108 replies to this topic

[Catching Bullets]

How cool is that? Terrific! Congrats, Mark, fine work!


EDIT: front page news: http://commanderbond...a-broccoli.html

Ah thanks Dustin. It's all going quite alright, as they say.

[Loomis]

Received my copy this morning and (given that today is a day off for yours truly) tucked into it straight away. Given that I'm only six chapters in (there are fifteen in all), I may be jumping the gun in passing comment but you know what? I don't care. The reason that I don't care is that I can already say without hesitation that CATCHING BULLETS is superb. This is easily the best Bond-related book I've picked up since Simon Winder's THE MAN WHO SAVED BRITAIN.

I am of the same generation as Mark O'Connell, and CATCHING BULLETS constantly triggers reminders of my own childhood in the home counties in the 1980s. I too used to record Bank Holiday Bond films onto VHS tapes, pressing the pause button as soon as the adverts started in order to create uninterrupted copies (and I used to feed the accompanying blank labels into my father's typewriter and carefully type the films' titles onto them), and I well remember that in those days much of the video rental industry revolved around off-licences and garages. I can still vividly recall the offie in Chalfont St. Peter, with its small selection of tapes: FIRST BLOOD, HALLOWEEN II, THE PLAGUE DOGS and a couple of others. And, yes, I even remember the schoolboy phenomenon of recording parts of films on audio cassette - one of my chums had a hefty chunk of RETURN OF THE JEDI stored that way.

Reading CATCHING BULLETS makes me overflow with the nostalgic bliss of limited choice, but this book is more than a witty and poignant walk down memory lane (ah, yes, that Scotch tapes skeleton!). It's also a treasure trove of bang-on-the-money observations on the Bond films. Having spent a decade in the trenches of online Bond fandom, I'd assumed that I'd considered everything about every 007 flick from every possible angle, but on a number of occasions CATCHING BULLETS has caused me to think: Hmmm.... interesting point there, O'Connell, can't imagine quite why I never realised that before. If you're looking for an extremely well-written and absorbing work on what makes the Bond series tick, this is it.

[Dustin]

Thanks, Loomis. Same here, received it today, am currently in the midst of chapter four and already feel it's fantastically observant, ingenious and spot-on.

And I used to have an archive of SPACE 1999 on audio tape...

[Catching Bullets]

Thanks guys. Much appreciated!!

[SecretAgentFan]

Hey, got mine today, too! Tonight, I will delve into its treasures.

Um, that came out wrong, didn´t it?

[Catching Bullets]

The early reviews are in!!

https://www.facebook.com/catchingbullets?ref=ts#!/photo.php?fbid=473734999323521&set=a.413377045359317.97372.407779922585696&type=1&theater

CBn gets a wee nod in there too. Thanks guys!!

Edited by Catching Bullets, 22 September 2012 - 10:06 AM.

[Jim]

Our absolute pleasure.

[Dustin]

Closing in on the last bullet in the magazine - what an absolutely splendid read! And I have a feeling CBn is actually playing a very tiny bit role without being mentioned by name.

Edited by Dustin, 26 September 2012 - 11:02 AM.

[SecretAgentFan]

Have finally made time to start reading it - and I LOVE it. Get ready for a hymnic amazon-review...

[Catching Bullets]

Leading US magazine and website Advocate.com interviews CATCHING BULLETS author Mark O'Connell and puts the pink into the golden celebrations for James Bond 007...

http://www.advocate....day-and-skyfall

[SecretAgentFan]

Congrats! I´m still reading it (slow reader, I am) and find it so entertaining I wish there were more Bond films the author could take on...

[Catching Bullets]

For a look at Christies 50 YEARS OF JAMES BOND Auction, check out CATCHING BULLETS author Mark O'Connell's preview of the lots (Faberge eggs not included)....

https://www.facebook...22585696&type=3

[SecretAgentFan]

There are many books about James Bond. Especially this fall there will be lots of titles devoted to this legendary character and its 50 years of entertaining a mass audience.

But this one you should definitely get. Because it gets the fascination of James Bond like no other book has yet managed to.

Author Mark O´Connell understands that the allure of James Bond 007 consists not only of its massive entertainment value but also of the personal connection the audience can make with these films. Since every Bond film basically is a variation of a distinct story formula, the interesting part is how every new film manages to use this formula and re-new its appeal. This, of course, always depends on the particular time during which a Bond film is made. Every Bond film becomes a time capsule, holding not only fashions and ideas of its particular era but also shaping them. The effect on the audience is magnificent: Everyone can re-watch every Bond film and re-experience their own feelings at the time they saw these films for the first time. Bond films not only made movie history, they are telling us about history. And also our own history.

This is what O´Connell masterfully illuminates by writing about every Bond film not in the chronological order of their release dates but the order in which he has seen them, from youth onwards. CATCHING BULLETS, referring to the way one had to be always looking for a way to catch these films when they were shown on TV or a re-run in the local cinema, back in the 80´s when internet streaming or available Blu Ray-boxes were not an option. This structure allows O´Connell to convey the personal connection between his personal life and James Bond films. With the expert tongue-in-cheek of the accomplished screenwriter he has become, he turns this book into the touching story of his own life overcoming obstacles and staying true to himself. The result is a fast-paced book with an original take on the Bond films which O´Connell analyzes just as thoroughly as amusingly, making one eager to re-watch the films and pay attention to those details one might have missed all those years.

It is only fitting that O´Connell not only is a 007 fan since early youth but grandson to the (late) chauffeur of the Broccoli family which shepherded Bond and turned it into the screen legend the whole world is celebrating again and again. This connection, however, does not result in any PR-type euphemisms. Instead, and thankfully so, O´Connell gives his opinion on every film unguarded and uncensored, yet always respecting the work and mastery that made these films possible.

CATCHING BULLETS delivers on every level it intends to. It is a book written by a fan who fully understands what it means to be a fan - but also to have a life. And how wonderful that can be.

[Dustin]

+1

[Catching Bullets]

There are many books about James Bond. Especially this fall there will be lots of titles devoted to this legendary character and its 50 years of entertaining a mass audience.

But this one you should definitely get. Because it gets the fascination of James Bond like no other book has yet managed to.

Author Mark O´Connell understands that the allure of James Bond 007 consists not only of its massive entertainment value but also of the personal connection the audience can make with these films. Since every Bond film basically is a variation of a distinct story formula, the interesting part is how every new film manages to use this formula and re-new its appeal. This, of course, always depends on the particular time during which a Bond film is made. Every Bond film becomes a time capsule, holding not only fashions and ideas of its particular era but also shaping them. The effect on the audience is magnificent: Everyone can re-watch every Bond film and re-experience their own feelings at the time they saw these films for the first time. Bond films not only made movie history, they are telling us about history. And also our own history.

This is what O´Connell masterfully illuminates by writing about every Bond film not in the chronological order of their release dates but the order in which he has seen them, from youth onwards. CATCHING BULLETS, referring to the way one had to be always looking for a way to catch these films when they were shown on TV or a re-run in the local cinema, back in the 80´s when internet streaming or available Blu Ray-boxes were not an option. This structure allows O´Connell to convey the personal connection between his personal life and James Bond films. With the expert tongue-in-cheek of the accomplished screenwriter he has become, he turns this book into the touching story of his own life overcoming obstacles and staying true to himself. The result is a fast-paced book with an original take on the Bond films which O´Connell analyzes just as thoroughly as amusingly, making one eager to re-watch the films and pay attention to those details one might have missed all those years.

It is only fitting that O´Connell not only is a 007 fan since early youth but grandson to the (late) chauffeur of the Broccoli family which shepherded Bond and turned it into the screen legend the whole world is celebrating again and again. This connection, however, does not result in any PR-type euphemisms. Instead, and thankfully so, O´Connell gives his opinion on every film unguarded and uncensored, yet always respecting the work and mastery that made these films possible.

CATCHING BULLETS delivers on every level it intends to. It is a book written by a fan who fully understands what it means to be a fan - but also to have a life. And how wonderful that can be.

Wow. Thank you SecretAgentFan. Kind words. Much appreciated.

[SecretAgentFan]

You´re welcome! Deserved praise!

[Loomis]

In the chapter The Britpop Bullets: GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies, O'Connell makes mention of the Cool Britannia era into which the first two Brosnans were born - an era of Blur, Oasis, Pulp, and, as O'Connell puts it, "the Ghosts of Cool Past - Vespas, sideburns, Gazelle trainers, flared denim and vintage TV themes." It was a time when the 1960s and 1970s were back in vogue.

Funnily enough, it wasn't until a decade later that Eon would give us Bond films that were genuinely Britpop - Craig's 007 has some of the northern "laddishness" and rough edges of a Liam Gallagher, not to mention a decidedly retro look. CASINO ROYALE is drenched in 1960s style, while the visuals of QUANTUM OF SOLACE evoke the conspiracy thriller doom and gloom of the early 1970s.

Looking, however, at the Bond films that were actually released during the Britpop period, it's hard to see them as part of that prevailing cultural mainstream. There is nothing Britpop about Brosnan's look or persona, while his Bond films don't seem influenced by the 1960s or 1970s - they seem like 1980s John Glen outings meeting 1990s Hollywood action blockbusters (not that there's anything wrong with that). It seems to me that the likes of DIE HARD, CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER and SPEED were more important influences than anything "Britpop" (not that O'Connell argues otherwise).

Britpop/Cool Britannia did end up having a big influence on Bond, but it took ten years to kick in.

[marktmurphy]

Yeah, although The Avengers was back on the telly and there was lots of that sort of stuff going on (someone tell Paul Weller that was a long time ago now), I don't think the Bonds really fitted into that: they were being more modern than all that. The DB5 was in it, sure, but that's about it.
And although Bond's a British spy they didn't, and never really have, traded on that all that much. He's just a hero who happens to come from the UK.

[Dustin]

I suppose the influence of Britpop/Cool Britannia on Brosnan's films is at the most visible during DAD's London scenes, when Graves stages a parody of the whole idea (and Bond, in his own perception), all to the tune of LONDON CALLING and the assembly of yellow press rags in front of Buckingham Palace.

Other than that it probably was more of a subdued affair, much of it behind the curtains. I remember times when fans were ABSOLUTELY SURE the next title song would come from Oasis or Blur. With a few outsiders backing The Verve. When then Sheryl Crow was announced for TND some immediately set their sights on the next film for Oasis/Blur, only to be disappointed once again.

But what I really wonder is why the series avoided contact with the Bristol scene and Trip Hop. Portishead, Massive Attack and later Morcheeba would have been closer to the idea of a Bond theme than the actual themes during Brosnan's tenure. And Goldfrapp's debut album consists exclusively of Bond songs that never were. None of this was picked up, although some of these would have been safer than Garbage's or Madonna's efforts.

[The Shark]

But what I really wonder is why the series avoided contact with the Bristol scene and Trip Hop. Portishead, Massive Attack and later Morcheeba would have been closer to the idea of a Bond theme than the actual themes during Brosnan's tenure. And Goldfrapp's debut album consists exclusively of Bond songs that never were. None of this was picked up, although some of these would have been safer than Garbage's or Madonna's efforts.

Agreed entirely there. I'd also add Kelli Dayton-era Sneaker Pimps and Dubstar as good candidates for a Bond theme.

[Catching Bullets]

Check out this HOMOLAB podcast for a chat with CATCHING BULLETS author Mark O'Connell, some 007 chat and what might James Bond smell like...?

(Podcast #61)

https://itunes.apple...lab/id408246771

[Stubris]

For my birthday I recieved a signed copy of Sir Roger's 'Bond on Bond'...and 'Catching Bullets'. Sorry Sir Rog, but the latter is by far my favourite. In fact I'd go as far as to say it's the most endearing, entertaining book about the Bond movie franchise I have ever read...and I'm only half way through! It is essentially my childhood..with additional Superstar chauffeur grandparents, Homosexuality, make-shift rounders bats & destroyed 'A View to a Kill' t-shirts.

One raised Vodka Martini to you Mark.

[Dustin]

One raised Vodka Martini to you Mark.

Make that a double, be a sport.

[Stubris]

Ohhhh....Go on then!

[Catching Bullets]

Thanks Stubris, they are great words and a reaction the book is so happy to hear about. I hope you don't mind but we have added them to our Facebook / CATCHING BULLETS page which is well worth a look and sets out the BULLETS stall very well with photos, reactions and A VIEW TO A KILL quiche recipes aplenty..

https://www.facebook...catchingbullets

Edited by Catching Bullets, 17 October 2012 - 08:49 PM.

[Iceskater101]

Wait where can I buy this book? Is it on amazon? I just checked Barnesandnoble and they didn't have it.

[Dustin]

Here: http://www.amazon.co...50510086&sr=8-1

[Iceskater101]

ah okay thanks. I am a Bond fan as well and I really want to read this book to see someone elses imput on how Bond has affected their life.

[Catching Bullets]

The UK's SUNDAY EXPRESS features an article about CATCHING BULLETS author Mark O'Connell and how he was driven to Bond...

http://www.express.c...e-to-James-Bond

[delfloria]

How could Bond affect somebody's life, they're just movies?


Let me count the ways.


Looking forward to this read.