00 Aficionado

Conclusion to the blog…but its spirit lives on.

Hello, dear readers!

It’s no secret. There’s no beating around the bush, no two ways about it. The facts speak for themselves, after all. There have been no publications this May 5th, today being October 3rd. Obviously, the blog has taken a back seat to my other endeavour, The James Bond Complex podcast.

Honesty is the best policy as I like to say. In the spirit of coming clean, I shan’t deny…

Blog update: absence makes the heart grow fonder, usually.

Hello dear readers,

While the blog’s readership is modest in size, those that do enjoy what’s produced undoubtedly noticed that April came and went without any updates. Yours truly will come clean and admit that that was only partially intentional.

The last post published on Good Friday was supposed to lead into a two-week break, but the hiatus ended up lasting 5 weeks. April was surprisingly…

Planes, Trains, Automobiles and the Lot: Part 5 – Take the bloody shot! (Syfall)

Welcome back to another of Planes, Trains, Automobiles and the Lot: Trolley Trouble. This is Part 5, where the focus shall be on a section of the SF pre-title sequence during which Bond experiences an erratic misadventure atop the locomotive leaving Istanbul.

This sequence proves one of the more chaotic examples of trolley trouble the franchise has ever relished in. The comment is not to be taken…

Connective tissue in Bond adventures: why the hate?

When SP was released theatrically in the autumn of 2015, it received a mixed reception to say the least. Certain people loved the film, others thought it decent, while others loathed it (and still do to this day). Regardless of whether one enjoyed the film or not, virtually everybody, notwithstanding a few exceptions, agreed that the plot point that linked 007 and Blofeld as half-siblings was…

Getting in shape with 00 music

As alluded to once or twice on the blog, I try to put some backbone into keeping fit. Call it some 00 inspiration. While the end game is not necessarily to resemble Daniel Craig’s perfectly sculpted body emerging from the water in CR, I have taken it upon myself to respect and improve my body since summer 2017. What began as some jogging with a couple sets of push-ups sometimes beforehand, other…

Planes, Trains, Automobiles and the Lot: Trolley Trouble Part 4 – Octopussy

Here are Parts 1, 2, and 3.

Welcome back to another edition of Trolley Trouble. This week, we take a look at the complex train sequence from Octopussy.

About 2/3 into the film, director John Glen offers an extended sequence involving quite a few death defying stunts inside, on top of, and underneath train cars, not to mention some nifty trickery with a car. At this stage in the adventure, it has…

Unsung 00 Hero: Dana Broccoli

Welcome to another edition of Unsung 00 hero. This week we take a look at the original matriarch of the 007 franchise, Dana Broccoli.

When the Broccoli name is brought up in conversations about the film series, fans justifiably think of Albert R. Broccoli, Cubby to almost everyone that knew him, and of course his daughter Barbara Broccoli, who has played active roles in the production of the…

The James Bond Complex podcast launches!

Hello readers!

The podcast I have hinted at a couple of times already has finally, officially launched. This past week, on Wednesday February 7th, The James Bond Complex saw its maiden episode go live at Spreaker. Yours truly and fellow co-host Mathieu Auclairshare the backstories to our respective fandoms, generally thoughts on the franchise, as well as preview future topics. We aim to release…

Plains, trains, automobiles and the lot: Trolley Trouble Part 3 – tank vs train

For the third instalment in Trolley Trouble, the blog will take a slightly different perspective, predominantly by merging two examples of different vehicular carnage that culminate in a big bloody locomotive blowing up in a heap of flames. Fancy a drive around St Petersburg in a tank?

In GE, once Natalya is taken captive by General Ourumov through comically unfortunate circumstances and whisked…

This week the blog went out in the field for a change. The last time we offered a mission report was in September when George Lazenby himself visited Québec City for a presentation of Becoming Bond.

January in Montreal is a trying month, mainly for two reasons. First, the holiday season is over, with no statutory holidays on the calendar until Easter which depending on the year, can be as far off…

The early days of the blog’s history saw the publication of an entry that related to my personal history with James Bond and some introductory thoughts on its fanbase, predominantly in relation to those of other properties. The article concluded with me teasing that I’d like to revisit the topic, but alas never did, save few tangentially related posts on fandom.

That’s not a terrible thing given…

2017 has come and gone, and for Bond fans anticipating Bond 25, it was at times a frustrating and relieving year. Daniel Craig is back, although the news was only made official after months of pointless non-committal comments. In July it became public knowledge that Bond 25 is to come out theatrically in November of 2019, although even that has a strange ring to it considering that, as of this…

Hello readers,

A bit of an off week here at Double 0 Aficionado. No article this week, but we are working behind the scenes on a project that was announced about 2 months ago: The James Bond Complex, a new 007 podcast that I co-host with partner in crime here in Montreal Canada, Mathieu Auclair.

Mat has essentially completed work on the first 2 episodes, minus perhaps some final tweaking, and I…

Yes, the blog came into being in January 2017, meaning that a true 1-year anniversary would be next month, but conversely, given that January is the first month in a given year, then late December counts, mathematically, as a completed calendar year, no? As such, it feels a lot simpler to look already back at the year that was and evaluate how things have gone during Year 1 for Double Oh…

Film Review: GF Part 2 – Make it funny, make it fast, make it American

The GF reviews continues…

As alluded to in Part 1 of this review, GFtook 007 to new heights of popularity the likes of which the producers themselves could not have foreseen. While in this early 21st century a film’s box office stature is considered by observing its global performance, especially in China, that was not always the case. Back in the 1960s, if a film did particularly well, it was…

Film Review: GF Part 1 – The real world but with extra kick.

It has been argued many times over that Goldfinger (1964), directed by Guy Hamilton and the third film in the 007 series, is the one that sent the Bond brand through the stratosphere of popularity and monetary success. The first two entries, DR and FRWL, had met considerable recognition worldwide (Russia’s budget was doubled from that of DNgiven how well the first turned out), but several factors…

Planes, Trains, Automobiles, and the Lot: Trolley Trouble – Part 2

For the second entry in the Trolley Trouble series, the blog takes a look at another iconic, unforgettable near-death experience for 007 whilst riding the train: his tussle with Jaws in TSWLM.

Last week, one of the points harped on was how the FRWLsequence took its time setting up the context in which Bond and Grant would eventually come to blows. In other words, the film luxuriated in the story…