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Comments
I don't think anyone needs to get their knickers in a twist or lose respect for SIM over this
Yes, I agree he was just having a bit of fun. Like all the women asking for Jane Bond.
Time to reboot Jinx!
How will the Kinnear era be seen in the future?
As Calvin Dyson once said, "Some people won't be happy until Bond is a black, Chinese, transgender, wheelchair bound lesbian."
Right, the next Bond should be a furry.
Remember Bond in a gorilla suit? :))
... In Ian Fleming's
The Tanner Is Not Fit Enough
Not too mention a single parent as well !.....
Yep. Just read the link and it's clear that he's just making fun of how ridiculously camp/metrosexual the character is on paper. But then all it takes is some random celebrity who doesn't really care at all either way to say "yeah sure a black/gay/woman Bond why not" to get people on here frothing at the mouth with rage and going on about how stupid they are. I remember something similar when Vicky Mcclure was asked about it recently and said yeah sure I'd love to play Bond, you'd have thought she'd admitted to being a nazi sympathiser or something the way people on here were reacting.
Not everyone is a Bond nerd like us guys. They're not going to march on EON's offices demanding they turn the character into whatever. They just don't really know or give a shit about Bond, or have a casual interest at best (and so wouldn't care if EON started messing about with it) which is bound to be reflected if they're asked about it in an interview.
You think you're being funny but you won't be laughing when you get my invoice for a new laptop to replace the one I've just flung across the room.
You're onto something here. Why are we interested in Bond when there's a whole series of Tanner films we should be enjoying instead?
Let's take a look at Bill throughout the ages:
TMWTGG - Gets about one line and is largely upstaged by Colthorpe (as is Q later on), who seems to be some sort of arms expert inexplicably brought in for this film and this film only. Basically the Penelope Smallbone to Q's Moneypenny. Anyway I digress this is supposed to be all about Tanner and Michael Goodliffe ignores Fleming's notion of someone who is Bond's best friend in the service and a guy who would take over from M in an emergency to give us a studied performance in blandnesss and dishing out exposition. The blueprint by which all other Bills are measured by.
Blandness Factor - 9/10
Basil Exposition Factor - 4/10
Could you really see this guy stepping into M's shoes and running the service? - 2/10
FYEO - The most over the top Tanner we've seen so far. Villiers seems to be trying to channel his inner Berkoff by hamming the part to buggery and back. He's a mild mannered civil servant mate not a psychopath. Just seems to like shouting a lot which is a poor way to hide in the background of a scene like Bill is supposed to. Not my cup of tea to be honest.
Blandness Factor - 0/10
Basil Exposition Factor - 8/10
Could you really see this guy stepping into M's shoes and running the service? - 6/10
GE - Michael Kitchen an improvement from the Villiers days but trying to have a bit of banter with Bond seems to be an attempt to go back to Fleming somewhat. But what works on the page doesn't work on screen and what the filmgoing public expect from Tanner is blandness and exposition and nothing more. Kitchen does his best but is almost memorable in the role which is fatal if you're playing Tanner.
Blandness Factor - 3/10
Basil Exposition Factor - 8/10
Could you really see this guy stepping into M's shoes and running the service? - 8/10
TWINE - Much more like it from Kitchen. The writers shrewdly realised they needed to get back to the essence of the character so they created a new foil, Robinson, for Bond to be matey with leaving Tanner to get on with what he does best: exposition and blandness. Kitchen does a much better job of blending into the background too.
Blandness Factor - 6/10
Basil Exposition Factor 8/10
Could you really see this guy stepping into M's shoes and running the service? - 7/10
QOS - A spectacular start from newcomer Rory. He was yet to hit his stride here as he would in later films as he only has a very short amount of screen time. Still in that time he manages to get in a decent bit of exposition and be utterly unmemorable but I always find he's slightly upstaged by that annoying little Welsh hobgoblin. However you could see some of that Michael Goodliffe blandness in his performance and it was good to get a back to basics Tanner after the flamboyance of Villiers and the chumminess of Kitchen. This was raw bland Tanner delievering exposition and we were thrilled to see him back.
Blandness Factor - 9/10
Basil Exposition Factor - 7/10
Could you really see this guy stepping into M's shoes and running the service? - 1/10
SF - It's here that Rory really nails it to become the definitive Tanner. Some said that Michael Goodliffe could never be topped but that guy only had a 2 minute scene to be forgettable in. Rory gets about 25 mins of screen time and yet ask anyone coming out of the cinema if they noticed him and they will look at you blankly. Features in pretty much every scene set in MI6 and is superb at standing in the background, slightly out of focus while Judi Dench is acting. Stunning stuff.
Blandness Factor - 10/10
Basil Exposition Factor - 9/10
Could you really see this guy stepping into M's shoes and running the service? - 1/10
SP - We thought he had peaked in SF but no; Rory still had plenty of tricks up his sleeve to make him indisputably the least memorable actor to appear in more than two Bond films. Victor Tourjansky appears on screen for a sum total of about 10 seconds yet people remember him! It's not that difficult to be noticed when your face is projected on a screen several stories high. Which is why we should be in awe of Rory's ability to be completely invisible yet at the same time dish out loads of exposition which is crucial to the story. Looks easy but trust me it's not. One only has to recall the quote by Daniel Day Lewis when asked why he was retiring, 'Why? Two words - Rory Kinnear. I can't compete with that.' Even when the scriptwriters seem to have dealt him a shit sandwich by having Tanner get in on the action by placing him on a speed boat or getting shot at Rory rolls with the punches and is never anything less than utterly bland no matter what chaos is going on around him. Textbook.
Blandness Factor - 10/10
Basil Exposition Factor - 9/10
Could you really see this guy stepping into M's shoes and running the service? - 0/10
So where to for the future? Well so far no news on T8. There are rumours Rory might not return but EON would be mad not to get him back one more time to explain the plot and be soul sappingly dull. We are living in exciting times and I can't wait to see which depths of tediousness Rory can plumb next.
Did you catch the part where some island near Malta changed the heading on their official James Bond page from "Spectre" to "New James Bond Movie"?
I agree, so do you have some breaking news for us? :D
I know there are those who say it's sacrilege to question the great minds at Eon but frankly these are desperate times and I say bring on @TheWizardOfIce
Also surely the new HMS Queen Elizabeth should feature in B25.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/26/russia-will-envy-royal-navys-new-aircraft-carrier-says-fallon/
I do wonder how threatening a ship can be though when it's named after the queen mum!
Do you think they could have made the ceiling in the bridge any lower? Perfect height for Tanner I'm guessing - may be this is a sign?
Also perfect for Tanner:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/news/aston-martin-reveals-first-electric-car/
It's all coming together.
No, the two ONLY thing that was official announced are still "James Bond will return" and that Sony loose the distribution right after the release of Spectre.
Can only hope the family is seriously discussing the line of succession. Am I right in thinking that Babs herself has no offspring?
She has a daughter.