268 replies to this topic

[Loomis]

Perhaps that's what we'll end up with. If they were really and truly planning to make a "dark" and "gritty" CASINO ROYALE, you'd have thought they'd have hired Matthew Vaughn rather than Martin Campbell. Surely Vaughn would be by far the better director for "taking some risks and really going for it".

I find it a pity that Vaughn wasn't hired, since (on the basis of LAYER CAKE and the upcoming X-MEN 3) he seems on course to become a major, A-list director (I reckon he'll end up being much bigger than his mate Guy Ritchie). And he coulda directed a Bond film! For me, the "CASINO ROYALE director saga" seems to illustrate the old adage about "what you want, what you'd settle for, and what you get":

Want: Quentin Tarantino.

Would settle for: Matthew Vaughn.

Get: Martin Campbell.

Oh well, bring on Craig or Owen as Bond.

[Stephenson]

Bring it on ... Absolutely! Let's get this show on the road so we have something real to talk about as opposed to random speculation.

[Forever007]

I have slowly warmed to Craig as Bond. He is such a gifted actor that he may just pull it off. Dalton was more the stage type actor actor and still did a good job. Imagine what a good quality actor like Craig could do. Ian Fleming's description of Bond was a man with harsh looks that women were drawn too. More than pure looks but an elements of mystique and danger about him. Craig may just be the guy who can deliver this type of Bond. Whether the public accepts this is another story. They accepted Jason Bourne so why not?

[Loomis]

Well said, Forever007. I really don't want an "off-the-peg" James Bond, regulation height, looks, etc., a standard issue, unsurprising (and unremarkable) choice to provide exactly the same old stuff as always. Craig would be a very welcome breath of fresh air for the series.

[zencat]

I'm starting to think ALL this Daniel Craig whatnot is just PR for Layer Cake. Have you all noticed how each contender gets mysterious "hot" when he has a movie set to come out (and then suddenly vanishes from the "news" after the movie is released)? Jackman for van Helsing last year. Owen for Sin City this year. And now Craig and Layer Cake.

I think we're all being had.

[RITZ]

I'm starting to think ALL this Daniel Craig whatnot is just PR for Layer Cake. Have you all noticed how each contender gets mysterious "hot" when he has a movie set to come out (and then suddenly vanishes from the "news" after the movie is released)? Jackman for van Helsing last year. Owen for Sin City this year. And now Craig and Layer Cake.

I think we're all being had.

You've stumbled on a conspiracy there. All media guff ain't it?

[Loomis]

Well, if so then surely we're only being had because Craig is telling absolute barefaced lies not only about being under consideration by Barbara Broccoli but also about being actually offered the role by Sony. Would he really do that? Would any actor? Craig is already a comparatively big fish in the acting profession (in Britain, at least, but it seems likely that he'll be in an upcoming Spielberg flick, which should make him a major name) - I really doubt that he'd feel the need to raise his profile by spinning yarns about being offered James Bond. Wouldn't his name be mud in the industry if he started doing that sort of thing? Yeah, yeah, I know the theories about PR and "spin" and promoting new movies, and all the rest of it, but I would have thought that if you were going to explicitly state to the world that you were a very serious contender indeed for Bond, you'd have to have some grounds. Or maybe not - what do I know? Perhaps Craig's just talking out of his **** and lying through his teeth?

As far as I know, neither Jackman nor Owen ever said anything like: "Yeah, I'm on a list of names for Bond", or: "Sony rang me up and said the role was mine".

[Loomis]

I believe LAYER CAKE is a Sony release. Could it be that Craig and the LAYER CAKE people have a deal going with Sony and Eon whereby Craig is allowed to air the completely untrue claim that he's under consideration for Bond, resulting in good box office for LAYER CAKE, free publicity for both Craig and the Bond series, and attention deflected away from the real Bond candidates? Hmmm.... seems a bit tall, but then I guess that many stranger things have happened in Hollywood. Who knows what's going on?

But wouldn't it be risky for Eon to have Craig claiming he's a contender if he isn't one? After all, his looks would turn plenty of people off Bond! (Just look at the many comments on CBn and elsewhere along the lines of: "If they're seriously considering Craig, they've lost the plot completely.")

It's my feeling that Craig is (or was) indeed a serious candidate, although that may not end up meaning all that much. Don't forget that Barbara Broccoli supposedly wanted Sam Neill as Bond in THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS and Sean Bean as Bond in GOLDENEYE.

[tdalton]

It's my feeling that Craig is (or was) indeed a serious candidate, although that may not end up meaning all that much. Don't forget that Barbara Broccoli supposedly wanted Sam Neill as Bond in THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS and Sean Bean as Bond in GOLDENEYE.

Since Barbara Brocolli wanted Sam neill and Sean Bean as Bond in TLD and GE respectively, and she missed out on the opportunity to get her choice as Bond, that would seem like more evidence that Daniel Craig will be Bond. I would believe that he is her choice for the role, and now that Cubby has passed, she doesn't have to convince him that her choice is the right guy for the role, which gives Daniel Craig a leg up on the competition, if in fact he is still in it.

[Seannery]

I'm starting to think ALL this Daniel Craig whatnot is just PR for Layer Cake. Have you all noticed how each contender gets mysterious "hot" when he has a movie set to come out (and then suddenly vanishes from the "news" after the movie is released)? Jackman for van Helsing last year. Owen for Sin City this year. And now Craig and Layer Cake.

I think we're all being had.

This is exactly what I said Zencat and I added that the Bond heat fell off Jackman and Owen almost as soon as they stopped promoting their movies. I believe Layer Cake has its premiere in the USA May 12--lets wait and see if the Craig's Bond heat dissipates or not after that date. That could be very telling.

[Turn]

But what had Julian McMahon been promoting when he was tipped a few weeks ago?

Fantastic Four is still a couple months off and the new season of Nip/Tuck does't start until fall.

[Seannery]

Well, if so then surely we're only being had because Craig is telling absolute barefaced lies not only about being under consideration by Barbara Broccoli but also about being actually offered the role by Sony. Would he really do that? Would any actor? Craig is already a comparatively big fish in the acting profession (in Britain, at least, but it seems likely that he'll be in an upcoming Spielberg flick, which should make him a major name) - I really doubt that he'd feel the need to raise his profile by spinning yarns about being offered James Bond. Wouldn't his name be mud in the industry if he started doing that sort of thing? Yeah, yeah, I know the theories about PR and "spin" and promoting new movies, and all the rest of it, but I would have thought that if you were going to explicitly state to the world that you were a very serious contender indeed for Bond, you'd have to have some grounds. Or maybe not - what do I know? Perhaps Craig's just talking out of his **** and lying through his teeth?

As far as I know, neither Jackman nor Owen ever said anything like: "Yeah, I'm on a list of names for Bond", or: "Sony rang me up and said the role was mine".

You do make a good point Loomis that Craig seemingly was more explicit in saying he was a candidate. Supposedly a social friend of Babs perhaps he has her permission to spread Bond fever while using the buzz to promote himself and his movie--both sides win. Or maybe he was a candidate and lost so he uses a half truth to promote himself(could be the same with McMahon) and again maybe with Babs okay. Or maybe there's truth to what he is saying. In otherwords I don't know --waiting to see if there is Bond buzz after the premiere and promoting of Layer Cake on May 12 could very well give us a big clue.

[Loomis]

Friday May 13, 2005

At the Movies: 'Layer Cake'

Film opens Friday in the United States

NEW YORK (AP) - There's a scene in "Layer Cake'' that completely lends credence to the idea that Craig, Daniel Craig, could be the next Bond, James Bond.

Craig plays a polite, intelligent, beautifully dressed drug dealer who considers himself a businessman and not a brash, gun-toting thug.

He hates firearms and all manner of violence, but finds himself in need of protection, so he seeks help from an associate who has amassed a minor arsenal in his London apartment.

As Craig's character tries the handgun on for size - whipping around corners, squinting and pointing at imaginary targets in the semi-dark of a quiet hallway - it's easy to imagine him stepping into Pierce Brosnan's shoes and custom tuxedo, beating up an international array of baddies and bedding an international array of babes.

It's a great a-ha moment, one that makes you finally understand why his name has been bandied about alongside those of the better-known Clive Owen and Jude Law.

Even if Craig doesn't get the gig, "Layer Cake'' should make him a star anyway after years of strong supporting work in films as varied as "Road to Perdition,'' "Sylvia'' and "The Jacket.'' And deservedly so.

He brings a powerfully magnetic presence to a character who has no name and no back story - he's listed in the credits simply as XXXX _ and provides a wiry, clear-eyed intensity to a thriller that's high on style.

Matthew Vaughn's first crack at directing thematically and visually calls to mind some of the films he's produced, including Guy Ritchie's "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'' and "Snatch.''

Similarly, it also boasts a well-chosen collection of pop and rock hits to punctuate the action, including The Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter'' as leggy, blond Sienna Miller struts down a hotel hallway for an afternoon tryst, and Duran Duran's wistful "Ordinary World'' as one veteran criminal gets his long-awaited revenge on another with a brutal beating, followed by a spot of tea.

So we're in familiar territory in this colorful, darkly comic world of British gangsters, though in J.J. Connolly's script, which he adapted from his book of the same name, the gentlemen lunching at the club in pinstriped suits aren't so different from the pushers peddling smack to junkies on the street.

Vaughn moves with smooth fluidity between characters and story lines, setting up this tale of drugs, schemes and violence, all of which centers on Craig's unnamed antihero.

XXXX has made a solid chunk of change and wants to get out of the business.

"Life is so (expletive) good, I can taste it in my spit,'' he says in an opening voiceover.

But - in a tried-and-true plot device - his boss, Jimmy Price (Kenneth Cranham), asks for a couple of favors first.

He must help sell a giant amount of Ecstasy that's been stolen from a group of Serbian bad guys, and he must try to find the daughter of top-tier criminal Eddie Temple (a formidable, scene-stealing Michael Gambon) who has escaped from a drug rehab center.

XXXX thinks he has all this under control, with the help of longtime associates Gene (Colm Meaney) and Morty (George Harris).

Of course, these things never turn out so easily, but XXXX still manages to maintain his cool as complexities mount.

So when he finally does snap upon realizing he's a pawn being manipulated by the very people he thought he could trust, the moment is even more powerful.

And yet, you want to see him get away with all of it - with the drug sale, his ill-gotten gains and his life.

That's a testament not only to the script's complexity, but to Craig's multilayered performance.

"Layer Cake,'' a Sony Pictures Classics release, runs 105 minutes. Three stars out of four. - AP

http://www.star-ecen...5137&sec=movies

[Seannery]

Craig was interviewed by the Oregonlive.com today and concerning the Bond rumors he says, "There's a lot of smoke and very little fire at the moment and there's really nothing to say. I've spoken to Barbara Broccoli, but...nothing's been put on the table yet." It still seems from this that Craig is at least a possibility yet.

[Bon-san]

More and more, it sounds to me like they've been test-driving Craig's name 'round the yard to assess the public perception of him as a potential Bond.

[Seannery]

I showed a picture of Daniel Craig to my brother and asked him if he looked like James Bond. He said NO and that he looked more like a Russian agent. This is the risk of picking someone so far from the tradional looking Bond--that the general movie going public will reject him or at least not fully embrace him as 007.


Also Layer Cake just came out here(I haven't seen it yet--it's only playing in a few theatres) and a movie review here gave it the thumbs up while also saying that this movie has gotten a lot more ATTENTION because of the James Bond rumors with Craig.


Could this be the purpose of these rumors?--to pump up the profile of Craig and hence Layer Cake which is sort of his starring intro to a wider audience beyond the UK. If so why would Craig be so blatant about Bond talks and meetings? Wouldn't he want to be more vague and have more deniability?


Perhaps since Daniel Craig is suppose to be friends with Babs they made a deal. Babs allowed Craig to pump up his name, Layer Cake and his career by using Bond which will in addition give Bond free publicity AND perhaps ease the acceptability of the new Bond. By that I mean since Daniel Craig is not very Bond looking by giving him all this play as the next Bond it will give most Bond fans a sigh of relief when he isn't picked and therefore they will likely say okay it could have been worse, we dodged a bullet--lets give this new Bond a chance. There are some Craig supporters though they seem to be in a distinct minority and the Craig rumors seem to be distressing and diappointing to most. So it could help grease the intro to whoever they really pick as Bond. Just a theory BUT possible.

[ACE]

I like Seannery's theory. I think Craig puffed as Bond just prior to the US release of Layer Cake is not unintentional.

Considering the Matthew Vaughn directing Bond 21 rumours were prevelant last autumn when Layer Cake was released in the UK, one would have thought that Craig as Bond would also have been mentioned. It wasn't. Perhaps Craig is better known in the UK (but not exactly a star).

Anyway, Craig has now spoken openly about his purported near miss with the part so I think that would count him out.

One question: if Pierce is definitely not coming back, why have Eon not openly come out and said so? Surely the spectre of his Bond will hang over any new incumbent in the part so why not have clear blue sea between his departure and the supposed announcement of a new Bond?

For some strange, lunatic and diminishing-in-rationale reason, I think Pierce Brosnan may return as James Bond.

But who knows...

ACE

Edited by ACE, 29 May 2005 - 03:36 PM.

[ACE]

I like Seannery's theory. I think Craig puffed as Bond just prior to the US release of Layer Cake is not unintentional.

Considering the Matthew Vaughn directing Bond 21 rumours were prevelant last autumn when Layer Cake was released in the UK, one would have thought that Craig as Bond would also have been mentioned. It wasn't. Perhaps Craig is  better known in the UK (but not exactly a star).

Anyway, Craig has now spoken openly about his purported near miss with the part so I think that would count him out.

Shows what I know!

But who knows...

ACE

Thank God I added this in!

We should have an analysis of us so-called Bond fans who got it wrong. And right! Well done Loomis and SpyNovelFan.

[spynovelfan]

What? Has Hugh Dancy been announced as Bond?

[ACE]

No, but as an insider I .... (enough already with the insider crap -Ed.)

[Loomis]

[quote name='ACE' date='2 January 2006 - 14:29'][quote name='ACE' date='29 May 2005 - 15:34']I like Seannery's theory. I think Craig puffed as Bond just prior to the US release of Layer Cake is not unintentional.

Considering the Matthew Vaughn directing Bond 21 rumours were prevelant last autumn when Layer Cake was released in the UK, one would have thought that Craig as Bond would also have been mentioned. It wasn't. Perhaps Craig is

[ACE]

Darnt knar 'bart opake, mate, but definitely unclear!



I josh.

NYResolution to self: lay off the red wine!

[spynovelfan]

The Brocollis have gone off the deep end if they think moviegoers will go for Daniel Craig, one of the ugliest actors I have ever seen.

Well, he's not pretty, that's for sure. But it could work.



'Bond. James Bond.'

He's got a hell of a lot of brute manliness to him, and it does leap off the screen. I think I've said before, but he was much more watchable than Tom Hanks or Paul Newman in THE ROAD TO PERDITION, with a much smaller part. For the whole film, I was wondering who he was, much as I was with Sam Rockwell in THE GREEN MILE. But as my beef with Dalton was that he didn't seem to display the caddish rule-breaking debonair snob side of Bond at all, I have to admit Craig - from the few things I've seen him in - looks like he could made Dalton look like Moore in comparison.

Is everyone ready for Psycho-Bond?

I don't think you ever replied to this post of mine, hrabb? Care to now?

[Bon-san]

Hey, don't count Brosnan out yet, man.

I think this is all a ploy anyway. Contract negotiations.

Remember John Gavin? Do you?

[DanMan]

I'm still convinced that all the filming in the Bahamas is simply a smokescreen for Pierce whose shooting footage in the backlot of Pinewood with some rubber icebergs.

[JimmyBond]

I'm still convinced that all the filming in the Bahamas is simply a smokescreen for Pierce whose shooting footage in the backlot of Pinewood with some rubber icebergs.

Finally filming the oft-rumored "Beyond the Ice" eh?

[spynovelfan]

Well, Brosnan is definitely not coming back.

But it's not too late for Gulshan Grover to be announced as the secondary villain.

[Bon-san]

Well, Brosnan is definitely not coming back.

Why are you so anti-?














OK I'll stop now.

[spynovelfan]

We've all made mistakes in this thread. What's your biggest one? I think this is mine:

But man, is this some risk-taking we'd be talking about. A guy who looks like Steve McQueen's uglier brother's corpse playing a rookie Bond in a contemporary setting - both in and out of flashback.

They might be better off having Q come up with a way of making Bond himself invisible.