The 10 Best Moments from Dr. No (1962): Countdown to Skyfall— Nov. 9th!

Spoilers, of course. Although at times I've been purposefully oblique: if you're a fan, you'll get the references.

And now my list of the top ten best moments from Dr. No, the first 007 outing. I've tried to pick actual individual moments rather than sequences. What are your favorite moments?

10. Spotting "Freelance" at the last moment, Bond holds up his (Trilby) hat, obscuring his face from the photo she's taking.

9. Seeing Professor Dent about Strangways' inquiry, as Bond's about to leave, he steps back in and retrieves Strangways' receipt.

8. Bond tries to retain his Beretta by sneaking it out after being ordered to use the Walther PPK, but M tells him to leave it.

7. After escaping the spider, Bond dispenses with it, to appropriate music cues.

6. Realizing that Bond bed her opportunistically, Miss Taro spits in his face.

5. Dr. No, with his steel hands, can't pull himself up from impending doom.

4. In cold blood, 007 cuts down Dr. No's henchman Professor Dent.

TOP THREE

3. The introduction of the gun barrel logo.

2. Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress, as the first Bond girl) emerges from the water in a white bikini.

1. Sean Connery inaugurates the self-introduction: "Bond, James Bond."

The strength of Dr. No is in how it set up so many of the recurring elements of the Bond movies; in terms of the series as a whole, it falls somewhere middle-of-the-pack, but it remains an always enjoyable film to re-visit.

For good measure, what I think is the worst moment from Dr. No: Dr. No crushes a (clearly rubber prop) metal figurine in an attempt to be menacing ("... usually when a man gets in my way....")

The 10 Best Moments from Climax!: "Casino Royale" (1954): Countdown to Skyfall— Nov. 9th!

Spoilers, of course. 

Here's my list of the top ten best moments from Climax!: "Casino Royale". I've tried to pick actual individual moments rather than sequences. What are your favorite moments?

10. Bond explains in just a few words the basics of baccarat as cover talk when consulting with Leiter, but this also serves to explain the game to the audience.

9. Bond kisses Valerie and says it's for "old times sake," than says "this is for now" and plants another one on her.

8. Leiter, fast on his feet, outsmarts Le Chiffre's henchman, who's trying rob him of Bond's stake money before the game.

7. After Bond is miraculously resupplied with money, he takes Le Chiffre on the next hand 4 to 3.

6. Le Chiffre announces: "It's about time we stopped joking, I think he's ready for the bathtub."

5. Bond sees Le Chiffre's cigarette case, and his chance to cut himself free.

4. Le Chiffre lays it out for Bond: "I'm quite without mercy.... you'll be tortured to the edge of madness."

TOP THREE

3. As Bond stakes the money for his last hand with Le Chiffre, a cloud of smoke rolls by (whether this was intentional or otherwise, nice moment).

2. Le Chiffre holds a razor blade to Valerie's neck.

[Note: there is a version that floats around missing this final sequence; watch the You Tube video that has a running time of 51:50 here, which is NOT the one labeled "full film"]

1. Straight from the book and well-handled in this "live" TV presentation, Bond throws himself backward, knocking the gun-cane from Le Chiffre's henchman.

Climax!: "Casino Royale" (1954) is a well-done early American TV presentation, boosted by good performances and a fairly faithful adaptation of the source material.

For good measure, what I think is the worst moment from Climax!: "Casino Royale": for what this is, a "live" TV presentation, again, it's pretty good, so it's hard to quibble: but I guess the gun shots at the start are pretty crudely done, with Barry Nelson just kind of waiting for them to go off.

Countdown to Skyfall ~ The Best of Bond

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the James Bond films and to countdown the days until the new one, starting tomorrow, I will profile the canon of 007 movies (the 22 Eon productions + the "live" 1954 TV presentation of "Casino Royale" [from the American dramatic anthology series Climax!], the 1967 Casino Royale spoof, and Never Say Never Again), creating a list of the top ten moments from each one.  As a fan of the series, creating these top ten movie moments lists will be a blast and will get me (and hopefully you fellow 007 watchers) in the mood for the latest Bond adventure: Skyfall. On November 9, I'll compile the top ten James Bond moments of all-time from all of these lists to coincide with the US opening of Skyfall. 

(In my August 3rd blog entry, I graded each film in response to the Entertainment Weekly list.)

Skyfall International TV Trailer Best Yet

Just saw this on the MI6 007 fan site... and to me its better than the previous teaser/trailers. Although I don't like to see TOO much of the movie beforehand.

First Color Moving Images from 1902 Found & Restored

The most interesting shot for me comes at the very end, showing a London street.  How amazing that this was accomplished. What a shame Edward Raymond Turner died right after making the films, but film lives forever, and thus now, all these years later, so does his legacy.

Shows I'm Watching

I've always thought that the inherent problem with the Emmy Awards versus the Oscars is that it's impossible to watch all the "great" shows, simply due to the time it would take.  With movies, it's technically "impossible" but you can come close.  If you see 50-odd movies a year and make an effort to watch all of the critically-acclaimed ones (either at the theater/DVD/or screener) you can offer a pretty good opinion.  When the Oscar nominations come out, if you've already seen said 50-odd movies, it is possible to see all of the other nominated films. Now think of TV and the Emmys. No one sees the entire run of all or even nearly all of the acclaimed shows on the air.  Then, when the nominations come out, let's face it, even if you tried, you couldn't get through even 1/100 of the nominated shows.  Right? If you were being completely fair, you'd have to watch the entire run of each sitcom and each drama to vote.  (I know a handful of episodes of each are given as screeners, but I suspect no one watches even all of these say 3 episodes-per-show each.) It's just the nature of TV.

I used to try to "keep up" with TV, but those days have passed.  The older I get, the more I (a.) still see my 60-movies-a-year, and have a pretty solid continually contemporary opinion of the movies but (b.) watch less and less TV: stick to my "favorites"; sample here and there; never watch a show because it's "good for me."

That whole diatribe is my way of introduction for the following: a list of my current favorite shows (i.e. everything I watch in order of favorites).  My criteria is simple.  I only watch shows for which I can't wait to see the next episode. Gone are the days of 4 episodes languishing on my DVR because I'm not "in the mood."  I've dropped those shows. And I'm a happier man for it! I recommend it.

Shows I watch, in order of favorite:

1.) The League (season 4, premiere: October 11th) Never in a million years would I have thought that The League would end up my favorite series.  Last season I was DVR'ing each individual episode when I saw the hysterical promos during It's Always Sunny, then just set a series recording because it was turning out to be every week! I had seen a few of the episodes from both seasons 1-2: I've since watched them all.  It's so brilliantly funny; the characters are great; the guest stars deliver.

2.) Archer (season 4, premiere: ?) Every episode isn't a knock out of the park, but I can't get enough.  The good thing is they don't overdo it: 13 episodes a season is a "leave 'em wanting more" formula.  And to tide us over was the brilliant book How to Archer, a MUST, I loved it-- hilarious!!

3.) Parks and Recreation (season 5, premiere: September 20th) Aged to perfection.  Can't wait for the new season.

4.) It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (season 8, premiere: October 11th) One of my favorite shows of all-time.  Unlike most people though I don't protest when my favorite show gets cancelled.  Every dog has his day.  I think the "gold standard" of 7 seasons set by The Mary Tyler Moore Show was close to target (I might even vote for 5 or 6).  Shows just shouldn't be run into the ground.  I would so much rather see the "gang" in another show with different characters. Or even better, I wish they'd collaborate on a really great movie that took 2 years to produce.  I'll always love Sunny but with a guaranteed 9 seasons and an option for 10, my formerly #1-solid show is starting to tumble down my top ten...

5.) Wipeout (season 5 currently airing, renewed for a 6th season premiere: TBD [December 2012?]) My guilty pleasure.  I know this is gonna sound weird, but I love the writing!  Smarmy sometimes works well. And who doesn't love Smallsy? I'll miss Vanessa though, *sniffle*!

6.) Family Guy (season 11, premiere: September 30th) I haven't watched Family Guy from the beginning, but I've watched it for quite some time.  It remains fresh and funny despite the years: this may be the exception to long runs— animated series— although I've long since stopped watching The Simpsons, which surely would have been in my top ten, you know, in the '90s.

7.) Breaking Bad (season 5, part 2 premiere: summer 2013) OK, I've identified my biggest issue with Breaking Bad right there: season 5, part 2— one year from now?  Dudes, we know you said you'd wrap it up in 5 seasons and decided to get greedy.  Call it season 6.  We won't fault you.  But why do we have to wait an entire year? Having said that, the show is still pretty damn good.  I feel a little padding here and there (translation— in season 5: part 1 whenever Mike was on-screen it was amazing, and when he wasn't, I was climbing the walls), leading to usually one episode sitting on my DVR these days, unlike in seasons past. But just one. And yes BB fans, I know I've placed this show under Wipeout.  I just have to be honest, my Wipeouts never remain on the DVR.  BB seasons 2-3 and even 4 were way near the top of my list.

8.) 30 Rock (season 7, premiere: Oct. 4th) I'm sensing a "theme" to this blog post, because ta-da 30 Rock is doing it right.  Although it's had its ups and downs episode-quality-wise for me, it's a series that knows how to bow out gracefully with this 13-episode final season.  If not for this, I might have dropped the series, but for 13 last episodes, they've got me.

9.) Modern Family (season 4, premiere: Sept. 26th) I like it, but let's not pretend we're curing cancer.

10.) Survivor (season 25, premiere: Sept. 19th) I dropped Survivor for a few seasons in the early years, but have stuck with it since "All-Stars," so it's been quite a consecutive run of late.  The only problem is the last season ("One World") was terrible. Will I watch season 25? Probably. (I mean Blair is gonna be on it.) And especially as next season, 26, is an expected "Fans Vs. Favorites."  But it really is time to wrap it up.

11.) Saturday Night Live (season 38, premiere: September 15th) If I had a nickel... for ever time someone told me SNL wasn't funny anymore and then cited the "best" seasons as those which "coincidentally" coincided with their mid-20s.  The fact is, SNL probably peaked in 1979.  It seems to me that the show has exactly one great episode a season.  I think I watch SNL because it's a culturally interesting way to mark time. I also like that it has kept that old-fashioned traditional Sept. to May season schedule. I do fast-forward when I get to a recurring sketch I hate: life is too short (example: "Garth and Kat"). Very excited that Daniel Craig has been announced as a guest host for October.

12.) Star Wars: The Clone Wars (season 5, premiere: September 29th) I watched the first two seasons or so of SW:TCW and dropped out.  When I saw the promo for season five (with Darth Maul, etc.), I thought I'd make a return visit.

13.) The Office (season 9, premiere: September 20th) Probably the least-hip, most-maligned series I watch.  The switch-up in cast has kept this series going a la Law & Order, however, it also had me dropping it for a few seasons in between. I returned for James Spader, which ended up being sort of a bait-and-switch, because he wasn't on it too much, nonetheless I enjoyed my return to The Office.  Season 9 is teetering on the edge though. Now that Spader is completely off, I might be done. Will at least tune in to the first couple.

14.) Don't Trust the B... (season 2, premiere: Oct 23rd) I watched the entire first season, and think I may have had my fill.  I'll check out at least the first episode of season two.

15.) America's Got Talent (season 7 currently airing)— my "one season pass" this summer was enough. Acceptable, but not must-see TV.

People on Mars: Mars One in 2023

I don't care what anyone says, I'm excited about Mars One!  Yes, there is danger, which I'm cognizant of, but hoping all goes well, this mission is WAY ahead of all previously discussed manned missions to Mars (I've frequently heard 2030s) and I really would like to see a man on Mars. Additionally, as there are several stages involved (see timeline), this means that we'll have not one, but two more rovers on Mars in 2018 (the other being ExoMars' rover) [the only two rover missions currently on the books].  Will they get the funding? That remains to be seen, I guess.  A long wait, but nice to know we're making progress.

They have their own videos on their site, but this is a nice video summary too.