OP, CR & AVTAK On Oz TV

The first week of 2004 will end with James Bond taking the Sunday night movie timeslot, with Network Ten airing Roger Moore’s Octopussy.

The 1983 James Bond film will air on January 5 at 8:30pm on Ten.

Also look out for 1967’s spoof Bond film, Casino Royale, the following night. Ten will again be airing the 007 film, though at the much later timeslot of 11:30pm.

This will be followed up with Ten screening Moore’s last Bond outing, A View To A Kill, on the Tuesday night. The successive airing of Bond films promises another for the Wednesday, though details are yet to be revealed.

Bond Girl Luciana Paluzzi to appear at LA Con, Jan 17 & 18

Luciana Paluzzi , the lovely and lethal Fiona Volpe from THUNDERBALL, will be appearing at the next HOLLYWOOD COLLECTORS & CELEBRITIES SHOW on Sat. Jan. 17th and Sun. 18th 2004. She’ll be signing her own pictures and whatever else you bring along (for a small fee). This show is held four times annually at the Beverly Garland Holiday Inn near Universal Studios in North Hollywood, California. Admission is $15 daily, or you can buy a special 2-day admission for $25. Guests of the hotel get into the show free. Past Bond stars who have appeared at the show include George Lazenby, Maud Adams, Richard Kiel, David Hedison, Tayna Roberts, Lana Wood, Caroline Munro, and Trina Parks.

You can get more info on the show here: hollywoodcollectorshow.com.

Brosnan Fans Treated Twice

British television will screen two Brosnan films this Christmas day, adding to the usuals; the Queens speech, and Only Fools And Horses.

Viewers of ITV-1 will be treated to the 1997 Bond flick, Tomorrow Never Dies, in which Brosnan co-stars with Michelle Yeoh, and Jonathan Pryce. ITV-1 will air the film at 15:10.

Later in the evening the glossy remake of of Sixties favourite, The Thomas Crown Affair, will be broadcast on BBC 1. Art thief, Pierce Brosnan, and an insurance investigator (Rene Russo), play a high-stakes game of cat and mouse in the 1999 romantic thriller to be shown at 23:20.

Bond Cars At UK Motorshow

The Aston Martin V12 Vanquish seen in the most recent James Bond film, Die Another Day, will be featured at a car exhibition in at the Heritage Motor Centre in Warwickshire.

The Vanquish displayed at the Motor Centre will be one of the gadget laden vehicles used for filming parts of the Ice Chase scene. The Jaguar XJR from the same chase sequence will also be on display.

The cars will be on display until the New Year, with the Heritage Motor Centre open every day (bar public holidays) between 10:00am and 5:00pm. Further details can be found at www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk.

James Bond Charity Ball

The Kirkwood Hospice in Huddersield, England will be hosting a James Bond Ball. The black tie event will be held November 29 at Bowers Mill, Barkisland and all money raised will be used to aide the Kirkwood Hospice. Guests of the James Bond Ball will be treated to live music and gambling.

Event organizers are expecting 200 guests and tickets are still available for £40. Anyone wanting more information should contact Joanne Gledhill at 01484 557911.

The Kirkwood Hospice offers voluntary medical care to those with life threatening illnesses.

SpikeTV's Thanksgiving Marathon

SpikeTV is getting set to air the He Spies/She Spies Bond Movie Marathon this Thanksgiving. Beginning Wednesday,
November 26, the four day marathon will be hosted by the stars of “She Spies” and will include two new SpikeTV premiers;
“The World Is Not Enough” and “The Living Daylights.”

The marathon will also include trivia, contests, and insight on the Bond films by “She Spies” stars, Natasha Henstridge, Kristen
Miller, and Natashia Williams.

Each day of the marathon will feature a different theme. Thursday is “The Bond Sampler” which will feature one film from each
actor to portray James Bond.; Friday is “Connery Friday” which will feature only the Bond films made by Sean Connery; and
Saturday and Sunday will be “Moore Weekend” which will feature the Bond films starring Roger Moore.

Here’s a look at SpikeTV’s Bond Marathon schedule:

Wednesday, November 26

8:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT – THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH

11:00 PM-1:30 AM, ET/PT – DR. NO

Thursday, November 27

9:00 AM-12:30 PM, ET/PT – ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE

12:30-3:00 PM, ET/PT – FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

3:00-6:00 PM, ET/PT – THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN

6:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT – THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH

9:00 PM-Midnight, ET/PT – THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS

Midnight-3:00 AM, ET/PT – OCTOPUSSY

Friday, November 28

9:00-11:30AM, ET/PT – DR. NO

11:30 AM-2:00 PM, ET/PT – GOLDFINGER

2:00-5:00 PM, ET/PT – YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE

5:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT – DIAMONDS ARE FOREVE

8:00-11:00PM, ET/PT – NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN

11:00 PM-2:00 AM, ET/PT – THUNDERBALL

Saturday, November 29

1:00-4:00 PM, ET/PT – LIVE AND LET DIE

4:00-7:00 PM, ET/PT – THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN

7:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT – THE SPY WHO LOVED ME

Midnight-3:00 AM, ET/PT – LIVE AND LET DIE

Sunday, November 30

1:00-4:00 PM, ET/PT – MOONRAKER

4:00-7:00 PM, ET/PT – FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

8:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT – OCTOPUSSY

11:00 PM-2:00 AM, ET/PT – THE SPY WHO LOVED ME

Blackman To Host UK Art Show

Former Bond girl, Honor Blackman, is set to host a VIP night a The Harlequin shopping
center gallery art show this December.

Organizers of the event are asking that guests pay £15 for a small, specially created
artwork which may or may not be painted by a well known artist.

The evening, Postcards for the Palace, is in aid of the Palace Theatre Appeal. Money raised by the Palace Theatre Appeal will be used to refurbish the Palace Theatre Watford.

TSWLM Screening In Edinburgh

At the FILMHOUSE Cinema in Edinburgh, Scotland on Tues, December 2nd there will be a screening of 1977’s James Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me, starring Roger Moore.

Actor Richard Kiel, who played the character Jaws in the film, will be introducing the screening and afterwards participating in a Question & Answers session.

He will also be available to sign copies of his autobiography, ‘Making it Big in the Movies‘.

According to the price list tickets sell for around £4.50.

Filmhouse Cinema Site: filmhousecinema.com
TSWLM Screening Page: Kiel.html

LALD Screening In LA Oct 22

Roger Moore’s first James Bond outing, Live And Let Die, will return to the big screen is Los Angeles later this month.

The screening will take place at the Directors Guild of America at 7920 Sunset Boulevard. It will be held to honor Julius Harris with benefits going to the Motion Picture and Television Fund Foundation.

The event will take place on October 22, starting at 6:00 p.m. with Refreshments & Hors d’oeuvres. The screening will take place at 7:00 p.m. and be followed at 9:00 p.m. by a panel discussion. Panelists whom have been invited are Halle Berry, Morgan Freeman, Julius Harris, Gloria Hendry, Tom Mankiewicz, Roger Moore, Jane Seymour and John Singleton. There is no word on whether any of those guests are confirmed for the panel though.

Tickets reservations are required with tickets selling at $15 for adults and $10 for students. You can find out more information at the Motion Picture and Television Fund Foundation‘s website.

Honor To Host Bond Music Fest Tonight

Famed Bond Girl Honor Blackman is to host a Bond music concert tonight with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Carl Davis, at 7.30pm. The woman with the golden voice who played Pussy Galore in 1964’s Goldfinger also talked to Liverpool’s Daily News, in an interview featured on culture site icLiverpool.

As arguably the most enduring Bond girl of all, Blackman officially renewed her acquaintance with the James Bond industry by hosting a hugely successful concert of music from the films conducted by Carl Davis and performed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, at the Liverpool Summer Pops.

Finally, four years later, she is back with the concert on Thursday evening, this time at the Philharmonic Hall.

In typically forthright manner she says: “If somebody had said you’d still be talking about this bloody film 40 years later I would have said don’t be daft. It’s astonishing that they’re even still making the Bond series.”

“The snowball started with Goldfinger. I didn’t realise how big it was going to be. I had seen From Russia with Love and thought it was an awfully good film. It was exactly like going into The Avengers, you don’t have any idea what its future is.”

There was nearly a riot in Leicester Square at the premier when the crowd pushed the cinema’s plate glass window in. The film was hyped with gimmicks like a solid gold finger especially moulded for Blackman to wear.

“There’s no question that Sean Connery was the best Bond. Gert Frobe, who played Goldfinger, was lovely. The problem was that it was his first picture in English and he learned the language as we went along.”

My first scene with Gert at Goldfinger’s ranch, the director Guy Hamilton told us to rehearse. Gert had the first line and I thought, ‘Jesus, I’ve no idea what he’s saying, so I waited for his mouth to stop and then I said my line and so on. I mean, I was sitting next to him and couldn’t understand a word, so heaven help the audience. Ha-ha-ha!”

“I said to Guy, ‘Nobody will understand him,’ and he said, ‘Don’t worry darling, he’ll be dubbed,’ which I think was done by Charles Gray.

Honor goes on to talk about the apparent media shyness at the time when it came to mentioning the infamous Fleming name “Pussy Galore.”

“Initially the Americans would not let it in because of the character name of Pussy Galore. It wasn’t until they saw a newspaper with the headline ‘The Prince and the Pussy’, showing me talking to Prince Philip that they thought if the Prince can take it, we can do it. And that’s how it got in.”

This sends her into more peals of laughter. “All the names are metaphors for the characters, although it’s a bit naughty to say that, including Goldfinger and Oddjob.”

“Nobody considered it risqué here, but it upset an awful lot of TV presenters in America, some of them would not say it all when interviewing me. The fact that they can take it all so damn seriously is hilarious.”

She has never seen Goldfinger since that West End premier, adding: “Everyone keeps telling me it was a very good movie and they go on showing it forever. I only wish to God I got a penny or two every time it was shown. Wouldn’t that be lovely? I would be lying here in mink or some-thing.”

With thanks to The Daily News and icLiverpool, for the full interview, don’t hesitate to visit the site. Tickets for the concert tonight can be obtained through the ticket hotline (0151-709 3789).