Great choice Luke. Knowing your thoughts on Daniel Craig I don’t know if you’ve seen the ‘Knives Out’ films - if you haven’t I certainly wouldn’t rush to do so. Craig’s wardrobe, despite being completely overdone, is of interest even though it looks like he stepped out the too glossy pages of an imaginary Anderson and Sheppard Haberdashery mail order catalogue. His quite absurd accent can be reminiscent of listening to Shelby Foote without the wisdom. Those elements aside both films have practically nothing to recommend them – except for fact that they’re very much modern failed attempts I think to capture the feel of this classic. They’re marginally successful in that too.
Oh, I loved The Last of Sheila. So glad I downloaded it for keeps. Re Mr Craig, no I have as yet to see this. I like DC, but as you know, I think he's woefully miscast as 007. The point is that he's so different from Fleming's original creation, that I don't really see it as Bond any more. More like the Bourne Identity. Which ain't Fleming. I know others disagree, but hey, there you have it...
The view you've expressed before - of DC resembling a washing machine (or is it dishwasher) repair man, rather than a refined 1950-60's secret agent with a fondness for high stakes chemin de fer, always strikes me as very astute.
Exactly. Like somebody come to mend the washing machine. Horribly unfair, of course, but there's something in it. The muscled torso, the tight Tom Ford suits, the grizzled look- it's very blue collar. Any tats? Like a bouncer standing outside Chanel in Sloane Street. When Fleming's 007 is supposed to be a Bentley driving, clubbable civil servant, ex RNVR officer and wine and food buff.
....altho' you might argue that Harry Palmer, as a character, isn't timeless in the way Bond or Sherlock Holmes might be... but then, I dispute that! Bond is very much a product, actually, of the 1950s and Sherlock Holmes is very much a product of the 1880s.
I remember seeing that on first release when I went to see anything James Coburn was in, I think I’ve watched again once but certainly no more than twice since then.
Great choice Luke. Knowing your thoughts on Daniel Craig I don’t know if you’ve seen the ‘Knives Out’ films - if you haven’t I certainly wouldn’t rush to do so. Craig’s wardrobe, despite being completely overdone, is of interest even though it looks like he stepped out the too glossy pages of an imaginary Anderson and Sheppard Haberdashery mail order catalogue. His quite absurd accent can be reminiscent of listening to Shelby Foote without the wisdom. Those elements aside both films have practically nothing to recommend them – except for fact that they’re very much modern failed attempts I think to capture the feel of this classic. They’re marginally successful in that too.
Oh, I loved The Last of Sheila. So glad I downloaded it for keeps. Re Mr Craig, no I have as yet to see this. I like DC, but as you know, I think he's woefully miscast as 007. The point is that he's so different from Fleming's original creation, that I don't really see it as Bond any more. More like the Bourne Identity. Which ain't Fleming. I know others disagree, but hey, there you have it...
The view you've expressed before - of DC resembling a washing machine (or is it dishwasher) repair man, rather than a refined 1950-60's secret agent with a fondness for high stakes chemin de fer, always strikes me as very astute.
Or thinking about it, put it this way. Imagine taking Harry Palmer and turning him into a toff? Would that work?
Exactly. Like somebody come to mend the washing machine. Horribly unfair, of course, but there's something in it. The muscled torso, the tight Tom Ford suits, the grizzled look- it's very blue collar. Any tats? Like a bouncer standing outside Chanel in Sloane Street. When Fleming's 007 is supposed to be a Bentley driving, clubbable civil servant, ex RNVR officer and wine and food buff.
....altho' you might argue that Harry Palmer, as a character, isn't timeless in the way Bond or Sherlock Holmes might be... but then, I dispute that! Bond is very much a product, actually, of the 1950s and Sherlock Holmes is very much a product of the 1880s.
Makes me want to wear as Ascot every time I watch it.
I remember seeing that on first release when I went to see anything James Coburn was in, I think I’ve watched again once but certainly no more than twice since then.