Deathmatch 2023 - Sideswipes

Special Interest Games
283

Agreed.

The change to poker is a good idea and done as well as it could have been (see “The Cincinnati Kid” with Steve McQueen). As the director said, the intricacies of filming those scenes were as nerve-racking as any set-piece, and that they were pulled off such as they were were a credit to all. Creating tension out of people sitting at a table? In a piece of popular entertainment? Good luck with that.

As to the esteemed Jim’s point - yes, poker is at best a minority interest with the majority needing the big moments telegraphed (“Hey - full house!”), but by comparison baccarat isn’t even a minority interest. No doubt Blackjack was considered but arguably deemed too “common” (hey, let’s play Pontoon!) so what else was left?

A change that had to be made, and was well-made.

2 Likes
284

I only can acknowledge that in that scene… cards are played with. And Bond somehow is so good at it that he gets poisoned and has to swallow a big amount of salt.

Good thing I suck at cards.

2 Likes
285

I think the switch to poker was smart as the game was pretty huge at the time and a lot of folks – at least in the US – can relate to it better than Baccarat.

Plus it fits in with the overall vibe of the film, which is aimed at pushing us out of our comfort zone with a Bond who is not quite Bond, at least as we know him. This guy is a bull in a china shop, eschewing bon mots to crash through sheetrock. He sports cuts and bruises, doesn’t know or care about the difference between shaken and stirred, seems a complete stranger to the idea of a tuxedo, apparently cuts his own hair with a Flowbee and would sooner punch you in the nose than struggle to come up with a merry quip. Tuxes, baccarat and cocktails are for sissies: this guy plays poker, wears chinos and breaks heads. It fits.

Anyway, it beats another round of “World Domination” video gaming.

4 Likes
286

It’s all down to those who aren’t gamblers.

And I’m not a gambler for that matter, so here’s my insights and thoughts when it comes to CR.

I’ve read the book before watching the movie, so when reading the book, because of Fleming’s descriptions and details, it’s easy for me to understand the game of Baccarat (though so many of the terms used in Baccarat or Chemin De Fer were in French, so it’s still a bit difficult for me to understand, but in terms of how the game was played, I think Fleming kinda explained it very clearly).

It made me followed the game very easily, and made the book a bit of a page turner, it’s exciting.

Watching the film, I think made the situation more confusing to me, I just couldn’t understand what’s happening (if not for Mathis explaining to Vesper each of their moves), I would be completely lost, but even still, I’m still lost at how the game was played.

So, in watching the film, I’m almost in the same situation of Vesper, where every scene needs explanation, but even then, I still couldn’t understand it, it’s more confusing (at least to me) moreso than Baccarat.

It’s not just that, but I’ve also watched some of the Poker games in the other films, and it’s the same, I’m really lost at them, I just don’t understand Poker, I was so confused watching them.

Then I’ve watched an episode of The Persuaders ‘Anyone Can Play’ and I’ve realized that even Roulette was easier to understand than Poker.

Sure, Baccarat would be out of place for such an era like 2006, but I think it’s a lot more easy to understand than Poker, where luck is the real deal (but, hey that’s Bond, he’s the man of luck for that regard, so the game kinda fits him too).

Poker makes you think more deeper and analyze, and it’s not what I want when watching a Bond film, I want to be entertained not to get stressed of thinking :grin:.

3 Likes
287

image

1 Like
288
28 June - The Man with the Golden Gun - Hip’s nieces
  • A good idea, well executed
  • A good idea, poorly executed
  • A bad idea, poorly executed
  • A bad idea, executed as well as it was ever going to be

0 voters

289

It must be said, they do kick a little ass.

But beyond that, there is nothing more to be said.

(Well, they would have been out of place in DAD).

290

They certainly know their karate but the inexplicable driving off and leaving Bond to face the music doesn’t reflect well on anyone in the car, which leaves a rather nasty, though hopefully unintentional, subtext.

291

No problem with them, for me, they’re the least of the Problems I have with the film.

Compared to the rest of the film’s dirty and bad jokes, they’re fun in a good way.

Sure, they’re not that bad compared to Slide Whistle, JW Pepper’s return to make his racist remarks, Bond pinching the sumo wrestler’s butt, Bond choking up the bullet (only to get pushed out later on :smile:), Phuyuck, Mary Goodnight’s actions, the close up shot of woman’s butt in the Bottom’s Up Club, chew mee, well compared to all of that, they’re one of the decent parts of the film :sweat_smile:

No problem with them, I have a lot more bigger problems with TMWTGG more than them. :grin:

And, hey they’re capable girls.

3 Likes
292

Up until now, my main gripe against TMTWTGG was that everyone is so unpleasant to each other and apparently unhappy to be in the movie, but you make a good point: it’s also the most crass and vulgar in the series, as if Mankiewicz’s successes have given him license to go full Mankiewicz.

re: the nieces, though, I say bad idea badly executed. We don’t need them: Bond could have jumped out of the window and run straight to the boat without that time-wasting, inconclusive fight and inexplicable abandoning. I’m also a little uncomfortable with how Goodnight seems to assume Bond’s getting in the car with a couple of teenagers so they can run off and have a tryst (yet she’s not so upset she doesn’t give him a roll herself). As noted, they’re not the worst thing about the film, but “less bad” isn’t the same as “good.”

2 Likes
293

You are making me ponder on whether there can be an “original” Bond film beyond You Only live Twice, given their successors either worked for them or are basing their idea on what Bond is on them. Tamahori mention Gilbert’s films, Mendes kept talking about Hamilton’s films. In both cases the influence is obvious. So did a purely original Bond film die with You Only Live Twice?

2 Likes
294

If I knew how to make a poll I would (with Jim’s permission of course):

Was YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE the last purely original Bond film?

  • Yes–bring on a stack of Bibles
  • No–Orion got at the cooking sherry again
  • Huh?–all the films derive from the material in the stories. None are purely original
  • For a time–they became original again when P&W started writing them
3 Likes
295

Have a feeling it’s only we power-crazed moderators who can do that, and will contemplate it for next round of sideswpes in September. That said, one can seen aspects of Dr No in You Only Live Twice, albeit done more flamboyantly/excessively/daftly, even if not intended.

2 Likes
296

image

I respect their authority (bowing humbly at my desk in NYC)

3 Likes
297

Well, as La Rochefoucauld observed…you know the rest.

He also observed - There is only one kind of love, but there are a thousand different copies. I rather like that one.

3 Likes
298

Yes, I get P&W are easy prey despite how nonsensical the criticism is, given the thing people keep blaming them for predated them by over a decade and it’s the where they didn’t go first that have the worst reviews by a long shot.

1 Like
299

Purely original… hmmm.

The finale in the villain‘s lair - kind of obligatory since YOLT.

Going to another country, the fish out of water aspect - typical Bond, but also before YOLT.

Was there anything new or different after the first five films?

Um… no, I’m afraid not. But isn’t that why we love them? Familiarity?

And what could actually be done differently?

3 Likes
300

No criticism from me, was mostly curious given the influence of those 3, is it even possible without it not being a “Bond film” any more?

2 Likes
301

I think you make a valid and good point!

After YOLT the possibilities were exhausted. Now it was time for remixes.

1 Like
302

I included them merely because they often seem a target for derision, merited for reasons I cannot discern (though I have not tried hard to do so). They made contributions to a Bond film I love, and I think most others would say the same.

And such lovely remixes:

70’s angst Bond
Experimental movie Bond
Silver Jubilee Bond
Fascist military-industrial Bond
Reborn Bond

2 Likes