Spectre That: All The Bond Films Ranked...

We saw the new James Bond flick Spectre this weekend, and while I was totally entertained by this big budget action extravaganza, it was good not great, entertaining but not epic... and despite how much I try, just cant love the Sam Smith title song.

I would say Spectre is above average Bond, which is pretty good in a huge series where every film is worth seeing. And I know, as I have seen them all...

Here's my ranking. Let me know your faves -

#25
Moonraker: James Bond in outer space.

#24
Octopussy: Dirty title aside, nothing really memorable here, and model Maud Adams flails in the title role. A weak link that is still pretty entertaining.

#23
A View To A Kill: Bond takes on evil computer genius. Gets points for Grace Jones as the villain, loses those points for Tanya Roberts as a scientist.

#22
Die Another Day

#21
License To Kill

#20
Tomorrow Never Dies

#19
The Man With The Golden Gun

#18
Live and Let Die 

#17
Never Say Never Again 

#16
Diamonds Are Forever

#15
The World Is Not Enough

#14
Golden Eye

#13
Quantum of Solace 

#12
For Your Eyes Only

#11
The Living Daylights

#10
Spectre

#9
From Russia With Love

#8
You Only Live Twice

#7
Thunderball

#6
Goldfinger

#5
The Spy Who Loved Me: Roger Moore's best by far, with an underwater villain, a cool car, Barbara Bach, and maybe the best theme song ever, Carly Simon's "The Spy Who Loved Me".

#4
On Her Majesty's Secret Service: George Lazenby's sole outing as Bond is one of the grittier and most underrated of the series.

#3
Casino Royale: Daniel Craig reinvents the series with Bond as a hothead rookie with family issues, Judi Dench as M, and Eva Green as one of the best Bond girls ever.

#2
Dr No: The first Bond film stands the test of time.

#1
Skyfall: Craig's Bond deals with childhood trauma, Judi Dench's emotional farewell, a super creepy villain played by Javier Bardem, and that amazing Adele theme song.

Looking over my ratings, I seem to think Roger Moore was the weakest Bond, and Daniel Craig and Sean Connery are the best... which seems right.

What are your favourites? Any Moonraker fans out there?

5 Great Fall Reads...

Fall reading season is upon us....

It's November, we have our first snowfall here, winter hibernation is coming soon, and the big books for the holiday season are all coming out...

And while I am traveling a ton for work, I am reading in airplanes, airports, and hotels. 

Here are five recent reads I have really liked... what have you been reading?

In alternating chapters, Canadian broadcaster Kevin Newman and his son Alex tell their stories of Alex being gay and coming out, and the impact on their views of manhood and their evolving relationship. An honest smart touching read, and yes I teared up a couple of times. Much more than a coming out story, this talks a lot about the media and family and life choices and self discovery. My favourite book of the year so far.

Felicia Day is apparently a geek queen and big deal in the online gaming world, none of which I knew when I saw her on  talk show pushing this book and thought she was smart and sassy and weird and intriguing. I listened to the audio of her book on several long drives and got wrapped up in her story, the tale of a smart lonely outsider making her own way in the brave new online world and finding her own community. 

A second collection of essay from TV writer and actor Mindy Kaling, Why Not Me? is a light fluffy fast read. While this book is not as great as her first, Kaling is a great writer and storyteller even when the stories are this slight, and she really shines when she has good material, like the chapter on the advice she wished she had given to a young girl who asked about her confidence.  

Uber blogger Mary McCarthy (Pajamas and Coffee) follows up her bestselling The Scarlet Letter Society with part two of what will apparently be a trilogy of great beach reads. The sequel brings the first book's Society ladies back, adding in several more scandalous women and a fun subplot about a swinging suburb. I now look at my neighbours' driveways differently.... thanks for that Mary. Only complaint is a smaller role this time for the charming gay couple... they want more in part three! Or a spin off? Scarlet Letter Scandal is fun and fast and sexy and dirty in a Jackie Collins way... read the first one, then this one. 

This long awaited book 24 in the Alphabet series featuring detective Kinsey Millhone that began with A Is For Alibi is smart and suspenseful and as usual much more than a mystery; it is a thriller with quirky realistic characters and an interesting investigation on a now-dead colleague of Millhone and who he was not who everyone thought he was. While X stands on its own featuring Kinsey in multiple intertwined mysteries, it also refers to Kinsey's past and features a cast of colourful recurring supporting players. I would start at the beginning... and I did.

What are you reading?

Fall TV: Good TV, Bad TV...

The cold weather is creeping up on us, kids are back in school, the summer of sunshine and outdoor exercise is over... it's Fall TV Season!

Despite the reinvention of TV with players like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu (the latter not in Canada, so no Mindy Project here anymore, dammit...) the big networks still do all their big launches in the fall to cash in on increased viewership.

While I am enjoying or awaiting the arrivals of many old favourites like The Big Bang Theory, Scandal, How To Get Away With Murder, and The Good Wife, have also checked out several of the new shows. Here's my first impressions... let me know what you are watching and liking:

The Good

Blindspot
Mysterious woman with amnesia and super spy skills just appears, entire body covered in tattoos each of which is a clue to something.... sure it makes no sense, but its entertaining as hell with strong actors who make me want to watch more.

Quantico
A soapy spy thriller with a strong female lead --- sure it's a Shonda Rhimes rip off, but still may have legs...

Scream Queens
The bitchy stepdaughter of Glee and American Horror Story... needs a bit more funny, but this next generation Heathers is lots of fun.

Grandfathered
John Stamos as John Stamos, with a surprise son and granddaughter... gets the blend of sweet and funny just right. Liked the pilot more than expected to.

The Bad

The Daily Show With Trevor Noah
Sure they are impossible Jon Stewart shoes to fill, but based on the first week Noah needs more funny and less smug, plus better interview skills... Colbert and Seth Myers are doing the same gig way better.

Life In Pieces
All star comedy with the prime perch right after Big Bang... and I literally fell asleep during the first episode. Boring...

Best Time Ever With Neil Patrick Harris
I like the super-talented NPH a lot, but this weird variety show is clunky and unfunny. And has a weird stalking thing going on.

The Really Bad

Minority Report
Bad sci-fi, this next generation spin off to the Tom Cruise movie is predictable, not suspenseful, and the premiere spent more time zooming in on the female lead's boobs than it did ensuring had a decent plot. Garbage.

Limitless
Another sci-fi movie spin-off, this one to a mediocre Bradley Cooper movie about a pill that enhances your brain power. Based on the pilot, Limitless is just a low budget retread of the movie... so why did they bother?

Still to check out -- Crazy Ex Girlfriend, Blood & Oil, the new Muppets... what are you watching?

Candice Bergen's Fine Romance...

I have been a fan of Emmy winner Candice Bergen since her iconic Murphy Brown days, and loved her first autobiography Knock Wood in the 80s, so was all geared up for her new one, A Fine Romance.

This book did not disappoint - I read it cover to cover (okay, screen to screen) in a day on our recent vacation. A Fine Romance, like its author, is smart and funny and brutally honest, and can be dishy and insider-y without being mean or trashy.

A Fine Romance starts with Bergen in her 30s, when she met and married the much older French director Louis Malle, up to the present day, through her unusual international marriage, films like Gandhi, the high profile Murphy Brown years, the birth of her only child, Malle's death, her remarriage, plastic surgery, life in Hollywood, aging, and more, with total candour and great wit.

The book is smart and honest and funny, and despite her WASP queen looks, Hollywood and Swiss boarding school upbringing, money and fame, Bergen comes across like a real live person with typical guilt, embarrassment, loves, hopes, and disappointments.

Bergen, who made headlines recently for admitting she's gained weight because she loves to eat, describes with humour her perpetual surprise at the indignities aging slings at us. She writes of being stranded atop a bike after a spinning class when she couldn't figure out how to unlock from the pedals; of her post-age-60 hair, "which seems to be somebody else's hair: I think Golda Meir's"; and about her mouth "which has grown so thin it cannot be found by the naked eye."

This big will be on lots of year-end "best" lists... catch it before then!

Alfred The Havanese Furball Turns 8...

Our fur baby Alfred is actually a senior citizen in doggie years... 

Happy 8th birthday to the cutest dog ever with his many nicknames: Alfie, the little dude, Ewok, Have-Many-Needs the Havanese, furball, Alfredo, eggplant, Alfie-poop!

Alfred is celebrating with a nap. 

And likely some peanut butter...

Great Netflix Find: LILTING...

I was excited to find Lilting as a new addition on Netflix Canada last week, and this little indie British film was a great find.

I had heard of Lilting last year when it came out, largely because it stars Ben Whishaw, the out actor who has a supporting role as Q in the Daniel Craig James Bond movies.

This is a cross-cultural bilingual drama about love and loss and family and coming out and homophobia across generations and cultures.

In Lilting, Whishaw is Richard, a young gay man in London whose long-time boyfriend Kai dies suddenly. Kai, who was Chinese, had never introduced Richard to his family, who he had never really come out to. Overwhelmed by loneliness and grief, Richard reaches out to Kai's mother Junn who speaks no English and did not know or at least did not acknowledge that her son was gay.

Richard hires a translator and bulldozes his way into Junn's life. Their respective griefs and slowly negotiating some kind of rapport are touching and heartbreaking.

While not always really plausible -- such as when Richard wants Junn to move in with him --this is a simple quiet elegant movie, always touching and sometimes witty and even sexy. 

This flick more than works due to Whishaw's tender and powerful performance as a man hit so hard by grief he becomes angry and fragile... look for Lilting.

An evening with Rosanne Cash...

Crossed one off the bucket list this week...

We saw Rosanne Cash live in concert on Monday, and she did not disappoint.

The singer-songwriter defines music category labels, having started with country in the 70s before going pop in the 90s and more folk/Americana in recent years, winning 3 Grammy awards this February for her most recent album The River & The Thread.

The daughter of country legend Johnny Cash, Rosanne Cash is known for country hits like Seven Year Ache and Tennessee Flat Top Box, and also delivered lesser known pop albums in the 90s, including one of my all-time favourite albums of any genre, The Wheel; she has had a resurgence lately with The List (country classics inspired by her father) and the southern-themed The River & The Thread.

Cash has also written several books including a terrific autobiography Composed.

Her show Monday was about musicianship not spectacle; the first half of the show was with Cash and her five-man ensemble performing the new album in its entirety, in sequence, which worked beautifully as it ties together as a diary of travels in the south, with musical meditations on family and history and faith and country and blues and the strangeness of the south. 

The second half of the show was a sampling of her hits, plus a sparse beautiful cover of Ode To Billy Joe (she talks about its setting at the Tallahatchie Bridge when introducing her current music).

With her rich voice and playful personality, Cash is a treat to see live as she tells stories and links the songs together into a tapestry of her life. I recommend her tour highly... and if you can't see her, check out her music especially The Wheel or The List.

Kerry Washington's Amazing GLAAD speech

At last night's GLAAD media awards in Los Angeles Scandal star Kerry Washington received the Vanguard Award for her support as a powerful LGBT ally and brought the audience to its feet with an inspiring fiery speech; I saw it posted on YouTube this morning and now love her even more....

"We need more LGBT representation in the media. We need more LGBT characters and more LGBT storytelling. We need more diverse LGBT representation. And by that, I mean lots of different kinds of LGBT people living all different kinds of lives. And this is big — we need more employment of LGBT people in front of and behind the camera."

"There are people in this world who have the full rights of citizenship in our communities our countries and around the world, and then there are those of us, who to varying degrees, do not. We don’t have equal access to education, to health care, and some other basic liberties – like marriage, a fair voting process, fair hiring practices. Now you would think that those of us who are kept from our full rights of citizenship would ban together and fight the good fight. But history tells us that, no, often we don’t... Women, poor people, people of color, people with disabilities, immigrants, gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, trans people, intersex people, we have been pitted against each other and made to feel that there are limited seats at the table for those of us who fall into the category of other."

She went on to call out the hypocrisy of marginalized communities turning on one another throughout her speech and encouraged those groups to support one another rather than rejecting "the other other."  

"So when black people today tell me that they don't believe in gay marriage… the first thing that I say is please don't let anybody try to get you to vote against your own best interests by feeding you messages of hate. And then I say, you know people used to say stuff like that about you and your love. And if we let the government start to legislate love in our lifetime, who do you think is next?" 

"We can't say that we believe in each other’s fundamental humanity and then turn a blind eye to the reality of each others existence and the truth of each other’s hearts. We must be allies. And we must be allies in this business because to be represented is to be humanized. And as long as anyone, anywhere is being made to feel less human, our very definition of humanity is at stake and we are all vulnerable."

Wow....

Agatha Christie's Poirot... Born Again!

I grew up on Agatha Christie mysteries, those archetypal proper British whodunit's set in pre-war country estates and upscale houses; shortly after I graduated from Encyclopedia Brown and The Hardy Boys, my grandfather introduced me to the Agatha Christie mysteries and they became my favourites. 

Christie, who died in 1976 at age 85, is the world's best selling author having sold more than two billion copies in more than a hundred countries (holy crap, that's a lot).

While we've seen many relaunches of novels and book series, from Sherlock Holmes to James Bond to Gone With The Wind, the heirs of Agatha Christie never allowed anyone to touch her detective Hercule Poirot... until late last year.

The new bestseller The Monogram Mysteries, by Sophie Hannah, is the first new Hercule Poirot book since Christie's finale Curtain was published in 1976. And it was worth the wait.

Monogram begins with a grisly triple murder in 1929 London, where three corpses are found in three different rooms, each with a monogrammed cufflink in their mouth. Hannah's Poirot does all the right Christie-ish things, working with and working around the police to discover what really happened.

The book has the intricacy if maybe not the brevity of vintage Christie. On its own this is a sparkling mystery, and any non-Christie-esque voice is explained by a new narrator as Poirot's new sidekick.

Even if you haven't read earlier Poirot novels, give this one a shot... I'm already looking forward to the next one, and am going to check out other novels by Hannah...

Netflix discovery 'Every Day' ...

Sharing a Netflix discovery... Helen Hunt and Live Schreiber in Every Day, a 2010 flick I had never heard of and that should have gotten more attention than it did.

Ned (Schreiber) writes for a sleazy TV medical drama. He sits around with the other writers who make wisecracks like "sex with one's dog is the new sex with one's cat" while dreaming up crazy new plot twists, and Ned feels square and out of place.

Times are changing and Ned is finding it hard to keep up, from money issues to his teenage son coming out as gay to his raging incontinent depressive father-in-law (Brian Dennehy) moving in. He starts up an affair with a younger co-worker, fumbles the relationship with his gay son, and messes up with his wife. 

While this feels like the plot of a TV movie (and granted we watched it on our TV), it is elevated above that by superb writing and acting. 

Oscar winner Hunt is especially terrific -- from worrying about her aging body to being aware of her husband's roving eye to taking care of the father she doesn't really like to trying to be realistic and supportive of her gay teenager, this is a complex performance and she nails it.

While it is not a happy film, it is a touching one; check out Every Day... 

And what are you watching on Netflix?

TV: What We're Watching...

I spent much of this winter weekend binge watching season 3 of Netflix's House of Cards, the buzzy award-winning soapy political drama.

Netflix is the crack for binge watchers, as in addition to having full seasons of classic and cult TV shows to stream, they do things like release the full 13 episodes of a season all at once. Bastards.

In addition to Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright as the most manipulative first couple ever in House Of Cards, I have already finished the latest season of Downton Abbey, and How To Get Away With Murder is over for the season; on the upside am pretty happy that the best show on TV The Good Wife is finally back this month, and Outlander returns in April.

Here's three other shows I am watching... let me know what you are hooked on!

Looking - Season two of HBO's gay comedy drama (known as the homo Sex And The City) is still slow and not sexy enough, however it is touching and fascinating. Not sure if I love watch it or hate watch it, but I watch it.

Grantchester - This BBC series is Downton Abbey meets Murder She Wrote, with a handsome soldier turned vicar who suffers from PTSD and unrequited love as its lead... gorgeous drama, interesting mysteries and really careful handling of gay topics make this one better than expected. Plus the hot vicar has a cute puppy!

The Mindy Project - Season three of Mindy Kaling's romantic comedy far surpasses its first two years -- faster, funnier, looser, with Mindy and coworker Danny finally together, the witty culture clash of their families, a surprise pregnancy, and great cameos from the likes of Rhea Perlman and Stephen Colbert. This one should get way more attention than it does.

.... What are you watching?

Alfie's Oscar Picks...

This Sunday is the Academy Awards, biggest night in Hollywood, the gay Super Bowl, the highest rated non-football TV event of the year... where a whole bunch of movies I haven't bothered to see may win big awards. And some of them may be flicks none of us really want to see.

Best part of the night will likely be host Neil Patrick Harris, fresh off a Tony win and a supporting role in Gone Girl, who has shown to be a fast and fun host of many events before. And the live tweeting is bound to be snarky and hysterical.

Looking past the big and perceived snubs --- haven't seen Selma yet, though it was probably mis-marketed and potentially dismissed as preachy (#OscarsSoWhite), can't believe The Lego Movie didn't even get a nod for best animated feature when it was one of the best films of the year, period -- there are some great things in here. And some stuff I still need to see.

Here are major category picks... how many will be bang on?

Best Picture

Nominated: American Sniper, Birdman, Boyhood, Grand Budapest Hotel, Imitation Game, Selma, Theory Of Everything, Whiplash.

I've seen: Boyhood, Grand Budapest Hotel, Imitation Game, Theory Of Everything.

Should & Will Win: I would give it to the amazing Imitation Game or the zany Grand Budapest Hotel, am thinking the critically loved Birdman gets this one.

Best Actor

Nominated: Steve Carrell, Bradley Cooper, Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Keaton, Eddie Redmayne.

I've seen: Cumberbatch in Imitation Game, Redmayne in Theory Of Everything.

Should & Will Win: I'd give it to Redmayne for his amazing Stephen Hawking, the media seems to be all over Keaton for Birdman as his big comeback story... isn't he playing himself?

Best Actress

Nominated: Marion Cotillard, Felicity Jones, Julianne Moore, Rosamund Pike, Reese Witherspoon.

I've seen: Jones in Theory Of Everything, Pike in Gone Girl.

Should & Will Win: Neither of the two I've seen rocked me that much, so am going with the world consensus of Moore in Still Alice.


Best Supporting Actor

Nominated: Robert Duvall, Ethan Hawke, Edward Norton, Mark Ruffalo, JK Simmons.

I've seen: Ethan Hawke playing Ethan Hawke in Boyhood.

Should & Will Win: JK Simmons for Whiplash, so maybe he'll stop doing those annoying TV commercials for an insurance company...?

Best Supporting Actress

Nominated: Patricia Arquette, Laura Dern, Keira Knightley, Emma Stone, Meryl Streep.

I've seen: Arquette in Boyhood, Knightley in Imitation Game, Streep in Into The Woods.

Should & Will Win: Arquette for her graceful, honest 12 years of work in Boyhood.


Other Picks

Director - Richard Linklater for the vision behind Boyhood

Costume Design - Into The Woods

Original Song - "Everything Is Awesome" from The Lego Movie

Writing, Adapted - The Imitation Game

Writing, Original - Grand Budapest Hotel


And yes there is a bunch of stuff I haven't seen in the documentary and other categories, hopefully the better ones will come to Netflix soon...

What are your Oscar picks?

Who should replace Jon Stewart?

Earlier this week, Jon Stewart, one of my secret TV boyfriends, announced he is leaving his gig as host of The Daily Show after almost 17 years ("16 years and 5 months longer than any other job I've held...").

Damn. Stewart is smart and funny and has become an important part of our political and social conversation.

Though Stewart may call himself the flag bearer of fake news, he reported and impacted the real news, championed fairness and decency, put a spotlight on smallish books and movies, and launched the careers of Steve Carrell, Josh Gad and Stephen Colbert, among others. And he called out insanity and hypocrisy all over the place, especially Washington and Fox News.

So with Stewart thanking people for watching and for hate watching, and then moving on to new adventures later this year, who should replace him?

Assuming top tier names like Amy Poehler (who would be amazing) would not be interested, here are some other good ideas...

Aisha Tyler
The stand up comedian and co-host of The Talk is faster and edgier on her own -- she is smart and political and tremendously entertaining. And yes late night could certainly use a female host.

Craig Ferguson
The actor and comedian who recently departed his late night CBS gabfest is more outspoken and political in his stand-up than he was on that show... and while yes he will be another middle aged white guy on late night, he will be informed and outspoken. A Stewart-ish replacement.

John Oliver
After subbing for Stewart last summer, Oliver left The Daily Show for his own terrific weekly HBO series; that contract has to have an out clause, and he should come back. His temp gig showed he would be great at this.

And some bad ideas...

Larry Wilmore
Host of the new Daily Show spin-off The Nightly Show is now forging his own take on late night news comedy, and he falls somewhere between John Oliver rants and Bill Maher round tables... leave him where he is, the show is starting to cook.

Brian Williams
The suspended NBC anchor is funny and charming and apparently good at making crap up, and yep he has time on his hands, but I would rather see him do a serious mea culpa and comeback... on a show I don't watch.

Amy Shumer
While this one is more of a flier and may work, it is more likely to be a train wreck... she is fast and funny, however we have yet to see her doing anything really political or grounded.

Two other names mentioned in the media are Alec Baldwin or Rosie O'Donnell; while both have the time now, recent history shows are better guests than hosts. Don't go there.

Aside from maybe Patton Oswalt, who else should be a contender?

Watch these 3 Netflix Finds...

In addition to obsessively watching the TV series we love -- The Good Wife, Downton Abbey, The Big Bang Theory -- since subscribing last year I have come to love Netflix.

Yes I am talking about Netflix Canada, which granted blows compared to Netflix in the USA, however still has a good menu of new and undiscovered things to see.

And yes Netflix people, if you are reading this, we know, we know, you have all ten seasons of Friends, we've seen them, you can stop telling us over and over. WE KNOW! 

Friends aside (been there, done that...), here are three films we have discovered and enjoyed over the last couple of weeks... check them out, and let me know in the comments if you have other suggestions...

A Long Way Down
A 2014 black comedy with Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette, Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul, and some skinny blond girl I don't know, who meet when they are all planning suicide at the same time, and become a support group of friends... or as one of them calls it, a gang, who agree to not kill themselves for six weeks as they try to work through their troubles. Yes it's predictable, but it is sweet and touching and funny. And Brosnan is really getting handsomer with age.

Happy Christmas

A 2014 independent film shot on a VERY small budget... looks like was filmed in our basement. Anna Kendrick is an irresponsible wild child 20-something who goes to stay with her brother and ends up shaking up the life of her sister-in-law, played by Melanie Lynskey. Not much happens, however great acting and interesting filmmaking approach.

Cairo Time
This quiet 2009 Canadian film is the tale of a brief, unexpected romance between a Canadian magazine editor and her Egyptian host, while she waits for her delayed husband. The setting is gorgeous, and Patricia Clarkson is terrific in the leading role. They walk and talk as she falls in love with the city and her host, knowing she will soon leave both. Quiet and lovely.

What are you watching?