Van and Alan return for another look at Bond’s mission to Japan in You Only Live Twice. How will they score this conflicted movie? Is Blofeld an iconic villain or a Belgian administrator? Is Littel Nellie a cool Bond vehicle of an annoying buzzing fly? Click HERE to find out the answers and much more.
Alan was honored to be asked back to the James Bond A-Z podcast, where he joined fellow guest Mike Reyes from CinemaBlend to discuss our favorite Bond movie, ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE. We go in depth to tell the story of the movie, its stars, production, sounds, and enduring legacy. CLICK HERE to listen to the discussion.
We have now completed the Lexicon update notes for Anthony Horowitz’s latest Bond continuation novel, the excellent WITH A MIND TO KILL. It’s a taut, suspenseful thriller that follows on from the events of Ian Fleming‘s The Man With The Golden Gun and provides some great insights into what makes James Bond the man he is. It’s also packed with returning Bond characters as well as introducing us to some new people and places. It all adds up to 57 NEW ENTRIES and 8 EXPANDED ENTRIES for the Lexicon Updates section of the website.
This month Jarrod and Alan broaden their Bond-related listening as they tackle one of the best spy music compilations, Come Spy With Us: The Secret Agent Songbook. While we may be listening to music from, and chatting about, other super spy franchises o the 1960s, there is still a lot of Bond and Fleming-related content. So tune in and find out just how much Jarrod knows about Danger Man and Alan’s sudden revelation about the lyrics to The Silencer.
Over on the On Her Majesty’s Secret Podcast network new Rogue Agent, Alan, got to lead the show for the first time and decided that the crew should take yet another look at all the Bond movies. But this time just by watching the various trailers used to promote the movie. In each of the trailers episodes, we will watch the trailer, discuss any thoughts and notes it provoked, and then decide if it would have made us interested enough to actually go see the movie. Kicking things off we discussed the trailers for Doctor No, From Russia With Love, and Goldfinger. You can find out what we all thought of them, and if 007 really does spell Bond, by clicking HERE.
Jarrod mixes things up as his pick for the latest episode of the Bond Music: Six of the Best podcast only has three tracks – and they are all the same tune. How will Alan react to having to listen to three different versions of the James Bond Theme, and what movies do the boys think would match these interpretations. You can find out HERE.
Gill recently made her solo podcast debut as part of the Junkfood Cinema‘s “Junk Bond” series when she spent time chatting to host Brian Salisbury about her favorite Bond movie, Goldeneye; the female perspective on the Bond Girls; and just where did Bond eat when he was in Austin, TX. The episode is available as a special Patreon bonus right HERE.
We were lucky enough to spend a couple of days in London recently where we enjoyed seeing a screening of The Living Daylights at the Prince Charles Cinema. Afterward, we enjoyed the company of Tom from the James Bond A-Z podcast, Gosse and Jorrit from the James Bond Netherlands website, Scott from the SpyHards podcast, and co-author of Some Kind of Hero, Ajay Chowdhury who also took us all on an impromptu walking tour of Fleming and Bond sites around the west-end of London. A memorable evening all around.
We just got back from a great weekend at the Ian Fleming Foundation workshops. While this particular work weekend also included some fun activities to mark the Foundation’s 30th Anniversary, most of the focus was on the continuing restoration of the Goldfinger jet fuselage, in particular continuing to remove damaged parts, and clean it up, and prep it for a new coat of paint. There’s still a lot of work to do and a long way to go, but it’s looking a lot better than when it was pulled out of the junk yard where it was disappearing under a jungle of weeds.
One fun fact that has emerged from the continuing research about the airframe’s history is that as well as being used in the movie as Goldfinger’s personal jet, this particular aircraft was once being considered by Elvis Presley as his personal jet and he took a test-flight in it (but decided on another make), and it also was used by Muhammad Ali for part of the journey on the way to his iconic boxing match in Manila. – I wonder what else we will find out as the research continues.
Alan wears his best eyepatch to hide some nuclear bombs while feeding Van to the sharks in the latest episode of the On Her Majesty Secret Podcast series Ranking the Bonds. Yes–it’s 1965’s THUNDERBALL! How do the lads rank the movie in terms of Villains, Henchmen, Bond Girls, Gadgets, and many more categories? Tune in and find out!
The James Bond Lexicon 