I think--I hope--that if there's one thing you can deduce about me as a person from reading these weekly "sermons" is how important film and music are in my life. I get my love and appreciation of both primarily from my late father. Growing up, he exposed me to all sorts of different music. He did the same with movies. I've loved film since he took me to see Star Wars (or as it's known today, Episode IV: A New Hope) in 1977. I was three years old and you can only imagine what an impact that film had on a kid that age. It's fascinating to me that it still has that effect on kids nearly 50 years later.
Throughout
my youth, he would take me to movies when Heather would have a
sleepover. If there was something that everybody wanted to see, we would all go as a family. When we finally got a VCR, he would pick up tapes of some of
his favourite movies of his youth and introduce those to me as well.
As I've said in past rants, my favourite movie of all time is a tie
between Dr. Strangelove and Casablanca--both of which are older than me, both of which he showed me when I was in college.
When
DVDs were introduced, we were both quite taken with the
format--particularly with all the behind-the-scenes "bonus features."
We would actually exchange films and later compare notes. "What did you
think of the commentary on Casablanca?" "I loved Ebert's
commentary, but I thought Rudy Behlmer's was kind of dry. In fact, I
didn't even finish listening to it. It was kind of disappointing,
because he seemed so animated in the documentary features." What can I
say? Yes, I'm a dork. So was Dad, but he was a lot cooler about it
than I am.
If
I feel compelled to buy a blu-ray disc of a movie that I already have
in DVD, by and large, I'll give away the DVD to a good home. There are a
few exceptions--if the blu-ray has fewer bonus features than the DVD
(yes, I'm looking at you, Pretty in Pink! What the hell?), or if the soundtrack might be different (such as Love Actually).
But I've also noticed that I tend to hold on to certain titles just
because they were among my favourites growing up. In all of these
cases, I even still have them on VHS because, being the sentimentalist I
am, seeing those tapes remind me of certain times in my life and how
those films played into it. In some cases, those tapes were given to me
as gifts--in one particular case a gesture that moved me almost to
tears.
This
past week, for better or worse, I bought all of the James Bond movies
in blu-ray--I justified it by convincing myself that it was actually a
bargain because they were second-hand and, therefore, cheaper. I have a
lot of fond memories of the series, mostly because it was something I
shared with Dad. We saw quite a few of those films together in theaters
when they were first issued. Back in the day, ABC used to air them in
prime time and we had taped many of them from those broadcasts (we even
managed to edit out the commercials). In the mid-1990s, after Pierce
Brosnan took over the role, there was a sudden resurgence in popularity
for the franchise. During that time I managed to acquire widescreen
VHS copies of all of the films--at least the ones that had been done up
to that time. I still have those tapes--in the case of the Connery
films, once again, gift... unexpected... moved... near tears. In 2006,
when Daniel Craig started playing Bond, the films were re-issued again
in four box sets, each containing five movies, digitally remastered in
2-disc special editions. In a review I wrote for a local publication at
the time, I said that it was worth it just to hear Auric Goldfinger
say, "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!" in Dolby DTS 5.1 stereo
surround sound.
When No Time To Die
was released in 2021 (a year and a half late--thanks, Covid!), it was
kind of hard to watch because it was the first Bond film that I couldn't
talk to Dad about. In fact, that's the one film in the series I've
watched the least--although to be fair, it's not as old and does have a
running time of 2 hours and 43 minutes. And when I think of Bond, I
tend to think of my Dad because we spent so much time together watching
those movies. In fact, after he died, it took me awhile to be able to
bring myself to watch one again.
I
suspect that on a subconscious level, I bought that blu-ray set this
week because Wednesday was the anniversary of his passing. After I
realized that fact, I determined that the best way to remember him this
week was to build some Lego insects (a long story--hopefully I'll have
pictures up on Facebook soon) and watch what he once told me was his
favourite 007 thriller. I even indulged in a glass of really good
Scotch.
Dad
often told a story of going to see this film as a teenager. He and a
friend of his stayed in the theater, hiding behind their seats, staying
for a couple more showings. Granted, they were also horny teenage boys
and Dad admits they primarily watched it repeatedly for the belly
dancing scene in the gypsy camp.
Originally
released in 1963, this was the second film in the franchise starring
Sir Sean Connery as the world's least secret secret agent. It was also
the first film where everything that we love about Bond films started to
come together. It was the first to have a pre-credit sequence, the
first to feature Desmond Llewelyn as MI6's quartermaster, Major
Boothroyd, also known as "Q" (who would continue to play the role for
the next 36 years until his death in 1999), and the first to feature Q's
"gadgets," which would often save 007's life (I would love to have that
briefcase). It was also the first to feature a score by composer John
Barry, who went on to write the scores for 10 more Bond films--more than
any other composer. I've often said that those scores frequently served
as another character in those films, especially during the 1960s.
Written
by Richard Maibaum and Johanna Harwood and based on the novel by Ian
Fleming, the film stars Robert Shaw, Daniela Bianchi, Lotte Lenya, Pedro
Armendáriz (in what would be his last film), and Walter Gotell (who
would later go on to frequently play General Gogol during the Roger
Moore era). Produced by the team of Harry Saltzman and Albert R.
"Cubby" Broccoli and directed by Terence Young, this week, I highly
recommend From Russia With Love.
Until
next week, stay safe, be good to your neighbours, and please remember
that James Bond will return.
Yours in peace, love, and rock and roll!
The Reverend Will the Thrill
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