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Indeed, I've always loved these tiny moments that you can watch 100 times without it even clicking just what's truly going down, such as that smile.
Here's how my brain reacts watching Dan's films, while preparing to write about them and compiling notes (pay special attention to my descent into utter exhaustion):
"In this scene, Dan announces who his Bond is. He's rough, introspective, smoldering, animalistic. Taking just three seconds of a shot here, you spot him transitioning to many levels of emotion as Bond reacts to what is unfolding around him. A masterclass in subtle acting not seen since Dalton and Connery before him."
[A scene later]
"Another defining moment of acting from Dan. He looks like he could actually kill somebody, and the way his eyes light up with that fire make you think you're in danger of getting burnt. In a close-up shot we feel Bond's exhaustion, relief and pain mixed all into one through Craig's performance."
[A short time later]
"Just when you think it can't get any better, Daniel again builds on the last scene to continue to create a staggering portrayal of James Bond. He makes everything feel fresh even after decades and decades of films, giving us a look at the man's inner life at the same time he snaps at us for peeking too much, slipping back into his mysterious shell.
[A slightly shorter time later]
"This is a movie you can't just get up in the middle of to get a snack or drink, as you miss about twenty fresh insights into Bond's character through Dan's understated acting in every scene. I was hungry and went to get chips, and in what must have been a minute I missed a scene where Dan's Bond was just walking around. I thought to myself, 'I won't miss anything, it'll only take a minute to get some food and look at Dan, he's just walking around.' Well guess what, while he was walking around in that scene Dan was STILL acting, and balancing about thirty plates at once as he conveyed his growing feelings for his Bond girl and his hatred for the villain, secretly laid a trap to get the baddie like a detective-spy lovechild AND did some cool pouty thing with his face that shouldn't have looked as cool as it did. All of this he did in a minute, just while he was walking."
[After snack has been eaten]
"Yep, here's Dan again. He's doing great acting here, truly unforgettable stuff. The way he moves, talks, how his eyes-well, you get the point."
[The shortest time yet]
"Look at Dan go. He's really doing that acting thing. He's doing that thing so good. Just watch him. Classic, iconic shit we're seeing here."
[One minute later]
"This is exhausting. You know what's happening: it's Dan, he's acting, he's always great. I could explain it, but it's quite clear to see. Iconic."
[Seconds later]
"Seriously, If I spent all my time writing about just one section of this film and how Dan performs in it I'd have a book's worth of pages suffocating my Word processor. I have a life, I can't do this."
[A millisecond later]
"Don't look at me like that. If you want to know so much about Dan's acting in this film, go watch it yourself. I'm not your slave."
In first watching CR, I thought, "Cool, they're introducing a Spectre-like organization, slowly, because of course they can't use Spectre." And QoS continued that trend.
I had always assumed that Silva was a stand-alone villain (at the time of SF) because the template was GF.
Now I'm wondering if the reason was that Babs and MGW were negotiating with McClory's estate for Blofeld/Spectre at the time and didn't want to pour salt in the wound...
He is a stand-alone villain to me,and always will be,he had nothing to do with SPECTRE in my mind.
I find i enjoy SF a lot more if i think like that ,and Dan should have had had a stand-alone 3rd film....now he has,in my mind.
You have to respect the canon, @barryt007. Don't be a bad boy.
You could do what some have, and in your head rationalize that Blofeld just funneled Silva money anonymously before SF started and basically said, "Have fun." Silva had a SPECTRE ring though, so even that doesn't make sense.
But feel free to believe it. :D
haha i know i know...
~X(
Throughout the years I've created a pretty wild head canon for the Craig films, to branch them together. It's fun to wonder what Bond did between QoS and SF for example, and how SPECTRE's hierarchy is all connected and how they operate outside of the plots we know of.
I do a similar head canon for Sean's films too, as they are also connected like Craig's, just not to this level.
I'm glad that this is the case, because my profound enjoyment for these earlier entries has not been spoiled. So there will at least be 3 Craig entries which I will continue to enjoy in some way shape or form.
I think the fact that I've seen CR & SF quite a few times over many years helped me to internalize the plots and motivations, so the last film's retro nonsense can be more readily blocked out. It's so different visually & tonally as well, unlike Nolan's trilogy which all seem to come from the same universe, and that additionally helps me to ignore it.
things over with Mr Bleeker after Bond took the wings off. You can clearly hear
" Son of a Bitch" over the phone. Either I've got better speakers or I've simply
never heard it before. :D
After Bond loses the game to Le Chiffre and is out of chips, he's sitting there very defeated and down, with only Felix left at the table with him. Just as Felix gets up he looks at Bond and says, "Good game," trying to lighten his spirits. A cool moment of Felix before we know it's Felix.
Hmm. It seems I may have missed one or two of your insights.
EDIT: I just remembered one more: There's a fat cop making a fool of himself in both films as well.
I also noticed two other LALD references. Bond puts his gun on a tray at the villain's lair in both films and also tries to teach his girl something on a train in both films (Gin rummy in LALD & a lesson on guns in SP), but in both cases she shows him up with her knowledge.
The cutting of music in fights is one of my favorite cinematic style choices, and it's been used to great effect in many a film, Bond included.
I love the moment where Bond lays the gun on the tray in SP, then says, "Be careful, it's loaded." It has a vintage feel to it.
It's funny how the subconscious works. As I mentioned on another thread, for the longest time I thought that Big was a separate actor and didn't realize it was Kotto in disguise. That's because this was the initial impression I got when I first watched the film (in fear) as a kid.
@bondjames, LALD could definitely be a very spooky, supernatural kind of movie for a kid first seeing it. I can only imagine what my reaction would've been like. For better or worse, I was at least a teen when I saw my Bond films, and lack that younger perspective. I'd probably be a bit warmer towards the Moore films if I had, as I imagine I'd have been entertained by all the zany things and colorful villains and would have a bit of nostalgia attached to them because of it.
I agree with @barryt007 that Moore was great when younger. I too used to watch them during the holidays when they came on tv. In fact, I think I still have an old VHS recording of TMWTGG from ITV somewhere. He was the Bond equivalent of Indy, Star Wars or Ghostbusters. Just pure larger than life fun. His films don't have quite the same appeal these days, but I still love them.
I hope your attempts at snagging them on Bond prove successful.