Recently Watched Films

This abomination might have been better titled "Carry On James Bond", except Carry On film are actually funnier and make more sense.

Peter Sellers could be a comedy genius, or he could be a complete cunt. Unfortunately, he's the latter in this piss-weak parody. A stellar ensemble cast and a big budget don't guarantee a good movie and this is the proof. Orson Welles was wasted (as in not used properly, not stoned!), David Niven seemed disinterested, and Sellers just wasn't funny. Only Woody Allen came out of this with any real credit, and he hates the movie! There were a couple of funny moments (magnetic homing grouse missiles), but they are few and far between.

If you want a good spy parody, Austin Powers and Johnny English both do it far smarter and funnier.

bonkers

Another re-watch this afternoon:

This was off BFI Player, but I have a large stack of DVDs sorted out that I want to go through again - not with the speed of my 31 days of horror re-watch project (which I'm still surprised I completed). I've also going through my special edition blu-rays, which includes Stalag 17. I have quite the extensive collection now with different brandings, most of which I've only seen once and are almost always worth a second viewing. 

First time watches (almost all foreign language):

Re-watches:

Unlike the previous Bond movies, I hadn't seen this before, or read the book. It's bigger and noisier than the previous movies. It features a Vulcan bomber (one of my all time favourite planes!), more dastardly evil plots, Bond being almost-rapey with scantily clad women, and some silly gadgets.

The underwater fight scene near the end is incredible. The Keystone Kops scene on the hydrofoil which follows is not. The poor, almost lazy, special effects around that sequence is what remains strongest in my mind about this movie, which is a shame, because some of the rest of it was amazing. And the attitude of the Bond character to women is hard to watch through a 21st century lens.

Just as nerdy as, and a lot more enjoyable than, Ready Player One.