Sam 0:18 Welcome to monkey off my backlog the podcast where we exercise our pop culture demons by tackling our media to do list one week at a time. I'm your host Sam and with me is my co host Tessa as well as Nigel Annalise. Alright, so let's just get right back to the countdown. You ready? You ready? Top 10 Are we ready? Top 10 we're doing it top 10 Coming in at number 10 harsh word spoken about this choice. 20 twelves Skyfall the one where the whole movie is just moving chess pieces around so that we can get to the cool adult Home Alone sequence At the end. Tessa 1:04 So this is the other movie that Sam and I really disagree on. So I think that GoldenEye is a worse movie than he does. He thinks that Skyfall is a worst movie than I do for a long time before I saw all of the other Bond film Skyfall was my favorite of the Bond films so it's probably lower on this list than it would be if I was making it alone and it's probably higher on this list that if Sam was making it alone, Nigel 1:31 I I didn't particularly like the ending sequence which Sam aptly described as growing up Home Alone home alone with guns, but I think I think a lot of it is quite good like I think what's his name Javier Bardem, isn't it who plays Silva? I think he's a really good though. Definitely one of the better ones that they've had in a long while. Sam 1:55 I Nigel I just refer to I don't actually say it's Javier Bardem who plays that role. I say it sugar from No Country for Old Men who plays that it's like twice removed from having our bar down. That's how insane it is. Elyse 2:09 I love that like Nigel 2:11 literally. That's exactly like the productions of Streetcar Named Desire after Marlon Brando stopped doing it on stage because they wouldn't ask who was playing the character that ask who's playing Brando? Yeah. But yeah, so I like everything after they go to the Skyfall house is a bit met for me I appreciate that spoiler alert that they have the balls to kill off Judi Dench as M which I wasn't expecting the first time I saw it I was like holy shit you know that's but that's quite a move and I like all of the film at the start when we get the fake out for you know we get the bond is dead fake out where money Penny shoots him on the train. I think that whole action sequence as well with Oh yeah, I remember that I was trying to think of where he steps down off of the digger onto the train and like fixes his suit. I think that's just great. The introduction of Ben Whishaw as q i that's great. I love them wish I was cute like he's no Donald Llewellyn. But he's definitely better than Cleese as well. I think tying in a villain. Like the villains motivation is getting back at em. You know, the whole like, think on your sins thing is a really interesting dynamic because it's not one we've really seen before to this extent, where it's like, jaws as a vendetta against bond because he wants to kill bond, and like other ones are like, Blofeld is evil and wants world domination, or it's the Soviets and it's the Cold War, things like that. So I think it's an interesting villain dynamic. And of course, they put him in a glass box, but like the bit where he takes out his teeth, I was like, Look what you've done. Look what you did to me. Yeah, water scene. Elyse 4:04 It's scary. I love Skyfall. It's number four on my list, I argue with Nigel's point we did get a little bit of being mad at him in the world is not enough, which we haven't discussed yet. But I think it's done much better here. I really liked him being part of the story a little bit more. I do think that the stakes feel higher in this movie because it takes place in London. And I don't mean that in the fact that I would ever say that London is more important than other places that bond takes place in but it's James Bonds and Bill tenors like where they live. So from that aspect, it's closer, it feels closer to home. I really like the introduction of Ray finds as Mallory Ben Whishaw, his cue and Naomi Harris is money Penny I didn't expect the money penny to Which I thought was cool like that. They didn't introduce her as money Penny at the beginning she's just Eve at the beginning of it. And Javier Bardem does camp so well. He's such a good bondville in that scene where he takes his teeth out is gross, and I loved every second of it. Um, I just, I really liked this movie a lot. I do agree that it's like putting chess pieces together. I just it just really worked for me and I even liked the Home Alone sequence. Tessa 5:31 I liked the shout out to the fact that Sean Connery is Scottish. So I like that they made Daniel Craig's bond also Scottish. I thought that was a really interesting, little parallel. I love the M stuff because I love Judi Dench. First of all, I've always liked her even in the bad Brosnan films, I liked her as. But the thing is, is that she really has an arc out of all the memes that we've seen like M is usually just this like plot device right to get to either give bond his mission or to try to prevent bond from going on a mission. And she has like this whole arc, like you said, She's a morally ambiguous character. like they've never, they've never pulled punches with her. They've always made her somebody who was willing to get the job done no matter what the cost, and I really liked that they kind of culminated that arc here in Skyfall. And even though it ends with her death, which is clearly you could say it's fridging in some ways, because it's supposed to, like, you know, obviously shock bond and, you know, make him you know, it's supposed to do something with him emotionally, it still feels earned because of the way that they've developed me as a character. And I also really like that this film implies that bond has slept with men as well because there's a great scene where Javier Bardem like starts up buttoning his shirt and he says, oh, you're shocked you're training doesn't know what to how to do with this. And, you know, is this your first time and, and Craig is like Craig's bond is like, who said it was the first time like, you know, it's just like this great like moment where it's like, it's not just, you know, the blonde girls or whatever, like, you know, it's just interesting. I Elyse 7:12 really liked that scene as well. It's definitely a Nigel 7:15 better scene than the mods Mickelson version of that scene and Casino Royale. Sam 7:21 Skyfall and Spectre both have a third act problem, in that the movie could have ended at, you know, the end of the second act in both films. And with Skyfall. It did the the move back to the ancestral manner was tacked on, and it feels tacked on. What's good about Skyfall is people say this all the time about New York, but I'm gonna do it. The best character in Skyfall is London. And they really wanted to do that they really wanted to make London a character. And they actually double down on that, because as you all will remember, this is about the time of the London Olympics. Future bond director, Danny Boyle gets his hands on Daniel Craig and the queen. And they shoot that scene together. And yeah, I love that and but this is supposed to be you know, so those two things together are a take on bond back at home in London, which we saw with brosman spawn, but we don't really see him at home a lot, which is, you know, like EMI six is kind of similar to CIA in the way that you're not supposed to be operating on your home turf. The other folks do that. So this is a transition. We're about to go on a journey. Let me try to get it all right on the first try. Because a lot is about to happen. Stay with me. Now it is time to talk about number nine. And Nigel I I think it's time for you to start watching Quantum of Solace because Christmas is here. That's right, we're talking about 2000s The world is not enough. The one where the villain does Stockholm Syndrome and Greek tragedy at the same time, and Azerbaijan. Elyse 9:29 Not to your comments to this. Sam 9:31 I actually meant to like fake you out before I talked about Domino and say that my favorite Bond girl was Christmas. But it's probably all for the better. Elyse 9:45 Yeah, this is number 21 on my list. I really not like this movie. Yes. The things that I do like about this movie is Christmas Jones's name. And I do find electrodes motivation interesting. And I remember a similar plot in a Veronica Mars episode with a rat moguls daughter. And she wanted to anyway. Denise Richards is not a believable nuclear physicist in this film. And I don't even think that's a criticism on Denise Richards because I believe her role in Starship Troopers where she's a very smart character protecting an oil pipeline as a plot is boring, and I don't care about it at all. That's all I know. Sam 10:30 I thought this movie was at the bottom of my list too, until I saw it again. And I'm just I'm as shocked as you are, frankly, like, I'm not sure I understand. Yeah, but you know, I will say really fast that I think it's I think it's fascinating that Robert Carlisle's role. Javier Bardem was originally considered for it. I just, I think that's fascinating. Oh, that's, this is the Bond film that I just mentioned, that has that very long, high speed boat chase down the Thames, which is the longest pre title sequence, I think at least until Spectre. So anyway, I just, I didn't think I liked it either. But I guess I was wrong. Nigel. Elyse 11:15 I had the opposite happened where it was higher on my list last time, and I've seen it probably three or four times now and it goes down on my list every time I watch it interesting. Sam 11:25 This is also of course q as played by Desmond Whelan's last film, Nigel where's it staying for you? Ah, definitely lower Nigel 11:36 down I think maybe around a 17 on the list. I think one like it makes me sad to think that like, this is desmond wildlands last film but like, like he was killed just after it premiered. You know, so it's like obviously a you know, it's a horrible way to go and stuff. And the character is different to the actor who plays it but it's really kind of sobering when you're watching the film to be like, well, this is the last day wherever you want to see of this queue. What is it you know? Tessa 12:13 Yeah, they do plan his exit super well though, because it's like, where he says you always have to make a good exit and then like, disappears down the like, the tube in the floor. Like it is really sad because it is his last film, but at the same time, it's like, that is just kind of perfect for that character just to leave. Yeah, Nigel 12:33 I mean, in my head, that cue is still alive, where he's just like, doing his own stuff. We just have enough bond has left too many gadgets out in the field. He's destroyed too many things. He's like, I've had enough. I'm out Sam 12:47 one of the they actually wrote his retirement into one of the earlier scripts. And the joke is that bond pops out of the water and climbs into a boat and it's actually Cuse boat, and he says something to him about. He looks around sees all the beautiful women on the boat with Q and he says I see that you're enjoying your retirement a few and he says these are my granddaughters. I mean, like I'm glad we got Desmond louella longer than we did. But man Nigel 13:22 yeah so overall, I think overall My favorite thing about this film is that it's an indirect tie into On Her Majesty's Secret Service because the world is not enough is the apparent motto of the bond family which we'll get into when we talk about On Her Majesty's Secret Service but I think that's the most I was expecting like a more direct tie in and I guess I was a bit disappointed goodwife like you mean why go and call that if you're not gonna like go whole hog and double down on the laser and be connection. Sam 13:54 And yet you were upset at me when I said the same thing about Quantum of Solace. What's up with that? Nigel 14:01 I I'm a fickle creature. I go whichever way the wind takes me much like Desmond Whelan's cue Tessa 14:13 so I think it's almost it's interesting that you say that that's like the motto of the bond family because the world is not enough feels more in this film. It feels more like something that the main villain electro would say you know like it seems like that's like her thing is that she wants you know more than the world she's like very greedy and I think that she's the best part of this film. Like I like the idea that of a Bond girl being a villain like I just thought that that was really like not just a villain like a henchman like but like the main bill villain because you could say that's Robert Carlyle, but he's following her directions like it's not the other way around. And so I I found that to be fascinating. I also really liked like you mentioned, Elise that this is kind of the Beginning of the sins of M storyline because she really is the person who caused electro to become the way she is by advising her father not to ransom her. And so I because you know you don't negotiate with terrorists and so I think that that again I just I love the relationship between bond and am I think it's developed a little bit more in the Craig era. But I really do like that this is a three line that we see really well developed here. I also really liked Denise Richards I don't know people hate on her a lot, but I just I really like her in this movie. Sam 15:34 Okay, coming in at number eight, the movie that shouldn't be the previous Bond movie, but is because no time to die hasn't been released yet. I'm talking about 2015 Spectre. That's the one where the villain becomes obsessed with world domination, because his adopted brother said, I'm not in your room. That one time. Nigel 15:55 I hate this film. I hate this film so much for the bottom of my heart. I think this is probably the lowest on my Bond films. I have been waiting for this one. And I'm like, every time it's not mentioned, I'm like, oh god to the top. And this is the one that I keep going one which you haven't mentioned. Sam 16:21 Again, we are also surprised. Much like the last film we are surprised that this one's up here. So do go on. Nigel 16:29 This is like the quintessential This is like the crystallization of my problem with bond is a series where it doesn't commit to anything it does. Like I brought up the mechanization of the military industrial complex and how that's never really answered. I feel like Christoph Waltz is wasted as Blofeld and so this is going to tie back into the pen I dropped where I said no time to die where it's like this film is revamping the stuff that was done in the old bond and it's not doing a good job of it. I guess it ties back into where Sam was expecting after the did Casino Royale that they would do From Russia with love. And they did quantum assaults where it's like you started doing old bond and they're just doing it band where I did like I was not sold on. Christoph Waltz is Blofeld at all and so I've seen I said no time to die because I've seen people say that Rami Malek is playing a version of Doctor No, in no time to die, Doctor No time to die. And I'll be really really disappointed because while I think Rami Malek has the chops to pull it off. I feel like he should be his own villain. Because now Oh, sorry. You were gonna say something. So Sam 17:48 Oh, no, I was just gonna say this is the second time we've talked about Rami Malek with you on this podcast. And yeah, second. So what you're saying is this is another Benedict Cumberbatch. Yes. It's not gone. It's not gone. Elyse 18:05 Yeah, in my notes as well, Nigel 18:07 where it's like I, if he's Doctor No, it won't be the end of the world. But like now that they've officially gone past the stuff like we've basically adopted every single Fleming thing. And now it's just a planning committee. I think it should be an original villain like Silva was. I think the opening this film is really good as a cold open. I think that's about the only good part of the film. Like I mentioned with the atmosphere. I liked that. And I like the bit where Dave Battista comes in and just strangles a person to get his car table. I thought that was like, so fun. I was like, Yes. And I wish that were the tone of the film. Like I wish it had borrowed some of the on forgiveness from Quantum of Solace in how the tone of this film is constructed. I also just, I did not care for Andrew Scott a See, I was like, why is he in this film? Because he's tied into the whole drones or weaponization thing Sam 19:07 as he was on an original choice. Nigel 19:11 Yeah, I know. But the whole Karen was, Sam 19:13 I was gonna say I was gonna wait to say this, but but Nigel, you really cued it up for me? You know, when Casino Royale came out? Is this a reboot? Is this a continuation? What is the continuity? And Judi Dench has continued casting makes it weird. But if you ignore that, this is Casino Royale was a straight up reboot. It is like Kelvin verse, Bond, whatever that is, I don't know. It's a different bond. It's a it's a reset. It's a hard reset. And I continue to believe that and basically what this does is just tells the whole story. And that story is going to end with no time to die. That's what I think Spectre does like watching these movies in order, I realized you hold us the whole story again. You've told us the story all the way through. I halfway believe that we're almost done with bond period to the extent that I would not be shocked to find out and by the way with Eon productions having so much trouble keeping the story going with those lags I find it hard to believe in the last 18 months they haven't already cast the new bond haven't already written the new movie, then a lot of stuff hasn't been pushed forward because they keep getting burned and they hate it. I kind of believe that the next bond is the last bond and I further believe it's not out of the realm of possibility that in a shocking twist, and you'll Craig's gonna play us out with one more beyond no time to die. And I think that for the reasons you talked about Nigel, Tessa 20:53 Elise, what do you think of Spectre? Elyse 20:55 So this is number 10. on my list, I do feel that it benefits for me on rewatch away from the is it Blofeld? Is it not Blofeld? Star Trek Into Darkness of at all like watching it away from that kind of makes it better because I don't care about whatever the marketing or whatever they say although I don't enjoy when the production lies to us and says Nope, that's not con or whatever the Day of the Dead festival it set is absolutely stunning to me. Tessa 21:32 I love that I Elyse 21:33 love bonds skeleton suit. I love that whole though that whole scene even with the ridiculous helicopter part and bond destroying an entire city block which is horrible. Sam 21:47 Did you hear the musical cue when the helicopter flipped over? Because they were they were alluding to that stupid scene in The Man with the Golden Gun there is a sound cue that is meant to emulate the slat the stupid slide whistle Elyse 22:04 I don't think I realized that off to go back and rewatch how many women has bond slept with whose lovers fathers brothers he's killed is a question that I don't actually have. Seven there's always like he's, it's just wild. I do like that bill Tanner is like more in this movie. I enjoy the scenes where cue bill Tanner. Mallory are kind of and Moneypenny are working together to help Craig even though they're technically not supposed to the scene where Craig is in that like torture chair is really funny to me because this movie came out the same year as the Force Awakens. And some people might know that Daniel Craig was a storm ship storm trooper in The Force Awakens and he is literally the Stormtrooper that is watching Ray be in the torture chair so I found that to be really amusing. I I like Andrew Scott a lot as an actor, and I love him as hot priest and fleabag and I even love him and Sherlock but because of his role in Sherlock I was like I do not trust this man from the second he was on screen and therefore any twist involving his character was completely expected from me so that's really my one con of this movie. Nigel 23:31 Just you reminded me of another thing I hate about this film in terms of the Bond girl This is like trigger warning for some upsetting stuff. The fact that Monica Bellucci when bond goes to Italy and attends her husband's funeral kills a bunch of guys in front of her unlike makes advances on her and despite her like explicitly not giving consent. He I yeah, I really hate that. So Tessa 24:01 I really liked this movie because I felt like all of the characters made sense in this movie. Like there were very few characters that didn't have something going on in their lives. Like even ralphie ins am who I mean Judi Dench will always be my fav but I really like that he feels like somebody who has field experience he's not just some old person sitting in an office and I really like that money pent we could see money pennies interior life a little bit we just see queues interior life a little bit. I just felt like this was a pretty solid story and there's a lot of callbacks to things and bond. You know like it but it does it without being too like in your face like elbowing you going ha ha like it like there's the slide whistle sound effect. The train is very like the fight scene in the train is very reminiscent of From Russia with love. You know the cat. Obviously I owe a sucker for the cat and I love that the cat jumps on his lap when he's in the torture chair like it's like I don't know it just cracks me up it's just like oh yeah like I'm part of this too and the the like the retreat high in the mountains in Austria is very On Her Majesty's Secret Service like even Dave Battista character who apparently Dave Bautista like there's some stuff with him in this movie too. I think his he's great in this movie but he's very even though he doesn't have the teeth he's very jaws adjacent because he's silent except for one word. And he has the the like metal fingernails which are very like jaws like and I appreciate that. I liked Christoph Waltz as Blofeld I thought it was an interesting take on this character I it is an origin story kind of because we'd never seen this first of Blofeld before so I would have been interested to see him them do more with him as a character. Elyse 25:50 Don't we see him get his scar for the first Yeah, in this movie? Yeah, we Sam 25:55 went back in origin of the scar. We went back and looked at the original Blofeld scar and they did a really good job at matching it. Oh, that's cool. All right. So this is it's time for part two of my three part podcast within a podcast bond actors in peril. This one is brought to you by Daniel Craig and Dave Battista. So during the during one of the scenes where Dave Battista throws Daniel Craig, Daniel Craig said you need to throw me a little bit harder. And so he did and that's why he had to take two weeks off to have knee surgery, but that's okay because he punched a bit teesta in the nose and broke it he felt so bad a petition was like it's not a big deal popped it into place blew out the blood and kept go and that is that is Episode Two of bond in peril. Elyse 26:49 Alright, so lucky to have Dave Battista in our Sam 26:53 lives period Elyse 26:54 please Nigel 26:57 please tell me that the what you mentioned Tessa that there was some stuff in with him in that film that it's not like he's secretly an awful human being Tessa 27:06 no no I was that's what I was. I was referencing the stuff that Sam was going to talk about but then Sam made a motion to let me know that he was going to talk about it so that's that's why that was no as far as I know. Dave Bautista is an amazing human being. Oh, thank Nigel 27:19 God, Sam 27:20 right? Elyse 27:21 Yeah, I was worried too. Nigel 27:23 It would give me another reason to hate Spectre. Sam 27:28 Coming in at number seven, we have 1989 licensed to kill the one where we find out you can mix cocaine with gasoline and everything will work out just fine. Elyse 27:40 So I have this a lot lower on my list. license to kill is number 19 on my list, but I still really like it. As I said earlier, I am a sucker for anything having to do with Felix and this movie is very feel like centric. I love that bond has in his wedding. So this movie is very personal. I think Pam Bouvier is maybe the cutest of all the bond girls. I love her short hair, and I think it's really funny when she gets jealous in the movie when James is giving attention to looping instead of her. I find Benicio del Toro's performance in this movie to not be great, I don't enjoy to Tessa 28:22 attract. We like young video sale Del Toro is a very attractive person. Elyse 28:28 I completely agree with you, but I just don't like how he's acting and we knew in his playing a huge creep. Sam 28:35 So that's good. Elyse 28:40 Yeah, I just it wasn't my favorite, Tessa 28:43 Nigel, how do you feel about a license to kill? Nigel 28:46 Ah, that's that's how I feel. This one suffers from a really bad case of Timothy Dalton looking old syndrome. I don't know he looks really really old. And this one compared to like, any of the other ones. And it's, I don't know, it's really off putting for me to is really off putting for me to watch. But I think in terms of like, you know, I like lighter. And like you said, at least it's really fun. That Bond was at his wedding. But again, this is going to tie into On Her Majesty's Secret Service, where it's like, she gets married to lighter and then she gets murdered shortly afterwards, very much like in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. And it's interesting to see how I don't know like I think it's interesting to see how they play with that with a later bond where it's not bond explicitly that has to go through the grief. You know, it's it's someone who's been like a really, really good friend to bond especially in that continuity. You know, from I had forgotten that he was in Doctor No, but like, I'm thinking of, you know, all Stuff that he does to help bondo in in gold finger and you know he's such a staunch ally that having what's her name Delia. Something like that Delia dalla something maybe having her get murdered and having Felix put in that position it I think it's the most interesting part of the film for me Elyse 30:21 one thing I feel about that though is like there's scenes in the movie or Felix is smiling and laughing and I just feel like if his wife is like new wife was just murdered that those scenes would have should have been played a little Tessa 30:35 bit yeah, it's like later in the movie like it's like okay, everything's fine now and yeah, you wouldn't expect Felix to be like I don't know you I absolutely agree with you that to me was the one drawback of this movie was the end where it was like Felix was smiling and laughing and it's like okay like this is weird. Why I Nigel 30:53 never said it was like well done but it's interesting to see Elyse 30:57 no your comments just reminded me I really Tessa 30:59 liked the off the grid bond of it like because this is a movie where M explicitly tells him not to go after the murders of Felix is fried and at the time he thinks Felix because Felix is also very badly hurt at the beginning of this film, but he ignores all of that and goes goes anyway like he's like no, I'm gonna I'm gonna get justice for Felix and his and his wife. I like that I think that's different I think it breaks the bond to mold a little bit in a way that's interesting and that we hadn't necessarily seen before. I really love Timothy Dalton his bond because I think he I think he balances the perfect amount of comedy but without being too over the top like he's suave and yet very comedic at the same time. I also really love that as soon as he goes off the grid and is like alright, put it you know, like, we're gonna track down double oh seven and like, kill him or whatever. And like at, like Q is immediately on a flight to go help bond, which is I think, great, like this idea that money Penny and q are on bond side, like they will always be on bond side over em side. And I just I find that to be just great, like 13 bond all the way. Nigel 32:14 Yeah, that's the dynamic that the new films have really captured. Like, if there's anything in terms of the spirit of bond, it's like that bond has realized no matter how dire situation he is, like, you know, in specter, one of I'm willing to hand back to this, it's that, you know, he's stopped celebrating, so stop, celebrate. He's told explicitly stay away from this. And then bond is just like, you know, you should help me Q and Q was like, fine, I guess just yeah, I have cats, I need to look after Sam 32:48 you. But then there's that that great moment in the in the sky tram. That is that is the reference to two different Bond movies at once. Where q simultaneously sees the person getting into threaten him, and pulls the data off the ring and realizes that bond is right. Bond is a jerk, but he's our jerk. And that's the moment where Q really realizes it. And that ties very well in with that, probably, we don't really realize that luellen luellen. skew feels that way. But we know that he does by the time we get to this film. So this was this was the first Quantum of Solace was not the first one. This was the first film to be affected by a writer strike. Because we lose my Baum's influence later on in the screenwriting process. He was the scribe of record and a strike took him out. We also have, as Nigel mentioned, kind of an indirect reference to On Her Majesty's Secret Service. This has the very, very, very famous line. he disagreed with something that ate him. And, you know, to forgot about that. Yeah. It's a good one. Yeah, to Nigel's point too, it's ironic because you know, when Connery left the first time, that's when Adam West was a possibility. That's when Roger morph came into the picture. That's when Timothy Dalton came into the picture, but they said he was and this is true, too young. So again, it's that it's that was Roger Moore, with Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan right bond wrong time, you guys. I really like these movies. I love the grittier I love the grittier bonds of Timothy Dalton and Daniel Craig because that's what in Fleming wrote. That's why you can turn them into a different character. They certainly did with jack Reacher Tom Cruise, but I mean you can do that. If you why it's called artistic license. But if you want to make bond true to Ian Fleming you need Timothy Dalton or you need Daniel Craig the other ones are not as good in that. That doesn't mean he's my favorite bond. But I really do like that and I, I just love this movie. But But hold on, hold your hold your thoughts on the Timothy Dalton era because at number six, we have the living daylights from 1987 the one where we find out that you can go sledding on a cello and everything will work out just fine. See what I did here? They were both that alright, there's only two cuz he only did two. And that's bad. Tessa 35:48 Nigel, what do you think of the living daylights? Not a Sam 35:55 surprise, surprised? I think Yeah, Nigel 35:58 I'm not really a fan of Timothy Dalton at all as bond. And so like Living Daylights it, it doesn't really do anything for me. Like, I appreciate kind of the the wackiness of some of the set pieces. Like you mentioned the cello slide and stuff. And I like lighter is in this one. That's great. Um, the Aston Martin makes a return. But also it's just like, this is all what I would call a non film, which is it's just like, it happened. But I'm not particularly pushed. I didn't go in and come out going well, this is a bad film. And I didn't come in to anger. Like I'm at the anger or this is a good film. It's like, it's one I'm entirely ambivalent on. I like I realized I don't have a lot of like, interesting theory to say about and I'm sorry, but it's just like vibes. It did not pass the vibe check, but it did not fail it either. Sam 36:59 And, and of course, the least there is the Afghanistan of it all. Elyse 37:06 Yeah, I don't. This is a middle of the road bond. For me. I have it at number 11. I didn't really have any No. Similarly to Nigel, I don't have that many notes. Except that Timothy Dalton is dreamy, and he might have the best eyes of all the bonds. I know that's not related to the movie. But I did find it was fun. And in a twisty turny kind of way where like, I felt like this movie had more like this person was on one side. And then on the other side, you didn't know who people's allegiances as easily as in some of the other movies. But yeah, I don't really remember why I liked it or didn't like it. So I also just don't really have much to say about this one. Tessa 37:52 I love this movie a lot. And this is one of the ones that convinced me to go back and watch the other bonds. And we didn't mention this, but haha is the living daylights is also a very good bond theme. But I totally I feel like this movie again, it kind of dials back on the camp. But it's still really funny. Like his understated like type of humor, I think really works for this particular iteration of bond. And I love the scene at the very beginning. There's a whole long sequence where he scares the living daylights out of the blonde girl, right who's trying to like fake an assassination, which is fun. But then he like, they escaped from like the Soviet Union via like a pipeline. And like, there's like a QA pipeline. Yeah, it's like a really fun sequence that I like really enjoyed. I really liked the relationship between him and the Bond girl because he's trying to get her out like of the Soviet Union. And that's where the cello comes in. And I also thought the stakes were really interesting for this one, because like, licensed to kill, this feels a lot more personal, because it's very spy versus spy. And it's about like trying to prevent a list of secret agents from getting out. And so he's like, trying to defend like his colleagues. And I just thought that that was a really interesting take on this particular bond. It wasn't about world domination, as much as it was about like protecting the secret service itself. Sam 39:21 The Living Daylights bit is from a short story where bond elects not to use his license to kill, but instead shoots to scare and his comment is I scared the living daylights out of her. She'll think twice before trying this again, using that in the film here, he's criticized by the person that he's working with, which is an interesting interpretation of what happens later. With the comment. a license to kill is also a license to not kill. So we ended up kind of on different places there. This is a really good time to have a conversation. about some very important business, which is of course, who is the best bond? Nigel thinks it's not Timothy Dalton, this this is going to be a monster to edit. It's going to be four episodes, it's going to be great. We only have a two week window because I wanted to line it up with no time to die. But we're already taking one of the weeks away from what immediately comes after this. Tessa 40:25 spook tober. Sam 40:28 So we're only doing three weeks of spooked over. So like, so like we finished bond and we bought tickets for no time to die, but we are immediately starting to watch Halloween stuff like this week. Elyse 40:43 Right? All right, guys going opening night for naptime. Sam 40:47 Yes, because it actually kind of worked out in our favor that the movie is so long, that to cram for showings in on two screen, two showings each on two screens. They had to do a 4pm they had to do it before everybody's done. I noticed showing you so we're going on. So right now we have tickets to that. If it becomes too populated, we'll we'll cancel that and try again on Friday morning. Yeah, like Well, that's kind of our mo right now is to just keep we live in a rural area technically. So it's not so bad. So basically, we just are waiting and seeing and we'll buy tickets. And if it's too crowded, be like nope, and just pull. Elyse 41:29 I wanted to do the real quick I wanted to do the Dolby cinema one because I have AMCA list. So it's the same, it's like included in my membership. But that one's at 7:45pm. And my dad goes to bed so early. So they're like I'll stay up for James Bond by he will not so we're doing our 630 at a regular screen, but it'll still be recliner seats, so I won't feel as bad like if people are next to me, but I'll just wear my mask the whole time anyway. Sam 41:57 Yeah, we saw a black widow and a full theater and we were like, nope, nope. Elyse 42:01 Yeah, I was a little uncomfortable at that, too. It wasn't as bad coming in because everyone comes in at different times. But like right before everyone exited the theater. I was like there's too many people. But I also saw Shang g in the same situation. But Chicago had a mask mandate so it didn't feel as bad. Nigel 42:20 Though just the last time I saw before COVID Sarah was birds of prey or the fabulous emancipation of one Harley Quinn and then the first film same. The first film I saw when theaters were opened back up here in Ireland was tenet. That was really disappointing. Elyse 42:37 I haven't seen it yet. My last film was portrait of a lady on fire. Oh, nice. Before COVID I had seen Bob already have one of Bob that was Bob. He was I had a lot of fun. Sam 42:52 All right, I did the perfect segue to Nigel talking about the best bonds with Timothy Dalton and I stand by it. But before Nigel before you start talking, I promised you Tessa and now it's time to Tessa 43:10 break that list. makes me so happy Nigel 43:14 your audio cut out so all I heard was test to say rank and then Sam 43:19 just like so she she excitedly yelled rank that list. Yeah, Nigel 43:23 but it was so funny because it was just rank and then her shaking her head. Sam 43:30 Actually, we're gonna we're gonna talk we're gonna we're gonna. Okay, we're gonna talk about the doctor the character from A Doll's House. Yeah. Sorry. So my Nigel 43:43 least favorite bond is Timothy Dalton. I think I think every I think every role that Timothy Dalton is is in like post bond is better than him playing bond. I think Yeah, I don't know. I'm maybe that's because I saw him in a bunch of other stuff, which I preferred. Like before I watched his Bond films. I think first thing I saw Timothy Dalton in was like, Hot Fuzz. You know where he plays? Skinner? I yeah, one of us exactly. For the good of the town The greater the greater good. Alright, so I think he's at the bottom of my list then I'm gonna go Pierce Brosnan mainly because my mixed feelings about Pierce Brosnan being a man from Nava. Are you aware of the Irish comedian? Tommy tiernan? Sam 44:34 No. Oh, okay. Nigel 44:35 Well, he's probably haven't seen Derry girls. Have you? Sam 44:41 met yet? Not yet. Nigel 44:43 Okay, what that's like his most acting thing that he's done. But anyway, he's from the same area of the country. The same town, as Pierce Brosnan is and it's such a weird disconnect. Just to consider that's a little bit of trivia. But yeah, I have mixed feelings about him. Mainly Because I have mixed feelings about Pierce Brosnan as an actor. So then I'm going to go I'm going to go Sean Connery I think at number three, this is like this is really a toss up between number three and number two as to where I put them. Sean Connery. Yeah, like I mean, he's the original bond. He's got some really good moments. He's got some really good films, like some of my favorite bond moments have come from Connery films, but I think a lot of them drag. I think the Connery. I don't know. Like in the later ones, he just stops caring as much about it. And just he's just carrying especially like when he comes back after laser and B was there or it's just like, why are you here? Yeah, money money. Exactly. What is it an eighth of the profits of the film? Elyse 45:52 Yeah, that's what they offered and like 2 million pounds or something? Yeah. Nigel 45:55 I one of the things. Yeah, you were mentioning the, the scene that they used to test all bonds. And it's like, that's how they know whether that bond will be the correct bond for like going forward. I think one of the like a story which I find really funny. And I don't know whether it's apocryphal or not, but it's like Sean Connery went to the casting and Ian Fleming was there. And like, you know, it was fairly Okay. And then they were unsure about it or whatever. But then as he was leaving, they watched him leave. And Fleming said, No, that's him. That's bond and they're like, how do you know and it's like, because he walks like a puma. Which is really weird to consider, because that would be on all fours running. But yeah, so number two, I'm going to go with Daniel Craig. I'm going to go with Daniel Craig because I feel like I feel like I vibe with the tone of his films an awful lot like where I had with, with Connery. A lot of my favorite moments have come from Connery films. I feel like a lot of my favorite films have come from Craig films. So like, on the whole, I think his collection of Bond films is the best that there is, in terms of like multiple films. That isn't Timothy Dalton. And this is all an excuse for me to say that my number one bond is George Lazenby. Sam is not surprised in the slightest, because I think we've Sam and I have had this conversation at least five times on Twitter alone. Sam 47:33 Wait, did you mention Roger Moore? Was he on your list? Nigel 47:36 Oh, yeah. No, I just I'm not putting Roger Moore on the list. Elyse 47:44 drama. Sam 47:45 Oh, so. Wow. So I thought there was a lot wrong with our I thought there was a lot of disagreement with our lists, but apparently we feel the same way about Roger Moore. Elise, would you like to explain why Nigel is wrong? And how? Nigel 48:00 Please don't mind my fragile heart can't take it. Sam 48:05 To heart Elyse 48:06 Now I know to be extra mean in my comments. So I want to preface this by saying I genuinely love every single bond. So being last on my list or is not a it's not a bad it's just being leased first, so yeah. 100% Um, so my number six is actually the same. It's Timothy Dalton. And I honestly think it's mostly from being the even before this and I still feel this way being the least connected and familiar with his movies in general. So it's really just I have not connected with his movies as much as I have with the other ones. And as I said earlier, he has the prettiest eyes of all of the bonds. Um, next, I would say, I'm just like, laughing that my rankings are gonna be all superficial comments. They're not all going to be but that's okay. If they were that would be okay. Yeah, it would be okay. We all have our things. So number five is George Lazenby. I very much like On Her Majesty's Secret Service I find George Lazenby to be like a funny just person in general. I know you guys talked about it on monkey but I just love that becoming bond documentary. I just this is more about that documentary but he's such an unreliable narrator that it's just very entertaining. Um, but yeah, I I do appreciate that he had this attitude of Okay, I don't want to be caught doing this for the next 10 years of my life. So I'm just gonna peace out of here. I'm number four is pure spas in which I have to fully admit that I accidentally forgot to put on my list and did just now when Nigel mentioned I'm so sorry to that, man. I like piers brazing. A lot. I think that he has, there's that. He does like the silly joke part. And really well, there was movies are definitely some of the sillier ones. He was also my first bond. So I even though those movies aren't all my favorite, I just, you know, I'm a little nostalgic for him. So Roger Moore is actually number third for me. I did not like any of the Roger Moore. I okay, that's not true. I the first time I watched these movies, I only liked to Roger Moore films. And I watched them again, and I just he's so good at the camp. Yes, he completely for the I think honestly, for his last three films. He's too old. But I still really enjoy his performances. But I can't think of Roger Moore and not think of loss in translation. When Bill Murray is doing that, like whiskey commercial, and they're talking about him being James Bond, and he's like, trying to do like a Connery thing, and they're like, no, Roger Moore. That's also probably Association. Number two is Daniel Craig. For me. I agree with Nigel that Daniel's movies as a whole are the most art. He has the best. He has the most like good Bond movies of all of the actors. I think he does a really good job of being that. Like, we haven't really talked about Casino Royale yet, but like he's like that blunt instrument that like gets things done. And there is a grittiness, but he also does the emotional scenes pretty well even when bond himself is trying to pretend that he's okay, you can tell when he's not. And my number one is Sean Connery. He's just classic he was first I really love those early those first four movies, I love all of them. I just, I think of bond and I see his face. Tessa 52:20 That's all. And that's fair. I mean, I think that there is something to be said with Association. For sure. Mine is now for something completely different. My least favorite is more and it's mainly because I think he's too old for most of his movies. I mean, again, I'm like Elise, like I like all of them in different ways. I think they all bring something different to the character. So it's not an insult to be last on my list. I just it really distracts me how old he is in most of his movies for sure. And that's that's why he's on the bottom. Pierce Brosnan is next as i said i think he does a pretty good job about certain elements of bond but he's really a bond in the bowl of Roger Moore and so I think that's why he's more towards the bottom of the list is that he seems like he's trying to do more a lot of times and it just kind of kind of comes across this myth to me Nigel 53:12 Do you wish he had done more to stand out? Tessa 53:16 I was gonna joke there it is. Ah, number on the next one. Hold on. Number four is Sean Connery. So he's a little bit lower on the list mainly because like Nigel said, I feel like he's phoning it in near the end of the movies. And also because I don't know I just I just don't I don't feel like Connery actually comes across as suave as I like bond to be like sometimes he just seems a little bit more. I don't know like that football player type of vibe off of him than I would like him to be. But again, like Elise said, He's classic bond as well. So I mean, I could see both sides of that. Number three is Craig. Craig, I think of all of the bonds does a really good job, like you said a lease of being the most emotionally conflicted, like he does a really good job of making us believe that bond has inner emotions besides like, coolness and suaveness. Like all the other bonds, like don't necessarily do a great job of making bond a more than one dimensional character. And Craig really does that, I think in a lot of ways. Or at least he does it in the most consistent manner. I think because I think that number two Lazenby, for me, also does that really well, just maybe because he only has the one film it's hard to, to track him across multiple films The way that you would Craig, but I do really love his bond. I think he does a really good job of being playful as bond two, which I really appreciate. And number one is Timothy Dalton. And I think the reason why Timothy Dalton is my favorite is because I really love his films a lot. And because Timothy Dalton is the one bond, and I'm just gonna say this, that I understand why women would throw themselves at him like, That man is so attractive and his eyes and his voice just perfect. Alright, Sam, tell us why we're all wrong. Sam 55:20 I just want so there are two things. One, I have coerced Tessa? In no way. I did not know what her bond ranking was until just now. Ours is the same. Which leads me to my second point. If you go back and listen to Nigel's list, and you assume that Roger Moore is below Timothy Dalton, because he didn't even make the list. If you remove Timothy Dalton from Nigel's ranking and move him to the top, we have the exact same ranking. Everything else was the same. That's pretty freaky. Now, Elyse 56:03 isn't that sign the rogue here is what you're telling me? Sam 56:07 That's what so so at the end of the day, while Nigel was the most incorrect, you were the most consistently incorrect. Which brings us to the top five. All right, you heard past me there are only five more movies to go. You know which ones but do you know which order they're in? Come back tomorrow for the last installment of Monkey off my backlogs series on James Bond. There are no more episodes after the next one, I promise. Tune in tomorrow. In the meantime, you can find Nigel on Twitter and links to her cavalcade of podcasts at spicy Nigel. You can find a lease on Twitter at elease underscore attendee in her Deep Space Nine podcast on twitter at pod race. Tessa is on Twitter at suela Tessa, be sure to listen to Tessa and Nigel's brand new podcast nanny augs book club. Find out more about that on twitter at ninnies book club. Finally, you can find me on Twitter at Sam underscore Morris nine. Send us your thoughts about the rankings we talked about today. What pop culture you've crossed off your list lately, what you'd like for us to talk about on future episodes or anything else that comes to mind. Find us on Twitter and Instagram at monkey backlog. Check out our brand new website monkey off my backlog.com email us at monkey my backlog@gmail.com our theme song is hot shot by Scott Holmes and can be found on Scott Holmes music.com please rate review and subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon podcasts, Google podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Get that monkey off your back Transcribed by https://otter.ai