Paul Scheer joins the Matts to talk about On Her Majesty’s Secret Service! Also, he went to a James Bond premiere.
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James Bonding #012: ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE with Paul Scheer
Episode 012:
James Bonding
On Her Majesty's Secret…
On Her Majesty's Secret…
Hmmm. I like the show quite a bit, but this was the first episode I didn’t like. For a great portion of it, it was literally listening to The Matts watch a DVD. Mira even cut off the hilarious Paul Scheer from making jokes and comments so they could get back to the DVD. The first episodes were hilarious free conversations with occasional weekly bits, but this episode was like a bad commentary track, “…and then this happened…and then this happened…”. I hope there’s a course correction and they return to form…
Just throwing it out there but, if you wanted a different take on Blofeld. I think Mark Strong would make an amazing Ernst Stavro Blofeld opposite Daniel Craig.
http://www.jaguar.co.uk/good-to-be-bad.html
Hmmm…good podcast, but you guys should rewatch the movie a little more carefully. Blofeld’s plot was to sterilize the entire earth’s agricultural crops, not releasing Foot-in-Mouth Disease (he states that he’s already done that a year earlier as a test for his real plot). Still not a “I’m going to destroy the world” plan, but then again, how plausible are those, really? I always preferred more realistic plots. Also, his plot is completely in keeping with SPECTRE’s (as written) mantra.
Also, Telly Savalas smoked that way in real life, partially because of his mangled hands. They’re clearly visible a couple of times in OHMSS – watch when he’s discussing his plot, he holds up his hands to camera and you can see his afflicted hand.
FYI – when Pierce Brosnan is impersonating Dr. Orloff the first time he meets Christmas Jones, he puts on a German accent.
Great show! And yes, chicken allergies exist because sadly I’m allergic to chicken.
Gentleman please keep up the great work. It’s great that this show has become a thing and I’ve now started checking out Superego. When both Matt’s start talking in extremely foppish British it always gets me.
And I think Sharlto Copley could crush it as Blofeld. That guy has knocked it out of the park in every movie I’ve seen him in (District 9, The A-Team, Elysium–great villain). I think he’s the right mix of great talent and sort of unknownness/not a huge name.
Also, podcast crossover, the Matts should appear on a HDTGM. Pretty sure Mira has done it before.
Fun podcast. Just watched OHMSS for the first time in several decades. Great action scenes, and I think Lazenby was better than you give him credit for.
One of the bizarre aspects to the story is that a rich guy can just buy a mountain in the Alps and control its airspace as if he were a government. But, the villains in Bond movies have always had seemingly limitless resources.
Oh — John Barry’s music for the sad ending reminds me of the music he did for the sadly sweet ending of the excellent 1976 movie “Robin and Marian” — which, of course, starred Sean Connery.
Listening 2 u guyz ez podcast makes me appreciate the Bond movies even more also makes me wanna re-watch the ones I’ve seen and watch the ones I haven’t and I thank u 4 that
Have you heard On Her Majesty’s Secret Service by the Propellerheads? They also made the coolest Spy song ever, Spybreak! (where Neo and Trinity kill all the agents in the first Matrix).
How in the world can you get a great deal of the obscure James Bond songs? I guess you carefully collected them.
Pierce from Goldeneye IS Bond then he became a parody, Daniel Craig is The Bourne Identity of Bonds. Timothy Dalton is the bad boy of the double oh’s and Roger Moore is the fun loving James Bond. Sean Connery is the Odin of the Bond movies
Blofeld doesn’t have to be bald. Besides the obvious Diamonds Are Forever, you also see the back of his head in From Russia With Love and Thunderball and he has hair in both of those also.
Tom Wilkinson for Blofeld.
1995-2004- The motherfucking Matrix!!!!
Pierce Brosnan’s my favorite James Bond I love all the double oh video games he’s in and hello he was in Mrs Doubtfire!
An audio book of ONMSS is available from Blackstone Audio as read by Simon Vance. Blackstone took over the US side of AudioGo.
http://www.downpour.com/on-her-majesty-s-secret-service-1
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Re: CXRengel on December 7, 2013 at 1:42 pm said:
The (now defunct) audio service “AudioGO” released an audiobook version of “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” – read by David Tennant.
OHMSS theme is one of the best, and the remix by the Propellerheads is fantastic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN8GcRGNWe4
Great episode giving OHMSS the right amount of respect. Lauded but not to the point of ‘best bond ever’.
Just thought I’d like Soderbergh’s love letter to OHMSS. A really good read.
http://extension765.com/sdr/2-most-irrelevant-no-1
Also, for the new Blofield while I think they should continue with the Craig era of relatively unknown euro actors (Mikkelsen, Almeric, Bardem), I cannot think of anyone else in that role but Frank Langella.
Lazenby should have been Bond throughout the 70’s and Dalton should’ve carried the 80’s. I agree about Craig’s one-note performance. For me he channels a very bored Connery from YOLT.
It has taken me too many episodes to realise that these dudes do not like Bond movies at all. What they like is feeling superior at attacking the easy targets.
Of course these older movies embody the culture of the day and with our current understanding of the culture, they are trite and easy to attack. It’s all too simple to look at the last century and disassemble what is wrong compared to our current cultural norms. It’s like dissing on the slavery of the 19th century or the racism of the 20th century is easy with our current understanding. What we fail to do is understand why these things occurred.
The more challenging questions are why these movies last and endure despite the changes in our cultural norms. These dudes will never address that question…ever! They say things like “this movie is ‘strangely watchable'” without adressing the WHY is is still watchable. I think they are afraid to address such a question.
They satisfy themselves with the easy criticism. They never challenge themselves with the more difficult questions. They are, and remain, children of the lazy generation
OMG. “He’s dressed like a 70’s anime character in that scene. Like Golgo 13 or Lupin or something”. lol – this podcast does something every time I listen to it where I’m like, “Oh yeah, I am the target demographic for this thing FOR SURE” 🙂
Another great episode, you guys! With an excellent host – I love anyone from How Did This Get Made? I hope Paul returns the favor, and invites you guys over for that podcast… perhaps for that Wild Geese movie you mentioned.
Being unfamiliar with this one, I headed to Youtube to see what videos and trailers I could find to get a sense for everything. Y’know what might be fun segment, like talking about the theme songs for each movie? Taking a look at the trailer, because this one – and most of the old ones, I imagine – are spectacularly weird.
The films as a whole are interesting to look at just to see the contrast between different eras of the 20th century, and trailers reflect that too. Seriously, it’s weird. It just starts with tons of explosions. It has a narrator desperate to sell you on a different type of Bond movie. It calls women, “dolls”. I know I’m definitely not going to pass up checking out trailers for all these in the future.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVP2n_GcdlQ
Oh, and perhaps – if you guys are gamers – you might want to hunt down a copy of “No One Lives Forever” sometime… though it hasn’t been re-released ever because the rights to the game are lost. The game’s protagonist, Kate Archer, is definitely of the same mold – very strong, very capable, very stylish (the game is an homage specifically to the 60’s era Bond). It’s the closest any video game will likely get to “Mrs. James Bond”.
Seriously, wonderful episode! I definitely am going to check this out (as well as “Everything or Nothing” and “Captains” on Netflix… nice that they co-opted the name of the EA Bond game for the documentary, btw), but also incredibly long and it sounds like I’m going to have to scrub through large parts of it out of boredom. There’s a ton of great stuff in this episode – really, excellent ep!
The (now defunct) audio service “AudioGO” released an audiobook version of “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” – read by David Tennant.
This movie is so good.
And I appreciated the hosts’ mention of the music being used more often than people realize, because just a couple of weeks ago I was channel surfing and on the Big Ten Network the theme song for one of their shows (“BTN Live,” I think?) uses those first four descending notes from right after the opening flourish, before going into some different pep band-ish music. I was like, “huh-WAH?”
An amazing Bonding, gentlemen.
Technically, it should’ve been listed as “How Did This Get Bonded?”
Having Paul Scheer as the guest was nothing short of brilliant. He brought his A-game with antidotes, facts and just a great sense of awesomeness to the episode.
And on the Blofeld choice…. Christoph Waltz
-R
Does this open the door for Gourley to appear on How Did This Get Made? Because that would make me insanely happy!
The reason Blofeld did not recognize Bond? He was totally fooled by the Japanese makeover in YOLT. 😉
The “this never happened to the other guy” comment is clearly about the girl running away, I’m not sure how all 3 of these guys did not pick up on that. I don’t know, I kind of find it funny but I guess I just like breaking-the-4th-wall jokes.
The AVTAK love has got to be a generational thing- I’m probably about 8-10 years younger than these guys and I’ve never really heard anyone I know talk about this movie.
Cannot wait to listen to this episode…
Ok, you guys are wrong wrong wrong
A View to A Kill sucked ass then, and sucks ass now.
James Bond calls Judy Dench’s “M” Marm as in School Marm. it’s a Feminine term of respect like Sir or Madame. it is Basically a way of saying Ma’am.
.
James Bonding has, almost immediately, become one of my absolute fav podcasts….evidenced by my giddyness at seeing a new episode pop up this morning. MMMMM lazenby.
Speaking of which, Lazenby is AWESOME on the great James Bond documentary on netflix that i found out about thanks to this podcast. He’s soooo frank and open. And the story he tells about the Broccoli’s sending a woman to his room is surreal.
Thanks Matt^2!!!!
Peace & Bring back SPECTRE in 2015!
Fury….Three Toes of Fury
Great episode for a great installment of the Bond series. I think Lazenby delivers a better performance than you give him credit for, and (slightly off topic) I think Craig’s bond is far more one-dimensional than you praise him for, though Casino Royale and Skyfall are both excellent!
I loathe all the references to past Bonds, from the quip in the pre-credit sequence to the clips in the opening credits to the scrapbook of mementos he apparently keeps in his desk. If that wasn’t bad enough they play little clips of the songs when he looks at each one! Horrible. I understand they were worried about transitioning away from Connery, but c’mon!
Here’s something I wanted to get other folks’ take on – when exactly do we think Blofeld and Bunt know that he is an impostor? From the get go, or not until he slips up about the family mausoleum? The reason this bugs me is because of Bunt’s “not ground – ice” line. The whole way from the train station and through most of the helicopter ride she is chatting him up relatively politely like they’re buying his cover, but then she delivers that line in a decidedly menacing way – like she already knows that he’s Bond. I’m most certainly over thinking this, but isn’t that what these podcasts are for? I hope so, otherwise I’ve been doing it all wrong.
Also, and this may just be because I’ve been watching Blacklist, but I’m gonna come way out of left field and say James Spader for the new Blofeld – I think he could strike a great balance of smarmy, cocky, ruthless, intelligent, and insane. Perhaps not thuggish enough, but then again neither is Phillip Seymour Hoffman.
There’s actually a reason for all the coffee gadgets in the Bond films. If you listen to the DVD commentary for the Michael Caine film “The Ipcress Files”, a film produced by Harry Saltzman, the director talks about why Caine is making such elaborate coffee in 1965. It turns out it was all product placement for one of, if I recall correctly, Saltzman’s business partners. There’s also some interesting commentary on Saltzman or Broccoli if I am remembering it right.
Such a great movie. My favorite Bond Girl, one of my favorite themes, and upsets the status quo throughout. They took a lot of risks on this one, I only wish they kept taking those risks.
I’d like to see Sam Elliott as Blofeld.
Just finished this movie just in time to see this podcast come out! Can’t wait to have a listen. It’s perhaps a very strong Bond movie in terms of action and suspense, but in the one liner department, not really all that great. By far one of the greatest Bond chases with the Rally race and saddest moments at the end. A top rewatch for myself now after getting it on Blu-Ray as well as the rest of the Bond films
Oh, and Patsy from AbFab is “The English Girl” Joanna Lumley
Great movie, great podcast. If you like Bond music, listen to Propellerheads “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”
Love in the credits all the girls except Ruby are credited as “The Jamaican Girl” “The Israeli Girl” “The Irish Girl” etc.
I’m only 1/5 of the way in, and already I am outraged — OUTRAGED! — by the shots taken at George Lazenby. This is one of those podcasts where I’m dying because I can’t talk sense into the participants while I’m listening. You don’t like the Lazenby gun barrel sequence? WTF? Arghhh!
I was also thinking of Patrick Stewart for Blofeld. Jeff Rawle would be an interesting choice (and a Drop the Dead Donkey reunion with Craig).
This is one of my top 5 Bonds and I completely agree about the theme song being awesome.
I hope Blofeld is in the next film and while Cranston would be good, I’d rather see maybe Patrick Stewart or someone British. If they wanted to really go crazy Tilda Swinton as Blofeld or just her as the next villain period because she’s amazing.
I really liked this one it’s one of my favorite ones it’s a big risk and didn’t necessarily pull it off but I like that they tried.
I can’t wait for Diamonds are forever as bad as that is I really like it, it’s like a Roger Moore movie with Connery instead.
I LOVE THIS MOVIE. The Song, the Gunbarrel, the Girl, the Blofeld. Telly Savalas is easily my favorite Blofeld. He is so thuggish and menancing while still seeming like a criminal mastermind. (BONUS, he was what Bruce Timm wanted Lex Luthor to be in Superman:The Animated Series and in my opinion he met that goal 100%.) And I adore Tracey Bond. And when the episode started with OHMSS’s theme I thought for a second I was listening to Superego (SEASON 3, Profiles in self obsession.) I know you guys said you didn’t like his gunbarrel, I don’t know why but I really like dropping to one knee to shoot during the gunbarrel…it felt similar to Connery getting low and wobbling with just a little something extra. I feel bad for George Lazenby since I think he could have grown into the role if he came back…and as briefly mentioned in the episode I think he is GREAT at the action. But seriously so many what ifs about this, what if he had stayed for the franchise, what if Connery never left…if only we could know.
It’s interesting that people sometimes think George and Timothy only did a small number of films because they weren’t successful, but George left because he didn’t want to be typecast and Timothy got sick of waiting around for the lawsuit to be settled. The Broccoli’s couldn’t have been less disappointed that they didn’t stay on for more films.
It certainly seems like, for whatever reason, they had George re-dub almost his entire dialogue, and it contributes a certain amount to limiting his performance.
“Ooh, I wonder if they’ll buy this Australian guy as being the same character as the Scottish one.”
“Well, let’s put him in a kilt at some point.”
“Why? He never wore a kilt before.”
“Sure, but he was being played by a Scottish guy then. He didn’t need any help appearing more Scottish.”
BTW: The thing that “never happened to the other guy” was the girl running off, not the getting jumped.
the triumphant return of James Bonding cant wait to listen!!!!!!!!!!
A crazy good Bond movie with the most mind-blowing ending, despite its lackluster Bond. Looking forward to this… unless you guys hate it.