Never Mind Pop Film

Before tomorrow's Academy Award nominations are announced, I would just like to take a second to offer a few predictions about Best Picture.

One of these films will have 10+ nominations
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty

These Films Are Locks
Amour
Argo
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty

They Will Be Happy Just to be Mentioned in Any Way
The Dark Knight Rises
The Master
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook
Skyfall

Let the drunken brawl between Lincoln and Zero Dark Thirty for the shiny gold man commence!

Skyfall did something that no Bond film had done previously in its 50 year history. It crossed the one billion dollar threshold, making Skyfall the highest-grossing Bond film ever. Now maybe 007 can afford  to carry around something other than that Walther PPK.

Skyfallopens with a fatalistic sense of immediacy. The thrilling action sequence is familiar, but it ends with a gasp rather than a cheer. The problem with most Bond films is that there never a sense of urgency felt. Agent 007 will face endless numbers of enemies, gunmen, terrorists, etc. but none of them will ever seriously pose mortal danger. What Sam Mendes adds to the franchise is consequences and acknowledging a legitimate threat: that 007 may be obsolete.
Whereas the other twenty two films of this franchise spend a majority of their run-times traveling to exotic venues, Skyfall resides in the rainy U.K. The homeland is under attack and MI6 is facing a lot of critics for its handling of spy matters, "this is the 21st Century," Gareth Mallory (an always withering Ralph Fiennes) argues, 007 and his ilk aren't needed anymore.
Addressing the antiquated nature of James Bond poses a risk to the audience. Will Mendes go too far with this line of thinking and alienate audie…

The last song for Bond by Jack White and Alicia Keys was criticized for how it fit the 22nd film (oddly enough "Two Against One" would have fit Quantum of Solace much more). Adele's selection, without doubt, will not be questioned given her classic sound. Give it a watch.
Don't get sold out! Buy advance tickets to Skyfall.

Quite a difference between Ursula Andress' role and what constitutes a female role for the spy franchise now. Naomie Harris think that it is“not enough just to look pretty anymore,” in the new 007.comvideo featuring the Bond Girls of Skyfall. I'd believe what she says: she has a gun.

So it turns out that even as a platinum-blonde, Javier Bardem is a very frightening man. Is there no hairstyle on this Earth that can make him less imposing? Maybe a mullet?

For fans of 007, good news was just released: Skyfall's runtime will be 145 minutes. This will be the longest of the Craig-Bond films, one minute longer than Casino Royale and thirty nine minutes longer than Quantum of Solace. To boot, a video featuring behind the scenes footage of Skyfall's opening is available as well.


(Courtesy: 007.com)

If you are looking to stream movies online then why not try out one of the available film services that can be found on the web. Services such as LOVEFiLM have a huge catalogue of movies online including a wide range of action movies. You can even rent DVD’s including the entire James Bond collection.

Wow. I have no words for how spectacular that footage looks. That would have made for an excellent Olympic opening in itself.

Dapper, young fellow isn't he? This is our first look at the character in Sam Mendes' Skyfall. Ben Whishaw is stepping into some rather large shoes following Desmond Llewelyn's turn as Q for thirty three years of the Bond franchise. It will be interesting to see if he brings his own comic edge to the films, or is relegated as a background character with lots of shiny objects at his disposal.

(Courtesy: 007.com)

Oh, Daniel Craig. How did we ever get along without you?

007.comrevealed the first poster for the twenty-third installment in the Bond franchise today, and Bond is back and heading into some shadowy locales in Skyfall. Skyfall debuts in the U.S. on November 9th.

Empire has released a fresh batch of photos from Skyfall from their summer preview issue. Along with your standard shots of Bond brandishing weapons, driving cars and looking suave, we have looks at newbies to the Bond franchise: Ralph Fiennes and Naomie Harris.

(Courtesy: Empire)

Another exclusive video from 007.com has director Sam Mendes sharing his experiences from the set of Skyfall. Although Judi Dench apparently has final call on the film. Watch the video for more of Mendes' experiences working under the Highlander that is Judi Dench.


(007.com)

I don't think there has ever been a Bond with facial hair has there? Either way, Bond is back and on the prowl in Shanghai. Skyfall is due to begin its worldwide roll-out later this year in the UK and Ireland on October 26th and in North America on November 9th.

(Courtesy: 007)

EON has released the first official still from the 23rd Bond film, Skyfall. And yes, I am firmly appealing to the female fans of this blog with this post. Shameless, I know, but Daniel Craig pays the bills.

You can now find Bond at his new online home at 007.com. Along with the new digs, a brief video can be found. Enjoy!

@007 has posted the first set pic from the 23rd Bond film today. Once it's the first day of production it is hard to do better than Roger Deakins as your cinematographer. And maybe it's just me, but is this the same bathroom from the opening of Casino Royale?

The wait is over! Daniel Craig is returning as Bond on the bigscreen. MGM and Sony Pictures officially announce today that Bond 23 will be called Skyfall. Javier Bardem is indeed the film's villain, Naomie Harris will play Eve, with Ben Whishaw, Ralph Fiennes and Albert Finney rounding out Skyfall cast.

The official plot synopsis, as posted by the @007 Twitter account, reads as follows: “Bond’s loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.
(Courtesy: 007)