"No Time To Die" (NO SPOILERS!!)

I took in the newest James Bond movie, "No Time To Die", yesterday.  As anyone with even the slightest interest in such things knows, this is Daniel Craig's final appearance as 007 in this most lucrative of film franchises.  I have liked Craig in the role, but good for him for choosing to move on.

So how was this one, and what was it about?

It was about a villain who has somehow brought about the destruction of the evil organization, SPECTRE.  And he might be somehow related to Bond arch villain Blofeld?  He also has developed some type of microbots that when they get on your skin does....something irreparable and terrible?  Why is he doing this?  Who knows and who cares?  Sensible plots are about the last thing that are important or even necessary in a James Bond movie, but "No Time To Die" checks all of the other boxes and delivers another solid Bond thriller:

• A handsome and dashing Bond who looks good in a tux and still drinks his martinis "Shaken, not stirred."
• Beautiful women.
• Gorgeous costumes.
• Spectacular scenery.
• A loathsome villain in Rami Malek.  His character's name is Lyutsifer, pronounced "Lucifer."  Subtle.
• Chase scenes.  Numerous spectacular case scenes.  In cars, on motorcycles, and even on foot.  Some amazing stuff.

Did I mention beautiful women?  The main "Bond Girl" in this one is French actress Lea Seydoux....

...and Cuban actress Ana de Armas....

Miss de Armas played Paloma, an agent for either the CIA or MI5, I wasn't too clear on that point, who assisted Bond in an operation in some scuzzy bar in Cuba.  I think it was in Cuba.  She had just completed "three weeks in training school" which caused 007 to shudder a bit, but she proceded in totally kicking the asses of a battalion of Bad Guys along with James Bond, and doing so while wearing a low cut, backless, slit-up-both-sides evening dress that was spectacular, to say the least, while drinking those shaken and not stirred martinis.  Her character only got about ten or so minutes of screen time, but I think I could take an entire movie based on Paloma's adventures.

My only quibble with NTTD is that it lasted for two hours and forty-five minutes.  Way too long.  That takes at least a half-star off of my rating.

Also, and again, if you have listened to some of the talk surrounding this movie, you know that there is a development in this movie of major importance to the entire Bond Film Franchise.   Makes it hard to write really extensively about the movie without giving it away, but I think that I pulled it off here.   I will look forward to talking with others who have seen it and be able to discuss what happens next.

Two and One-Half Stars from The Grandstander (would have been Three if it was about 20-30 minutes shorter.)

Movie Review: "SPECTRE" (contains no spoilers)

Yep, we were there for the first showing on opening day for "SPECTRE", the 24th James Bond movie, and Daniel Craig's fourth go-round as the world's most famous double-naught spy.  It is great to be retired!  And, as one of the characters says in the movie, "It's good to have you back Double-O Seven."  Indeed.

You want to know what the movie is about? Well, I am not sure that I could tell you, but, after all, are comprehensible plot lines what you really go to James Bond movies to see?  Well, I suppose that one plot point could be the danger of a world of computer and digital networks more terrifying than anything that George Orwell ever imagined, but, C'MON MAN, that is not, as I said, why we go to see Bond, James Bond.  You just have to go to this movie, sit back and let it flow over you.  You will see some amazing location shots: Mexico City, the Austrian mountains, the Tunisian dessert, Rome, and, of course, London. You will see amazing chase sequences, four by my count, five by the count of Mrs. Grandstander, depends on how you define "chase", I guess, lots of explosions, and the requisite number of pretty women.  

The Bond villain is played with great evil gusto by two time Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz, and the "Bond girl" is thirty year old French actress Lea Seydoux, who has just the slightest gap between her two front teeth that I found to be quite attractive and sexy, but that's just me.

It is non-stop action, and a whole lot of fun, and if you wait until the very end of the interminable credits, which I did because I wanted to see this, you will see that standard tag line....JAMES BOND WILL RETURN.  From what I have read, though, SPECTRE may have been Craig's last turn as Bond.  If that is to be the case, I think that most will agree that he has played the role well, but as Mrs Grandstander said when we left the theater, "He's no Sean Connery."

Movie Review: "Skyfall" (Contains No Spoilers)

2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the James Bond movie franchise, "Skyfall" is the 23rd movie in the series, and Daniel Craig is on board for the third time as 007, and this movie is really a wild ride.

The "MacGuffin" in this movie is a computer hard drive that contains the names of over fifty MI6 agents who are embedded in the field.  The bad guys threatens to keep releasing the names of these agents, which would not only put their lives in danger, but would severely compromise British national security world wide.  Who to turn to?  Well, "Bond, James Bond" is the obvious answer, but too many people in high places are questioning whether Bond's and MI6's old ways of doing things are outdated.  As one young MI6 whippersnapper puts it, "I can do more damage at a laptop in my pajamas before my morning tea than you can with your way of doing things".  However, later in the movie, one character says "Sometimes, the old ways are still the best", and that is exactly what Bond and his boss, M, set out to prove.

Along the way, we see a spectacular chase scene to open the movie, Bond engaging the bad guys in skyscraper, in an Asian casino, a London subway tunnel, a Parliamentary hearing room, and on the Scottish moors.   All of these scenes are wildly implausible, of course, but they make for great fun and terrific movie viewing.  This movie is a great improvement over the last one, "Quantum of Solace".  Craig makes a very good James Bond, and I have to mention that the villain in this one is played by Javier Bardem with the same maniacal intensity as he showed in his Oscar winning role in "No Country For Old Men" a few years back. Evil incarnate.   And as is typical of this series, when the movie ends, the credits begin with the message - "James Bond Will Return."  Good news for all of us.

In a completely silly train of thought, about halfway through the movie I began thinking of Bond as a "double-naught spy".   Daniel Craig may be no Sean Connery (as Mrs. Grandstander always points out), but he does have it all over Max Baer, Jr.

Next week: "Lincoln".