The Bond franchise which has been with us so long, has become so deeply entrenched in popular culture, that we often forget what it was that first distinguished the Bonds a half-century ago. Skyfall might be one of the best of the Bonds, and even, arguably, one of the best big-budget big-action flicks to come along in quite a while, but it’s not alone. The annual box office is – and has been, for quite some time – dominated by big, action-packed blockbusters of one sort of another. The Bonds aren’t even the only action-driven spy flicks (Mr. James Bond, I’d like you to meet Mr. Jason Bourne and Mr. Ethan Hunt).
That’s not to take anything away from the superb entertainment Skyfall is, or the sentimentally treasured place the Bonds hold. It’s only to say that where there was once just the one, there are now many.
That’s not to take anything away from the superb entertainment Skyfall is, or the sentimentally treasured place the Bonds hold. It’s only to say that where there was once just the one, there are now many.
- 10/26/2015
- by Bill Mesce
- SoundOnSight
(*My apologies for this coming so long after Sound on Sight’s celebration of 50 years of James Bond, but I’ve been swamped with end-of-semester work and only just now managed to finish this. Hope you all still find this of interest.)
As a coda to the Sos’s James Bond salute, there’s still a point I think deserves to be made.
The Bond franchise which has been with us so long, has become so deeply entrenched in popular culture, that we often forget what it was that first distinguished the Bonds a half-century ago. Skyfall might be one of the best of the Bonds, and even, arguably, one of the best big-budget big-action flicks to come along in quite a while, but it’s not alone. The annual box office is – and has been, for quite some time – dominated by big, action-packed blockbusters of one sort of another.
As a coda to the Sos’s James Bond salute, there’s still a point I think deserves to be made.
The Bond franchise which has been with us so long, has become so deeply entrenched in popular culture, that we often forget what it was that first distinguished the Bonds a half-century ago. Skyfall might be one of the best of the Bonds, and even, arguably, one of the best big-budget big-action flicks to come along in quite a while, but it’s not alone. The annual box office is – and has been, for quite some time – dominated by big, action-packed blockbusters of one sort of another.
- 12/20/2012
- by Bill Mesce
- SoundOnSight
It has been a year since Sidney Lumet passed away on April 9, 2011. Here is our retrospective on the legendary filmmaker to honor his memory. Originally published April 15, 2011.
Almost a week after the fact, we, like everyone that loves film, are still mourning the passing of the great American master Sidney Lumet, one of the true titans of cinema.
Lumet was never fancy. He never needed to be, as a master of blocking, economic camera movements and framing that empowered the emotion and or exact punctuation of a particular scene. First and foremost, as you’ve likely heard ad nauseum -- but hell, it’s true -- Lumet was a storyteller, and one that preferred his beloved New York to soundstages (though let's not romanticize it too much, he did his fair share of work on studio film sets too as most TV journeyman and early studio filmmakers did).
His directing career stretched well over 50 years,...
Almost a week after the fact, we, like everyone that loves film, are still mourning the passing of the great American master Sidney Lumet, one of the true titans of cinema.
Lumet was never fancy. He never needed to be, as a master of blocking, economic camera movements and framing that empowered the emotion and or exact punctuation of a particular scene. First and foremost, as you’ve likely heard ad nauseum -- but hell, it’s true -- Lumet was a storyteller, and one that preferred his beloved New York to soundstages (though let's not romanticize it too much, he did his fair share of work on studio film sets too as most TV journeyman and early studio filmmakers did).
His directing career stretched well over 50 years,...
- 4/9/2012
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
… and John Patterson should know. He's spent the summer watching John Le Carré adaptations
To while away the time until the release of Tomas Alfredson's remake of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, I've spent a happy summer immersing myself in John Le Carré's back catalogue. It hardly feels like work at all.
Few novelists manage to see three of their novels filmed within a span of five years. It happened to Le Carré after The Spy Who Came In From The Cold became a worldwide bestseller in 1963, and Martin Ritt's classic 1965 film adaptation, with Richard Burton and Claire Bloom (Rupert Davies as Smiley), offered a bleak and morally complex alternative to the James Bond ethos.
The Deadly Affair, Sidney Lumet's adaptation of Call For The Dead appeared in 1966. James Mason plays Smiley (renamed Charles Dobbs) with the same bespectacled, hang-dog mien he wore in Georgy Girl the same year,...
To while away the time until the release of Tomas Alfredson's remake of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, I've spent a happy summer immersing myself in John Le Carré's back catalogue. It hardly feels like work at all.
Few novelists manage to see three of their novels filmed within a span of five years. It happened to Le Carré after The Spy Who Came In From The Cold became a worldwide bestseller in 1963, and Martin Ritt's classic 1965 film adaptation, with Richard Burton and Claire Bloom (Rupert Davies as Smiley), offered a bleak and morally complex alternative to the James Bond ethos.
The Deadly Affair, Sidney Lumet's adaptation of Call For The Dead appeared in 1966. James Mason plays Smiley (renamed Charles Dobbs) with the same bespectacled, hang-dog mien he wore in Georgy Girl the same year,...
- 9/9/2011
- by John Patterson
- The Guardian - Film News
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