#bond confessions

[katherinemallory]

I've made a promise to do this, so here you go

[katherinemallory]

I just can't stand it when the discussion about the potential Bond 26 cast starts, and people suggest the producers should get rid of Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, Rory Kinnear and Ralph Fiennes, replacing them with a new bunch of actors.

And yes, it may be impossible to keep them all for the next project, since we remember what happened in No Time to Die (what a misleading title, by the way)... seeing the same faces again may cause some timeline inconsistency... But the Bond films have never really paid much attention to consistency. We've had Judi Dench's M in both the classic and the rebooted era... So I guess we can go on with the current cast as if nothing's really happened. At least that's what I need to see. They're are my absolute favourite MI6 cast and I doubt I could accept the next actors playing their parts.

And besides... it's just that you do not replace them.

[katherinemallory]

I've discussed No Time to Die with two of my friends today.

They absolutely hammered Nomi, saying that her character was useless, as she didn't help Bond at all (like, seriously? Did we watch the same film?)

They mentioned how much they didn't like Lashana Lynch's performance (like, SERIOUSLY?) and how the character wasn't even close to Paloma.

Well, I totally disagree and I don't even want to elaborate on that. They are SO wrong (Le Chiffre's voice)

I get an impression that some people were biased against Nomi even before the film entered the cinemas. Cause she was female, black, and worst of all, a female black double-0. A new 007.

But you know what... This high achiever probably wouldn't care about this kind of criticism.

That's why I love her even more.

[katherinemallory]

Sometimes when I go to work, wearing my black double-breasted knee length coat (which looks a lot like a Royal Navy Officer's coat), I like to imagine it's the MI6 I work for and M waits for me in his office.

Do you also have moments like this... or are you normal?

[katherinemallory]

Whenever I see pictures like this one, I wish Mallory was a real person I could badly fall in love with

[katherinemallory]

For the past few days I've been rewatching the Bond films of the Daniel Craig era and I have to tell you a have a very soft spot for all of them. For different reasons each.

1. Casino Royale was probably the first Bond film I've ever seen. I say 'probably', cause I can't really remember which one was my first (yeah, I know it sounds stupid, but I wasn't a Bond fan back then and I didn't care much... I guess it was either this one or GoldenEye).

I love the incredibly bondian soundtrack (and the title song, which gives me goosebumps every time I listen to it!!!) and the cast - Daniel Craig, Eva Green, and Mads Mikkelsen form a legendary trio in this one! I have no idea how they managed to make the poker scenes look so exciting. And also, the way the novel was modernized in order to make CR more interesting for the present-day audiences never fails to astonish me. The film is much better than the novel in my opinion.

2. Quantum of Solace isn't a common choice among the Bond fans when it comes to listing their favourite films of the franchise, but I've always liked it a lot. I do not agree with the amount of hate it gets and I believe it's underrated. If you watch it straight after CR, it becomes more clear why it has the very right to be so different from other Bond films.

Again, I think the soundtrack sounds quite good. Maybe the story could have been a little less realistic, but on the other hand the idea of water being the most valuable source on Earth appeals to me. Just as the relationship between Bond and Camille, which is pretty special, so I don't mind they only shared a kiss.

3. Skyfall... Oh, this is a big one. Words can't describe how much I adore it. I consider it to be a masterpiece, but I usually refuse to refer to it as a Bond film. It's rather a film about Bond.

It has broken many conventions associated with a Bond film (let's just mention Bond experiencing a middle-age crisis), but at the same time it has constantly referred to the previous films, especially to the Sean Connery era (Bond's "death", just as in You Only Live Twice, an ejector seat just as in Aston Martin DB5 from Goldfinger etc.). It also refers to the novels (the names of Bond's parents, his Scottish ancestry), even though it has got an original script.

The music is one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard (and one of the very few I actually listen to): subtle, but yet able to make you emotional. Not to mention the title song, which is in my top three songs of all time. Another thing worth noting is the cinematography. Skyfall has taken filming a Bond film to a different level, the whole film looks like you are being shown a sophisticated collection of paintings in an art gallery.

And, of course, the characters. And Mallory. And the mother and son relationship between Bond and M.

4. Spectre is the first Bond film I've experienced in a cinema and the first one I've watched as a declared Bond fan, so I'll always be sentimental about this one.

The plot is a bit too far-fetched for me, but it doesn't necessarily mean I do not find it enjoyable. The amount of references to the previous films makes it nearly impossible for you to count them all and I love it. It contains a few really funny jokes. It's got a brilliant political subplot, which allows Mallory to be more active (yeah!)

Can't wait to add a fifth film to that list.

[katherinemallory]

#BondConfessions: M vs. C

I think I’ve mentioned it before how much I enjoy the scenes between M and C every time I watch Spectre. Those parts of the film capture the essence of their conflict perfectly. M, as an older (and wiser!) man, symbolizes experience and a voice of reason (this is exactly how I see the literary M), and C looks more like an ambitious, but careless fanatical person.

I like this depiction even more as I value experience above youth.

Recently, while rewatching Spectre, I realized sometthing I’ve never paid much attention to before. Remember that scene when M and C talk in C’s office about the double-0 programme? This conversation echoes later in the film.

C: Double-0 programme is prehistoric. Come on M, you can’t really tell me that one man in the field can compete with all of this, running around with his licence to kill. M: Have you ever had to kill a man, Max? Have you? To pull that trigger you have to be sure. Yes, you investigate, analyse, assess, target... and then you have to look him in the eye. And you make the call. And all the drones, bugs, cameras, transcripts, all the surveillance in the world can’t tell you what to do next. A licence to kill is also a licence not to kill.

(and then C plays the tape with the conversation Bond and Moneypenny had on the phone about Mr. White)

Later in the film M comes to C’s office to bring him in (and of course, to let Q stop the system from going online). And this is when the fun begins! First of all, I adore how this scene resembles the beginning of Casino Royale when Bond talks to Dryden (to me, it is just perfect: the darkness, the music, the acting...)

C: Take a look at the world... Chaos... Because people like you, paper-pushers and politicians are too spineless to do what needs to be done, so I made an alliance to put the power where it should be, and now you want to throw it away... for the sake of democracy. Whatever the hell that is. How predictably moronic. [points the gun at M] But then isn’t that what ‘M’ stands for? ‘Moron’. [pulls the trigger, but the gun is not loaded] M: And now we know what ‘C’ stands for... [shows C the bullets from his empty gun] ‘careless’.

(Oh my, I remember that tension in the cinema when we all waited to hear what word would M use to describe C! XD)

So, Q sucessfully stops the system (is there a thing this extremely talented man can’t do?) and M, with a gun in his hands, instructs C to leave the building. But C must provoke M just one more time (You’re a cockly little bastard, aren’t you?)

C: Why can’t you just face it, M? You don’t matter anymore. M: Maybe I don’t. But something has to.

M gets distracted by Blofeld’s helicopter, C uses this to his advantage and the fight between M and C starts. The gun fires twice, breaking the glass railing and the glass ceiling. For a few seconds you can observe the faces of M and C who look at each other (... and then you have to look him in the eye. And you make the call). Finally, when the glass from the ceiling falls on them, M looks at Denbigh once again just before the latter falls to his demise.

I’ve always thought that if M really wanted to do this, he could have saved C and, as a result, bring him in later, alive. Yes, it all happens pretty fast, but I believe there is a split second when M can try to catch C. But he doesn’t do this, he just stares at C, both scared and convinced, because he made the call. Even though the moment was kind of horrific, deep inside he was sure.

Or at least this is how I see this.

And also, I have to confess that these are my two favourite roles from Spectre.

[katherinemallory]

This was supposed to be "all things James Bond 007" blog, but recently it has transformed into some kind of Gareth Mallory/Ralph Fiennes obsession blog.

I definitely did not see that coming (haha, of course I did...)

Sometimes I am so ashamed of myself.

I'm sure things will get back to normal when I stop thinking about No Time to Die so intensely.