Skyfall reunites Bond with Q Branch

Well production is well under way for the 23^rd James Bond adventure and a further casting addition has been made from director Sam Mendes. In a surprising turn of events, Brit actor Ben Whishaw has been cast as Q. He was rumoured for a role a few months back but his agent has now confirmed his role as Bond’s gadget manufacturer.

He is an actor who I have not come across previously but he has a respectable CV which predominately is based around character and period pieces more than anything else. He is due to play Richard II in a new BBC Shakespeare adaptation which is part of next year's cultural programming to coincide with the Olympics

This is quite a risky move from Mendes and long standing producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli as Whishaw is 12 years younger than Daniel Craig. Not only that, he will be attempting to fill the quite large shoes of the former Q actor Desmond Llewelyn who sadly passed away back in 1999. John Cleese had a brief stint in the role for The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day, but to me that was a gimmick that wore off very quickly. My initial reaction was filled with scepticism as a die hard Bond nut, as I would have wanted an actor with slightly more experience. However Whishaw does appear to be carving out a respectable career for himself, appearing in films such as I’m Not There and Bright Star.

I do however admire the American Beauty director for the freshness that he will be bringing to Skyfall. I expect the Perfume actor to bring a certain youthness and vibrancy to the role of equipping Bond with the usual array of inventive gadgets that Bond will utilise. I had previous strong feelings of wanting to bring back certain traditional ingredients that made the James Bond film what they were. That included bringing back Q branch which I am delighted about. I believe Sam Mendes will do Bond fans proud and celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of 007 in some style by unveiling a strong follow up to the rather disappointing Quantum of Solace that was released back in 2008.

Mendes has now equipped himself with an impressive British cast that includes Naomie Harris and Albert Finney. Skyfall will see Daniel Craig pit himself against Javier Bardem’s yet undisclosed villain. The full plot is still not been confirmed but I expect more juicy details to be filtered through in the weeks to come. During the unveiling of the cast in the press conference back at the beginning of November, the initial storyline was described as focusing on an attack on M and MI6 and Bond’s pursuit against the threat. Ralph Fiennes is the other actor I am hotly waiting on for a confirmation of who he will actually play. Here’s hoping for a secondary baddie to Javier Bardem’s central role.

So expect a lot of ingenuity and class to the role of Q. Also keep an eye out for a bit of bant between Bond and Q as previously witnessed between the two characters. Just don’t look out for the invisible Aston Martin obviously!

Eddie Murphy Out, Billy Crystal In for Oscars 2012

This week has certainly proven to me that the lovely people at Oscarland certainly do not dwell on such unforeseen misfortunes. After the swift departures of co-producer Brett Ratner (in the wake of his offensive homosexual remarks) and host Eddie Murphy, like a well-oiled machine with a few kinks, production is back on with veteran filmmaker Brian Grazer stepping into Ratner’s shoes. Furthermore in a not so surprising move, Oscar veteran and all-round funny man Billy Crystal will now play host at the Kodak Theatre come February 2012.

This will be the ninth occasion that the comedian will be on hosting duties and I think the Academy have done a noble job and played it safe. Not only is Crystal a proven entertainer, but on the back of this year’s abysmal hosts in Anne Hathaway and James Franco, expectations will no doubt be sky high for a night of laughs, the usual gags at how many Oscar nominations Meryl Streep has to her name and the countless shots of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein rubbing his hands together vigorously. It was Billy Crystal’s cameo appearance at this year’s Academy Awards that was the highlight of the show. With the greatest respect to him, that wasn’t a hard challenge given James Franco’s god awful interest and manner in which he displayed himself in front of the world that night. If you compare the two, Franco wouldn’t even be in a position to tie Crystal’s own shoelaces!

On the morning of the comedian’s announcement via his Twitter account, I had a right chuckle to myself in the manner in which he revealed the news, “Am doing the Oscars so the young woman in the pharmacy will stop asking my name when I pick up my prescriptions. Looking forward to the show.” Who says he's not hip to what the kids like today, with their iFads and their digital down-lows?”

In what could well be a disappointing turn of events, earlier on in the week there was a vicious rumour that the Muppets could well step on the Oscar stage for the role of hosts. However I think the Academy President Tom Sherak has made the right move and I’m sure will pay off massively. He declared this week, “I’m thrilled to welcome Billy back to the Oscar stage. He’s a comic legend and Oscar icon, and it feels good to have him back where he belongs.”

I must admit I was all for Eddie Murphy donning the tux and doing his thing on the Oscar stage. Needless to say, after comical yet often dubious turns in the likes of The Nutty Professor and Norbit, he would have been a rival for Anne Hathaway in the costume department for sure. It is a shame he followed his co-producer and friend Brett Ratner straight out the exit door on the back of Ratner’s rash and let’s face it stupid comments on the rehearsal procedures, “Rehearsal? What’s that? Rehearsal’s for fags. Rehearsal. Not much.” This caused outrage amongst Hollywood and despite a heartfelt apology from the Rush Hour director, it’s those types of comments in today’s society which cannot be forgiven and which ultimately forced him to depart. Shame, I was eager to see if you could redeem himself after X-Men: The Last Stand…!

Anyway like I said previously after Billy Crystal’s flawless four-minute cameo in this year’s Oscars, the money is on him to put in another top class performance for the whole five and a half odd hours at next year’s 85^th Annual Academy Awards. If you want a smooth and consistent production, Mike Wazowski is your man!