Sean Connery
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‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ – a challenging, invigorating and romantic piece of action filmmaking
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service Written by Richard Maibaum Directed by Peter Hunt UK, 1969 To call On Her Majesty’s Secret Service underappreciated is to call the sky blue. Only in the years since the release of Daniel Craig’s introduction to the series, Casino Royale, has OHMSS begun to be reappraised as a realistic, character-driven […] More
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‘You Only Live Twice’ – an incredulous plot but an influential Bond film
You Only Live Twice Directed by Lewis Gilbert Written by Roald Dahl 1967, UK Easily the most parodied of all the James Bond films, You Only Live Twice is the fourth film starring Sean Connery as 007. After five years portraying the secret agent, it took producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman (as well […] More
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‘From Russia With Love’ remains sans pareil
From Russia With Love Directed by Terrence Young Written by Richard Maibaum and Johanna Harwood 1963, UK 50 years later, and with twenty-three “official” entries, From Russia With Love represents the very best of the Bond franchise. Skyfall is the closest to be considered, at best – almost equal to what was achieved in ’64 […] More
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Best James Bond Scenes: Sean Connery Era
The most commercially successful Bond film to date is Thunderball. The pic earned over $141 million worldwide, of which more than half was generated domestically in the U.S. The film was such a success, it was remade some 18 years later as Never Say Never Again. This is without a doubt my favourite Bond film […] More
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Best James Bond Scenes: Sean Connery Era
1: Dr No – Opening Title Sequence The schizophrenic title sequence introduces John Barry’s famous James Bond theme, but instead of transitioning into the now traditional pop song (which uses the title as a lyric), random portions of two calypso songs were used instead. This was also of course the first of Maurice Binder’s many […] More
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The Death of Marilyn Monroe, The Birth of James Bond
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published November 1, 2012. Fifty years ago this month, Marilyn Monroe passed away from a suspected accidental drug overdose (although conspiracy geeks love to contemplate more nefarious scenarios). The commemoratives are already showing up on magazine and newspaper entertainment pages, cable channels have announced their Marilyn film fests and […] More
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‘Goldfinger’ – 24 carat quality
Goldfinger Directed by Guy Hamilton Screenplay by Richard Maibaum and Paul Dehn Starred: Sean Connery, Honor Blackman Released September 1964 by United Artists Even if you had never seen this film, just as with Ursula Andress rising from the waves like a bikini-clad version of Botticelli’s Venus in Dr. No, you’d recognize the iconic image. The […] More
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‘Dr. No’ – Arguably sexist and racist, but no doubt, terrific entertainment
Dr. No Directed by Terence Young Written by Richard Maibaum & Johanna Harwood 1962, UK Author, Ian Fleming had been seeking out a movie deal for nearly a decade until the rights for his novels were finally bought by producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli. Little did they know they would change the landscape […] More
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Of Human “Bond”-age: Top Ten Actors That Had Played James Bond
Sure, there have been countless articles detailing the debonair men that portrayed the world’s most famous superspy in Ian Fleming’s creation of Agent 007 (a.k.a James Bond). And of course there have been many debates arguing who is considered the best Bond of them all (yes…I concur with the majority of the Sean Connery census […] More
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Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 135: ‘Darby O’Gill and the Little People’
Faith and begorrah! Time to grab your blarney stone or find a four-leaf clover, dearies, because just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, Mousterpiece Cinema is celebrating in style. (Here, “style” means doing goofy Irish accents a fair bit.) Only two days before the holiday when everyone’s Irish, Josh and Gabe look back at one […] More
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Director & Actor Teams: The Overlooked & Underrated (Part 2 of 2)
Following are some supplemental sections featuring notable director & actor teams that did not meet the criteria for the main body of the article. Some will argue that a number of these should have been included in the primary section but keep in mind that film writing on any level, from the casual to the […] More
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‘The Rock’ a revealing window into Project 007
The idea of a Michael Bay film being open to interpretive scrutiny is, quite frankly, so fanciful that it practically defies the laws of our known universe. As his champions are so fond of adamantly stating, his flicks are popcorn movies designed purely for entertainment and occasional pre-pubescent escapist wish fulfillment. But it is a […] More