46 replies to this topic

[spynovelfan]

Terrible.

As Aristoc had a special run of tights for the last film ('Legs to die another day for'), perhaps they should have called the collection Stocking Syndrome.

[ACE]

Even worse Stocking, positively stocking!

Or perhaps, because Elektra was forced, while in captivity, to forgoe her luxurious King residence and live in Renard's filth and squalor, she suffered from:

Shock Home Syndrome

Edited by ACE, 08 September 2005 - 09:53 AM.

[spynovelfan]

Indeed. And at the end of MOONRAKER, Bond has his Stock scene Sin-drome.

[ACE]

Or The Sun headline used when filming was halted for the TWINE PTS because of the Conservative Party's protest cleverly projected on a construction site in the Docklands:

SHOCKED TONE SEEN DOME

[spynovelfan]

The Sun always has such great headlines. A friend in the business tells me that a few weeks ago they thought they had confirmation that Ewan Stewart had been signed as Bond, and that they even mocked up a front page with the story. The headline, of course, was

SCOT GNOME WINS ROLE

Are you Frank Muir or Dennis Norden?

[ACE]

Mr Norden!

OK, Mr Muir, did you read that story in the excellent Brussels Bulletin about the fact that the remote surveillance planes used in Iraq were to be made smaller thus reducing the numbers required as they would not be shot down so easily?:

STOCK HONED, SLIMMED DRONE

These journos are clever, clever people!

[spynovelfan]

I see you've been doing your research, Mr Norden. But I can't really see the Bond connection with that one. Was it perhaps above a show-biz story about how Clive Owen now evades all questions about Bond by talking incessantly about what a great time he had making Sin City? Titled

STOP OWEN'S 'SIN' DRONE

[ACE]

Very amusing, Mr Muir

Yes, I do recall a rather tragic picture recently of Pierce's desparate attempt to lose weight and de-age himself for the next Bond. While he looked very good, he'd lost so much weight, you could see his rib cage. The caption read:

SHOCK BONED SKIN TONED

[spynovelfan]

How sad. Incidentally, I read in Variety that they are planning to shoot CASINO ROYALE back to back with COLONEL SUN. And guess what - your pick for Sun, Leonard Nimoy, has been cast! That's the good news. The bad news is that the shoot isn't going well, and that it's been produced by 'bad boy rapper' Puff 'Diddle me' Coombs, who seems to want eveything to be 'glammed up to the max'. According to Nimoy, the rap guru even nixed a perfect opportunity to film in Rome, after the mayor of the city promised to give the crew full access - he even promised to make the place 'look more like Athens' so it would be more faithful to the novel. But the 'black Sinatra' wasn't interested, apparently. The full story is in the latest issue of Variety. Look for

SPOCK: COOMBS BINNED ROME

[ACE]

How sad. Incidentally, I read in Variety that they are planning to shoot CASINO ROYALE back to back with COLONEL SUN. And guess what - your pick for Sun, Leonard Nimoy, has been cast! That's the good news. The bad news is that the shoot isn't going well, and that it's been produced by 'bad boy rapper' Puff 'Diddle me' Coombs, who seems to want eveything to be 'glammed up to the max'. According to Nimoy, the rap guru even nixed a perfect opportunity to film in Rome, after the mayor of the city promised to give the crew full access - he even promised to make the place 'look more like Athens' so it would be more faithful to the novel. But the 'black Sinatra' wasn't interested, apparently. The full story is in the latest issue of Variety. Look for

SPOCK: COOMBS BINNED ROME

As I said, those journos are pretty damned clever.
Isn't it a pity we don't have the requisite skill to conjure such doozies?

The above story was excellent and the headline the best so far. Very creative but that Variety speak lends itself to good ones.

Yeah, I do have that story on file in my collection. Yes, Sean was very unhappy about the rushes and ordered them to be destroyed after a very critical first viewing. Variety followed the story above with a piece monickered thusly:

SCHLOCK THROWN, SCENES STONED

[ACE]

BTW, the real reason Puff Daddy, Diddy Whatever was pee'd off was that iconic Nimoy got more Roman loving than he did and this distracted the millionaire pop mogul from his performance. Unfortunately, old Spock was caught in a Hugh Grant-esque episode but lots of Sony hush money confined it to the local rag who cleverly used an English headline but pronounced Mr Combs' first name as it is spelled.

SPOCK BLOWN, SEAN THROWN

[spynovelfan]

Yes, but THE SUNDAY SPORT had an even odder report, about how the film is actually being directed by Sean Connery's bald spot! Did you see it? Apparently, his pate thought Kylie Minogue's scenes were dreadful, and ordered her to be escorted off the set and put on the next flight to Sydney. Not sure I believe it, but you could probably find the story online somewhere if you're interested. I seem to remember it was called

SCOT'S DOME: SEND HER HOME!

[ACE]

Actually, there is a precedent for all of this.

Remember the challenges Bond faced shooting around Japan. Well the crew fell in love with the place and did not want to leave. Especially the last location. Here's a piece about it:

S Japan, separated from Honshu and Kyushu by the Inland Sea. The smallest of the major islands of Japan, its high mountains and steep slopes limit agriculture and impede communication; there are no volcanoes. The climate is humid subtropical. Rice, grains, mulberry, palms, and camphor are the chief products. Fishing and salt production are important, along with the petroleum, metal, paper, and textile industries. A large copper mine is located at Besshi. Population is concentrated along the coast; Takamatsu and Matsuyama are the largest cities.

They suffered from

Shikoku Syndrome

[spynovelfan]

Yes, apparently for months on end they only lived rice.

So, you liked COLD, then?

[ACE]

In the words of Johnny Vaughn, you are a GENIUS, Spy-Noffel-Van!

Yes, Cold is one of the better later Gardners if only because of the experiments in structure, the continuity.

The idea of Bond involving himself in aircraft forensic work in the beginning is interesting.

Cold - Children of the Last Days.

Didn't they make a movie of that with William Hurt and that deaf brunette bird?

[spynovelfan]

Did you know that a guy called Michael O'Brien is writing a series of novels known as The Children Of The Last Days series?

And try this. Paste this line into your Google field:

james gunn bond armour glock

Now click on the 'cache' of the first result and scroll down to see what Mr Gunn (a Fleming character!) wants to tell you about.

I must do some work.

[Kronsteen]

I just finished reading COLD, and I must admit I didn't really like it. As a fan of Gardner, especially his later novels (big fan of WLoD, TMFB, NSF and SF), this was a big dissapointment. I enjoyed the idea of two parts and the previous girlfriends popping up, but the story just wasn't entertaining and the action sequences fell flat. It seems to me that Bond doesn't have anything to really accomplish. There's no real mission.

Too bad, I did enjoy Gardners long run and most of his books, bit this wasn't his usual self. It was a little sad to finish the last chapters when I realized this was the last Bond novel to read... there's no more left now... (until Project X of course).