‘NO TIME TO DIE’ REVIEW AVAILABLE ON SCENESTR

ScenestrBond

On Friday the 5th of November, 2021 I went and saw the latest James Bond movie No TIme To Die on assignment for Scenestr.

For a lot of us Bond kind of marks time, this is maybe the only film franchise in the world that gets handed down from generation to generation. They have proven timeless and yet current releases speak to our times.

The first Bond film I saw was Goldfinger with Sean Connery so it imprinted on me that he was Bond as much as TImothy Dalton was featuring on the cover of a fresh VHS packet.

As a kid Moore’s entries like Moonraker and Octopussy were treasured and fit right along The Living Daylights and You Only Live Twice.

When I saw Goldeneye on Boxing Day 1995 with Dad and siblings something new clicked into place. Pierce Brosnan was my Bond for my time although my Dad seemed to enjoy it just as much. That is the magic of Bond.

I was twenty-six when Daniel Craig reinvigorated the franchise and did something new with it. Now I was days away from turning 41 and taking one of my oldest friends to a Bond screening on assignment as a freelance writer and Craig was retiring the role.

Bond marks time.

So there I was a middle aged man with a friend I have known for 30 years seeing the last Daniel Craig Bond film. Let’s just say themes conveyed in this new film seemed to fit the occasion.

You can read my review here https://scenestr.com.au/movies-and-tv/no-time-to-die-film-review-20211108

My friend didn’t pose for pictures on the red carpet, he didn’t partake in the free food upon entry (after all he had just gone downstairs to wolf down a burger from Grill’D).

He came because I asked him to, he knew I wanted to share this experience with him just once.

He came after work from across town, his wife patiently taking care of their toddler for a few hours.

Afterwards we drove down to a local shopping centre and stood outside for a little bit. We had done this many times in the wee hours during our 20s to talk. Tonight we did not delay too long. We had homes and responsibilities to get too.

But that night he came and with James Bond we marked time. I’m very lucky to have such a friend.

Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. Having started in 1993 they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They still publish magazines in print for Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland every month.

-Lloyd Marken

BLADE RUNNER 2049 TOP 5 ICONIC IMAGES AVAILABLE AT HEAVY

Heavy15I’m lucky enough to have another Top 5 published at Heavy Magazine highlighting the work of cinematographer Roger Deakins. Deakins on the occasion of his 14th Oscar nomination won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography this week for Blade Runner 2049. I felt the film was one of the best of last year and was happy to see Deakins win following such incredible work over the past four decades which includes Sid & Nancy, The Shawshank Redemption, Jarhead, No Country For Old Men, Skyfall and Sicario. You can check out some of the iconic looks of the film here https://heavymag.com.au/top-5-blade-runner-2049-iconic-images/ Feel free to leave a comment or share and I hope you enjoy.

Heavy is an independent magazine and website that is all about the music and specifically heavy music and supporting the Australian music scene in general. Fortunately for me they do cover film as well and I have been fortunate to have a few things published there.

-Lloyd Marken

BLADE RUNNER 2049 REVIEW AVAILABLE AT BUZZ

Buzz7

You’re in your apartment, it has been a rough day. Outside everybody seems to hate you, just metres away on the other side of the door. There’s no family to call, no friends you’re sure really care. You’ve been alone a long time, no partner, no prospects at that shitty job you go to every day past all those people who hate you on the other side of that door. So you switch on a hologram who looks like a movie star who tells you you’re great. Nobody in the family says that, no friend, no one at work but this perfect looking creature does. She suggests you dance but you don’t want to dance. So she immediately changes her mind and tells you she wants to watch TV. She looks perfect and she says whatever you want to hear knowing it before you do. At the back of your mind something tells you this is too perfect. It’s not real and you want her to be real. So they’ll make another model and another one and pretty soon one day she might be real because she’ll have a complete consciousness. When that happens though, when she can really form all her own thoughts, dreams and curiousities how she is going to feel about your apartment? Is she going to still say all those perfect responses you didn’t even know you wanted to hear? At one point are you going to be keeping her a prisoner unable to live her own life? At one point is she going to be a slave and what do slaves do? They revolt. You see you wanted her to be real and now she is but your capacity to deal with that is most likely limited because real relationships are difficult for you which is why all those years before you got her but a real relationship is what you wanted. So are going to set her free to maybe still live with you? What waits for her outside and you?

I saw Blade Runner: 2049 not long after ploughing through the first season of Westworld which very  much is about slaves revolting. I also watched for the first time A.I. so these thoughts were with me when I wrote the above. The ability to communicate and form long lasting relationships is a core concern of our times. In this sense the themes of Blade Runner: 2049 are a natural progression from the questions of the original film but also fitting to 2017. I thought the film was brilliant, one of the year’s best and I am lucky to be able to say that I have had my review of it published on Buzz Magazine. It is such a shame it wasn’t more successful at the box officer but that at least means they won’t flog a dead horse and I believe in time people will discover this film. It is sad though that such a cinematic film was not seen more in cinemas. The editor of Buzz Magazine has had a rough year and I’m very grateful that Buzz is sticking around. Feel free to stop by and like, share or comment on the review and let the editor know if you enjoy Buzz. I certainly love writing for it. You can read my review here http://buzzmagazine.com.au/blade-runner-2049/

Based out of Victoria, Buzz Magazine was one the longest running street press magazines in Australia being published in print from 1993 to 2010. Some fine writers have worked for Buzz over the years and gone onto successful careers in media since and there is simply no way to measure the contribution the mag made to local music over its print run. With such words and minimal advertising on the website the impression could be taken that Buzz is now semi-retired. Yet the site is quite prolific with new write-ups on a daily basis, the ongoing interest of fans old and new and contributions from some very talented people indeed.

-Lloyd Marken

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJtZYCv7AxA