*Footnote #1 = Diamonds Are Forever is NOT a good movie. Sean Connery came back to make it for eleventy-billion dollars after George Lazenby bombed in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and the producers begged. And as professional that Connery is, you still can pretty much hear him saying, “I say, old shoe, where’s my f---ing per diem?” in virtually every scene.
One sees in Diamonds the beginning gleams of where the Bond franchise went to Crapland, in toto, once Roger Moore took over: Connery is campy and dandified (the pink shirt he’s sporting when he gets his ass kicked by two Mod gymnasts, named Bambi & Thumper, in Vegas - hello?); the villains & sidekicks getting more homosexual, with more screen time, quirks, and quips (Mr. Wint & Mr. Kidd, with Kidd even getting/enjoying an inadvertent reach-around from Bond, moments before Bond tosses him over the railing of a cruise ship with a bundle of dynamite); the methods employed to kill Bond getting more preposterously Rube Goldbergian (attempted cremation in a coffin, sealed into a utility pipe buried in the desert, attacked by a robotic utility-pipe welder while sealed into said utility pipe, blah di blah).
But I’ll always remember the United Artists logo and bombastic, scary music which opened that movie - which we watched over and over again. Because of the novelty of the new technology. Because I loved it. And because it was Our First Time.
**Footnote#2 = And YES, with the exception of Rosemary's Baby, I have NOT seen these other movies.
***Footnote #3 = No, seriously, I have NEVER seen The Evil Dead. Really. (exasperated sigh) -Tell me about it.
(This entry originally appeared in slightly modified form in Tiffany Leigh's blog Soundtrack To The Motion Picture).
Article comments
1 - Temple Stark
I've already put Netflix into my personal list of companies to hate (AOL, and Qwest are the other two, with Bank of America and up-and-comer, always at the edge). Why - because my girlfriend signed up, didn't like, stopped the billing during the trial period - and just in the last two weeks they've somehow xharged her $11 each time for three films she never asked for AND never received.
2 - Aaman
Hmm - did you try calling them up? (1-888-638-3549)
I've never had problems - even with films we lost. Love the service - couldn't do without it
3 - uao
I've not had trouble with them either, and I no longer run up late fees like I did when I was too lazy to bother walking to the store to return something (which is how they made their money until some chains stopped charging late fees).
It's been my experience that cancelling anything is a pain in the butt. But I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
4 - Aaman
The business press is losing their love for the company, though - reasons range from their arrogance about competition to taxes
5 - Chris Beaumont
A word of warning regarding TV shows. Don't put the disks right next to each other in the queue, space hem out a bit, or you may end up getting the disks out of order.
6 - Aaman
As I discovered when I got Desperate Housewives 2 way before 1:)
7 - Temple A. Stark
This post was chosen by the section editor as a BC pick of the week. Go HERE (link) to find out why.
And thank you
- Temple
8 - Tiffany Leigh
Thanks to all who responded.
In my Netflix's infancy I have seen "Rosemary's Baby," "The Warriors," and plotted a speed course to Queue Position #1 with the Marx Brothers' "A Night At the Opera."
It's fantastic to hear some perspectives and chrome on Netflix. Lucky me to be standing on the shoulders of Those Which Came Before. Based on my tastes and viewing frequency, I hope that the service will be a good fit.
I was also sick of paying out late fees for such classics as The General's Daughter or Cops and Robbersons - why is it *always* the awful movies that end up costing you more?
Are there other competitors jockeying for the Netflix market? I heard that Blockbuster was doing something; any anecdotal evidence that they are better, worse, or indifferent?
9 - Tiffany Leigh
What's also lost in all this is that "Diamonds Are Forever" is STILL a crappy movie.
10 - Aaman
Don't bother with Blockbuster or the other competitors - stick with Netflix
Diamonds are Forever is not perfect, but who can resist a Bond film, even the bad ones?
11 - Tiffany Leigh
Re: "Resisting the bad Bonds"
You know, I *used* to agree with "even bad is good," until Roger Moore circa Moonraker.
And for the record, I am very, very wary of Messengers Daniel "Layer Cake" Craig and Martin "Both Zorro Movies" Campbell re-re-re-inventing the Bond franchise.
12 - Aaman
If you like Bond, I have a related question in my new Quiz
13 - Phillip Winn
On TV series in Netflix: The only chance of getting discs out of order is if you're talking about multiple *seasons* of the same show. For multiple discs within the same season, Netflix automatically tracks those, and won't ship disc 2 until disc 1 has shipped and so on.
Very nice, and a relatively recent new feature.
I've been a member of Netflix since 1999, before they switched to the current all-you-can-watch pricing model!
14 - KYS
I also just signed up for netflix; one movie at a time. The third dvd I received came in a damaged envelope and I could not use it for return. They made an exception and sent me my next movie so I could return them both in the same sleeve. So, I'm pretty happy with the service.
My first movie: 3-Iron. Loved it!