What to expect from the new James Bond film?

So as we're getting closer to the latest James Bond movie 'No Time to Die' finally being released, I think it's time to write a bit about the upcoming film and its prospects. Is there a chance that the movie is going to be any good and that the audiences are going to like it?

Indeed, ever since the Covid-19 pandemic hit last year and the release date has been postponed again and again, there has been speculation about the quality of the movie. Some have said there's no way it's going to work and that the producers are really worried about the movie.

So when it comes to my views about the upcoming film - as a writer and a teacher who uses Bond films to illustrate story structure - there are at least a couple of things to discuss. I think I have at least some sort of an idea what to expect from the movie.

Character-wise, the very first thing that needs to be addressed about the film has to do with the online complaints that the movie is going to be too 'woke'. Supposedly James Bond as agent 007 has lost his masculinity and is now part of the #metoo movement.

Indeed, since we have been told that there are also female 00-agents in the film's universe, that somehow kills the franchise. The producers have supposedly given in to the woke-crowd and those who want to emasculate the character, so all is lost now.

In reality though, the problem with this argument is that even though some of these 'new' elements can be interpreted as 'pandering', these female elements aren't actually new. We've already had strong female characters over the years that have made Bond look even 'weak'.

Indeed, when you think about how in 'Thunderball (1965)' the Bond girl kills the villain and saves Bond or how in 'The Spy Who Loved Me'  (1977) 007 has an equal Russian partner, how is that different? This time the female 00-stuff even happens mostly off screen. 

Story-wise, the biggest challenge with the new upcoming film is that the producers have been struggling with the franchise for quite some time. Ever since 'Golden Eye' was released in 1995 after a 6 year hiatus, there have been problems in figuring out what the whole thing is about.

Indeed, once Soviet Union ceased to exist, that changed not only the real world but especially the James Bond universe. Once the almost mythical cold war and its many insanities ended (spying, stacking up nukes etc.), it had a big effect on the franchise.

Film-wise, it's not a secret that Brosnan's last two films lacked any kind of relevance or excitement, whereas Craig's post 'Casino Royale' films (implausible poker plot) weren't that good either. They were basically average at best 'Jason Bourne' & 'Mission Impossible' imitations.

Script-wise, another big problem with the franchise has been that the quality of screenwriters working on these films has gone drastically down lately. Ever since Bruce Feirstein wrote 'GoldenEye' and Cubby Broccoli passed away, the films have been mostly written by hacks.

After all, every Bond movie after 'Tomorrow Never Dies' has been written or co-written together by two guys (named Neal Purvis and Robert Wade). This duo who co-wrote the latest movie is also responsible for the mostly lame and unfunny Johnny English films.

In contrast, when the franchise was living its golden age quality-wise, most of the films were written by writers who knew how to tell a story. These guys like Richard Maibaum - who contributed to almost every Connery & Moore films - actually had real talent and craftsmanship. 

In that sense, when it comes to the upcoming movie and the whole thing, especially considering that the last film 'Spectre' had a bad story structure, I can't say that I'm that hopeful. I can't be that optimistic about 'No Time to Die', even though part of me wants to do that.

After all, when you look at the trailer of the film, there's no question that it admittedly looks pretty good. Based on what we're shown, it actually looks like it could be a solid and entertaining movie - even though other aspects tell that the movie isn't going work.

Still, when it's all said and done, when it comes to the quality of the final product, we won't be able to tell for sure before it is released. We don't know yet and have to wait for three more months before we can tell how good or bad it is (September 30th release in my country).

In that sense, in the end, we can only hope that Daniel Craig's final Bond is going to be an entertaining one. We can hope that it's going to be a solid movie, although the chances are that it won't be and that it will be a pretty flawed movie with some redeeming qualities in it.

'Friends: The Reunion' reviewed.

So when it comes to the current state of sitcoms on television, it's pretty clear that things are not going great. At the moment, there aren't any live-action sitcoms on tv that are popular and that people would actually be talking about. 

Indeed, once 'Modern Family', a popular & award winning comedy went off the air a couple of years ago, after that there haven't been any new sitcoms to watch. All the new shows have been painfully unfunny and not even remotely entertaining, if we're being honest here. 

So naturally, once I noticed that there was a reunion episode of 'Friends', a show that everyone watched back in the day, I felt somewhat excited. Even though the series had been off the air for seventeen years already, I knew I had to watch the two hour special. 

Having now seen the reunion show last week, I have to say that overall I'm fairly glad that I managed to watch the episode. There's enough solid stuff in it for the fans, even though there's some pretty obvious problems too that need to be addressed. 

Premise-wise, it has to be said that a lot of people were a bit disappointed that we didn't get a new scripted episode that would have followed these six characters. It's something that didn't happen, because the creators and the actors simply didn't want to do that. 

Indeed, the reason for this was that since in the series finale every character got a happy ending and a positive send off, the audience already got what they wanted. If they'd have given us a '15 year later' episode, it would have been bound to be disappointing. 

At the same time, just because we didn't get a 'scripted' episode, that doesn't mean that we didn't get anything. What we did get was a special where the actors were as themselves talking about the show and the characters (+ doing some table reads too).

Not surprisingly, looks-wise, since it was already 17 years when the last episodes aired and 27 years since the first episode premiered, the actors now looked different. They were obviously older and had clearly aged during this years - some more gracefully than the others. 

Content-wise, what I liked most about the special was when we saw them visiting the old set of the show. This was a stage that they hadn't visited once the series finale was shot in 2004 (it was immediately disassembled after the finale). 

Indeed, as you kept watching and listening to them talking with each other about the series and doing a light hearted quiz, I felt good about the whole thing. Clearly there was a reason why the show worked as well as it did during its run (the producers chimed in too).

Substance-wise, I also liked when they had a table readings about some of their favorite episodes. It was pretty heart-warming how seriously they still took their characters and became Joey, Rachel, Phoebe, Ross, Monica and Chandler as actors.

At the same time, even though I did like a lot of the things in the reunion special, there were some things that didn't work. It was clear that the producers of the special were trying way too hard and didn't have enough respect for the original show.

Indeed, as the special went along, it among other things kept introducing us to celebrities that had nothing to do with the show, like David Beckham. The celebrity parade that also included Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and some female 'stars' was simply unneeded padding.

Furthermore, I honestly wasn't a big fan of James Corden interviewing the cast in front of an audience. Not only was this a bit awkward and overlapped with the content, but the rest of the stuff here - like runaway modeling - was also pretty embarrassing. 

Still, when you put it all together and think about the special as a whole, despite these obvious weaknesses that made it too long, these mistakes didn't ruin it. There were still enough good moments that managed to save it from being a letdown (the actors saved it). 

In that sense, if you were a fan of 'Friends' as a series or have recently been watching it on Netflix (or wherever it might be available), you should probably give this special go. You should give the reunion a chance and see if you'll manage to like it. 

After all, even though the special could have been better, considering that there aren't solid sitcoms on air, the reunion as a whole was still okay. It was okay and showed that even though things are bleak for sitcoms right now, there was a time when they were actually great.

Combining work and writing isn't easy.

So when it comes to my life and how things have gone lately, it can be said that at least work-wise, things have been pretty good. I got an extension to my contract at our school and will be spending the upcoming fall season with my students too. 

Indeed, even though it seemed that there were going to be some budgets cuts that would affect our staff, those thankfully didn't happen. Our city managed to find extra funding for the students that wanted to take part in our afternoon classes, so my job is safe for now. 

At the same time, even though 'work-wise' things have gone well, it has to be said that as a writer, I haven't been as productive as I thought I would be. Despite my intentions, I haven't been able to meet all my quotas that I had set for myself lately.

For example, when I started working on my new book project, it didn't take that long before I noticed that it would likely be too much work to write it as a side project. Even though I did some stuffs with it, it turned out to be too demanding. 

Blog-wise, over the last few weeks I also lacked energy to write enough articles (lack of ideas to write about). Since I was worrying about the extension of my contract and some stuff about my personal life, it was difficult to concentrate on the blog (it's great therapy for me though). 

Creatively speaking, the biggest challenge has been that ever since I started working with kids, this job has been - even though I enjoy it - rather demanding. The job, even though 'only' five hours a day during weekdays, can be rather involving and emotionally draining.

Indeed, when you work with kids that require your attention (issues like Adhd, language barriers, super sensitivity, selective mutism etc.), it's just something that takes your energy. It consumes me, especially considering that I'm an introverted person (although socially talented). 

In contrast, now that I've been on a vacation for two days, I've noticed that things are different already. I feel that I'm becoming my 'normal' self, have tons free time and don't have to worry about things, which gives me so much more energy to do creative stuff.

After all, even though I have already done some preparation for the fall season (read a special ed teacher's master thesis) and visited old friends at a foundation, I feel different. I feel that I can concentrate on having a writer's identity and start writing bigger stuff again.

In that sense, now that I'm on vacation for the next 8 or 9 weeks, I can only hope that I'll be able to get back to my book writing project. Hopefully I'll be able to progress with it and come up with a solid structure that would eventually lead to a good story.

After all, even though it won't be an easy project to come up with an entertaining story in only two months or so, it's not something that is impossible to do. I shouldn't be thinking that I won't be able to do 'enough' during that time as a writer.

On the contrary, if I manage to get a solid structure that makes sense from start to finish, that's what matters the most. It's the hardest part of the equation and if I manage to do that, the rest I can 'brute force' as a side project when I get to back to work in August.