Everybody's Linking for the Week

I had family in town so we're doing the rare "Everybody's Linking for the Week" rather than the weekend.  Still, though, we have a lot to cover here so let's get started!

In Entertainment...

-Obviously the saddest news out of Hollywood this week was the demise of screen legend Maureen O'Hara at the age of 95.  The actress, most noted for her collaborations with director John Ford and actor John Wayne, was a major headliner of the Golden Age of Hollywood and a wonderful actress.  My first interactions with O'Hara were as a kid, particularly in one of my collective family's favorite movies McClintock!, a comedy western with Wayne where she plays a stuck-up woman coming home with her daughter for a divorce.  The sight of O'Hara in that gorgeous dress sliding down into the mud made me uproarious with laughter.  As I got older I got to see some of the other facets of her personality, especially in film classics like Miracle on 34th Street and The Quiet Man.  The Academy Awards thankfully honored O'Hara just last year with an Honorary Oscar after years of fans pleading with them to give her that trophy.  It was a career capper for a career like few others.

-Reese Witherspoon is either A) in need of another $10 million or B) recently suffered amnesia as she is advocating for a Legally Blonde 3 for some inexplicable reason.  For those who may remember, Witherspoon nailed her ditzy blonde legal savant act in 2001, but the followup was an absolute train wreck.  Witherspoon's coming off a truly great performance in Wild, but I really wish she'd continue that line of thought before coming back to this character, as I'm tired of us getting long after-the-fact sequels to films that weren't that good in the first place (see also Men in Black III).

-In time for her latest book as Robert Galbraith (I have my copy of Career of Evil staring at me from a shelf nearby), JK Rowling will be doing her first interview as Galbraith on November 2nd, discussing why she wrote under a pseudonym and discussing the Cormoran Strike novels.

-And in news you might have missed regarding everyone's favorite chanteuse, Adele made history once again with her spellbinding "Hello" video.  Directed by Canadian filmmaker (and master of the world's greatest hair) Xavier Dolan, the video is apparently the first music video ever shot in iMax.  I previewed the song last week on the blog-now that we have the full version, anyone want to give their opinions of the full thing?  Comments are below...

In Politics...

-One of the biggest stories of the week surrounded Canadian heartthrob (and also, the new Prime Minister) Justin Trudeau and his huge win for the liberals in Canada.  The Nation looked at how Hillary Clinton may be able to emulate this, with a focus on taxing the rich, infrastructure investment, and an embrace of diversity.  Clinton has made the diversity angle a key part of her campaign (every stump speech will name-check African-Americans, Latinos, women, gays, the military, and senior citizens with utter abandon), and thanks in part to Bernie Sanders influence, Clinton has gone after a more progressive economic platform.  However, infrastructure, an issue that we do need to address in the country does seem like a major winner, particularly as it's a way to start addressing economic issues in poorer areas of the country and might help Clinton with blue-collar male voters, a group she needs to improve her status with in order to take the White House.

-Easily the most press-shy of the former presidents, George W. Bush was all over the news this past week.  First it was his comments about Sen. Ted Cruz, whom he attacked in a pretty harsh way for a former president who has eschewed political fights constantly since he left the White House six years ago.  This is a bit surprising not only because Cruz is a former Bush employee (he was a domestic policy advisor to the then governor when he ran for president in 2000), but also because Cruz isn't exactly who Jeb Bush has been attacking on the stump.  The Florida governor has been most heartily going after Donald Trump, and most pundits (including yours truly) view Marco Rubio as the candidate that poses the biggest issue between Jeb and the nomination, so it's strange that President Bush decided to attack his home state's junior senator instead, as this was clearly a calculation from the governor's team.  The second thing that came up was the continued attacks on Jeb Bush for his defense of his brother, particularly in regard to how he "kept America safe" while he also attacks Sec. Clinton for her role in Benghazi.  The Atlantic wrote a piece agreeing with Donald Trump that George W. Bush didn't do enough to protect the United States in the months preceding 9/11, something that has become taboo to discuss in most corners of American politics.  Personally I think this may be one of the few advantages Trump's candidacy poses for the GOP-his stances on positions and ability to call out what he considers BS (which occasionally is and occasionally isn't just that) is more valuable than the ludicrous assertions of Ben Carson which just go as hard right as possible without more valuable discussion as a result.

-At the annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner this past weekend, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders went after Sec. Hillary Clinton by name about her stances on the big banks.  Sanders attacks on Clinton are the most pointed so far of the campaign, and a surprising change-of-pace for the senator, as #feelthebern has been celebrating his atypical approach to politics.  As a result of this, I wonder how this will do for his campaign, particularly for a man that has been using his bully pulpit to decry negative campaigning.

Shameless Self-Promotion of the Week...

-With the news that Gilmore Girls is back (HOORAY!!!), I want to know why Pushing Daisies isn't next.

YouTube Video of the Week...

-This video is super long, admittedly, but if you wanted to understand everything about the new paid YouTube (or YouTube Red, not to be confused with RedTube which is VERY different and highly NSFW) and why ESPN can't put YouTube videos out any more, please watch Hank Green explain it as only he knows how:

Just One More...

-The Christian Science Monitor takes a look at what scientists are doing to try and save the snow leopard as climate change has resulted in much of their territory being decreased.  This is particularly important considering articles like these, where they list out species that have gone extinct only in the past 15 years.

Everybody's Linking for the Weekend

Anyone else having a good weekend?  I know I sure am, and even though it's Sunday afternoon and there's a presentation I should admittedly be working on on my dining room table, I figured I'd get the link roundup out for you fine people instead.

In Entertainment...

-Bradley Cooper joined the conversation started by his costar Jennifer Lawrence regarding pay and income inequality, and where women are getting paid less than men.  Cooper stated that he will start teaming up with his female costars to ensure that they are getting paid an equal amount, which is a cool and interesting concept, though it also begs a few questions.  For starters, while I have argued in the past that movie stars complaining about this issue makes the issue easier to explain (it's easier to use examples of someone everyone has heard of like Jennifer Lawrence or Amy Adams, rather than a random teacher or office employee), there are limitations here.  For starters, Cooper's argument that Adams made "nothing" on American Hustle is kind of ridiculous and risks being the story here rather than the pay gap.  Adams made $1.25 million plus 7-points off the back-end (assuming that's international gross, it would amount to roughly $10 million, if it's points off of profit, probably closer to $7-8 million).  Either way this is more money that most people could ever dream of, and so while she clearly deserved equal footing to at least Jeremy Renner, and perhaps Cooper, she made more money than any normal human could ever hope to have and calling that nothing makes this look like an ivory tower argument.  Secondly, movie stars are about bankability as much as work, and Bradley Cooper is one of the biggest stars on the planet right now-his costars aren't really guaranteeing the box office insurance that he carries.  Sure, Jennifer Lawrence is also box office dynamite, but Amy Adams isn't.  Neither are Sienna Miller, Emma Stone, or Abbie Cornish.  They're all stars, yes, and this is a noble idea of Cooper's, but one wonders if he's the best person to be making this argument.

-Is anyone else interested in tonight's premiere of Oprah Winfrey's Belief, a 7-part documentary miniseries on her channel that seems very similar to the critically-lauded Planet Earth?  I have become, I must admit, extremely disenchanted lately with television-it's too repetitive, there's nothing new that's interesting to me anymore, and I find that the same plots and ideas are constantly celebrated without anything new (I go through this with film, music, and books from time-to-time as well, but I have to admit that there it's usually a much shorter term and I've felt this way about TV for months now).  I've been trying to research more non-fiction television that I think is worthwhile, and this seems like a possibility-anyone know of anything else?  I don't want Amazing Race or Kardashian style stuff, but documentary-style series that are of worth-share your recommendations in the comments!

- Who else has played the leaked Adele commercial at least a dozen times today?  The Oscar-and-Grammy winner, whose elusive third album is rumored constantly, apparently leaked a snippet of a song during a commercial during The X-Factor yesterday, causing Twitter to erupt not only because the song seems amazing, but perhaps she's finally going to drop the album?!?  I am such a fan, and cannot wait.  And am going to listen once more...

In Politics...

-In a story that just broke this morning, CNN news anchor Jake Tapper grilled former Gov. Jeb Bush about his attacks on Hillary Clinton about Benghazi, particularly going after him because he doesn't give Clinton the same sort of leeway that he gives his brother in terms of 9/11.  While Bush made a few attacks on Trump, the analogy to his brother was a blistering one, particularly considering it's an apt argument and one I haven't really heard a journalist make, and could be a very sore subject during the next GOP debates as I suspect Rubio, Cruz, and Carson will also be weighing in shortly.  While Bush does state that Ambassador Stevens was asking for more security, there were numerous pieces of evidence uncovered by the 9/11 commission that could have prevented the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and while Jeb admits that it was the terrorists that perpetrated both acts, to cite Clinton exclusively and not his brother is cherry-picking in a way that I don't think will fly.  It will also be an interesting thing to see if this becomes a major talking point, period, in the election, as attacking President Bush over 9/11 has been something that most politicians have steered clear of in the wake of the tragedies, instead focusing on the Iraq War for fear of appearing insensitive and not taking the political risk that results from such a move (as President Bush's initial reactions to the 9/11 tragedies were the high-point of his popularity as POTUS).

-Stuart Rothenberg wrote a provocative piece about whom the Republicans should nominate for the presidency.  This is a-characteristic of Rothenberg, who is usually slightly more conservative than this (or at least more blatantly non-partisan), but seems to reflect an exhaustion with the Tea Party elements of the GOP that others have also shared (see also the current debacle in the Speaker's race).  Rothenberg claims that Cruz is the only person who could prove to conservatives whether running a "true conservative" would actually help them win, or as logic would dictate, likely lead to their defeat.  Part of me wonders if some Chamber of Commerce types, realizing that the Democrats can't win the House so they'd still have a seat at the table and that the Senate is up in 2018 with a lot of opportunities (even if the Democrats sweep the competitive seats in 2016 they'll still have a rough go two years later with Heitkamp, McCaskill, Donnelly, and Manchin all headed to the polls) and finally with a Democrat that's relatively moderate like Hillary Clinton in the Oval Office (and the strong likelihood that she'd be a one-termer as it's difficult to see the Democrats winning the White House 16 years in a row), might be willing for the trade of a loss in 2016 if it meant that the Freedom Caucus would get back inline and they could reclaim the party.  They'd never say so out loud, but I think it'd be something they'd discuss behind closed doors.

-In one of the coolest things I've seen in the world of politics in a long time, President Obama met with award-winning novelist Marilynne Robinson (whose book, Housekeeping is currently on my nightstand right now as I have been longing to read it for years and this is my excuse) to discuss his passion for her books.  What I love about this is not just that it's the President asking the questions here, not the other way around, but also that Obama has placed such a value on the written word and on the arts.  For a president that I didn't think would do such a thing eight years ago (I never really saw Obama as an arts guy based on conversations surrounding the subject when he was a candidate), he's definitely found a way to have a strong connection both with pop culture and with culture in general during his terms in office, and this is just one of many ways that he's shared his passions for the arts.  Bravo!

Shameless Self-Promotion of the Week...

-Gov. David Ige makes a laudable push to fight homelessness in his state of Hawaii, the state with the highest homelessness rate in the country.

YouTube Video of the Week...

-The other video I watched on loop this week, I'm still impressed by the Sanders/Clinton moment coming out of the first debate.  Great to see the political opponents on the same side of a contentious issue:

Just One More...

-In your "climate change is still a thing we should be all worrying about" news byte of the week, Climate Central stated this past week that cities like Miami, New Orleans, and potentially even New York are all likely to be submerged by water in the near-term regardless of whether or not we solve the climate crisis.  The study stresses that New York is still salvageable, but action needs to be taken soon.  Keep that in mind when you are looking at the upcoming presidential elections.

2015 Predictions

It's time to make New Year's predictions for 2015!  Last year, I gave this a shot and my results were questionable at best (I got 6/20 on the political predictions and 5/14 on entertainment...possibly 7 depending on the Chastain and Pixar ones).  Despite these terrible prediction ratios, I'm going to give it a shot again this year, though since it's an off-political year, I'm giving the twenty predictions to entertainment.

20 Predictions About Entertainment

1. Seth Rogen and James Franco receive a standing ovation when they present an award at either the Globes or Oscars.

2. Jennifer Aniston takes at least one major Best Actress prize from Julianne Moore, though not the Oscar.

3. Avengers: Age of Ultron ends up making more money than Star Wars, but Star Wars gets a better Rotten Tomatoes score and more Oscar nominations.

4. Viola Davis gets an Emmy nomination while Kerry Washington does not, receiving calls of racism since two black women aren't nominated in the same category despite history indicating they probably would normally be.

5. At least one major celebrity will be outed by a phone hacking.

6. Kelli O'Hara finally takes home a Tony Award for her role as Anna in yet another King & I revival.

7. Kristin Chenoweth ends her unusual Tony Award nomination drought when she is nominated for On the Twentieth Century.

8. The end of Glee results in a number of articles about how the show never lived up to its pilot, despite it being relatively strong its first couple of seasons.

9. Ansel Elgort ends up signing a major leading role with a prestige director, as well as a superhero role in an upcoming comic book film.

10. Stephen Colbert's turn on the Late Show will receive mixed reviews at best.

11. Spy with Melissa McCarthy ends up being another massive hit, causing her to FINALLY get her first Golden Globe nomination.

12. Adele releases her third album and it becomes the highest-grossing record of the year, despite most complaining it isn't as good as 21.

13. Rush Limbaugh will say something truly despicable about Michael B. Jordan playing the Human Torch in Fantastic Four, and no one on the Right will call him on it.

14. Neil Patrick Harris will sing at least two musical numbers during the Oscars, the latter involving rapping and "edge" and yet neither will land properly.

15. Shane Dawson will quit YouTube as an onscreen personality.

16. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will give birth to a baby girl, and Elizabeth will be one of her names, though not necessarily the first.

17. In retaliation, Kim Kardashian will become pregnant yet again.  Her sister Khloe will become one of the biggest tabloid cover models of the year when she ends up in an equally high-profile relationship with another celebrity, causing accusations of a feud between the two.

18. Justin Bieber will be arrested.  Possibly so will Lindsay Lohan, but no one will care.

19. One Direction break-up rumors will fly when the band members start recording duets as solo artists, though they'll stick it out through the year.

20. Looking will not get strong enough ratings, resulting in it being cancelled during its second season, which will cause at least two rants on this blog.

15 Predictions About Politics

1. President Obama's approval ratings recover in the face of an improving economy, though they never steadily remain above 50%.

2. Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush, Rand Paul, and Chris Christie all declare their intentions to run for president.

3. Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, and Paul Ryan do not.

4. Rep. Tammy Duckworth becomes the Senate nominee for the seat in Illinois.

5. Sec. Alison Lundergan Grimes watches her once promising career go up in flames as she loses reelection in Kentucky.

6. The Democrats also lose the governor's race in Kentucky without picking up Mississippi or Louisiana, marking their lowest count of governor's mansions in 17 years.

7. Gov. Peter Shumlin, despite a major push by Republicans, will win another term in Vermont despite a weird aberration in the voting law that has left his race undecided months after the November elections despite him winning the popular vote.

8. Sen. Barbara Boxer's retirement will cause major headaches for Democrats in California, as a number of ambitious Democrats enter the primary, causing worries of two Republicans advancing to the runoff.

9. Former Senator Russ Feingold will run for his old seat in the U.S. Senate, setting up a marquee matchup against the man who defeated him in 2010, Ron Johnson.  Other former senators such as Mark Begich and Kay Hagan will be courted to run for seats in their states, but will ultimately decide against it.

10. No member of Congress will switch parties.

11. President Obama will end up signing the Keystone Pipeline into law, but not without at least one major concession from the Congress (likely on immigration).

12. Bernie Sanders decides to run for president under a third-party banner, potentially causing him to be dumped from the Democratic caucus of the Senate and causing major comparisons to Ralph Nader.

13. Harry Reid and John McCain both end up running for reelection, with McCain getting a very strong third party challenge from the right.  As a result, expect maverick McCain to disappear into arch-conservative McCain for a while.

14. George W. Bush hits the campaign trail in the South for his brother Jeb, ending both his moratorium on campaigning and his silence on the Obama administration.

15. The NRSC and NRCC go back to continually out-earning the DSCC and DCCC.

And those are my predictions for this upcoming year-what about yours?  What are you expecting to see in the year ahead?

OVP: Original Song (2012)

OVP: Best Original Song (2012)

The Nominees Were...

"Before My Time," Music and Lyric by J. Ralph,  Chasing Ice

"Suddenly" Music by Claude-Michel Schonberg and Lyric by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil, Les Miserables

"Pi's Lullaby," Music by Mychael Danna and Lyric by Bombay Jayashri, Life of Pi

"Skyfall" Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth, Skyfall
"Everybody Needs a Best Friend," Music by Walter Murphy and Lyric by Seth MacFarlane, Ted

I feel really bad that it took this long to finish up our 2012 OVP, but know that I definitely wanted to be here, but Comcast and their shoddy service managed to stop me from publishing this.  But I am back now, and we’re going to pile drive through these write-ups, starting with our next two categories, both centered around the musical accompaniment that surrounds our nominated movies.

You all want to dive into Adele first, I know, and since I (and certain cable companies that missed installation appointments twice) made you wait so long for this actual write-up, I’m not going to make you wait again, so let’s start with Skyfall.

It’s kind of stunning that so few songs in the James Bond franchise have been nominated for an Academy Award, considering that for a while there with Oscar, giving a trophy to a rock or pop star was very much en vogue (Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, The Beatles-they all have Oscars).  Songs by Tina Turner, Sheryl Crow, Jack White, and of course all three Shirley Bassey ballads were turned down, so it was refreshing that Adele broke the trend, getting Bond his first nominated ballad since 1981’s For Your Eyes Only.  The song, of course set to the opening credits, is deceptively intertwined with the film.  As the song was by Adele, a superstar in the music world right now, it was expected that it would be a hit (the last time an Oscar-winning song was in the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 was Eminem’s “Lose Yourself,” also at the height of his popularity), but since it was released before the film, Adele and Epworth kept the soaring ballad fairly vague.  You don’t realize until you’ve seen the film exactly how much the lyrics tell you.  It’s a great trick, and it gives the song upon repeat listens a lot more character.

The same can be said for “Before My Time,” a film that plays over the end credits of Chasing Ice, something I’m always a little leery about honoring at the Oscars (shouldn’t the song be incorporated into the movie at least somewhat?), but in this case, it works as everyone sticks around to watch this film to the very end in the theaters, as you are mesmerized by the beautifully shot looks at the depleting glaciers.  The film’s song is also deceptively clever-J. Ralph uses a well-known voice in Scarlett Johansson, which is smart so it’s more relatable to the audience.  The lyrics triple their meaning by being connected to our chief protagonist in the documentary, James Balog, to the glaciers, and to those that see the movie and desperately hope for something better in the battle against global warming.  It’s a strong, mesmerizing song, and it rings in your ear as you leave the movie wanting to find some way to make a difference.

Seth MacFarlane has always known how to incorporate clever music into his works (think of how frequently Family Guy or American Dad break out into song), and so it seems appropriate that he received his first Oscar nomination for his lyrical, rather than screenwriting or acting, abilities.  The song plays over the opening scenes, with us finding the relationship between Ted and John deteriorating from cute and cuddly to boozy and codependent.  The song is, like most things in a MacFarlane work, supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, and never really breaks down its chipper, 1950’s era lyrics to match the increasingly lascivious behavior onscreen.  And I have to say hats off to MacFarlane for picking Norah Jones rather than himself to sing the song (MacFarlane, a fine singer, would have been an inappropriate choice as Ted’s voice is so similar to his own and we would have thought it was Ted singing the song).

I do feel that songs in foreign languages generally are at a disadvantage in this category, as since you don’t know what they’re saying (it’s just a cold hard fact-unless it’s a foreign musical with closed captions), you’re going off of the spirit of the song and of course the actual music, but little off of the content of the song.  I did look up the lyrics of the song (trying to be unbiased), but that actually lessens the overall appeal of the music, in my opinion, as the lyrics are rife with overwrought metaphors and is way too saccharine for my taste.  The film’s song blends too much into Mychael Danna’s score, and while it sounds fine, it doesn’t separate itself enough from the musical composition to make sense as a best song nominee.

The final song nominee is one of those standard musical tropes, where they throw in one additional song to the score to gain an easy Oscar nomination (see also Evita and The Phantom of the Opera for other examples).  The problem is that unless you are going to go for the rafters ala Evita, this seems a bit out-of-place in the film and the song cannot compete with the rest of the score.  “Suddenly” doesn’t seem like it’s completely alien to a 25-year-old score, but it cannot remotely compare to “I Dreamed a Dream” or “On My Own,” and you forget that it was sung before even the movie is finished.  If you’re going to try for an Oscar, you need to make a bigger dent into the movie you’re representing.

Other Precursor Contenders: The Golden Globes adore handing this category over to the musical superstars, so in addition to Adele (who won) and “Suddenly,” we saw the inclusion of Keith Urban in Act of Valor, Taylor Swift and the Civil Wars in The Hunger Games, and Jon Bon Jovi in Stand Up Guys.  All three songs would have gotten their films their only Oscar nomination, and I want to say of the three that Urban’s was probably the closest to making it in at the Oscar household (considering that Nicole Kidman was also close for The Paperboy, it probably wasn’t a very happy morning at their house on Oscar nomination day).

Songs I Would Have Nominated: I feel like it was a huge miss, considering its haul in other categories, to ignore the fairly original song score that Quentin Tarantino pulled together for Django.  His films regularly feature a pitch perfect score, and this one happens to have both John Legend’s “Who Did That to You?” and Elayna Boynton’s “Freedom” as original contenders.  Additionally, Peter Jackson always seems to know how to capture the spirit of his Lord of the Rings movies with different musical stylings, and so Neil Finn’s “Song of the Lonely Mountain” probably deserved inclusion from The Hobbit.

Oscar’s Choice: Getting the nomination was the big hurdle for Adele (the music branch being stingy about nominations for sure things), but with the new voting system, she sailed through and easily won the trophy.  It’s hard to tell if the second place was “Suddenly” or if it was Oscar’s emcee himself.  My guess is that it would have been Les Miz.

My Choice: It’s gotta be Adele, doesn’t it?  She’d actually win this out of all original songs last year, though I think I might have put J. Ralph in second place, and it’s a pity that he couldn’t have entered this song in 2010 or 2011, when he would have easily bested the Oscar nominees.  Following Chasing Ice would be Ted, Les Miz, and Life of Pi.

But what are your thoughts?  Do you also agree that Adele was inevitable, or would you have picked one of the other songs?  Why do you think that Django couldn't muster at least one nomination in this category?  And are you still as mad as I that they didn't let Life of Pi or Chasing Ice get their musical performances at the ceremony but the other three songs did?

Also in 2012: Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume, Editing, Visual Effects, Makeup, Animated Short, Live Action Short, Previously in 2012

Past Best Cinematography Contests: 2010, 2011

OVP: Skyfall (2012)

Film: Skyfall (2012)
Stars: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Berenice Marlohe, Ben Whishaw, Albert Finney
Director: Sam Mendes
Oscar History: 5 nominations/2 wins (Best Sound Editing*, Sound Mixing, Cinematography, Original Score, Original Song-"Skyfall"*)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 4/5 stars

I must admit freely that, because of my Millennial background, that even with my love of classic film, the first Bond that comes to my mind is Daniel Craig.  He wasn't the first Bond I was introduced to in theaters (that would be the tail-end of the Brosnan years), but for me, when I think Bond I go to Daniel Craig in Casino Royale (let's be honest, I think of him emerging from the water in those blue swim trunks, but that's an entirely different matter).

(With high-profile movies, I consider everything about the film a spoiler, so I'll just give you a head's up that we're hitting spoilers both light and heavy soon, so proceed at your own risk) It's important to note this, as I go in with none of the prejudices against him because he's blond or tougher or a little sexually androgynous (more on that later), and can just dive right into the film at hand, which is a doozy.  We open with Bond trying to run down a man in Instanbul (along with the comely Naomie Harris, a mysterious agent with MI6, and one of two "Bond girls" in the film), we get to see one of the best action sequences in years, complete with motorcycling across the Grand Bazaar and a train being cut in half, and Bond inexplicably going over a waterfall, presumed dead, with the bad guy getting away, and remarkably none of the cavalcade of bullets reaching their target.  As his body enters the water, the iconic typography starts to roll across the screen and Adele pronounces, "this is the end..." and little do we know that she's truly speaking about a major character in the film and that she's giving away some rather large plot points, albeit ambiguously.  Then again, it's Adele, so really you're just so wrapped up in the buttery silk of her voice that it's hard to focus on the actual lyrics.

As the film continues, we get confirmation that the target of this film, and indeed the primary focus of this film, is going to be M, giving Judi Dench a chance to shine in the movie.  We also see that, of course, James Bond has not perished after being shot and thrown down a waterfall (because who could that ever kill?), and once MI6 headquarters is attacked, Bond reappears either out of duty or out of his devotion to M, something not clear at the time, though it appears to be more the latter as the film continues.

This leads Bond to Shanghai, where Craig is given yet another exotic locale to do stunning acrobatics.  In this film we get a nod to the slightly aging (but still sexy as hell) Daniel Craig, as he doesn't pass his physical field tests to get back to work as an agent, but M puts him out there anyway.  A telling nod to this is when Bond is hanging on to the bottom of an elevator and can barely hang on.  I will note that for me, who has a nasty fear of high, open spaces, this sequence was probably the most "turn-away-from-the-screen," and this is a film that includes a man pulling a bullet from his body.  Watching Bond sail up that open elevator shaft, 100 stories from the ground, was a great action visual, as well as a bit nauseating.

Before this feat of daring, we are also briefly introduced to the new Q, the hauntingly beautiful Ben Whishaw, who has a fun way of playing with Bond's head, continually perpetuating the age-issue by being considerably younger than Bond, and constantly messing with him about his seniority.

After killing the assassin, in true Bond fashion, he also finds a woman, the beautiful Severine, and we get perhaps the only good pickup scene in a movie where Bond is fairly celibate, compared to his usual outings.  Marlohe, unlike say Eva Green a few years back, doesn't get enough time or enough depth to showcase any sort of acting talent, other than the ability to make her nails both alluring and look like daggers.  In his pursuit of Marlohe, who will lead her to her captor, Raoul Silva, Bond gets a hilarious sequence with a pair of komodo dragons, and then he is invited to Silva's private island in the middle of presumably the South China Sea (it's a little hard to tell, considering it seems like you're going through an entire season of Anthony Bourdain locales in one movie during a Bond film).  Of course, before he goes into the island, Bond seduces Severine in the shower, because he is of course James Bond.

And this is where we finally meet Javier Bardem's Silva.  Silva is a villain in the classic sense of the film, one that could rank alongside Goldfinger in terms of grand scale ruthlessness and hambone theatrics.  In their introduction scene, we get the scene that everyone will be talking about coming out of the film, the scene where Bardem, after revealing part of his plan to Bond (a former agent at MI6, he clearly loathes and obsesses over M, and wants to see her destroyed), he does some heavy flirting with Bond, playing with his chest and face, and insinuates that there's a "first time for everything," meaning indulging in the love that dare not speak its name, to which Bond replies, "what makes you think it's my first time?" It's a clever way to the end the scene, but it begs the question of if there was a Bond boy mixed in with the multitude of Bond girls?

The film progresses from there, with Silva seemingly always ahead of Bond, and having the cunning and flamboyant malice of a Batman villain.  We see M crucified by the press for not being able to handle the situation, and even before a Minister of the British government (played by Helen McCrory in a bit part, and I have to say the entire time that I was thinking "Cherie Blair is in Parliament!") it is questioned whether or not MI6 serves a purpose anymore in a post-Cold War world.  This is followed by a round of bullets coming from Silva's men on the committee hearing, which of course answers the question with a resounding "yes!" better than anything M ever could say.

The film finally reaches its conclusion (though its pacing is brisk and you never really notice the length, the film is over two hours long) at Skyfall, the manor of Bond's boyhood, where we are treated to Albert Finney in a fun cameo as the gameskeeper of the estate (though wouldn't you have loved to have seen Connery take on the role, considering the 50th anniversary implications?), who, along with M and Bond, build a fortress out of this building and sustain Silva's attacks for quite a while, before the estate bursts into flames.  M is shot in the film, and in the penultimate scene of the movie, she dies in Bond's arms (Silva having already gotten a knife in the back from Bond, the "old-fashioned" way), and we are eventually introduced to the new M (Ralph Fiennes, always sturdy in the film, getting just enough wryness out of his character to ensure that he'll make a solid future leader for MI6).


Clearly after devoting 1000-words to the film, I must admit to liking it, and I did.  Though it's not quite as good as Casino Royale was six years ago (that may perch next to Goldfinger in the "untouchable" Bond film excellence category), it's a brisk and taut action thriller.  Craig, a fine actor on top of being dead sexy and "just-enough-of-a-bad-boy" to fill the Bond shoes, is once again top-notch after his novocaine-headache of a performance in Quantum of Solace four years ago.  Both Bardem and Dench sink their teeth into their respective roles, with Bardem clearly having a blast as Silva and Dench making an indelible mark as one of the best performers in the Bond series.  The movie's action sequences are sublime, though there are some other marks that fall a little short, particularly the complete lack of interest in the two Bond girls in the final half of the movie.  The movie also seems to borrow a bit from the Dark Knight franchise, not necessarily a bad thing, but you don't want Bond to get into the orphaned child story or the constant search for a parental figure too deeply.  You want him armed with sleek guns, bodacious babes (of either gender, apparently), and exotic locales.  But these are very minor quibbles in an otherwise excellent movie, and the entire film has me raring to go for the next 50 years of England's deadliest weapon.

And I shall now hand it over to you with food for thought-what did you think of Skyfall?  Where does it rank on your personal Bond list?  And with several of the Bond staples recast (Q, M, Moneypenny), who are you hoping will become the next villain, love interest, and Bond theme-singer for the next movie?

50 Years of James Bond

The OVP will be finished up by Sunday, but I couldn't let the momentous occasion of James Bond turning 50 pass by without a mention.  James Bond has had limited success at the Oscar's, but that doesn't mean that he hasn't left an indelible imprint on the world of cinema.  While I can't claim that I have seen every single Bond film (someday, perhaps), I can claim that I know every single Bond theme by heart.  The pride and joy of my iPod is that I have created a playlist of every Bond theme, and in honor of 007, let's grab our martinis and rank the 25 (I'm cheating on three) best Bond songs.

25. "Never Say Never Again," Never Say Never Again performed by Lani Hall
A very paint-by-numbers Bond song that is one of three questionable inclusions on this list (I'm a sucker for a round number, and this got me to 25), this song from Sean Connery's final performance as 007 sounds an awful lot like lounge music.  Considering that so many singers at the top of their careers get Bond songs, it seems odd that Lani Hall, never a huge star, got this opportunity.

24. "The Living Daylights," The Living Daylights performed by A-ha
Again, an odd choice in hindsight, though A-ha was a fairly big band at the time, so who knows.  Either way, a slow-moving and dull addition to the Bond catalog (something many people said about this Timothy Dalton outing).

23. "For Your Eyes Only," For Your Eyes Only performed by Sheena Easton
Sheena Easton was a huge act at that time, and seemed like a solid chanteuse for the likes of Bond, but her song seemed a little bit too sweet for the Bond franchise.  This film in general is largely forgotten, save for the scandalously leggy poster.  The song did earn Bond one of his four Oscar nominations for best song, however (it lost to Arthur).

22. "Tomorrow Never Dies," Tomorrow Never Dies performed by Sheryl Crow
I love Crow, and her "soak up the sun" infectiousness definitely has its time and place, but it isn't in the world of Bond.  Even though she's trying to reach to the darker depths, she's clearly out of her element when compared with sirens like Shirley Bassey or Tina Turner.

21. "All Time High," Octopussy performed by Rita Coolidge
Coolidge may have been a little bit out of her comfort zone, but I love her just the same, and this is a surprisingly effective Bond outing, if again, a little bit too sweet.  Though it needs to be said-don't you kind of wish someone had tried to tackle the Bond tradition of singing a true title song?  Can you only imagine what they would have done here?

20. "The Man with the Golden Gun," The Man with the Golden Gun performed by Lulu
Lulu got a bum deal-first, she has to follow McCartney's classic Bond outing, and then got stuck with this clunker of a title.  She pulls it off with a zesty, if not always memorable, ditty.

19. "Die Another Day," Die Another Day performed by Madonna
Madonna brought the Bond music back to the Billboard charts, and it seems wildly appropriate that the Material Girl, who has contributed a lot of memorable music to the screen, managed to be part of the Bond tradition.  That said, the techno music coupled with an aging Pierce Brosnan was probably not the best mix.

18. "Another Way to Die," Quantom of Solace performed by Jack White and Alicia Keys
This is one of the few Bond films I've seen in theaters, and it's probably one of my least favorite outings.  After reinventing the franchise just a few years earlier, this was a convoluted mess, and the song didn't help that-the duet idea doesn't work, and Keys, whom I love (hence the higher ranking), doesn't fit the Bond mix enough with her bluesy sound rather than soul.  In some perfect alternate universe, Amy Winehouse rightfully got to take the Bond theme for this movie, as was rumored at the time.

17. "A View to a Kill," A View to a Kill performed by Duran Duran
I was nothing but a wee thing during the 1980's, so I do not have a strong affinity to Duran Duran, and their ballad-y approach doesn't seem to fill the dark moodiness that we typically associate with Bond.  Of course, that isn't to say this isn't a solid piece of music by itself, and as this was the last of the Roger Moore movies, perhaps a sense of whimsy was in order.

16. "You Know My Name," Casino Royale performed by Chris Cornell
This song was much maligned upon its first release, despite the actual film revitalizing the Bond franchise to the point of perhaps being the finest film in the series.  I never understood the vitriol, however, and I found this energetic and just manic enough for the newer, darker, but still debonair 007.

15. "Moonraker," Moonraker performed by Shirley Bassey
Forget Ursula Andress or Halle Berry-Shirley Bassey is the true Bond girl.  This, one of her three Bond themes (the only artist to tackle three), is probably the least-it doesn't have that Bassey feel of cutting like a perfectly-tuned jackhammer.  It was originally planned for Johnny Mathis, which probably would have been a much, much better fit for the ethereal song.  That said, it's still Shirley Bassey, and it more than gets the job done.

14. "A License to Kill," A License to Kill performed by Gladys Knight
The other installment of the Dalton years had a far superior theme, sung by a solo Gladys Knight.  It doesn't have the drama of the Bassey numbers or the evil mischief of Tina Turner, but it has that marked soul that Knight always brings to a performance, and a sweeping full orchestra to back up her desperate tuneful pleas.

13. "The World is Not Enough," The World is Not Enough performed by Garbage
Remember Shirley Manson?  The incredibly sexy lead singer of Garbage lent her pipes to this sweeping ballad, which may have been a little lax, but Manson's impressive alto carries it all the way through.  Plus, it managed to maintain its gravitas despite being attached to a movie where Denise Richards plays a nuclear physicist named Christmas Jones, so yeah, it deserves a lot of credit.

12. "From Russia with Love," From Russia with Love performed by Matt Munro
Munro, largely unknown in the United States, still managed to have bit of a crossover with this slick, perfectly-themed entry into the Bond canon.  I love the cliffhanger aspect of the song, which works perfectly for an introductory theme (which is typically where a Bond theme plays), though for the record, this film does not play over the opening credits.

11. "Thunderball," Thunderball performed by Tom Jones
Jones' song has not always been appreciated (come to think of it, neither has Jones), but come on-how many singers could crescendo for a complete three minutes without bursting.  Those final notes are huge, and you know that Shirley Bassey had that ending in mind when she tried (and succeeded) in topping it in Goldfinger.

10. "The Look of Love," Casino Royale performed by Dusty Springfield
The second of our three "cheats," as this film was more Bond spoof than actual Bond film, but Springfield deserved a Bond theme at some point, so we're going to count it.  Dusty lived up to her name with this moody and, though a parody, totally legit Bond croon.  Also OVP Alert!: this received an Academy Award nomination in 1967, but sadly lost to Doctor Doolittle.

9. "You Only Live Twice," You Only Live Twice performed by Nancy Sinatra
One of the more epic Bond films, it's fitting that it gets a soaring and stunning ballad by the super hot and famous (at the time, and for those of us who enjoy wearing boots, for all time) Nancy Sinatra.  Though her pops oddly never headlined a Bond movie, she did the family brand proud with this dreamy number.

8. "Skyfall," Skyfall performed by Adele
I may regret giving it this high of a ranking, but it moved me.  A truly haunting, very much in the theme of the Bond franchise, entry from everyone's favorite singer.  I love the proud British tradition she carries on with the film, not only being a blockbuster vocalist, but native to James Bond's homeland.

7. "We Have All the Time in the World," On Her Majesty's Secret Service performed by Louis Armstrong
The final quibble (since technically the instrumental introduction is the theme, and not Armstrong's number), but it's just too good of a piece of music to discount.  Armstrong, who was in ill health at the time, still knocks out a home run, combining both a wink and a tear in this love ballad (appropriate, considering that this is one of the most romantic Bond films).

6. "The James Bond Theme," Dr. No performed by John Barry
It could so easily be number one-it's so iconic, I don't really no where to put it, so we're going with sixth, just to sort of highlight the break between the strong songs and the iconic.  It's a credit to Barry, though, that this is one of the most instantly recognizable themes in the history of cinema.

5. "Nobody Does it Better" The Spy Who Loved Me performed by Carly Simon
The spy who loved me is keeping all my secrets safe tonight...you can't help but smile while listening to Carly's easy-listening, but still high-flying, take on a Bond song.  This record blew-up the charts, and actually received an Academy Award nomination as well, though somehow lost to Debby Boone's "You Light Up My Life."  Don't feel too bad for Carly-eleven years later, she'd take home the gold guy for Working Girl.

4. "Live and Let Die," Live and Let Die performed by Paul McCartney & Wings
Paul McCartney has more completely recognizable hits than any living person (or, quite frankly, any pop singer, ever).  It must be impossible to plan his concerts-so many hits, so little time.  However, it's hard to see a way that this one doesn't always make it into the lineup, one of his biggest post-Beatles songs.  The song received an Academy Award nomination, but lost out to The Way We Were (can you imagine a time when the Oscar Best Song category had two hits that big?!?)

3. "Goldeneye," Goldeneye performed by Tina Turner
Bond had long been out of commission when Pierce Brosnan took over, and it was a bit of a risk to bring back the flailing franchise.  Tina also hadn't been tearing up the charts for a while prior to taking on this song.  But just as surely as Brosnan revitalized the Bond franchise, Tina gave a shot to its theme songs.  You can tell the entire song that she's having a blast, and when she hits that note (you know the one), it gives me chills every time.

2. "Diamonds are Forever," Diamonds are Forever performed by Shirley Bassey
Yes, it may be a little overkill to give this the second spot (since even the most casual of Bond fans knows where number one is going), but Dame Shirley Bassey is the perfect Bond chanteuse-mysterious, over-the-top, and with pipes (and gams) to next Tuesday.  Harry Winston probably signed over the vault after hearing her demands.

1. "Goldfinger," Goldfinger performed by Shirley Bassey
The perfect Bond song-Bassey continues the crescendo leading into one of Bond's best movies with a set of cheesy lyrics that she sells to the rafters.  You need a woman with vocals of steel to sell the man who only loves gold, but Bassey's voice just gets bigger and bigger and bigger, until you're sure it'll fill Fort Knox.

And those are my rankings-what about you?  Who falls where in your favorite Bond themes?  Is Shirley your ultimate Bond girl, or are you more partial to Adele, Madonna, Tina, Gladys, or Nancy?  And if you're handing out Oscars-which Bond themes most were in need of them?