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Bond at 50 || ||

'Skyfall' Producers On 007’s Post-9/11 Progressive Streak & Idris Elba Rumors: Could Bond Be Black, Gay, Or A Woman?

'Skyfall' Producers On 007’s Post-9/11 Progressive Streak & Idris Elba Rumors: Could Bond Be Black, Gay, Or A Woman?

Introspective masculinity, women on top, cross-dressing PSAs, gay undertonesthe James Bond franchise has come a long way in 50 years, most notably during the current era built around Daniel Craig’s serious Blond Bond with the icy blue eyes. Behind the scenes, producers Barbara Broccoli and her half-brother Michael G. Wilson set the record straight on recent Idris Elba-as-Bond rumors and pointed to the post-9/11 shift that spurred them to take Bond from the slick reign of Pierce Brosnan to the morally-complex brand of progressive contemporary heroism embodied in this week’s Skyfall.
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The Movieline Interview || ||

Bond Girl To Bad Girl: 'Skyfall' Siren Bérénice Marlohe Hints She's Going Gangster For Next Film

Bond Girl To Bad Girl: 'Skyfall' Siren Bérénice Marlohe Hints She's Going Gangster For Next Film

Bérénice Marlohe moves through Skyfall with the beauty and grace of a panther, and  there's a reason for that. In an interview with Movieline, the 33-year-old French-Chinese-Cambodian actress, who plays  the femme fatale Sévérine in Skyfall,  says she based her character, in part, on a mythical creature that was part-snake, part-dragon and part-jungle cat. more »

Newswire || ||

Daniel Craig Hints At 007 Exit, While Javier Bardem Turned Down Bond

Daniel Craig Hints At 007 Exit, While Javier Bardem Turned Down Bond

Ahead of Skyfall's theatrical roll out last month in the U.K. and this week's release in the U.S., Bond star Daniel Craig has said he's committed to two more 007 movies. But in a recent interview, Craig let on that he is holding out the possibility of departing the role as the debonair British operative. The film screened last night to packed crowds in NYC and L.A. The "Secret Screening" of the latest Bond packed Grauman's Chinese Theater Wednesday night at AFI Fest. more »

Biz Break || ||

'Man Of Steel' Heads To 3-D And 2-D; L.A. Voters Pass Porn Condom Measure: Biz Break

'Man Of Steel' Heads To 3-D And 2-D; L.A. Voters Pass Porn Condom Measure: Biz Break

Also in Wednesday evening's round-up of news briefs, Norway's Oscar entry is headed to U.S. theaters; Skyfall is tracking ahead of its predecessor at the box office; and DOC NYC opens in New York with Academy Award hopefuls.
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AFI Fest || ||

'Skyfall' Eyes Oscar Ambitions As 'Secret Screening' Is Set At AFI Fest Wednesday

'Skyfall' Eyes Oscar Ambitions As 'Secret Screening' Is Set At AFI Fest Wednesday

Skyfall is ready to get its L.A. close-up at AFI Fest Wednesday night. The latest James Bond film will have a "Secret Screening" tonight at the festival where free tickets are now available. The film, which has been a box office triumph in the U.K. where it opened in late October, has garnered critical acclaim and the title is even getting some early Oscar buzz - a feat that has eluded 007 over its 50 years.
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Review || ||

REVIEW: James Bond Is Reborn In Lavish, Fun & Relevant 'Skyfall'

REVIEW: James Bond Is Reborn In Lavish, Fun & Relevant 'Skyfall'

In his half-century of cinematic existence, James Bond has been cast and recast, refined, reinvented and rebooted. He's been declared a "sexist, misogynist dinosaur" and gotten his heart broken, and he's been dragged into the present, where he's had to find a new perch somewhere between gritty and ridiculous, between being a stoic modern action hero and a deliberately outsized fantasy remnant of, as one unamused minister puts it in Skyfall, a long gone "golden age of espionage."

Skyfall is American Beauty director Sam Mendes' first turn at the wheel of this venerable spy franchise, and he and screenwriters Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan have managed what feels like the best possible thing that could have happened to Bond: They've made him fun again. When Daniel Craig was put in the lead role and the character was brought back to his beginnings in Casino Royale, it brought a vividly contemporary jolt to the character — this Bond wasn't going to be off gathering information on al-Qaeda or anything, but his job was just as likely to involve messy killings as suave seductions, and the possibility of death and pain were much more real. It was a welcome revamp, if one that shifted the films into the orbit of the Bourne trilogy and risked stripping them of an essential element of Bond-ness. Chilly, rough-edged and not yet settled into his place at MI6, Craig's Bond was a little busy with love and revenge to make quips.

In Skyfall, Bond is literally reborn. During a mission-gone-wrong, he takes a hit that leaves everyone thinking he's dead. It's a misconception he's happy to let stand while he takes a potentially permanent sabbatical involving beachside booze, sex and brooding over a vague sense of betrayal. He's lured back by an attack on MI6 and on M (Judi Dench) masterminded by a computer genius named Silva (a terribly entertaining and menacingly flirtatious Javier Bardem). Bond ends his retirement because he knows he's needed. And, oh, he is. Skyfall acknowledges that Bond isn't a paragon of physical or martial arts perfection, or technologically savvy.  In contrast to the newly minted agent he played in Casino Royale, he's an old hand in this film, neither the fastest nor the youngest but still the best.

Skyfall acknowledges our need for some humanity in Bond without overloading him with angst. The film fondly brings back familiar franchise elements, including an entertainingly young Q (a sly Ben Whishaw) and another character whose reveal is best left discovered, along with an exotically beautiful paramour named Sévérine (Bérénice Marlohe) who's part victim and part femme fatale. Bond gets fewer silly gadgets these days, but he does have his awesomely fly car and a customized gun. And though he travels to such exotic locations as Shanghai, Macau and Istanbul, he also spends an unprecedented amount of time in his homeland, where he reintegrates himself with MI6, which is under political scrutiny,  and returns to his native Scotland where a just-enough sliver of backstory is revealed.

Skyfall makes explicit that Bond is a child of the United Kingdom.  His only consistent relationship is with his country, even though that country is willing to sacrifice him for the greater good should it be necessary. It's why, despite Bond's dalliances with Sévérine and fellow field agent Eve (Naomie Harris), the film's true Bond girl is M. The MI6 director's complicated role as stern taskmaster and surrogate maternal figure gets played out as Silva, who shares a past with M, targets her and Bond tries to protect her. Like Bond, M is as much a concept as a character, but, beneath their bickering, Dench and Craig find a credible tenderness that suggests their is immense mutual affection behind the bone-dry sniping.

Mendes isn't an exceptional director of action, and many of the set pieces are lavish and forgettable. The car chases through crowded streets and pursuits across rooftops look a lot like other blockbuster sequences that recently graced screens. He's better with character interactions and small touches: Bond straightening his cuffs after an improbable landing in a train; Bond watching a foe face a Komodo dragon and book-ending his adventure with unwilling dips in bodies of water.

Working with the great cinematographer Roger Deakins, Mendes also presents some stunning sequences of beauty in a film where you might not expect such a thing. A fight high atop a Shanghai skyscraper takes place in the dark against the neon advertising backdrop of a shifting jellyfish projected on the building's glass skin and ends with Bond meeting the gaze of someone in the building across the way, hundreds of feet up. Silva's high-tech lair is set on an island that's home to an abandoned city, while MI6 retreats with all its sleek gear to a historical location deep in London. The old and the new, the past and the ever-accelerating present — despite the body count, it's not death that Bond has to worry about, it's remaining recognizable and relevant. Skyfall manages to balance both in an uncommonly entertaining fashion.

Related: Check out Movieline's extensive coverage of Skyfall and the 50th anniversary of James Bond here.

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Biz Break || ||

Skyfall A Box Office Smash In U.K.; Donald Trump's Post-Election Meltdown (And Reaction): Biz Break

Skyfall A Box Office Smash In U.K.; Donald Trump's Post-Election Meltdown (And Reaction): Biz Break

Also in Wednesday morning's round-up of news briefs, theater chains are OKing Peter Jackson's Hobbit technology; Sundance Channel is developing programs by Robert Redford and Michael Fuchs; And the MPAA gives Obama a congratulations.
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Biz Break || ||

Skyfall Breaks U.K. Box Office Record; Peter Jackson Makes Hobbit Airline Safety Video: Biz Break

Skyfall Breaks U.K. Box Office Record; Peter Jackson Makes Hobbit Airline Safety Video: Biz Break

Also in Friday morning's round-up of news briefs, Jodie Foster will be this year's recipient of the Golden Globes' Lifetime Achievement Award; Jack and Diane and A Late Quartet are among this weekend's previewed Specialty Release newcomers; And Showtime set for new Roman Polanski doc.
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Bond at 50 || ||

James Bond's Sex Life By The Numbers − Busy Yet Conventional

James Bond's Sex Life By The Numbers − Busy Yet Conventional

With film bloggers and critics going on about how Skyfall is a James Bond movie that depicts 007 as a human being instead of a cartoon character, I want to draw attention to a smart infographic posted by TinyMaster on Visual.ly  that compiles some interesting data about where — and how many times — James Bond has hooked up over the 50 years he's been on the big screen. more »

Newswire || ||

Skyfall Shoots Up The U.K. Box Office

Skyfall Shoots Up The U.K. Box Office

Skyfall packed some punch at the British box office, becoming the biggest U.K. weekend for any James Bond film. The film is the 23rd putting for 007 and the debonaire spy displayed his ticket selling prowess, taking in £20.1 million ($32.36 million) after opening Friday at 587 theaters in the U.K. and Ireland.
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Bond at 50 || ||

Skyfall Scribe John Logan To Pen Two More Connected James Bond Pics

Skyfall Scribe John Logan To Pen Two More Connected James Bond Pics

With Skyfall's Daniel Craig seemingly winding down his reign as James Bond, it looks like screenwriter John Logan will be writing off into the sunset alongside him. Deadline reports that the Oscar-nominated Logan (Gladiator, The Aviator, Hugo) is writing two connected scripts that will likely see Craig through the last two 007 outings he's currently signed on for.
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Newswire || ||

Idris Elba A Possible Heir To James Bond Role

Idris Elba A Possible Heir To James Bond Role

Speculation is mounting in the U.K. over who will take over the reins as 007 post-Daniel Craig. Bond girl Naomie Harris delivered a bit of a news flash, saying that the next 007 may be Idris Elba. If so, the star of The Wire and films Prometheus and Thor would become the first non-Caucasian James Bond in his eternal 50 years.
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Newswire || ||

Daniel Craig Moved To Tears Hearing Skyfall Theme Song

Daniel Craig Moved To Tears Hearing Skyfall Theme Song

James Bond may be able to tussle with the world's most notorious evil-doers, but he's not able to resist the alluring sounds of singer Adele's soulful voice. 007 star Daniel Craig said that he cried when he first heard the theme song to Skyfall.
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Bond at 50 || ||

PHOTOS: Prince Charles Meets 007 On The 'Skyfall' Red Carpet

PHOTOS: Prince Charles Meets 007 On The 'Skyfall' Red Carpet

Daniel Craig shared a laugh with royal guest Prince Charles today at the Royal World Premiere of Skyfall in London, where the Prince of Wales and his +1, Camilla, greeted the Blond Bond and his co-stars Naomie Harris, Dame Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, and sultry new Bond girl Berenice Marlohe ahead of Skyfall's debut. (Charles seemed particularly taken with Marlohe — join the club, buddy.)
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Biz Break || ||

Skyfall Heads For Royal Premiere; Tony Scott Had 'Therapeutic' Drug Levels At Time Of Death: Biz Break

Skyfall Heads For Royal Premiere; Tony Scott Had 'Therapeutic' Drug Levels At Time Of Death: Biz Break

Also in Tuesday morning's round-up of news briefs: Shameless star Emmy Rossum set for Hilary Swank project; Colin Firth is set for a charity gala at the upcoming Dubai International Film Festival; And Oscar submissions for Best Animated Feature are almost due.
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