On Her Majesty's Secret Service

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: No
Watched With: Tyler

Ahh, the George Lazenby Bond film. Finally seen it. Yes it is remarkably different in tone to the others so far. It's a slow burn film, all character plot heavy up front. The action doesn't kick in until the very end. And then of course there's the final scenes, such a downer ending. Never knew Bond got married.

I actually quite liked it but can easily see why it would throw people. And to go for such a long stretch without our heroine in the middle is a bit risky too. Also odd that Blofeld doesn't recognise Bond after meeting face to face in the last picture. Although chronologically the book came first. Confusing.

And very different music. So odd having the Bong theme on a synth. No theme song either!

You Only Live Twice

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Tyler

This is more like it. One of the few classic Bond's I'd actually seen and probably one of the best. There's a lot I remembered about this one. The characters in this one are quite fun, the story really moves and the action is great. Roald Dahl wrote the screenplay and apart from the impeccable structure, it has some great one liners in it too.

That is one massive set at the end there. Donald Pleasence! The real inspiration for Dr. Evil.

And I really love the theme song and music in this one. This is the Bond production team firing on all cylinders.

Casino Royale

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: No
Watched With: Tyler

Well, it's not part of the official Bond canon but technically this was the next Bond film. I was very intrigued by the cast list and the equally long list of directors.

Uhh...

What a mess. Not exactly what I'd call a laugh riot. I loved the production design in the middle segment where they went all German expressionistic, but apart from that, no. No no no. I just wanted it to end. A parade of famous people making me think less of them all just for being in this. And the Burt Bacharach music just makes it all seem worse.

The Last Days of Disco

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

A title I knew of for a long time and only just got around to watch. Absolutely loved it. Great cast playing well written characters.

This must be the best thing Kate Beckinsale has done. Her character is gloriously hideous and immensely watchable. What a bitch. A surprising highlight of the film for me. Chloë Sevigny is great too.

And it really does evoke a sort of melancholic sadness for the end of an era. It reminds me a lot of Boogie Nights for some reason. Writing is on the ball and gotta admit, that soundtrack is rockin'. Does make one feel like dancing.

PILLOWLIPS! That's Matt Keeslar to you non-Middleman-fans. So great.

Yep, really loved this, will have to find someone to show it to soon so I can watch it again.

Taken 2

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Ethan, Paul

Textbook factory churned out film, an unnecessary sequel to a surprise hit rushed into production to cash in on the good will of fans of the first.

Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen can write these in their sleep. And they have selected Olivier Megaton from their pool of regular collaborators to tackle the sequel. It's competently made, no doubt about it. But nothing ever really clicks.

Too many missed oppertunities. They instead decided to rehash the basic plot of the first film, but without a credible threat and a weakly characterised villain. The only interesting parts where where the film deviated from the original and saw Liam Neeson having to talk through his daughter played by Maggie Grace to come and rescue him. All the little spy techniques and a proactive female character was genuinly compelling for a while. But they couldn't keep it up for long and then the film just goes through the motions.

Neeson shoots down faceless stock bad guys with no remorse. But nobody really cares. His hand to hand fights are cut infuriatingly fast which only serves to create a blurred mess of what otherwise looked to be some interesting fight choreography.

You can tell they temped the soundtrack with score from the Bourne films, it's just a cheap rehash of that.

Cheap thrills that will leave you unsatisfied.

Mental

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Myself

Well I'm honestly not sure what to make of this one. I really liked a lot of it, some of it made oddly uncomfortable and the rest really grated on my nerves. I think that's mainly that very brash and broad Aussie humour that I'm naturally inclined to cringe at. However the ladies up the back thought it was a laugh riot, so it's probably just me.

The film seems to have a lot on its mind and very round about ways of expressing it. With the characters being so big and cartoonish I think we lose some of the bitter reality undercurrent that Murial's Wedding had. It's still there in spades, I just don't think it worked as well.

And I can only imagine that half the budget went to obtaining rights to The Sound of Music.

A mixed bag for me.