Beauty vs Beast: Spy Fall

Double-Oh Jason from MNPP here with this week's edition of "Beauty vs Beast" -- overseas the latest James Bond adventure (you know, the little thing called Spectre) is already doing bang-up business, breaking records left right and center; we'll see how it does here in the US this weekend but I think The Martian is probably about to end its month-long streak at the top of the box office.

So have you seen the film yet? I'm seeing it tonight and I have to admit I'm going into this one less enthuastically than I have previous ones (mind you I haven't read any reviews) and I don't think it's only the fact that there aren't any shots of Daniel Craig in a bathing suit in the promotional materials. Perhaps it's Craig own clear weariness with the character? Maybe it's the obvious Christoph Waltz casting? Maybe it only seems possible to come downward from the high heights of Skyfall? Well fingers crossed I'm off the mark, and speaking of Skyfall...

PREVIOUSLY I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween! I had a lovely one this year and I'm still nursing the happy hum of a tummy-ache from all the leftover candy I scarfed. We celebrated here at TFE last week with a Frankenstein-Off, and y'all proved there's nothing stiffer, competition-wise, than a great big electric-fried beehive as the Bride stormed off with 72% of your vote. Said Tom:

"Voting for the Bride. The fact that Lancaster was able to create a lasting impression of movie goers with a fraction of the screentime that Korloff had, says it all."

Red Carpet Lineup: Naomie Harris x 4

Naomie Harris on various red carpets promoting Spectre...

Naomie's best "Spectre" Red Carpet Look?

Form-fitting

Striped

Color-blocked

Flowing

Quizzes

Hello mates. It's Nathaniel back from London where James Bond's latest adventure Spectre is already out and filling houses. When I was there Tim & Guy were talking about a Moneypenny commercial (embedded below) and how Naomie Harris has more opportunity to show off her action chops in that promo than she does in the films. As for Spectre, Harris herself is promising more action for Moneypenny.

TFE has been in Naomie Harris's corner since her apocalyptic fierceness in 28 Days Later (2002). That film was a great launching pad for Harris, Cillian Murphy, and Brendan Gleeson (who all worked a lot in the subsequent years) but it arguably did more for zombies themselves who've been truly ubiquitous since. Hollywood never did capitalize on this British beauty's screen presence and complete ease within the always active action genre, though. Same old story and blindspots one supposes. So we're glad she has the Bond franchises -- nice work if you can get it -- for steady income.

Do Moneypenny and Q and M get recast immediately in the next film when Bond does or do they get another paycheck before they're booted?

Beauty Break: Spectre Red Carpet

What a gorgeous and talented pair of Bond women they are. Oh, and everyone else also looked great in that red carpet too, I guess.

Original Song Power: Simple Song #3, Writing's On the Wall, Etc...

This year's Original Song category is in great early health for a change. Ricki and the Flash's "Cold One," Pitch Perfect 2's "Flashlight" and I'll See You in My Dreams's title tracks are all well showcased in their films, and "Simple Song #3" from Youth, which the entire movie builds to, is an absolute slam dunk. (In all four movies the song in question was "written" by an in-movie character and is played in full). I was delighted to learn that the latter is eligible after seeing the film at TIFF as it's so good that I had assumed it was a famous composition repurposed.

And with Lady Gaga already making nice with the Oscar folks with that Sound of Music medley at the last High Holy Night, and possibly revitalizing her popularity with AHS: Hotel, we could see her back again to perform "Until It Happens To You" from the documentary The Hunting Ground. (And those are just the songs that are high profile or that we already like! The category routinely holds surprises both in the eligibility list and the actual quality of low profile contenders.) 

Skyfall mania aside, as we've documented many times before, James Bond songs are rarely nominated for Oscars. I'm hoping this new one, embedded below from Sam Smith, grows on me. I don't dislike it as many internet types already do but then I'm wildly averse to snap judgments on music singles. Hearing them repeatedly has changed how people feel about them thousands of times in the past. And as any movie buff knows, hearing Bond songs while watching those stylish 007 opening credits always helps cement the song's degree of success (or lack thereof).

So we'll see. And hear.  But... have you first impressions?

(A sampler platter of Original Movie Songs from 2015 thus far)

Sam & Spectre

Grammy winner Sam Smith has finished recording his James Bond theme song. It's called "Writing's on the Wall" and hopefully that's not in reference to Daniel Craig hanging up the suit.

The choice of musical artist and song for the 24th "official" Bond film (there are actually 26 of them) is historic in two different ways.

1. Smith is the first male solo artist doing a Bond song since 1965, aka when Tom Jones sang "Thunderball" (you'll remember that Paul McCartney and Wings doesn't count as a solo artist for 1973's "Live and Let Die") 

2. It's the first time an out LGBT artist has done the song duties

Less notable though we'll still note it is that this is only the fifth time that the theme song does not share the film's title. 007 movies didn't always have the traditional opening titles theme song. That tradition, as we know it, really began with the third film Goldfinger (1964). 

Do you think Sam Smith will benefit from the Adele love-in of 2012 and snag the series only its 5th nomination for Best Original Song? It'll be interesting to see if Spectre finds any favor at all with the Academy. Did Skyfall change things with it's 5 nominations or will AMPAS go back to ignoring the franchise as they always had before - it's worth remembering that the entire franchise averaged less than  ½ a nomination per film before that  50th anniversary blockbuster.

Here's the new poster...