There are two problematic layers built into No Time to Die’s manipulative betrayal of Bond fans. The first, and arguably less substantive, is the film’s abandonment of the 007 formula. Movie critics have praised the decision to depart from the standard format of find the villain, defeat the villain, get the girl, get away with a dryly humorous quip. This praise, however, is precisely what reveals the elitist nature of the modern entertainment industry. There is a necessary question: If twenty-five movies (plus the novels and a few video games) have had immense commercial success for sixty years while abiding by the same formula, what suggests that the audience wants the films to depart from the formula? Quite obviously, it seems that we continue to pay money to watch Bond movies because we want the formula. If we wanted something else, we would see a different movie. Continue reading →
film criticism
Nature, Grace, And Film
I love a good film. I took three courses in film criticism as an undergraduate. They were more difficult than one might think. First, taking notes in the dark is challenging and reading them afterward is even more difficult. Second, I had . . . Continue reading →