Friday, December 29, 2017

Film Friday: My Favorite James Bond Films



Film:  #1 over-all / #1 of the Sean Connery era.

Bond Girl:  Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi) - #7
Ally:  Kerim Bey (Pedro Armendariz) - #1
 


Film:    #2 over-all / #1 of the Daniel Craig era.
Bond Girl:  Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) - #1


Film:  #3 over-all / #2 of the Connery era.
Bond Girl:  Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress) - #2


Film:  #4 over-all / #1 of the Roger Moore era.
Bond Girl:  Major Amasova (Barbara Bach) - #5


Film:  #5 over-all / #2 of the Moore era.
Bond Girl: Solitaire (Jane Seymour) - #4
Henchman:  Baron Samedi (Geoffrey Holder) - #1

Notes:
Evil women (Xenia Onatopp, Fiona Volpe, etc.) and women in minor roles (Plenty O'Toole, Jill Masterson, etc.) are not Bond Girls.

GoldenEye, the best of the Pierce Brosnan era,  checks in at #10 over-all.

Timothy Dalton starred in two and George Lazenby one, none of which are in my top ten.

The #1 villain is Francisco Scaramanga (Christopher Lee), the title character in The Man with the Golden Gun.


The #1 Bond is Sean Connery.

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

An Elliptical Contest: Round Twelve

2017 in Review

Life
1.  In August, much ado was made of an eclipse. Why?
2.  In August, the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history occurred.  What is it called?  
3.  In September, 755 U.S. diplomats were expelled from which country?
4.  Who was the most popular Halloween costume in 2017?
5.  Which country repeatedly annoyed the U.S. with nuclear tests and thinly veiled threats?

Death
6.  January - She made it after all.  To the Great Newsroom in the Sky.
7.  March - One of the best guitarists in rock history.  Also sang and duck walked. 
8.  May - James Bond in seven films, including Live and Let Die.
9.  September - Founded Playboy.
10.  October - He don't come around here anymore.  He stopped livin' like a refugee.     

Three points for the winner.

Tie goes to earliest entrant involved in the tie.

Deadline:  11:59 PM - December 31 (Pacific time)

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Tuesday Ten: Bond Movie Characters



Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), Casino Royale:  My favorite Bond Girl. She's smart, sexy, sassy. 


Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress), Dr. No:  The George Washington of Bond Girls.  Not necessarily the best, but the first, and therefore the most important.  


Melina Havelock (Carole Bouquet), For Your Eyes Only:   She was a fiercely independent woman of action.  When her parents were killed, she didn't sit around crying about it. She didn't wait for her white knight to show up.  She took it upon herself to avenge their deaths. With a crossbow.

 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/53/Kerim_Bey_by_Pedro_Armendariz.jpg

Kerim Bey (Pedro Armendariz), From Russia with Love:  Head of Station T, in Istanbul.


Francisco Scaramanga (Christopher Lee), The Man with the Golden Gun: If Bond had gone the other way, he might have been like this.


Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Donald Pleasence, others), You Only Live Twice, others:  The recurring Bond villain.  The inspiration for Dr. Evil.


Jill Masterson (Shirley Eaton), Goldfinger: A minor role with a memorable exit. I preferred her to Honor Blackman, who seemed like a mediocre Bond Girl.


Baron Samedi (Geoffrey Holder), Live and Let Die:  My favorite of all the henchmen in the Bond series.  A voodoo devotee with a deep voice, big laugh, and imposing stature (Holder was 6'6").


Plenty O'Toole (Lana Wood), Diamonds Are Forever:  I never bought Jill St. John as a Bond Girl.  LW would have been much better.


Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen), GoldenEye):  Feisty. Sexy. Nutty.  My type, except for the murdering.
 



   

        
   








Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Semi-Poem

black hair
black lip stick
black finger nails

black dress
black boots

black fishnets
black lace

and you: too naive to know
she's dressed for your funeral

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Random Post

My country is self-destructing and I can't do anything about it.