The James Bond Complex

Hold the Aston Martins! What just happened? 

Uh, hello dear listeners....assuming there are any of you left.

Mathieu and Edgar aren't sure what happened a couple of days ago on April 1st. Our memories are a bit hazy. All we can remember is sitting down to record a balanced, honest review of "Casino Royale" 1967 in our studio at restaurant Chez Edgar, and then maybe noticing some funny pills in our drinks. Before it was too late, we were both hiccupping strange, cartoon animated and multicoloured puffs of smoke before blacking out.

But we've returned from wherever we were! Yes, we figured it was high time we give the 60s spoof version of Casino Royale a fair shake. In fact, there is a lot of shaking and rattling in this episode. Alas, the film has become something of a punching bag within the Bond fan community, but is the dubious reputation warranted? Tune in this week to find out!

And just in case any of you are hesitant to listen to a review of this much maligned movie, we'd like to point out that "the double taking pigeon is never attentive to the passerby that chooses not to commute with an inflatable gondola in the street, but rather, must always look twice at the passerby that drives such a vehicle."

Don't understand the connection? Ah, you will. You will!

Hello, dear listeners!

Many James Bond fans believe that Sean Connery is the best cinematic interpretation of Ian Fleming’s iconic literary character. Since Mathieu and Edgar have run the gamut of Connery 007 adventures, including 1983’s unofficial Never Say Never Again, they figured it was time to give the big man his due with an extremely thorough Connery Debriefing. Connery’s Bond is the stuff of legend, and with 7 total films to look back on, small wonder that the hosts have so much to discuss. 

Following the template of the Fleming Debriefing, the lads share a mind numbing collection of top 3s, top 5s, top 7s, (consistency, like with the franchise itself, it not the host’s strong point…). Who can forget such important, iconic moments in Connery’s tenure: shooing Dink away for ‘’man talk’’ by slapping her on the toosh, the classic barnyard scene in GF with Pussy, telling Quarrel to fetch his shoes in DN, not caring one iota when Aki is killed in and then boning Kissy in YOLT, sending Tilly to certain death at the hands of Oddjob in GF? *

Connery, you’re the man and we shine the spotlight on you!

*examples of iconic Connery moments are for marketing purposes of this episode only and may or may not feature in our actual rankings. People that put those moments into practice in real life do so at their own risk. The James Bond Complex will not be held responsible for any sexual or race related controversies listeners may themselves in by using those scenes as examples for real world behaviour. 

We have lawyers everywhere!

(The James Bond Complex TM, 2019)

There are a lot of Bond 25 rumors around these days. For a change of pace we have a review of "L'orchestre à vents de musique de film" 's James Bond themed concert. https://www.ovmf.qc.ca/  ANd our interaction with the Montreal X-men that attended the event, trading their adamtium claws for Walther Ppk's https://www.facebook.com/montrealxmen/

Hello, dear listeners!

Oh, the suspense is killing us!!!

What is Matt’s number 1 literary Bond Girl?!? You’ve had a week to figure it out. How many of you believe to have the right answer?

Well, for that and so much more you’ll just have to download and listen to this week’s episode as Mathieu and Edgar conclude, like for real this time, their discussion about Ian Fleming’s James Bond.  More categories, more unique answers, more twists and turns, more suspense, always more. When it comes to talking about James Bond, just like Fleming, the hosts are more than happy to oblige and deliver. 

More crucial still, the many discussions all lead up to the biggest, most important category of them all: their personal rankings of all 14 books. Which is the wet noodle of the bunch? Which are ranked unexpectedly low? Unexpectedly high? And, which book is each host’s ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE novel?

How’s THAT to wet your appetite?

**The audio clips in this episode are from a 1963 interview with the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) and another conversation from ’63 in a programme called Desert Island Discs, courtesy of the BBC.

Bonjour, cher auditoire!

Bienvenues de nouveau à Mission Déclassifiée, la version francophone du James Bond Complex.*

Pardon, vous n’êtes jamais aller à Istanbul en Turquie? Oh, mais c’est absolument magnifique comme ville. La beauté du Bosphore, éclairée par la lueur de la lune, est irrésistible. Tenez donc compagnie avec Mathieu et Edgar pour y faire un tour et découvrir des sensations de toutes sortes. Mieux encore, nous aurons un troisième mousquetaire, Nabil Belhassen, un ami d’enfance d’Edgar, invité ce mois-ci pour discuter du second film de la série, ‘’Bons baisers de Russie’’.

Les plaisirs que le trio succulent dans cet épisode sont innombrables. La masseuse de l’assassin Red Grant, la copine de James, Sylvia Trench, la ravissante Tatiana Romanova, la jolie Moneypenny, les danseuses gypsy, et bien sûr, dernière mais surtout pas la moindre, l’inoubliable Colonel Rosa Klebb. Ah oui, il y en aura pour tous les goûts!

Plusieurs questions s’imposent aussi : Bond est-il trop nonchalant durant ses péripéties pour protéger le Lektor? Combien existent de copies du sexe tape filmé par le Spectre? Quelles leçons peuvent tirer le Spectre suite à leurs tentatives d’assassiner 007 dans ce film? Est-ce que Quantum of Solace est un bon film Bond? Bref…

*SVP. Ne commencez pas cet épisode comme à la normal! Il est très important de cliquer 3 fois sur ‘play’ pour faire jouer l’épisode sans que la boîte de gaz lacrymogène placée dans votre ordinateur n’explose dans votre face. Merci, et bonne écoute.

Mission Déclassifiée vous invite à décourir les oeuvres d'écrivain de notre invité Nabil. Lisez ses nouvelles à Phantessais.com et cosultez sa page Facebook.

Hello, dear listeners!

Like a long-winded film that offers multiple endings before you can finally relieve yourselves in the washroom, we simply can’t say ‘’au revoir’’ to Ian Fleming just yet. After 14 books, 2 of which became 2-part episodes (FYEO and OHMSS), hosts Mathieu and Edgar knew they had to provide the Commander with the send off he justly deserves. After all, the very basis of the show is “From FLEMING, to the films, and everything in between!”

In that light, here is Part 1 of a very special debriefing, one for which we go through the Fleming cannon with a finely toothed comb, starting with an overview of the literary 007 timeline before embarking on a audacious number of categories by which we rank our favourite elements from all the books. In some cases we thought a little bit outside the box for our categories, whereas in other instances we got creative with our answers! 

Here we go for one last serving of scrambled eggs and one final early morning swim on the Goldeneye beach. 

*The audio clips in this episode are from a 1963 interview with the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) and another conversation from ’63 in a programme called Desert Island Discs, courtesy of the BBC.

Hello dear listeners!

We’d like to take a moment of your time and speak to you seriously.

Are you tired of wondering why you’ve not been upgraded to 00 status yet?

Are you growing frustrated of always striking out when at bat…or when attempting “other things?”

Are you fed up of work colleagues always bringing you down by telling you to stop talking about or showing off your “sordid escapades” or “adolescent antics?”

Has your patience run its limits with the unfinished, untested DB10s you steal?

Well, don’t worry anymore because there’s hope. Hope in the form of inspiration. This week on the show, Mathieu and Edgar reveal what keeps them alive (it’s not loneliness!)  by sharing the aspects of the James Bond films they take inspiration from and apply in their daily lives.  How many doors have to be held until someone finally pities them and begrudgingly agrees to sleep with them? How good does it feel to finally let go of your former friend-turned-enemy’s foot, sending them to certain death from the top of a ginormous satellite? How important is it to quit your job to help a friend in need? How much better does it feel to launch insults at a cripple about their handicap? All this and more on this week’s episode of The James Bond Complex!

Don’t have time to listen to the show just yet? Well, life’s full of small challenges. 

Hello, dear listeners!

One of the driving philosophies that Mathieu and Edgar hung onto when birthing The James Bond Complex was to “make podcasting great again.” We wanted 007 podcasting to be a force to be reckoned with, a leader in quality debating. That powerful inspiration came from none other than the bold Victoria Hunt, CEO in waiting of Hunt Engineering from “Hammerhead.”* Yes, after a prolonged absence the show returns to the Dynamite Entertainment comics. A new writer-artist team is on board (Andy Diggle and Luca Casalanguida) and we cannot wait to see how they deliver the goods. So many questions abound. Will they go out all guns blazing or will the fuse fizzle? Does one have to read between the tea leaves to understand the fall of the British empire or just blame the Charlie Browns of the world? How soon is too soon to plug a grieving woman after she’s lost her father?

Release the KRAKEN!!!!

*Any similarities between what appears in this synopsis or the actual episode and real world personalities and events are purely coincidental and not the responsibility of The James Bond Podcast or its affiliates. No egos were bruised during this recording. The hosts may in fact be winking and having a laugh behind the mic…but they’ll never tell. 

Rumors are true.  James Bond will return... just a little bit later!