How Did This Get Made?: 99 A View To a Kill: LIVE (w/ Matt Gourley, Matt Mira)
December 12, 2014 11:51 AM - Subscribe
In a very special podcast cross-over event, Bond experts Matt Gourley and Matt Mira of James Bonding join Paul, June, and Jason to figure out if A View To a Kill is the worst Bond movie of all time. Recorded LIVE at Largo in Los Angeles, they cover h...
I don't really remember this bond, I was listening to this podcast this morning and all the roger moore bonds have sort of merged into an indescript mass in my head.
Also, Roger Moore is the best bond, the fact he didn't get the best scripts is does not matter just like TNG didn't get the best star trek scripts but picard is the best captain. RM represents the platonic ideal of bond at his best. He was funnier, more charming and more suave than Connery ever was.
posted by Another Fine Product From The Nonsense Factory at 3:09 PM on December 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
Also, Roger Moore is the best bond, the fact he didn't get the best scripts is does not matter just like TNG didn't get the best star trek scripts but picard is the best captain. RM represents the platonic ideal of bond at his best. He was funnier, more charming and more suave than Connery ever was.
posted by Another Fine Product From The Nonsense Factory at 3:09 PM on December 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
This was a great episode. The whole snow board/Beach Boys thing, stunt men, Ebert, JDR: "Oh no, there's an old man in there!"
My favorite Mantzoukas quote: "UH-GRESSivly recognizable stunt men"
posted by Room 641-A at 4:36 PM on December 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
My favorite Mantzoukas quote: "UH-GRESSivly recognizable stunt men"
posted by Room 641-A at 4:36 PM on December 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
JDR: "Oh no, there's an old man in there!"
Also, June's Yelp review of the Eiffel Tower restaurant.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 5:58 AM on December 13, 2014
Also, June's Yelp review of the Eiffel Tower restaurant.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 5:58 AM on December 13, 2014
Favorite line, by Matt Gourley:
"It's a May-December romance, but it's December of the next year."
posted by doctornecessiter at 3:51 PM on December 13, 2014
"It's a May-December romance, but it's December of the next year."
posted by doctornecessiter at 3:51 PM on December 13, 2014
Main problem with A View to a Kill was that Roger Moore was just too damn old. To his credit, he knew this, and had originally planned to hand over the reins after For Your Eyes Only. But for various reasons, they kept dragging him back for two more movies.
If not for that, it would still be a strong contender for worst of the Bond films. But The Man With the Golden Gun is hard to beat in that fight. ("Who will he bang? We shall see" indeed.)
posted by Naberius at 11:41 AM on December 15, 2014
If not for that, it would still be a strong contender for worst of the Bond films. But The Man With the Golden Gun is hard to beat in that fight. ("Who will he bang? We shall see" indeed.)
posted by Naberius at 11:41 AM on December 15, 2014
I like Roger Moore, but he is simply terrible as Bond. That he was nearly 60 here compounds his inherent problems in the role; you just can't buy this guy as a killer. With Connery, Craig and even Brosnan you can believe the cavalier playfulness is the public mask over a dark past and almost nihilistic worldview. With Moore, the frivolity is all that's there; he's just non-serious and aristocratic. That already makes him less vital than what Bond should be; add the age and what's he even doing out here?
The best role for Moore in A View to a Kill would have been as M.
The movie itself was terrible. I kind of like the idea of revisiting Goldfinger, but the plot was a hundred times sillier and it was just too comic book. A lot of time was wasted going through the motions to feel "Bondish," which is why you get horses and caterpillar dances. They felt vaguely like it should be in a Bond movie ("global" like they said on the podcast) but wasn't tied in to the movie in anyway. (Compare with the weird opera in Quantum of Solace, which was really just meant to feel foreign and continental to Anglo-Saxons, but works within the needs and context of that scene, and the overall themes.)
Mayday was a bright spot as a henchman and Walken laughing as he was about to die was pretty great. But little else worthwhile here. I'm going to say this is the third-worst Bond, above Die Another Day and Moonraker, and just under Thunderball.
posted by spaltavian at 6:21 AM on December 16, 2014
The best role for Moore in A View to a Kill would have been as M.
The movie itself was terrible. I kind of like the idea of revisiting Goldfinger, but the plot was a hundred times sillier and it was just too comic book. A lot of time was wasted going through the motions to feel "Bondish," which is why you get horses and caterpillar dances. They felt vaguely like it should be in a Bond movie ("global" like they said on the podcast) but wasn't tied in to the movie in anyway. (Compare with the weird opera in Quantum of Solace, which was really just meant to feel foreign and continental to Anglo-Saxons, but works within the needs and context of that scene, and the overall themes.)
Mayday was a bright spot as a henchman and Walken laughing as he was about to die was pretty great. But little else worthwhile here. I'm going to say this is the third-worst Bond, above Die Another Day and Moonraker, and just under Thunderball.
posted by spaltavian at 6:21 AM on December 16, 2014
What I've come to take away from Moore's Bond is that he is almost a Joker-like sociopath. He is flippant, but also a heartless killer. There is no "dark past" because he doesn't care! This is all fun and games to him, killing and screwing on her majesty's secret service. And he's doing it well into his 50s.
I mean, it is super-creepy when you watch it like that, but it is interesting.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 7:55 AM on December 16, 2014
I mean, it is super-creepy when you watch it like that, but it is interesting.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 7:55 AM on December 16, 2014
Did anyone else feel like they were all doing the usual improv thing of "yes, and" except when responding to June? One of the guys in particular seemed to dismiss her observations, rather than building on them. (I was having difficulty matching voices to names, so I couldn't tell you which one.) I was really enjoying this except for that.
posted by ocherdraco at 4:25 PM on December 16, 2014
posted by ocherdraco at 4:25 PM on December 16, 2014
June is married to Paul Scheer so I'm sure she can hold her own. I think on HDTGM she prefers to play it wide-eyed, in part to troll everyone else, especially Mantzoukas.
In this particular episode you had improv powerhouse Matt Gourley joining Jason Mantzoukas, who also has a very strong improv background, so I think they were just playing off each other. But I didn't really notice what you did; I thought she had a strong episode, like the whole butterfly thing. I'm not sure if those two match up to the voices you're talking about, but I seriously wouldn't worry about JDR!
BTW, does anyone have any soft-shelled crabs?
posted by Room 641-A at 5:30 PM on December 16, 2014 [2 favorites]
In this particular episode you had improv powerhouse Matt Gourley joining Jason Mantzoukas, who also has a very strong improv background, so I think they were just playing off each other. But I didn't really notice what you did; I thought she had a strong episode, like the whole butterfly thing. I'm not sure if those two match up to the voices you're talking about, but I seriously wouldn't worry about JDR!
BTW, does anyone have any soft-shelled crabs?
posted by Room 641-A at 5:30 PM on December 16, 2014 [2 favorites]
I think June got the longest sustained bit in the show, I don't think she was being dismissed.
posted by spaltavian at 5:37 PM on December 16, 2014
posted by spaltavian at 5:37 PM on December 16, 2014
(ocherdraco, of course you might know they are married and everything else. What I should have said is that those were some reasons why I'm not worried about her.)
posted by Room 641-A at 5:54 PM on December 16, 2014
posted by Room 641-A at 5:54 PM on December 16, 2014
I've listened to a few episodes before, but not enough to know the relationships. Sounds like everything's peachy and I'm seeing things that aren't there. Carry on!
(And yeah, the whole butterfly thing was hilarious.)
posted by ocherdraco at 11:05 AM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
(And yeah, the whole butterfly thing was hilarious.)
posted by ocherdraco at 11:05 AM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
I just added the Dead Authors podcast to FanFare and posted the episode with Matt Gourley as Ian Fleming.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:44 PM on December 17, 2014
posted by Room 641-A at 8:44 PM on December 17, 2014
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The whole crew just has a great dynamic.
I think building scale models for super-villians is probably what happens to disgraced architects who can't get "straight" jobs anymore.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 11:56 AM on December 12, 2014