Deathmatch 2022: Sideswipes - September 30

Special Interest Games
105

I would argue that Connery’s Oscar for THE UNTOUCHABLES was for his entire career, including his work as James Bond.

Also against horror, and even comedy (to some extent). Many people win their Oscars for something other than their best work: Jeremy Irons should have gotten Best Actor for DEAD RINGERS, but had to wait two years for REVERSAL OF FORTUNE (n his speech he thanked David Cronenberg in tacit acknowledgement of this fact).

Ellen Burstyn had to wait a year to be laureled for ALICE DOESN’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE, when she should have gotten it for THE EXORCIST.

Go back further: Better Davis not getting it in 1934 for OF HUMAN BONDAGE, but nabbing it in 1935 for DANGEROUS–one of her lesser films. A consolation Oscar if there ever was one.

Is SCENT OF A WOMAN Al Pacino’s best work? What about Scorsese’s THE DEPARTED?

Also, Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson could follow in Cubby’s footsteps, and be honored with an Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award.

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106

Completely agreed. Without wanting to hijack the thread into a rant about the Academy, they continue to compound their original error with the whole “make-up” award in later years.

Newman - overlooked, however narrow the margins, for Cool Hand Luke and The Verdict, winning for Color of Money; that performance, while classically Newman, arguably not the best in even that film, which rises and falls on how much you believe Tom Cruise’s Vince evolution (happen to think that’s still some of his best work).

Pacino is another example - overlooked, sometimes rightly in prior years, winning with a performance that was outdone by the rest of that particular field (Downing, Washington, Rea, Eastwood).

And the Oscars keep blaming declining ratings on the host…

1 Like
107

The Oscars are just an over-hyped circle jerk at the “popular kids” table. They’re motivated by group politics, favors done and returned, sucking up and now and then a gesture to make up for periods of neglect or disfavor. They have never been an objective selection based on merit, so no, the Bonds didnt “deserve” any Oscars they didn’t get. If anything, the series has proven how tremendously successful a franchise can be without a goofy little statue on the shelf.

My greatest hope for the franchise is that the current Eon team will stop worrying so much about these empty “honors” and focus on entertaining their audience. People around the world go to see Bond films because of their reputation for delivering spectacle and thrills. I dont know ANYONE who sees them because of the awards they’ve won, and if there’s anyone out there who actually says, “I will deign to view a Bond film when one proves worthy of the Oscar,” frankly we dont need their company, nor Eon their money.

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108

For September 17:

Cretinry rejoice! Your most munificent leader (that’s me, hi) has successfully liberated the National Reserve of all its unnecessary gold and has sensibly invested it all in Prancing Boy in the 3.30 at Kempton Park.

When I say “all”, seventy-three percent of it has had to find its way to my Swiss account, but that’s only to cover necessary expenses for stationery, epaulettes, sunglasses, moustache wax, machetes, polonium and “other”.

I deny that any such gold ever existed. Accordingly, and in pursuit of my cultural purge, anything with “gold” in the title has to be subject to the by-now standard and very, very much admired practice of only one entity in a series with that word in it, surviving.

In passing, it has been brought to my attention by some now very-much-missed lackey that Tomorrow Never Dies (novelisation) should not have been included in the “Die” vote as it had already been voted out in the “Never” one. What a very perceptive individual and just the sort of person one ought not to have around. What a great pity that they appeared to mysteriously stab themselves in the left eye forty-three times whilst buying some new action slacks.

Accordingly, the UN is now overseeing the voting process and I am obviously overjoyed about this. To my Summer Palace, hewn from the purest orphanbone, I have brought the UN monitors for lunch. Interpret that as you will.

Only one survives… a bit like the UN monitors. Damn, what a giveaway.

  • Goldfinger (novel)
  • Goldfinger (film)
  • The Man with the Golden Gun (novel)
  • The Man with the Golden Gun (film)
  • GoldenEye (novelisation) (still in my in-tray/in-skull to do something about that)
  • GoldenEye (film)
  • Hurricane Gold

0 voters

3 Likes
109

The wonderful thing about Bond fandom is that there are multiple entry points - the films (me), the original novels, continuations, video games. And so all of us have our own “journeys” (hopefully for many, ending up on these here wonderful boards!).

I’m now of indeterminate middle-age, and with that, I have to acknowledge that for many, the 6-year hiatus of 89-95 wasn’t something that registered. I’m sure many of my friends here sat through GE and had the same this-is-my-first-Bond! experience all of us have had at different times (for me LALD). So I get that that film, and the game (I’m not a gamer) have had a huge influence on the franchise, because for an entire generation, it’s their first.

I’m not Brozza’s hugest fan, I’ve said that many times, and I would never sit here and make the case that GE is a top-five film in the series. But I’m saving GE above all else, because if you lived through that pre-internet hiatus (which to channel Eliot Carver - there is NO news, so that can only mean BAD news), there was a part of you that really believed that the series had come to a halt.

When I sat through that opening 20 minutes, sure, I’m like, I can live with Brozza (oooh do miss TD though), yes, this feels like what I was brought up on…the relief/joy/what-have-you, that the films were alive and well, it’s different from that first LALD experience, but still equally as intense.

For coming back when I wasn’t convinced that there was a way back, I’m saving GE.

(plus, long-time members know that I’m from the “yes, at times it’s very good but GF is still overrated camp”)

5 Likes
110

…but on the other hand you have Goldfinger, the movie which took the Bond movies to another level. Goldfinger sometimes called the first real blockbuster actionmovie, which realy started the spy genre and the action genre like we still know it today.

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111

For September 18:

We all need a little bit more gray (sic) in our lives. Your preference for Charles Gray’s contribution to the film series?

  • Henderson (You Only Live Twice)
  • Blofeld(s) (Diamonds are Forever)
  • Narrator, the Pyramids bit (The Spy who Loved Me)

0 voters

2 Likes
112

I have a conundrum here. GoldenEye is one of my favorite Bond films. It stars my favorite 007, and it was responsible for bringing James Bond back to the big screen after a long six-year hiatus–AND in a big way. Without it, me might not have Bond movies continuing to be filmed now.

But, then we have Goldfinger. It set the template for all Bond movies to follow. It really started the whole spy craze of the '60s as well as Bondmania that has continued through to today. And it is widely considered to be the best Bond movie of them all.

It’s a very tough call. I like GoldenEye better, but due to its historical significance AND that we got more Bond films from it, than from GoldenEye, I voted for Goldfinger. But you can’t go wrong with either.

1 Like
113

As for Charles Gray, I went with Diamonds Are Forever. He’s not my favorite Ernst Stavro Blofeld, but he does have some great one-liners, and of the three main villains that we see (Donald Pleasence, Telly Savalas, Gray) he’s the most like the novel Blofeld. Besides, we got more of Gray in DAF than we did as Dikko Henderson in You Only Live Twice so I went with DAF.

114

He was the voice at the Pyramids? There you go then, that’s who I’m taking…

115

For September 19:

There is a theory (whether or not one personally embraces it) that by the third Bond film of his run, a Bond actor has settled in and that film stands if not as the single best performance of his Bond, but a benchmark, some sort of exemplar.

Insofar as that is the case - or a case - then the question arises: could one see one of the other longer-serving Bonds in that third fim, or is the benchmark truly personal to the original? Is the “type” of another Bond capable of being fitted elsewhere?

So - assuming that nothing else of the below changes except the lead, which do you see ectually working? You can vote I think up to seven times on this one.

ConneryBond is the one from Goldfinger
MooreBond is the one from The Spy who Loved Me
BrosnanBond is the one from TWINE
CraigBond, from Skyfall.

  • ConneryBond - The Spy who Loved Me
  • ConneryBond - TWINE
  • ConneryBond - Skyfall
  • MooreBond - Goldfinger
  • MooreBond - TWINE
  • MooreBond - Skyfall
  • BrosnanBond - Goldfinger
  • BrosnanBond - The Spy who Loved Me
  • BrosnanBond - Skyfall
  • CraigBond - Goldfinger
  • CraigBond - The Spy who Loved Me
  • CraigBond - TWINE
  • None of the above

0 voters

1 Like
116

I went with the idea of picking each Bond actor filling one of the other’s roles. So with that in mind I selected:

MooreBond in Goldfinger – It seemed the role best suited for Moore instead of The World Is Not Enough (where he falls in love with the villainess and is physically hurt for much of the film) or Skyfall where he has to run to Whitechapel or wherever that ministry meeting is and protecting his Skyfall abode–Home Alone style. With Goldfinger, it’s a less-physically demanding film, for Moore and he has experience fighting super big henchmen.

BrosnanBond in The Spy Who Loved Me – Brosnan is the most like Moore of all the 007 actors. It would be no problem at all to have him slip into Roger’s shoes and he could easily handle the over the top stuff of TSWLM.

CraigBond in The World Is Not Enough – Bond falls for the villainess in TWINE and Craig fell for half his leading ladies in his films so he has experience there. Plus, Craig would have to deal with being injured in TWINE. He was already injured in Casino Royale so there is even more common ground. And it would be interesting seeing him not be the physical bruiser in fights due to that injury. Besides, TWINE seems the most Craig-like film of all the options.

ConneryBond in Skyfall – Connery in Scotland? Who wouldn’t want to see that? (Including Sean. :smiley:) Additionally, you’d have the question of Bond being past his prime which Connery could do and has done in Never Say Never Again. Plus, you’ve got a lot of action to do with a fight on a train and defending Skyfall lodge, something that Connery would have no trouble taking part in.

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117

My choices here was based on their films, whether it’s the tone/style, or their portrayal.

So my choices here were based on the tone, style and their portrayal in their respective Bond films, I’m finding here what would be the closest to the tone, style of their Bond films, and also as where I could easily see their portrayals.

  1. BrosnanBond in Goldfinger, based on the tone and style of his films, it’s not that difficult to imagine him here.
    This film could play up to Brosnan’s strengths like being suave, cool, gentleman that everyone likes, he don’t need to do more hard edged action, and it’s just about him looking great all the time.

  2. ConneryBond in The Spy Who Loved Me, couldn’t imagine him in Skyfall (because of the heavy dramatic scenes like M’s death or being worn out by his job, also the same thing why I couldn’t imagine him in OHMSS, and this film had the same tone as that film), the same reason for TWINE, so I picked TSWLM for him, it could play up to his strengths like seducing a Russian Agent, showing his coolness in Egypt, fighting with Jaws, there’s no need for heavy emotional scenes, he could just play the “Cold hearted, Womanizer, and Assassin” thing easily and very straight, it would be just a fun version of FRWL.

  3. CraigBond in TWINE, see: Casino Royale, this is just it! CraigBond could handle those heavy emotional scenes, the betrayal thing of Elektra, his relationship with her, his fight with Renard would have been interesting, and of course It’s also easy for me to see him interacts with Christmas Jones, given the one with Strawberry Fields and Paloma.

  4. MooreBond in Skyfall, it had the same tone like For Your Eyes Only , it’s easy and also interesting to see Moore in this one, with the exception of some of the fight scenes (the train scene and the fight in Macau for example), it’s easy to imagine MooreBond here, the scenes with Severine in Casino and in the boat, the London court shootout, and the Scotland scenes, the thing with Moore was he could play a both vulnerable and human Bond while also could play a cool and suave Bond, it’s a balanced film where it’s showed Bond at his highs and lows, combining seriousness, drama and a bit fun, so I could easily see MooreBond here.

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118

This was my first “none of the above” response.

But it fits.

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119

A most peculiar question - and a most bizarre answer from me. I can see Connery do TSWLM and Moore in GOLDFINGER and TWINE. But neither can I picture in SKYFALL.

On the other hand I can see both Brosnan and Craig in all their respective choices. With different results, yes. But I can imagine them doing these other films.

Perhaps it’s due to having done severely underwhelming productions both, and having survived, that Brosnan and Craig to me seem able to stand in anything with the Bond monicker on it.

120

Went with my gut responses, and now will provide some fancy rationalizations:

  1. Both MooreBond and CraigBond in GOLDFINGER.

The MooreBond from TMWTGG–cynical and callous–it would work. Pussy-in-the-barn sequence would have to be adjusted (CraigBond could essay it as is). CraigBond would fit very well in the GF template.

  1. CraigBond in TSWLM–just strikes me as possible. CraigBond would correct the most glaring error for me: MooreBond’s delivery of the line to Anya about remembering what business they are both in.

BrosnanBond lives in his films and no others.

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121

I am such a Moore fan and Connery admire that I can see them in all the Bond movies, they just get away with everything and stand firm in every situation and therefore in every Bond movie.

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122

I think Brosnan could do that too. He is the hybrid Bond after all. :smiley:

But you are definitely right about Connery and Moore.

1 Like
123

For September 20:

On the basis that most British trains appear to be dedicating themselves to looking like Bond’s just had a massively destructive fight in and/or on them, which is the best train fight of the film series?

  • From Russia with Love, vs. Grant
  • Live and Let Die, vs. Tee-Hee
  • The Spy who Loved Me, vs. Jaws
  • Octopussy, vs. Gobinda/Twins
  • Skyfall, vs Patrice
  • Spectre, vs. Hinx

0 voters

Additionally, although not in that main list above - is the tank vs. train and subsequent stand-off aftermath vs. Ourumov/Xenia/Trevelyan a “train fight” in the same vein as the above?

  • Yes
  • No

0 voters

124

No. One of the participiants is a tank. And the train doesn’t fight very much. :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

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