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William Goss · Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 7:55 pm Post subject: Mendes for Bond 23

Cornelius, then Bartley, then Orndorf, then everybody else.

Annnnnnnd go.

David Cornelius · Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 5:05 am Post subject:

Andawhatnow? (I thought your Facebook updates were just silliness. For reals?)

David Cornelius · Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 7:45 am Post subject:

For realz, with a z, apparently - just found the article. Interesting.

I'm comfortable with it, considering I liked how Quantum of Steak Sauce turned out. (In fact, I liked what Apted did with the franchise, too, considering the Denise Richards crap he had to work with. Perhaps drama-centric directors bring a little something.)

Rob Gonsalves · HBS Monkey Joined: 19 May 2006 Posts: 2042

Can you imagine the internet foofarah if The Empire Strikes Back were announced today? "Who the fuck is Irvin Kershner? What has he done that's anything like Star Wars?" And yet it was the best of the series.
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But I wish the public could, in the midst of its pleasures, see how blatantly it is being spoon-fed, and ask for slightly better dreams.

- Iris Barry, Let's Go to the Movies, 1926
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Shoot him again. His soul is still dancing.

Jack Sommersby · Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 9:14 am Post subject:

I'm not much of a Mendes fan -- his latest, Away We Go, was a living hell to sit through -- but he does have a decent, stylish eye for composition, which the dreadful Marc Forster most certainly didn't have even though I'm in the minority who liked Solace better than Royale. If it were up to me, I'd select Mark Pellington of Arlington Road and The Mothman Prophecies.
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Rob Gonsalves · HBS Monkey Joined: 19 May 2006 Posts: 2042

JaySeaver · Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 9:55 am Post subject:

I hate on Mendes a lot because I really, truly despised American Beauty and Revolutionary Road enough to forget that he did two pretty decent movies in between. Still...

I've never been able to figure out MGM/Eon's thought process on who they hire to make the James Bond movies. This series was, for a long time, the gold standard in action/adventure cinema, and still carries a certain amount of cachet; if that's what you've got and you're going to spend $150M on it, how does Sam Mendes end up ahead of, say, John McTiernan on the list of directors (other than being English, of course)?
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MP Bartley · Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 9:56 am Post subject:

(runs in, kicks off shoes, grabs chair, sits down)

Sorry I'm late....

Ahem, so...Mendes. Yeah, why not? It's good to see them take a gamble with the choice of director. You can understand why they hire directors that are easy to dictate to, but I think the Bond franchise is strong enough to withstand a left-field choice like this.

But I second Jack's wish to see Pellington get more work.
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CharlesTatum · Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 10:01 am Post subject:

Okay, now everyone get busy Photoshopping Daniel Craig on "Road to Perdition" posters!!
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Rob Gonsalves · HBS Monkey Joined: 19 May 2006 Posts: 2042

Paul Newman comes back from the dead as Bond's new arch-nemesis!

He makes 007 cry like a bitch!
_________________
But I wish the public could, in the midst of its pleasures, see how blatantly it is being spoon-fed, and ask for slightly better dreams.

- Iris Barry, Let's Go to the Movies, 1926
----------
Shoot him again. His soul is still dancing.

Slyder · Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 11:30 am Post subject:

Mendes directing Bond?

Now that'll be a challenge... He did show a pretty good knack for action scenes in Road to Perdition, but that was more of a character study drama rathe than a full-fledged action flick. Let's see what he can do with a Bond flick.
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I saw more movies at Sundance than Ben Lyons did!!!

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Jack Sommersby · Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 4:42 pm Post subject:

CharlesTatum · Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 3:28 pm Post subject:

David Cornelius · Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 5:57 pm Post subject:

Oh, man. I'd forgotten about the previous Craig/Mendes connection. Priceless.

As for EON, I never quite understood why they ditched their habit of hiring "in-house" directors and went with the revolving door method. When it works, it works, but still.

Jack Sommersby · Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 6:59 pm Post subject:

Yeah, John Glen was the second-unit director before debuting with For Your Eyes Only through Licence to Kill, which remains my second-favorite of the Bonds.
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"Joe the Plumber -- you can quote me -- is a dumbass." -- Meghan McCain

Slyder · Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 11:33 pm Post subject:

....And then he did Christopher Columbus: The Discovery....

Confused

I got a headache just watching that fucking thing.
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Slyder
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I saw more movies at Sundance than Ben Lyons did!!!

You can tell me that I've got no class, look around you and see who's laughing last - Rush

Rob Gonsalves · HBS Monkey Joined: 19 May 2006 Posts: 2042

Craig is so much better an actor than the Bond films he's been in. If you didn't already know that was him in that photo from Road to Perdition, you might not know from the photo if all you'd seen him in was the Bonds. Physically he makes a good 007, but the role as written doesn't require anything else from him. I'd go so far as to say he's the best all-around actor to have played Bond; Connery was/is great but never had the range that Craig has. My point is that Craig is wasting himself in these movies, and it makes me glad that Clive Owen sensibly said no to the role.
_________________
But I wish the public could, in the midst of its pleasures, see how blatantly it is being spoon-fed, and ask for slightly better dreams.

- Iris Barry, Let's Go to the Movies, 1926
----------
Shoot him again. His soul is still dancing.

Slyder · Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 12:25 am Post subject:

I do remember him from Road to Perdition. I also saw him in Munich, where he was a fiercely determined Jewish mercenary. "I just care about Jewish blood!" Who can't forget that line?

I'm not going to comment though on the Craig vs. Connery thing, since I haven't seen any of the Craig is Bond flicks. However, I can't think of anyone else but Connery AS Bond.
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Slyder
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I saw more movies at Sundance than Ben Lyons did!!!

You can tell me that I've got no class, look around you and see who's laughing last - Rush

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