New look to my blog

Hi guys and girls. Let me know what you think of the new look to my film blog. Have gone for the slick black design. Hope you like. Have been a bit slack on the reviews in recent months but am getting back on track. More Bond and other film reviews on the way soon. Please take the time to take a look at my blog. You might find something to interest you. Please leave any comments, good or bad.

Kind regards

James Clark

James Bond in review - The Man With The Golden Gun (Guy Hamilton, 1974)

"Who would pay a million dollars to have me killed?" "Jealous husbands, outraged chefs, humiliated tailors, the list is endless!"

It's 1974 and time for Moore's second outing as Bond. The Man With The Golden Gun, originally set for release as the follow up to You Only Live Twice, would eventually be filmed in 1974 after complications in location scouting. The film itself is considered by many as the weakest entry in the series for its overt humour and lazy story. The seventies were slowly becoming a decade of excess for James Bond and here would be the last time Broccoli and Saltzman would work together in the series.

Bond and Scaramanga, mano a mano

There are some good moments in Golden Gun and Moore keeps the pace of the film from flagging too much by being at home with the one liners and providing just enough charm to bypass some fairly banal acting and dialogue. The moments that stand out are any featuring Bond and the ill fated Andrea, a pleasant surprise of a Bond girl when compared with Ekland's badly written, disappointing Mary Goodnight. It is a great shame when Adams' Andrea is killed off two thirds into the film. It is Christopher Lee, Fleming's cousin, who provides the best entertainment in the film as the mysterious Fransisco Scaramanga. Like the best Bond villains he doesn't interact with Bond for a great portion of the screen time but when on screen, his presence is felt. Though his fun house and henchman are completely over the top and leave a lot to be desired, Lee's interpretation of the menacing, assured contract killer is, by contrast, sophisticated, to the point and never over done. The moment at Scaramanga's dining table is one of the few fine moments the film offers.

Assembling his golden gun, Scaramanga surprises Hai Fat

Essentially, Golden Gun is a whimsical entry in the series. After Diamonds are Forever and Live And Let Die largely played Bond for laughs, it would have been naive to think that this notion should dissipate with Moore's second outing as 007. There would still be more outrageous Moore moments to come in his later entries in the series but thankfully, following a very lukewarm reception garnered by Bond's ninth outing, Broccoli and his crew would take two and a half years before premiering The Spy Who Loved Me, a return to classic Bond. Spy's plot may be recycled but just be thankful we don't have to put up with Sheriff J W Pepper and Nick Nack anymore!

James Bond in review - You Only Live Twice (Lewis Gilbert, 1967)

"The things I do for England!"

It's 1966 and the height of the US Space Race coverage is dominating the news. Sean Connery is about to return in what will be his fifth and almost final 007 adventure, You Only Live Twice. Producers Broccoli and Saltzman have been wanting to film Fleming's On Her Majesty's Secret Service ever since Goldfinger in 1964; it was even promised as the next film in the end credits of the film. Due to the need for winter locations and the desire to film Thunderball instead, the plan was scrapped. Broccoli and Saltzman are next intrigued by one of Fleming's final Bond novels, first published in 1964, that begins with the haiku poem:

You Only Live Twice,
Once When You Are Born
And Twice When You Look Death In The Face

Fleming was uncommonly fascinated in death for this particular novel and it proved to be one of the most challenging films to produce in Bond history.

The death of James Bond?

The positive points to make about the mixed bag of Bond number five include the hiring of director Lewis Gilbert to bring the story to the screen. Gilbert had just finished working with Michael Caine on the successful 1966 Brit flick Alfie and he would bring a good natured feel to the Bond crew through the long process of adapting one of Fleming's most depressing Bond adventures. The other big thing this film has on its side is the genius production designer Ken Adam who was responsible for designing the mammoth volcano set on the Pinewood stage. The set itself reportedly used more steel in its entire construction than was used to build the Hilton Hotel! The set is still inspiring more than 40 years later and proves to be the most spectacular moment in an otherwise run of the mill, formulaic Bond outing.

With Bond reaching fever pitch with Goldfinger and Thunderball, the two previous films in the series, by the time of release of You Only Live Twice it was acceptable to audiences simply to see a gadget here, a maniacal scheme there, and a massive set being blown up for good measure. Sadly, this would become the formula that many future Bond films would adopt; opting for extravagance over true espionage. Long gone are the gritty Dr No and From Russia With Love and where Bond had to rely on his wits and nerve to get out of trouble, now he just has Q and Little Nellie on stand by. That said, audiences would not have to wait long to see a more human side to Bond and a genuinely intriguing story in 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Bond and Donald Plesance's Blofeld face off in the volcano

Let it be said that far from discrediting You Only Live Twice it is actually not the worst film in the series. There is some superb dialogue, often spouted from Connery as sardonic one liners that are presented surprisingly naturally. There is also Tetsuro Tamba's Tiger Tanaka, a character lifted straight from Fleming's pages, who becomes a great resource to Bond and one or two obligatory beautiful girls. Mie Hama and Akiko Wakabayashi were both very popular ladies in Japan prior to the film's release and whilst they don't come across as the most conventional Bond girls, by stereotype, they actually commit themselves well to their roles. Charles Gray performs much better here in his brief role as the ill fated Henderson than he does as Blofeld to Connery's Bond in Diamonds are Forever. John Barry's score is also beautiful for You Only Live Twice with oriental lilts and the gorgeous sound of Nancy Sinatra singing the title theme that still remains a favourite with fans and would even be riffed by Robbie Williams some 30 years down the line. Maurice Binder also creates a stunning title sequence for the film. Japan itself, fairly alien to Western civilizations in the sixties, is additionally a treat on the eyes under the cinematographic eye of Freddie Young.

As the film and the series as a whole advocates, Bond manages to return from the dead to live again and brighten our mundane lives with two hours of mindless entertainment. Leave your brains at the door and let your minds be filled with bald men (!), white cats, volcanoes and ninjas! Connery may look like he's had enough but for most fans 1967 was another golden year for 007. If it can inspire the creation of Mike Myers' Dr Evil and his "volcano layyyer!" then it's good enough for me!!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows teaser trailer analysis

"Why do you live?"
"Because I have something worth living for!"

The first full glimpse of the final two parts of the Harry Potter franchise (namely Deathly Hallows Parts 1 and 2) were unveiled earlier this morning via an internet stream. The trailer can be seen in front of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse in cinemas from July 3rd (UK) and reportedly in front of another Warner Bros. film, Christopher Nolan's Inception released on July 16th.
There have been two short previews to date for the films of the Deathly Hallows. The first of which appeared on the blu ray edition of the Half Blood Prince film released in December 2009. We got a brief glimpse of the filming, lots of running in a forest, and Ollivander trying to explain away the myth of the deathly hallows. It was exciting to see just a short glimpse of what to expect and to see producer David Heyman and director David Yates so enthusiastic for bringing the final parts of the saga to audiences. Secondly there was a short preview shown at the MTV Movie Awards last month in America which included some short shots that are seen in the full trailer. We saw the pale Gringotts dragon, Voldemort waiting in the forest for Harry, and Ron arguing with Harry telling him that he has no family so he has nothing to lose. That was amazing footage but nothing compared to what has now been released.

The trailer opens withe a death eater telling Voldemort that there is no sign of Harry as Voldemort waits impatiently in the forest. A dishevelled Voldemort and death eaters then turn to see Harry approaching them. Voldemort proclaims: "Harry Potter, the boy who lived, come to die!"Harry closes his eyes as Voldemort raises his wand beginning the spell 'Avada Kedavra', the killing curse, and we are then treated with shots from the rest of the films in quick succession.

In the picture above, knowing they have to get into Gringotts to find one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, Harry, Griphook the goblin and a polyjuiced Hermione (to look like Bellatrix) and polyjuiced Ron (to look like a foreign wizard called Dragomir Desplad) make their way along the cart inside Gringotts before they encounter the dragon.

The dragon soars from Gringotts bank, spreading its wings.

From the seven potters sequence, Harry and Hagrid use Sirius' old motorbike to escort Harry from the Dursleys to the safety of the burrow at the beginning of the film whilst being pursued by Voldemort and his death eaters.

In the destroyed Hogwarts ramparts, Ron shields Hermione from an oncoming spell.

Good versus evil as the battle takes on gigantic proportions.

Ralph Fiennes playing an angered Voldemort to perfection in the final battle.

Voldemort's snake, Nagini, wraps itself around Harry in Bathilda Bagshot's house in Godric's Hollow. One of the very creepy moments of the book. One slight doubt is that the bedroom looks way too modern for the home of an elderly person.

Harry and Ginny embrace in the final battle. Hopefully this isn't going to look cliched and awkward in the final film as it does a bit in this image.

The trio look up at the devastation to Hogwarts inflicted by the death eaters.

Voldemort and Harry duel in the destroyed Hogwarts courtyard; an extension of the sequence written by Rowling in the final book.

A chilling moment from near the end of the trailer - Voldemort grabs Harry by the chin and asks "Why do you live?" for Harry to respond "Because I have something worth living for!"

That pretty much sums up the new Harry Potter trailer. A plethora of new moments from the film, and an insightful look at how the many action sequences from the final book will be transferred to the screen. Now go and see the trailer on You Tube and make sure it's in HD. Even if you're not the biggest Potter fan you won't deny that this is the most epic trailer in years - probably since the Lord of the Rings trilogy. With a heavy heart, we must nearly say goodbye to Harry Potter after a decade on the screen.

James Bond in review - On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Peter Hunt, 1969)

"This never happened to the other fella!"

It's 1967 and Connery announces he is to leave the role that has made him a worldwide superstar over the last five years and five films. It is also time for Connery Bond editor Peter Hunt to take the director's chair for the long delayed but finally ready for production On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Lazenby would prove to be the most controversial thing about the sixth Bond adventure, apart from the small fact that Bond gets married. Having seen him only in a Fry's chocolate television commercial in 1968, this non-actor with a thick Australian accent was undoubtedly incredibly lucky to become the second James Bond. What marks Lazenby out, despite his lack of prior acting experience, is his ability to see an action sequence through. He has some great timing and fights with purpose which in some respect improves on his predecessor. Where Lazenby struggles, on the flipside, is in some of the delivery of the dialogue. The fact that he has to wear a kilt for at least 10 minutes of the film doesn't do a lot to help his reputation as the successor to Connery's suave secret agent.

Lazenby's Bond kneels before the audience for his gun barrel sequence

The relationship between Rigg and Lazenby, clearly falsely reported as frosty on and off the set, appears in reality to be a great one with a lot of chemistry. Tracy has the intelligence and the self will that a man like Bond would become instantly attracted to and there is a definite Scottie/Madeleine "Vertigo" parallel between the characters and their predicaments. Lazenby is at his best when he is getting stuck into the action and when he can show genuine sincerity in the character. Bond pacing M's office whilst Tracy is held hostage by Blofeld and Bond and M's frosty tones between each other are wonderful moments in the film and of course the ending is bar none the most brilliant in the series. Lazenby wants to know if he can meet our high standards? Well he's no Connery but the saddest thing is, if he'd stayed with the character particularly for another couple of films, not only could he have made Diamonds are Forever one of the best follow ups in the series rather than the awful mess that it is, but he could also have shortly become the best Bond. As the wonderful Louis Armstrong notes, he could have had "all the time in the world" to perfect his Bond. Sadly it wasn't to be.

Mr and Mrs Bond make their way to a very short honeymoon

What director Hunt delivers with OHMSS is a raw, engaging adventure, and along with John Barry's electric score and John Glen's erratic editing technique (no doubt influenced by Hunt's own editing of Connery's Bond adventures), presents us with an adrenaline charged Bond adventure. As Moneypenny insightfully recognises, "same old James...only more so"

James Bond in review - Live And Let Die (Guy Hamilton, 1973)

"I know who you are, what you are and why you have come.
You have made a mistake. You will not succeed."

Quite the opposite in fact. After the cold reception afforded Connery's last outing as Bond in the frightful Diamonds Are Forever, Bond's die hard fans had to prepare themselves for a new Bond - the third in the space of 10 years. Enter Roger Moore with his tongue in cheek, English gentleman approach to the role, as far apart from both Connery and Lazenby's interpretations of the character as possible...and rightfully so.

Moore's Bond faces interrogation from crime lord Mr Big

Live and Let Die marks a controversial entry in the series for many reasons, the principal one being the abundance of black actors cast in villainous roles. It is an engaging and very entertaining eighth outing for the secret agent and Moore takes to the proceedings with plenty of smirks and a clear sense of a man on a mission to make this his own Bond (he would eventually have 12 years to show the world that his Bond was the Bond to remember). Let Die boasts an atmospheric, sometimes intense story centering on drug profiteering and voodoo curses. Yaphet Kotto proves a formidable match for Bond and one of the more surprising of the Bond villains. Geoffrey Holder's Baron Samedi grabs the audience's attention and there is a great shroud of mystery surrounding his character - giving him the film's final shot is an inspired stroke of genius of the filmmakers - and Jane Seymour is also more than competent in her first lead film role as the virginal heroine Solitaire. In summarising Live and Let Die it would be wrong not to commend George Martin's frenetic score which seems to fit the tone of the film perfectly and most importantly Paul McCartney and The Wings' title song for the film, one of the very best of the series, over some of Maurice Binder's most creative title graphics of skulls and fire.

One of the more intriguing bit characters in the Bond series', the mysterious Baron Samedi

There are a lot of similarities between Connery and Moore's first outings as Bond. Dr No sees Bond at an airport before embarking on his mission, as does Moore in Live and Let Die. Both are "taken for a ride" in two "death" cabs, Quarrel Junior is Bond's ally in Live and Let Die; it was his father Quarrel who assisted Bond in Dr No, and there was also a rumour around the time of release that Ursula Andress would return as Honey Ryder in the film as a cameo! Both Connery's debut and Moore's debut stand up as two of the most engaging Bond adventures.

Live and Let Die ultimately grabs the viewer by the jugular from the get go. Although it takes Moore nearly 25 minutes before he projects the now world famous line "The name's Bond...James Bond", audiences accepted the face of the new Bond with open arms and we welcomed Roger Moore to the hot seat. As Moore insists in the film, "let's just wing it!"

James Bond in review - The World Is Not Enough (Michael Apted, 1999)

"I could have given you the world"
"The world is not enough!"
"Foolish sentiment"
"Family motto!"

The 19th Bond adventure, released in November 1999, allowed Pierce Brosnan's Bond and his audience to say goodbye to the century that saw the birth of our fictional hero and 37 years of the Bond films. The promise over the end titles was for Bond to inevitably return in the new Millennium (in foresight we now know that Bond's 20th adventure left a lot to be desired and kind of made us wish we could just have The World Is Not Enough on repeat!) but onto the film itself.

Bond bids an unprecedented goodbye to Desmond Llewellyn's long standing Q

Brosnan actually feels at home with the character in his third outing. It's a fairly tight story but with enough fluidity and creativity to allow for movement. There are some well rounded characters, a thrilling extended pre-credits sequence (to date, still the longest in the series' history and probably will remain that way) and some superb action sequences and final bows for a couple of characters, including one obvious stalwart who made his first appearance back in 1963 in From Russia With Love; the beloved and dearly missed Desmond Llewellyn. It was Barbara Broccoli who realised the plot elements - oil tycoons in the East. The story dominated the news in the late 1990s and would seem to provide a different and complex narrative for the latest Bond adventure. The film is a game of cat and mouse - Bond trying to work out whether the captive and the captor are in alliance or whether Renard is actually out to get Elektra. Carlyle and Marceau in that respect are some of the best villains in the Brosnan Bond films. The idea of a character feeling no pain until the day he dies seems fairly unique for this franchise and most of all it seems believable in the Bond macrocosm.

Robert Carlyle plays Renard with understated menace but is he the main villain?

There are some negative elements. Though far from the worst Bond girl in the series, Denise Richards' aptly named Christmas Jones is one little present you would only want to unwrap once a year. To have her around you for too long would drive you insane with her screeching accent and her nonsense dialogue - if she is supposed to be a nuclear scientist then I could be the next James Bond! Goldie playing Zukovsky's side man is also another highly superfluous character who is a waste of screen time when you'd rather be seeing more of the wonderful Judi Dench, who incidentally has the most to do here in any of Brosnan's Bond films.

Denise Richards and Sophie Marceau as the film's female leads - Christmas Jones and Elektra King

Whilst this isn't amazing Bond fare, it's also far from the worst as some have described it. We have an often taut and intelligent Bond film with some eye candy, exotic locations, good humour and once again some of the finest actors working in the business. As regrettable as it sounds, before the reboot with Casino Royale we have to watch Brosnan's swansong in Die Another Day. Suddenly, TWINE seems like a masterpiece!