Brandon Peters dissects the 007 series part 17: GoldenEye

With Skyfall dropping in theaters in just a couple months, along with the 50th anniversary of the James Bond series, a close friend and fellow film nerd, Brandon Peters, has generously offered to do a comprehensive review of the entire 007 film franchise. Today is the seventeenth entry, with a full review of  Pierce Brosnan's smashing debut (and my personal favorite of the whole series*) GoldenEye. I hope you enjoy what is a pretty massive feature leading up the November 9th release of Skyfall. I'll do my best to leave my two-cents out of it, give or take a few items I have up my sleeve (including a possible guest review from my wife as she sings the praises of her favorite 007 film, you won't believe what it is). But just because I'm stepping aside doesn't mean you should. Without further ado...

GoldenEye

1995

Director:  Martin Campbell

Starring:  Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean, Judi Dench, Famke Janssen, Izabella Scorupco, Alan Cumming, Robbie Coltrane, Gottifried John

Rated PG-13

Need I remind you, 007, that you have a license to kill, not to break the traffic laws.

                        -Q

STATS

Kills:  25 (estimate)

Girls:  Natalya Simonova, Xenia Onatopp, Caroline

Car:  BMWZ3, however Bond’s casual vehicle is the Aston Martin

Locales:  Monte Carlo, St. Petersburg, Cuba

Odd Villain Trait:  Xenia Onatopp gets off on violence (literally) and can crush a man wrapping her legs around his waist

Song:  “Goldeneye” performed by Tina Turner (written by Bono & Edge of U2 fame)

Other notable song:  “The Experience of Love” performed by Serra

After 6 ½ years removed from theaters around the globe, James Bond reloaded and returned in a big way for GoldenEye.  GoldenEye was a major cinematic event for 1995.  The Berlin wall had fallen and many felt Bond’s legacy should go with it.  It was questioned as to whether the character could remain relevant with no cold war.  Also, debuting in the role of James Bond was Pierce Brosnan, an actor who many had been clamoring to see play this part (and as we all know my mother was one of those people).  Would he be able to live up to expectation?  Could Bond manage to win back audiences and pick back up where he had left off?

Trailer Analysis: Silent Hill: Revelation gets a spoiler trailer.

Not much to say about this one.  I saw the original film on opening weekend way back in Spring 2006 and damned if I can remember all that much about it.  I remember being quite impressed by the imagery and the acting while relatively unmoved by the narrative and rarely outright frightened.  However, if only by default, the original film remains one of the most ambitious video game adaptations ever made, so I suppose it was inevitable that a sequel would eventually come down the pike, especially with the explosion in foreign business for 3D genre sequels over the last few years.  As for the trailer, I'm genuinely surprised that Sean Bean came back, but annoyed that the trailer doesn't even try to play the 'did he die?' card.  Ironically, the first Silent Hill is stunningly similar to a 200 direct-to-DVD thriller with Maria Bello called The Dark.  Sean Bean plays a somewhat hapless husband in both, both films involve grieving mothers attempting to 'find' their daughter and both end in a surprisingly similar fashion.  Anyway, Silent Hill: Revelations 3D opens October 26th, with Open Road taking over for Sony.  As always, we'll see.

Scott Mendelson  

Sean Bean is the new Gary Oldman!

See Sean Bean perish onscreen 21 times.  Thanks to Comic Book Movie for the list of films.

00:07 - Don’t Say a Word (2001) 00:24 - Equilibrium (2002) 00:33 - Outlaw (2007) 00:39 - Airborne (1998) 00:43 - Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1974 (2009) 00:51 - Essex Boys (2000) 00:57 - Ca$h (2010) 01:02 - Patriot Games (1992) 01:14 - Black Death (2010) 01:28 - Henry VIII (2003) 01:39 - GT 01:45 - The Island (2005) 01:58 - Clarissa (1991) 02:03 - Caravaggio (1986) 02:08 - War Requiem (1989) 02:20 - The Field (1990) 02:41 - Lorna Doone (1990) 02:47 - Scarlett (1994) 02:56 - Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) 03:14 - Goldeneye (1995) 03:30 - The Hitcher (2007)

Scott Mendelson

Review: Black Death (2011)

Black Death
2011
103 minutes
rated R

by Scott Mendelson

Christopher Smith's Black Death is a thoughtful and engaging film that isn't quite as traumatic as it wants to be. As an examination of faith in an era where there is no plausible hope, it portends to examine the dangers of fundamentalism in all cloths. That it doesn't quite reach the grand heights to which it attempts is only a token disappointment. It may not have anything groundbreaking to say, but it remains a creepy and occasionally disconcerting period piece. And it establishes Christopher Smith as a genuine talent coming off the prior triumphs of Severance and the genuinely terrific Triangle.