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Friday, February 1, 2013
One of the big highlights of late January for Bond enthusiasts everywhere was undoubtedly the DVD release on January 28 of the excellent and well-made documentary Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007, directed by the award-winning Stevan Riley. The documentary, which received a brief cinema release in selected cinemas in the UK in the month before the November premiere of Skyfall, tells the truly fascinating story of the early relationship between James Bond author Ian Fleming and the Bond producers Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli and Harry Saltzman. It explores the trials and tribulations of finally getting the Bond novels on the big screen, and contains some candid and surprisingly revealing interviews with a host of people who have been involved in the production of the 007 franchise over the last 50 years, including the former Bond stars George Lazenby, Sir Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and - last but not least - the current 007 Daniel Craig. Apart from some archive footage, Sir Sean Connery is notably absent, but still remains a key presence throughout the early story of the Bond films. Stevan Riley skilfully interweaves the background music and fictional scenes of the James Bond movies with historical insights into the real-life world of the production of the 007 franchise. Even though this is an officially-sanctioned documentary, there are also some welcome warts-and-all sections on the ‘battles’ between EON and Kevin McClory over ownership of the Bond character. All in all, the DVD is a must for all Bond fans. 
When Everything Or Nothing was first released last October, there were some very interesting articles about the documentary in the British media, including some revealing interviews. One of the most fascinating of these interviews appeared in the Sunday Express in October, when the director Stevan Riley was interviewed by Henry Fitzherbert. At one point, Riley was asked about Sir Sean’s ‘absence’ from the documentary (Sean gave no special interviews to Riley). Riley said: ‘Some people think the film is taking a dig at Sean but he had every right to reply and I couldn’t have told his story any other way, even if I wanted to’. Riley said he is a ‘big fan’ of Sir Sean and he had tried numerous times to reach the 82-year old Scot, who is based in the Bahamas: ‘All I wanted was a chance to speak to him on the phone but it was just ‘No’, ‘no’, ‘no’. Maybe he felt he had said all there was to say’. Riley also said that Barbara Broccoli remained very fond of Sir Sean: ‘They always had a very strong connection ever since she was a little girl and was ill on the set of You Only Live Twice and Sean gave up his bed for her in his hotel. The door is certainly open from her point of view’. 
In a major coup for the 85 th Oscars ceremony, it was announced from Hollywood on Wednesday, January 23, that the British singer Adele will perform her highly-acclaimed theme song to Skyfall live on stage during the glittering evening. The ceremony is due to take place on Sunday, February 24, at the Dolby Theatre at the Hollywood and Highland Centre in Los Angeles. The singer, who has also been nominated for an Oscar for the song, said it was ‘an honour’ to be nominated for the award and it was ‘terrifyingly wonderful’ to be singing in front of the people who have captured her imagination over and over again. She added: ‘It’s something I’ve never experienced and probably only ever will once’. Craig Zada and Neil Meron, the Oscars telecast producers, explained: ‘She is currently one of the most successful recording artists in the world, and we believe that her performance of Skyfall will be an exciting Oscar moment for audiences watching at the Dolby Theatre and on television screens around the world’. The JBIFC’s fingers are firmly crossed for Adele. 
Interesting news emerged in mid-January that the satellite and cable network channel Sky Atlantic will show a new TV drama later this year based on the life of James Bond creator Ian Fleming. The new four-part series, which was originally entitled The Man Who Would Be Bond, has the new working title of Fleming and will feature rising British star Dominic Cooper as the Bond author. 
There was a nice New Year treat for both Shirley Bassey and James Bond music fans in the UK on Friday, January 11, when BBC-4 screened a welcome repeat showing of the documentary ‘Shirley Bassey: The Girl from Tiger Bay’, first shown in 2009. This gritty, and sometimes quite revealing, documentary included insights into Shirley’s work with Bond composer David Arnold, who helped co-produce her ‘comeback’ album The Performance in 2009. There was a ‘realist’ on-the-spot feel to the documentary, as the camera followed the discussions and heated debates between Bassey, Arnold and other composers over which songs worked and which ones needed re-writing. The sheer stress of the hard work that often goes into such projects was very apparent at times. Released in November of that year, this was Bassey’s first solo album of original songs for three decades. 
There was some excellent news on January 23. Actor Earl Cameron, who played Pinder Romania in Thunderball (1965), received an honorary degree from Warwick University in the UK, in recognition of a lifetime’s achievement. Earl, who was born in Bermuda, became one of the first black actors to break the unofficial ‘colour bar’ in the UK’s film and TV world in the 1950s and 1960s. In Thunderball he played the calm Bahamian assistant to Bond and MI6 in Nassau, using his boating supplies shop as cover for his real role. Sean Connery’s 007 was supplied with logistical help from the basement of Pinder’s shop, while he investigated the suspicious activities of Largo and SPECTRE on the Islands. As well as his Bond movie role, Earl Cameron had numerous other parts in British TV series, including Danger Man, Dr. Who, Lovejoy and Kavanagh QC. In 2009, he was awarded a CBE by the Queen. The 95-year old actor, who lives in nearby Kenilworth, was presented with an Honorary Doctor of Letters (DLitt) at Warwick’s Winter Degree Ceremony. He was described by the University awards body as one of four ‘distinguished men and women who have made important contributions to cultural, intellectual, social, economic or political life’. Earl told the local media that he was ‘delighted’ to accept the award, and said he has loved every moment of his career. He added: ‘It is quite an honour indeed and I must admit it came as a tremendous surprise to me to be asked’. He has been in over 40 films and has also, he said, done ‘a huge amount of radio and theatre work’. The actor attended the awards ceremony with his 77-year old wife, Barbara. 
It’s quite astonishing for us here at the JBIFC to think about this, but this year will see the 30 th anniversary of the premiere of Octopussy (which took place on June 6, 1983), and various Bond websites are preparing to celebrate the movie, which was directed by John Glen, including ourselves. The premiere was the second ‘big’ premiere for the JBIFC after its formation in 1979 (we formed not long before the premiere of Moonraker), ‘big’ in the sense that various JBIFC members had followed the making of Octopussy very closely, visited the sets, met Roger Moore, and were able to attend the premiere in Leicester Square. Interestingly, the movie saw no less than three stars from Sweden with key roles: Maud Adams (in her second Roger Moore Bond movie), Mary Stavin and Kristina Wayborn. Our Swedish friends ‘From Sweden With Love’ (FSWL) certainly intend to celebrate the movie in style. It was the most successful Bond film since You Only Live Twice in Sweden in 1983-84, and FSWL carries regular updates on the still-glamorous Swedish Octopussy trio, along with news about all the other Swedish stars who have been involved with the James Bond films over the years, including, of course, Britt Ekland and, more recently, Ola Rapace (the dangerous henchman in the exciting pre-credit sequences to Skyfall). FSWL also have a wealth of other interesting information about the world of 007. Check out their website at: 
The still beautiful 62-year old actress Swedish actress Kristina Wayborn (whose real name is Britt-Inger Johansson) was a former Miss Sweden in 1970 and one of her very early film roles was the part of Claudine in the telemovie Victory at Entebbe (1976). But it was Kristina’s acclaimed portrayal of the famous Greta Garbo in the TV movie The Silent Lovers (1980) that led to her real ‘breakthrough’ into international movie-making. Her Garbo role brought her to the attention of the James Bond producers, who cast her as Magda in Octopussy (1983). Monday, January 21, 2013
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The Skyfall director Sam Mendes was interviewed by Kate Kellaway in the British Sunday newspaper The Observer on December 9, and offered some brief reflections on his experiences of overseeing the 23 rd James Bond movie. He also appeared to dampen down some of the rumours that have already automatically linked him to the next 007 film. As Bond fans are well aware, Daniel Craig’s third 007 adventure has been breaking numerous records in the UK and across the globe generally, and the 007 producers, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, went on record recently to especially thank the UK’s cinema-going public. They also thanked Daniel Craig and Sam Mendes in particular. At one point in the new Observer interview, however, Mendes, in response to a question from Kellaway about whether he would make the sequel, said: ‘It’s not true that I’ve worked out a new plot for Bond. Nor have I made any commitment to another Bond movie. I have said that I put everything I wanted into this film. The idea that I can simply start again makes me feel physically ill. I need to get back to the theatre, spend more time at home and then... and then it might be someone else’s turn’. 
With the recent demise of James Bond’s boss ‘M’ (Judi Dench) in the climax to Skyfall, there is now great interest in how Ralph Fiennes (Mallory in the movie) will play the new ‘M’ in Bond no. 24.In various interviews, Fiennes has remained notably tight-lipped about this. However, he has been offering a few comments about Skyfall in relation to the overall direction of the Bond movies. Some of his most interesting comments came when he was a guest on BBC Radio-4’s The Film Programme on November 29. Fresh from Skyfall, Fiennes talked mainly about his role as Magwitch in the new big-screen adaptation of the famous Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations, directed by Mike Newell. But, at one point in the interview, the programme’s host Francine Stock turned the discussion to Skyfall, noting how the new 007 movie had been ‘fantastically successful’. Stock quizzed Fiennes about his views on this, asking whether he thought the success was down to the mixture of ‘classic and contemporary’ in this particular Bond film? Ralph Fiennes responded: ‘Well, it seems that this new version with Sam Mendes directing has, sort of, somehow, the mix has worked – it has chimed with the time’. He continued: ‘I think people did feel with the last Bond film, Quantum of Solace, that perhaps it was trying to emulate the Bourne high kinetic editing style of the Bourne movies, and the charm, if you like, of the Bond thing – some of the spirit of it – had gone, so I think Sam, with the support of the Broccolis, wanted to reinvent it and remould it’. Fiennes added that both he and Mendes were of the same generation, now in their forties and fifties, who had grown up with Bond and saw a Bond film as ‘a mystical, exciting, sexy thing’, a kind of male cartoon escapism. 
The ‘Bond In Motion’ exhibition of 50 original James Bond movie vehicles, currently being staged at the UK’s National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, in the New Forest area of England, recently announced two pieces of exciting news for James Bond fans. First of all, the Beaulieu 007 exhibition has been such a resounding success that it has now been extended to run throughout 2013, and will now officially close on January 5, 2014. Secondly, the Motor Museum has announced that the iconic Aston Martin used in Skyfall is joining the exhibition, thus joining the two Honda CRF205R motorbikes and the Land Rover Defender 110 which featured in the dramatic Turkish opening sequences to the new Bond movie. The Museum’s Commercial Director, Stephen Munn, recently revealed in a press release that: ‘Since its opening, BOND IN MOTION has been an outstanding success, attracting over 400,000 visitors from all over the world’. 
According to 
The James Bond author undoubtedly loved Kent. In 1952 he purchased a beautiful house called ‘White Cliffs’, from his famous playwright friend Noel Coward (who was also an occasional guest at Fleming’s seaside residence). Fleming treated the property, located near the beach at St. Margaret’s Bay, as his weekend home and occasional holiday retreat when he was editing the ‘Atticus’ column while working at the Sunday Times newspaper. Interestingly, the Pines Garden Museum at St. Margaret’s Bay has a small exhibition of memorabilia relating to both Ian Fleming and to One of Fleming’s regular Pubs was the Duck Inn, Kent, where he would go for his favourite steak and kidney pie (and today there is a seat in the garden of the Pub which has a plaque dedicated to the creator of 007). Fleming’s love of the area can also be seen in his James Bond novels. He included the famous white cliffs at Dover and the surrounding areas in his early 007 adventure Moonraker and, again, references to nearby Margate can be seen in Goldfinger. Fleming, of course, was also a keen golf enthusiast and was a member of the Royal St. George’s golf Club in Kent (which in the novel Goldfinger became the fictional ‘Royal St. Mark’s golf Club’). In fact, it was at the St. George’s where the Bond author had a fatal heart attack in August, 1964, and tragically died soon after, aged just 56. 
Former Bond woman Rosamund Pike, who played the ice-cold Miranda Frost in Die Another Day (2002), was profiled in the Baz Bamigboye column in the UK’s Daily Mail on October 19. She was also interviewed in London’s free commuter newspaper the Metro on December 20, as part of the publicity for the new Tom Cruise thriller Jack Reacher, in which Rosamund plays lawyer Helen Rodin. The movie is based on the popular character created by author Lee Child. The 33-year old actress has been very busy recently: in 2012 she could be seen as the warrior princess Andromeda in Wrath of the Titans, and she has been filming more recently in the Simon Pegg comedy The World’s End. In her Mail profile, Pyke said she had found all the publicity glare of Die Another Day (her first big movie) quite ‘startling’, and said she had no comprehension then that she would be associated with Bond history for ever. But, ten years on, she sees it differently: ‘Now I’ve got perspective. Now it just seems like a very cool punctuation mark on the CV. It’s a cool club to part of’. 
Looking for a Christmas treat just for you? The team behind Cinema Retro magazine, a publication which explores and celebrates all aspects of the cinema of the 1960s and 1970s, recently produced a superb ‘movie classics’ special issue devoted solely to the first James Bond movie Dr. No. Packed full of breathtaking coverage and containing detailed discussion of Sean Connery’s debut film as 007, it has numerous rare photos and no less than 148 pages. The magazine really is a must-buy for dedicated Bond fans. There is, for example, a special article on how Ian Fleming’s 1958 novel was adapted for the big screen, plus an article on set designer Ken Adam written by Sir Christopher Frayling, and an exclusive interview with Johanna Harwood, who co-wrote the screen treatment for the 1962 movie. There are also fascinating pages on how the first Bond movie was received in the press and marketed around the world. Visit: 
Here is another possible idea for a great Christmas gift. Mark O’Connell, a dedicated Bond fan, recently penned a highly-entertaining paperback book entitled Catching Bullets: Memoirs of a Bond Fan, which has a prelude by Barbara Broccoli and a foreword by another uber-Bond fan, the actor Mark Gatiss. Mark O’Connell has a truly unique set of insights into the world of the Bond films: he is the grandson of Cubby Broccoli’s personal chauffeur! Already a successful comedy writer, the book is Mark’s first foray into writing a book based on his own personal memories of viewing the Bond world in the 1970s - from the perspective of a teenager whose granddad kept Cubby’s Rolls-Royce in his driveway! Cubby’s chauffeur was able to take his grandson Mark onto the sets of the Bond movies as they were being made, and it left a lasting impression on him. But the book is also about cinema culture in general. For example, in an interview in the Surrey Advertiser (October 26), designed to help promote his new book, Mark said: ‘It’s also a look at the last 50 years of British pop culture that hopefully will chime with a lot of people’. If you love Bond movies, this is a must-have book. 
When Sean Connery made Dr. No in 1962, it is estimated that he earned just $17,000 (still a nice sum for the then-relatively unknown star). By the time he was wooed back by United Artists chief David Picker to play 007 again in Diamonds are Forever (1971), Sean’s (at the time) record deal saw him earn a cool $1.25m, together with 12.5% of the movie’s profits, and an agreement by UA to finance two non-Bond films of his choice starring Connery. The Scottish star famously used his fee for his sixth Bond movie to establish the Scottish Educational Trust. Saturday, December 1, 2012
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As various members of the cast were interviewed live on stage just outside the premiere entrance at the back of the famous Albert Hall, the patient and eager onlookers were entertained to all the memorable songs from the previous James Bond movies, and for a few hours the Kensington area of Britain’s capital was dominated by Bond fever, with all the roads and pavements leading to the Albert Hall packed with spectators, autograph hunters, dedicated Bond fans, and curious people who were just simply passing by. All the main ‘crowd control’ metal barriers that lined the streets were adorned with large ‘Skyfall’ posters, while a special ‘media’ area had been created for TV news crews and official newspaper photographers to get the best shots of the main stars as they arrived. Nearby buildings also saw faces at every window, straining to catch a glimpse of the stars and guests, and some balconies overlooking the premiere site had groups of people chanting ‘Daniel! Daniel!’ in unison. This rose to a crecendo when the 007 star himself arrived. When Craig looked up and waved at the balcony crowds, there was a massive cheer from them. Later that evening, at the lavish ‘Skyfall’ post-premiere party held at the Tate Modern on London’s south bank, overlooking the River Thames, Daniel Craig summed up the euphoria. Sipping a Martini (what else?!), he told the London Evening Standard newspaper: ‘How could I not enjoy this? The whole night has been incredible. We had an amazing team working on the film and we’ve created something we are all proud of’. Craig added: ‘We’ve been at the Royal Albert Hall in the presence of royalty and then on to Tate Modern – this is probably the most memorable night of my career. I just feel honoured, and it shows you what Bond means to everyone’. 
The next day, the London Evening Standard devoted part of its editorial comment page to the high-profile impact of the 007 premiere in Britain, confirming that the new Bond film was ‘a vintage production’, and telling its readers: ‘At 50, Bond is no mere action hero: he is an institution’. Within days, the public’s love of this ‘institution’ soon became very apparent again. When ‘Skyfall’ went on general release in Britain on Friday October 26, it was clear that Daniel Craig had also been spot-on in his comments on premiere night, as the subsequent fantastic box office success of the new Bond movie strongly demonstrated that there remains a tremendous thirst for all the thrills and sheer escapism of each new 007 adventure. In Britain, and in many other countries and key markets around the globe, enthusiastic cinemagoers have rewarded ‘Skyfall’ with massive attendance figures, and there can be no doubt that 007 has returned to the screen in triumph. In Britain, the movie easily became the biggest film at the British box office in 2012, and by the weekend of November 10-11 had made over £57m. In response, EON producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson stated to the press: ‘We are thrilled and proud to reach this box office landmark in record time, and are delighted that UK audiences continue to enjoy Skyfall’. 
It is no exaggeration to say that James Bond 007 has become a cultural phenomenon in many parts of the world, and is certainly a major export for everything ‘British’. The movie has generated record-breaking attendance figures throughout Europe and, when it went on general release in Canada and the USA on November 9, ‘Skyfall’ broke opening weekend records, quickly taking in £55m ($87.8m) in its first weekend alone. By November 23, the Hollywood Reporter had reported that ‘Skyfall’ had made a massive $669m globally. As we write, the movie has only just been toppled from its no.1 position in the USA and other key markets by the latest and final entry in the ‘Twilight’ movie series. But Bond’s staying power is legendary. The new Bond movie has just opened very strongly in Australia and New Zealand, and moves to Japan in December. All the indications are that ‘Skyfall’ could become the most successful Bond movie in the history of the franchise. 
The veteran 007 screenwriting duo Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, two of the writers behind the story for ‘Skyfall’, were interviewed in the UK’s Sunday Express newspaper on October 14, and gave some interesting background on the origins of the new James Bond movie. In an interview with showbiz columnist York Membery, the talented pair spoke about the plot for the new Bond movie and about their film writing careers generally. The interview opened with a discussion of how, at one stage, Purvis and wade faced their own 007-style race against the clock to deliver the screenplay of the new 007 movie to the producers in Los Angeles. It was 2.00am in the morning UK time, and they had to deliver the screenplay by first light. Neal Purvis said there is nothing like a deadline ‘for concentrating the mind’. However, not only did the duo deliver the untitled script on time, but inadvertently created the eventual title. Wade explained: ‘We needed a haunting place name. I just plucked it out of the air, and it turned out to be something that struck a chord with the filmmakers’. 
No sooner had Bond 23 been released in the UK than some (unofficial) news emerged about Bond movie no.24! According to press reports on Friday October 26 in both Britain and America, ‘Skyfall’ co-writer John Logan has already been hired as the solo screenwriter for the next James Bond movie (‘Bond 24’), which will be ready to hit the cinema screen in the autumn of 2014 (or possibly in 2015). The showbiz writer Baz Bamigboye, whose track record on Bond news has been fairly accurate in the past (and who was a guest at the ‘Skyfall’ premiere in London), writing in his regular column in the UK’s Daily Mail newspaper, claimed that plans are well under way for Daniel Craig’s next 007 thriller. Bamigboye asserted that Bond 24 ‘is already in pre-pre-production’ (as he put it), the plan being to start shooting the movie at Pinewood Studios ‘around this time next year’, so that it would be ready for cinema release in the autumn of 2014. Moreover, Bamigboye added that screenwriter Logan, who was brought in to re-write and polish the existing ‘Skyfall’ screenplay created by Bond regulars Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, will pen the Bond 24 script on his own. Bamigboye revealed that Purvis and Wade, who have worked on every Bond film since the ‘The World Is Not Enough’ in 1999, had decided it was time to move on. An unnamed executive associated with the two writers apparently told Bamigboye: ‘They’ve had a tremendous run’. 
In a press release issued from Dohar, Qatar, on November 19, 2012, where Neal Purvis and Robert Wade were taking part in a master-class on screenwriting at the Fourth Doha Tribeca Film Festival, the writing duo officially confirmed the news that they were relinquishing their Bond writing duties. Wade said: ‘We’re very happy to have done five Bond movies, I think we’ve gotten it to a good place. I know that John Logan and Sam Mendes have come up with a plot for another one, which takes the pressure off because these films take up a lot of time’. His co-writer Purvis added: ‘We were going to stop with Quantum of Solace, but it’s good to go out on a high with Skyfall’. It is difficult to measure the enormous amount of work both Purvis and Wade have contributed to British film-writing generally, and to the Bond film franchise since 1998-99. After meeting when they were both aged just 22, they spent a great deal of time trying to break in to the highly competitive world of script-writing. Having been together for 28 years now, Purvis and Wade estimate that, since 1984, they have written a total of 41 complete scripts, with just 10 made into full films. Such is the tough world of film-making. 
Former 007 Sir Roger Moore was the guest host on the BBC’s popular comedy news-quiz show ‘Have I Got News For You’, which was screened on Friday, November 23 in the UK. A longer, uncut version was also transmitted on Monday, November 26. Sir Roger, as always, was in fine humorous form and, very early on in the programme, even managed to get a direct plug in for his new hardback book ‘Bond on Bond’! At one point, Roger also told a rather racy story about the late Herve Villechaize (Nick-Nack), who died in 1993, and who in 1974 had something of a ‘reputation’ for his numerous visits to the clubs and massage parlours in Bangkok during the making of ‘The Man With The Golden Gun’. At another point in the programme, Sir Roger ‘accidently’ shot a member of the audience with a bullet-firing biro pen. What would ‘Q’ say? The losing panel on the quiz show were also threatened with a Stromberg-style shark pool! Saturday, November 24, 2012
Step 1: Go buy a turkey
Step 2: Take a drink of bourbon, scotch, or whiskey
Step 3: Put turkey in the oven
Step 4: Take another 2 drinks of whiskey
Step 5: Set the degree at 375 ovens
Step 6: Take 3 more whiskeys of drink
Step 7: Turn oven the on
Step 8: Take 4 whisks of drinky
Step 9: Turk the bastey
Step 10: Whiskey another bottle of get
Step 11: Stick a turkey in the thermometer
Step 12: Glass yourself a pour of whiskey
Step 13: Bake the whiskey for 4 hours
Step 14: Take the oven out of the turkey
Step 15: Take the oven out of the turkey
Step 16: Floor the turkey up off the pick
Step 17: Turk the carvey
Step 18: Get yourself another scottle of botch
Step 19: Tet the sable & pour you a glass of turkey
Step 20: Bless the saying, pass and eat out!
Happy Thanksgiving and Christmas!
With Thanks To :
Monday, October 22, 2012
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During the final weekend before the premiere of the 23rd James Bond movie, the British media gave us another generous round of what has been a mini-avalanche of Bond-related material in recent weeks.
Three days before the premiere of ‘Skyfall’, an interview with Daniel Craig also appeared in the weekend magazine of the UK’s Daily Telegraph newspaper (October 20). Conducted last June, about a week after Daniel completed filming on the new James Bond movie, the interview took place at Claridge’s Hotel in London, where members of the British media had been invited as part of the publicity campaign for ‘Skyfall’. The interviewer, Vicki Reid, noted that, whereas Craig’s first two 007 adventures were ‘quite dark’, his third Bond movie will see a return of what might be called the more traditional ‘cinema’ elements of the film series, such as the wry humour, the gadgets, and the over-the-top villains. All these have featured in the most recent films, but had been played down. Craig said: ‘It’s got some fun in it, but it’s not forced. I’m not winking at the camera. The writing’s really good, and I think that lends itself to humour...’. 
Who is Daniel Craig’s favourite Bond woman? The UK’s Sunday Express tackled this interesting question on October 21. The answer may surprise some people, but possibly not dedicated Bond fans: it is Diana Rigg, who played Tracy Di Vicenzo in ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ (1969). The ‘Skyfall’ star was quoted by the Express as saying: ‘Diana Rigg is kind of my favourite, she’s just great in that movie, she stands out for me’. But the Express spoilt its report somewhat by claiming that the 1969 movie is regarded as ‘the least favoured of the franchise’. Really? We think not. However, the Express then tried to claw back a little bit of credibility by noting that Sir Roger Moore has said (again) that he would like to come back as a Bond villain. The newspaper offered a nice little cartoon of a surprised Daniel Craig discovering Sir Roger dressed as Blofeld, complete with white cat, and saying: ‘Ah, Mr. Bond. You weren’t expecting ME!’ 
Among the large number of Bond-related articles that have appeared in magazines over the last few weeks, there was one magazine that seems like an old friend from the past: Starburst magazine, which was a favourite of many Bond fans for its 007 coverage in the 1970s and 1980s. The glossy British magazine boasts that it is the world’s longest-running magazine of sci-fi, horror, and fantasy, and (pleasingly) it has seen something of a renaissance in recent times. Recent issues have included some great Bond coverage. The latest issue (no.381, for October 2012) has maintained this tradition with style. With Daniel Craig firmly on the front cover, the October issue (a ‘Skyfall’ special) contains a preview of the new Bond movie, an article on the world of Ian Fleming, a ‘Beginner’s Guide’ to Ian Fleming’s Bond novels, a short article on the original American TV version of ‘Casino Royale’ transmitted in the 1950s, an exploration of the Bond strip cartoon that appeared in the Daily Express, a profile of the Bond villains, a look at the 1967 film version of ‘Casino Royale’, a profile of Bond’s vehicles and gadgets, an article on the Charlie Higson ‘Young Bond’ adventures, a profile of the Bond women in the movies, a discussion of the ‘Bonds we never had’, an article on the Bond film that Quentin Tarantino wanted to make, a profile of the ‘Top ten’ Bond stunts, a Starburst readers’ poll on their favourite Bond movie, an interview with Honor Blackman, and an article on ‘Bond at Fifty’. Phew! All that for just £3.95. A bargain, 007. 
It has been called the most famous car in the world. Given that Bond’s iconic Aston Martin makes a welcome return in ‘Skyfall’ (including during the London and Scottish sequences), there has been a lot of interest again in the vehicles of 007, especially in the view of the fact that many of them have been on display at the special ‘Bond in Motion’ exhibition at Beaulieu, in the New Forest area of Britain, which has seen thousands of visitors. ‘Global James Bond Day’ on October 5 also saw Bond’s Aston Martin DBS from ‘Quantum of Solace’ makes the largest amount of money at an auction for charity held at Christie’s in central London. The UK’s ‘Collector’s Gazette’ magazine (no.344, for November 2012) has celebrated the Aston Martin with a special article on ‘Bond Collectables’, by Jim Stevenson, which explores the various diecast and other model versions of the Aston Martin which have appeared since the 1960s. Mint-boxed, the original Corgi Toys Aston Martin is now worth hundreds of pounds. Auric Goldfinger would be proud! Thursday, October 11, 2012
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