Obama Commemorative Plate

Lewis Black just showed a video I uploaded to YouTube on The Daily Show. Sweet!

Nobody Re-Does it Better

Gene Shalit did not care for Quantum of Solace. Of course I don't care what Shalit thinks. I already have my ticket. But his objection to the movie was one of the stranger criticisms I've heard. He longs for the return of seventies James Bond (a.k.a. Roger Moore) with the quirky gadgets and the over-the-top villains with over-the-top schemes and the complete lack of subtlety. I'm definitely not the person that review was addressing. For the record, my personal favorite Bond movie is an early Roger Moore: The Spy Who Loved Me. However, those that long for the return of 'fun Bond' are completely missing the point. 

The reason James Bond franchise has maintained popularity throughout the years has been the chameleon-like way the movies have been able to adapt to fit the times. While Casino Royale was the first official 'reboot' of the franchise, the Bond movies have undergone a few unofficial reboots over the years. Terence Young's directorial work on early Bond movies defined the storytelling language of the modern spy movie genre that still exists to this day. Once Connery retired from the role, the Bond franchise expanded itself as was necessary to adapt and change with the trends of the times. In the seventies this was particularly evident with several wild departures: Live and Let Die lifted many elements from blaxpoitation films that were part of the public consciousness of the time and a fat southern sheriff character that seemingly wandered in from a Smokey and the Bandit film. The Man with the Golden Gun contained kung-fu elements in it's Hong Kong sections that might as well be lifted from Bruce Lee films. The Spy Who Loved Me introduced an assassin with steel teeth, cleverly named after an infamous movie shark that was popular at the time. The Moore era eventually peaked with a space-travlling Bond and a laser shoot-out finale in 1978's Moonraker, one year after Star Wars and the same year as the first Star Trek film. 

This curious copycatting didn't end with Moore's departure. The Bond films continued to change tacts to fit in with it's comtemporaries. License to Kill was the first Bond movie lacking a Ian Fleming novel as source material, instead used a well worn cop movie plot typical of the late 80's time frame: Bond's long time friend and partner Felix Leiter is eaten by sharks and Bond defys the authority of his higher-ups at MI-6 to seek revenge. Complete with the requisite "turn in your badge and your gun" scene. In the nineties, Brosnan's Bond movies became more and more outlandish as the decade pressed on, eventually culminating in Die Another Day, where Bond attempts to out-XXX the movie XXX by para-surfing a garish CGI tidal wave in full green-screen glory. Roger Moore would be proud.

Which brings us up to the current era: back-to-basics reboot Bond. Bond in the role of the archetypal english 'hard man.' An echo of The Transporter series, or Jason Bourne, or Craig's pre-Bond vehicle Layer Cake? Like the recent Batman films, they stripped the series of the humor and irony of previous incarnations in order to prevent them from devolving into a complete parody of themselves. The modern Bond movies may not as fun in the Austin Powers sense, but they make up for it in excitement and drama.

For those that can't stand thier Bond without a wink and a nod, my only advice is to wait it out. The pendulum swings both ways. In my opinion the Nolan Batmans and the Craig Bonds have pushed this brand of edgy realism about as far as the genre is willing to go. Anyone who has been keeping an eye on the developing Star Trek movies may be in for a pleasant suprise.  If the new Star Trek does well it could be the first signs of a return to camp in genre films in a big way.

However those stepping into James Bond for the first time with Quantum of Solace may want to check out earlier bare-bones Bond films such as Connery in From Russia with Love, Pierce Brosnan in Goldeneye and even Roger Moore's turn at back-to-basics Bond: For Your Eyes Only.

Gun Fondling

Episode 2 is now online. iTunes should update by the end of the day.

Front Pages from Around the World

All I managed to get that morning was a copy of the Austin American Statesman for Lacy. But this website has a collection of front pages from around the world. It's pretty cool. Check it out.

Lauren Levy from Firehead, you've just gone viral.

Little girl acts terribly 17 years ago, pays for it today. It's funny the way the world works.