Celebrating Films of the 1960s & 1970s - James Bond 007 News

SCREENWRITER MICHAEL FRANCE DEAD AT AGE 51; "CLIFFHANGER", "GOLDENEYE" AND "THE HULK" AMONG HIS CREDITS

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 15:07:32 -0500

Cinema Retro was shocked and saddened to learn of the death of screenwriter Michael France at the age of 51. He died from complications from diabetes. France's big break was writing the screenplay for Sylvester Stallone's 1993 blockbuster Cliffhanger, which he did "on spec", meaning he pitched his idea to the studio and was not commissioned to write it. France also wrote story lines for the 1995 James Bond smash GoldenEye, though he was not credited with the actual screenplay, which was a source of a strained relationship with the Bond producers. Some of his ideas that were developed for GoldenEye were utilized in the 1999 Bond hit The World is Not Enough. In the 1970s, he published the short-lived 007 fan magazine Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. France was a major comic book fan and wrote the screenplays for Ang Lee's 2003 version of The Hulk as well as the super hero flick The Punisher. On a personal note, I had lost contact with him in recent years, but have fond memories of both of us having many laughs at Eon Productions' spectacular London premiere of GoldenEye. The following year, I was a consultant on an official Bond celebration in Jamaica and managed to get an invite for France and his wife as guests. We had plenty of fun in the sun and these memories are quite special to me. My heart goes out to his family on the loss of this personable and very talented screenwriter. - Lee Pfeiffer

JAMES BOND STARS AT FILM FESTIVAL, ALEX THEATRE, GLENDALE, CALIFORNIA

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 05:08:00 -0500

Sean Connery and Lana Wood in Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

Throughout the month of April, the Alex Theatre in Glendale, California will be presenting big screen showings of classic James Bond movies including On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Live and Let Die, Octopussy, Licence to Kill and Diamonds Are Forever. Each screening will feature appearances and discussions with a star or stars of a specific film including George Lazenby, Benicio del Toro, David Hedison, Trina Parks, Lana Wood, Kristina Wayborne, Maud Adams and Gloria Hendry. Click here for info and to view original theatrical trailers.

RICHARD KIEL UK PERSONAL APPEARANCES

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 05:13:00 -0500

Our old pal and Cinema Retro contributor Richard Kiel is crossing "the pond" again for a couple of high profile personal appearances in the UK including one at London's Misty Moon Gallery and another at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, where he will be joined by his Moonraker co-star Blanche Ravalec. Click on each ad below for links to web sites.

JAMES BOND 60TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 20:25:42 -0500

April 13 marks the 60th anniversary of the publication of “Casino Royale,” and the University of Illinois will recognize the event with a collaborative celebration hosted by the Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the Spurlock Museum, and the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music. Much of the material featured in “The Birth of Bond” comes from the collection of Michael L. VanBlaricum, the president of the Ian Fleming Foundation and a U. of I. alumnus. | Photo by L. Brian Stauffer

April marks the 60th anniversary of the publication of Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel, Casino Royale. To celebrate the anniversary, the University of Illinois will be hosting numerous events pertaining to Fleming, the novel and the 007 phenomenon. Titled The Birth of Bond: Ian Fleming's Casino Royale at 60, the exhibition will include a film festival, costumes, props, lectures and rare recordings. The exhibition is being coordinated by Michael VanBlaricum, a well-known Bond scholar and President of the Ian Fleming Foundation. Click here for more info

NEW JAMES BOND NOVEL COMING IN SEPTEMBER

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 17:21:00 -0600

The estate of James Bond creator Ian Fleming has announced the latest author to try his hand at writing a "one-off" 007 novel. British writer William Boyd will pen the as-yet-untitled novel, due to be published in September. The only clues about the plot is that it will be retro-based and feature a 45 year-old Bond in the year 1969. (Ironically, this was the year that a very young actor, George Lazenby, debuted as Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.) For more click here

SAM MENDES CONFIRMS HE WON'T DIRECT NEXT 007 FILM

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 17:43:00 -0600

Mendes directing Dame Judi Dench in Skyfall.

Despite the worldwide financial and critical success of Skyfall, Sam Mendes confirmed that he won't be accepting Eon Productions' offer to direct the James Bond movie. Many suspected he would decline the offer because it would be hard to top the international acclaim of Skyfall. However, Mendes cites his regrets at not being able to direct the film and attributes his absence to a full slate of other projects to which he is already committed. For more click here

"SKYFALL" TRAIN FROM LONDON TO EDINBURGH RUNNING THROUGH MID-MARCH

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 05:30:00 -0600

The much-publicized James Bond Skyfall train will run through mid-March from London's King's Cross station to Edinburgh on a daily basis. Aside from having the film poster art adorn the train, the locomotive has been renumbered as "91007". For more click here

JAMES BOND 50 YEARS OSCAR TRIBUTE: THE ALTERNATE VERSION

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 13:00:38 -0600

Many James Bond fans felt that the much-anticipated James Bond 50th anniversary tribute at the Oscars fell a little short of its potential, despite very impressive appearances by Shirley Bassey and Adele. A fan named Kees van Dijkhuizen Jr. decided to edit together his own version of the how the tribute could have been assembled. Click here to view and to see if you think it beats the "official" version.

JAMES BOND PRODUCERS TALK ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE SERIES

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 05:33:00 -0600

In an interview with Yahoo Movies, producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, joined by writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade and actress Naomi Harris, discuss the revitalization of the series with Skyfall and their hopes and plans for future 007 films. They also express hope that some of the Skyfall crew will join them on the next Bond film. For more click here

HOW JAMES BOND'S "THUNDERBALL" ALMOST GOT AN "X" RATING

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 06:52:00 -0600

The use of a mink glove used at various times by Sean Connery and Molly Peters concerned British censors who saw it as a sexual metaphor.

Newly revealed files show that the sexual content of the 1965 James Bond blockbuster Thunderball so concerned the British censors that they almost slapped the film with an "X" rating. (American films didn't get movie ratings until 1968 and, unlike the British system, the ratings are imposed by the industry, not the government.) In fairness, an "X" rating in those days simply meant adult content, not necessarily sleaze. However, there is no doubt that Eon Productions would have considered it the kiss of death on boxoffice receipts. Nevertheless, the producers stood their ground and cut only one of the the thirty scenes that the censor demanded be removed or amended. The film went on to gross the equivalent of $1 billion in today's currency. The entire censorship scenario seems amusing and quaint by today's standards. Click here to read

THOSE GLORIOUS OLD MOVIE ADS: "MOONRAKER" AND "THE SPY WHO LOVED ME" DOUBLE FEATURE (1980)

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 05:23:00 -0600

James Bond double features used to be so popular that they would routinely out-gross many new films. The first double feature took place in 1965 with a team-up of Dr. No and From Russia With Love. By 1980, the double features were starting to fade but United Artists did put together this combo of two Roger Moore blockbusters: Moonraker and The Spy Who Loved Me. Cinema Retro reader Hank Reineke kindly provided this rare newspaper advertisement from a long-defunct New Jersey drive-in theater that presented the double bill in 1980.

"SKYFALL" WINS BEST BRITISH FILM AT BAFTAS

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 18:12:55 -0600

Standing tall at the BAFTAS: Skyfall.

The James Bond blockbuster Skyfall has won the Best British Film award at this year's BAFTAs, besting Les Miserables, which many pundits predicted would win. Thomas Newman also won for his musical score for the film. For a complete list of winners click here.

SHIRLEY BASSEY TO PERFORM "GOLDFINGER" AT OSCARS

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 05:52:00 -0600

It's gonna be Double-0 Heaven for long-suffering James Bond fans who have always felt the series has been slighted by Oscar. Not any more. In addition to a major Bond 50th anniversary tribute on this year's telecast, Adele will sing the Oscar-nominated theme song from Skyfall and Dame Shirley Bassey will perform her signature hit, Goldfinger- which, like so many other classics, was never nominated for an Oscar. The big buzz is whether the Academy can bring off its plan to unite all six 007 actors on the same stage. For more click here

JAMES BOND ASTON MARTIN DB5 UP FOR AUCTION AT £3 MILLION

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 05:47:00 -0600

One of the James Bond Aston Martin DB5 cars built to promote Goldfinger and Thunderball is now up for auction. However, you may will have to have the financial resources of Auric Goldfinger to make the minimum bid of £3million! Click here to read the history of the "The Most Famous Car in the World" (which was the title of Cinema Retro publisher Dave Worrall's book).

IN DEFENSE OF "DIE ANOTHER DAY"???

nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro) — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 17:53:00 -0600

By Lee Pfeiffer

In the relatively short amount of time Daniel Craig has played James Bond, the entire series has been reinvented in a dynamic way, as evidenced by the $1 billion+ international grosses for Skyfall. Yet, in 2002, the year Die Another Day was unleashed on unsuspecting audiences, many of us 007 purists were just about ready to throw in the towel despite the fact that the movie was a boxoffice smash. We had suffered through The Man With the Golden Gun, Moonraker and A View to a Kill, but each of those was followed by a strong entry in the series that kept the films from falling off the precipice. Pierce Brosnan was always a good Bond, but he never quite had a film that truly made the most of them. Die Another Day was an overstuffed, over-budgeted and over-produced bit of nonsense littered with cringe-inducing sexual puns that would be over-the-top in a high school locker room. It left even those of us who had the privilege of attending the premiere at the Royal Albert Hall in the presence of Queen Elizabeth muttering to ourselves, "Well, at least the after-parties are always fun." I remember discussing the film later with producer Michael G. Wilson and telling him that I found it very disappointing. I can't speak for Wilson, but I truly believe he was in agreement, as evidenced by he and Barbara Broccoli's bold move in revitalizing the series with the next film, Casino Royale. DAD was the last Brosnan Bond...he deserved better, but, as Clint Eastwood says to the doomed Gene Hackman in Unforgiven, "Deserves got nothing to do with it." The film does boast some admirable aspects: Toby Stephens' excellent portrayal of the villain and the brilliantly-staged fencing sequence, partly shot in London's famed Reform Club are probably the best elements. But the movie does have at least one ardent admirer: Entertainment Weekly writer Darren Franich, who posts a passionate, extensive and amusing defense of the film. (Notice I didn't say it was a convincing defense of the film). Franich pulls out all the stops to analyze why he believes this is the most underrated Bond ever. Click here to read and see if you agree.