Deathmatch 2023

Jim · September 14, 2023, 5:13pm

Henchperson seeding and pots for next year

	2022 Form placing	2023 Form placing	Average Form placing	Seed/Pot 2024
Professor Dent	22	20	21	Pot 3
Kronsteen	9 (9th seed)	15	12	Pot 1
Oddjob	3 (3rd seed)	1	2	2nd seed
Fiona Volpe	4 (4th seed)	4	4	4th seed
Helga	15	18	16.5	Pot 2
Irma Bunt	8 (8th seed)	8	8	6th seed
Wint & Kidd	2 (2nd seed)	5	3.5	3rd seed
Tee-Hee	14	6	10	10th seed
Nick Nack	13	9	11	Pot 1
Jaws (Spy)	1 (1st seed)	2	1.5	1st seed
Jaws (Moonraker)	12	11	11.5	Pot 1
Locque	10 (10th seed)	16	13	Pot 1
Gobinda	23	12	17.5	Pot 2
May Day	5 (5th seed)	14	9.5	9th seed
Necros	11	7	9	8th seed
Dario	17	13	15	Pot 1
Xenia Onatopp	6 (6th seed)	3	4.5	5th seed
Stamper	19	17	18	Pot 2
Renard	16	22	19	Pot 2
Zao	21	24	22.5	Pot 3
Dimitrios	20	23	21.5	Pot 3
Elvis	25	25	25	Pot 3
Patrice	18	21	19.5	Pot 2
Hinx	7 (7th seed)	10	8.5	7th seed
Primo	24	19	21.5	Pot 3

I think most improved player - Tee-Hee? Fiona, Irma Bunt and Elvis have the benefit of consistency. Not sure how much a benefit that is for the last one of those.

Top Ten of Everything so far

Six Top Ten Places	Five Top Ten Places	Four Top Ten Places	Three Top Ten Places	Two Top Ten Places	One Top Ten Place	Yet to bother the scorers
Goldfinger	Thunderball	From Russia with Love	Moonraker	Live and Let Die	Dr No	Octopussy
The Spy who Loved Me	OHMSS	Skyfall	Licence to Kill	The Man / Golden Gun	You Only Live Twice	Die Another Day
	Casino Royale		Diamonds are Forever	A View to a Kill	For Your Eyes Only	Quantum of Solace
				The Living Daylights	Tomorrow Never Dies
				GoldenEye	TWINE
					Spectre
					No Time to Die

Perhaps quality will out, after all. As far as the non-botherers go, Gobinda did much better this year but Octopussy is still outside the chart. It really wasn’t very likely that this subject area for the other two was going to result in anything very much.

Most Valuable Player points (requires a 4th place or better in the knockout)

	Placings	Wins	Top Ten Form	Top of Form	MVP points
OHMSS	2	1	5	3	11
Goldfinger	4		6	1	11
The Spy who Loved Me	3	1	6		10
From Russia with Love	3	1	4	1	9
Casino Royale	4		5		9
Thunderball	3	1	5		9
Skyfall	1	1	4		6
Live and Let Die	1	1	2	1	5
Diamonds are Forever	1		3		4
Moonraker	1		3		4
You Only Live Twice	1		1		2

New entry for Diamonds are Forever there, but it’s pretty tight at the top.

More soon.

Jim · September 15, 2023, 7:06am

Overall current final form table, moving to “Best Picture” at the end of December

		Villain	Film	Song	Bond	Woman	Henchperson	Average	Position
1	The Spy / Me	7	4	3	3	2	2	3.5	-
2	Goldfinger	6	5	2	4	7	1	4.17	+1
3	OHMSS	1	1	4	16	1	8	5.17	-1
4	Thunderball	9	7	12	6	4	4	7	+3
5	From Russia…	5	2	17	1	5	15	7.5	+1
6	Casino Royale	4	6	8	5	3	23	8.17	-2
7	Skyfall	2	3	7	2	15	21	8.33	-2
8	Moonraker	3	10	14	10	11	11	9.83	-
9	DAF	14	14	5	19	6	5	10.5	-
10	GoldenEye	16	9	11	20	12	3	11.83	+2
11	Live and Let Die	15	21	1	15	16	6	12.33	-
12	Licence to Kill	10	17	21	7	8	13	12.67	-2
13	TLD	25	15	16	8	17	7	14.67	+3
14	No Time to Die	21	11	15	9	14	19	14.83	-1
15	Spectre	13	13	23	14	18	10	15.17	+2
16	FYEO	24	8	13	11	21	16	15.5	-1
17	Dr No	11	18	24	13	9	20	15.83	-3
18	Octopussy	23	12	20	17	13	12	16.17	-
19	TMwtGG	8	22	19	18	24	9	16.67	+2
20	TND	18	19	18	21	10	17	17.17	-1
21	YOLT	17	20	6	24	20	18	17.5	-1
22	AVTAK	12	24	9	25	25	14	18.17	+1
23	QoS	22	16	22	12	19	25	19.33	-1
24	TWINE	19	23	10	22	23	22	19.83	-
25	Die Another Day	20	25	25	23	22	24	23.17	-

Die Another Day maintaining its status as the only film not to break out of a place in the 20s, never mind getting near or into the Top Ten at any point. I probably should have noted for the “Women” round of things that Jinx achieved relative popularity amongst other Die Another Day elements - but 22nd is still really, really poor.

On the subject of really, really poor, Spectre has only been in the 20s once. That surprises me. Am I missing something? Personally I would nail it, squealing, to Die Another Day and then set them both on fire but obviously I am wrong.

Seems to be the year of Thunderball love, which should be every year, so that’s all lovely and non-squealyburny.

Double-OhAgent · September 15, 2023, 7:03pm

I don’t think you need to put the year 2006 for the EON produced Casino Royale. I think it’s always implied that whenever we talk about an un-yeared Casino Royale that we’re discussing the superior EON version. That’s the one we almost always talk about. I think you only need to mark the year with Casino Royale if it’s the 1954 TV version or the horrible spoof 1967 version.

stromberg · September 15, 2023, 8:47pm

Speak for yourself only. For the larger part of my life, I’ve been referring to the '67 version when talking about Casino Royale. Don’t call it horrible (I know, people tend to mock what they don’t understand), there are Bond movies that are far less entertaining than this one.

No CR67 bashing on my watch.

David_M · September 16, 2023, 1:31pm

I think that pretty much explains how CR67 got made.

Jim · September 17, 2023, 10:21am

The Group Stage for Main Titles has concluded; some interesting results.

Group A	P	W	L	F	A	GD	% form	Points
Casino Royale	4	4	0	59	9	50	86.8	12
Tomorrow Never Dies	4	3	1	41	25	16	63	9
Diamonds are Forever	4	2	2	39	29	10	57.4	6
The Living Daylights	4	1	3	35	43	-8	35.4	3
Licence to Kill	4	0	4	5	61	-56	7.6	0

Perhaps not a massive surprise here, as the winner of last year’s Deathmatch for Main Titles and Top Seed, Casino Royale, comfortably wins the group. Licence to Kill did poorly last year and is likely to find itself bottom of the form table again with a very poor display, because it is a very poor display. “Licence to Kill wasn’t as successful because it was released in the Summer of Batman”; au contraire, it wasn’t as successful because it was old and tired and a number of departments were creatively spent.

Diamonds are Forever likely to be a lucky loser, there, although it was actually 10th seed so again a bit of a downturn in form generally. Can anything stop Casino Royale?

Group B	P	W	L	F	A	GD	% form	Points
You Only Live Twice	4	4	0	58	9	49	86.8	12
GoldenEye	4	3	1	54	14	40	79.4	9
Spectre	4	2	2	32	36	-4	47.1	6
Die Another Day	4	1	3	16	51	-35	24.5	3
Quantum of Solace	4	0	4	8	58	-50	12.3	0

It appears so, as You Only Live Twice tops its group with exactly the same form outcome as Casino Royale, save to the tune of Casino Royale gaining one more vote. Very tight at the top, which is most alluring.

Die Another Day doesn’t finish last in a Group! I need a lie down. Can it, though, break out of the 20s when it comes to form? Crikey it’s tense; which is not a word generally applied to Die Another Day. The tentacles of Spectre slither into third and a likely lucky loser spot although the suspicion is that’s a protest vote against Quantum of Solace (what’s wrong with those?) and DUD.

Group C	P	W	L	F	A	GD	% form	Points
OHMSS	4	4	0	53	15	38	78	12
No Time to Die	4	3	1	43	25	18	63.3	9
From Russia with Love	4	2	2	33	35	-2	48.5	6
For Your Eyes Only	4	1	3	28	40	-12	41.2	3
The Man with the Golden Gun	4	0	4	13	55	-42	19.1	0

No Time to Die having filched yet more of OHMSS’s material for its titles, it’s not a huge surprise it comes in second here although, again, more evidence of the 1980s titles being a bit duff. The obvious nudity of The Man with the Golden Gun perhaps counts against it. The obvious rubbishness, too.

Group D	P	W	L	F	A	GD	% form	Points
Skyfall	4	4	0	47	20	27	70.2	12
Live and Let Die	4	3	1	42	26	16	61.8	9
Moonraker	4	2	2	42	26	16	61.8	6
Dr No	4	1	3	27	40	-13	40.1	3
A View to a Kill	4	0	4	11	57	-46	16.2	0

Lowish scoring Group, this one, although again the 1980s find themselves at the bottom of the pile. Not sure why Dr No’s titles aren’t more popular but against two sets that have loads of skulls and one set that has dolly birds floating about in space, I suppose that makes sense.

1980s? Bottom.

Group E	P	W	L	F	A	GD	% form	Points
Thunderball	4	4	0	49	19	30	72.1	12
The Spy who Loved Me	4	3	1	47	21	26	69.1	9
Goldfinger	4	2	2	42	26	16	61.8	6
TWINE	4	1	3	22	46	-24	32.3	3
Octopussy	4	0	4	10	58	-48	14.7	0

The year of Thunderball love continues as an unseeded set of titles wins quite a close group, at least for the ranking places. Goldfinger was fifth seed so that’s quite a drop really, although comfortably into the Second Round.

1980s? Bum.

Thought all this would be reasonably open, and so it has proved. For my next miracle…

Form table

		% form	Outcome of Group Stage
1	Casino Royale (1st seed)	86.8	Winner A
2	You Only Live Twice (2nd seed)	86.8	Winner B
3	GoldenEye (9th seed)	79.4	Runner-Up B
4	OHMSS (3rd seed)	78	Winner C
5	Thunderball	72.1	Winner E
6	Skyfall (4th seed)	70.2	Winner D
7	The Spy who Loved Me (6th seed)	69.1	Runner-Up E
8	No Time to Die	63.3	Runner-Up C
9	Tomorrow Never Dies	63	Runner-Up A
10	Live and Let Die	61.8	Runner-Up D
11	Moonraker (7th seed)	61.8	Lucky Loser 1
12	Goldfinger (5th seed)	61.8	Lucky Loser 2
13	Diamonds are Forever (10th seed)	57.4	Lucky Loser 3
14	From Russia with Love (8th seed)	48.5	Lucky Loser 4
15	Spectre	47.1	Lucky Loser 5
16	For Your Eyes Only	41.2	Lucky Loser 6
17	Dr No	40.1
18	The Living Daylights	35.4
19	TWINE	32.3
20	Die Another Day	24.5
21	The Man with the Golden Gun	19.1
22	A View to a Kill	16.2
23	Octopussy	14.7
24	Quantum of Solace	12.3
25	Licence to Kill	7.6

Only one more vote in the Goal Difference separates first and second, but still a way to go. The sharper toothed of you will notice equivalent form for Live and Let Die, Goldfinger and Moonraker; Live and Let Die the higher as it won more Group games than the other two, but those other two had absolutely nothing between them (beyond alphabetical order), but Moonraker had a higher margin of victory in its most successful game (13, vs A View to a Kill).

Die Another Day doesn’t break out of the 20s.

5 Binder, 5 Kleinmann in the Top Ten; that might be right? Of the 1980s, only For Your Eyes Only scrapes into the Second Round. It does have a novelty value, but that might wear off quite soon…

Jim · September 18, 2023, 7:16am

Form table after Second Round of Main Titles Deathmatch

		Form average after Second Round	Change in (form) / position
1	Casino Royale	84.7	(-2.1) / -
2	You Only Live Twice	82.4	(-4.4) / -
3	Thunderball	76.5	(+4.4) / +2
4	OHMSS	75.4	(-2.6) / -
5	GoldenEye	72.9	(-6.5) / -2
6	The Spy who Loved Me	71.8	(+2.7) / +1
7	Skyfall	70.3	(+0.1) / -1
8	Tomorrow Never Dies	62.2	(-0.8) / +1
9	Live and Let Die	60	(-1.8) / +1
10	Moonraker	56.5	(-5.3) / +1
11	No Time to Die	54.2	(-9.1) / -3
12	Goldfinger	54.1	(-7.7) / -
13	Diamonds are Forever	53	(-4.4) / -
14	From Russia with Love	44.7	(-3.8) / -
15	For Your Eyes Only	41.2	(-) / +1
16	Dr No	40.1	(-) / +1
17	Spectre	38.9	(-8.2) / -1
18	The Living Daylights	35.4
19	TWINE	32.3
20	Die Another Day	24.5
21	The Man with the Golden Gun	19.1
22	A View to a Kill	16.2
23	Octopussy	14.7
24	Quantum of Solace	12.3
25	Licence to Kill	7.6

Thunder-love continues, although its reward for a comprehensive squashing of Spectre in the Second Round is a QF against Casino Royale; yikes.

As frequently happens, the Second Round shakes things up a bit and there were some big drops. GoldenEye is out of the knockout, but that form average will keep it in a high place and it may gain by those surrounding it gnawing pieces out of each other.

Weirdly, in the Second Round, For Your Eyes Only achieved the same average - 41.2 - as in its Group Stage. But then it is so, so very average.

The Binder / Kleinmann balance of the Top Ten has swung to Binder and there’s a chance it may well stay that way, but let’s see.

Jim · September 19, 2023, 6:42am

Form table after Quarter-Finals: Main Titles

		Form average after Quarter-Finals	Change in (form) / position
1	Casino Royale	83.3	(-1.4) / -
2	You Only Live Twice	80.4	(-2) / -
3	OHMSS	74.6	(-0.8) / +1
4	GoldenEye	72.9	(-) / +1
5	Skyfall	68.4	(-1.9) / +2
6	Thunderball	67.7	(-8.8) / -3
7	The Spy who Loved Me	66.7	(-5.1) / -1
8	Tomorrow Never Dies	56.7	(-5.5) / -
9	Moonraker	56.5	(-) / +1
10	Live and Let Die	54.9	(-5.1) / -1
11	No Time to Die	54.2
12	Goldfinger	54.1
13	Diamonds are Forever	53
14	From Russia with Love	44.7
15	For Your Eyes Only	41.2
16	Dr No	40.1
17	Spectre	38.9
18	The Living Daylights	35.4
19	TWINE	32.3
20	Die Another Day	24.5
21	The Man with the Golden Gun	19.1
22	A View to a Kill	16.2
23	Octopussy	14.7
24	Quantum of Solace	12.3
25	Licence to Kill	7.6

It couldn’t last, really, and Thunderball drops a bit but still comfortably in the Top Ten. The top two seem destined to meet in the Final but the Semi-Finals have some chewiness so it’s not totally a given thing, yet.

GoldenEye done a sneaky. Sneaky GoldenEye.

There might still be jiggery-joggery for places here. Places 5 - 7 all capable of changing, as of course is the leading pair. Still much of deathmatchery to come…

Jim · September 19, 2023, 11:41am

For those of you interested (or just odd), the draw for Victims has taken place. Seedings based on form position last year, the first year it ran.

Some replacements for this year due to an earlier “Sideswipe” vote on who some of the Victims actually are, being:

OHMSS: Campbell rather than Draco
The Spy who Loved Me: Commander Talbot rather than Naomi
GoldenEye: Anna Severnaya as representative of the Severnaya technicians, rather than General Ourumov (who finished bottom last year so even if she doesn’t last that long (not lasting very long is her thing), she can’t do worse).

Group A
Kerim (1st seed)
Paula (10th seed)
Saunders - from Pot 1
Paris Carver - from Pot 2
Anna Severnaya - from Pot 3

Group B
Jill Masterson (2nd seed)
Andrea Anders (9th seed)
Plenty O’Toole - from Pot 1
Strutter - from Pot 2
General Moon - from Pot 3

Group C
Della Leiter (3rd seed)
Quarrel (8th seed)
Felix Leiter (No Time to Die) - from Pot 1
Tibbett - from Pot 2
Zukovsky - from Pot 3

Group D
Aki (4th seed)
Vijay (7th seed)
Mathis (Quantum of Solace) - from Pot 1
Solange - from Pot 2
Campbell - from Pot 3

Group E
Corrine Dufour (5th seed)
Severine (6th seed)
Countess Lisl - from Pot 1
Commander Talbot - from Pot 2
Mr White (Spectre) - from Pot 3

Group Stage to open Thursday 21 September. Group C looks quite tough, not least due to the Battle of the Leiters.

Jim · September 20, 2023, 4:13pm

Form table after Semi-Finals - Main Titles

		Form average after Semi-Finals	Change in (form) / position
1	Casino Royale	81.7	(-1.6) / -
2	You Only Live Twice	74.5	(-5.9) / -
3	GoldenEye	72.9	(-) / +1
4	OHMSS	68	(-6.6) / -1
5	Thunderball	67.7	(-) / +1
6	Skyfall	67.4	(-1) / -1
7	The Spy who Loved Me	66.7
8	Tomorrow Never Dies	56.7
9	Moonraker	56.5
10	Live and Let Die	54.9
11	No Time to Die	54.2
12	Goldfinger	54.1
13	Diamonds are Forever	53
14	From Russia with Love	44.7
15	For Your Eyes Only	41.2
16	Dr No	40.1
17	Spectre	38.9
18	The Living Daylights	35.4
19	TWINE	32.3
20	Die Another Day	24.5
21	The Man with the Golden Gun	19.1
22	A View to a Kill	16.2
23	Octopussy	14.7
24	Quantum of Solace	12.3
25	Licence to Kill	7.6

Unusual, this. Skyfall, although getting into the Final, drops a place and everyone’s back in love with Thunderball again, which is reassuring, lovely and just.

GoldenEye gone done another sneaky. Sneaky, sneaky GoldenEye.

Unless something alarming occurs in the Final and Third Place Death-Off, it’s pretty likely Casino Royale has seen off You Only Live Twice to top the form table. Clever playing carrrrrrd theme, or spurty jizz volcanoes? Put like that…

Jim · September 21, 2023, 4:46am

Deathmatch - Main Titles has concluded.

Winner: Casino Royale
Runner-Up: Skyfall
Third: OHMSS
Fourth: You Only Live Twice

Form table, seedings, Top Tens, all that usual rubbish to follow.

Meanwhile, Group Stage voting for Victims is now open to 23 September. Don’t say you don’t get value for your no money.

Deathmatch spewouts so far:

	Villain	Film	Song	Bond	Woman	Hench	Titles
Winner	Skyfall	From Russia with Love	Live and Let Die	Thunderball	OHMSS	The Spy who Loved Me	Casino Royale
Runner-Up	Moonraker	OHMSS	The Spy who Loved Me	Casino Royale	Casino Royale	Diamonds are Forever	Skyfall
Third	Goldfinger	The Spy who Loved Me	You Only Live Twice	From Russia with Love	Thunderball	Goldfinger	OHMSS
Fourth	From Russia with Love	Casino Royale	Casino Royale	Goldfinger	Goldfinger	Thunderball	You Only Live Twice

Jim · September 21, 2023, 5:37am

Final form table for Main Titles

		Form average	Change in (form) / position
1	Casino Royale	81.1	(-0/6) / -
2	GoldenEye	72.9	(-) / +1
3	You Only Live Twice	69.6	(-4.9) -1
4	Thunderball	67.7	(-) / +1
5	OHMSS	67.6	(-0.4) / -1
6	The Spy who Loved Me	66.7	(-) / +1
7	Skyfall	62	(-5.4) / -1
8	Tomorrow Never Dies	56.7
9	Moonraker	56.5
10	Live and Let Die	54.9
11	No Time to Die	54.2
12	Goldfinger	54.1
13	Diamonds are Forever	53
14	From Russia with Love	44.7
15	For Your Eyes Only	41.2
16	Dr No	40.1
17	Spectre	38.9
18	The Living Daylights	35.4
19	TWINE	32.3
20	Die Another Day	24.5
21	The Man with the Golden Gun	19.1
22	A View to a Kill	16.2
23	Octopussy	14.7
24	Quantum of Solace	12.3
25	Licence to Kill	7.6

GoldenEye really benefited from not being involved in later stages but that’s how all this “works”. Perhaps the overall result of both form and knockout was never much in doubt, but it was pretty close during some of the earlier stages.

More soon.

Double-OhAgent · September 21, 2023, 6:40am

Hi Jim. Looking at your form averages, shouldn’t Thunderball be above On Her Majesty’s Secret Service or is there a typo in the averages?

Jim · September 21, 2023, 6:52am

You are quite right and that’ll be edited. Thunderlove abounds.

Edit made. As appropriate to Thunderball, what sharp little eyes you have.

Double-OhAgent · September 22, 2023, 1:01am

Wait till you get to my teeth.

Jim · September 22, 2023, 6:28am

I would rather not.

Anyway, some stats because… no reason

Seedings/Pots for 2024: Main Titles

	2022 Form placing	2023 Form placing	Average Form placing	Seed/Pot 2024
Dr No	20	16	18	Pot2
From Russia with Love	8	14	11	Pot 1
Goldfinger	5	12	8.5	9th seed
Thunderball	12	4	8	7th seed
You Only Live Twice	2	3	2.5	2nd seed
OHMSS	3	5	4	3rd seed
Diamonds are Forever	10	13	11.5	Pot 1
Live and Let Die	11	10	10.5	10th seed
The Man / Golden Gun	21	21	21	Pot 3
The Spy who Loved Me	6	6	6	6th seed
Moonraker	7	9	8	8th seed
For Your Eyes Only	16	15	15.5	Pot 1
Octopussy	23	23	23	Pot 3
A View to a Kill	22	22	22	Pot 3
The Living Daylights	17	18	17.5	Pot 2
Licence to Kill	24	25	24.5	Pot 3
GoldenEye	9	2	5.5	4th seed
Tomorrow Never Dies	14	8	11	Pot 1
TWINE	18	19	18.5	Pot 2
Die Another Day	19	20	19.5	Pot 2
Casino Royale	1	1	1	1st seed
Quantum of Solace	25	24	24.5	Pot 3
Skyfall	4	7	5.5	5th seed
Spectre	15	17	16	Pot 2
No Time to Die	13	11	12	Pot 1

Open to the accusation of monotony, but Casino Royale comfortably dominates this category in much the same way as Live and Let Die dominates the songs. Some shifting in the seeds, not least for Sneaky GoldenEye the Sneak, and Thunderball, which seems to have pulled itself up a bit this year.

Although GoldenEye and Skyfall have the same overall average, GoldenEye had better form this year so takes the higher seed spot.

Top Ten of Everything so far

Seven Top Ten Places	Six Top Ten Places	Five Top Ten Places	Four Top Ten Places	Three Top Ten Places	Two Top Ten Places	One Top Ten Place	Yet to bother the scorers
The Spy who Loved Me	Goldfinger	Skyfall	From Russia with Love	Diamonds are Forever	You Only Live Twice	Dr No	Octopussy
	Thunderball		Moonraker	Live and Let Die	The Man / Golden Gun	For Your Eyes Only	Die Another Day
	OHMSS			Licence to Kill	The Living Daylights	A View to a Kill	Quantum of Solace
	Casino Royale			GoldenEye	Tomorrow Never Dies	TWINE
						Spectre
						No Time to Die

Given the last category of Main Titles, it was probably clear to all that the non-botherers would maintain their streak of non-bothering. The Spy who Loved Me has a 100% success rate so far here but with the current subject area of Victims, and we seemed to have plumped for the unfortunate but not massively important Commander Talbot, making 8 Top Ten finishes in a row might be a bit of a stretch.

Thunderball quietly racking it up, there.

Most valuable player

To qualify for this, needs to have finished in the last 4 of a knockout. Therefore, although GoldenEye is doing OK, it hasn’t finished in the Semi-Finals onwards of a knockout, so isn’t here. That;s what you get for being Sneaky GoldenEye the Sneak. And a bit bland.

Casino Royale scored a maximum 4 points in the last round - won the Deathmatch (place + win) and won the Form (Top Ten + win) which isn’t done that often - and clearly benefits by so doing.

Thunderball quietly racking it up, there.

	Placings	Wins	Top Ten	Top of Form	MVP points
OHMSS	3	1	6	3	13
Casino Royale	5	1	6	1	13
Goldfinger	4		6	1	11
The Spy who Loved Me	3	1	7		11
Thunderball	3	1	6		10
From Russia with Love	3	1	4	1	9
Skyfall	2	1	5		8
Live and Let Die	1	1	3	1	6
Moonraker	1		4		5
You Only Live Twice	2		2		4
Diamonds are Forever	1		3		4

Overall movement to “Best Picture” at end of December 2023

		Villain	Film	Song	Bond	Woman	Henchperson	Titles	Average	Position
1	The Spy / Me	7	4	3	3	2	2	6	3.9	-
2	OHMSS	1	1	4	16	1	8	5	5.1	+1
3	Goldfinger	6	5	2	4	7	1	12	5.3	-1
4	Thunderball	9	7	12	6	4	4	4	6.8	-
5	Casino Royale	4	6	8	5	3	23	1	7.1	+1
6	Skyfall	2	3	7	2	15	21	7	8.1	+1
7	From Russia…	5	2	17	1	5	15	14	8.4	-2
8	Moonraker	3	10	14	10	11	11	9	9.7	-
9	GoldenEye	16	9	11	20	12	3	2	10.4	+1
10	DAF	14	14	5	19	6	5	13	10.9	-1
11	Live and Let Die	15	21	1	15	16	6	10	12	-
12	No Time to Die	21	11	15	9	14	19	11	14.3	+2
13	Licence to Kill	10	17	21	7	8	13	25	14.4	-1
14	TLD	25	15	16	8	17	7	18	15.1	-1
15	YOLT	17	20	6	24	20	18	3	15.4	+6
16	FYEO	24	8	13	11	21	16	15	15.4	+1
17	Spectre	13	13	23	14	18	10	17	15.4	-1
18	TND	18	19	18	21	10	17	8	15.9	+2
18	Dr No	11	18	24	13	9	20	16	15.9	-2
20	Octopussy	23	12	20	17	13	12	23	17.1	-2
21	TMwtGG	8	22	19	18	24	9	21	17.3	-2
22	AVTAK	12	24	9	25	25	14	22	18.7	-
23	TWINE	19	23	10	22	23	22	19	19.7	+1
24	QoS	22	16	22	12	19	25	24	20	-1
25	Die Another Day	20	25	25	23	22	24	20	22.7	-

Thunderball quietly racking it up, there.

Die Another Day still not getting out of the 20s and unless General Moon, whoever he may be, does something startling in the Victims round, it’s going to stay like that. It’s such rubbish, it truly is.

Jim · September 24, 2023, 5:27pm

Little later than planned (not that there is a plan), some reflections on the Group Stage for Victims

Group A	P	W	L	F	A	GD	% form	Points
Kerim	4	4	0	67	5	62	93	12
Paula	4	3	1	45	27	18	63.3	9
Saunders	4	2	2	32	39	-7	44.9	6
Paris	4	1	3	26	45	-19	36.3	3
Anna	4	0	4	9	63	-54	12.5	0

Possibly the most predictable Group at both ends. Anna does very little other than die but - y’know what? - still comes out with a better score than much more established characters, such as the notional Victim in…

Group B	P	W	L	F	A	GD	% form	Points
Jill	4	4	0	70	6	64	92.1	12
Plenty	4	3	1	46	27	19	64	9
Andrea	4	2	2	43	31	12	59.1	6
Strutter	4	1	3	20	52	-32	27.9	3
General Moon	4	0	4	5	68	-63	7	0

…Die Another Day. Does the usual.

Solid performance by Andrea there, and it is a performance over-dignifying a film that barely deserves it, so will doubtless be a Lucky Loser.

Group C	P	W	L	F	A	GD	% form	Points
Felix	4	4	0	58	21	37	73.9	12
Quarrel	4	3	1	46	33	13	58.8	9
Tibbett	4	2	2	36	41	-5	46.6	6
Della	4	1	3	39	42	-3	48.6	3
Zukovsky	4	0	4	17	59	-42	22.4	0

Bit of a disaster for Della here, among other disasters that befall her, given last year’s very strong performance. An open group, however, does bestow Lucky Loser status on her, so it might not all be dead on the bed quite yet.

Group D	P	W	L	F	A	GD	% form	Points
Aki	4	4	0	62	14	48	81.6	12
Mathis	4	3	1	49	25	24	66.7	9
Solange	4	2	2	31	42	-11	43	6
Vijay	4	1	3	34	40	-6	46.4	3
Campbell	4	0	4	9	64	-55	12.4	0

On the basis that getting through to the Second Round actually depends on form, it will be Vijay rather than Solange who goes through. Life is so unfair; but this is about death, which is the great fair leveller that awaits us all. I am still grieving the dog; mood not very flappy.

Group E	P	W	L	F	A	GD	% form	Points
Severine	4	4	0	51	22	29	70	12
Corrine	4	3	1	50	22	28	70	9
Lisl	4	2	2	45	27	18	62.5	6
Mr White	4	1	3	22	49	-27	31	3
Cmdr Talbot	4	0	4	12	60	-48	11.1	0

Very tight group this, save for final place which is occupied unusually by an element of The Spy who Loved Me. Anna Severnaya, with her rich character development, is deemed more “successful” a Victim than Talbot. Hmm.

Form table after Group Stage

		% form	Outcome of Group Stage
1	Kerim (1st seed)	93	Winner A
2	Jill (2nd seed)	92.1	Winner B
3	Aki (4th seed)	81.6	Winner D
4	Felix	73.9	Winner C
5	Severine (6th seed)	70	Winner E
6	Corrine (5th seed)	70	Runner-Up E
7	Mathis	66.7	Runner-Up D
8	Plenty	64	Runner-Up B
9	Paula (10th seed)	63.3	Runner-Up A
10	Countess Lisl	62.5	Lucky Loser 1
11	Andrea (9th seed)	59.1	Lucky Loser 2
12	Quarrel (8th seed)	58.8	Runner-Up C
13	Della (3rd seed)	48.6	Lucky Loser 3
14	Tibbett	46.6	Lucky Loser 4
15	Vijay (7th seed)	46.4	Lucky Loser 5
16	Saunders	44.9	Lucky Loser 6
17	Solange	43
18	Paris Carver	36.3
19	Mr White	31
20	Strutter	27.9
21	Zukovsky	22.4
22	Anna Severnaya	12.5
23	Campbell	12.4
24	Cmdr Talbot	11.1
25	General Moon	7

Due to the risk of immediate repeat games, some rummage in the standard draw for the Second Round has had to take place. Lucky Loser 1 and Lucky Loser 2 swap who they would otherwise play, likewise Lucky Losers 3, 4 and 5 had to go 5, 3, 4 to avoid repeats. Some serious droppage of seed in the Group Stage, but Della and Vijay live to die another day. Unlike Day Another Day but that was obviously going to happen.

Jim · September 25, 2023, 6:52am

Form table after Second Round, voting in the Quarter-Finals still underway

		Form average after Second Round	Change in (form) / position
1	Kerim	93.2	(+0.2) / -
2	Jill Masterson	89.7	(-2.4) / -
3	Aki	78.7	(-2.9) / -
4	Felix	74.1	(+0.2) / -
5	Mathis	69.6	(+2.9) / +2
6	Severine	68.5	(-1.5) / -1
7	Corrine Dufour	67.3	(-2.7) / -1
8	Paula Kaplan	64	(+0.7) / +1
9	Quarrel	55.8	(-3) / +3
10	Plenty O’Toole	55	(-9) / -2
11	Countess Lisl	54	(-8.5) / -1
12	Andrea Anders	48.5	(-10.6) / -1
13	Della Leiter	45.5	(-3.1) / -
14	Tibbett	44.8	(-1.8) / -
15	Solange	43	(-) / +2
16	Saunders	42.6	(-2.3) / -
17	Vijay	42.1	(-4.3) / -2
18	Paris Carver	36.3
19	Mr White	31
20	Strutter	27.9
21	Zukovsky	22.4
22	Anna Severnaya	12.5
23	Campbell	12.4
24	Cmdr Talbot	11.1
25	General Moon	7

Some fairly large drops in form due to some big wins in the Second Round, and Anna Severnaya, a richly developed character, remains in better form than General Moon who is in that blighted film for ages and in terms of duration of film, might be one of the longer-lived Victims.

As ever, the Second Round is where things begin to settle but there’s still quite a way to go…

Jim · September 25, 2023, 5:50pm

Form table after Quarter-Finals: Victims

		Form average after Quarter-Finals	Change in (form) / position
1	Kerim	90.6	(-2.6) / -
2	Jill Masterson	87.5	(=2.2) / -
3	Aki	76.4	(-2.3) / -
4	Felix	72.9	(-1.2) / -
5	Mathis	63.6	(-6) / -
6	Corrine Dufour	62	(-5.3) / +1
7	Severine	60.8	(-7.7) / -1
8	Paula Kaplan	57.3	(-6.7) / -
9	Quarrel	55.8
10	Plenty O’Toole	55
11	Countess Lisl	54
12	Andrea Anders	48.5
13	Della Leiter	45.5
14	Tibbett	44.8
15	Solange	43
16	Saunders	42.6
17	Vijay	42.1
18	Paris Carver	36.3
19	Mr White	31
20	Strutter	27.9
21	Zukovsky	22.4
22	Anna Severnaya	12.5
23	Campbell	12.4
24	Cmdr Talbot	11.1
25	General Moon	7

Not a massive amount of movement here, although as the top four are playing Semi-Finals (and then Death-Off / Final), there is still some capacity for ups and downs between them.

Despite a bit of a marmalising in the Quarter-Final, a Quantum of Solace element makes a Top Ten at last. That’ll leave only Octopussy and You Know Who still to break a Top Ten hit, although it has to be said* that Vijay seriously underperformed here.

*it doesn’t have to be said, whatsoever.

Jim · September 27, 2023, 6:58am

Form table after Semi-Finals: Victims

		Form average after Semi-Finals	Change in (form) / position
1	Kerim	88.6	(-2) / -
2	Jill Masterson	82.1	(-5.4) / -
3	Aki	72.6	(-3.8) / -
4	Felix	65.8	(-7.1) / -
5	Mathis	63.6
6	Corrine Dufour	62
7	Severine	60.8
8	Paula Kaplan	57.3
9	Quarrel	55.8
10	Plenty O’Toole	55
11	Countess Lisl	54
12	Andrea Anders	48.5
13	Della Leiter	45.5
14	Tibbett	44.8
15	Solange	43
16	Saunders	42.6
17	Vijay	42.1
18	Paris Carver	36.3
19	Mr White	31
20	Strutter	27.9
21	Zukovsky	22.4
22	Anna Severnaya	12.5
23	Campbell	12.4
24	Cmdr Talbot	11.1
25	General Moon	7

With the top four chewing at each other in the Death-Off and the Final, there’s still some capacity for change. Sorta. Ish. Maybe. P’raps.

Although the Jill Masterson v Aki Semi-Final ended in a draw, Jill goes into the Final based on form and goal difference in all other matches in this category. Fine, it favours the form player but just that one more vote for Aki would have seen her through, so it can come down to the (poison-dripped) wire every time.