Favorite soundtracks №9. James Bond

As for me, I always thought that every Bond movie has its soundtrack named by the title of the film. I was mistaken. Not only there`re two movies that doesn`t have an intro song, but three others have nothing to do with the title! What happend to well-known British traditionality? By the way even unofficial "Never say never again" (1983) has a song "Never say never again"!

(I thought I`d have to look for videos of every of the sountracks, but this video saved my life)

There`s not the only non-traditional thing. Some songs such as "Live and let die" or "Living daylights" are not like that classical kind of James Bond song like "Goldfinger" or "GoldenEye" or "Diamonds are forever" made in jazz style. In my opinion even though such intro would sound boring, but viewer will still feel that he watches James Bond, not another action movie. Actually, that`s what they tried to do with Adele. Unfortunatelly it hasn`t saved the movie.

I love Wiki for such kind of tables, where you can see brief information about all of the movies. I higlined my favotite soundtracks are highlined purple. 

Film	Year	Score composer	Title song	Composed by	Performed by
Dr. No (soundtrack)	1962	Monty Norman	"James Bond Theme"	Monty Norman	John Barry & Orchestra;Monty Norman
			"Kingston Calypso"		Byron Lee and the Dragonaires
From Russia with Love (soundtrack)	1963	John Barry	"Opening Titles: James Bond Is Back/From Russia with Love/James Bond Theme"	John Barry Lionel Bart Monty Norman	John Barry (title sequence) Matt Monro (vocal version heard in film proper and during closing credits)
Goldfinger (soundtrack)	1964		"Goldfinger"	Leslie Bricusse Anthony Newley John Barry	Shirley Bassey
Thunderball (soundtrack)	1965		"Thunderball"	John Barry Don Black	Tom Jones
You Only Live Twice (soundtrack)	1967		"You Only Live Twice"	Leslie Bricusse John Barry	Nancy Sinatra (charted single is produced byLee Hazlewood and arranged by Billy Strange and in marked contrast to soundtrack version)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (soundtrack)	1969		"On Her Majesty's Secret Service"	John Barry Hal David	The John Barry Orchestra
			"We Have All the Time in the World" (secondary theme)		Louis Armstrong
Diamonds Are Forever (soundtrack)	1971		"Diamonds Are Forever"	John Barry Don Black	Shirley Bassey
Live and Let Die (soundtrack)	1973	George Martin	"Live and Let Die"	Paul McCartney Linda McCartney	Paul McCartney & Wings
The Man with the Golden Gun (soundtrack)	1974	John Barry	"The Man with the Golden Gun"	John Barry Don Black	Lulu
The Spy Who Loved Me (soundtrack)	1977	Marvin Hamlisch	"Nobody Does It Better"	Marvin Hamlisch Carole Bayer Sager	Carly Simon
Moonraker (soundtrack)	1979	John Barry	"Moonraker"	John Barry Hal David	Shirley Bassey
For Your Eyes Only (soundtrack)	1981	Bill Conti	"For Your Eyes Only"	Bill Conti Michael Leeson	Sheena Easton
Octopussy (soundtrack)	1983	John Barry	"All Time High"	John Barry Tim Rice Stephen Short	Rita Coolidge
A View to a Kill (soundtrack)	1985		"A View to a Kill"	John Barry Duran Duran	Duran Duran
The Living Daylights (soundtrack)	1987		"The Living Daylights"	John Barry Pål Waaktaar	A-ha
Licence to Kill (soundtrack)	1989	Michael Kamen	"Licence to Kill"	Narada Michael Walden Jeffrey Cohen Walter Afanasieff	Gladys Knight
GoldenEye (soundtrack)	1995	Éric Serra	"GoldenEye"	Bono The Edge	Tina Turner
Tomorrow Never Dies (soundtrack)	1997	David Arnold	"Tomorrow Never Dies"	Sheryl Crow Mitchell Froom	Sheryl Crow
The World Is Not Enough (soundtrack)	1999		"The World Is Not Enough"	David Arnold Don Black	Garbage
Die Another Day (soundtrack)	2002		"Die Another Day"	Madonna Mirwais Ahmadzaï	Madonna
Casino Royale (soundtrack)	2006		"You Know My Name"	David Arnold Chris Cornell	Chris Cornell
Quantum of Solace (soundtrack)	2008		"Another Way to Die"	Jack White	Jack White Alicia Keys
Skyfall (soundtrack)	2012	Thomas Newman	"Skyfall"	Adele Paul Epworth	Adele
Spectre (soundtrack)	2015		"Writing's on the Wall"	Sam Smith Jimmy Napes	Sam Smith

Speaking about James Bond itself I consider it huge mass entertaining work such as Harry Potter, Star Trek, Sherlock Holmes. Many people were "grown" on the show, that`s why they associate it with their childhood, but not me. I... ha... I was "grown" on the Charmed:) Please, don`t think bad of me, I live in Russia!

UPD One guy seriously wanted to persuade me that before Sam Smith there was no male performed soundtracks for James Bond. Seriously? For your consideration, see the male performed highlighted blue - there are at least 8 of them by now!

Once again. THERE IS NO such a tradition as only women to perform OST for James Bond.

Let me think about... "Elementary"

Usually rather popular things are thought to have no hidden meaning or rather good things are not popular enough.  I`m going to take sometimes some of them for a discussion.

The Fifteenth - "Sherlockomania". Monologue on the "Elementary" series.

There was a premiere of "Elementary" on the First channel. But I`ve already watched it a week before it. And didn`t like it. Why?

Well, as you can see, Sherlock Holmes is a worldwide trend nowdays. It`s even getting ridiculous and annoying... like that long-skirted tning of this summer in Russia and Pussy Riot, if you know what I mean. There`s a growing desire in me to shout "Leave Sherlock along!!! with Moffat!":))) But nobody would listen... So, there are:
- Ritchie`s "Sherlock Holmes",
- then "Elementary",
- russians are already screening a "new" old-fashioned set of adventures in Saint Petesburg (prepare to the show in 2012)
- and (attention!) - in 2012 there`s going to be series called "Freud`s Method" ("Метод Фрейда") which is, as I see, almost a copy of the "Sherlock" series! The image with a coat and a scarf, camera focusing on noticed clues (including parts of bodies), the behavior, even the music resembles "Welcome to London" a bit! Steven, you got to do something with it!


That`s what I`ve said to myself after watching the pilot:

"Okay. I, a Russian Whovian and Sherlockian (not a dirty spoiled one), have just watched a pilot version of s01e01 of the “Elementary” series (if it`s going to be one). What do we see here?

A girl, a beautiful one, quite short, a former surgeon who killed a patient and since then she comes to his grave to cry him over. Nice relationships with parents, but father had an affair. We`ll find out her opinion about that soon. There will be quarrels, rough conversations over the mobile phone, sarcastic remindings and so on – classic American drama.

A man, a handsome one, about 30-35 years old, quite tall, who seems to be really sick… Not now, but, you know, there are the drug addicted who can`t control themselves usually get to special clinics. The real Sherlock always could, couldn`t he?

Sex? Really? Sherlock didn`t need it. Tattoos? To express what? His special feature is his mind, not the body. There should be some stories about them if this thing is going to be continued.

Joahn Watson, a patient-killing surgeon willing to comfort her conscious VS John Watson, a former military physician, whose leg wants an action. That`s what we`ve got...

To avoid gay jokes the creators decided to take a girl, and got another problem – friendship between a man and a woman. And what if some things lead them to one bed? “Hypothetically”, ha?

No mistakes corrected. From the title (“Elementary”) taken from a phrase which was used in one of the first American screening versions of Arthur Conan`s stories in 1939 (quite a bad one, but funny) to “dedication” which is supposed to be an “indication”.

The Meeting was the best scene in the whole episode. By the way, I think, that before Holmes (or who he is) was training to read lips, am I right?) Poor, poor Watson… Just wait for a bit, be close and ready, don`t forget that “Sherlock” needs satisfaction…

Sometime later my rage will pass and I`ll write something about this in full sentences and without sarcasm. May be there already will be season two… series like this is made quickly and about 20 episodes per season. I`m not impressed. And that`s not about the twenty-one-century idea or the-best Cumberbatch or not-a-blue-one scarf or not-a-long-blue-coat (made of a different fabric), as you see".

Anyway, I`m going to watch the next episode to see how bad it is.)

Favorite soundtracks - №8

We`ll Take Manhattan - Love Me Do

That`s the song that shows the beginning of a new era of life and music particulary and ends the movie. Happy  50`s anniversary! And the beautiful movie is about what the fashion is. 

Thanks to the Silver Rain Radio for the program about the Beatles. To respond the question of the program (What are the Beatles for you? How did you come across with their music at the first time?) I can say, that the Beatles is still an unexplored "the best", "a history", "an epoque" for me. There is no world without them. You hear about "Yesterday" since you`re born with a sigh of delight, the same when you hear about Shakespeare or Tchaikovsky. You always hear about them, they come through everybody`s life and take their place. One of my university`s professors thinks that their music is classic:) I don`t think so, but I`m sure that this is something that really worths to be a part of the world`s culture. 

Love Me Do  — первый британский сингл группы The Beatles и их первая пластинка на лейбле Parlophone. В Великобритании сингл был выпущен 5 октября 1962 года и достиг #17 в чарте страны. В США он вышел в 1964 году и достиг #1 чарта Billboard Hot 100. Сочинил песню Пол Маккартни в возрасте 16 лет (1958-59), когда прогуливал занятия в школе. Позже Джон Леннон добавил к композиции 8 тактов в середине с другой гармонией. (wiki)

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"Love Me Do" is The Beatles' first single, backed by "P.S. I Love You" and released on 5 October 1962. When the single was originally released in the United Kingdom, it peaked at number seventeen; in 1982 it was re-issued and reached number four. In the United States the single was a number one hit in 1964. The song is an early Lennon–McCartney composition, principally written by Paul McCartney in 1958–1959 while playing truant from school at age 16. John Lennon wrote the middle eight. (wiki)

This is my 50`s note here by the way...;)

Let me think about... the "Game of Thrones"

Usually rather popular things are thought to have no hidden meaning or rather good things are not popular enough.  I`m going to take sometimes some of them for a discussion.

The Fourteenth - "The Sopranos of the Medieval". Monologue on the "Game of Thrones" series.

I don`t like it.  I didn`t almost from the start and I`m not going to watch the 2nd season. What don`t I like what other people do? Let`s see...

1) Sean Bean. I haven`t seen him for a lot time, so decided to watch only because he was starring here. But he was killed in the end of the very frirst season, so why would I watch further? He just introduced the cast and left us making acquaintances with them.

2) Fantasy. The genre is very popular in Russia, lots of Russians read russian and foreign fantasy books. Besides this series is made by a book too, so you may proudly say, that you watch a screening version.
I can`t say that I don`t like fantasy, but this kind of series is really endless: they can continue the story with the characters, then with their children, then with their grandsons and so on. But when you watch CSI for example, you don`t have to remember everyrthing that happend before, as every other episode has its own story. To be short, I prefer double-lined series to one-lined.

3) Sex. A lot of. There really is. You can make a porn movie of several scenes of the first episode. Which pose do you like? Mm.. with parthes of one gender or both? Oh, if you still didn`t saw the pose №6, be sure, it might be in the next season. Just wait.
Right, this is just not a family movie. I didn`t mean I like only family movies. It`s just... You know, I still feel a bit nervous while watching a sex scene in a film, especially when I watch it with my parents. Even if the couple is covered with a blanket or something like that. Here you might won`t see a... mm... cock, but deffinetely with see everything else.
I`m very-very dissapointed. This is a big disadvantage for me.

4) HBO. I`ve heard a lot good about the studio already. It`s like a sign of quality. Series such as "Sex and the City" is world known, others might be familiar to you too: True blood, The Sopranos, Rome, Boardwalk Empire etc. and all has critic`s reiting over 8 and 9. But they are all so... correct, so popular that it makes me sick. The series of HBO just bore me after a few seasons. The same thing is with MadMen for me: a lot of history links, beautiful decorations, magnificent Christina Hendricks, but you`re just tired of all that after some time... Actually, I`d like to take a look on "The Newsroom", heard about it by the radio.

Minute of silence

Andy Williams: 1927-2012

Talking about...

О ремейках

Слушала я сегодня Бекмамбетова и думала... Он что, серьезно восхищается тем, что делает? (Извините за неточность цитат) "Когда люди смотрят кино в 2D, им приходится включать воображение, а когда в 3D, они уже там, и воображение, мозг отключается." У меня один вопрос: это что, хорошо что-ли? Это что хорошо, когда люди видят происходящее на экране, и, не задумываясь, принимают это как есть, обращая внимание только на реалистичность исполнения? Нет, я понимаю, что и в театре, и в кино была и есть сфера "аттракционов" - многие комедии и ужасы как раз из них, но по-моему это уже не искусство. То, что направлено на что-то одно - будь то испугать, или рассмешить, или вызвать низменные желания - это уже не искусство. И связь Бёртона с ним не делает первому чести. Вообщем-то, еще начиная с "Алисы" он пошел по неправильному пути (превращать старую добрую сказку в фэнтэзи? да еще с таким изменением и упрощением сюжета?), и то, что раньше было почерком, сейчас воспринимается как нудная закономерность.



Мне не удалось послушать все интервью, а иначе список моих возмущений был бы гораздо длиннее, наверное. №2. Ведущий говорит, что у него есть один и беспроигрышный, абсолютно убедительный ответ всем тем, кто ругает ремейки. Якобы, как можно покушаться на святое, говорят они. ("Но я хочу послушать, что скажете вы", говорит он Бекмамбетову) Тут наш мэтр обращается к театру. "Почему же столь уважаемые театралы могут обращаться к классическим темам снова и снова, переигрывать их то так, то эдак, а нам, киношникам, нельзя?" А потом еще выдал вот что: "Каждому поколению хочется иметь своих "Джентльменов удачи!" Во как оказывается!
Вопрос 1: А у поколения он спрашивал? По-моему, часть нашего поколения вообще не знает, кто они такие, а та часть, которая знает, любит старых и не хочет никаких других.
Вопрос 2: Классика на то и есть классика, что в ней ставятся великие и вечные вопросы жизни, и поэтому, делая такие постановки, "театралы" напоминают нам, что время идет, века, тысячелетия, а эти вопросы до сих пор стоят, люди до сих пор должны над ними задумываться. А то, по чему создаются в последние годы ремейки, лишь отражают реалии дня, когда были созданы, и популярны и ценны они лишь поэтому! Каждый год то поколение пересматривает "Иронию судьбы", чтобы вспомнить, как все было одинаково, как все жили одинаково, что даже могли перепутать города, в которых жили годами! Смотрят и смеются, и мы, молодые, смеемся вместе с ними. Неужели сейчас все также? Что, строятся такие же абсолютно одинаковые жилые районы по всей стране? Да сейчас каждый хочет выпендриться если уж не в дизайне комплексов, так хоть в реальном способе потратить деньги, выделенные на их строительство! Любовь, скажете тут, вот тебе вечный вопрос. Извините, вы чтобы на любовь посмотреть оставляете каждый год ТВ на Первом, когда салатики режете? А, чтобы песни послушать... Ну, как скажете!

1975-2007

  

Кстати, о любви. Что сделали со "Служебным романом" - это вообще ни в какие рамки. Один только факт, что в качестве саундтреков использованы современные зарубежные хиты, должно было отбить всяческое желание сходить взглянуть на эту пародию на кино.

1977-2011

О новых "Джентльменах...", а именно "Джентльмены, удачи!", мне сказать нечего. Кто смотрел, судите сами.

  1971 -2012

Поддержите советский кинематограф и оригинальные версии вообще! Выберите другой фильм, когда "это" появится на всех экранах страны!