The James Bond Complex

Hello, dear listeners!

We all remember sitting in theatres in October and November of 2015 for Spectre, basking in the glory of the moment when it was revealed that Ernst Stavro Blofeld and Bond are some related, albeit by proxy. A truly ‘’memorable’’ moment in the film series.

Well, what if we told you that John Gardner, author of plenty of continuation novels (among them the already reviewed Licence Renewed) had a few family plots of his own up his sleeve at a time when SP was but a tinkle in the mind’s eye of the producers? If you thought the half-brother reveal in SP was something special, just wait until you get a load of Gardner’s 2nd continuation novel: For Special Services.

In fact, the twists and turns and ice cream selection are so bountiful that co-hosts Mathieu and Edgar cannot handle the load alone. To the rescue is Emery Cormier, founder and host of the Intrepid 007 Podcast, based in Station QC, Québec City. He joins the boys this week to taste every flavour of sugary goodness to be discovered in the novel: What’s the Fleming connection with the book’s title? Are two boobs always better than one (Are they? ARE THEY?)? Would Bond really have won his race against Walter Luxor with a Saab? Are uncomfortable are ants in your pants? How sexually adventurous is the Leiter family?

So sit back, relax and enjoy this week’s episode with special guest Emery Cormier and adore the book as much as we did.

Honest. We really, really like it.

Yes. We feel perfectly fine. Absolutely normal. Why do you ask?

Go on…have a taste of this ice cream!

Check out Emery Cormier and the Intrepid 007 Podcast on FB here https://www.facebook.com/intrepid007/

Check him out on Instagram as well here https://www.instagram.com/007_intrepid/

We are back from a super secret private screening of "You Only Love Twice" (In glorious 1967 original 35 mm no less). We reflect on our amazing Let's Bond event and briefly touch on the end of "No Time To Die" principal photography.

Hello, dear listeners!

October 31st looms, and with it a chill fills in the air and brushes up your spine that can only mean one thing: the horrors of Halloween! Evil takes many shapes, from witches, to goblins, vampires, werewolves and more. But throughout pop culture history, few characters have represented evil as…purely and simply as the terrifying Shape, the masked killer Michael Myers himself.

The Halloween series a favourite for one of the show’s hosts, and since it’s October, Mathieu and Edgar decided to record another Halloween special, much like they did last year, only this time they concentrate on John Carpenter’s original classic with some brief pit stops along the way for the sequels, spinoff, and reboot.

But why talk for over and hour about the Halloween films? Yes, Jamie Lee Curtis would have been an interesting Bond leading lady, but the real reason is that it serves as a spooky entry in the show’s ongoing Detour series, for none other than Ernst Stavro Blofeld himself strives to keep the townsfolk of Haddonfield, Illinois safe. Yes, call this a back door Donald Pleasence Detour.

Carpenter’s classic slasher flick inspires the boys to bask in a number of terrifying topics. How many universe/timelines are there in the franchise? Is Michael Myers’ figure carved into the Jack-O-Lanter that appears in the title sequence or has Edgar gone completely insane? How creepy is the score? Does the film serve the role of being a fable and or morality tale? How many terrible remakes to classic horror films has Mathieu seen without having ever actually watched the originals? Would Michael Myers have stood a chance if Christopher Lee had played Dr. Loomis?

It’s good thing this is an audio only episode, because you wouldn’t want to experience what Matt and Edgar had to go through in order to prep for this episode by into Michael’s. The blackest eyes…the devil’s eyes!

Hello, dear listeners!

We live in a time of terrible political unrest on a global scale. It’s an age of deception, where the enemy lies in the shadows, both real and imagined. East and West have renewed tensions, prompting state leaders to raise the tone of their impassioned speeches and threats. There is danger everywhere.

It’s good to know you can still count on The James Bond Complex.

We’re back to the comic book realm this week, with another in our series of reviews of the Dynamite Entertainment published stories. Coming off the unbelievable high of Hammerhead, writer Andy Diggle and artists Luca Casalanguida return with Kill Chain, a story inspired heavily by the current political climate affecting NATO and Russia for the past few years. As they are want to do, Mathieu and Edgar dive deeply into the plot machinations and highlight where their favourite writer-artist duo hit homeruns and where they may have stumbled.

It should come as no surprise that 007 inspires so much content, and Kill Chain is no exception. There was absolutely no way they were getting through this week’s episode without regaling in topics such how delicious it is when the plots have sexiful vixens that get turned out at the thought of killing Bond, 007’s danger mode (!), casting Roger Moore in certain scenes for proper comedic effect, spies playing games of one-upmanship, missed opportunities to further develop story arcs, perfectly carved French art connoisseurs, and so much more.

So enjoy this week’s episode and discover how politics can influence modern Bond stories. And always remember: when necessary fight dirty.

Hello, dear listeners!

Friends, it’s all about branding and marketability. As avid fans of James Bond and Ian Fleming, you are all undoubtedly aware of how publishing houses and the film studios keep pumping out re-issues of the films or the original Fleming novels. A sexy new cover! A new forward from a celebrated author! A new featurette on the blu-ray disc! This new ‘definitive’ edition comes with a digital copy of the film that you may redeem on the streaming library of your choice (pending deals studios have previously set up with given streaming service platforms, copyright bla bla bla…)! Did someone say  ‘‘steelbook?’’ Oooh!

You buy them, as do hosts Mathieu and Edgar. And this got them thinking. How do we squeeze as much juice as possible out the Bond films and get away scott free whilst actually talking about something we’ve already produced an entire episode on?!?

Welcome to the Reloaded series.

The Reloaded series offers Matt and Edgar to take a second look at a movie they reviewed earlier in the show’s history when they hadn’t quite found their stride yet and were limiting themselves as much as possible to single part episodes for the film reviews. The structure might vary slightly from entry to entry. For example this first entry is for Casino Royale, which we not only talked about way back in Feb 2018, but also in October in 2018 for the CR in Concert event, and this past summer on our French-language show. Given that this is the 4th discussion on the film, we’re looking at it from different angles.

What wild theories can Matt’s creative mind concoct to tie the film in with the other Craig movies? How was the film marketed back in the summer and fall of 2006? What were Matt and Edgar’s personal experiences seeing the film in cinemas, long before they knew each other and the podcast was but a twinkle in their mind’s eye? What behind juicy behind the scenes tidbits can they regale the listeners who don’t have books like Some Kind of Hero or The James Bond Archives?

Will every Reloaded entry take this route?  Perhaps, perhaps not, but this is what we’re going for CR, to give it it’s due.

You know, the final ‘’definitive’’ review of the movie*

*We’ll see about that.

Hello dear listeners!

As principal photography on "No Time To Die" nears it's completion the hosts take the time to talk  Global James Bond Day and more!

Hello dear listeners!

Many 00 aficionados consider Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale to be the holy grail of all things 007. It’s the first ever published of the source material that has since branched off into so many different formats in which regale ourselves in Bond goodiness.

But who was James Bond before Casino Royale? Ah, THAT is the question on…probably very few peoples’ lips when it was announced Anthony Horowitz was returning to the world of Fleming for a prequel book. After all, more than one novel has tackled James’ younger days in the aptly titled Young Bond series of books. Then came Dynamite Entertainment’s James Bond Origin series, which recently completed its run. And speaking of holy grail’s, let’s not forget James Bond Jr!

This week Mathieu and Edgar dive into the deep end for a conversation about Forever and a Day, the Casino Royale prequel that, while lauded by some, has been on surprisingly few lips since its release in 2018. Any opportunity to discuss literary Bond is a joyous occasion, a platform ripe for a multitude of sharp, astute commentary the boys are known for, such as:

What makes a good Casino Royale prequel and a good 007 novel? Are they even necessarily the same?

More classic ways of discerning if someone has homosexual tendencies, such as if they don’t speak English and are monstrously obese.

Why aren’t there more nude chicks on the covers of Bond novels these days?

Mocking someone for having a brain tumour and making it sound funny.

Mocking someone for being fat and making it sound funny.

The logistics of producing industrial quantities of heroine without anybody knowing about it.

And so many more riveting topics!

Sit back and join us in the south of France for a relaxing, invigorating, heroine filled episode.

Hello dear listeners!

Phew! That was exciting, wasn’t it? Last week’s episode saw Mathieu and Edgar reveal several details about their super secret Bond 26 plans, following meetings with their friends at EON*. Pre-title sequence action stunts, the cast for the MI6 team, title song artist, general plot outlines, and of course the titles: A Picture Worth a Thousand Deaths and My Enemy’s Enemy. We certainly hope it was enough for the listeners to get a glimpse into the worlds Matt and Edgar dream about.

But as we know, the world is not enough.

The table is set to dive into how Bond saves the day in PWTD and MEE (ha!). And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! Who are 007’s allies in these missions? Who are the leading ladies? The henchman? What fantastical climaxes have the lads devised?

Do you want some more titillation? Who have the hosts CAST in their movies?!?

And even when you think all is said and done, there’s still enough time to get their man in the field on the show. International man of mystery Jason Kim calls in to share his wants and desires for a hypothetical James Bond movie too!

This is the big one, listeners!

Hello dear listeners!

Production on No Time to Die has been in full swing for a few months already and fans all over the world anticipate that the film's marketing campaign will rev up in a matter of weeks. Yes, a new James Bond movie looms on the beautiful horizon.

That's all fine and dandy, but in order to keep this multi-billion dollar franchise alive, you gotta think long term. Be two steps ahead of the competition. Keep them thinking you're concentrating on one thing when you're actually multitasking, planning what comes after. That's precisely why Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson got in touch with Mathieu and Edgar to start working on Bond 26*. After some very, very productive meetings, the hosts have returned to the studio to share each of their own versions of what the next James Bond movie could be like.

And lest it be misunderstood, no stone was left unturned. Matt and Edgar dive deep into their meticulous thought process for all kinds of aspects about the projects: writer, director, cast, locations, action scenes, title song and artist, etc. Make no mistake about it listeners, the hosts express their true visionary bravura and how they can keep the film series going with unmistakably stupendous movies.

Failing that, at least they are (relatively) confident their ideas are better than whatever came out of James Bond Jr. Probably.

So get ready to be transported into the world of James Bond as conjured up by Matt and Edgar as they present:

"My Enemy’s Enemy" (Mathieu)

And

"A Picture Worth a Thousand Deaths" (Edgar)

*the hosts are not at liberty of either confirming or denying the veracity of such a statement, although they have been known for tooting their own horn inspired by baseless, factually inaccurate claims before....