BuzzSugar

Buzz News Roundup, 1/30

BuzzSugar — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 13:30:33 -0800

ABC has ordered Lauren Graham's comedy pilot, while CBS wants pilots from three dramas. - The Hollywood Reporter
Over a month after Disney passed on The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader, 20th Century Fox has picked it up. - E! Online
Leonardo DiCaprio's production company will produce a biopic about James Bond creator Ian Fleming. - The Hollywood Reporter
There's a prequel to John Carpenter's 1982 horror-thriller The Thing in the works. - Variety
Emily Blunt and Jason Segel are joining Jack Black in Gulliver's Travels. - ComingSoon
Ellen Barkin will star in a half-hour comedy pilot for HBO. - Variety
Oscar-nominee Viola Davis will join Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler in the psychological thriller Law Abiding Citizen. - ComingSoon
Channing Tatum has been tapped to star in an adaptation of the David Morrell novel The Brotherhood of the Rose. - Variety
Madonna will crank up her Sticky & Sweet tour again this Summer with about 25 more shows, which will add to the total of what's already the top-grossing tour ever by a female or solo artist. - Billboard

Bond 22 Gets a New Title: Quantum of Solace

BuzzSugar — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 09:25:22 -0800

Reporters were informed today of the new title of what was previously Bond 22, and it's quite the mouthful: Quantum of Solace. For some reason I can't say this title without impersonating Sean Connery. It just sounds better that way. Anyway, the title was chosen from a story in the collection For Your Eyes Only by Bond creator Ian Fleming.

According to producer Michael G. Wilson "We thought it was an intriguing title and referenced what happened to Bond and what is happening in the film." The story picks up where the last film with Daniel Craig's Bond left off, "with Bond contemplating revenge after his betrayal by his true love, Vesper Lynd."

However, co-producer Barbara Broccoli (hee hee) insists this isn't a revenge movie, stating "It's a lot more complicated than that. It has lots of action but it also deals with the inner turmoil Bond is feeling."

What do you think of this new title? Is it appropriately James Bond-ish?

Bauer-Griffin

Casino Royale: Why the New Bond Is Better

BuzzSugar — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 10:05:09 -0800

To be frank, I never truly got into the James Bond movies of yesteryear. To me, they were silly, predictable, and, in many ways, laughable. Sure, it's interesting to see a young, dashing Sean Connery, since I've always known him as a kindly old uncle type. But the only other Bond I know more than just fuzzily is Pierce Brosnan, who's a little prissy and who, in my opinion, made for a flimsy 007.

These "eh" feelings toward Bond changed when I saw the new movie, Casino Royale. The film tells the story of James Bond's origins and how he came to be involved in this continuous string of spy adventures. Daniel Craig's Bond is interesting in that he's less suave, less debonair, and more coarse than most of the other Bonds before him. He bumbles missions, makes mistakes, loses his footing, and lets his pride get in the way. He's smart and funny, but not all the time.

According to Entertainment Weekly, the author of the Bond books, Ian Fleming, "never meant for Bond to be a hero. Said the author: 'I intended him to be a sort of blunt instrument wielded by a government department.'" In this movie, you definitely get a sense of that, so read more

Particularly interesting is the interplay between Bond and his "handler" (to use an "Alias" term) M, played by the ever-fantastic Judi Densch, who basically dismisses Bond's letter of resignation. I enjoyed relating to this Bond and feeling like it's a triumph for the "everyman" (er, a very tough version of the everyman) when he does succeed. He's one of us, we think. He falls in love and does dumb things and every once in a while throws out a zinger. I adored him.

The movie itself has a few flaws: It's rather on the longish side and a little more complicated than seems necessary. But the majority of the film is really interesting and enjoyable. It has a great balance of explosions-gunfire-beat-'em-up scenes and quieter, calmer, or tension-filled scenes. The female characters (with the exception of M, though Bond sometimes treats her like a nagging old aunt) are, as usual, either villains or victims. Having said that, however, the main "Bond girl," Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), is allowed a surprising degree of cleverness, wit, sass, and sensitivity. She is neither utterly ruthless nor a nincompoop nor simple eye candy. In fact, as far as appearances go, she is in some ways an unlikely choice: gangly, pale, and freckled, seemingly only a few years out of Britain's finest school for girls. I was consistently impressed with her ability to be sharp one moment and deeply vulnerable the next, and it's refreshing to see the writers/directors of a Bond movie allowing such traits in a girl.

It looks like that handsome Daniel Craig has reinvented Bond as we know it, creating a three-dimensional, complex character whose humanity makes us root for him. Or maybe it is simply those gorgeous, stunning, electric blue eyes. Whatever the cause, I absolutely cannot wait for the next one, Bond 22, which is already in pre-production!

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