mined: Andress falling for Sellers, Pettet and dad Niven

Movie review - "The Living Daylights" (1987) ****1/2 (re-viewing)

The Timothy Dalton Bonds look better as time has gone on - though I enjoyed them on release - smart, stylish, underplayed, very true to Fleming. This takes a little while to find its rhythm - I don't think the pre credit sequence got there though I loved Bond defending Gibraltar - but once it did, it's a lot of fun.

It has a genuine romantic core with Marym d'Abo's lovely yet inexperienced cellist, a delightful line up of villains (Joergen Krabbe and Joe Don Baker are wonderfully fun), an Aussie connection (Virginia Hey pops up), a clever story, it uses Fleming stories, the locations are pleasingly exotic (Vienna, Gibraltar, Afghanistan), Art Malik is a very likeable member of the Northern Alliance.

Movie review - "Quantum of Solace" (2009) **** (re-viewing - warning: spoilers)

I really like this movie, cannot understand the hate other than it depicts the Americans as unscrupulous baddies, Felix Leiter aside.

It has terrific action - a duel with two planes, a chase on foot - and is beautifully shot, full of stunning images - the final Zabriskie Point like building. The script is full of great lines and has memorable characters and moments - Olga Kurylenko's avenging agent, Giancarlo Giannini's world weary former agent, the death of Gemma Arterton is an enjoyable Goldfinger homage.

Mathieu Amalric is an excellent villain, smart and sadistic - when he fights Bond it's like a vicious cat (he's not as strong but he might hurt him), who eats an apple when meeting officers to show his contempt.

There are moving moments like the death of Giannini - the action slows for this and admittedly the editing does feel a bit frantic and choppy at times. I liked the plan to corner the world's water supply and the locations (Bolivia) and that Bond clearly loves his creature comforts.  I did laugh at the concept of Canadian Intelligence, but I loved how Bond didn't get with the girl at the end, that wouldn't have felt right.

Oh and it doesn't go for to long too.

It's an excellent Bond entry.

Movie review - "Licence to Kill" (1989) ****1/2 (warning: spoilers) (re-watching)

I like this film a lot more on re-viewing. Taking on a South American drug lord seemed a little old hat in the 80s but time has been kind. I wish stronger actors had been cast in the female leads but they are well defined roles - professional mistress and CIA pilot.

I love how Q goes on the mission - they should have done this more, and Moneypenny too (who is wasted here). I enjoyed the harder edge, such as Christopher Neame's agent.

Robert David is a strong villain, smart and funny  - I liked him more this time. It helps he has an emotional bond with Bond (forgive the pun). Benico del Toro is a superb henchman. I love Anthony Zerbe's slimy boat dude. It's lovely to have an actor play Felix again,

The action sequences are consistently strong - the fight on a boat, the final truck duel. The look of the film is impressive - bright colours, Caribbean sunshine.

Most of all I love the "world" that they created in the country - the general dictator who does what he's told by drug lords, the financial guy who works for Sanchez and is selling to the Chinese, the Chinese investors, the way they launder money through a televangelical operation, the subplots about selling to the Contras. It's an extremely well written movie and a good one for Richard Maibaum to go out on.

Bond does smoke a lot in this. I think it was to justify him setting the villain on fire.

Book review - "Some Kind of Hero: The Remarkable HIstory of the James Bond Films" by Matthew Field and Ajay Chowhudry

Exhaustive, near definitive account of the making of the famous series, written with passion and enthusiasm but also scholarship. I admit I knew a lot of the first half, but I'm a die hard fan - I know less about the Dalton period onwards, and this illuminated that.

The most striking comment for me was something by Michael Wilson, who said that other producers may have done a better job but plenty of others also would have done a much worse job - and that for me is part of the secret why the series has lasted so long. It's been run by a family business who never made too many mistakes - they always pulled things back on track.

The series has stumbled several times - George Lazenby (who I love but also recognise could have hurt the series), the fights between Broccoli and Saltzman, the constant executive turn over, the bankruptcy of Saltzman, creative misfires, the changing world). But they always manage to pull it back... they find a Roger Moore, or a Pierce Brosnan in the 90s, or after Man with the Golden Gun pull out The Spy Who Loved Me, after Die Another Day do Casino Royale.  When Pierce demands $25 million they change bonds. They don't go with James Brolin or James Gavin. They remain true to Bond.

Screenwriters come and go. They and hired then replaced then brought back again. They don't pick the latest hot director but someone who will fit. They keep costs down. They try to keep up to date but don't slavishly follow trends. They promoted from within.

Some films prove to have been particularly tricky - Die Another Day, Never Say Never Again. Dalton was fired at the behest of the US studio, not of his own accord. Brosnan asked for too much money and was fired.

Exhausting, exhaustive, but very good.

Book review - "Last Man Standing" by Roger Moore

Moore tries to ape his pal David Niven with a second book of memoirs, a collection of stories about famous people he has known. But its a disappointing read - he doesn't have Niven's eye or knack for a good story. You'd think he would but he doesn't.

There are some funny stories, mostly about drunken British stage actors (I love how all Brit actors seemed to know each other and they all seemed to guest star on The Saint) - Robert Newton etc. There's some tales from Rape of the Sabine Women and Lana Turner teaching him how to kiss.  Tony Curtis livens up things.

But surely Moore had more stories in his arsenal. Far too many stories pop up in other people's memoirs, such as Tom Mankiewicz on the set of The Comancheroes. And I didn't like how he didn't mention his second wife by name at all.

Movie review - "Becoming Bond" (2017) ****

Fun, lively, irreverent account of how George Lazenby came from nowhere to become James Bond. I'm a Lazenby fan so was always going to enjoy it - I was surprised how much I didn't know. I was very familiar with the Bond stuff but not so much his early life - growing up in Quenbeyan, being in trouble at school. I knew about him going to work as a mechanic and car salesman but not his big romance with a woman called Belinda which forms the emotional heart of the film.

Sometimes I felt they spent too much time on this - the one that got away etc etc - but it did add a bit of heart to the movie. He claims she was his great love and always wonders what would've happened if it had worked out. It's his own fault it didn't - Lazenby cheated on her, and didn't hook up with her again when he had the chance.

(I kind of feel the real love of Lazenby's life was Chrissy Townsend, who was in Universal Soldier and with whom he had two children and he sailed around the world... but the marriage ended badly... But then people always romanticise the love that was never realised.)

It's a mythic treatment of the Lazenby story - no mention of Universal Soldier or him going off on a boat for ages while he was still famous, or the death of his son, or the domestic violence allegations from both his ex wives, or the custody dispute with his second wife.

To be fair Lazenby doesn't paint himself as a saint - admits to cheating on Belinda, and getting a big head and even now he says he can't understand why he quit Bond. (My theory - he just went a bit silly and wouldn't listen to anyone). He's a very good raconteur, a charming old rogue.

Josh Lawson is pretty good as Lazenby - not quite the same type, he lacks the macho alphaness of Lazenbym but I honestly couldn't think of another actor who could do better. (Do they make 'em like Lazenby any more). He does the comic stuff well and has a decent build... his hair cut was distracting. He was noticeably older than the girl who plays Belinda (who was very likeable, by the way).

Top notch support cast - Jane Seymour as Maggie Abbott, Jeff Garlin as Harry Saltzman (made me want a Saltzman biopic), the two kids who play young George are outstanding. It's funny and lively and I enjoyed the re-enactments more than I thought I would.

I loved the interview clips of him before and after the Bond film, particularly after where everyone is going "you're sure you want to quit?"

A fun movie. I get the feelign Lazenby will be too unfocused to ever get around to writing his biography but this is a pretty good alternative.

Ursula Andress Top Ten

It occurred to me the other day that Ursula Andress has been in a lot of entertaining films:
1) Dr No (1962) - of course, but also...
2) Fun in Acapulco (1963) - an above average Elvis film
3) Four for Texas (1963) - a comic Sinatra-Martin Western I really like
4) She (1965) - ideally cast in the lead
5) The Tenth Victim (1965) - cult sci fi romp
6) The Blue Max (1966) - entertaining WW1 film
7) Casino Royale (1967) - okay maybe this actually isn't very good but she is
8) Perfect Friday (1970) - heist shenanigans with Stanley Baker
9) Red Sun (1972) - bizarre Western with Charles Bronson
10) Clash of the Titans (1981) - great fantasy film though Andress' part isn't very big

It's an easy top five - Dr No, Acapulco, She, Blue Max, Casino Royale... after that maybe pickier but she's better than gets credit for...