Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

The willow is too close to the house.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

Let me file that under fuck it.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Fear or fury? The choice is ours.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

People identifying as christian while ignoring christ and his teachings is a strange thing indeed.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

Usually wrong but never in doubt

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / I Want The Fairy Tale

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141Comments

  1. 1.

    Adam L Silverman

    If we shadows have offended,
     Think but this, and all is mended—
     That you have but slumbered here
     While these visions did appear.
     And this weak and idle theme,
     No more yielding but a dream,
     Gentles, do not reprehend.
     If you pardon, we will mend.
     And, as I am an honest Puck,
     If we have unearnèd luck
     Now to ’scape the serpent’s tongue,
     We will make amends ere long.
     Else the Puck a liar call.
     So good night unto you all.
     Give me your hands if we be friends,
     And Robin shall restore amends.

  4. 4.

    lamh36

    Was watching From Russia With Love…man Sean Connery really was something else as Bond…Craig came closest to being a “young” version

    If Craig’s Bond ultimately becomes Connery’s Bond…the next Bond actor should be something who could bridge that gap…brutish to suave..

    Funny enough, even tho I’ve given up on Idris Elba as Bond, he really would be a perfect actor to bridge that gap from Craig to Connery!

    Frankly, I’m not quite as sure about all the other names being bandied about would quite cut it. At least no one who’s name I’ve heard.

  7. 7.

    redshirt

    @lamh36: Hiddleston’s been lobbying hard for the role. From what I read on the internet.

    In fact, rumors swell to the point where his “relationship” with TSwift is just to get him more pub.

  8. 8.

    lamh36

    @Mike J: Lordt wouldn’t it be something else if they chose an American to play Bond…lol.

    Some folks made a stink bout Superman being played by a Brit…

  10. 10.

    lamh36

    @redshirt: Yeah, as much as I like Hiddles… I think he’d make a terrible Bond.

    If as I said, Craig was supposed to be Bond right after getting his 007 status, i.e. young, brutish, brash and a bit reckless, and eventually he becomes Connery, Brosnan…etc.. then the transition from that would be someone you can still has all the brutishness of a trained killer Craig was supposed to be but not a bit more suave, but not quite debonair spy…Hiddles aint’ it IMHO

  11. 11.

    Plantsmantx

    @lamh36: It has to be somebody who can make you believe he can kill somebody with no hesitation, and not care at all. They have to be appealing AND scary. Aside from Connery, Craig is the only one who has come close to having that quality.

  15. 15.

    Corner Stone

    The first 20 minutes of the C@$ino Roy@le remake with D Craig is a clinic in the action movie genre.

  16. 16.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    @lamh36: Didn’t care for Hiddleston in Henry V either, but I think part of that is having been spoiled by Branagh. What about Bandersnatch Cummerbund for Bond? I’m not a huge fan, but if he could tone down the scenery chewing, might it work?

  17. 17.

    lamh36

    @Corner Stone: no fight… Craig and Connery are my top 2. They change depending on how I feel at any moment…lol.

    Connery was my first…so holds special place in my heart…lol.

  19. 19.

    lamh36

    @Comrade Scrutinizer: I like BCum…but even at his best, I’ve never thought him suave or debonair.

    Fact is, I like his so much as Sherlock cause he seemed like he’d be that type of douche that Sherlock Holmes would seem in modern times.

  21. 21.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    Having said that, the early Bond movies are very different from today’s, and making comparisons of actors in a role separated by 50 years is difficult.

  23. 23.

    redshirt

    @lamh36: Hiddleston could pull off the suave and debonair side, I have no doubt. And given workout programs/stunt work these days, I bet he could come up to speed on the physicality side. He seems like a gifted actor and he wants the part. And he’s British.

  26. 26.

    redshirt

    @Chris: You made it? If so, nice work. And yes, 80’s throwbacks are become more and more all the rage. I’m certain half the appeal of “Stranger Things” is the very 80’sness of it.

  32. 32.

    Miss Bianca

    @lamh36: *I* have not given up on Idris Elba as Bond. First him, then Gillian Anderson. It’ll be like the Obama-Clinton handoff. And then it really will be the death of the Patriarchy.

  33. 33.

    lamh36

    @redshirt: I think Hiddles is fine as an actor, just don’t think he has it for Bond…and sure he wants its…I’d wager alot of British actors would covet the Bond role, but still…I just can’t see it.

    As for the physicality, Craig brought that to a new level. Connery was fit for his time, as were the other Bonds, but the majority of them were more on the debonair side rather than the physical. Craig seperated himself from Connery and the other Bond due to the just how much more physical interaction he brought to the franchise.

    I see Hiddles as a Bond more in the mold of Brosnan, less physicality, more accent and debonair spy…Craig has spoiled that image of Bond a bit for me.

  35. 35.

    redshirt

    @Miss Bianca: Elba’s too booked. He’s locked into The Dark Tower series, has a Marvel commitment, and that’s gonna take the next 3-5 years, and who knows what else he’s already got booked.

    Pacific Rim, for another example.

  39. 39.

    redshirt

    @lamh36: Connery is a man apart when it comes to physicality. Dude was a real weightlifter (model). Look at the follow ups though – all debonair, suave guys. Craig may have brought the ideal back to the Connery model, but there’s nothing that says it has to stay there.

    How about Ben Aflleck for Bond?

  42. 42.

    lamh36

    Lord…who was the PR firm that decided that this interview with Matt Lauer was a good idea for Lochte?

    It makes him come off no better than before…smh.

    But they did get him to the salon to make sure his hair was no longer than silver mess to a nice trustworthy serious brunette tones…smh

    eyeroll

  45. 45.

    Chris

    @Corner Stone:

    Twenty eight.

    Which means I’ve never known an era when it wasn’t stupidly easy to access decades’ worth of movies. Trip to Blockbuster in the old days, click of a button today.

  46. 46.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Omnes Omnibus: I was waiting for this one. Or David Niven who actually served along side Ian Fleming and Fleming wrote the character based on Niven.

  47. 47.

    RealityBites

    Love the Idris Elba idea. Fantastic actor. Just the right air of controlled danger. But the movie would be too long. He’d get pulled over every time he went somewhere in a Bond car.

  50. 50.

    ThresherK (GPad)

    @lamh36: Spousal ThresherK thought one of the divers, in a medium-shot, was starkers. His hipbones weren’t covered by the suit.

  53. 53.

    Chris

    @Miss Bianca:

    I don’t really care, but I would enjoy a black James Bond simply for the mass aneurysms it would give Rush Limbaugh and all his followers.

  54. 54.

    Miss Bianca

    @Omnes Omnibus: The Diana Rigg version is fine, but the Gillian Anderson version pretty much buries it. Not because of her, necessarily, but scripting and performances were stellar. I rewatch it every couple years Just Cause.

  56. 56.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Omnes Omnibus: it was. It was made specifically as a comedy, though I’ve never been clear on why. What was supposed to have happened was that Fleming wanted Niven for Dr. No since he’s based Bond on Luietenant Colonel Niven, but for some reason the studio couldn’t get him/went with the little known at the time Connery. Niven is also mentioned by name in You Only Live Twice.

  57. 57.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    @Omnes Omnibus: I don’t count the first C. Royale with David Niven, but From Russia was fairly faithful. OHMSS was probably the most. Most Bond movies just took the character names from a particular book and made up a whole new story. I think Craig was probably closest to the book Bond, although he didn’t bring across Bond’s misogyny, and his Bond was way too invested in Vesper. Book Bond would have been “Sucks to be her” and then gone on to the next one.

  62. 62.

    schrodinger's cat

    He doesn’t have the accent, but he has been wonderful in everything I have seen him in so far, Irrfan Khan. I can hear the heads exploding from here at the mere mention of a Muslin Bond.

  63. 63.

    lamh36

    @redshirt: Hemsworth are Australian, but not for nothing, I swear I’ve read that Hugh Jackman’s name had been bandied about pre-Craig for Bond…so it’s possible,

    But the Chris is all sewed up with Marvel (that pesky Thor character…lol) and Liam…IDK I think he’s too young unless there gonna reboot the series again? But if Craig was considered the “younger” reboot, going younger would be what? Bond in high school?

    lol

  64. 64.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    @Omnes Omnibus: I don’t count the first C. Royale with David Niven, but From Russia was fairly faithful. OHMSS was probably the most. Most Bond movies just took the character names from a particular book and made up a whole new story. I think Craig was probably closest to the book Bond, although he didn’t bring across Bond’s misogyny, and his Bond was way too invested in Vesper. Book Bond would have been “Sucks to be her” and then gone on to the next one.
    @Chris: Didn’t I say anything about Lazenby?

  67. 67.

    Chris

    Speaking of old movies and Bond actors, I introduced a fellow history nerd to “Is Paris Burning?” last night in honor of the anniversary. If you’d like to watch Auric Goldfinger as a German general conflicted between his orders to burn Paris and his increasing realization that it’s all for pointless, that his leader’s mad, and that nothing he does will save Germany, check it out.

    Also, Kirk Douglas cameo as General Patton.

  72. 72.

    redshirt

    @lamh36: Know that you’ve thrown his name out, Hugh Jackman seems like an obvious choice. He can play a Brit, he’s got a surprisingly broad range, and of course, muscles.

  78. 78.

    Corner Stone

    @Chris:

    Twenty eight.

    Which means I’ve never known an era when it wasn’t stupidly easy to access decades’ worth of movies. Trip to Blockbuster in the old days, click of a button today.

    *sigh*
    Kids these days.

  86. 86.

    Chris

    @Corner Stone:

    Part of me always wishes I’d been around to see what it was like to walk forty miles to school uphill both ways in the snow in hundred degree weather. Must’ve been something.

    I’ll get off your lawn now…

  89. 89.

    Corner Stone

    @Chris: You hear that clicking sound? That’s the sound of my double barrel shotgun clicking down on a load of rock salt. We’uns roun’ heah know how to deal with loudmouth younkers!

  93. 93.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    @Adam L Silverman: No, because Sgt. Stryker was killed by a Japanese sniper, then his men manfully pulled themselves together to complete the invasion of Iwo Jima.

  98. 98.

    Brachiator

    @lamh36:

    .Was watching From Russia With Love…man Sean Connery really was something else as Bond…Craig came closest to being a “young” version.

    I’ve read that when auditioning for Bond, the actor does the scene from this film when Bond finds the Russian agent naked in bed with just the ribbon around her neck.

  99. 99.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym

    @Plantsmantx:

    It has to be somebody who can make you believe he can kill somebody with no hesitation, and not care at all. They have to be appealing AND scary. Aside from Connery, Craig is the only one who has come close to having that quality.

    Not quite. Timothy Dalton also had that air. His problem was that he was unlucky enough to take the job during a period where the scriptwriting was terrible. I really think that he could have been outstanding with better material. In part, that’s because he has something that only Daniel Craig has had among the other Bonds. Not only can he kill someone without hesitation, you also feel like he knows that he could be killed at any moment. One problem I have with Connery;s Bond (ditto Moore and Brosnan) is that they never feel like they’re in any danger; they are too obviously immortal for the stakes to feel that high.

  100. 100.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Miss Bianca: Hey, Lazenby got Diana Rigg. He had to have something going for him. Now the fact that he violates my Brit only guideline is problematic.

  101. 101.

    Miss Bianca

    @Omnes Omnibus: Bit of a double standard there, eh? See, why do people think an American couldn’t play James Bond? It’s not like British actors haven’t been able to play American roles (see Elba, Idris, for example) (just about to start season 2 of The Wire).

  102. 102.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym

    @Miss Bianca: Brits are better at accents. It comes from needing to learn to do different ones given how culturally specific accents within Britain are, plus you need to be able to play an American if you’re a film actor and want to have a wide variety of roles. American actors generally don’t have the same imperative to be good at different accents, so they often are bad at it when asked to do a British one. Not all of them, of course, but a lot.

  103. 103.

    Brachiator

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Now the fact that he violates my Brit only guideline is problematic.

    Pierce Brosnan is Irish. Bond did not even have Scottish heritage, but Fleming was so impressed by Connery that he retconned the character.

  104. 104.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Miss Bianca: Actually, I am a Connery/Craig person. I was being high-falutin’ with the Lazenby shout-out. I still say Bond has to be British.

  105. 105.

    Miss Bianca

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym: My ex-husband was so good he routinely fooled people from Britain. He managed to convince a lady from Birmingham that he was one of her own. So there are some American actors out there who can do it. It’s a matter of ear and good vocal training.

    @Omnes Omnibus: FWIW, I’m a Connery/Craig fan myself. You admitted you weren’t into Lazenby as anything but Mrs. James Bond’s arm candy. I can dig it. I’m pretty gay on Diana Rigg myself.

  108. 108.

    Brachiator

    @Miss Bianca:

    Bit of a double standard there, eh? See, why do people think an American couldn’t play James Bond?

    Barry Nelson played an American Bond in a 50s tv show. An old and ravaged Peter Lorre played the bad guy. This may still be available on YouTube.

    An American could play Bond, but the character should be British.

  110. 110.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Man, not even a mocking or sarcastic reference to Sir Roger Moore in the whole thread.

  111. 111.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Brachiator: Ireland is one of the two British Isles, is it not? I am willing to be somewhat loose with the term if necessary. Also, I didn’t like Brosnan’s Bond.

  112. 112.

    Brachiator

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym:

    . Brits are better at accents.

    It’s odd. Brits on tv and radio programs are often terrible playing Americans. The guy doing Dubya on Dead Ringers never got it right. But the comedian currently doing Trump absolutely nails it.

  115. 115.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Brachiator: And Brosnan was a shit Bond. So If we want to define him as non-British, it still supports my premise that Bond should be British.

  116. 116.

    Brachiator

    @redshirt:

    How about Ben Aflleck for Bond?

    Oh, hell no. He’s bad enough as Batman.

    Actually, he’s OK as Batman in “Bats v Supes,” but is crappy in the abysmal “Suicide Squad.”And that’s just a cameo.

  117. 117.

    redshirt

    @Brachiator: I actually think Affleck would be a great Bond. He’s got the suaveness, the physicality, clearly the acting skills, and he can direct his own Bond movie, saving money.

  118. 118.

    Brachiator

    @Omnes Omnibus: Actually, Brosnan was OK as Bond. But he was a middle weight. He seemed to huff and puff and struggle to appear convincing in the fight scenes. Roger Moore was a crappy Bond, but when he signed on, the series wanted to wink at and mug for the audience, which fit his acting style.

    Liked Moore as Simon Templar. I got to watch a chunk of The Saint recently. A couple of episodes featured Shirley Eaton and Honor Blackman, both of whom appeared in Goldfinger.

  121. 121.

    Brachiator

    @redshirt:

    I actually think Affleck would be a great Bond. He’s got the suaveness, the physicality, clearly the acting skills, and he can direct his own Bond movie, saving money.

    He comes across as constipated, not suave. But I would let him direct a Bond film.

  122. 122.

    Brachiator

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    . Actually Brosnan sucked as Bond. Personal opinions come in.

    Obviously. But I remember people in the audience cheering for Brosnan when he appeared in Goldeneye, feeling that the character was in good hands again. And some felt extra sympathy for him, remembering that NBC refused to release him from Remington Steele when MGM first approached him for the role.

    But aside from this, I thought he was better than both Moore and Dalton. Maybe tied with Moore. Dalton was too glum for my tastes, and was saddled with bad scripts.

    But ultimately, who is the best Bond is much like who is the best Doctor Who. It’s all personal.

  126. 126.

    Brachiator

    @redshirt:

    : Can’t we agree that this entire run of Bonds was terrible?

    With Craig? Nope. Really liked the first one. And some parts of the others. The most recent was a stinker.

  129. 129.

    dr. luba

    @TaMara I’ve watched all three season’s of A Place to Call Home. A freind in Australia has been sending my mom the DVDs, and I bought her a zone free DVD player a few years back. Mom is addicted, and I quite enjoyed it, too. Aussie soap, but well done.

    Apparently they’ve renewed for a fourth season, and a bunch of new problems and cliffhangers popped up in the last episode.

    If you enjoyed this, you might like the ABC’s Anzac Girls.

  135. 135.

    Chris

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym:

    I have a soft spot for Dalton as well, partly because, as you say, he did the Craig thing first. The scriptwriting problem is actually something I associate with Moore and Brosnan more than him. I don’t rank the Dalton movies among the highest, but they’re nowhere near the depths of “Moonraker” or “A View To A Kill,” or “Die Another Day.” And I kind of enjoyed watching Bond take a break from fighting threats to the world or to Western civilization.

  136. 136.

    Chris

    @Brachiator:

    Liked Moore as Simon Templar. I got to watch a chunk of The Saint recently. A couple of episodes featured Shirley Eaton and Honor Blackman, both of whom appeared in Goldfinger.

    I’ve been meaning to try and find the books, especially as someone who enjoys a lot of that kind of late nineteenth and early twentieth century pulp fiction, but they’re not easy to find, especially the first one. I suppose once they’re old enough to be in the public domain, I can always get them on Wikisource.

  137. 137.

    Chris

    @Brachiator:

    Goldeneye was great, and it’s still well liked by fans in general even among the many who don’t like Brosnan in general. I enjoyed the next one too even if it was a good deal sillier. (It also burned the image of Jonathan Pryce into my head whenever I think of Rupert Murdoch, even though I know what Rupert Murdoch looks like in real life). The World Is Not Enough is kind of a hot mess, and… then there’s Die Another Day.

    @Brachiator:

    With Craig? Nope. Really liked the first one. And some parts of the others. The most recent was a stinker.

    That seems to be the general consensus – Casino Royale was awesome, Spectre stank.

    For me the Craig movies have been going steadily downhill after a very strong start. A lot of it has to do with the telenovela-ish aspects getting worse and worse each time, culminating in a villain twist from Spectre that was lifted directly from Austin Powers.

  138. 138.

    workworkwork

    @dr. luba: My wife is watching that right now! (She’s having a good weep.) We got the AcornTV app for our set top box and it was the best investment we ever made.

    We’re both Anglophiles and love some good British/Australian/Canadian/etc. TV.

    Also she has a tendency to yell at the screen whenever Drumpf comes on (which is way too often) so when it gets bad we switch over to Acorn.

    BTW. you can save money if you sign up on the Acorn TV site instead of through iTunes.

  140. 140.

    Aussiesmurf

    @Chris: Most fans think the actors peak early. The popular consensus is that Connery’s best movie was his second (From Russia With Love) or his third (Goldfinger). Moore’s best was probably his third (The Spy Who Loved Me). Dalton’s first was the better (The Living Daylights), almost everyone thinks Brosnan (Goldeneye) and Craig (Casino Royale) did best with their first movie.

  141. 141.

    Jane

    OMG, I loved APTCH. It’s hard to explain why it was so addictive but it is. So many characters you love. I started out hating the bitchy family matriarch and wound up loving her. My least favorite (other than the wife-beater) was, sadly, the main love interest George. Do NOT know what Sara sees in him, personally.

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