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Oct 6, 2015
Tradecraft: Follett's Code to Zero Becomes Miniseries
Ken Follett's novels have proved fertile ground for miniseries in the 21st Century, but it's always his sprawling historical epics that get adapted rather than his spy novels. (The last Follett spy adaptation was the 1994 Timothy Dalton miniseries Lie Down With Lions.) That changed today when Tandem Productions, the company behind the hugely successful Follett miniseries The Pillars Of The Earth and World Without End, announced that they would next tackle the author's 2000 spy novel Code to Zero. Deadline reports that the StudioCanal subsidiary will make some changes to the source material, however, in adapting it into a limited series. The novel is set in 1958 and hinges on a Bourne Identity-like set-up, in which a man awakens on the ground at a train station with amnesia. Piecing his life together through detective work, he uncovers a conspiracy tied in with the launch of Sputnik and the early days of the space race. As regular readers know, I love Cold War spy stories, so I would certainly enjoy a faithful adaptation set in the same time. Unfortunately, according to the trade, Tandem will update the story to the present day, against the backdrop of a U.S./China battle for space supremacy. Well, it could still be cool! The company has a good track record with Follett adaptations, and also produces the gripping international crime series Crossing Lines. Studiocanal will handle world sales, but I have no doubt this will be snapped up by a U.S. cable network.
Oct 5, 2015
Writing's On the Wall Music Video
The music video for Sam Smith's SPECTRE song "Writing's On the Wall" was released today, and contains some new footage from the upcoming James Bond movie not seen in trailers. (There are also much longer shots from the film than we ever get in the quick-cut trailers.) Unlike Adele's "Skyfall" video, there doesn't appear to be any material here from Daniel Kleinman's title sequence.
Oct 4, 2015
Sutherland Says He's Done With Jack Bauer
the BBC (via Dark Horizons) this week that "24 is definitely over now for me. It's one of the greatest gifts I've ever been given as an actor, but it's moving on without me. I want to do other things." He goes on to say that he'd like those other things to also be on television. If he sticks to this resolution, I'll be sad. 24 is great not because of its real-time format (which was groundbreaking at first, but had become tiresome already by the third season), but because of the Jack Bauer character, undoubtedly one of the greats in the pantheon of spy television. As he mentions, Fox is currently exploring options to continue the franchise on television without Sutherland or Bauer. That's a shame, because last year's "event series" 24: Live Another Day proved to be one of the show's most rewarding installments. The 12-episode season suited the material so much better than the previous 24-episode seasons, which always sagged in the middle, forced to employ lame subplots to eke out an entire day's worth of real-time episodes. But what I'd really like to see would be for Jack Bauer to return on the big screen... and then keep returning every few years until Sutherland, 47 (and already a grandfather on the show), becomes too old to shout, "Dammit, Chloe!" Fox put a lot of effort into developing a 24 movie in the years between the regular series going of the air and the miniseries comeback, but they ultimately amounted to nothing. If the hangup was figuring out how to make the real-time format work well in just two hours, I say they should just drop it. What I want to see in movies is that character, not that format. Jack Bauer could sustain a whole series of features without any storytelling gimmicks needed.
Posted by Tanner at 9:02 PM No comments:
Labels: 24, Miniseries, TV
Tradecraft: James Wan is MacGyver Reviver
According to Deadline, Furious 7 director James Wan is teaming with R. Scott Gemmill (NCIS: LA) and original series executive producer Henry Winkler on a television reboot of MacGyver for CBS. The new series will be a prequel of sorts (though, of course, set today) focusing on a twenty-something Angus MacGyver. It's unknown if it will be set prior to his days with intelligence agency DSX or The Phoenix Foundation, but it will show how he acquired his knack for making bombs out of Bic pens and binder clips. (Do we really want to see him acquiring that knowledge? The fun of MacGyver was that he just knew how!) The new series grows out of Wan's previous attempts to get a feature off the ground focusing on MacGyver's college years. It would be nice if a MacGyver revival led to a second MacGruber movie!
Posted by Tanner at 2:38 AM No comments:
Labels: Reboots, remakes, Tradecraft, TV
Oct 3, 2015
Tradecraft: Lietch to Direct Coldest City Solo
Variety reports that John Wick co-director David Leitch will tackle the Oni Comics adaptation The Coldest City solo after the project was originally announced last May as a joint venture between him and his Wick partner Chad Stahelski. It was recently announced that Leitch had left the Keanu Reeves sequel, and now we know why. John Wick 2 will begin shooting next month in Budapest and Berlin, and that would have conflicted with the schedule for The Coldest City, so the pair decided to divide and conquor. The Coldest City was written by Kurt Johnstad, adapted from the graphic novel by Antony Johnston (Queen & Country, Alex Rider). Charlize Theron, fresh off a riveting performance in Mad Max: Fury Road, will star in the spy story set at the close of the Cold War in late 1980s Berlin. I'll be curious to see if the Focus Features movie maintains the tone of the gritty, black and white comic, which owed more to the serpentine, double- and triple-cross-filled plots of Len Deighton and John le Carré than to the more action-packed side of the spy genre typified by Fleming and Ludlum, or if the movie will have more action, since that's exactly what Leitch proved himself to be a master of in John Wick.
Oct 2, 2015
The Final SPECTRE Trailer is Here!
Today Sony released the final trailer for SPECTRE, which opens in just a little over a month in North America—and even sooner in the UK. I love it. It's short, but this might be my favorite one yet. Or the combination of that great, action-free first teaser with this one which mixes the menace of that teaser with the spectacle of the most recent trailer. I particularly love that this trailer highlights the combination of hot and cold locations. That mixture seems to be a key element of many of my favorite Bond movies. It hasn't occurred to me before, but SPECTRE's hot and cold partly mirror The Living Daylights' hot and cold locations—Morocco and Austria. And Daylights is one of my favorites. I can't wait for it to be November!
Tradecraft: Potential for Even More xXx Sequels and Spinoffs
The xXx franchise began life as a 2002 movie starring Vin Diesel as an extreme sports athlete turned spy. Diesel didn't return for the 2005 sequel xXx: State of the Union, but co-star Samuel L. Jackson did in his proto-Nick Fury role as eye-patched spymaster Augustus Gibbons. This time around Gibbons recruited Ice Cube as an agent with even more attitude than Diesel's Xander Cage. (Because everyone knows that the number one factor making a good agent is attitude!) So that movie could qualify as either a sequel or a spinoff. But since it underperformed at the box office, the xXx franchise has nestled itself nicely into a happy existence as a relic of the early 2000s. Now, after a decade of exactly no one clamoring for any further sequels or spinoffs... we suddenly find ourselves facing the prospect of both! In August, Vin Diesel announced that a sequel, xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, would start shooting in December. (He reiterated that intention this week, though there have still been no director or supporting cast announcements.) On top of that, Deadline reported on Thursday that "Revolution Studios has entered into a multi-project agreement with Universal 1440 Entertainment, the production arm of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, to create new, non-theatrical productions based on properties in Revolution's film library." Among the properties included in the pact... you guessed, it xXx! So we could potentially be seeing new theatrical xXx movies with Xander Cage and new direct-to-DVD (by which, of course, now I mean direct to multiple platforms) xXx spinoff movies featuring other extreme athletes or spies with attitude. (If they are all about original xXx co-star Asia Argento, I will suddenly become a lot more interested!) It should be noted, of course, that just because they can make direct-to-DVD xXx spinoff movies (akin to their very successful Scorpion King franchise) doesn't mean that Universal will make them. The Mission: Impossible franchise was once in contention for the direct-to-DVD treatment from Paramount (during the period of Tom Cruise's falling out with the studio), and of course that never happened.
Posted by Tanner at 6:48 AM 1 comment:
Toby Jones Stars in BBC's New Joseph Conrad Adaptation The Secret Agent
last year we heard that the BBC was brewing up a new 3-part miniseries version of Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent. Now the cast has finally come together, and filming is slated to begin this month. The Guardian reports that Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy's Toby Jones will step into the shoes of Bob Hoskins (1996), David Suchet (1992), Nigel Green (1967) and, most famously, Oskar Homolka (in Alfred Hitchcock's 1936 adaptation Sabotage), as family man and sleeper terrorist Mr. Verloc. Vicky McClure (Broadchurch) will play his wife, Winnie. Joseph Gilgun (Harry Brown), Ian Hart (The Bridge) and Jones' Tinker Tailor co-star Stephen Graham round out the cast. Adapted by Tony Marchant (The Whistleblowers) and directed by Charles McDougall (The Office), The Secret Agent is, as Jones aptly puts it, "a startlingly relevant" tale of a foreign spy posing as a British citizen ordered by his Russian handler to set off a bomb in order to provoke the government into cracking down on anarchists.
Posted by Tanner at 12:42 AM No comments:
Labels: BBC, Books, Miniseries, TV
Sep 30, 2015
SPECTRE Soundtrack Features Instrumental Version of Writing's On the Wall
the SPECTRE soundtrack, we'll get something altogether different. The album, on the Decca label, will include Sam Smith's main theme "Writing's On the Wall..." but in an instrumental version. Decca is a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, as is Smith's label, Capitol. Instrumental versions of both "Skyfall" and "Another Way to Die" were released, but as B-sides on the singles, not on the score albums. It will be interesting to see if the inclusion of the instrumental on the Newman album is an indication that Newman will work it into his score. At any rate, a lot of Bond fans will probably find the omission of the vocals makes for a more satisfying listening experience, as the primary complaint about the song has been with Smith's falsetto-heavy vocals and not the rather traditional Bondian orchestration. SPECTRE: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Thomas Newman, including the instrumental of Sam Smith's "Writing's On the Wall," is due out physically on November 13, a week after the film's U.S. release. A digital release, still unannounced, is expected a week or two earlier. The CD can be pre-ordered on Amazon.
Sep 29, 2015
Teaser: The Prisoner Audio Drama from Big Finish
Big Finish have released a teaser for their first set of original audio dramas based on The Prisoner. But in the tradition of the classic Sixties TV show, it's rather enigmatic. Per their own Facebook page: "Today, we're being as cryptic as the original series. We're not announcing the casting, but we're giving you the opportunity to hear some of them and to see them in this great bit of artwork by Tom Webster. We're re-imagining the original 1967 TV series. It isn't a continuation. We've 'recreated' it from the very beginning (and, hopefully, one day, until the end). It's different, but it's very much in the spirit of the original. So, it's something old and something new. Our aim is to make you fall in love with this tremendous series all over again." Hm. Well, I love the artwork... though I can't identify the actor filling Patrick McGoohan's shoes as Number 6. Can you? If so, please comment! (And please explain why he isn't wearing a turtleneck!) I have to be honest: I'm a little disappointed he's not doing more of a Patrick McGoohan impression in the audio. Of course I want him to add his own spin, but I would have at least liked McGoohan's unique cadence in his delivery. But I'm sure I'll quickly get used to the new Number 6 in the course of the audio dramas. Pre-order the first set from Big Finish today.
Sep 28, 2015
Steranko Returns to Spies With TNT's New Series Agent X
Legendary artist Jim Steranko, who innovated comic book storytelling in the 1960s with his iconic run on Marvel's entry in that decade's superspy sweepstakes, Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., is once again contributing his talent to spy pop culture. On Sunday night the artist Tweeted a series of design drawings he made for TNT's upcoming spy series Agent X, starring Jeff Hephner and Sharon Stone. It's unclear if this sequence is intended for the show's main titles or for promotional spots, but it sure is cool!
|© Jim Steranko
|© Jim Steranko
According to Steranko, he "developed about 20 sequences for possible promo use," so this batch is just a teaser. TNT's creative director had noticed his influence on a number of recent film title sequences and asked if he had "the time and inclination" to contribute to Agent X. Steranko said he read the show bible and liked what he saw—which certainly bodes well for the series! (Steranko provided spot-on critiques of each episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. during the show's problematic first season, proving he's still got his finger on the pulse when it comes to determining what makes good spy entertainment.)
|© Jim Steranko
These are just a few extracts from the lengthy storyboard sequence he Tweeted (and sadly excerpting them takes a bit away from the full concept), so be sure to check out his Twitter feed and see the whole thing, along with his stage directions. On top of henchmen who could be right out of one of his Nick Fury comics, Steranko's sequence also offers nods to Saul Bass, Maurice Binder, and the terrific animated main titles from the Sixties TV classic The Wild Wild West. I really hope they use this on the show!
|© Jim Steranko
As previously reported, Agent X debuts on TNT on Sunday, November 8 at 9/8c. Steranko is currently busy at work on the follow-up to IDW's spectacular Artist's Edition of his classic Nick Fury comics from Strange Tales. The first oversize hardcover volume, which reprints the artist's original, uncolored drawings at full size, meticulously reproduced from the original artwork itself, just earned Steranko a Harvey Award for his design work on it. In last night's barrage of Tweets (an unmissable weekly event), he revealed that the eagerly anticipated Volume 2 (collecting his art from the Nick Fury monthly as well as his brief but spectacular run on Captain America from the same era) would be 265 pages, with "extras in full color." I'm afraid there's still no word on a release date.
Posted by Tanner at 4:17 AM 2 comments:
First Look at Dynamite's James Bond #2, Featuring an Aston Martin
Diamond Previews (the print version only, unfortunately) offers comic book readers a first glimpse at the second issue of Dynamite Entertainment's James Bond 007, including four variant covers. According to the solicitation copy, "James Bond is in Berlin, alone, unarmed and with no idea of the forces ranged in secret against him. If he can make it to the Embassy, he might survive for a few hours more. But he's getting into that car with that woman, which means he has only minutes to live…"
Bleeding Cool), certainly shows one. This is a little surprising because all the publicity surrounding this comic book, by writer Warren Ellis (RED, Global Frequency) and artist Jason Masters, plays up how it's based on the literary James Bond of the Ian Fleming novels, and not the movie Bond. Yet Fleming's Bond only ever drove an Aston Martin once, in Goldfinger. It's clearly a modern model depicted on the cover, similar to the DBS V12 Daniel Craig drove in Quantum of Solace. While a Bentley might have been a more expected choice of vehicle for the Bond of the books, there is certainly precedent for 007 to drive an Aston Martin in comics. In the never completed 1993 Dark Horse Bond comic "A Silent Armageddon" by Simon Jowett and John Burns, 007 drove a dark green V8 Vantage similar to the one Timothy Dalton drove in The Living Daylights. (I sure would like to see Dynamite print the supposedly finished but never published final two issues of that series!) Of course the car in the description is not Bond's car anyway, but one driven by a mysterious woman—presumably the Selina Kyle-looking Bond girl making her public debut on these covers. So perhaps she drives an Aston as a cute nod to the films. Or perhaps the car on the cover isn't even featured inside the comic, and is just the artist's touch! We'll find out December 2 when part 2 of Ellis's inaugural storyline "VARGR" hits shelves.
Bleeding Cool), certainly shows one. This is a little surprising because all the publicity surrounding this comic book, by writer Warren Ellis (RED, Global Frequency) and artist Jason Masters, plays up how it's based on the literary James Bond of the Ian Fleming novels, and not the movie Bond. Yet Fleming's Bond only ever drove an Aston Martin once, in Goldfinger. It's clearly a modern model depicted on the cover, similar to the DBS V12 Daniel Craig drove in Quantum of Solace. While a Bentley might have been a more expected choice of vehicle for the Bond of the books, there is certainly precedent for 007 to drive an Aston Martin in comics. In the never completed 1993 Dark Horse Bond comic "A Silent Armageddon" by Simon Jowett and John Burns, 007 drove a dark green V8 Vantage similar to the one Timothy Dalton drove in The Living Daylights. (I sure would like to see Dynamite print the supposedly finished but never published final two issues of that series!) Of course the car in the description is not Bond's car anyway, but one driven by a mysterious woman—presumably the Selina Kyle-looking Bond girl making her public debut on these covers. So perhaps she drives an Aston as a cute nod to the films. Or perhaps the car on the cover isn't even featured inside the comic, and is just the artist's touch! We'll find out December 2 when part 2 of Ellis's inaugural storyline "VARGR" hits shelves.
Posted by Tanner at 2:13 AM No comments:
Labels: Cars, Comics, Dynamite, James Bond, VARGR, Warren Ellis
Sep 26, 2015
Tradecraft: Adam Pally & Paul Lieberstein Sell Spy Sitcom to Fox
Weirdly, I always wanted to see Toby, the H.R. rep from The Office (the American version, that is) in a spy situation. And now, according to Deadline, that might happen... though they're no indication yet that Paul Lieberstein (who played Toby as well as serving as a writer and producer on the series) would be involved in front of the camera as well as behind. But he and Adam Pally (The Mindy Project) have sold a spy comedy pitch to Fox. Lieberstein will co-write the script with actor/comedian Jon Gabrus (Comedy Bang Bang), and the latter might also star. According to the trade, "Details about the plot are scarce, but the show is described as a comedic take on the spy genre." So that's all we've got to work with for now. As many spy series as there are on television right now, what we're missing is a live action spy comedy. So let's hope this one goes to series!
Posted by Tanner at 4:31 PM No comments:
Labels: comedy, Tradecraft, TV
Posters for New Seasons of ABC's Marvel Spy Shows
Entertainment Weekly debuted the poster for Season 2 of Agent Carter, the spectacular early Cold War period spy series starring Hayley Atwell (The Prisoner remake) and set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, due to return this winter. This poster will be given out at the Marvel booth at the upcoming New York Comic Con in October. There's also a new poster for the upcoming third season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which premieres this Tuesday, September 29, at 9/8c. Season 2 marked a distinct improvement over Season 1, but I have to admit I'm apprehensive over the direction it appears to be going, with more and more focus on the least interesting character, Skye, and her people, the Inhumans... a focus which threatens to take the show in a decidedly more superhero direction at the expense of the spying. But maybe it will all work out. We shall see!
Sep 25, 2015
Another SPECTRE TV Spot
Another new SPECTRE TV spot was released yesterday. Check it out:
The SPECTRE Title Song by Sam Smith is Here! Listen Now!
Today Sam Smith released "The Writing's On the Wall," his theme song for the latest James Bond movie, SPECTRE. Hm. It will take me a few more listens to form a real opinion. But on first listen, it doesn't strike me as a disaster, like Madonna's "Die Another Day," nor brilliant, like Chris Cornell's "You Know My Name" from Casino Royale. It certainly sounds Bondian, and that's a good thing anyway. It's lush and epic, which is nice, but still feels like it's lacking something. I'm not really familiar with Smith as an artist, but I'm not crazy about his aggressive falsetto. Then again, I wasn't crazy about Adele's "Skyfall" the first time I heard it, and I came to love that song. So we'll have to see. (Danny Kleinman's visuals can do wonders for a Bond song, too.) Anyway, have a listen! It should be available for purchase digitally later today, and the CD single is available for pre-order on Amazon, but not due out for another month. The SPECTRE soundtrack, featuring Thomas Newman's second Bond score, is also available for pre-order, and due out November 13, a whole week after the film hits cinemas.
Sep 24, 2015
BBC Offers First Glimpse at Le Carré Miniseries The Night Manager
It's not much, but BBC One (via Dark Horizons) offers us our first glimpses of Hugh Laurie (The Gun Seller) as Establishment arms dealer Richard Onslow Roper, Tom Hiddleston (Marvel's The Avengers) as undercover man Jonathan Pine, Elizabeth Debicki (The Man From U.N.C.L.E.) as dream girl Jed, and Olivia Colman (Broadchurch) as drug enforcement agent Burr in Susanne Bier's (Love Is All You Need) upcoming John le Carré miniseries The Night Manager. For fans of le Carré's beloved 1993 novel, even a glimpse is hugely gratifying! This six part miniseries is definitely one of my most anticipated spy entertainments of the next year. The few Night Manager clips are interspersed with looks at future installments of Sherlock, Luther, and Doctor Who, among other returning series, along with Dickensian, And Then There Were None and more upcoming BBC projects. While no specific UK airdate has yet been announced, this reel is for shows airing sometime this winter. In the U.S., AMC will broadcast The Night Manager sometime in 2016. And it's not the only le Carré project in the pipeline! We're still waiting on the feature film version of Our Kind of Traitor, which is in the can but has yet to set a release date or American distributor.
Posted by Tanner at 5:28 PM No comments:
Labels: BBC, cable, Hugh Laurie, John Le Carre, Miniseries, Trailers, TV
Londoners: Watch The Avengers on the Big Screen With Diana Rigg in Person
BFI Southbank. You'd be hard pressed to come up with a better Emma double feature, in fact, than the monochrome "House That Jack Built" and the color "Return of the Cybernauts," which guest starred the great Peter Cushing. "Cybernauts" will be accompanied by "a compilation of oddities and rarities from the world of Emma Peel and The Avengers." Avengers fans will be aware that Dame Diana rarely speaks about her seminal work on the classic Sixties spy series, and even more rarely participates in any events pertaining to it. So this is a truly unmissable opportunity... and I've never been so jealous of my London friends! Even if you've never seen the show (though I can't imagine why not!), do yourself a favor and get tickets for this event. The greatest female spy star ever live on stage, and a screening of two of the greatest episodes of the greatest spy series of all time? How can you pass it up? Well, unfortunately I'll have to, as I don't have the means to get to London just now. But for those who do, tickets go on sale on October 6 at 11:30am for £16. What better way to celebrate the lives of the two luminaries of that series we've lost this year, Brian Clemens and Patrick Macnee?
Posted by Tanner at 5:01 AM No comments:
Labels: Avengers, Bond Girls, Diana Rigg, Events, Sixties, TV
Sep 23, 2015
Warren Ellis Gives Good Bond Interviews
a few weeks ago when he put his foot in his mouth promoting his new James Bond novel Trigger Mortis and the Internet didn't like it. He also made some odd statements about how he viewed the character of Bond, but fortunately his novel doesn't bear them out. Warren Ellis, on the other hand, whose new 007 comic book debuts November 4, speaks quite eloquently about Bond in every interview I've read so far. Read this latest, with Bleeding Cool, for example. He even navigates the tricky waters of what Sarah Palin would call "gotcha questions," like "Seen through a contemporary lens, Bond comes across as misogynistic at times; how do you deal with that misogyny in a modern series?" Other Bond writers have stumbled over such questions in the past, but Ellis handles it as well as any I've seen, saying:
James Bond 007 #1, from Dynamite Entertainment, hits comics shops November 4, days before SPECTRE opens in theaters.
A lot of this, of course, is about postwar British mores: many of them were still around when I was growing up in the Seventies. The attitude to people of colour, the notion that lesbians really just needed a good seeing-to to fix them… all depressingly familiar. Contemporising Bond, for me, requires the writer to move that baseline — on a simple level, it was possible for the Bond of Casino Royale to have grown up with those views inculcated into him, because Bond was conceived of as an "ordinary" man, but the Bond of VARGR [the title of Ellis' first story arc] could not have grown up like that.I think that's a very interesting response! Be sure to read the entire interview.
All that said: yes, I believe there to be a streak of misogyny in Bond, but I think a contemporary reading exposes much (but not all) of that as misanthropy. I suspect Bill Tanner is Bond's one single friend.
James Bond 007 #1, from Dynamite Entertainment, hits comics shops November 4, days before SPECTRE opens in theaters.
Sep 22, 2015
Watch Daniel Craig in Roger Moore-Style Action in New Heineken Spot
This is why I love product placement. Or, more specifically, why I love commercial tie-ins with the James Bond movies. It's just another way to get more Bond, and I'm greedy that way. I don't care what products 007 flogs as long as I get more Bond, in increments however small! But this new Heineken commercial transcends the niche of James Bond-branded advertising, and even the more rarefied niche of James Bond-branded advertising starring actual James Bond actors. This, like Daniel Craig's bit in the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremonies, feels like an essential little bit of Craig-era 007. Except, of course, it doesn't feel Craig era. This time Madison Avenue has created a spot that puts Daniel Craig's Bond smack in the middle of a Roger Moore-era Bond chase. The references to past Bonds go well beyond Moore (there's a nod to Oddjob's hat, for instance, and even small homages to Never Say Never Again and Licence To Kill), but the overall vibe and Moonraker setting is pure Moore. And since Craig's Bond has been largely the antithesis of Moore's Bond, I love seeing him in these situations. It's in the same vein as the train-set Heineken spot that aired when Skyfall came out (and now, in retrospect, seems like it may have been a less successful attempt to evoke the Connery era), but much better. For anyone who feels the modern Bond movies are a tad too grim or realistic, bask now in the over-the-top zeal of this SPECTRE-related Heineken commercial starring Daniel Craig as
Roger Moore James Bond.
Sep 17, 2015
Tradecraft: NBC Orders Taken TV Series
It was way back in 2010 that Luc Besson's neo-Eurospy factory EuropaCorp first announced that it was working on a TV series based on its 2008 hit movie Taken, at the same time that the Transporter TV show was announced. Five years and two Taken movies later, that series is actually happening, at NBC. Deadline reports that the network has put in a straight-to-series order for a Taken prequel series, focusing on a younger Bryan Mills (the now-former agent played by Liam Neeson in the movies) in his CIA days. There is no showruner on board yet, but Besson, who co-wrote all of the movies, will executive produce the series (a role he didn't take on either Nikita or Transporter: The Series), which will be a joint venture between EuropaCorp and Universal Television. Set before Bryan Mills ever married Lenore (Famke Janssen in the movies) and before the couple had their kidnapping-prone daughter Kim, the series will show us how Mills acquired his famous "very particular set of skills" and became the badass known to moviegoers the world over. You're probably doing the math about now and getting excited, as I did, for a spy series set in the final days of the Cold War, but alas, that's not to be. Instead, the Taken series will function as a sort of reboot, bending time to take place today, kind of like EuropaCorp's recent prequel The Transporter Refueled (which was actually inexplicably set in 2010, which is neither before the Jason Statham movies were made nor, obviously, the present).
So when you take away Liam Neeson and you take away Mills' family members getting kidnapped, what, exactly, are you left with in the Bryan Mills character? Quite a lot, actually. In 2008 (or early 2009, when it opened in the United States after playing in Europe), I think audiences were genuinely surprised by the lengths to which Mills went in tracking down his missing daughter. His brutality, when called for, was shocking. (Read my review of the movie here.) He is of the school of Donald Hamilton's Matt Helm (a character very different from Dean Martin's movie version) and 24's Jack Bauer (who also had a kidnapping-prone daughter named Kim), an uncompromising agent capable of anything when the stakes are high enough. It's true that we've seen a lot of such characters on television since 24, but based on audience's familiarity with and goodwill towards Mills from the Neeson incarnation, I think the right showrunner could do something very special with the part on the small screen—even on network television. Other than the contemporary setting, this could just turn out to be the closest thing to the Matt Helm TV series spy fans have been craving for decades.
Sep 15, 2015
Moneypenny Hawks Smartphones
Every time a new James Bond movie comes out, some people invariably begin complaining about product placement. Not me! I understand that product placement is a crucial part of the financial model that funds big budget movies, and has been for quite some time, and I'm fully cognizant of the fact that it's been an equally big part of the Bond series specifically for so long that it simply feels like part of the formula I love. I can't imagine a Bond film without product placement. Furthermore, I think it's a kind of appropriate extension of Ian Fleming's own penchant for naming brands he liked in his novels. And one more thing. I love seeing James Bond-inspired commercials. (Who can forget John Cleese's classic Schweppes spot from Licence To Kill? Or the time Christina Hendricks was a Bond Girl opposite Pierce Brosnan... in a Visa commercial from Tomorrow Never Dies?) Well, now the commercials tying in to SPECTRE have started airing! This one (via Dark Horizons), featuring Miss Moneypenny (Namoie Harris) shilling for Sony products like digital cameras and smartphones, is particularly notable because it's directed by seven-time 007 title designer Daniel Kleinman. It's also just pretty cool!
And this one, for Belvedere Vodka (via MI6), features SPECTRE Bond Girl Stephanie Sigman. The Rube Goldberg bartending is amusing, but seems more appropriate to a Jean-Pierre Juenet movie than a James Bond film.
And this one, for Belvedere Vodka (via MI6), features SPECTRE Bond Girl Stephanie Sigman. The Rube Goldberg bartending is amusing, but seems more appropriate to a Jean-Pierre Juenet movie than a James Bond film.
Tradecraft: Stone's Snowden Seeks Refuge in 2016
Spy-jammed 2015 has lost one more defector to 2016. Following in the footsteps of Grimsby and London Has Fallen, Oliver Stone's Edward Snowden movie Snowden has been pushed back to next year. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film won't be ready in time for its previously announced Christmas release date. The move, of course, puts the fact-based drama out of awards contention for this year. And if 007 producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson are still intent on producing their own Snowden movie after they finish up with SPECTRE, Stone's move to an unspecified date next year will narrow the gap between the competing pictures. Stone's Snowden stars Joseph Gordon Levitt (Looper), Shailene Woodley (White Bird in a Blizzard), Timothy Olyphant (Hitman), Zachary Quinto (Hitman: Agent 47), Melissa Leo (The Equalizer), Tom Wilkinson (Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol) and Nicholas Cage (The Rock).
Sep 14, 2015
Tradecraft: Jennifer Lawrence Circles Red Sparrow
Deadline reports that the biggest female star in the world is kicking the tires of a spy movie. And not just any spy movie! Jennifer Lawrence (X-Men: First Class, American Hustle) is reportedly contemplating re-teaming with her Hunger Games: Catching Fire director Francis Lawrence for Fox's long in the works adaptation of Jason Matthews' debut novel Red Sparrow. Red Sparrow was my favorite new spy novel of recent years, and I dearly want to see this movie happen. Several high profile actress/director teams have been attached at one time or another, including Natalie Portman and Darren Aronofsky and Rooney Mara and David Fincher. I can picture both of those actresses in the role of Russian SVR agent Dominika Egorova more than I can Lawrence, but the actress I actually pictured throughout reading both Red Sparrow and its decidedly lesser sequel, Palace of Treason, is Olga Kurylenko. Still, I think Lawrence is a phenomenal talent, and I'm sure she can transform herself into the role. I would love to see this happen!
Posted by Tanner at 3:58 AM No comments:
Labels: Books, Movies, Tradecraft
Sep 12, 2015
Unused Painted Poster For Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
I thought the main 1-sheet poster for Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation was quite good. But it turns out it could have been better. It could have been painted! I know, I know, we poster nerds are always complaining that the modern Photoshop montage posters aren't as good as the painted posters of our youth, and always commenting on new photo posters by saying, "I wish it were painted!" But that's usually completely in vain and we know it. (One marketing executive once told me that when a DVD has a painted cover image, all-important WalMart customers think that means the movie is animated, meaning that live action films have to be advertised with photographs.) However, in this one case, it turns out there really was a painted version created by a superstar artist. Steve Chorney, whose iconic movie artwork of the Home Video era included posters for Labyrinth, Coming to America, The Ice Pirates, Lassiter, and Quigley Down Under, painted this spectacular image for the latest entry in the Tom Cruise film series. For whatever reason (see above), the studio rejected it and went with a slick and, admittedly, good looking photo collage. But not as good looking as this! Happily, Chorney's painted version was made available on the Mendola Artists website. If only there were a paper version! I would love to have that hanging on my wall.
|© 2015 Mendola Artists Representatives
Sep 11, 2015
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Returns to Comics... and Meets Batman '66!
Newsarama reports that The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is returning to comics for the first time since the early 90s! Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin will be teaming up with Batman (specifically Batman '66, which is how DC brands comics based on the Adam West TV incarnation of the character and set in the Sixties) in a 6-issue miniseries by Jeff Parker (The Interman, Agents of A.T.L.A.S.) and David Hahn debuting in December. From the description (and the awesome Mike Allred cover), it sure sounds like this is the classic TV version of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.:
It was announced at Comic-Con in July that Batman '66 would also be teaming up with The Avengers' Steed and Mrs. Peel in the near future. We haven't heard any more about that, so presumably the U.N.C.L.E. series will come first. But, man, what a comic book crossover that would be, if The Avengers met The Man From U.N.C.L.E.! I know, I know. I'm fully aware that it's Batman who's selling these books, not my spy heroes. Just indulge me that fantasy for one moment...
Batman '66 Meets The Man From U.N.C.L.E. #1 will be in comics shops on December 23, just in time for Christmas (and my birthday!) and will also be available with a 1 in 25 variant cover (not pictured) by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. So keep your eyes out, collectors!
Thanks to Jon for the tip!
Two 1960s television icons cross paths for a groovy, globe-spanning adventure in this one-of-a-kind miniseries. The deadly organization known as T.H.R.U.S.H. has a new twist in their plans for world conquest—they're recruiting some of Gotham City's most infamous villains! Agents Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin bring this information to the one man who knows everything about these new enemies: Batman. Before you can say "Open channel D," the Dynamic Duo and the Men from U.N.C.L.E. are jetting off to Europe to thwart the schemes of this deadly criminal cartel.So does this mean that DC (a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Entertainment, who released this summer's excellent Man From U.N.C.L.E. movie) will be producing new Man From U.N.C.L.E. (ahem) solo books as well? I certainly hope so! Any such series would probably depend on sales of this crossover, but personally I'd love to see separate titles set in the film's continuity and that of the show.
It was announced at Comic-Con in July that Batman '66 would also be teaming up with The Avengers' Steed and Mrs. Peel in the near future. We haven't heard any more about that, so presumably the U.N.C.L.E. series will come first. But, man, what a comic book crossover that would be, if The Avengers met The Man From U.N.C.L.E.! I know, I know. I'm fully aware that it's Batman who's selling these books, not my spy heroes. Just indulge me that fantasy for one moment...
Batman '66 Meets The Man From U.N.C.L.E. #1 will be in comics shops on December 23, just in time for Christmas (and my birthday!) and will also be available with a 1 in 25 variant cover (not pictured) by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. So keep your eyes out, collectors!
Thanks to Jon for the tip!
Posted by Tanner at 3:16 PM 1 comment:
Labels: Comics, Sixties, Superheroes, TV, UNCLE
Another New SPECTRE Poster!
exciting new SPECTRE poster showcasing Daniel Craig in a white dinner jacket comes another one! This poster and two new banners (below) were unveiled today on 007.com. The skeleton costume from the Mexico City-set Day of the Dead sequence continues to be a focal point in the campaign, though I find it's somewhat weirdly integrated with the foreground images on the posters. This time, Craig is joined by Léa Seydoux (Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol), looking stunning in her silver dress, which is rapidly becoming iconic. Craig wears a suit this time. (He in his white jacket was previously paired with Seydoux on a theatrical standee, bottom) I hope we're building to a final 1-sheet with Craig in his white dinner jacket flanked by Seydoux and Monica Bellucci!
Sep 10, 2015
Tradecraft: ABC Buys Whistleblower Thriller Canary
I'm not entirely sure from the scant description that Canary is a spy show, but I'm making an educated guess that it is. Deadline reports that ABC has bought Prison Break co-E.P. Zack Estrin's pilot Canary. According to the trade, "Described as 'Homeland meets Erin Brockovich,' Canary follows a woman who risks everything to help a whistleblower come forward with secret information that will impact the lives of millions." What makes me think it will be a spy show? Well, the Homeland name-check, for one, plus the story similarities to Citizenfour director Laura Poitras' relationship with NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, plus the general Snowdenmania of our time. (In addition to the Oliver Stone movie Snowden due out at Christmas with Joseph Gordon Levitt in the title role, James Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson are developing their own Snowden movie, and Matt Damon cites the whistleblower as his and Paul Greengrass's chief inspiration to revisit Jason Bourne.) Of course, for all we know Estrin's character could be blowing the whistle on Big Pharm or tobacco or the telecomm industry. We'll probably have to wait and see if ABC ends up shooting the pilot, which Estrin will write, before we learn more.
New SPECTRE TV Spot
There's a cool new SPECTRE TV spot out today, with quite a bit of new footage and dialogue. Check it out:
First Look at Interior Art for New James Bond Comic Book VARGR
Posted by Tanner at 1:13 AM No comments:
Labels: Art, Comics, Dynamite, James Bond, VARGR, Warren Ellis
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Post by Roger48 on Jul 17, 2002, 8:53pm
I have a 48FL, converted to 12 volt. Any thoughts about going electronic. Scoot is a " one-kicker" half of the time but the other half is starting to hurt. First post, thanks for the info.
Post by 59pan on Jul 18, 2002, 3:45am
I use an electronic distributor and an accel coil. The bike starts and runs much better and it never gets out of tune anymore!
Also no matter how much you want to try, don't attempt the removal of your distributor without removing the front head. Broken fins will surely result otherwise.
Good Luck.
Post by VintageTwin on Jul 18, 2002, 4:00am
I saw a '50 Pan out at Stetts, at the wedding in Flynn Springs. This was an open (belt) primary. It had a Mallory electronic distributor. I was standing on the primary side when the owner started it up. The motor idled real slow. So slow that you thought it might die...but it didn't. I was watching the motor pulley (belt sheave) turn; and even though the motor was idling real slow, the pully and crankshaft never lurched. The assembly turned evenly and consistently..but real slow. It was ldling as smooth as an electric motor...but again...just at a real slow rpm. Ran good!
Post by RogerM on Jul 18, 2002, 5:12pm
Thanks for the info, I sure did'nt want to hear thar about the front jug. I am getting some oil fouling on the rear plug and was planning on tearing it down this winter. Hard to stop once you get started. Any ideas on the best shop book, always nice to have it in black and white. Most of my experience is with shovels and have not done any serious wrenching since I got an Evo. Thanks again. Roger
Post by VintageTwin on Jul 18, 2002, 5:48pm
Get the Clymers Panhead book and the OEM 1959-1969 service manual from Chuck @ Kick-Start (616) 245-8991. And get the 1958-1968 Spare Parts book too, so you can speak the Pan part number language. Our book '41-'59 (see "Books", under "General") is helpful, but does not contain the info that the Clymer book does.
Post by RogerM on Jul 19, 2002, 12:23am
I just ordered the Clymer service manual and the distributor, will let you know how it went. Thanks
Post by Cotten on Jul 19, 2002, 2:29pm
Your front head does not have to come off to remove the original unit.
Only some 1961 castings had enough finnage to interfere with removing the timer base.
I assume the new unit will diassemble for installation as well.
Post by RogerM on Jul 25, 2002, 7:10pm
Thanks for your responses, I went ahead a pulled the top end off anyway since I haven't been into this motor yet. I found a crack between the spark plug and exhaust valve on the front head. I will probally send it to Flo Dynamics for repair if I can't find a replacement
(hint). Roger
Post by Vintage Twin on Jul 26, 2002, 3:00am
Check out the Linkert Pan heads from Tedd (V-Twin). See if you can buy them separate.
Post by VintageTwin on Aug 18, 2002, 10:54pm
The distributor head of the Mallory can be removed, to install it in the motor without removing the heads.Re: Mallory Distributors
Post by dirtpandan58 on Aug 21, 2002, 6:08am
I was thinking about running electronic ignition on my '58. When I asked around ,eveything sounded real good, EXCEPT when they go out they're gone. Not like points where tou can file and adjust, or replace a bad
condenser. So I decided to stick with the ol' point system for now. But if anyone has any first hand experience with electronic,I would like to here about it. I'm still half assed thinkn' about it.
Post by VintageTwin on Aug 21, 2002, 3:43pm
I like a manual timer and everything that goes with it. In fact, the more twist, pull and turn stuff, the better. Maybe I wasn't attracted to the look of an exposed wire lead and quick-connector, it sort of stands out from the clean look of the distributor, but that's where my eyes were first drawn, when I looked at that red Pan at Flynn Springs. If the connector was slimmer, you could sheath the wire and connector with woven asphalt coated looming, except the wire feeds into the side of the distributor and not the bottom.
Post by spinpan51 on Sept 25, 2002, 3:32am
I recently put a mallory in my '51 pan shovel. I Got tired of the poor performance running and starting from my single points distributor. For about $220 the mallory is worth it easy installation without having to pull the front head off.
Mallory distributors
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1 post • Page 1 of 1
Mallory distributors
Postby Roger48 » Mon Jan 02, 2006 12:40 am
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