Being Bond James: The Craig Daniels Story

Anyone watched this?

Basically confirms that Babs wanted Craig in the role to the exclusion of all other options, despite the fact Craig overtly couldn't give a fuck from the get-go. Mick Wilson went along because who is he to stand up to the Mediterranean seductress?

Craig mentions he spent an entire night trawling the internet for negative commentary on himself. I'd like to think he read KTBEU and the polemics of You Only Live Thrice and that receding hairline bloke who shot an audition tape of himself saying "Bond, James Bond" in a hypersexualised manner.

The infamous wrist-slashing comments were the equivalent of "asking a marathon runner whether they wanted to do another one" immediately after finishing a race. Err, good save.

Anyway, this doco basically confirms that Cregg should've wrapped up with Skyfall but we're meant to feel some sort of deep n' gritty emotion when we see him shoot his final scenes in faux-Cuba.

Only deepngritty emotion I feel at this point is relief that he is finally over with.

The only other feeling -- baffled rage over how the world spent more than 15 years drooling over this incredibly misguided piece of casting instead of lambasting him back to his proper status as a character actor -- has I think finally taking a backseat to fretting over realworld issues. Though I suppose if I was a writer on these last few Bonds (or the MCU), there would be a grand unified pulled-out-of-backside tie-in that explained Craig's ascension as Bond and Trump's impact on everything (esp Supreme Court) as part and parcel with the (un)natural order of things this century.

I watched this a few months ago on Apple TV pre-NTTD. It was about basic-level Eon framing how they want you to see things (e.g. yelling writer’s strike at the top of their lungs soon as QOS comes up despite the fact that the overwhelming amount of criticism of the film was about how it was shot, edited, directed).

One thing I found interesting. Before they released the doc they hyped up the fact that they were going to show Craig’s audition footage, but I’m not sure they even did. During that part, the title says "Screen Test -- Pinewood Studios 2006" yet Craig was announced as Bond in Oct 2005. Since it doesn't say "Daniel Craig screen test" I was left wondering if that was actually a Vesper screen test, with Craig involved testing actresses. Green wasn't announced until Feb 2006. Couldn’t id the girl in the clip. Thought maybe it was Audrey Tautou who was rumored way back when to have been in the running.

Cregg, more than anyone, seemed surprised that Babs was latched onto him. I mean she was going on about how he was "the most charismatic actor I've ever seen." As a non-actor I'm not gonna shit on his abilities, but Babs was carrying on like he was Orson Welles or something in that 'Elizabeth' movie which I'm sure some post-menopausal women watched.

He has said that when approached by EON at first his reaction was 'Me?!? No no, you've got the wrong guy'.

CJB wrote:

Cregg, more than anyone, seemed surprised that Babs was latched onto him. I mean she was going on about how he was "the most charismatic actor I've ever seen." As a non-actor I'm not gonna shit on his abilities, but Babs was carrying on like he was Orson Welles or something in that 'Elizabeth' movie which I'm sure some post-menopausal women watched.

I don't even remember him being n the movie, and I own it on DVD. Watched it at least three or four times in fact, though it may be 20 years now since the last time, and Rush was very good in it.

Irony is that I haven't ever seen the sequel (trailer had horrible CG ship stuff and weird color scheme), which has got Owen, who is still in a lot of ways my notion for a Bond in that era (though not a rookie Bond, Cavill would have been for that.) Owen had a bit too much of a nice-guy personality, but I think he offset that by playing bastards sometimes, which adds an extra layer. But would I trade CHILDREN OF MEN out for even one Bond outing with him? Not a chance, that is still among my top movies of the century. Kind of weird about CoM, because I absolutely hated the book. Think I enjoyed THE PRESTIGE a lot more as a film than the book as well (latter may lend itself to a reread for greater insight/appreciation, but not by me.)

One of the other things I noticed in the doco is the lack iconic moments despite him being in five films (i.e. third largest tenure behind Connery and Moore).

It's always the same thing... "Do I look like I give a damn?" and the "Bond, James Bond" at the end of CR. The first is basically a subversion of a famous 007 trope and the name intro is the trope, so really, neither of those things would exist without the preceding 20 films.

Everything after CR is a blur basically. My point is, the meeja keeps telling us how beloved Cregg-Bond is and people seem to have been reflexively trained to call him the best since - or even better than - Connery, despite his movies being mostly forgettable.

I return to the same scenario: It's a frosty Christmas morning (I'm accomodating you Northern Hemisphere types), Dad is comfortably ensconced in a sweater fit for Bill Cosby (no, not an orange jumpsuit) and he's poured a generous couple drams of Maker's Mark into his eggnog. Snowflakes caress the windows as the meaty aromas of the honey-glazed ham escape the toasty confines of the oven and dance through the house. Dad's head buzzing pleasantly after a few mouthfuls of 'nog Kentucky style, he gathers the bleary-eyed kids 'round for some Bond. It could be Goldfinger, it could be Spy. Hell, maybe something a bit left-field like Live and Let Die. What I can't picture, in the scene I've painted, is Dad saying "Righto, let's watch No Time to Die."

Heh. Great post, CJB.

Clearly, the most valid, even irrefutable criticism of the DC films is that they completely lack the light touch. Now I happen to esteem them more than just about anybody on this site, but even I freely admit that these films are heavy and ponderous. There's very little joy, exuberance and exhilaration.

One brief moment does come to mind, though. I was watching CR last night, and the scene where Bond arrives in Nassau and drives to the Ocean Club--albeit in a ruddy Ford--has that olde tyme Bondian panache. But these exceptions are very rare, indeed.

Ah yes, Bond striding out of the plane in the cream blazer and subsequent driving sequence is perhaps the most "old school Bond" moment of the whole film, questionable choice of car aside.

The joylessness of the Craig films is definitely one of the things that hinders rewatchability.

CJB wrote:

Anyone watched this?

Basically confirms that Babs wanted Craig in the role to the exclusion of all other options, despite the fact Craig overtly couldn't give a fuck from the get-go. Mick Wilson went along because who is he to stand up to the Mediterranean seductress?

Craig mentions he spent an entire night trawling the internet for negative commentary on himself. I'd like to think he read KTBEU and the polemics of You Only Live Thrice and that receding hairline bloke who shot an audition tape of himself saying "Bond, James Bond" in a hypersexualised manner.

The infamous wrist-slashing comments were the equivalent of "asking a marathon runner whether they wanted to do another one" immediately after finishing a race. Err, good save.

Anyway, this doco basically confirms that Cregg should've wrapped up with Skyfall but we're meant to feel some sort of deep n' gritty emotion when we see him shoot his final scenes in faux-Cuba.

It was pretty clear from everything - his demeanor/acting/comments - that Craig was done after Skyfall and the two subsequent outings were purely done for the money.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Clearly, the most valid, even irrefutable criticism of the DC films is that they completely lack the light touch. Now I happen to esteem them more than just about anybody on this site, but even I freely admit that these films are heavy and ponderous. There's very little joy, exuberance and exhilaration.

I think part of the reason why I liked the Cuba section of NTTD so much is that it held some of the levity and fun that has largely been missing from the DC era. After 16 years of this heavy, serious stuff, I am eager for a bit more of that.

Also, the joy of seeing a Bond girl who actually is having fun with the role! How long ago was that?

I can only think of one onatopp of that list for the last 30 years ...

trevanian wrote:

I can only think of one onatopp of that list for the last 30  years  ...

Yeah, Janssen too understood the assignment.

After that a litany of actresses who could not stop themselves from explaining how they weren't like other Bond girls and how their roles were different.

Salomé wrote:

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Clearly, the most valid, even irrefutable criticism of the DC films is that they completely lack the light touch. Now I happen to esteem them more than just about anybody on this site, but even I freely admit that these films are heavy and ponderous. There's very little joy, exuberance and exhilaration.

I think part of the reason why I liked the Cuba section of NTTD so much is that it held some of the levity and fun that has largely been missing from the DC era. After 16 years of this heavy, serious stuff, I am eager for a bit more of that.

Also, the joy of seeing a Bond girl who actually is having fun with the role! How long ago was that?

Yeah. Ana de Armas was a jewel sparkling in the darkness.

Salomé wrote:

It was pretty clear from everything - his demeanor/acting/comments - that Craig was done after Skyfall and the two subsequent outings were purely done for the money.

Perhaps even from the get-go. In hindsight, the press who monstered him for being "James Bland" at his first press conference were probably on to something as far as his passion for the whole thing went.

CJB wrote:

Salomé wrote:

It was pretty clear from everything - his demeanor/acting/comments - that Craig was done after Skyfall and the two subsequent outings were purely done for the money.

Perhaps even from the get-go. In hindsight, the press who monstered him for being "James Bland" at his first press conference were probably on to something as far as his passion for the whole thing went.

Possibly these were his sentiments from the start, but he managed to keep that feeling in check until after Skyfall. From my perspective, from the press tour of Spectre onward, his entire public persona was emoting the fact that he was done with the role and only still doing it because EON were throwing silly money his way.

Hence why it was completely fucked for Babs to slobber over Craig's feet and acquiesce to his demand the character be killed off if he came back for a final film.

Any decent, charismatic actor who looks the part could make a Bond film which rakes in bucketloads. Babs got into some weird mindset that Craig and only Craig could continue to make Bond a financial success into the 2010's. Thinking with the wrong head, I'd say.

I agree that her sticking with Craig was reckless and unnecessary (and still am fully convinced he was utterly the wrong choice throughout this reign of error), but there is Eon precedent on this kind of thinking.

I mean, they stuck with Moore WAY past his expiration date just because it seemed like a way of playing safe. I actually find FYEO and some of OP to be pretty watchable, but imagining (as I tend to do) Dalton in the role for those films makes Moore's efforts seem pretty paltry. (VIEW just has always seemed flat and bad to me, just listless and gray, and I don't think anybody could have made it play unless it was drastically reshaped at the typewriter first. Except for the carwash death, nothing feels very Bond to me outside of the Barry score.)

I don't understand why they felt the need to wait and wait for Sam Mendes to do SPECTRE either. I really liked AMERICAN BEAUTY on first viewing and have watched ROAD TO PERDITION at least eight or nine times (not counting sectional re-views to drink in Hall's cinematography), but haven't gotten through any of his later films except SF and SP, the first of which I find to be an atrocity on the CR level (or worse) and the second so unmemorable I can barely remember what to criticize (only two viewings of each, another record low count with Bond movies for me, 'besting' CR and TND at 3 watches ... well I've only seen NTTD once, so I guess that is the record-holder for at least the immediate future.)

trevanian wrote:

I agree that her sticking with Craig was reckless and unnecessary (and still am fully convinced he was utterly the wrong choice throughout this reign of error), but there is Eon precedent on this kind of thinking.

I mean, they stuck with Moore WAY past his expiration date just because it seemed like a way of playing safe.

True, but at least with Moore they stuck with him because they knew the audiences loved him. Craig, on the other hand, is more-so the critics' choice because of his willingness to subvert the series' tropes and whatnot. Babs is far more interested in the critics' approval than that of the fans.

Cubby stuck with Roger because they needed the insurance of his box office power, MGM/UA wanted him to stay because they were all over the place and Bond was their major cash flow keeping the lights on and because Roger figured out what agent could negotiate with Cubby and get the negotiations done that didn't work with Sean.

AVTAK is more literary Bond than film Bond when you look closely at it. The pulls from the Gardner era books made me realize how much the feeling is a bit like an early Gardner Bond. (Ascot horse race scene, villain estate, elevator trap, airship climax, US/Europe based etc.) It is my favorite of the three final Roger 80's films for the darker tone and more deeply nuanced characterization.

Forcing myself through the Craig era one last time before NTTD (which I never, ever want to see ever again.) made it painfully obvious that Skyfall was the exit point. It's perfectly clear that was the intended end and everything afterwards is just complete tacked on, pointless crud.

Paloma is the only bright spot in all of NTTD for me. Yet she's a throwaway character who is of course in spite of being new perfect at everything. It was like a Mission: Impossible sequence instead of a Bond sequence and the Anya-nod in the dress design looked very silly with her doing all these acrobatics. Every person who sees this film says the same thing: "no, where are you going come back." Because she's the only joy in this dreary place.

Earlier today I made a twitter post praising Coldfall, The Killing Zone and James Bond Jr. over NTTD.
I need to re-read the unofficial Killing Zone but from what I remember it was still better than NTTD. After NTTD I don't think I'll ever heavily criticize anything Bond again even when Gardner has Bond wandering around EuroDisney in Never Send Flowers.

Re-reading Deaver's Carte Blanche made me realize just how badly these nu-films went. It's a bit messy and way too long but he sure as hell did a better job of modernizing things yet not flushing away the core characters.

Critics have never taken Bond seriously. Even the best of them go right into ranking the best lead actor. The films have never been considered as art which infuriates me to no end. So now critics think its great that everything is being subverted because they have no idea what a Bond film really is. A great deal of them did the same thing with the Disney Star Wars films and would even start by admitting they had no past history with the original films.