Forum user ‘Zencat’ has kindly sent in a scan of the back cover of the UK edition of Raymond Benson’s newest James Bond novel, The Man With The Red Tattoo.
I must say I find it rather striking.
What do you think? Have your say in this thread on the CommanderBond.net Forums.
Just a quick note to inform everyone that some on-set footage from Die Another Day has appeared online. The footage comes from filming in Cadiz.
It's in Real Player format and can be viewed at http://videos.elmundo.es:8080/ramgen/noticias/2002/04/04/bond.rm
A big thanks to Tony and Dark Horizons for the link!
The latest issue of ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY (April 12, 2002), which is out today, has a report on Halle Berry and her win at this years Academy Awards. As a part of the report they've revealed details on Halle's salary for Die Another Day.
Halle Berry's groundbreaking win, however is another story. MONSTER'S BALL saw a 32 percent box office bump in its post-Oscar weekend (the low budget indie has grossed $23 million) and Berry, 33, may be headed for a similar pay raise. Sources say she snagged a career-high $4 million dollars for the upcoming James Bond film DIE ANOTHER DAY. And one studio production head said she could command $6 million to $8 million for the right vehicle.
Thanks to 'Beamer' for the tip-off about the news!
The online website Diario De Cadiz Digital has reported details on a scene filmed today in Cádiz involving Pierce Brosnan, Rick Yune and Halle Berry. However, the scene does involve spoilers so you'll have to highlight the report to read it.
Also on the matter of Halle Berry, She checked into a hospital in the middle of Cadiz, called ‘The Health Clinic’, as she complained about a pain in her eye. During the half an hour she was in the hospital, she was examined by Dr. Fernandez Repeto, fortunately, it was nothing serious just a little inflammation in the eye. She is to return to shooting today.
To discuss this topic visit thread in the Die Another Day Forums. And thanks to ‘Jaime Bond’ for the heads up, and to Shea Bennett aka "Trevelyan" who set up this report.
Here are some new photos that we haven't yet seen sent in by Eduardo Giménez González. A big thank-you to him.
[img="http://images.commanderbond.net/bond20/cadiz_spain/Cadiz04.jpg"
Again, a big thank-you to Eduardo Giménez González for those pcitures!
British newspaper The Mirror was able to speak with Rick Yune about his role of Zao in "Die Another Day". The paper reports, Spoiler Warning (Highlight To Read) the Korean actor has to be covered in white body make-up with dazzling blue contact lenses. The 30-year-old has veins painted on his face and diamonds stuck to his head and body. “I’m meant to look as if I have been in an explosion. It’s a brilliant role and I love playing a Bond villain”, Yune said, “the only problem is I’m topless in a lot of scenes in Spain and it’s been raining. I’ve had to have a hot-water bottle on stand-by”.
However, the news should come as now surprise to CommanderBond.Net readers. Through our sources we were the first site to report this news back in January.
Please discuss this topic in this thread! And finally a big "Thank You" to "Mourning Becomes Electra" for the alert.
British Newspaper "Daily Mail" has published an article about the shooting of "Die Another Day". They indicated a photo which shows a scene from Spoiler Warning (Highlight To Read) the Pre-Title-Sequence which has been shot in Aldershot in February.
As Absolutely James Bond reports, “Unfortunately there is no other commentary on the picture but it is quite interesting as this is probably a scene we will see in the film.”
The Website also published a picture of a new set being constructed in Pinewood, Spoiler Warning (Highlight To Read) the picture shows a Biome being built in the backlot of Pinewood. Remember the scenes that were filmed in Eden last month, they will perfectly fit together with those shots from Pinewood.
So stay tuned and discuss the news in the Die Another Day Forums!
The whole article contains spoilers, so you have to highlight it to read it.
Spoiler Warning (Highlight To Read) Will we ever get to know if Jinx is a good or a bad girl?
Let’s summarize what we know so far. First, Mrs Berry told her fans on her website back in December, that she is going to play Jinx. Variety reported, she will star alongside Pierce Brosnan as femme fatale, and having been asked in ‘Entertainment Tonight’, Berry answered “I will be the next Bond girl, a bad Bond girl.” In an interview with Reuters she confirmed, “She is probably not the typical villainess but she handles knives and things like that”.
The first Press Conference came and Berry said she would not know about her role, Neil Purvis and Robert Wade would still be working on Jinx.
Three months later we hear that a love scene between Brosnan and Berry is due to be shot in Iceland, and some insiders claim that Bond has to save Jinx from the sinking ice palace.
Everything was confusing. First we heard that both Berry and Pike will have bad characters, than we heard that both will be good girls.
Now Hello Magazine has published an article about Halle Berry: …”The actress, who plays a baddie, also said that she had yet to come to terms with what it meant to win Hollywood’s most prestigious acting gong.”
Also, forum user Xenobia tells us about the last night’s edition of “Entertainment Tonight”: “The one thing to note is that ET identified Jinx as Bond’s adversary”.
Any ideas about her role? Feel free and add your coments to this thread which was started by Xenobia.
Diario de Cádiz, a local newspaper, has published an article on filming scenes for "Die Another Day" in Cádiz, which will appear as Spoiler Warning (Highlight To Read)Cuba in "Die Another Day".
Unfortunately it is raining in the Mediterranean Area, and as a result there were only few scenes shot in Cádiz yesterday, but they tested filming Spoiler Warning (Highlight To Read) Helicopter Scenes. As we are not sure about the Helicopter, an inside source from Cádiz tells us that it was a helicopter which is used for evacuations. In the same note we are told that yesterday a Sunseeker Superhawk 48 Boat arrived in a lorry, appearently from England.
Unfortunately the weather today was also poor, Spoiler Warning (Highlight To Read) resulting in only scenes inside the castle of Cadiz to be shot (The castle is rumored to portray a Cuban hospital).
Finally a big thank to "JaimeBond"! Feel free to discuss this topic in this thread of the Die Another Day Forums.
It’s 12 noon Thursday, I’m sitting in front of the old computer, trying in vain to finish this article. Well, actually, the truth is I haven’t even started it yet. I know, I know, I’ve been a lazy boy this week. But you can’t expect to produce a high quality article on an empty stomach. I put a frozen pizza in the oven to satisfy my grumbling tummy and wander upstairs back to my computer and sit, twiddling my thumbs and hoping for a bit of inspiration, suddenly the phone rings.
“Hello”
“Yes this is Freemo, who is this?”
“The taxation department you say?, what a pleasant suprise”
“Yes, I’m aware that I haven’t paid my taxes since 1998”
“No I don’t have a secret illegal bank account in Panama”
“Well I don’t know here you get your information from”
Despite the fact that you are only hearing my side of the conversation, you are can probably tell that I’m in trouble here, the situation called for some quick thinking and
some smooth talking.
“Um, Me no speak English” I stammer before hanging up the phone. Phew, another potential crisis solved, but my last line struck a cord in my brain, “Me no speak English” is that Bond related? Let me think, ah yes, sort of. It’s “I speak English, who is your floor”.
That’s right, its Sean Connery speaking to the real Peter Franks in Diamonds are Forever, perhaps (but probably not) the first of the ‘Silly Moments” that came, unwelcomed by many, into the Bond films during the 70’s and changed the tone of the series during the Roger Moore years. Hmmm, why not write an article about that, those snotty Dalton fans who take delight in analyzing what is supposed to be entertainment will really be cheesed off, perfect.
Those “Silly Moments”, the wider audience probably loved them, they probably laughed, so I guess putting them into the films can be justified, but many hardcore Bond fans will disagree, they claim they are cartoonish, un-Fleming like and cover the Moore Bond films like a nasty rash. I think we need to examine some of these ‘Silly Moments’ and determine, which ones worked and which ones we could have done without, lets go though the Seventies Bond films and take a new, enlightened look…
Diamonds Are Forever – This is the transition film from the serious, smooth 60s Bond films with subtle humour to the light hearted, laidback style of the silly 70s flicks. The Asian Army dude running around on fire when Blofeld aims the laser at the rockets is a weak attempt at getting a laugh, and a strong attempt at getting a groan. There are a few other cheesy additions, some that work and some that don’t. One that I do like though is Bond talking with the rat in the pipes “One of us smells like a tarts handkerchief, I’m afraid its me, sorry about that Old Boy”. Its classy and silly, I give that one two thumbs up.
Live and Let Die – Kananga’s death, an absolute embarrasment to the series, is almost unforgivable. I liked Kananga as a villain, he’s underrated by fans, he was sophisticated, he was smooth. Some villians are lucky to have one decent henchmen, he had about four, remember Tee Hee, Baron Samedi, the bloke with the claw and that dude who played the flute while he was on marijuana? What I’m saying is Kananga was a good villain. But his death scene, blowing up like a balloon and even worse the explosion, that was very cartoonish, and very bad, they should have just feed him to the sharks, that would have been much better. However, Sheriff JW Pepper is quite a welcome addition to this movie, he has plenty to say and his spitting and he “Yeah Boy” and his racist remarks and his gut all work okay for me. “I’m guessing this ain’t exactly your debut at this sort of thing hey boy” he says while frisking (is that the word?) one of Kananga’s men, classic.
Moonraker – Somedays I love Moonraker and other days don’t, today I don’t. Well, that’s being a tad strong, but Moonraker is a very cheesy film indeed. Who would have thought that a movie that featured such gems as “You missed Mr Bond” “Did I?” and “Make sure some harm comes to him” could also contain some utter garbage. The pigeon doing double takes, Jaws acting like the Coyote from the Road Runner cartoons and him falling in love would all be laughable except for the fact that its just not funny. Thank goodness Ian Fleming didn’t have to stomach watching his creation become little more than a poor spoof of itself. Don’t even get me started on the space stuff, twenty years later, with the advances in technology, and it still looks far fetched. Don’t get me wrong, some days I sit back and enjoy Moonraker for what it is, two hours of globe trotting adventure fun, some days I laugh along with the jokes and love the film, today is not one of these days.
Octopussy – Yes, I do realise that because it was made in 1983 it is therefore, technically, not a 70’s film. But it is (after Moonraker) the second silliest Bond film in the series and it more than earns its place in the ‘Silly’ Era. A serious and complex plot about jewel forgery, a rouge Russian general with domination on his mind and that island full of women is marred by some very silly moments indeed. The tennis jokes were okay, but the crowd acting like there watching a game took away from what was a brilliant chase, and yes, it was a great sequence, far more enjoyable than any of the action scenes in The World is Not Enough. The Tarzan yell when Bond is swinging on the vines is a absolute disgrace, I really hope that someone got fired for that blunder. But on the upside the Toro joke “Sounds like a load of bull” was perfect.
Overall, some of these ‘Silly Moments’ worked and worked well, quite allot didn’t work, particulary with Bond fans, but I’m starting to think thats not the point. I’m sure that the general audience at the theatre would have loved them. Its apparently what they wanted at that time, and you have to give the audience what they want. The series wouldn’t have lasted 40 years without the Non Bond fans buying those tickets and filling those asles. Yes, I prefer the slick one liners from Thunderball as humour over the slapstick of Moonraker, but hey, each Bond film is different and thats the way it should be, change keeps things from getting stale. People who call for the films to be more like novels don’t realise that films aer a whole different thing, with there own style and are brilliant in there own way. Like I said, You have to do your best to give the audience what they want, without them the series would crash and burn.
I rock back on my chair to contemplate this theory, but the last word seems sticks in my mind. ‘Burn’, I think over and over, Burn, Burn, Burn. “Oh, No”, I remember that there’s that Pizza that has been in the oven for over half and hour now, “Oh No” I say again (I say other things, but they’re not fit for print). Sure enough the pizza has turned a very undelicious black. I take what used to be my Pizza into the lounge room and sit on the couch. I have two choices for this afternoon, I can either watch one of my Bond videos or I can study for Uni. Naturally, I go for the Bond movie. I put my feet up so I can relax a watch while I eat my burnt Pizza. Now, which type of Bond video should I watch? A smooth 60’s one, or a silly 70’s one, I just can’t decide.
Until next time,
Freemo