Whip it Out Wednesday: Sir Roger Moore

In honor of last night's Quantum of Solace benefit premiere, featuring Daniel Craig and his diamond-cutting blue eyes, let us pause and revel in the class and elegance that is Sir Roger Moore, the second James Bond, who may be older than God (OK, older than Jesus) but still exudes British charm.

Right.
Now that we're done with that...

At the London premiere of Quantum of Solace, Moore told Reuters that he was distressed with the "violent" turn that the 007 franchise has taken. (Was he expecting a Care Bears movie?)

“I am happy to have done it, but I’m sad that it has turned so violent,” Moore said.

He recalled being appalled at the violence in “A View to a Kill,” the 1985 movie which was the last of the seven in which he played Bond. “That wasn’t Bond,” he said.

While making “The Man With the Golden Gun,” director Guy Hamilton wanted Bond to be tougher and had him threaten to break Maud Adams’ character’s arm to get information, he writes. “That sort of characterization didn’t sit well with me, but Guy was keen to make my Bond a little more ruthless.

“I suggested my Bond would have charmed the information out of her by bedding her first. My Bond was a lover and a giggler, but I went along with Guy,” the British actor said.

Moore perfectly illustrates a common sentiment in Hollywood: it seems to be perfectly OK to depict mind-blowing (literally, mind-blowing) violence with illegal automatic weapons and no remorse or repercussions (Quantum of Solace is rated PG-13), but Gods forbid a woman takes her bra off...well, instant outcry and "R" rating! (And you'll sooner get hit by lightning than see a full-frontal male scene with a PG-13 rating)

Still, Moore makes an interesting observation: Sean Connery is viewed as the quintessential James Bond (it's the brogue, methinks) because anyone can see the tempered rage stewing just beneath the surface. Daniel Craig was accepted by Bond fans nearly immediately because he, like Connery, has the presence of cold-rolled steel (and those eyes, dear Gods!). Even Pierce Brosnan, the most recent Bond, had an air of a quiet storm. But Timothy Dalton's Bond was forgettable, mostly because he was so bland, and only the staunchest Bond fan will know the words "George Lazenby."

One look at Moore's Bond, however, and you can instantly see the template which Michael Meyers used for Austin Powers. Oy.

But never let it be said that Roger Moore is ungracious. Of Daniel Craig, Moore said, “Daniel has done one Bond and he was in ‘Munich’ and … he’s done a lot of stuff, but his face, after one Bond film, that’s all he needs. He is Bond.”

Weekender Thursdays: Beachy Green, Proud Grandmas, & Domino Tournaments

So...all sorts of fun and interesting things happening this weekend...what better way to unwind from the stress of the recent Presidential election?

(NOTE: Unless otherwise indicated, all events take place in and around the NYC area.)

FRIDAY: Sir Roger Moore (pictured) will be at Barnes and Noble (555 Fifth Avenue @ 46th Street) signing copies of his new book, My Word is My Bond (go, obvious literary puns!) If baseball, rather than books, is your thing, swing by the Chelsea Piers to see Jon Bon Jovi, Don Mattingly, and Lorraine Bracco pay homage to the New York Yankees (this embarrassing year notwithstanding -- I blame Madonna, personally -- they're still the greatest team in New York City!). Can't do these things 'cuz your dear ol'grandma is in town? Why not enter your Nana into the Seventh Annual Your Highness Grandma Beauty Pageant? (This year's competition is at National in Brooklyn) Or, maybe she'd like a bit of Engelbert Humperdinck...you can catch him live at the Capitol One Bank Theatre in the Round in Westbury, Long Island (don't worry, tickets are still available).

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SATURDAY: This is a great day to be a kid, as there's way too much to do (don't worry, parents -- like all kids, they'll find a way to complain of boredom). The Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum (pictured) makes its grand re-opening after over a year of repairs and refreshes, which included new exhibit installations, restored aircraft, a new public park-like pier, new interactive exhibits, dry-docking and a new paint job for the former USS
Intrepid. Afterwards, head on uptown to the NY Public Library (111 Amsterdam Avenue, @ 65th Street) to see programs on the newly acquired Uta Hagen papers. Or, you can catch a plane to Miami (hey, airlines, including Delta and JetBlue are having firehouse sales on flights...better enjoy them while they last!) and join the Honey Shine Mentoring Program on Miami Beach as they turn seven beach blocks of Miami's coast into a cleaner, greener environment! Of course, feel free to leave your surly teenagers behind in New York City to hear master of gore Neil Gaiman read excerpts from his classic book The Sandman; this event, presented by the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, is sure to bring out the D&D geeks (i.e., me) in droves. (Find us at the Helen Mills Theatre on West 26th Street, and bring Pez and Diet Cokes!)

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SUNDAY: Catch ubermensch James Franco (pictured, *fans self*) compete against Salma Hayek, Kim Raver, Nicole Richie, Joel Madden, Jessica Alba, Molly Sims, and Jeremy Piven in the Hollywood Domino Tournament (yes, watching people play dominoes is about as fun as watching grass grow and/or paint dry, but the opportunity to ogle the hotness of my future ex-husband -- I mean, James Franco -- is all worth it. Plus, they're playing to benefit the art of the Elysium, so we can all suffer a little for a good cause...). They'll be at the Edison Ballroom on West 47th Street (appropriately, the Hell's Kitchen area...though gentrification often finds it being referred to as "Midtown West"...puh-leeze). Of course, if you can't get enough of brain-eating zombies (nice segue...), head uptown to the 92nd Street YMCA to find Neil Gaiman reading more excerpts from The Sandman. In fairness, The Sandman is the only graphic novel (comic book?) to land on The New York Times' best-seller list, so the weekend-long publicity blitz is justified.

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Aaaaaaaannnnnndddd...what are YOU up to this weekend? Share here!

New Bond Girl: Fingers Galore?

Meet Gemma Arterton. She's beautiful, statuesque, British, and the newest Bond girl to grace the silver screen (you'll see her in Quantum of Solace in November, opposite Daniel Craig as Agent 007).

She was also born with extra fingers.

"It's my little oddity that I'm really proud of," she said to Esquire magazine. "It makes me different."

Different indeed.
The condition, called polydactyly, occurs in 1 of every 500 births.

Don't bother looking for additional digits in the film, though. As a child, the surplus digits were "tied," which causes the boneless protrusions to fall off with time. She still bares bumpy scars where her extra appendages once were.

Earlier this year, she revealed that she was also born with a crumpled ear, which was surgically corrected in childhood. "I was born with lots of deformities," the 22-year-old actress told the British press.

She seems to be doing OK now, though...

James Bond Star Injured On Set

Daniel Craig, the star of the James Bond movies, was injured on the set of the new James Bond movie, "Quantum of Solace." He was rushed to the hospital for reportedly slicing off his fingertip. Ouch! That sounds like it really must hurt. Craig doesn't have very good luck when it comes to getting injured on movie sets, he was injured once before on the set of a previous James Bond movie where he received eight stitches for a gash in his face.
A witness on the set said, "There was quite a lot of blood and it was decided he needed to leave the set and see a doctor." We wish him a speedy recovery from that little mishap!

Amy Winehouse to sing Bond theme song?

Amy Winehouse, the multi-Grammy Award winning British singer, is back in the studio and is reportedly recording the theme song for the new James Bond movie which is set to be out in theaters this November.

Although Winehouse has been working with Mark Ronson to produce a new song, according to the spokespeople for her record label, the work on a soundtrack for the film is only speculation.

However, Ronson reveled to a magazine that he has been laying a new track entitled “Quantum of Solace” for the latest bond installment, but claims that there is no guarantee that their song would actually be featured in the movie.

Soundgarden’s former front man Chris Cornell recorded the theme song for “Casino Royale” the last Bond film which was released inn 2006.

Stuntman injured on James Bond site

A stuntman filming an action sequence for the new James Bond film was seriously injured Wednesday. He and another stuntman crashed during a car chase on a winding lakeside road in Northern Italy.

The London-based production company for the film, "Quantum of Solace," said the experienced stuntman who was driving an Alfa Romeo at the time was still in the hospital in serious condition. Marco Girardi, a spokesman for the town of Limone sul Garda and a liaison to the production company, said the driver suffered serious head injuries in the crash. Another driver in the same car also suffered less serious injuries.

Girardi said the crew had been filming for two weeks when the Alfa Romeo crashed into a wall while filming a car chase with a truck and James Bond's Aston Martin. A helicopter on standby during the filming took the seriously injured stunt driver to Verona where he had surgery.

Girardi also said that filming was scheduled to conclude Wednesday, soon after the crash occurred. It was the second accident on the movie set in the past four days. On Saturday an Aston Martin was being delivered to the set when it skidded off the road and into Lake Garda due to heavy rain and poor driving conditions. There were no injuries and the car was later recovered.

Director Marc Forster and star Daniel Craig were not on set at the time of the accident. The production company closed the set on Thursday and workers and officials declined to comment to the press. Barring any more on-set incidents, "Quantum of Solace" will be released in the UK on Halloween and in the U.S. on 7 Nov.