Hello, and welcome back to Bondfinger, the only James Bond commentary podcast consisting entirely of commentaries on various versions of Casino Royale.
This month, it’s Daniel Craig’s first outing as Jimmy Bond. Accompanied by sidekick Clarence Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) and love interest Eva Green (Ursula Andress), the American agent must defeat dangerous card shark Die Ziffer (Peter Lorre) in a psychedelic game of old maid that will take Jimmy to the very edges of sanity and beyond.
Hello. We’re teachers on sabbatical and we’ve just won the lottery.
After two years of doing commentaries on various versions of Casino Royale, Brendan, Nathan and James spring back into action with a totally incomprehensible but mercifully short commentary on 2008’s Quantum of Solace.
Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
It’s James Bond’s fiftieth anniversary, and so we’re celebrating by introducing him to Q and Moneypenny, casting doubt on his fitness for the job, shooting him in the chest, burning his house down, and killing his Mum. Take it away, Adele!
Can I just have one nice evening before the world explodes?
After a disastrous attempt to record a commentary on No Time to Die results in several cinemagoers calling the police, we decide to regroup, get some drinks in, and hold a roundtable discussion of Daniel Craig’s last film in the role. So: when SPECTRE holds a Christmas drinks thing despite Covid restrictions and everyone ends up feeling quite unwell, James Bond, Felix Leiter and 007 (it’s complicated) team up (sort of) to find the renegade scientist responsible. A whole bunch of things happen, and a generation of Bond fans are scarred for life as a result.
Be warned. There will be spoilers.
Here is a link to the #IAmNotYourVillain campaign by Changing Faces UK, which calls on filmmakers to stop using scars and disfigurement as a signifier of villainy.
See the film
The film is currently screening in a cinema new you, at last. Streaming and DVDs and things will all come later.
We’re also on Facebook, and you can check out our website at bondfinger.com. And if you rate or review us on Apple Podcasts, we won’t suggest that the Bond producers abandon facial disfigurement as a signifier of villainy and start making all their villains avid podcast listeners instead.
