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No Time to Die (2021)
Not your usual review
NO TIME TO DIE
J. M. MORRISSEY
The long awaited and long delayed James Bond film No Time To Die has finally opened. I went to an IMAX screening at Universal Studio's city walk cinema and was surprised to find there was no social distancing involved at all. The theater was packed and while I was masked throughout, there were customers sitting directly on either side of me. I thought about moving to another seat, but looking around I saw there were none to be had. Every seat was full. Combined with the films plotline of a nano virus threat, this made for some uneasiness, but I was determined that this was - and forgive me - no time to die. Take me later if you will, but I had been waiting for this movie for a long time and I would not be denied.
So, was it worth the wait?
Yes... and no.
And by no I mean I've reached an age where such enthusiasms seem childish.
And yet I had to admit that I delighted in some of the twists and turns rendered to a franchise that I'd seen since its very beginning.
God knows, the Bond films have had many a cringe worthy moment over the years but lately there seems to have been an attempt to delve into the character a bit more and that is where my continued interest lay. The elaborate action sequences will either satisfy the punters or not but I'm more concerned about this character who has held sway over my imagination through all the movies and all the books and all the ballyhoo down through the years. Granted he is a two-dimensional construct, especially in cinematic form, but he was occasionally grounded in reality. I related to him not as a fantasy figure but as a human being who's had to navigate life's relationships, just as we all do, whether they be at work or at home. I believe that is precisely why the Bond film's audiences tend to skew older. It's not merely for Nostalgia's sake, although that is undoubtedly a factor, but they are sharing life's travails with an old friend.
Love, marriage, the passing of friends; all tell us we're getting on but James Bond will return. There's a comfort in that consistency.
Maybe that's why the end of No Time To Die was so impactful for so many.
Maybe he won't return.
But just to make sure I stayed to the very end of the credits.
Yes, it appears our old friend will live on.
But in what form?
Hopefully he will reappear in a cold hard reboot with no Hollywood gimcrackery involved. No dream sequences, no re-animation from the dead thanks to the latest from Q branch, no retrofit to the fifties.
No, just cast it well and write hard.
Finally, I'll make you an offer 007. Come back to us in recognizable form...
And we will return.
Behemoth the Sea Monster (1959)
Outraged by the commentary
Yes, yes, yes, it's a pallid remake of Beast From 20,000 Fathoms with a mixed bag of effects, but the commentary by special effects masters Dennis Murren and Phil Tippett is condescending in the extreme. Granted their focus was on the special effects - which in many cases are poor due to a low budget - but their absolute ignorance about some of the cast members was shocking. Most particularly they were sarcastically dismissive of the great Jack McGowan who's credits include "The Quiet Man" and "Lord Jim" to name just a few. They didn't even realize that he was in "The Exorcist" and in fact died while making that film. In future, Warner Brothers might be better served by including commentaries by film makers (or even fans) who are not so narrowly focused and who might contribute to one's enjoyment of the film rather than detract from it.