The Man With The Golden Gun-
Took the kids yesterday to see it in the cinema, good to see it on the big screen though the flaws are highlighted i.e. it looks a little cheap, certainly compared to DAF. But there was an energy crisis so…
Picked up something I’d not noticed in all the times I’ve watched it. Scaramanga drinks a Black Velvet cocktail !. A bold choice after a swim and before a physically demanding gunfight with a gangster.
Also my 11 year old came up with two beauties.
He said the pacing was ‘bearable’
Another attendee, upon leaving, asked if he could ask the little fellow a question… " how old did you think Roger Moore was in that movie? " “At least 45” replies Benson. The chap was like " you got it just about right but when I saw that as a kid I though he was young like in his 30s" as he’s walking up the stairs Benson goes " yeah in the olden days "
Yes, it almost goes unnoticed. Don’t know who said it (and to lazy to look it up), but I believe it was Christopher Lee himself, when asked about the difference between a Bond movie production and a “normal” movie: “We had that scene when I was served a Black Velvet on the beach. In any other movie production, it would have been a glass full of some fake cheap black something. But in a Bond movie, it really is Guinness and Champagne”.
It is an interesting combination and I’ve also heard of it being called a Velvet Hammer. I believe it’s 2/3 champagne poured first and the topped with the Guinness poured slowly over the back of a spoon much like a black and tan.
MR - it sure is, that’ll be our next viewing, I’m skipping TSWLM, really looking forward to MR…His opinion will be scathing or effusive but either way hilarious. He, well actually all my children have a love of cinema, it’s really lovely to see movies again through their eyes.
I think he is ready, my daughter, loves Fassbinder, so she wants to take him to at least one. Then on to do some shopping for whatever baggy high waisted oversized trouser and t-shirt combination he’s looking for.
Amazing- I have never seen one on the big screen, so I am looking forward to ‘The Marriage Of Maria Braun’.
My wife and I are going into see Chunking Express , which she’s only ever seen on video tape in Poland so excited for that.
Such well-raised children. If it is just one, my vote is for FOX AND HIS FRIENDS–straightforward plot, scathing social commentary, and a fascinating portrait of gay life.
Enjoy. I saw it at the old Rosemary Theater in Chinatown, for years one of the few places one could see current Hong Kong cInema (now a Buddhist temple). In addition to great movies, there was the experience of watching films with an audience to whom the movies were speaking on a level that eluded me, but the connection they felt was palpable.
There is full-frontal male nudity–Fassbinder himself as Fox. One of his more accessible and politically sharp films. Fassbinder was 29, and this was his 23rd film (not counting shorts and theatre work), and one of four films he made in 1975. Such a slacker!
Only Moonraker!
So - it has bags of charm, is witty and funny. The opening stunt writ large on the big screen doesn’t work as well because of how visible the stunt doubles are. A minor gripe in an otherwise beautiful afternoon at the cinema, without the kids ( all back in school )
What struck me about Moonraker is how many facades there are in the movie. DAF deals with duality but this with pretence, the facade of a spy who is on first name terms with the minister of defense, the facade of dressing in a tux in the most inappropriate of settings. The facade of a Nietzschean philosophy that’s actually a death cult with Drax as the cult leader. The facade of an assassin quoting the Bible and thanking God for someone’s safety.
Like the seventies it has laughter, smut and horror in equal measure.
It was bizarrely the most sexless of the Bonds I’ve seen so far on the big screen, the kissing scenes also a facade, " we are expected to so let’s go through the motions" this enhances the comedy of it for me and it’s certainly one of the funniest Bonds.
Couple of things
always thought the dart thingy was a wrist watch…
the double taking pidgeon wasn’t as jarring as Corine’s quick change from heels to running shoes whilst being chased by the dogs.
Exactly ! Where did it come from? It added to the comedy, agree regards opening stunt another facade, it was fascinating watching it again on the big screen. It possibly says a lot about my own taste but, it was remarkable to me unsexy the whole movie is. The facade of sex is there but that’s all. From Russia With Love I was taken aback at how sexy the film was. DAF too Jill St. John especially. It was more adult than Moonraker, TMWTGG tries to be adult but fell short, so one can understand how the 70s started with DAF and finished with Moonraker.
I mean I had similar feelings when I watched FYEO. In Canada ! Massive screen! Actual popcorn ! 5 year old mes mind was blown. It’s funny how vivid some memories are.
