Karin Dor and Weekly Bond News....Day 53 of Bond 365

It’s Sunday afternoon and I’m thinking about the busy week I have ahead of me. No rest for wicked I presume. Regardless, I hope you have a spectacular week!

Karin Dor

Karin Dor

Born this day in 1938

Helga Brandt in You Only Live Twice

Originally from Germany, Karin Dor started her acting career in Europe in 1955. The bulk of her acting credits are European films and television shows, however she did a handful of English-language films that included You Only Live Twice (1967) and Alfred Hitchcock’s Topaz (1969).

As Helga Brandt, she was the first German woman to play a Bond Girl, well a villainous SPECTRE agent (#11) who decided to sleep with Bond and kill him later. Of course Bond did not die in the plane crash that Helga arranged and consequently she failed her directive. When later confronted by Blofeld in his lair, her “boss” tells Blofeld he had given her strict orders to kill Bond. She thought she had killed him anyway. As she walks away from Blofeld’s desk, he triggers the release on the bridge she is walking across, dropping her into a tank of piranha. What an awful way to go!

And, now, what news came up about Bond this past week?

02/17 – Listen up ladies! 007 fragrances has created a perfume for the modern Bond Girl. The beautiful Caterina Murino, Solange in Casino Royale (2006), is the face of the new scent, which combines spicy black pepper and rose milk in a multi-faceted cut black bottle simply titled 007 for Women. For the lucky UK ladies, you can nip around to your local Boots, The Fragrance Shop, The Perfume Shop, Debenhams for this new eau de parfum. The fragrance will eventually be available elsewhere.

02/17 – The Hollywood Reporter’s Rebecca Ford reported that another injury has plagued Spectre. This time it was Terry Madden, second unit assistant director, who was injured when a camera truck crashed into a barn. Madden has been part of the Bond crew for every film since For Your Eyes Only (1981).

02/17 – AutoBlog posted a video of the new Aston Martin DB10 in action on the set of Spectre at the gorgeous Blenheim Palace. While I love the sleek, smooth lines of the DB10 from the side shoots, I am just not sold on the front with a single blocky bummer/grill section nor the blunted rear end, which are too modern for my taste.

The second video shows the Range Rover Sport SVR and Land Rover Defender. The location is stunning, but give me a sweet sports car any day! Red or silver please!

Bond Girl Monica Bellucci and Daniel Craig at the Forum

02/19 – Daniel Craig and Monica Bellucci were photographed overlooking the ruins of the Forum in Rome this past week.

02/21 – BBC News reported James Bond production designer Anna Pinnock has been given a few days off from Spectre so she can attend the Academy Awards this evening. Pinnock has been nominated twice in the same category for The Grand Budapest Hotel and Into the Woods.

It is not the first time Pinnock has been in this situation. In 2013, her work on Life of Pi and Skyfall were nominated for a BAFTA, however she went home without an award. This is her fourth and fifth nomination in her 30-year career.

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Bond Buzz Word: Spectre

To celebrate the announcement of Bond 24 or Spectre, Bond aficionado Brad Hansen (Commander Bond) of Visual Space Productions did a wonderful job editing together scenes from Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, and Diamonds are Forever that feature the evil secret organization, SPECTRE. SPECTRE, or Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion, has been around for a long time and was led by the kitty-petting maniacal villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Before Bond fans ask what happened to George Lazenby and On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Hansen's trailer focuses specifically on the 1960s/70s Connery's interactions with Blofeld and SPECTRE. It was nicely done and I hope you'll give it a watch and share with your Bond friends...

Spectre popped up this week with the announcement of the Belvedere Vodka partnership as the official vodka of the upcoming James Bond film. The company created two limited edition bottles, which were showcased at London's Film Museum on December 15th. 

Belvedere and James Bond Partnership Announced

The first is the MI6 which gives nods the 007's headquarters by switching inks (green ink is used by MI6 officials to sign documents) and etching the bottle with the MI6 building, replacing the Belvedere Palace. Sadly, this limited edition will not be available to buy in your local shop; Belvedere is gifting them to Bond aficionados and charity auctions only. 

Belvedere Vodka Presents MI6

The second vodka is the 007 Silver Saber, which will be available next year and will have a limited distribution. These bottles will have a built in LED so that the bottle lights up, which I really want to see! Since filming has only recently begun, it isn't known what "role" the Belvedere vodka will play. However, the association with the Bond franchise should see a boost in sales for Belvedere. 

Silver Saber will light up Bond aficionados

Other Bond items in the news this week included the brief, and quickly sold out issue 28 of mi6 confidential magazine featuring Daniel Craig in his 007 uniform on the cover. I ordered my copy in a bundled offer with issue 27, sporting a cover of The Man with the Golden Gun Roger Moore, Maud Adams and Britt Ekland. At the moment, MI6 Confidential is offering a set of 007's "banned" trading cards from Somportex that were originally released in 1964, but pulled a year later due to their controversial images of bikini-clad ladies. There were some signed back issues of the magazines as well, but those have already sold out. 

Did you get issue 28 ordered? 

The last bit of news this week happened over at the official 007 Bond shop. They advertised they had 100 of the Hot Wheels collectible of James Bond's Aston Martin DB5 that graced Goldfinger. Now a little backstory about this collectible. It was offered at San Diego International Comic Con this past July where at some point during the four-day event, I happened to be at a booth across from where they were selling Hot Wheels collectibles. Unfortunately I didn't know about this limited edition collectible until that moment, and I was bummed because it was the only toy that was sold out - figures! I was hoping to scoop it up with this announcement, but darn if I wasn't too slow and missed out again! 

I'll end with a parting shot of the collectible from Youtube poster Diescastic...I'm green with envy!

Bond 24 Announced!

The official Bond 24 announcement was made today around the world, and we can now begin referring to the 24th Bond film by its official title Spectre. For those who are new to the Bond franchise, the word Spectre or SPECTRE (Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion) refers to a global terrorist organization led by arch-villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld. The organization debuted in Ian Fleming's novel Thunderball (1959) and was featured prominently, referred to in passing or implied in Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever, For Your Eyes Only, and Never Say Never Again. Ownership of SPECTRE and its agents were part of an ongoing litigation battle that began in 1961, however by late last year, Eon Productions' parent company (Danjaq, LLC) had finally settled the issue and full copyright rights were returned to the franchise, setting up the opportunity to pit SPECTRE and Blofeld against a 21st century James Bond. As a Bond aficionado, I am excited for what this may mean for Bond in the next installment due out October 23, 2015 for UK audiences and November 6, 2015 for American audiences.

Sam Mendes will return to direct the film written by John Logan, with collaboration from Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. Thomas Newman returns as the composer (he is phenomenal!), and Hoyte van Hoytema (Let The Right One In, The Fighter, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Interstellar) will assume cinematography duties. 

Major cast appointments have been confirmed with today's announcement as follows: 

Daniel Craig as Bond. James Bond.  

As the sixth actor (Eon Productions only) to portray the British agent, this will be Craig's fourth film. The first three were Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall. 

Ralph Fiennes as M

Fiennes returns after being introduced in the closing minutes of Skyfall as the new M, replacing Dame Judi Dench, who had filled the role in GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, and Skyfall. 

Rory Kinnear as Bill Tanner

I am very happy to see Kinnear is returning as Bill Tanner, M's Chief of Staff. Tanner has been portrayed by four actors, including Kinnear, and has appeared in six films - The Man with the Golden Gun, For Your Eyes Only, GoldenEye, The World Is Not Enough, Quantum of Solace, and Skyfall - and Spectre will make the seventh.  

Naomie Harris as Miss Moneypenny

Harris returns after being introduced in Skyfall as the new Miss Moneypenny, and is the fourth woman to play the personal assistant to M. I do hope that unlike her predecessors, Harris will have more screen time. 

Ben Whishaw as Q

Whishaw returns after being introduced in Skyfall. The character Q (Quartermaster) has featured in 20 of the 23 Eon produced Bond films, most of those appearances were by esteemed Desmond Llewelyn before his passing in 1999. Whishaw had a huge hole to fill and honestly, he did a brilliant job of it! 

Andrew Scott as Denbigh

Scott is a new character to the franchise and was presented as part of the MI6 team in the announcement. You may recognize Scott from another very popular British literary based franchise: he was Moriarty in BBC's Sherlock. He's such a fantastic bad guy -- how will he do as a Bond ally? 

Lea Seydoux as Madeleine Swann

Seydoux is beautiful and has a fresh look about her which reminds me of British agent Strawberry Fields from Quantum of Solace as portrayed by Gemma Arterton. Some of Seydoux's recent films include The Grand Budapest Hotel, Blue is the Warmest Color and Midnight in Paris. 

Monica Bellucci as Lucia Sciarra

Another gorgeous woman, Italian actress Monica Bellucci may be remembered from her roles in The Whistleblower, The Brothers Grimm, Matrix trilogy, and Brotherhood of the Wolf. I do wonder if she will be a formidable henchwoman in Spectre....

Christoph Waltz as Franz Oberhauser

Although many of us became acquainted with Waltz in his amazingly cool and calculated portrayal of Standartenfuhrer Hans Landa in the 2009's Inglourious Basterds, he has actually been making films since 1979. If his performance as Landa is any indication, he is going to give Javier Bardem's Silva a run for his money in Spectre. 

Dave Bautista as Mr. Hinx

Coming off Guardians of the Galaxy as Drax the Destroyer earlier this year, I think that Bautista will likely become one of those memorable henchmen, joining the ranks of Oddjob in Goldfinger, Red Grant in From Russia with Love and Jaws in The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker.

Jesper Christensen as Mr. White

Christensen will return as the villainous, Mr. White from Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. This man seriously needs more screen time! 

And last, but certainly not least, the Aston Martin DB10 was unveiled at the beginning of the announcement, commemorating a 50-year collaboration. The DB10 a beauty, but I'm still partial the DB5 featured in Goldfinger. 

Please note: All images found on Wikipedia or through Google Images. 

Inside The Secret Service – Part 1 of 2



The Secret Service was a 6 issue miniseries



Overview: A six-issue comic book series published by Icon (Marvel Comics) and released April 2012 and finished up this month. The series teams writer Mark Millar (Wanted, Kick-Ass) with Watchman artist Dave Gibbons, to tell the story of Gary, a young hoodlum headed towards a life crime until his uncle steps in and offers Gary an opportunity at a better life. Matthew Vaughn, Andy Lanning, and Angus McKie round out the creative team as co-plotter, inker, and colorist, respectively.

Note: Although every effort will be made to keep them at a minimum, any spoiler alerts will be noted ahead of time.

As I mentioned in my previous entry, I wanted to start with comics that have been inspired by Bond and what better series than Millar’s The Secret Service to get the dialogue going? Millar intertwines stories that are laced with 21^st century concerns and provides a few plot twists along the way while incorporating several Bondian tropes to round out his storytelling. For instance, there’s the suave secret agent, a sporty silver car, gadgets aplenty to rival any Bond film, a beautifully troubled woman, a couple of unique henchmen, and of course a villain. Inspiration from the Bond franchise is readily apparent. In this installment, I’ll start with the Bond spy characteristics and automobile tropes, and in my follow up, I’ll look at gadgets, the villain, and the women of The Secret Service.

London. Jack London…And His Nephew,  Gary

Jack London

The reader is first introduced to Jack London while he is dining with a distinguished older gentleman at a posh London restaurant, discussing a recently failed mission of another secret agent. Jack’s physical appearance is reminiscent of 1960s Sean Connery’s James Bond. Like Connery, Jack is clean cut, smartly dressed, and exudes an air of importance associated with a person who is comfortable and at ease with their surroundings. There is a sense of entitlement arising as a member of the privileged class. The man of mystery façade is soon peeled away when Millar reveals that Jack has a struggling sister and two nephews, Gary and Ryan. An urgent text from his sister leads Jack to step into Gary’s (the older nephew) life and fulfill the role of uncle, and more importantly, as surrogate father, at a crucial juncture in Gary’s life: either he becomes a fully fledged criminal or go to spy school and follow in his uncle’s footsteps.

Gary getting bailed out again by Jack

Gary has moved around a lot with his single mom, Sharon, who is currently in an abusive relationship with an unemployed veteran of the Gulf War (Darren) that is the father of her second son, Ryan. Apparently Darren does not confine his dysfunctional behavior to Sharon and Ryan: he has knocked Gary around, physically and emotionally. They all live in a tiny flat in a poor housing estate in London, so Gary naturally hangs out with a rough crowd, where trouble is Gary’s constant companion. And, each time that Gary gets in a jam, Sharon has reached out to her brother Jack to bail Gary out. And each time, Jack has helped, but this time, he knows that he needs to get Gary out of the estate and on a path in which he can make something of himself. Gary will accept Jack’s help, but climbing out of the tentacles of poverty will prove to be a difficult road.

Gary has a difficult time fitting in with the other cadets spy school. Jack is not surprised that Gary’s street sense propels him to the top of the class. However, Gary's character flaws arising from his education deficiencies to his lack of taste in bourgeois clothing, lead him to be the brunt of criticism by his peers. Is Gary spy material? Several times the school’s superiors compare Gary to Jack. Both grew up poor and carry similar emotional angst. When it seems that Gary will be expelled from school, Jack intercedes with tough love. With his emotional barriers shattered, Gary is guided by Jack through the final transformation of becoming a spy.

Uncle Jack's spy fashion tips

Image appears to be everything in becoming a spy. Jack provides style tips to Gary as his appearance is made over so he can take his place beside Jack as his apprentice. While the fashion components are in line with the James Bond look, giving the reader a “behind-the-scenes” is not.  This is not what you would see in a Bond movie; you might see Bond get outfitted for gadgets, but when was the last time Bond was shown at the local barber on Piccadilly? What is interesting about the makeover in The Secret Service is that regardless of the spy school training, it is the physical image that seems to make the man, not unlike Bond proper.  Gary’s whole demeanor up to that point is of an economically disadvantaged young man playing at spies, but when the mantle of clothing, haircut, and shoes are donned, Gary becomes the epitome of a secret agent. From that point on, Gary steps into Jack’s world and makes it his own. Here, Millar moves away from Bond and makes the physical transformation a pivotal moment for Gary and the larger role he will step into for the rest of the story.

Jack and later in the story, Gary, are typical Bond characters, physically. Image is very important for the Bondian spy. In film and in this comic, image represents control over one’s destiny and a sense of power that seems to position them outside the society that most of us have membership in.  In the case of The Secret Service, Jack acknowledges that although there are great perks to being a spy – the nice car, the gadgets, plenty of women (read: be Bond) – there is another side: a responsibility to helping others, which comes without fanfare. That, according to Jack, is what should matter and what gives a man real value.  It’s a value that Gary reiterates later in the story almost verbatim, and it is here where Millar departs from the familiar Bond tropes and gives emotional depth to Jack and Gary.

A Fine Set of Wheels

Automobiles are not extensively featured in The Secret Service and really, the car that really matters in the series is Jack’s. Like with the Bond films, the car is an extension of his persona and hence, part of his physical image. Just as Bond is a man of mystery, so too is the silver Aston Martin. It may look ordinary (okay, an Aston Martin is never ordinary!), but in fact, Bond’s car is equipped with an ejection seat, rocket launcher and other various sorts of goodies to stop pursuing henchmen. Jack’s car is silver and bears a striking resemblance to Bond’s Aston Martin.  It has the ejection seat, the rocket launcher, an oil spray, is bullet proof, disposable wings for flight, and can be voice controlled (remember Pierce Brosnan’s remote car in Tomorrow Never Dies?):

Jack makes his escape

Although the car is an inanimate object, it is a supporting character to Bond and to Jack. When the occasion arises, the car is at the ready to serve, a trusted steed. Just as gadgets are often a necessary part of being a spy, so too is the car.  The automobile’s sporty and sleek shape make it stand out as unique; not unlike the driver. In Bond’s universe, the viewer does not see a real attachment, but in the series, Jack is very protective of his car. In fact, at one point Gary takes the car for a joy ride and winds up launching a rocket in the city, causing several thousand pounds worth of damage. When Jack talks with Gary afterwards, he’s not upset by the damage, but he is very angry that Gary took his car. While it is a tool for his work, it’s also something more: his pride and joy. This is not something that would be openly acknowledged by Bond (the death scene of Bond’s car in Skyfall may not have affected him, but for car aficionados, that was a true crime!).  

In my follow up next week, I’ll discuss the gadgets – there are plenty – the villain, and the women of The Secret Service.