Official last movie you saw thread

Taken 2 🤙

GoldenEye (1995)

British spy film. It's Pierce Brosnan time. And Judi Dench as M. Different, but interesting. Samantha Bond as Miss Moneypenny. And Q is still played by the great Desmond Llewelyn. That combination probably wouldn't have fit with earlier Bond actors but with Brosnan they kinda feel right. Other cast members include Sean Bean, Alan Cumming, Robbie Coltrane and Gottfried John. Overall I really liked this one. Maybe because Pierce Brosnan was James Bond when I was growing up so to someone like me who had never seen these movies Pierce Brosnan was just James Bond, period. He was the face young me recognized as Bond before any of the other actors. The action was good, so was the story.

Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

British spy film. Interesting story, very good cast. Michelle Yeoh and Jonathan Pryce didn't have to go off like that but they did and their performances were really good. The rest of the supporting cast is also very good. Overall this was good but nothing outstanding.

The World Is Not Enough (1999)

British spy film. I'm a fan of Robert Carlyle, so I definitely enjoyed his character in this, too. The story overall was good. But this one was the last James Bond movie with Desmond Llewelyn as Q, because he sadly got killed in a car accident shortly after the premiere of this movie. I gotta say, he definitely was my favourite character of the franchise so far, and I don't think that'll change with the remaining ones. In the next one we'll have John Cleese as Q, and as much as I like him, he's no Desmond Llewelyn.

Injustice.

GREAT movie. Love how that actually included Plastic Man in it as he's one of my favorite heroes.

Die Another Day (2002)

British spy film. The first Bond movie of the new millenium! Okay, I haven't written about the title songs, but most of them are really good. Especially the one from Live and Let Die, iykyk. But this one... damn. Ridiculously bad. Anyway, we got John Cleese as Q now and they even make a reference to Monty Python and the Holy Grail. But Cleese's Q is a lot different to Desmond Llewelyn's one. First of all, he's a lot sillier. But I mean if you cast one of the greatest comedians of our time of course you'll use that for the character. The CGI is kinda bad, too. The story is alright though. Not really great as Pierce Brosnan's last Bond movie but well.

Casino Royale (2006)

British spy film. First one with Daniel Craig. And while he doesn't feel like Bond to me (yet), story-wise (and this might be controversial) this is definitely one of the better ones. Really interesting characters played by a great cast as well (especially Jeffrey Wright's Felix Leiter, Mads Mikkelsen's Le Chiffre and Eva Green's Vesper Lynd). So yeah, this is a strong debut for Daniel Craig's Bond. One small thing I noticed are the mobile phones, though. They always terribly age 2000s movies like this. But yeah, apart from this this one was very good. And that car roll stunt scene is just brilliant work!

Quantum Of Solace (2008)

British spy film. Wait, was this the shortest Bond movie so far? Felt like it. Well, I thought this one's also very good. I feel like so far the Daniel Craig Bond movies have felt more... human. He's not just some agent who kills and fucks, but he's a real human with emotions and stuff. So yeah, I liked this one, too. Only a few more to go.

FINALLY watched Black Widow.

Not too bad. Only slightly better than I expected.

Good Bye, Lenin! (2003)

German tragicomedy film. Watched this yesterday and it's very good. Sometimes sad, sometimes funny. Very interesting setting. Overall a really good movie. Recommended!

Skyfall (2012)

British spy film. Q is back! Played by Ben Whishaw. And for a modern, computer-age Bond movie his young Q actually works. Couldn't imagine someone older like Desmond Llewelyn or John Cleese portraying a Q like that. Overall the movie was again very good, some high stakes, very interesting characters played by great actors. Good stunts, too. I liked it.

Spectre (2015)

British spy film. I mean story-wise this is the most connected one. Obviously Spectre and Blofeld are back, as is allured to by the title. Blofeld is behind all of the events that happened to Bond in the previous three movies. Also Blofeld's parents adopted James Bond when they were both young so they're kind of related but not really. And Christoph Waltz delivers one of the best performances in the whole franchise. I really enjoyed this one! It was a bit too long, though. After all, it was the longest Bond movie up to the release of the newest one. I still don't really see Bond when I look at Daniel Craig. He plays a very good secret agent, but not really specifically James Bond imho.

Donnie Brasco

No Time to Die (2021)

British spy film. This is it. The latest James Bond movie made by Eon Productions. And considering it's Daniel Craig's last movie as James Bond it's a great send-off for him. Now, it does say "James Bond will return" at the end, but I wouldn't have minded this being the last movie of the franchise. Him sacrificing himself because he was infected with nanobots that have been programmed to attack Dr. Madeleine Swann (Bond's love interest) and her daughter Mathilde (who's confirmed to also be Bond's daughter at the end of the movie). I mean it would've been a great farewell to the character overall. Rami Malek also played a very good villain.
Well, this concludes my run of official James Bond movies. Still going to watch 1967's Casino Royale starring David Niven as Bond and 1983's Never Say Never Again with Sean Connery, but watching them inbetween the official ones maybe would've been too distracting.

So my thoughts on the franchise overall... I'm not really a huge fan. I can see why these movies are so beloved (a school friend of mine always talked about how great these movies are, the newest one back then being Quantum of Solace) but honestly, they're not really my cup of tea. I'm not a huge action guy anyways and most of the older ones were pretty much just killing people, blowing up things and having sex with beautiful women. The main Bond actors also often didn't really deliver their best performances in these movies. Don't get me wrong, they're not played bad, but for example I did a week of Sean Connery movies to honour him after he passed away and about half of those were better than any of his Bond movies. So yeah, overall I'm kind of on the fence. The franchise has great villains, beloved actors playing key roles such as M, Q or Miss Moneypenny, and with Daniel Craig's Bond we got a lot more emotional involvement with stuff that goes further than just his job as an agent at MI6. Watching the last 5 movies also made me look back fondly on the early ones, even if I didn't think those were great movies when I watched them. Kind of like a weird kind of nostalgia for what I've watched some weeks earlier. I think I like the idea of James Bond, the myth around the character more than the movies themselves. That said, overall I'm still glad I spent most of this month watching all of those James Bond movies. That was definitely a big hole in my movie knowledge that needed to be filled. And I don't think I've wasted my time. But yes, it is kind of exhausting watching only movies from the same genre, pretty much following the same formula, so I'm looking forward to other stuff again. First of all the parody on exactly what I've watched this year so far and then we'll see. My watchlist is infinite. And in the meantime a lot of the critically acclaimed movies from last year have become available to watch, so I'm gonna be able to catch up on those, too. But I'm really looking forward to just watching a horror movie or a classic drama or a new indie film again. So, to finish this up... yes, I liked these movies. I am a fan. Not a superfan like the guy from my school way back when, but I am kind of a fan. And I am excited to see what this franchise will have to show in the future. Looking forward to whomever will play the character next. Will they do a move like they did with M and have another person take over the codename so it's not the same character but just the same position in MI6? We already had a new 007 in this one after all. Come to think of it, has it been the same James Bond the whole time or was it always a new person in the same job and people just didn't speak about it? Questions over questions. And most importantly, I can FINALLY wear my "James Bond is a timelord" shirt that I bought years ago!

Also check out Matt Needle's stunning #BondRedesigned series where he made an alternative poster for each movie.

Casino Royale (1967)

British spy parody film. It's a wild story, loosely based on Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel Casino Royale. I have no idea how they managed to even make this movie. After the first 4 official Bond movies came out someone just decided to make a parody and cast so many big names I seriously have no idea how they could afford them all. We have David Niven, Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress, Woody Allen, Deborah Kerr, Orson Welles, William Holden, John Huston, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jacqueline Bisset, Bernard Cribbins, Ronnie Corbett, George Raft and more. And those are just the ones who got credited. There are a lot more very famous people who played uncredited roles, like Peter O'Toole, Stirling Moss, Geraldine Chaplin, David Prowse, Anjelica Huston, John Le Mesurier and again, many more. But the movie also has 6 directors and 11 writers, so it is pretty chaotic and kind of disjointed at some points. It's funny sometimes, sometimes it's not. The story doesn't make a lot of sense, one of the few scenes that were kind of close to the book was the one with Peter Sellers as fake James Bond playing Baccarat with Le Chiffre played by Orson Welles.
So overall while I thought this was entertaining after seeing serious James Bond movies for the whole month, I wouldn't watch it again. It's not worth it. So many talented actors, so badly used. Keep away from this, wether you're a fan of the franchise or not.

Never Say Never Again (1983)

British spy film. I actually enjoyed this one a lot. It's different, with Sean Connery and thus James Bond being in his 50s. Being the second adaption of Thunderball (after the official Bond movie in 1965 of course) it's also similar at the same time. Not quite as good as Thunderball (1965) but still very good. It earned almost as much as Octopussy (1983) which shows that people weren't quite tired of Connery's Bond. Great cast as well, very good performances in this one, especially from Klaus Maria Brandauer. Overall it's a good Bond movie but the most interesting thing about it is that Bond is older. It was a great idea to make another one with Sean Connery. Makes me think that it would be cool to have another "older Bond" movie with Pierce Brosnan. But make it fresh and write an original story for it. And even if we'll never get a movie like that, I'd always be happy to see older Bond actors in cameos. So yeah, NOW I've finished all James Bond movies there are. And I can't wait what direction this franchise will take in the future.

Pontypool (2008)

Canadian horror film. This has to be one of the most creative zombie movies I've ever seen. Rather than being bitten people are infected by words. It's pretty much a single-location movie and I've mentioned before how much I like those. Due to that you don't really see too much of the action but you still get to experience it and what you imagine yourself is of course always a lot scarier than what the filmmakers could show. From a technical standpoint alone. Very good performances, definitely had some chills running down my spine a few times. Overall I can highly recommend this. If you're a fan of horror and haven't yet seen this, do so as soon as you can!

Men & Chicken (2015)

Danish black comedy film. If you take the silliness of the Three Stooges and combine it with the lunacy of The Island of Dr. Moreau, this is what you get. Good cast, especially Mads Mikkelsen. Very interesting and pretty unique story. And the moral of the story: No matter who or what you are, life is worth living. In a weird way this is kind of a feelgood movie. But also kind of a body horror movie. Definitely a weird mixture, but I thought it was well worth watching.

Don't Look Up (2021)

American science fiction black comedy film. Rewatched this today and it's still very good!

The Hand of God (2021)

Italian drama film. It's good. Very slice-of-life. Great performances, especially by Filippo Scotti. I can't really describe it, you just have to experience it for yourself. It's very autobiographical, being about the director's own youth. Definitely an intimate movie. Don't expect a lot of story but it's still fascinating. Can recommend!

Batman XXX (2010)

Now, it has a lot less going on than Spider-Man XXX which I also recently watched, because instead of being an adaptation of the comics, it's actually an adaptation of the 60s tv show, which I've only seen a couple of episodes and a lot of clips.

What they got right:

• The look: The costumes were all exact, to the point where they even remembered that Cesar Romero Joker has a painted-over mustache. Kudos. The lighting and the cinematography (outside of the porn bits) were also pretty spot on. There's a sequence directly copied from the first episode that looks practically like the show. Although, in the show, Batman doesn't get fucked in the end.
• The casting for the heroes: Batman, Robin, Batgirl, and Commissioner Gordon all fit their roles very well. Batman was stern but likable, Robin was energetic and full of spunk, Commissioner Gordon didn't do much but he was fine. I have to give a special mention to Lexi Belle as Batgirl, cause she was just cute. I don't know if that fits this version of Batgirl, but I think it's the first time where I've thought that a porn start was cute... That actually made it really off-putting when she started fucking Robin, but still.
• Characterization: Apart from one character, that I'm not quite sure about because I didn't see the show, everyone felt like the characters they were supposed to, even when some actors pushed it too far (I'll get to that). To the point that Batman didn't want to fuck that random girl until he got drugged.

What they got wrong:

• The casting for the villains: I'm pointing the finger at Evan Stone and Randy Spears. Stone just looked like he was having an epilepsy attack every time he appeared. At a certain point, I was begging for the quiet dignity of Jim Carrey. Spears was better, but he just didn't fit the role. He lacked energy and his laugh was too rough. Although, give him some acting lessons and with that face and voice, he could actually do something.
• Joker's Boner: They only colored Joker's face white, not his lower half. This is truly disappointing, especially coming from the man that brought us Blue Smurf vagina. Is this an amateur hour Braun? If you weren't gonna bleach his penis, why even bother?
• Eartha Kitt > Julie Newmar: No disrespect to Julie Newmar and I know she lasted longer, but Eartha Kitt is THE Catwoman for the sixties show. Also, you could've gotten that audience that really wants to see Black Catwoman getting DP'd by Batman and Robin. It's probably a small audience, but it's there.
• The onomatopeias: This is a weird one, but when they have the "KAPOW!" thing, they could've put a couple in there that connected to porn, like "FUCK!". It's stupid and easy, but it would've given it a bit more identity.
• No Batgirl/ Catwoman sex scene: That chemistry's not exactly there in the comics, but you could change a few things around. The ending could've been a four-way, would've worked just the same. Just change it so Commissioner Gordon takes the other bad guys or add an extra scene. Wasted opportunity.

What I don't know:

• Who is this Lisa person? I searched and this character doesn't appear to be from anything (the only Lisa I found was apparently some henchwoman of Mad Hatter. Also, there's something called the EvilBabes wiki). Lisa Carson, fiancé to Bruce Wayne and daughter of some rich guy. What was interesting to me was that once she got kidnapped by the Riddler, she almost instantly fucked him. Why? Has she been kidnapped before? Was that a safety mechanism she's developed? Is there some deleted scene after Riddler fucks her, where she looks at her reflection of her vaginal fluid soaked self on a puddle of water, filled with memories of a more innocent time? A time before she had to resort to having sex with her many kidnappers just to survive? Does she then spit Riddler's sperm on the puddle, the waves forming the distorted image of her own broken psyche? Am I thinking too much about this? Probably.
• Is Catwoman like this in the 60s show? Modern interpretations of Catwoman turn her into more of a heroic figure, and we see that here when she frees Batman from being killed by the Riddler and Joker. Was she like this in the 60s show or was that a bit of the modern incarnation influencing the previous one?

In conclusion, this wasn't as fun as Spider-Man XXX, because there weren't as many references, but I guess it works if you REALLY want to see 60s Batman characters fucking. 8/10

View attached image.