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James Bond

the name is not enough

Daniel Craig Will Accept Your Blame for the Title 'Quantum of Solace'

After the rapturous reception afforded the Daniel Craig-toplined Casino Royale, it seemed like the James Bond franchise could do no wrong as it headed into its next installment. Then, the problems began to pile up for 007's 22nd adventure: a lopped-off fingertip for Craig, stuntmen badly hurt, and a theme song tangle with Amy Winehouse that forced producers to settle for a middling Alicia Keys/Jack White duet. Through it all, though, one decision stood head and shoulders above the rest for its sheer confoundingness: the decision to title the film Quantum of Solace. Now, in an interview with GQ, Craig reveals that the head-scratching moniker was essentially his idea: More »

Nobody Does it better?

Jack White/Alicia Keys '007' Theme May Leave You Shaken, Not Stirred

Though a brief, instrumental version of the new James Bond theme was released alongside a Coca-Cola commercial last week, it's only now that we can hear the full, yowling power of the Jack White/Alicia Keys duet entitled "Another Way to Die." Equal parts hair metal, Bondian bombast, and just plain weirdness (with a healthy helping of White's own "Seven Nation Army"), it's definitely... different. Does it fit into the 007 oeuvre, or will it start Quantum of Solace off on a dissonant note? Enjoy the song (and the additional eye candy) in the video above. Amy Winehouse, your move! [Stereogum]

Cola War

Pepsi Man Jack White Lashes Out at 'Quantum' Theme in Coke Commercial

There are no quantums of solace to be found today in the Jack White household, where the recent unveiling of his and Alicia Keys's theme song to Quantum of Solace via a Coke commercial has the songwriter lashing out at his Sony patrons. "Jack White was commissioned by Sony Pictures to write a theme song for the James Bond film Quantum Of Solace, not for Coca Cola," read a statement obtained over the weekend by NME. "Any other use of the song is based on decisions made by others, not by Jack White. We are disappointed that you first heard the song in a co-promotion for Coke Zero, rather than in its entirety." Ah ah ah — make that Coke Zero Zero Seven, rebranded exclusively for the occasion of Quantum's release this November. We'll withhold judgment of the song itself until we can hear it in its entirety, but the sample available after the jump certainly sounds low-calorie.

quantum of solace

New 'Quantum Of Solace' Trailer A Little Too Quantumy For Our Taste

Voilà, Bond fanatics: the second trailer for Quantum of Solace, consisting of approximately 45,000 strung-together microshots that keep cutting to black for maximum seizure-inducing effect. What can we glean from the snippets on display? Apparently, the dude from The Diving Bell and the Butterfly has made a miraculous recovery, but all those frozen years in a wheelchair have made him extremely bitter, transforming him into a Bond supervillain. Jeffrey Wright can imbue even lines like, "James, move your ass," with a stirring gravitas. Daniel Craig still looks excited about his new body. And Olga Kurylenko plays the "beautiful but feisty Camille," who makes up for her lack of naughty-homonym name by mastering that tricky combo of threatening/icy/bangable that is truly the hallmark of every great Bond girl.

Bond, Shames Bond: The divorce of actor George Lazenby and tennis pro Pam Shriver has taken a nasty turn from those earlier toddler-scotching allegations that so scandalized the one-time James Bond a few weeks back. New statements by Lazenby's ex-wife Christina Master contend that he "punched her in the face when she was five months pregnant and broke her nose when their son was dying from cancer," according to reports, which add: "She claims he threatened to kill her when she told him she wanted a divorce and says she was so fearful he meant it that it took years before she found the courage to leave him in 1994." Lazenby denied the claims, further challenging Master to turn up medical reports or photos proving her injuries: "I never punched her in my life," he said through a spokesman. You can believe whomever you want — innocent before proven guilty, yadda yadda — but we know where we stand, and we don't buy for a second that George Lazenby has a spokesman. [Daily Mail]

Out on Bond

Ex-007 George Lazenby Makes Earnest, Beer-Sharing Play for Father of the Year

We're sorry to learn today of the troubles afflicting George Lazenby and Pam Shriver, the one-time James Bond and tennis champion (er, respectively) whose six-year marriage has dissolved into a mess of abuse, dental and toddler drunkenness. At least that's the account handed down in papers filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, which also granted Shriver temporary custody of their three young children and a restraining order based on threats Lazenby allegedly made against his estranged wife.

But for those 007-ophiles who shrug off the one-film Lazenby era urging good riddance and the rejoinder that there are no second acts in American life, a closer look at the marital discord in fact proves that the On Her Majesty's Secret Service star couldn't ask for a more stirring, villainous comeback vehicle:

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Dr. No, No, No

Rejected Amy Winehouse Threatens To Release Mumbled '007' Theme Herself

Though producers for the upcoming James Bond film Quantum of Solace eventually settled on Jack White and Alicia Keys to record the series' first duet, there is one wronged woman who will not go away quietly, and her name is Amy Winehouse. The crack-smoking chanteuse was the first singer approached for the project, and though producers claimed that recording sessions yielded nothing, Winehouse begs to differ — in fact, she told New! that she plans to put her own Bond theme out when the film premieres:

"I guess they are going for clean-cut and boring. When I do release mine – and I am tempted to do it on the same day – this would be the bigger hit. If they change their minds, I’m waiting!ā€

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What Rhymes With 'Quantum'?

Burned by Winehouse, '007' Producers Settle for Head-Scratching Jack White / Alicia Keys Duet

It seemed too good to be true, and indeed, it was: after rumors surfaced that Amy Winehouse had been tapped to sing the theme song for the upcoming James Bond film Quantum of Solace, the troubled songstress fell out of the project (having recorded nothing but confused shrieks of "Oi! Blaaaake" over a propulsive string quartet). Now, Bond producers have turned to an unlikely pair to record the series' first duet: More »

best of both worlds

The Quantum Of Cyrus

We're still flipping through "The New Classics" issue of Entertainment Weekly that hit newsstands about two weeks ago. And while we feel that, on the whole, the staffers over there put together a pretty thorough examination of the last 25 years of pop culture, we do have a few qualms with their list. Chief among them is the inclusion of Casino Royale, the 2006 rebooting of the Bond franchise, which came in at #19 in their list of Top 100 movies. While it was certainly a serviceable action thriller, we've never quite been able to understand Owen Gleiberman's fascination with the film (he also rated it the top movie of 2006). Sure, the opening sequence was pretty cool if you've never seen Banlieue 13 or The Bourne Supremacy, but for us, the rest of the film was pure, uncut meh. After all, it couldn't have been just us who fell asleep during that interminable card game of Uno* that took up the entire third act of the film, right? But we're getting off track here. What we meant to be discussing all along is the new trailer for JB22, aka Quantum Of Solace, which we have for you after the jump. More »

curses

Finger Severing Just Another Day at the Bond Office for Daniel Craig

The legend of the "James Bond Curse" took another wholly contrived media twist Tuesday, when Daniel Craig reportedly severed the tip of one of his fingers while shooting the particularly unlucky Quantum of Solace at Pinewood Studios. The injury is Craig's second in a week (he'd previously required eight stitches to close a gash in his chin), but that's just the beginning, notes The Daily Mail:

'There was quite a lot of blood and it was decided he needed to go to hospital for emergency treatment,' explained a member of the Bond production team. 'Some people are beginning to believe the film is jinxed.' ...
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