Maybe 'Above Average'?... "The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen"

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)

Rated PG-13 for violence

Starring Sean Connery, Naseeruddin Shah, Peta Wilson, Tony Curran, Stuart Townsend, Shane West, Jason Flemyng

Directed by Stephen Norrington

The Story:

In an alternate Victorian era where characters from literature are actually real-life, a group of adventurers is gathered to stop a madman's quest for world domination.  Led by Allan Quatermain (Connery), he is joined by Captain Nemo (Shah), vampire Mina Harker (Wilson), an Invisible Man (Curran), the immortal Dorian Gray (Townsend), Dr. Jekyll (Flemyng) and US Secret Service Agent Tom Sawyer (West).  Their quest begins, but can even this formidable assemblage of adventurers save the world?

Probably.

Based on a comic book series by Alan Moore that I never bothered to read, the idea is actually very smart and clever.

Thinking back to old Looney Tunes cartoons where the books could come to life and characters could jump in and out of each other's stories, why not have a world where literature's finest fictional characters are actual flesh and blood?

In the annals of comic book movies, this one is easily overlooked by the heroes in spandex.

It also didn't have the oomph of a lesser known property, like Men in Black, to just take the world by storm and create its own franchise.

You can point a dozen fingers with what may be wrong with the film.

Too many characters?
Too many characters that moviegoers might not be that familiar with?
So much infighting among the heroes, nobody cares about them catching the bad guy?

That said, this is a much better film for Connery to work in than the remake of The Avengers.

However, for the final film in his distinguished career, this film is a bittersweet farewell to one of the cinematic legends of the screen.

I would not have been opposed to a sequel if they could tighten up the storyline, and perhaps lured Connery out of retirement, but now too many years have passed, and it just wouldn't work now.

Speaking of alternate universes, in mine, Shane West would have been hired to play Spider-Man in the Sam Raimi franchise.

Younger than Tobey, this is the guy I was hoping would have become the web-slinger.

Much like this movie, I am left to lament "what could have been"...

Final Grade: C

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: It's okay, but nothing I would go out of my to own.  If it was on, and I couldn't find the remote, there are worse things to sit through again.

The Reinvention of the Spy Wheel... "Skyfall"

 

The franchise gets shaken... and stirred.

The Story:

Bond (Daniel Craig) is back as 007.  This time around he must save M (Judi Dench) and all of MI6 from the threat of one of their own gone rogue (Javier Bardem).  Meanwhile, as things go from bad to worse for MI6, the British Government is holding hearings on possibly dismantling the section altogether.  It seems that the spy business is a bit outdated, so if the bad guy doesn't do it, the Brits might dismantle it themselves. 

Best. Bond. Ever?

No.

It's good.

Which for this franchise, is good enough.

The title of the film refers to the Scottish home of the Bond family, where Bond makes his final stand against the enemy.

Not everyone makes it out of the film intact and ready to film the next installment.

However the new director, Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes) takes over as M, bringing with him a young secretary named Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) whom Bond will be able to flirt with.

In a cute turnabout, the franchise has gone full circle so that the M that Connery had is the same M that Craig put in the seat.

Of course this can only mean that SMERSH, SPECTRE or whatever acronym they devise for the bad guys in the next film can not be far away.

Don't think about it too much, it will make your head explode.

So yes, it's nice to have the franchise hit the reset button, it's just odd to think of the Brosnan and Craig years as the prequels.

As for the opening song, absolutely dreadful.  I cannot stand Adele, and this theme song, as with every theme song that came after A View to a Kill, is utter rubbish.

Academy Award winning rubbish, but rubbish nonetheless.

Otherwise, not a bad effort from all involved.  This is Craig's best outing in the tuxedo since Casino Royale.

Which if you want to make an argument for best Bond film ever, you will have an easier time convincing me of that film, over Skyfall.

But as we all know, Goldfinger is the best of them all.

Final Grade: B-  A B+ film marred by a screechingly bad theme song! : )

Would I Own It:  Yes, because I own every other Bond film, why stop now.  ; )

"Everything or Nothing" ~ 50 Years Behind the Scenes with Bond

Happy Anniversary Mr. Bond.

This documentary focuses on the overall relationship of bringing Bond from the book to the big-screen and the turbulent ride that franchise has taken and endured over the last 50 years.

The movie itself focuses  on the behind the scenes of Fleming's life and how he came to know Saltzman and Broccoli and their desire to bring their favorite literary hero to the silver screen. 

50 years in 90 minutes, so there is a lot to gloss over, but the majority of the triumphs and downfalls that the series has endured are touched on.

Just about everyone who is still around is interviewed for some portion or another.  Notably absent is Connery, however they use archival footage of his comments so you don't miss out too much.  Otherwise, Lazenby, Moore, Dalton, Brosnan and Craig are all interviewed with their desire and trepidation of following in Connery (and then each preceding Bond!) to take over the franchise.

It's well worth the viewing, especially if you are a fan, hardcore or casual, of the 007 franchise.

Looking forward to the next 50 years!

Available for streaming on Netflix or Amazon Prime as of this writing.

http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/70256292?strkid=1372494473_0_0&trkid=222336&movieid=70256292

http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Nothing-The-Untold-Story/dp/B00AW73FH6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1358005114&sr=8-2&keywords=everything+or+nothing

100 Greatest Movies of All Time...That I Own. # 26 ~ Goldfinger

As we get ready to reveal the Top 25 movies, we say farewell to the first 75 with one of the Silver Screen's most enduring characters.

Bond.

James Bond.

The series has had many highs and lows over its cinematic history, and Casino Royale did a great job in rejuvenating the franchise.  However, I'm going with the best Bond, ever.

Sean Connery.

And to me, Goldfinger gets all the pieces of what makes for a great Bond film and puts them together in the finest offering of the franchise.

It's Bond vs. Goldfinger for the fate of all the gold in Fort Knox.  It appears as though Goldfinger has come into possession of a dirty bomb, and intends to detonate it, tainting the American gold reserve for the next 58 years.

This of course would plummet the American economy into chaos during the height of the Cold War.

It would also increase the value of Goldfinger's stash of gold bullion as it would multiply tenfold overnight.

Ingenious.

And it's up to Bond to save the day.

Thank heavens for the British!

Yes, this movie has it all, the gadgets, the guns, the girls.

It's everything that is right (and wrong!) with the franchise done in magnificent style.  From the exotic locations to the use of great henchmen...

Who can forget Oddjob and his bowler hat?

Plus, you have the single greatest "Bond Girl" of all time, Pussy Galore.  She's got the most over-the-top name, is tough as nails, and has no interest in Bond...

But even she is unable to resist him by the end of the film.

Is there nothing James Bond can do?

Apparently not.

And for that, I thank him (and every film in the franchise for that matter...yes even the worst Bond movies have some merit, even if it's only the theme song!)  : )

100 Greatest Movies of All Time...That I Own. # 33 ~ The Hunt for Red October

A movie I not only own, I saw it for the first time in the theater.  Though until I saw it at home, I was under the impression that the entire movie was just some crazy dream, because I had missed the opening scene where Alec Baldwin explains that he can never sleep on an airplane.

So yeah, I walked out a little disappointed the first time I saw it!

The Jack Ryan franchise began here.  Not sure what is truth and what is fiction after all these years...

Harrison Ford was originally offered the part, but didn't like that Connery would receive top billing... which seems strange since they had just worked together on The Last Crusade.  Either way, Ford would get the part later, but those movies just don't hold a candle to this one.

Maybe it's the screen presence of Sean Connery... maybe a tighter script...  maybe a little less focus on Jack Ryan...

Either way, this is a heckuva thrill ride from start to finish.

For those that have never seen it:

A Russian submarine captain decides to defect to America, taking his state of the art submarine and officers with him in the process.

The Americans think he's attacking, so they set out to sink him.  The Russians are also out to sink him.

But one man thinks he knows the truth...and they have to try and save him.

Directed by John McTiernan...the man has only directed a total of 11 films in his career, but nearly all of them are exceptional films to watch, and there is one still to come on the countdown.

The film is an all-star cast, with no stunt casting or people wasted in their roles.  They all take a back seat to the story, and you'll sit glued to your seat enjoying it...regardless of how many times you've watched it.

It is available to stream from Netflix as of this review.

100 Greatest Movies of All Time...That I Own. # 51 ~ The Rock

Well, we know that the list was already perfected by the appearance of Nicolas Cage.

So apparently, it is now two times as perfect as it could have been, because Cage strikes again!

However, this movie lands on the countdown on the strength of Sean Connery's performance.

The 90s basically saw Connery wind down his acting career, but he went out with a bang, giving us The Rock and Entrapment (and Finding Forrester) before hanging up his accent.

I debated over which movie would make it, and in the end, the over-the-top action of The Rock beat out Catherine Zeta-Jones sliding under lasers...but only barely. : )

The addition of the always stellar Ed Harris as a misguided Marine also helped  push this movie onto the list with the pure starpower (and firepower!) from the assembled actors.

For those that haven't enjoyed this Michael Bay action-fest, the story in a nutshell:

Some Marines take over Alcatraz and threaten to launch the ever-deadly V-X rockets onto the Bay Area.  Naturally, the government doesn't think that's a very good idea,  so they send in one of their best agents (Cage) along with a former British Spy (Connery) who was the only man to successfully escape from...

The Rock!

Mayhem ensues.

Glorious mayhem!

As only Michael Bay can deliver.

And yes, you can mark me as a Michael Bay fan.

His first three movies (Bad Boys, The Rock and Armageddon) are all movies that hold up to repeated viewings, and Bad Boys made the original list, and then found itself bumped at the last second.  Armageddon was not in the running, because I can never fully get behind a movie that kills Bruce Willis.

Now if only Bay would stop directing movies about Autobots... unless they are voiced by Sean Connery!