Bond, James Bond
This damn flu has sidelined me rather hard for the past 3 days from "existing" past any sort of facade. I truly haven't felt myself all week, but I've tried hard to put on a good face everyday. I feel bad, because I know my normal threshold of patience was pretty thin all week. I haven't felt like doing much of anything the past few days other than curling up and sleeping. And the irony in that being I haven't really slept much at all, which hasn't helped me get over this flu virus. Waking up at 3:30 or 4 every morning for the past 3 days hasn't been much fun.
Although I had the flu, I still kept with my schedule of 1 movie per night. I decided to tackle the latest versions of Bond films (you know, the ones that got flack for having Daniel Craig in the title role when it was first announced).
I grew up in the age of Pierce Bronson as the Lothario know as James Bond, the guy who seemed to be more obsessed with bedding as many women as possible in the span of a 2-hour movie. The films' presentations in those 90s Bond movies was more focused on sex and sexuality than even having a decent plot. There definitely seemed to be something lost from the Sean Connery-era of James Bond films (even though those were also heavy on the double entendres and sexual inneundos. And hey, in the 90s, I was a teenage boy, so I loved those Bond movies, because let's face it, sex sells, and a hormone-driven teenage boy was the perfect demographic. I watched those Bond movies strictly for the variety of women that showed up. I've always been very in tune to the beauty of females and I know it started right around my 12th birthday. I've recently discovered that I have a tendency to hold women on a pedestal (something I'm working on), which then ultimately leads to a sense of disappointment and/or betrayal. Some might call me shallow and I'll be the first to admit that physical attraction/outer beauty has always been the first thing that attracts me to a women. I cannot help but notice a beautiful woman anytime, anywhere I go. My "spider sense" tingles, I guess. My eyes wander in their direction. So, as a teenager I "identified" with Bond in the shallowest sense. I enjoyed seeing Bond hook up with all those random, beautiful women. I lived vicariously through him, because he seemed to possess all the necessary qualities that I lacked in real life, the most important being self-confidence. After being pursued a few years later by the girl that would become my first girlfriend, I developed a stronger sense of self-confidence, and it has grown and grown throughout the years, but coming from having none at all, I think I've reached a healthy dose of it, without coming off as cocky. I've always enjoyed attention, that will never be denied, so when I get it, I enjoy it. I decided long ago to cover myself in tattoos...not realizing then, how much attention I could potentially get for the artwork, but now that I am an adult (full-blown, no turning back), I am more in tune to the attention I create for myself. James Bond, as a character, is the same way. Quietly mysterious. An enigma to women. They just have to know him. Crack his shell.
To me, Bond has always seemed like the type of character/man that would fit the stereotype of the "PLAYBOY" guy. How do I know this, well, I will admit that I've been a subscriber to the magazine since I was eighteen (turning eighteen was a rite of passage for me in that sense...it meant I could finally look at, or own, the magazine "legally"). I remember working at Wendy's in high school. I was seventeen and I don't know why or what brought it up, but I used to walk across the street to the convenient store to purchase Sobe drinks for myself and a couple of co-workers (I was like the "runner" doing errands for everyone, but I loved it even back then because it got me attention and it also got me out of the restaurant for a brief 5-7 minutes. It helped that there were a couple of attractive women across the street working at the convenient store. Anyway, I remember browsing the magazine rack on my way to drink refrigerators in the back of the store. One night, there was a PLAYBOY magazine that caught my eye (August 1998) with a striking blonde girl on the cover. I decided, for some reason, to attempt to purchase it. I brought it to the counter and without hesitation it was sold to me, no second guessing my age (which is ironic because even as a 31 year old now I could probably pass for a teenager, so I must have looked younger than). I breathed an easy, sigh of relief as I walked back to Wendy's with my "illegal" purchase in hand. I found the place I could buy them for the next 5 or 6 months, until one day, one of the women actually decided to ask to see my I.D. and she scolded me for passing one over on her, saying she could get in trouble. I tried, even then, to talk my way out of it, but it didn't work. But by then, I could subscribe to it, so I just decided to pay the yearly fee and they arrived at my house, which was almost another feat, because I also remember having to first, calculate when the magazine would arrive, and then, beating him to the mailbox on those days, which was easier to do since I was always home first. I know it sounds cliche to say it, but I've always read the magazine from front cover to back, but back then, as a teenager I was immediately drawn to the beautiful girls that appeared in the Centerfold of the magazine. They presented to me a type of girl that I've since been drawn to...the down-to-earth, girl-next-door. A lot of my "girl" friends have seen this as the ultimate flaw in my expectations when dating. I've become fixated on finding myself one of these girls. The trouble is, they tell me, those girls don't exist! Regardless, I seem to find myself unable to find happiness, only rather settling for contentment, but I know that there is a girl/women out there that can and will meet my expectations. If you were to ask me to describe her, I don't think I could. I've also said, I'll know her when I meet her. I guess, in a sense I want to be swept off my feet, unexpectedly. The trouble is, when I fall, I fall hard. And it's never been for the type of "dream girl" that I've imagined. I've recently discovered the addition of a new type of girl in films: the MANIC PIXIE DREAM GIRL. Those are the girls I find most attractive, which I will write about soon enough, but I don't think it's fitting here, in this Bond write-up.
There's a certain type of guy that shows up on the style pages of PLAYBOY magazine that just fits so well with Bond, and also seems fitting that sexuality played a huge role in defining him as a character, at least on screen (I've never read the Ian Fleming novels, so I cannot speak for them, but I know that he disassociated himself from the films for their lack truth.) Come to think of it, PLAYBOY magazine seems to be designed for a rather small demographic of men that fit a certain stereotype of what a man should be like. I am not the demographic of the stereotypical guy. I consider myself an idealist, and a romantic. A romantic to the core. Cars, gadgets, beautiful women, style. That's been the Bond we've known. And Bond films have also always been very formulaic.
Until now.
In 2007, they decided to consciously recreate James Bond. Now that I've seen James Bond through Daniel Craig, I cannot think of anyone better to fill those well-worn shoes. Daniel Craig plays James Bond as a leaner, more taciturn, less sex-obsessed, and most importantly (to the development of him as a true character), someone who is able to be hurt both in mind, body and soul. "Casino Royale" is actually the beginning of the Bond story. He has very real flaws and he makes clear mistakes in his actions and his judgments. And hell, he falls in love! Vesper Lynd (played by Eva Green, a French actress who is very much the essence of "oh la la") is his love interest here. Even though Bond still carries the playboy within, when he loves, he knows it and he falls hard for Vesper. It's almost a shame when the film takes a U-turn when you least expect it. You actually feel for both characters, but most importantly, you feel for Bond; you care what happens to them/him. The line "shaken, not stirred" actually takes on a different/deeper meaning here, because Bond and Vesper appear to be both shaken and stirred emotionally by each other. Betrayal and lost-love perhaps created the Bond that we grew familiar with throughout the years, so it was refreshing to get the background story here. This could have almost been treated as an "Origins" film, you know like they've been doing with the X-Men franchise.
I really enjoyed Casino Royale, but not in the I'm-a-man-and-I-identify-with-him-kind-of-way, but as a film, telling an interesting story about a guy we've been told we know so much about, but really we don't know shit about him. Oh, and I think on a deeper level, Bond may have some "mother issues" since the character of M (played by Judi Dench, and hello, "M" could be an initial/metaphor for Mother) seems to be a mother-figure to James Bond. Perhaps that's another reason I've identified with James Bond through the years, because it's become very clear to me that I have my own "mother issues" which I am working out!
I also watched "Quantum of Solace," which was the sequel to "Casino Royale" and picks up after the events of the first film. But, it takes Bond in a different direction and tries to present him as an action hero. That's not authentic. Bond is all attitude. And he should be after being betrayed by the woman he let his guard down for. He still is not sex-obsessed, which I can appreciate, because it definitely would not have worked in his film. "Quantum of Solace" seems to be heavy on the action and elaborate, misplaced chase scenes for the sake of building Bond up to be this sort of action hero that he does not want to be. The plot doesn't make much sense for the Bond series (almost like having Denise Richards playing a nuclear physicist, I know, right). I was very disappointed with "Quantum of Solace" and it actually lost my interest pretty early in, which was too bad, since "Casino Royale" left me with such high hopes that Bond's rebirth was going to be worth witnessing.
That being said, I've heard that "Skyfall" is one of the best Bond films, and I'm sorry to say I missed it in theaters, but I will definitely watch it when it comes out on DVD.
.........................................................
I watched a pretty cheesy, altogether terrible "horror" film called "Pulse" which is a remake of another Japanese sci-fi/horror film. The plot is very technology-driven. The dead come through computers. It really goes nowhere and isn't exactly scary, like other Japanese remakes have been (i.e. The Ring or The Grudge). Kristen Bell seems to be in a lot more "misses" than actual "hits" which is too bad, because ever since playing the lead in "Veronica Mars" I've had high hopes for her and she disappoints me more often than not. Perhaps that's the woman-on-a-pedestal thing again!
Although I had the flu, I still kept with my schedule of 1 movie per night. I decided to tackle the latest versions of Bond films (you know, the ones that got flack for having Daniel Craig in the title role when it was first announced).
I grew up in the age of Pierce Bronson as the Lothario know as James Bond, the guy who seemed to be more obsessed with bedding as many women as possible in the span of a 2-hour movie. The films' presentations in those 90s Bond movies was more focused on sex and sexuality than even having a decent plot. There definitely seemed to be something lost from the Sean Connery-era of James Bond films (even though those were also heavy on the double entendres and sexual inneundos. And hey, in the 90s, I was a teenage boy, so I loved those Bond movies, because let's face it, sex sells, and a hormone-driven teenage boy was the perfect demographic. I watched those Bond movies strictly for the variety of women that showed up. I've always been very in tune to the beauty of females and I know it started right around my 12th birthday. I've recently discovered that I have a tendency to hold women on a pedestal (something I'm working on), which then ultimately leads to a sense of disappointment and/or betrayal. Some might call me shallow and I'll be the first to admit that physical attraction/outer beauty has always been the first thing that attracts me to a women. I cannot help but notice a beautiful woman anytime, anywhere I go. My "spider sense" tingles, I guess. My eyes wander in their direction. So, as a teenager I "identified" with Bond in the shallowest sense. I enjoyed seeing Bond hook up with all those random, beautiful women. I lived vicariously through him, because he seemed to possess all the necessary qualities that I lacked in real life, the most important being self-confidence. After being pursued a few years later by the girl that would become my first girlfriend, I developed a stronger sense of self-confidence, and it has grown and grown throughout the years, but coming from having none at all, I think I've reached a healthy dose of it, without coming off as cocky. I've always enjoyed attention, that will never be denied, so when I get it, I enjoy it. I decided long ago to cover myself in tattoos...not realizing then, how much attention I could potentially get for the artwork, but now that I am an adult (full-blown, no turning back), I am more in tune to the attention I create for myself. James Bond, as a character, is the same way. Quietly mysterious. An enigma to women. They just have to know him. Crack his shell.
To me, Bond has always seemed like the type of character/man that would fit the stereotype of the "PLAYBOY" guy. How do I know this, well, I will admit that I've been a subscriber to the magazine since I was eighteen (turning eighteen was a rite of passage for me in that sense...it meant I could finally look at, or own, the magazine "legally"). I remember working at Wendy's in high school. I was seventeen and I don't know why or what brought it up, but I used to walk across the street to the convenient store to purchase Sobe drinks for myself and a couple of co-workers (I was like the "runner" doing errands for everyone, but I loved it even back then because it got me attention and it also got me out of the restaurant for a brief 5-7 minutes. It helped that there were a couple of attractive women across the street working at the convenient store. Anyway, I remember browsing the magazine rack on my way to drink refrigerators in the back of the store. One night, there was a PLAYBOY magazine that caught my eye (August 1998) with a striking blonde girl on the cover. I decided, for some reason, to attempt to purchase it. I brought it to the counter and without hesitation it was sold to me, no second guessing my age (which is ironic because even as a 31 year old now I could probably pass for a teenager, so I must have looked younger than). I breathed an easy, sigh of relief as I walked back to Wendy's with my "illegal" purchase in hand. I found the place I could buy them for the next 5 or 6 months, until one day, one of the women actually decided to ask to see my I.D. and she scolded me for passing one over on her, saying she could get in trouble. I tried, even then, to talk my way out of it, but it didn't work. But by then, I could subscribe to it, so I just decided to pay the yearly fee and they arrived at my house, which was almost another feat, because I also remember having to first, calculate when the magazine would arrive, and then, beating him to the mailbox on those days, which was easier to do since I was always home first. I know it sounds cliche to say it, but I've always read the magazine from front cover to back, but back then, as a teenager I was immediately drawn to the beautiful girls that appeared in the Centerfold of the magazine. They presented to me a type of girl that I've since been drawn to...the down-to-earth, girl-next-door. A lot of my "girl" friends have seen this as the ultimate flaw in my expectations when dating. I've become fixated on finding myself one of these girls. The trouble is, they tell me, those girls don't exist! Regardless, I seem to find myself unable to find happiness, only rather settling for contentment, but I know that there is a girl/women out there that can and will meet my expectations. If you were to ask me to describe her, I don't think I could. I've also said, I'll know her when I meet her. I guess, in a sense I want to be swept off my feet, unexpectedly. The trouble is, when I fall, I fall hard. And it's never been for the type of "dream girl" that I've imagined. I've recently discovered the addition of a new type of girl in films: the MANIC PIXIE DREAM GIRL. Those are the girls I find most attractive, which I will write about soon enough, but I don't think it's fitting here, in this Bond write-up.
There's a certain type of guy that shows up on the style pages of PLAYBOY magazine that just fits so well with Bond, and also seems fitting that sexuality played a huge role in defining him as a character, at least on screen (I've never read the Ian Fleming novels, so I cannot speak for them, but I know that he disassociated himself from the films for their lack truth.) Come to think of it, PLAYBOY magazine seems to be designed for a rather small demographic of men that fit a certain stereotype of what a man should be like. I am not the demographic of the stereotypical guy. I consider myself an idealist, and a romantic. A romantic to the core. Cars, gadgets, beautiful women, style. That's been the Bond we've known. And Bond films have also always been very formulaic.
Until now.
In 2007, they decided to consciously recreate James Bond. Now that I've seen James Bond through Daniel Craig, I cannot think of anyone better to fill those well-worn shoes. Daniel Craig plays James Bond as a leaner, more taciturn, less sex-obsessed, and most importantly (to the development of him as a true character), someone who is able to be hurt both in mind, body and soul. "Casino Royale" is actually the beginning of the Bond story. He has very real flaws and he makes clear mistakes in his actions and his judgments. And hell, he falls in love! Vesper Lynd (played by Eva Green, a French actress who is very much the essence of "oh la la") is his love interest here. Even though Bond still carries the playboy within, when he loves, he knows it and he falls hard for Vesper. It's almost a shame when the film takes a U-turn when you least expect it. You actually feel for both characters, but most importantly, you feel for Bond; you care what happens to them/him. The line "shaken, not stirred" actually takes on a different/deeper meaning here, because Bond and Vesper appear to be both shaken and stirred emotionally by each other. Betrayal and lost-love perhaps created the Bond that we grew familiar with throughout the years, so it was refreshing to get the background story here. This could have almost been treated as an "Origins" film, you know like they've been doing with the X-Men franchise.
I really enjoyed Casino Royale, but not in the I'm-a-man-and-I-identify-with-him-kind-of-way, but as a film, telling an interesting story about a guy we've been told we know so much about, but really we don't know shit about him. Oh, and I think on a deeper level, Bond may have some "mother issues" since the character of M (played by Judi Dench, and hello, "M" could be an initial/metaphor for Mother) seems to be a mother-figure to James Bond. Perhaps that's another reason I've identified with James Bond through the years, because it's become very clear to me that I have my own "mother issues" which I am working out!
I also watched "Quantum of Solace," which was the sequel to "Casino Royale" and picks up after the events of the first film. But, it takes Bond in a different direction and tries to present him as an action hero. That's not authentic. Bond is all attitude. And he should be after being betrayed by the woman he let his guard down for. He still is not sex-obsessed, which I can appreciate, because it definitely would not have worked in his film. "Quantum of Solace" seems to be heavy on the action and elaborate, misplaced chase scenes for the sake of building Bond up to be this sort of action hero that he does not want to be. The plot doesn't make much sense for the Bond series (almost like having Denise Richards playing a nuclear physicist, I know, right). I was very disappointed with "Quantum of Solace" and it actually lost my interest pretty early in, which was too bad, since "Casino Royale" left me with such high hopes that Bond's rebirth was going to be worth witnessing.
That being said, I've heard that "Skyfall" is one of the best Bond films, and I'm sorry to say I missed it in theaters, but I will definitely watch it when it comes out on DVD.
.........................................................
I watched a pretty cheesy, altogether terrible "horror" film called "Pulse" which is a remake of another Japanese sci-fi/horror film. The plot is very technology-driven. The dead come through computers. It really goes nowhere and isn't exactly scary, like other Japanese remakes have been (i.e. The Ring or The Grudge). Kristen Bell seems to be in a lot more "misses" than actual "hits" which is too bad, because ever since playing the lead in "Veronica Mars" I've had high hopes for her and she disappoints me more often than not. Perhaps that's the woman-on-a-pedestal thing again!
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