4014 replies to this topic

[Dustin]

Surely that's part of the drive behind the relevancy doubts, this feeling that genre cinema isn't at the pulse of times any more and doesn't attract serious actors; or if so then 'just for the money.'

But I feel this is largely a debate the feuilleton opens up every other year while real life proves them wrong. Right at the moment the rumour mill shows which kind of talent is waiting behind the scenes to get a shot at 007. And whichever way we look at it, there is no lack of contemporary directors with a distinctive style that seem open and willing to put their mark on Bond.

And since Nolan gets honourable mention in recent speculation: a stand-alone film like INCEPTION without regard for past or future events would be a refreshing change in my view. A film that does what the series is best at, carry on.

[sharpshooter]

It's role reversal. 

 

Brosnan did four, wanted a fifth but his wish wasn't granted.

Craig did four, didn't want a fifth but the powers that be did. 

 

It's funny how things work out. 

[SecretAgentFan]

Surely that's part of the drive behind the relevancy doubts, this feeling that genre cinema isn't at the pulse of times any more and doesn't attract serious actors; or if so then 'just for the money.'

But I feel this is largely a debate the feuilleton opens up every other year while real life proves them wrong. Right at the moment the rumour mill shows which kind of talent is waiting behind the scenes to get a shot at 007. And whichever way we look at it, there is no lack of contemporary directors with a distinctive style that seem open and willing to put their mark on Bond.

And since Nolan gets honourable mention in recent speculation: a stand-alone film like INCEPTION without regard for past or future events would be a refreshing change in my view. A film that does what the series is best at, carry on.

 

Concerning the relevancy, I absolutely agree.  And I believe it´s only based on the fact that the films started in 1962.  That alone makes lazy journalists already stir up this debate.

 

Of course, it is absolutely pointless since audiences love Bond and numbers have even grown bigger since the Brosnan era.  Only if the box office returns diminished it would make sense to address this - as GOLDENEYE did after the Dalton years and the hiatus.  But in the next film those doubts about the "sexist dinosaur" were dropped again, and rightly so.

 

As for Nolan - I don´t know if a stand-alone film works within the Bond series.  For the hard core fans, yes.  For the big worldwide audience, it would be confusing.  Unless it were a rival Bond like NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN.  Hey, if Craig feels the urge to return in 20 years and some copyright snafu will make it possible...

 

Also, Nolan - I imagine - was considered by EON to usher in a new Bond.  Which would result in setting the tone, like Campbell did both times.  Or Mendes, if one considers his films a closed arc in itself.

 

So... I must admit I´m a little afraid of Nolan´s potential influence on Bond right now...

[Dustin]

Nolan would not be everybody's top choice, also not mine. With Batman I only found the first one impressive. The second one flew largely on the Joker ticket and dragged on towards the end. And I hardly remember the third one. Overall I found them all too long and almost depressing in their tone, hardly what one would hope to see in Bond's future. So if Nolan I would prefer him to be brief about his work, both the film and his time with Bond in general. A story arc with him at the helm is not guaranteed to be all that marvellous in my view. But his entry should be clearly a part of the series, not something so removed it's no longer the Bond brand of excitement.

What should be an aim for the future is a balance of serious suspense, carefully dosed action that really impresses and plain old fun in depicting a slightly larger-than-live thriller adventure. I somehow don't see this coming from Nolan at the moment.

[S K Y F A L L]

I wouldn't be worried if Nolan did direct a Bond I can't imagine it being any more serious then the Craig films. 

 

It could be funny seeing Bond chase said henchman around a never ending staircase ascending and descending...

 

I find jokes in Nolan films are normally a hit, compared to some of 007's recent strikeouts.

 

I also do not understand why the films could not go from serious to fun and fun to serious, like they have in the past...

[SecretAgentFan]

Nolan would not be everybody's top choice, also not mine. With Batman I only found the first one impressive. The second one flew largely on the Joker ticket and dragged on towards the end. And I hardly remember the third one. Overall I found them all too long and almost depressing in their tone, hardly what one would hope to see in Bond's future. So if Nolan I would prefer him to be brief about his work, both the film and his time with Bond in general. A story arc with him at the helm is not guaranteed to be all that marvellous in my view. But his entry should be clearly a part of the series, not something so removed it's no longer the Bond brand of excitement.

What should be an aim for the future is a balance of serious suspense, carefully dosed action that really impresses and plain old fun in depicting a slightly larger-than-live thriller adventure. I somehow don't see this coming from Nolan at the moment.

 

Yes, that sums up my feelings about the Nolan-Batmans as well.  Depressing and fun-drenched.  Although I didn´t want the Schumacher-approach back, I was yearning for more acknowledgement of this being, well, in the end just another superhero comic pulp.  Instead Nolan seemed to suggest that a man dressed up as a bat can be absolutely realistic.  Haven´t seen the Snyder-take on Batman yet but from the clips I´ve seen it´s dropped that pretension and is therefore more to my idea of how a batman film should be approached.

 

I don´t want to be too fast to dismiss Nolan as a Bond director, of course.  But just judging from all his previous films I miss a light touch completely.  Everything is deadly serious, humourless and oppressed by fateful darkness.  This might work sometimes for his film noir-projects and even for his take of science-fiction and thrillers.  But there is no Nolan movie I really enjoy watching more than once.  All of them leave me... well, depressed.  That´s not what I would want a Bond film to be. And we had the "oh, we´re so serious"-films already.

 

EON should take note of your assessment because it absolutely describes the way Bond films should be like:

 

"What should be an aim for the future is a balance of serious suspense, carefully dosed action that really impresses and plain old fun in depecting a slightly larger-than-live thriller adventure."

[Dustin]

- next time I meet BB or MGW I'll tell them...

About this flipping back and forth between fun and seriousness, this is damn hard to do because once you reach a certain serious tone, a level of sobriety, every fun moment that comes after this landmark is bound to stick out. If you start out light, not as a comedy but a level or two below you can gradually work towards the heart of the matter - only currently the Bond films are not devised in such a manner. Often we are straight in the middle of action and anything more than a chuckle would kill the suspense.

Ideally, there should only be a few carefully chosen funny moments evolving from the situation and spread across the film in such a manner that they don't interfere with the suspense the audience is expected to feel.

Take SPECTRE as an example, there is the underwhelming car chase that was also cross bred with the film's fun section. Said fun section consisting of a couple of flat gags that weren't really funny and dragged the action fully into the absurd. If it had been my decision the talk with Moneypenny during the chase would have been absolutely enough, no further gags needed there.

Meanwhile the nerdy-geeky Q escaping the two heavies by simply making a run for it and hiding inside that mechanics room is in itself suspenseful and funny, without the further use of a civilian clown. Same for Bond telling the security guard at the clinic to stay. These are not laugh-out-loud moments but they are far more effective than the Barry Manillow song on the Aston or the Fiat Bond helps park.

[Pierceuhhh]

Nolan is too sloppy and careless, which is where the HE'S THE NEXT KUBRICK!!! claims baffle me. All of Nolan's movies feel slapdash, every scene like a first take. Bond films aren't and should never be precision-tooled, but Nolan makes John Glen look like Kurosawa by comparison.

Lee Smith's Nolanish editing also sticks out in Spectre. Random shots of Moneypenny opening a fridge in the middle of a car chase! Blofeld's helicopter taking a sluggish five minutes to actually crash land!

[SecretAgentFan]

Meanwhile the nerdy-geeky Q escaping the two heavies by simply making a run for it and hiding inside that mechanics room is in itself suspenseful and funny, without the further use of a civilian clown. 

 

Although I managed to hypnotize myself into loving SPECTRE after the third viewing (ahem...) Q´s escape still makes me cringe, I must say.  At first, yep - good that the bad guys (including the German Detlef Bothe) are on to him.  But to have them shaken off so easily...  I was hoping to see them follow him to his hotel room with Bond fighting them off at least.  

 

Then again, they were supposed to kidnap him to Blofeld´s lair in a previous draft - which, again, would have been so much better as a motif for Bond to go there.

 

While some ideas in previous drafts did not work so well I get the feeling that a majority of good ideas were excised the longer the development process went on.  

 

Another argument for a shorter development period...

[Orion]

Back on topic as the "MGM say 3/4 year gaps between films" thread is more appropriate for where this discussion has gone -

If we're talking little known actors for the role, welsh actor Matt Ryan has somehwat of a Bondish look to him. He's a very experienced Shakespearean actor having spent years working for RSC, and could be a good fit for the role if they wanted to bo somewhere between Brosnan charm and Dalton/Craig edge, also as a litlle known actor in regards to a household name (his role as John Constantine being easily the highest profile role he's done, and that's a cult role if ever there was one) he'll bring with him less baggage from previous role to most audiences.

[Odd Jobbies]

Matt Ryan! Good to here a new name around here. He was the best thing about Constantine (although that's not saying much). He's a decent actor, but for me he's not a Bond contender - just my opinion

[Agent 76]

How about another scotsman, Sam Heughan ? He does good work on the "Outlander" series and has the age for it.

[Marcin]

Nolan is too sloppy and careless, which is where the HE'S THE NEXT KUBRICK!!! claims baffle me. All of Nolan's movies feel slapdash, every scene like a first take. Bond films aren't and should never be precision-tooled, but Nolan makes John Glen look like Kurosawa by comparison.

Perhaps with the exception of Memento which still is his best film. Of course it's a low budget movie that can't be compared to Bond franchise. However Inception, with all its flaws, is one of my favorite blockbusters.

[S K Y F A L L]

I guess JACKIE CHAN and or TOM HANKS are to old to take over as Bond 7. 

 

How about an outcast? Someone on the edge of society's code of ethics, how about a homeless person?

 

Nolan whips his a?? with Mendes, when Bond does a Broadway musical we'll call Mendes...

[SecretAgentFan]

 

I guess JACKIE CHAN and or TOM HANKS are to old to take over as Bond 7. 

 

How about an outcast? Someone on the edge of society's code of ethics, how about a homeless person?

 

Nolan whips his a?? with Mendes, when Bond does a Broadway musical we'll call Mendes...

 

 

You´re not doing yourself any favours here.

[S K Y F A L L]

 

 

I guess JACKIE CHAN and or TOM HANKS are to old to take over as Bond 7. 

 

How about an outcast? Someone on the edge of society's code of ethics, how about a homeless person?

 

Nolan whips his a?? with Mendes, when Bond does a Broadway musical we'll call Mendes...

 

 

You´re not doing yourself any favours here.

 

I never seem to do I? Always one step forward two steps back with me. 

 

I just guess I'm not as good a judge at films as I'd like to be. 

I watched THE DARK KNIGHT RISES the other day and still enjoyed it. 

Don't understand the Nolan hate is all.

[univex]

Hating not understanding hate, then.

Right. That´s the thing nowadays.

 

Someone hating something someone likes. No news there. Don´t fret about it.

 

Example: I´d like Hiddleston as Bond, Surrie doesn´t. I like Surrie to have an opinion. I like Surrie´s opinion. It´s just not the same as mine. We agree on many other things I suppose. That´s the nature of the forums you know so well.

 

As for Nolan, sometimes I like him, sometimes I don´t. He´d be fine with that

 

Personally, I think a Nolan Bond would be a bit too gloomy and dark for my current taste. But I can´t wait to see what he does to Dunkirk.

[Irrigator]

Maybe we're drifiting a bit off topic with all the Nolan talk. ;-)

 

Since I like throwing new names into the mix; how about 30 year old Brit thesp James Norton (BBC's 'War & Peace')?

 

Edited by Irrigator, 19 June 2016 - 03:34 AM.

[Irrigator]

Funny how his name has been mentioned before in numerous articles, yet he hasnt been discussed a lot on this board:

 

http://www.independe...e-a6873096.html

http://metro.co.uk/2...s-bond-5677661/

http://www.independe...s-a6897336.html

Edited by Irrigator, 18 June 2016 - 11:40 PM.

[Shrublands]

007 Magazine has posted this on their Facebook page.

 

So, Daniel Craig has walked away from the Bond role;

Tom Hiddleston shot a Bond screen-test about a month ago at Pinewood Studios;

Barbara Broccoli has offered Hiddleston the role;

Hiddleston is thinking about it; apparently...

 

 

https://www.facebook...?q=007 magazine

[sharpshooter]

My heart is racing. Hope that is true, and Tom takes the offer!

[Shrublands]

007 Magazine has added a few comments. 

 

"As it stands at present, what 007 MAGAZINE has reported is FACT!"

 

and 

 

"If 007 MAGAZINE didn't have total confidence in our source we wouldn't have published our comment."

 

They seem very confident in their information.

In the past, they have always been reliable and I know they have serious connections within Eon.

[sharpshooter]

Indeed. They aren't the types to post rubbish. There's reason to be excited about this.

[SecretAgentFan]

I sincerely hope then that Hiddleston will say yes very soon.

 

At least this would confirm not only the rumours of Hiddleston being a contender but also of Craig wanting to leave since SPECTRE.

 

Maybe that also led to the constant delays of the distribution deal.  Everybody waited to see whether they would distribute films with a new Bond or the proven commodity Craig.

 

Did Hiddleston shoot down the rumours during the time between the screentest and Broccoli´s offer?  That would make sense then, him saying "I don´t think that announcement is coming", fearing BB would not like the screentest.

 

Either way, I´d be happy if Hiddleston said yes and everything could start anew.

[sharpshooter]

Tom is my number one pick for the role, so yes, I hope there is an announcement soon. I think it's apparent Craig is done, especially when you think about SPECTRE's ending. I'm guessing the Bier rumours are true as well, with Tom and Bier being the combo.

[Shrublands]

For me, it was Craig signing-up to do the 20 episode run of the Purity TV series over two years starting filming some time next year. That was the moment I knew he was out.

 

I have a feeling that they won't go for the Tom / Bier combo. But I do believe that she was / is on the sort list.

[Shrublands]

it's interesting to look back on this from about 3 weeks ago, from a source that I also consider credible.

 

...sources close to Tom Hiddleston have told Birth.Movies.Death. that Tom Hiddleston is in fact in advanced talks to take over the role of James Bond from Daniel Craig.

...Hiddleston very much wants the job (a fact of which he’s made no secret), no official offer has been made - yet.

 

 

http://birthmoviesde...lks-for-bond-25

 

I'd say things have developed in the last couple of weeks and that official offer has now been made.

[sharpshooter]

Indeed. Two credible sources. Tom seems like the man.

[SecretAgentFan]

And it all makes sense.  Hiddleston is exactly the choice one would expect, and rightly so.

 

Whether they will pair him with Bier or not, he could be a great new Bond.  

 

And he is keen on role.  Yay, finally an actor who wants to be Bond again!

[Matt_13]

I really hope he says yes!