Brian's Thoughts on Movies

 "That's a Smith and Wesson, and you've had your six".  James Bond in Dr No. With the upcoming release of the film No Time to Die there is a lot of speculation that it may connect to the first James Bond film Dr No.  There is a clear link with the title and part of the new film is set in Jamaica, where most of Dr No is set.  Images from the trailers show similar sets and one of the taglines is “The 25 th Bond film will change everything.”  I decided it would be a good idea to revisit Dr No for the first time in many years. so that perhaps when I see No Time to Die I will be able to spot some of the references.  I watched it with my kids who like the more recent Bond films to see if it held their attention. Some people believe that Rami Malek’s villainous character is called Dr No.   I feel if the character is compelling it does not really matter who he is.   It is risky to rework a classic villain as it can open filmmakers up to criticism but i...

 “The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success.”  Elliot Carver in Tomorrow Never Dies Be warned, spoilers of the film are discussed. These stark words, uttered by Tomorrow Never Dies’ villain, media mogul Elliot Carver could be a philosophy of any successful person who might operate outside social norm.   I’ll withhold a Trump comment just this once but the words invite a deeper examination.   Carver owns a newspaper called “Tomorrow” and he so determined to come in ahead of his rivals (who seem to think little of him) that he actually wants to create the news.   Carver’s plot in the film is start a war between Great Britain and China which will both boost his own ratings since he will have a front door look at it, in much the way the Gulf War helped establish CNN, and give him an opportunity to set up a new Chinese Prime Minister which will give him broadcasting rights in that big market.   The quote indicates that once a perso...