Showing posts with label 007. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 007. Show all posts

Monday, September 24, 2012

More exciting behind-the-scenes video of new 007/James Bond film, "Skyfall" in London, Turkey and Shanghai with Daniel Craig, Judi Dench and director Sam Mendes; #SKYFALL, #007


Reviewing what we already know -the second U.S trailer for Skyfall
http://www.sonypictures.com/previews/movies/skyfall/clips/5074/

"Some men are coming to kill us. We're going to kill them first."

Skyfall, directed by Sam Mendes, opens in U.K. cinemas October 26th and in U.S. theaters November 9th, and as everyone has known for months because it's the worst-kept 'secret' of the year, Adele will be singing the new title song. 
As I've mentioned in my previous posts about this film, Skyfall is the first 007 film to be only filmed in IMAX.


jamesbond007 video: Naomie Harris and Bérénice Marlohe on their roles in new 007 film, Skyfall.  Uploaded September 20, 2012. http://youtu.be/diFTdVBYISg
M: "Think on your sins."


jamesbond007 video: Skyfall director Sam Mendes and Daniel Craig talk about the role of the London locations to show the essential Britishness of James Bond by showing real but iconic places he would frequent, but from unusal and perhaps even menacing perspectives. Uploaded August 16, 2012. http://youtu.be/dl218z68iC4


Amazing Shangai will clearly be a big co-star of the new James Bond film and a revelation for people who have never traveled there.
http://www.sonypictures.com/previews/movies/skyfall/clips/4858/


jamesbond007 video: On the set in Turkey for the shooting of the opening sequences of the film that sets up the premise. Uploaded September 7, 2012. http://youtu.be/sYEpEseJl9U


See the studio stage here, including a 360 view, at:
http://www.pinewoodgroup.com/our-studios/uk/pinewood-studios/stages/007-stage-pw

Visit the official website at http://www.007.com 

See more 007/Skyfall videos at their official YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesbond007

See who else Likes James Bond at http://www.facebook.com/JamesBond007 

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Ending the Season 5 finale of "Mad Men" with Nancy Sinatra singing "You Only Live Twice" was sheer genius!; #YOLT;


amc video: Talked About Scenes - Episode 513 of Mad Men: Are You Alone? June 11, 2012. http://youtu.be/FH9iSl04rZo


Ending the Season 5 finale of "Mad Men" with Nancy Sinatra singing "You Only Live Twice" was sheer genius!; #YOLT


You know why that's so if you know about Don Draper's true identity.


Title sequence of "You Only Live Twice" with Nancy Sinatra singing title song.
http://youtu.be/hcIl_6amBvU
The iconic song was composed by John Barry and Leslie Bricusse. 


Earlier in the episode in what is now 1967, Don Draper goes to a Manhattan movie theater to see a matinee performance of the the new 007 spoof, "Casino Royale," starring Peter SellersDavid Niven Orson Welles, Ursula Andress and Woody Allen.
On an island of millions, whom do you think Don finds already sitting there in the theater by her lonesome as the film's score is playing, when she ought to be in her office at her new job at another advertising agency working on the women's cigarette account she was just assigned?
Yes, none other than Don Draper protégé Peggy Olson.



Casino Royale (1967) - opening credits. Music composed by Burt Bachrach, performed by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. 
http://youtu.be/SSEmKXzpQMQ


That film is also known for the Oscar Best Song-nominee, The Look of Love by Burt Bachrach and Hal David, sung by Dusty Springfield in the film.


It lost to Talk to the Animals from Doctor Dolittle, which was composed by -wait for it
You Only Live Twice co-composer Leslie Bricusse 



Casino Royale 1967 Dusty Springfield The Look of Love.
http://youtu.be/IW_kMtut25M
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New York Times
The ‘Mad Men’ Season Finale: Series Creator Matthew Weiner Discusses ‘The Phantom’
By Dave Itzkoff, June 11, 2012, 2:58 PM
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/11/the-mad-men-season-finale-series-creator-matthew-weiner-discusses-the-phantom/


http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men

Monday, May 21, 2012

First teaser trailer for new James Bond film, Skyfall, released today! "Some men are coming to kill us. We're going to kill them first." Skyfall opens in U.K. on Oct. 26th and in U.S. on Nov. 9th



The first teaser trailer for the new James Bond film, Skyfall, was released today to set the mood for the millions of eager 007 fans around the world. May 21, 2012. http://youtu.be/xJ4dAY3DW4c

"Some men are coming to kill us. We're going to kill them first."

Skyfall, the first 007 film to be only filmed in IMAX, opens in the U.K. on October 26th and in the U.S. on November 9th, the first Friday after the election.
Directed by Sam Mendes and starring Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Javier Bardem and Naomie Harris. And yes, once upon a time, the amazing Rachel Weisz dated Mendes for three years before breaking-up in 2002; she's now married to Craig since last year's surprise wedding.

Over 284,000 people have already seen this teaser within the first 12 hours it's been online...


New SKYFALL Production Videoblog. May 3, 2012. http://youtu.be/GK5ws85Rxd8

See the studio stage here, including a 360 view, at:
http://www.pinewoodgroup.com/our-studios/uk/pinewood-studios/stages/007-stage-pw

Visit the official website at http://www.007.com 

See more 007/Skyfall videos at their official YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesbond007

See who else Likes James Bond at http://www.facebook.com/JamesBond007 


Robbie Williams -  Millennium
http://youtu.be/BJ5uIkJDb6o

In a word, brilliant!!!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

You Only Live Twice -Sometimes when you least expect it, from the most unlikely of sources, comes something to smile about: Freddie Wadling on SVT's 'Go'kväll' and "Skavlan'


SVT video: Freddie Wadling - You Only Live Twice (Live Go'Kväll 2011) December 14, 2011. http://youtu.be/LN_ISU_wMQY


You Only Live Twice -Sometimes when you least expect it, from the most unlikely of sources, comes something to smile about: Freddie Wadling with Fläskkvartetten on SVT's Go'kväll and Skavlan.

At 46:35 below, the title song from the 1967 James Bond/007  film "You Only Live Twice," by John Barry and Leslie Bricusse, originally sung by Nancy Sinatra, here with vocals by Freddie Wadling and music by Fläskkvartetten

SVT video: Skavlan, Episode 13 of 13, Christmas Special
Originally aired December 31, 2011

This video is available on the SVT website until Monday January 30, 2012.

Here is what in my opinion is the best and most-recent homage to this great song, from 1998:





Robbie Williams -  Millennium
In a word, brilliant!!!

"You Only Live Twice" opening with vocals by Nancy Sinatra

As always, watch for the ingenious camera dissolve from the blood on the mattress to the red that forms the red disk that represents the rising sun on the Japanese flag, Hinomaru.
Definitely among the three best opening-credit sequences of any Bond film, along with On Her Majesty's Secret Service and The Spy Who Loved Me.


Freddie Wadling's new collection of James Bond film songs -and other secret agent songs- is available on his new EMI Music Sweden CD titled, "With a License to Kill"
http://www.jamesbond007.se/events.asp?id=2890


Fredrik Skavlan:

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Alyona & Co. - Whether "From Russia with Love" or "From Russia with Lust," the world's fascination with Russian women shows no end in sight


RT America video: From Russia with Lust, November 26, 2010.

Alyona & Co. - Whether "From Russia with Love" or "From Russia with Lust," the world's fascination with Russian women shows no end in sight

Almost 50 years after the worldwide release of "From Russia with Love," the second of the James Bond films -and one of my two personal favorites- despite all the 007 films that have come and gone and become part of our everyday experience and pop culture, despite all the beautiful actresses who've played their parts to the hilt to advance the narrative of the world's favorite espionage agent, the number-one-rated all-time "Bond woman" among James Bond fans remains the first Russian femme fatale, Tatiana Romanova.

Or, rather, the faux Russian, since actress Daniela Bianchi was actually Italian.
No matter!
She was Russian in the film!
We love us our Russian femme fatales!


Above, an amateur remakeof the trailer for "From Russia With Love" and one of the better ones you'll find on YouTube, too.


,

From Russia With Love - 1963 (Theatrical Trailer)

Before there was a Tatiana Romanova to distract MI6's James Bond from the task at hand of preventing the Russians from getting their hands on high-tech gadgets, there were other Russian femme fatales of one sort or another, some stoic and others smoldering.

There was director Ernst Lubitsch's 1939 romantic comedy "Ninotchka" starring Melvyn Douglas and Greta Garbo -"Garbo laughs" was part of the film's famous marketing campaign. Garbo's the stoic visiting Russian official who meets dignified schemer Douglas in Paris and whose personality evolves as she comes to spend time with him.
Moral of the story, as always, is that 'Opposites attract.'
Eventually.

Ninotchka - 1939 (Original trailer)



Ninotschka - Melvyn Douglas and Greta Garbo's characters meet for the first time and it's far from instant attraction, as she makes clear her disdain for the West.

Then there was smoldering Russian streetcar driver Theodore (Hedy Lamarr) slightly skewing newspaperman Clark Gable's view of Russia in King Vidor's film "Madame X" a year later in 1940. Her he likes, Russia, not so much.



I'm a longtime Hedy Lamarr fan.

And why do Western consumers, especially men, immediately get a certain mental image in their heads when they hear the word, "Natasha"?
No, not this one...

Boris & Natasha, Russian Spies

something sorta like this one...


Clip from NBC-TV's "My Name is Earl": Jasper's Russian mail order bride says "Moose and squirrel."

And where was Irina Shayk, the 2011 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover model that's melted hearts all over the world and quickly became one of the most-followed women in the world from? One guess.
Yes, Mother Russia.



From 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit special video:
Irina Shayk - Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2009



From 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit special video:
Anne Vyalitsyna & Irina Shaykhlislamova strut their stuff in St. Petersburg, Russia's front-window to Europe.

My favorite Irina?
Irina Rodnina, the female Russian pairs figure skater who, along with partner Aleksandr Zaitsev, were the most dominant pair in the world, and the template for future generations of a certain refined Russian figure skating style that was pure magic and radiance on the ice.


Irina Rodnina & Alexander Zaitsev - Pairs Figure Skating, Long Program, 1978 European Championships, Strasbourg, France.

Guess who Rodnina's daughter is?
Really.
That just absolutely floored me.

Above, a screen grab I did of Alyona Wednesday night on her show, talking about the U.S. economy with a guest.

I didn't know that amazing fact until THIS summer!
It's actually hard for me to look at her the same way knowing that information.

This is the fourth post of mine that has mentioned RT's Alyona Minkovski, and my last post on her in April was one of the five most-popular posts since the blog was born in early 2007:

1. APRIL 22, 2011
Beguiling Alyona Minkovski zeroes-in on TIME's "100" list and fillets some particularly dubious celebs we're supposed to admire -but DON'T!

2. OCTOBER 19, 2010
Shockingly age inappropriate or simply base marketing hucksterism? The Taylor Momsen example staring us right in the face

3 SEPTEMBER 30, 2010
Alyona Minkovski interviews Wired Sr. Editor Kevin Poulsen about Julian Assange of WikiLeaks and the group's immediate future

To close this Russian-centric tangent, I've got the Russian-language version video of Belarus-born Norwegian singer/violinist extraordinaire and 2009 Eurovision Song winner Alexander Rybak's "Europe's Skies," one of the handful of go-to catchy songs I've been singing and humming -a lot- in the car this year when stuck in traffic.
I prefer the English-language version because I've heard it so many times, but this one is okay, too.

Александр Рыбак - Небеса Европы (Русская версия)
Alexander Rybak - "Europe's Skies" (Russian version)

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You can watch RT America here LIVE 24.7.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Sublime and fascinating! Channel 4 News video: A Licence to Reveal: MI6 spy secrets uncovered; speech by MI6 "C" Sir John Sawers


Fascinating Channel 4 News video with reporter Jonathan Rugman on the evolving history of MI6, the British Special Intelligence Services, including an interview with former MI6 "C" Sir John Scarlett. For the first time since its creation in the run-up to the First World War, Britain's secret intelligence service has allowed its secrets to be unveiled in an official history covering its first 40 years. Jonathan Rugman reports. This segment is ten minutes and 23 seconds.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid64523559001?bctid=614006288001

Here's one of those many posts in Blogger Draft I was talking about earlier today that were just lingering on life-support, a fascinating report from late September that came on the heels of some very troubling news for MI6, with the death of an employee under very mysterious circumstances.

Here's the story from three weeks ago on the historic public appearance on TV by current MI6 "C" Sir John Sawers, the first public speech by a sitting Chief.

http://www.channel4.com/news/mi6-chiefs-historic-speech

Channel 4 News: MI6 chief speaks out on terror threat and torture



Story at http://www.channel4.com/news/mi6-chief-speaks-out-on-terror-threat-and-torture

See also: http://www.channel4.com/news/liveblog-mi6-chief-sir-john-sawers-speaks-live

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See this interesting blog post by Channel 4 Political Editor Gary Gibbon story on whether or not the end is near for 'control orders,'

http://blogs.channel4.com/gary-gibbon-on-politics/could-it-be-the-end-for-control-orders/14032ns

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Sir John Sawers: profile of MI6 chief Described as a "smooth operator" and likened to Pierce Brosnan's portrayal of James Bond Sir John Sawers took up the post of head of MI6, known as "C", in November 2009. By Laura Roberts 10:22AM BST 28 Oct 2010

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/8092322/Sir-John-Sawers-profile-of-MI6-chief.html

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If you don't recognize the tune at the beginning of this next video, being hummed by an animated early 1940's John Bull, followed by his trusty bull dog, it's the same one that's instantly recognizable by anyone of a certain age who ever listened to BBC Radio's World Service.

In my case, that was for years via my Radio Shack short-wave radio while studying at Indiana University in Bloomington, from 1979-'83, especially on weekend mornings, and more recently, digitally from Washington, D.C., Arlington County, VA and South Florida.

My recollection is that the tune was played after the time chirp and the intonation, "This is London," just before the news broadcasts began.

British WW2 Public Information Films - Collection Three, Part 1 of 3.

Central Office of Information

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USye8ZoXye8

http://www.youtube.com/user/blaster2012


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Special Operations Executive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5aH8pLdv5g


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I previously mentioned it a few years ago on my other blog, South Beach Hoosier, soon to be revamped, but since many of you readers never saw that in the first place, I'll just mention here by way of circumstance that my family -and certain of my friend's relatives- have worked for U.S. intelligence agencies or in intelligence operations since George Washington was a Continental general fighting the British.

Here's a video tidbit that dovetails with the above stories.


BBC World Service idents over the years

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuJ5_j4U6HQ



1945: BBC Radio announcement of Adolf Hitler's death
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyZICBPh0wc

Gary Gibbon's
blog: http://blogs.channel4.com/gary-gibbon-on-politics/

Channel 4 News Catch Up service for the past 7 days:
http://www.channel4.com/news/catch-up/

Channel 4 News homepage: http://www.channel4.com/news/