"Skyfall" is the name of the next James Bond adventure staring Daniel Craig and directed by Sam Mendes. Recently confirmed for the new film is Albert Finney, a big hitting star signed up to appear alongside him Javier Bardem, the highly regarded Spanish actor married to Penelope Cruz, and Ralph Fiennes as well as Bond regular Dame Judi Dench as M.
What is currently intriguing for many Bond fans is the lack of information regarding the characters these actors will be playing. Bardem is in a villain's role, as is Fiennes; however, the speculation that Fiennes will be resurrecting the character of Blofeld for Skyfall have been neither confirmed nor denied. There is also a strong rumour that Finney will be playing M's boss, although it is impossible to verify this claim as no reputable sources have been quoted for the information.
Director Sam Mendes is the man responsible for bringing onboard such heavyweight talent and while it is certainly an interesting approach to a James Bond film it leaves many people wondering what direction the new film will take and whether these actors will overshadow 007 himself, although Daniel Craig was a highly regarded actor before he took on the role of Bond.
You can read my article on Albert Finney to learn about his award from the Berlin International Film Festival and his other work since.
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta james bond. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta james bond. Mostrar todas las entradas
miércoles, 21 de diciembre de 2011
martes, 20 de diciembre de 2011
Ralph Fiennes to play Blofeld?
With countless devotees world wide, the 007 films always generate great expectation and Skyfall, which is presently in production, is no exception. The film, the twenty third in the James Bond franchise, had been beset by delays after the bankruptcy of Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer forced pre-production work to close down in 2010 and when released in October 2012 it will be 4 years since the previous movie.
When the producers of the James Bond films held a press conference at the beginning of November to reveal the name of the 23rd film in the series and introduce some of the cast and crew to the world's journalists, one of the big names to be confirmed was Ralph Fiennes.
While the announcement was not unexpected, since the tabloid press had been discussing it for several months, and Daniel Craig himself had admitted that there was a possibility that Fiennes would have a role, it was not revealed who he would play in the film, which will be called Skyfall.
Fiennes will appear alongside Daniel Craig as James Bond, Dame Judi Dench as his boss M, Naomie Harris as Eve, Berenice Marlohe as Severine, Spaniard Javier Bardem and another heavyweight actor in an unknown role, Albert Finney. While much was made of the press conference, little of substance was actually revealed beyond confirmation of the film's title and the actors. Intriguingly Daniel Craig wore a beard, which he was still sporting when spotted shooting some early scenes, although more recently he has been clean-shaven.
Fiennes was born in Suffolk in 1962 and moved with his family to Ireland at the age of 11 for several years. While in Ireland he was educated in West Cork before returning to Salisbury in England to finish his schooling. He then enrolled at the Chelsea College of Art & Design followed by RADA, after which he joined the National Theatre, where he first met Sam Mendes, and the Royal Shakespeare Company.
His early work includes TV movie A Dangerous Man: Lawrence after Arabia as well as an appearance in the popular UK television show, Prime Suspect. On the big screen he first appeared in a well-received version of Wuthering Heights; he played Heathcliff opposite Juliette Binoche.
His breakthrough role came soon after, earning him an Oscar nomination and winning a BAFTA. You can read my article on Ralph Fiennes to learn what that role was as well as his other work since.
When the producers of the James Bond films held a press conference at the beginning of November to reveal the name of the 23rd film in the series and introduce some of the cast and crew to the world's journalists, one of the big names to be confirmed was Ralph Fiennes.
While the announcement was not unexpected, since the tabloid press had been discussing it for several months, and Daniel Craig himself had admitted that there was a possibility that Fiennes would have a role, it was not revealed who he would play in the film, which will be called Skyfall.
Fiennes will appear alongside Daniel Craig as James Bond, Dame Judi Dench as his boss M, Naomie Harris as Eve, Berenice Marlohe as Severine, Spaniard Javier Bardem and another heavyweight actor in an unknown role, Albert Finney. While much was made of the press conference, little of substance was actually revealed beyond confirmation of the film's title and the actors. Intriguingly Daniel Craig wore a beard, which he was still sporting when spotted shooting some early scenes, although more recently he has been clean-shaven.
Fiennes was born in Suffolk in 1962 and moved with his family to Ireland at the age of 11 for several years. While in Ireland he was educated in West Cork before returning to Salisbury in England to finish his schooling. He then enrolled at the Chelsea College of Art & Design followed by RADA, after which he joined the National Theatre, where he first met Sam Mendes, and the Royal Shakespeare Company.
His early work includes TV movie A Dangerous Man: Lawrence after Arabia as well as an appearance in the popular UK television show, Prime Suspect. On the big screen he first appeared in a well-received version of Wuthering Heights; he played Heathcliff opposite Juliette Binoche.
His breakthrough role came soon after, earning him an Oscar nomination and winning a BAFTA. You can read my article on Ralph Fiennes to learn what that role was as well as his other work since.
martes, 26 de abril de 2011
The James Bond Books
These days the films have eclipsed the James Bond books in terms of popularity and it is easy to forget that it all began with Ian Fleming.
Fleming used the experience he gained in Naval Intelligence during the Second World War and his flair with words, honed as a newspaperman, to great effect when he sat down at his winter hideaway in Jamaica started to write a spy novel. The first James Bond book was "Casino Royale" and its success in the United Kingdom paved the way for further adventures featuring James Bond.
Having acquired achievement through this first book, Ian Fleming sat down and created, without fail, a fresh James Bond book every year until he died from a heart attack brought on by heavy smoking and drinking at the early age of 56.
Most of the James Bond novels are straightforward adventure novels, but he did vary from the formula on a couple of occasions. The first was with "For Your Eyes Only", which included five short stories. Although three of them encapsulate an entire James Bond adventure in a few pages, two of the stories are quite different in nature and readers at the time, used to a new full-length novel each year, voiced their disapproval. However, it did permit Fleming to extend his thoughts to some extent to notice what else he was able of producing.
After "For Your Eyes Only", Fleming tried another experiment, this time with "The Spy Who Loved Me". Rather than a traditional James Bond adventure, it was told from the point of view of the Bond girl and James Bond hardly appeared at all.
Even though it proved to be not good enough to book lovers of the time, it does at least present somewhat rather dissimilar from the pen of Ian Fleming and he returned to complete novels - only after his death was "Octopussy & The Living Daylights" made available, another volume of short stories. Of those, "The Living Daylights" is particularly effective as a James Bond adventure, and works extremely well.
Fleming used the experience he gained in Naval Intelligence during the Second World War and his flair with words, honed as a newspaperman, to great effect when he sat down at his winter hideaway in Jamaica started to write a spy novel. The first James Bond book was "Casino Royale" and its success in the United Kingdom paved the way for further adventures featuring James Bond.
Having acquired achievement through this first book, Ian Fleming sat down and created, without fail, a fresh James Bond book every year until he died from a heart attack brought on by heavy smoking and drinking at the early age of 56.
Most of the James Bond novels are straightforward adventure novels, but he did vary from the formula on a couple of occasions. The first was with "For Your Eyes Only", which included five short stories. Although three of them encapsulate an entire James Bond adventure in a few pages, two of the stories are quite different in nature and readers at the time, used to a new full-length novel each year, voiced their disapproval. However, it did permit Fleming to extend his thoughts to some extent to notice what else he was able of producing.
After "For Your Eyes Only", Fleming tried another experiment, this time with "The Spy Who Loved Me". Rather than a traditional James Bond adventure, it was told from the point of view of the Bond girl and James Bond hardly appeared at all.
Even though it proved to be not good enough to book lovers of the time, it does at least present somewhat rather dissimilar from the pen of Ian Fleming and he returned to complete novels - only after his death was "Octopussy & The Living Daylights" made available, another volume of short stories. Of those, "The Living Daylights" is particularly effective as a James Bond adventure, and works extremely well.
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