Wednesday, 2 March 2011

Happy Birthday Daniel Craig: James Bond turns 43.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to DANIEL CRAIG

To celebrate Daniel Craig's 43rd birthday today (March 2nd, 2011), we have selected a few of our favourite quotations about his two appearances as James Bond - 007 the world's favourite secret agent.

CASINO ROYALE

Daniel Craig 007 Casino Royale

"Craig is the first proper bleeder, standing in front of a bathroom mirror and contemplating his own downpour. (Look how he swallows a Scotch to numb the hurt, and then try to imagine the Roger Moore equivalent - the pensive sip, the appreciative smile at the distiller’s art.)"

Anthony Lane in The New Yorker (2006)

"The only thing triumphant about Casino Royale is Craig’s performance. He brings to the role sex appeal, sadism and athleticism. (Though he doesn’t look to me like a man who drinks martinis.) Craig actually looks like Gollum’s younger brother, and he charges around like the Terminator."

Cosmo Landesman in The Sunday Times (2006)

"Craig has both a nasty streak and a soft side never before seen in the series; Fleming would recognise him as most like his literary creation: damaged goods in a tailored tux."

Robert Wilonsky in The Village Voice (2006)

"Daniel Craig was meant to usher in a new iconoclastic era of 007 film-making, with invisible cars replaced by punching, and smart-alec one-liners replaced by punching, and nice tuxedos replaced by silly blue swimming trunks (and punching)."

Stuart Heritage in The Guardian (2009)

QUANTUM OF SOLACE

daniel craig james bond quantum of solace

Daniel Craig Quantum of Solace

"It doesn’t help Craig is a rather unsensual actor: he looks much more at ease leaping off balconies than he does leaping into bed."

Anthony Quinn in The Independent (2008)

"Craig, unlike his Bondian forebears, so much debonair as he is dour. But it’s dourness with charisma, muscular dourness, more than a quantum of dourness."

Steven Rea in The Philadelphia Inquirer (2008)

"Craig is the scrappiest of all Bonds, but he’s also the most tender ... Even in his trimmest tux, Craig walks with the purposefulness of a stocky tomcat."

Stephanie Zacharek on Salon.com (2008)

"For all his bruising stuntwork - Craig is less Steve McQueen in The Great Escape and more Postman Pat heading for Greendale when it comes to motorcycles."

Tim Evans on MoviesSky.com (2008)

All the above quotations were taken from

James Bond: Licence To Quote - The Quotable 007

available from Blue Eyed Books.

Monday, 31 January 2011

John Barry R.I.P. (1933-2011) - James Bond musical legend remembered.

John Barry R.I.P. (1933-2011)

Today the sad news reaches us that 007 musical maestro and five-time Academy Award winner John Barry OBE has died of a heart attack at the age of 77.

The Man With The Midas Touch

John worked on a dozen James Bond films and left a remarkable legacy ...
Dr. No (1962)
From Russia with Love (1963)
Goldfinger (1964)
Thunderball (1965)
You Only Live Twice (1967)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
Moonraker (1979)
Octopussy (1983)
A View to a Kill (1985)
The Living Daylights (1987)

John also wrote music and soundtracks for other great movies including ... Born Free, Zulu, The Lion in Winter, Midnight Cowboy, Out of Africa, The Ipcress File, Body Heat and The Cotton Club.

But Bond fans and film crew will always remember John for his unprecedented work on the 007 films ...

"John Barry is part of the D.N.A. of the Bond world."

Barbara Broccoli

"The ‘Q’ of Bond music: John Barry."

Andrew Essex in Entertainment Weekly (1999)

"J is for John Barry, who scored a record 11 Bond films. John has won five Oscars, was married to 1960s sex kitten Jane Birkin, owns a futuristic, gadget-stuffed apartment on the King’s Road and drives vintage Jaguars. But is he really happy?"

Steve Anglesey in The Mirror (2008)

John Barry Revisited CD

Fellow Bond composer David Arnold reported the sad news on Twitter, "I am profoundly saddened by the news but profoundly thankful for everything he did for music and for me personally."

Caitlin Moran, on Twitter, offered this mini-memorial, "Without John Barry, James Bond would just have been some right-wing sex-tourist crashing a load of cars."

Not all Bond films are created equal, and the same applies to 007 soundtracks and theme songs, as John pointed out when asked about his composition All Time High sung by Rita Coolidge in Octopussy, "By this time, using the title in the lyric was something of a requirement. But what are you going to do with Octopussy? I mean ... Jesus!"

Interviewed in The Guardian, John explained his most satisfying work on 007, "Goldfinger because it was the first big hit all over the world. George Lazenby in On Her Majesty's Secret Service was probably the worst Bond ever, but it's one of the best scores. He was so bad I felt I had to make up for it with the music. I think I was fortunate enough to be at the beginning of Bond with the classic style. I did about 11 of them and then checked out. I wanted to move on and do something else."

And now, John has finally "checked out" but has left a memorable feast of work that will forever hold a special place in the hearts of every Bond fan.

Click here for more on John Barry's work.

.

Friday, 27 August 2010

James Bond: Licence To Quote - The UK & US Books

JAMES BOND QUOTES BOOKS

LICENSE TO QUOTE
U.S.A. edition

LICENCE TO QUOTE
U.K. edition

THE QUOTABLE DOUBLE-0 SEVEN

1,500 Humorous Quotations
about Commander Sir James Bond, KCMG, RNVR

CLICK HERE
FOR DETAILS HOW TO ORDER / BUY

JAMES BOND: LICENSE TO ‘QUOTE’ is the first book of humorous quotations solely dedicated to the ever-expanding universe surrounding James Bond - 007.

This volume - of 1500 light-hearted quotes - uniquely focuses on humorous comments made about 007 rather than direct quotes from the Bond films or books.

“Bond has no sense of humor, telling only one joke in all 14 books (in Goldfinger (1959) - and it isn’t very funny).”

Anthony Horowitz in The Daily Telegraph (2008)

"Everyone in Bond is named after somebody Ian Fleming knew. Pussy Galore was probably his cleaning lady."

Sinclair Mackay, The Man with the Golden Touch (2008)

LICENSE TO ‘QUOTE’ is all over the lighter side of Double-0 Seven like a cheap safari suit on Roger Moore. Bond’s life and legend, books and movies, enemies and lovers, cars and gadgets all come in for close inspection. 007 is as much a sitting target for defecation by the sardonic snipers in the press as an object of deification by the eulogistic empathists populating the fansites.

"I have friends who talk about the pleasures of the Bond fantasy. But what that really boils down to is a bald bad guy, a bird in a bikini and loud bangs in a foreign country."

Cosmo Landesman in The Times (2002)

“Indiana Jones, Arnie, Derek Flint et al owe a major debt to Bond, James Bond. Or perhaps Broccoli, Cubby Broccoli.”

Michael Cooper on Alternative007.co.uk (2006)

LICENSE TO ‘QUOTE’ turns the tables on the world’s favorite spy and turns the spotlight on him. A veritable Who’s Who of observers and commentators - from all over the globe - take dead aim at James Bond: man and myth, superspy and superstar.

Comical contributions come from his creators, his biographers, his critics, his fans, his imitators and from a wide selection of media sources over the last 50 years. The depth and diversity of this source material clearly demonstrates the unrivaled level of recognition and the extraordinary fan-base James Bond has built up since he first appeared in 1953.

“It is hard to overestimate the effect James Bond had on post-war readers and audiences. Here was the first English hero who didn’t own a sensible jumper.”

Christopher Fowler in The Independent on Sunday (2006)

“In 1963 ... The Vatican condemned Dr. No as a ‘dangerous mixture of violence, vulgarity, sadism and sex.’ Ka-ching!”

Manohla Dargis in The New York Times (2006)

For fifty years, 007 has been at the summit of the best-seller’s list, at the top of the cinema box-office and remains at the forefront of the world’s consciousness. His iconic image and cultural footprint are legendary: License To 'Quote' celebrates that legend.

Sample quotations from James Bond: License To Quote ...

“James Bond is simply Ian Fleming daydreaming in the third person.”

John Pearson, The Life of Ian Fleming (1966)

“As Bond, Daniel Craig looks much more at ease leaping off balconies than he does leaping into bed.”

Anthony Quinn in The Independent (2008)

“The gadgetry, introduced as usual by ‘Q’, can do everything except reserve a table at Spago.”

Jami Bernard in The New York Daily News (1997)

“The World Is Not Enough took its inspiration from the Bond family motto, and in the future we can presumably look forward to films named after 007's boyhood tortoise, his sock makers, and the level of his cholesterol.”

Anthony Lane in The New Yorker (2002)

“Men wanted to be James Bond, and women wanted to be the glamour-puss that James Bond would be attracted to.”

Joan Collins in The Daily Telegraph (2008)

Sunday, 27 June 2010

IN MEMORY: Albert 'Cubby' Broccoli - The Mastermind behind the James Bond movies

Albert 'Cubby' Broccoli (who died this day - June 27 - in 1996) was an American film producer best remembered for bringing James Bond to the big screen. In all, Broccoli was involved in 17 Bond films from the very first Dr No in 1962 to his last involvement as Consulting Producer with 007 with Goldeneye in 1995

Born in Queens, New York in 1909, Cubby worked in a pharmacy, as a coffin-maker and selling Christmas trees. He later became a talent agent (representing stars such as Robert Wagner and Lana Turner) before making a name for himself as a producer in the movie business in the 1950s. Having worked with the likes of Howard Hughes and Irving Allen, Cubby moved to London but eventually went bust after The Trials of Oscar Wilde flopped at the box office in 1960.

Having long dreamed of bringing Ian Fleming's 007 secret agent to the screen, Broccoli and Harry Saltzman (who owned the screen rights to the books) formed Eon Productions. Casting the relatively unknown Sean Connery as James Bond, they made Dr No in 1962 on a million dollar budget and the rest as they say is history.

Broccoli's legacy with James Bond continues as his stepson, Michael G. Wilson and daughter Barbara now run the mulit-million dollar industry that has grown up around the Bond movies.

To celebrate the life and career of the inspirational film producer and proud family man, here is a selection of quotes by and about Cubby Broccoli ...

Quotes by Cubby ...

On the Bond movie formula - "A virile and resourceful hero, exotic locations, the ingenious apparatus of espionage and sex on a fairly sophisticated level."

Dr No - "It was with this film that the James Bond formula and style were perfected."

"My favourite films are From Russia With Love, Goldfinger and The Spy Who Loved Me. I can’t say there is a single one I’d want to re-do, although there are parts of The Man With The Golden Gun I’d change."

"I honestly felt a responsibility toward all the Bond fans out there. I know they look forward to these pictures. And so I’m going to go on delivering then as long as I can. Also, it’s a challenge, which I enjoy. We try to make each picture more exciting than the one before, to take Bond somewhere he hasn’t already been."

"Bond is my life. I get ideas for the films all the time. I scribble down ideas on the backs of old envelopes. Even when I’m on the toilet and get a Bond idea I grab a piece of toilet paper and write it down. And that idea, though it began on a piece of toilet paper, can cost millions of dollars to put on the screen."

On the 007 leading men after Sean Connery - "Like comparing a still photograph with a film."

"Bond’s ladies must stay in the background and must give the impression of being experienced with men. They must be strong but elegant. ‘Something’ must happen when you look at them."

"It is not necessary to use established actresses in these films. It’s entertainment after all, not Macbeth."

"Nudity would destroy Bond’s career. His image must be clean cut. We can’t risk offending his massive family audience in any way."

"I love looking at the old Bond films. Maybe it's purely out of reminiscence, the nostalgic things you think about. But there were some very good films made and I think that the public has enjoyed them, too."

"That we were lucky to stumble upon Ian Fleming and Bond, was a bit of a good fortune. The rest was all hard work."

"The Russians did invite me to make a film there. But when I said I’d like to make a Bond movie there, they said, 'We’re not ready for that yet!' "

Quotes about Cubby ...

"The production team of Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman had pretty well invented a whole new genre - the big, glossy, no-expense-spared international thriller. A heady mix of beautiful locations, beautiful people and beautiful cars, whipped up into a confection of non-stop action and sex. There is no depth to a Bond movie; it is a world of goodies and baddies, a world where death is played for laughs. The films do not nourish the soul. They do not set out to. They are pure entertainment. Pure cinema."
Charlie Higson in The Spectator (2006)

"He was remarkable man, a fantastic producer, and if it wasn’t for Cubby there wouldn’t be Bond films today. He is the main reason for them. When I arrived he came onto the set to welcome me. Normally one doesn’t meet a producer."
Desmond Llewelyn - ‘Q’ in the Bond films

"Producer Albert R. Broccoli seems to know exactly how to stretch his formula like a cat’s cradle in his hands."
Sheila Benson in The Los Angeles Times

"Producer Albert R. Broccoli, the major-domo of the James Bond movies, is the proverbial Jewish mother of cinema: he is not about to let anyone go away hungry. In Moonraker, the eleventh 007 opus, Broccoli serves the audience a space-shuttle hijacking, a jumbo-jet explosion and a protracted wrestling match between two men who are falling from the sky without parachutes. All this happens before the opening credits. From there, it's on to gondola chases in Venice, funicular crashes in Rio and laser-gun shootouts and lovemaking in deep space. Meanwhile, beautiful women come and go .... When Broccoli lays out a feast, he makes sure that there is at least one course for every conceivable taste."
Frank Rich in Time magazine (1979)

"Albert (Cubby) Broccoli, the constant force behind the pictures. Directors come and go, but Broccoli remains, lavishing time, attention and megabucks on the formula adventures."
Rita Kempley in The Washington Post (1987)

"Producer ‘Cubby’ Broccoli took Fleming’s ingredients and turned them into his own dish."
James Taylor in The Times (2007)

"Indiana Jones, Arnie, Derek Flint et al owe a major debt to Bond, James Bond. Or perhaps Broccoli, Cubby Broccoli."
Michael Cooper on Alternative007.co.uk (2006)

Taken from James Bond: Licence To Quote

(1500 Humorous Quotations about 007)

and

James Bond: Quotino Royale

(4000 Biographical Quotations about the world's favourite secret agent)

published by Blue Eyed Books

For more great quotations, inspirational thoughts and famous sayings, go to A2Z of Quotes
.

Monday, 7 June 2010

Jeffery Deaver - Is he the right writer for the new James Bond novel Project X?

Seven actors have played James Bond on the big screen. (00)Seven actors - if you care not to ignore David Niven in the often ignored 1967 film version of Casino Royale - in 48 years is a low turnover rate. That is nothing compared to five official Bond authors (not counting Young Bond and Moneypenny Diaries spin-offs) in 57 years. That works out to one writer for every 12 years. However, 2011 will see a sixth author publish an official 007 novel … and the second new name to grace a Bond hardcover in three years. So why the rush?

Ian Fleming Publications recently announced that it has “chosen international bestselling thriller writer, Jeffery Deaver, to write a new James Bond book. The novel, currently known as Project X, will be published on May 28, 2011 - for Ian Fleming’s birthday.” Well, that clears up the rush to appoint and, perhaps anoint, a new Bond scribe.

With just the one Bond novel - Devil May Care - to his name, the previous Bond author Sebastian Faulks can lay ignominious claim to being the George Lazenby of 007 novelists. A one-hit wonder. Or, in Faulks’ case, a one-bestseller wonder. To be fair to Faulks he was brought on board as a one-off to write ‘as Ian Fleming’ in tribute of the original author’s centenary in 2008

Writing under his own name and in his own style, Chicago-born Deaver had this to say on his enthronement to the Ian Fleming dynasty, “I can’t describe the thrill I felt when first approached by Ian Fleming’s estate to ask if I’d be interested in writing the next book in the James Bond series.”

The former journalist, folk singer and attorney went on to add, “I began reading them when I was about nine or ten, ignorant of the Cold War politics they explored but enthralled by their sense of adventure and derring-do. I continued to read and reread them, which was fortunate because as a teen and adult I found, of course, nuances, that were invisible to a child.”

Ken Follett: Quote of the Day - June 5th

QUOTE OF THE DAY - June 5th

Welsh-born thriller writer Ken Follett (born this day in 1949) paid tribute to one of his great literary inspirations and his greatest character ...

"Ian Fleming is the best. The spy novel is about a hundred years old and it really peaked with Ian Fleming - he was the greatest writer of the mainstream, popular spy story. Fleming said that he had been influenced by John Buchan … but of course, Fleming brought a completely different atmosphere to the genre. It was much more liberated, much more sensual. Buchan’s stories were rather like schoolboy heroics, and James Bond was a real grown up."

"It was often said about James Bond that he exploited women because he was promiscuous, but I thought he was a romantic. He really cherished women and he often risked his life to protect them."

Taken from James Bond: Quotino Royale

(4000 Biographical Quotations about the world's favourite secret agent)

to be published by Blue Eyed Books

Quote of the Day originally posted on A2Z of Quotes

Friday, 4 June 2010

Izabella Scorupco: Quote of the Day - June 4th

QUOTE OF THE DAY - June 4th

Polish-born actress Izabella Scorupco (born this day in 1970) played Bond Girl Natalya Simonova in Goldeneye and made a great impression in the iconic supporting role to 007 ...

"I was the good Bond girl, but I wanted to have the dresses and the high heels. I wanted the funky, sexy name."

Izabella Scorupco

"Bond has a girlfriend with advanced computer skills (Izabella Scorupco, a deep-voiced model who looks as good as Mr. Brosnan, which is saying a lot)."

Janet Maslin in The New York Times (1995)

Taken from James Bond: Licence To Quote

(1500 Humorous Quotations about 007)

published by Blue Eyed Books

Quote of the Day originally posted on A2Z of Quotes

Wednesday, 2 March 2011

Happy Birthday Daniel Craig: James Bond turns 43.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to DANIEL CRAIG

Monday, 31 January 2011

John Barry R.I.P. (1933-2011) - James Bond musical legend remembered.

John Barry R.I.P. (1933-2011)

Friday, 27 August 2010

James Bond: Licence To Quote - The UK & US Books

JAMES BOND QUOTES BOOKS

Sunday, 27 June 2010

IN MEMORY: Albert 'Cubby' Broccoli - The Mastermind behind the James Bond movies

IN MEMORY: Albert 'Cubby' Broccoli - The Mastermind behind the James Bond movies

Monday, 7 June 2010

Jeffery Deaver - Is he the right writer for the new James Bond novel Project X?

Jeffery Deaver - Is he the right writer for the new James Bond novel Project X?

Saturday, 5 June 2010

Ken Follett: Quote of the Day - June 5th

Friday, 4 June 2010

Izabella Scorupco: Quote of the Day - June 4th

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