I guess Apocalypto came along right when Mel's personal issues were getting a lot of attention, but that's not the movie's fault. And I'm with you; whatever else it may be, it's a damned effective action movie.

For me, it's the action scenes near the end with the boats and the helicopter that take FRWL down a peg, because without them you've got a more-or-less straight suspense movie. They feel like they're only there because the producers felt they needed some explosions to put on the posters. And it's telling that while…

From Dusk Til Dawn is the closest thing I can think of, although the first hour isn't quite "family friendly." I know some people who went in expecting it to be just another Tarantino crime drama.

Children of Men was one of those perfect experiences where I went in knowing absolutely nothing about it, and came out having seen something amazing. I'm glad that it's finally been getting the love it deserves.

Yep, that's the way it goes. There was an article here yesterday about No Country For Old Men, and despite it now being ten years old, I'll swear that I just saw it in the theater six months ago.

I don't know if you got around to Skyfall and Spectre, but they're much more watchable in that sense. My take is that the shakycam in Quantum of Solace was cooked up in the editing room to cover up the lack of a coherent story.

On its technical merits, Moonraker is fantastic; it's got one of John Barry's best scores (OMG the music when they're flying to the space station), a bunch of Ken Adam's most amazing sets, great cinematography, and some incredible stunt work (especially the skydiving opening). Aside from that, it's a mindless Star Wars…

I guess Jack Lord's star was on the rise in the mid-60s, and it's likely that they were worried about him asking for a raise somewhere down the line. My own favorite Felix is probably Jeffrey Wright, although I do feel that like Blofeld, he's a character that the movies never did justice to. In the books, Felix is…

Sadly upvoted.

There was that wonderful moment during Conan's Tonight Show run when Andy Richter wore a blue shirt during a skit that involved a bluescreen behind him and Conan, and both of them rose to the occasion admirably. Unfortunately I can't find a link for the video anywhere.

Moore's Bond was an almost amoral patriot who reveled in himself.

Aside from everything that Mikkelsen brought to the role, what made Le Chiffre particularly effective was that he had something that no other Bond villain ever had: desperation. You genuinely believed that he would do absolutely anything to Bond and Vesper to save his own butt, and that made him a very credible threat.

It is indeed strange to think back to when Chris Moneymaker and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson were household names.

I've got a soft spot for Wai Lin in Tomorrow Never Dies simply because it's Michelle Yeoh, but I don't really see how there's any room for debate here: Vesper is the best Bond Girl ever.

It was a carpet beater, like this:

I like to think that The Name of the Rose is Connery's Bond attending a Ren Fair that got way out of hand.

I agree with the first part of his statement, but not the second. Connery's Bond is still the only one who was the total package.

I do wonder how different it really would have been if they'd just stuck with baccarat, especially since they saddled poor Giancarlo Giannini with a bunch of explanatory dialog about the game's rules anyway. It would have been just as easy to have him explain baccarat to Vesper (and the audience) instead of poker.

Thanks Tom, I'm glad you chose to tackle this one. For my part, Casino Royale and Goldfinger (aka "Bond Saves the World By Raping A Woman") are my two favorite Bond flicks; Goldfinger because it established the template that nearly every subsequent Bond would faithfully copy, and Casino Royale because it (momentarily)…

I do hope you'll eventually get around to running the entire series; even the worst Bond movies have enough fun stuff to make them worth seeing once.