Fans of the early Bond catalog will recognize the title of the movie, SPECTRE being the evil organization that so often faced off against the Sean Connery era 007. A return to the classic era villains is a welcome and exciting change, and Christoph Waltz seems a perfect fit to usher them back in. Just look at his Blofeld-esqe Nehru-style jacket!
Continue reading SPECTRE: New Trailer and Sam Mendes’ Future with 007
With the recent announcement that two-time Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz would be joining James Bond 24, we here at Grizzly Bomb thought we’d take a stab at listing the top 10 best Bond villains in the franchise’s 50-year history.
Waltz is capable of exuberant charm and manipulative anger, making him an absolutely apt choice for Bond’s newest nemesis. It’s still unconfirmed whether or not that will indeed be Waltz’s role. We do know that Chiwetel Ejiofor was in the running to be the next Bond villain back in April, but the deal fell through. We can only assume Christoph Waltz is now up for said villainous role, with whispers that Bond’s SPECTRE-running adversary Ernst Stavro Blofeld is the main villain. We can just see the glee in which Waltz will take with such a role if it proves true. Stay tuned for more updates on that.
Continue reading No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You To Die: The 10 Best James Bond Villains
After the “let’s just get through this” host that was Justin Bieber, I was really looking forward to this week’s SNL with Christoph Waltz. There’s just something about real actors coming to do the show that makes it worth sitting through the teen idols. Waltz did not disappoint, at all.
The cold open was quite strong. I thought they were going to stick with a political open but I was pleasantly surprised when instead the show opened with Jason Sudeikis and Cecily Strong as cruise directors for the ill-fated Carnival Triumph. Unlike last episode’s Super Bowl cold open, the cruise directors were well paced, the rest of the cruise staff was quick and funny, and the jokes were good; sad that this is out of the norm, but it was and it was good. However Ms. Strong, as a daughter of the great city of Mobile, Alabama, it is pronounced “mo-beal” not “mo-bile”. Come on, we are always a little sensitive this time of year, given how no one ever remembers that we were the ones that brought Mardi Gras to America but to not even know how to pronounce our fair city’s name? Well that’s just rude.
As for the monologue, that made me nervous. Here was a great cold open only to have a visibly nervous Christoph Waltz come out and sing. How many musical monologues does that bring us up to for the season? Way too many. I feared that his nervousness would make the rest of the show laborious but thankfully, it was short-lived. Actually you could tell Waltz was battling nerves in many of the sketches but he did a great job despite it.
“What Have You Become” has the distinction of probably being my new favorite game show sketch. I would hope that it’d become a recurring sketch but it would be difficult to have the same payoff as the question being turned on the host so I’ll just have to re-watch this one numerous times. Christoph Waltz talking about his overbearing mother making him go to “game show school” was obviously the highlight but almost as good was Aidy Bryant having the chance to say anything about herself and choosing mediocre knitting. Well, mediocre knitting and her bitch of a daughter.
In the first of two pre-recorded bits, Waltz played the retired Pope Benedict. I’m not a retiring pontiff but I was seconds away from setting up a meeting with my local “Papal Securities” office. Something about Jason Sudeikis in a pair of glasses makes me want fork over money.
While I enjoyed seeing Nasim Pedrard getting her own character, Tippy just didn’t do it for me. I respect that it’s difficult to get out of the shadow of a personality such as Kristin Wiig but it’s probably not wise to try to use a character that she would certainly excel at, as a vehicle. That being said, perhaps if it’s a recurring character Nasim can make it her own and work her way out of that shadow. Best of luck.
http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=n32896
The best part of the night was the second pre-recorded sketch, this time a movie trailer for the newest Quentin Tarantino film, Djesus Uncrossed. I am a huge SNL fan and usually laugh pretty heartily at various sketches, but I have not laughed as hard at something in quite some time that I did to this trailer. It was perfect. Anyone who has seen even half a Tarantino film recognized his style immediately, that style being very bloody, and often involving swords. Christoph Waltz was perfect as the freshly resurrected Djesus who sets out to take his revenge on the Romans. If there were any doubts about Taran Killam’s ability to impersonate Brad Pitt, they were put to rest as he did a great job and now I can’t even see the word “Roman” without pronouncing it as “R0-Mans”.
If the sketch itself wasn’t entertaining, the backlash certainly has been. Long story short, people are losing their shit. It has certainly kept my attention this morning and has been quite educational. Apparently if you thought the bit was funny you are either a god-less heathen, atheist, or a “libretard”. Oh and you are most certainly going to hell. I imagine the FCC is fielding their fair share of complaints this morning, and if this compilation of SNL complaints through the years is any indication, they probably make for fun reading. Good times.
By the time the CD commercial came up for the JaMarcus Brothers, the show was on a roll unlike one I’ve seen all year. You could tell that everyone in the cast knew it as well. JaMarcus Brothers was probably one of the funniest “Time Life Music” bits they’ve had in a while, thanks to Waltz as the adopted white virgin. Hysterical.
I’m a huge fan of Alabama Shakes so no surprise that I really enjoyed their two pieces of the night. Brittany Howard is amazing, and I’ve decided that I would like her to follow me around and sing-narrate my life.
Much in line with the rest of the night, Weekend Update was fantastic. No surprise to anyone, Marco Rubio (Taran Killam) made an appearance with his infamous thirst and dedication to maintaining eye contact with the camera. I wouldn’t have pictured Rubio as one to take on a YouTube meme such as the “cinnamon challenge” so you learn something new everyday. I’m waiting for his “Harlem Shake” video to hit the internet.
Kate McKinnon continues her campaign for full cast member status and this week, it came behind the Weekend Update desk. I don’t know if she’s writing these characters herself, or someone is writing for her, but whoever it is, they are hitting it out of the park. Ann Romney and Cecilia Gimenez were both great but they pale in comparison to the Russian woman hoping the meteor was there to turn her into dust so she could be eaten by a goat and finally warm. So good.
If I had to choose to low point of the night? For me it’d be the return of Regine. The only plus to Fred Armisen’s crotch flashing drag sketch is watching the other cast members trying to keep it together. Of course when Bill Hader is involved, there’s not much chance of him keeping a straight face, and this week was no different.
Fox and Friends may seem tired, but it still makes me laugh, no doubt thanks to Bobby Moynihan and his absolutely ridiculous character. He certainly has a talent when it comes to making the dim bulb, Brian Kilmeade, very entertaining to watch. I think we can all agree that it’s about time they start crediting the fourth host of the Fox morning show, Vanessa Bayer’s rack. Woowee she had the girls out for a walk this week!
I probably shouldn’t have enjoyed the “Secret Valentine Admirer” sketch as much as I did. Awkward Christoph Waltz certainly is adorable and the payoff with Keenan Thompson’s reaction to a second “valentine” was great.
Overall? Easily the best episode of the season, if not the best of recent seasons. Even though there are plenty of people pissing and moaning that they are no longer watching the show due to the whole Djesus thing, there were enough of us who loved it that hopefully NBC won’t see any substantial blow-back. It was nice to see the writers taking a step back onto the unsafe and daring ledge, a refreshing change of pace from the somewhat predictable and pedantic.
Next week is a rerun, likely due to the Oscars on Sunday night, but they return on March 2nd with what looks to be a promising episode with host Kevin Hart and musical guest Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.
Until then SNL fans!
Are you ready for another Quentin Tarantino film to blow your mind and possibly make you question your sanity? We are. Definitely.
The second trailer for Django Unchained was released today, and now we’re wishing that time travel really was a thing so December would be here already.
Merry Christmas, everyone.
The film is set in the pre-Civil War era and tells the story of Django (Jamie Foxx), a slave living in the Deep South who is sold to Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz). Schultz is actually a bounty hunter, and offers to help free Django’s wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), from a ruthless plantation owner (Leonardo Dicaprio) as long as Django agrees to help him kill off a gang of killers known as the Brittle Brothers.
For me, seeing Jamie Foxx, Samuel L. Jackson, Jonah Hill, Christoph Waltz, and Leonardo DiCaprio side-by-side immediately made me think, “WTH?” But from what we can see in the trailer, it appears that they all have great chemistry, especially between Foxx, DiCaprio, and Waltz. Hill of course has one of his snippets of funny inserted into a rather bleak and upcoming KKK-type raid, and Jackson always seems to be a BAMF no matter what role he plays. DiCaprio’s performance will probably disgust me because he’s such a good actor (and he’s the bad guy, so there’s that).
The trailer reveals an odd-yet-expected-because-it’s-Tarantino mixture of spaghetti western mixed with slightly modern dialogue and lots of gun shooting and explosions. The costumes and sets appear to be period, though, so as not to make it too funky. And Django wants everyone to know his name is spelled D-J-A-N-G-O, where “the ‘D’ is silent.”
Django opens on Christmas Day.
Did you think it was possible to get so many great films in one year; The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, The Hobbit, Skyfall and several others – well Tarantino looks to be bringing this great year in cinema to an end with a December release of Django Unchained. This latest TV spot is going to make you wet yourself with excitement, like all good trailers should.
Continue reading Django Unchained: New Spot shows Sam Jackson
It’s that time again! It’s time for a new Quentin Tarantino flick (cue the applause)! After the 2009 masterpiece that we know as Inglourious Basterds, QT brings us Django Unchained, the story of a slave named Django (Jamie Foxx) who is freed by notorious bounty hunter, Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz). With hopes of making Django his deputy, Schultz begins training the man, preparing him for the biggest fight of his life; to kill Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), a ruthless plantation owner who is in possession of Django’s wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington).
Well, leave your skepticism and cynicism at the door, people, because Django Unchained is really the only thing I want for Christmas (well, maybe The Great Gatsby, too). This immensely entertaining, hilarious, action-packed, and, most of all, fun trailer has me wanting more….a lot more. Quentin Tarantino seems to be in full force here after the critically acclaimed Inglourious Basterds, which was nominated for eight Oscars (winning one for Best Supporting Actor to Christoph Waltz). It seems as if the Academy has finally recognized Tarantino not only as a filmmaker, but as a genre.
I also love the anti-type casting that Tarantino has done here. It’s been a while since DiCaprio has played an out-and-out villain, while this film marks the first time that Christoph Waltz plays the good guy (a compromised protagonist at best, but I’ll take what I can get). Jamie Foxx plays the title role, and after a couple names were picked up and dropped, I feel like Tarantino has made the right choice putting Foxx in the role.
All the Tarantino-esque factors are definitely in place. The odd plot, the beautifully staged brutality, the generational gap bridging (putting a funky groove in a Civil War-era spaghetti western? I think yes), the witty dialogue, and everything in between. There’s just no way around it, Django Unchained is going to be the real deal.
Check out the official trailer right here:
Grizzly Bomb 