50th Anniversary of Bond

For 50 years, James Bond has been entertaining millions and uttering the famous words "shaken, not stirred" and "the name's Bond, James Bond". And since this is an iconic year for Bond, I will give you my personal top five movies, my favorite Bond and Bond girl, and favorite villains of Bond. Let's get started with my favorite movies of the genre. At number five is the iconic The Spy Who Loved Me. This movie is very iconic with its classic villain Jaws, who had metal teeth and proved to be quite a match for Bond. Even though I forgot the story line and the girl Bond saves, I watched it just for Jaws and his escapades with James. Next is the unforgettable Sean Connery-era film Goldfinger. In this film, the ruthless villain Goldfinger was introduced and the iconic laser scene has been copied for decades. Also, Goldfinger kills a woman in the film and paints her gold. The villain Odd Job was also introduced and is sometimes known as the main villain instead of the henchman. The movie is the most iconic and classic of the franchise and made Sean Connery a household name. Then, my third favorite Bond film is the last of Sean Connery's reign as Bond after being away for almost a decade is Never Say Never Again. In this film, an aged Bond goes after a wimpy villain with a cool and terrifying computer game. This movie was such a thrilling experience for me because of the classic computer game Bond plays with the villain where the loser gets zapped with electricity. Even though the movie was a hit and Sean Connery's last Bond work, it comes into question of what happened to Roger Moore. But anyway, let's go to my second favorite Bond film. The Man with The Golden Gun would be my favorite if it weren't for Pierce Brosnan. In this film, Roger Moore faces off against an assassin Scaramanga (played by the wonderful Christopher Lee) and a dwarf henchman Nick Knack (who starred in Fantasy Island). Given away in the title, the villain carries a golden gun and is one of Bonds most memorable foes. And now it's time for my absolute favorite. At number one is the last Pierce Brosnan Bond film, Die Another Day. In the film, a recently tortured Bond goes after the man responsible for his pain Gustaf Graves. Aside from the awesome title song by Madonna, the movie is my favorite because of its Bond girl (Halle Berry) and its awesome sub-villain with a diamond embedded face. This is the best in the series and shows Pierce Brosnan at his best. Now let's talk about my favorite Bond girl. Although there have been over 50 Bond girls, and all of them being the same, there is only one that I love. And you guessed it, my favorite is Die Another Day's Oscar winning actress Halle Berry. Even though I loved Grace Jones as May Day in Roger Moore's A View to Kill and thought Miss Goodnight from The Man with The Golden Gun, I loved that there was actually an African-American Bond girl who was an agent and fought for the first time. Now let's talk villains. Throughout the series I've had numerous villains that I've liked, but these are my favorite. My third favorite villain is the one and only Goldfinger. I liked him because he brought a certain evil with him to the character and was very menacing. Then, my second favorite villain is the Japanese villain/henchmen, Xiao. In Die Another Day, Xiao's face is embedded with diamonds during an explosion and he then swears revenge on Bond. His character was very edgy and dark and the "million dollar face" gives him horror. And my ultimate all time favorite is Scaramanga. Christopher Lee gave this villain much complexity and played him well. I enjoyed this villain and his golden accessories. Then, there's my favorite Bond ever. I loved all of the Bonds except George Lazenby and Daniel Craig, and thought they did great, but only one is my favorite. My all time favorite is the one and only Pierce Brosnan. After I saw his performance in Die Another Day, I fell in love with him and watched all of his other Bond moments. He was the best overall. And now that you have heard my James Bond obsession, it's time for some late breaking news. Over this beloved Thanksgiving holiday, the 81-year-old actor Larry Hagman passed away from his 1 year battle with cancer. Hagman is most known for his iconic character J.R. Ewing on the 70s through 90s hit show Dallas and its reboot that debuted this summer by the same name. The reboot featured all of the old show's cast with the exceptions of Victoria Principle and others. J.R. Ewing was a classic tv villain and will be missed along with Larry Hagman. TNT, however, has not made any statements on whether the show will continue and air new episodes in January or quit. My heart goes out to all of the Dallas family. This concludes our 50th anniversary of Bond. I hope you enjoyed it and I apologize for leaving you on a sour note. As always, send me your comments on anything I have or haven't said and I will address it in my next blog. Tune in next week for all the news on your favorite celebrities and movies. And before I forget, make sure to read "The Trial" this week as it returns with chapter 5 after a three week absence at www.brordon2.blogspot.com. Until next time................

Skyfall

This past weekend, the new James Bond movie Skyfall opened in theaters and took the top spot. In this Bond movie, an ex-MI6 agent goes rogue and terrorizes the British agency. Bond (played by Daniel Craig) must stop the man (played by Oscar royalty Javier Bardem) before he makes his next move on MI6. Even though me and my mother hate the new Bond, we love the franchise itself and think this one is really good. Then, the next thing that makes this new Bond movie great is its theme song. The title song "Skyfall" is sung none other than 8-time Grammy Award winner Adele. This movie is a real treat and re imagines the Bond saga. Shout out to MGM! Now, let's talk about this past weekend's box office results. Usually, on Sunday nights, I love to go on box office mojo on the Internet and see the winner of the week's box office. However, since I blog about entertainment and celebrity news, I have decided to now tell you all of each week's box office winners and runner-ups. As you all know, Bond rose to the occasion and snagged first place at $88 million. This movie also marked a milestone as being the second  movie in Bond history to cost as much as it did to produce. So, you rock Bond. Then, at number two is the second most anticipated animated movie of the year Wreck-It Ralph. The big handed hero came in at $33 million, despite its box office win last week at its debut of $43 million. Then at three is the new Denzel Washington movie Flight. Since its debut at number two last week, the movie has received great reviews and Oscar buzz. This week, it came behind Wreck-It Ralph at $14 million. I hope Washington gets nominated again and wins next year. Then, the Ben Affleck film is still intriguing movie goers everywhere because it's still in the top five. At number four, Argo raked in a good $6 million. But despite its wild reviews and cool cast, the trailers for this movie have bored me and caused me not to go see it. So, I would be surprised if it turns out to be good. Then, last but not least, is the continuation of the awesome Liam Neeson films, Taken 2. The second film took in $4 million and is still receiving big numbers after being in theaters for almost ten weeks. And now, here's a recap of this week's box office results:

1. Skyfall -- $88 million
2. Wreck-It Ralph -- $33 million

3. Flight -- $14 million

4. Argo -- $6 million

5. Taken 2 -- $4 million

And now that that's over, let's discuss some celebrity news with Barbara Walters. This past week, Barbara has been making headlines with two artists, Nicki Minaj and Lindsey Lohan. Okay, as you all know, Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey have been feuding on the new season of American Idol for quite some time. And now, Miss Barbara Walters is taking sides with Mariah Carey. However, Nicki lashed out at Barbara on her three part reality series on "E!".  On her show, Nicki calls Barbara some pretty inappropriate names for taking Mariah's side without trying to hear hers. Even though Barbara took Mariah's side over yours, Nicki, you can't call her names like that. Barbara is a very powerful woman Nicki, and with a snap of her fingers, she could end your career. So, I suggest you watch what you say before you end on the street. Then, in more Lindsey Lohan news, Lindsey makes Barbara mad. On Friday, Barbara was supposed to interview Lindsey about her life and run-ins with the law. However, Lindsey cancelled the interview and disappointed millions including Wendy Williams. Well, there's still Liz and Dick on Lifetime. But, Barbara Walters said it's a disappointment to not be interviewing her and her perception of her has changed. Well that concludes this week's post and celebrity news. Join us next week for a countdown of my favorite Bond movies in a celebration of 50 years of James Bond. And as always, send me your feedback on anything I have and haven't said and I will address it in my next post. Until next time...........

Celebrity News

It's seems like I haven't posted in forever, but here it goes. In the past week, there have been many breaking celebrity news and shocking scandals. Let's go over the most popular. First up is Amanda Bynes. Recently, a magazine published a story saying that Amanda was naked in a New York hair beauty salon. Bynes has now retaliated. Bynes says that this story is ridiculous and she's suing them. She also says that "I'm 26, a multi-millionaire, and retired" and that she has no business doing that. Now, even though Amanda has been target of the media in these past months, I don't believe she was naked in the salon. However, her second statement is what gets me. How are you retired Amanda when you haven't been around that much? In fact, I looked up her net worth and it's only $8 million. And even though that's a lot of money to us, that's not a lot in the world of acting. A lot is $250 million, which is Tom Cruise's bank account. So what I say to Amanda is 'get back out of retirement so I can see another movie of you besides Sydney White'. Now, let's talk Lindsey Lohan. And I know America, I'm tired of talking about her too, but, news is news. This past Sunday, Lohan is being charged with lying to the police during the summer. I know you all are wondering 'what lie did she tell and when?' Well, I'll tell you. During the summer, Lohan got into a car accident and said that there was someone else driving her Porsche. However, ballistics show that Lohan was actually driving and that she lied to the police. Lying is against Lohan's probation and it could cause her to do some more time. I will keep you posted and tell you whether or whether not she's going to jail. Now let's go to a happier story. The classic movie Casablanca could be getting a sequel in the following years. Now I have a problem with this because of two reasons. The first reason is that Casablanca is one of the most sacred old movies and should be left untouched forever. My second reason is that no one really cares. The box office results will be extremely low because no one really knows what this is and most of the people who did see it is now dead or too old to be going to the movies. So, those are my problems. Feel free to leave me any of your comments on this impossible sequel. This brings us to our last story of the day. Two weeks ago, I told you I would keep you posted on the Sherman Hemsley story and it's now time for an update. This past week, a DNA test was done on the person coming forth as Hemsley's brother and it turns out, he's his brother. But don't ask me how or how Hemsley didn't know. And even if he's the brother, Hemsley didn't leave him anything in his will and he shouldn't get anything. Then, the distant reverend states that his mother, who claims to be related to Hemsley, was like an aunt to Hemsley so they should get money. What I'm saying is that "play" relatives don't count and even if these two were related, they should not get money. I swear, whenever money is involved we jump out of a gun. But anyway, this concludes this week's post and I hope you enjoyed yourself. And as always, send me your feedback on anything I have or haven't said and I will address it in my next post. Join us next week in our talk of celebrities and entertainment. Until next time.....