The James Bond novels—and the films they inspired—are not exactly known for their realism, but creator Ian Fleming often took inspiration from real life. Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Bond’s archnemesis, shares a surname with famous cricket commentator Henry Blofeld, who attended Eton with Fleming. Even the infamous Pussy Galore was based on a real-life acquaintance, while…
It’s arguably the greatest introduction by a movie character. “The name’s Bond. James Bond” was first uttered by Sean Connery in Dr. No. There’s something effortlessly cool about Connery’s casual delivery. But would even Connery be able to convince audiences he was a suave ladies man if he tried the same line with the name…
The helicopter attack in From Russia With Love is often unfairly dismissed as a rip-off of the celebrated crop-duster chase in Alfred Hitchcock’s North By Northwest. While the continual attempts made by the low-flying helicopter to clip James Bond (Sean Connery) mirrors the attacks of the dive-bombing bi-plane on Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) in Hitchcock’s…
After 24 films, the James Bond franchise knows how to devise exciting new ways to introduce a new actor in the leading role. While the James Bond code-name theory has been debunked, each actor still brings their own unique take on the role. You could be forgiven for thinking that the self-deprecating humor, and liberal…
The Hero’s Journey is the backbone of most myth-based stories in Hollywood. Mythic storylines, according to Chris Vogler, author of The Writer’s Journey, are the most sought-after screenplays in Hollywood. Vogler wrote a memo about this journey that went viral at Disney and revolutionized how the Mouse House made movies. But where did Vogler get his ideas…
The official story behind Indiana Jones’s first big-screen adventure, Raiders of the Lost Ark, has mythic status. George Lucas famously recounted his idea for an intrepid archaeologist-adventurer to Steven Spielberg on a Hawaiian beach in 1977. Spielberg, who always wanted to make a globe-trotting adventure in the tradition of James Bond, accepted the offer to…
Court jesters, carnival sideshow freaks, circus clowns — the creepy, malevolent, clown has an uncomfortable history associated with entertainment and cruelty. Stephen King’s Pennywise recently terrorized in big-screen adaptations IT and IT Part 2, but, nonetheless, the most famous creepy clown is the Joker, Batman’s arch-nemesis, and Gotham’s gleeful Clown Prince of Crime. The Joker’s…
Would you like to see genius at work? Would you like to see how one of cinema’s greatest heroes emerged from a blank sheet of paper? Very rarely do we get a glimpse behind closed doors at a real, unedited creative discussion during pre-production. It’s so rare, that the only one I can think of…
Superhero movies are fun, but there are rarely any high stakes for the characters. Avengers: Endgame changed that. After watching the 20-plus film series, a marvel-ous interconnected cinematic universe rich with some of Marvel Comics’ biggest marquee superheroes brought to life, we all became pretty attached to the likes of Captain America, Black Widow, Spider-Man, Gamorra,…
The Mandalorian is the legacy of one of Star Wars’ most popular characters: bounty hunter Boba Fett. While the bounty hunter only ever had a few lines in the saga, and met a rather idiotic death, he has had more influence on Star Wars than most realize. Shades of Fett’s bounty hunter exist in characters–good and…