Of Masters And Puppets
OP/ED By The Colonel
‘Truth, truth, truth, cried the lord of the abyss.’
— Aleister Crowley, 33rd Degree Freemason and founder of O.T.O
‘Freemasonry, like all the religions, all the mysteries, Hermeticism and alchemy, conceals its secrets from all except The Adepts and Sages, or The Elite, and uses false explanations and misinterpretations of its symbols to mislead those who deserve only to be misled; to conceal the Truth, which it calls Light, from them, and to draw them away from it. The truth is not for those who are unworthy or unable to receive it, or would pervert it.
The truth must be kept secret, and the masses need a teaching proportioned to their imperfect reason. -Albert Pike, 33rd Degree Freemason and founder of The Ku Klux Klan
‘The great strength of our Order lies in its concealment; let it never appear in any place in its own name, but always concealed by another name, and another occupation. None is fitter than the lower degrees of Freemasonry; the public is accustomed to it, expects little from it, and therefore takes little notice of it. Next to this, the form of a learned or literary society and the media are best suited to our purpose; and these may be much more than covers, these may be powerful engines in our hands. A Literary Society and the media are the most proper forms for the introduction of our Order into any state.’
-Adam Weishaupt, founder of Illuminati
In one the of the most famous scenes of The Godfather, singer Johnny Fontane, Don Vito Corleone’s godson, asks for help in landing a movie role that will revitalize his flagging career. Family consigliere Tom Hagen is dispatched to California to meet with studio head Jack Woltz. After initially refusing to cast Fontane, Woltz caves in when he finds the severed head of his prized racehorse Khartoum in his bed the next morning. This scene is depicted in the movie, while in Mario Puzo’s novel, we see how Johnny Fontane gets the role and features in the movie, and through his godfather’s influence he wins an Oscar for his performance. The Godfather is a work of fiction, but like all good works of fiction, it’s based on facts and realities of life in America, a country bought and sold by cultural, economical and political mobsters.
We live in a country where national, political and industrial leaders swear their allegiance to secret, shadowy organizations and societies instead of the people who support and trust them with their lives and livelihood, vote for them and follow them to wars. Secret societies such as Skull & Bones which refer to the masses as Barbarians, cattle and savages. This society, founded by drug lord and opium trader William Huntington Russell in 1832 at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, has included presidents, cabinet officers, Supreme Court justices, captains of industry, and often their sons and lately their daughters, a social and political network like no other. 16 of 44 American presidents including George Bush father and son are lifetime member of this secretive cabal that each year, only accepts 15 new members. As a part of their initiation, new members wrestle in mud, masturbate naked in a coffin and confess to their sexual desires and perversions in front of the old members. Welcome to the bizarre, dark and macabre world of your leaders.
Secret societies often integrate with one another; the same people are members of several secretive cabals: Albert Pike, the founder of The Ku Klux Klan, was a 33rd degree Freemason. Adam Weishaupt, the founder of Illuminati was also a Freemason; and so was Aleister Crowley, the mysterious magician and the founder of O.T.O, occultist and NASA scientist Jack Parsons and the list goes on. These secretive net works, despite of having differences in theory and practice, all pursuit the same goal and purpose: Total domination and ultimate power. They know and understand in order to deceive, influence and manipulate the masses, they need more than magicians, occultists and politicians; they need attractive, charming, household friendly faces. They need stars, and that’s when celebrities come to play.
An overwhelming number of celebrities have connections with shadowy secret societies: Gene Autry, America’s favorite singing cowboy and the owner of Los Angeles Angels Major League Baseball team, was a 33rd degree Freemason, Madonna is a passionate advocate of Kabbalah, and Tom Cruise is the movie star turned Scientology poster boy. Secret societies recruit celebrities for three main purposes: To attract support, gain and increase their public legitimacy and brain wash the masses. When I talk about the brain washing, you may think of The Manchurian Candidate and radical projects such as MK-Ultra, and imagine a zombie-like, gun totting assassin, lurking in the shadows. That’s not the case here. What I mean by brain washing is that you pay attention and listen to your favorite celebrities, because you trust them; and in taking advantage of your trust, they provide you with lies, misinformation and misrepresentation. They affect and cloud your judgment, and direct your will in the direction which suits their purpose. Let me give you some examples:
Dan Brown became famous by writing conspiracy novels. In Angels & Demons, the first book in Robert Langdon novels, the professor of religious iconology and symbology at Harvard University confronts Illuminati. According to Brown, Illuminati are a group of renegade scientists who seek revenge against The Catholic Church and Vatican, while historical accounts indicate that Illuminati were a shadowy, subversive German net work that was plotting to overthrow the governments of America and Europe and establish a one world fascist, totalitarian government. After being dismantled by the German government in 1785, members of Illuminati joined other secret societies, most notably The Freemasonry, and their influence in culture, economy and politics continues to this day.
In The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown’s latest novel, Robert Langdon confronts Freemasonry. According to Brown, Freemasonry is a modern day Christian boys club. There is a black sheep in every flock, hence there are some evil Freemasons who plot to do evil without the consent, knowledge and support of their club, but those evil Freemasons are few and rare. In general, Freemasons are a group of goofy old men who like to wear funny clothes and play silly games. Historical accounts indicate that nothing could be further from the truth: Freemasonry is the continuation, in other words, reincarnation of The Order of the Temple AKA The Knights Templar; its belief system, traditions and rituals go back to ancient Babylon and Sumer, and its influence on all aspects of humanity from culture to economy, politics, etc. is global and often sinister. So the question is who is Dan Brown? How did he rise to such fame and fortune in such a short time; who supports him, and why he constantly, deliberately and purposely spins the facts and misrepresents history? Several accounts and testimonies indicate that Dan Brown has close ties to Freemasonry, and this ancient, powerful cabal favors and supports him. That explains a lot.
Here is another example, a little something to blow your mind: Peter Jennings was the sole anchor of ABC’s World News Tonight from 1983 until his death in 2005 of complications from lung cancer. He was one of the most respected and trusted journalists in the world who dedicated his career to debunking, discrediting and ridiculing alternate science, independent research and conspiracy theories. In his two hour special about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, he concluded that the president was shot and killed by Lee Harvey Oswald, a paranoid lone gun man who acted on his own, and there were no conspiracies of any kind involved. In his two hour special about the UFOs, he concluded that the Roswell incident was the crash of a military balloon and had nothing to with the extra-terrestrials, UFO sightings are bogus, alien abductees are delusional lying, lunatics; and reduced the entire UFO study and research to a single man who collects unreliable, scientifically inaccurate and implausible eyewitness reports from his home office. Recently, it was revealed that Peter Jennings was a frequent guest who was attending The Bilderberg Group meetings for more than two decades, ever since he started at ABC news anchor. Every year, The Bilderberg Group hold their unofficial, invitation only conferences of around 130 guests, all of whom are persons of influence in the fields of politics, business, banking, the military and media. Each conference is closed to the public and the press. This group which consists of members of every shadowy cabal from Freemasonry to Skull & Bones, The Church of Scientology, etc. is constantly accused of secretive and nefarious plots, from electing the world leaders, prime ministers and presidents to the formation of The World Trade Organization and plans for a single global government. In that regard, Bilderberg founding member and, for 30 years, a steering committee member, Denis Healey said:
‘To say we were striving for a one world government is not wholly unfair. We feel that a single community throughout the world would be a good thing.’
Imagine your respected, trusted journalist who assures you and your beloved family that there are no conspiracies and no lies, sitting behind closed doors, getting instructions from those who are directly responsible for conspiracies which he denies and calls fairy tales. Like a puppet in the hands of his skillful masters, he is being schooled on how to conceal and cover up the truth, deceit, deflect, lie and brain wash the masses. It’s a grim, shocking and sickening picture, but then again as Arthur C. Clarke says: The truth is often stranger than fiction.
“You will do what I say. Back to front. You will die when I say. Back to front. You coward. You servant. You blind man”.
Yes the truth is stranger than fiction and much more fascinating.
Peter Jennings is a good focal point for audiences because it illiminates the illuminati in fine form. He was a likeable, trust worthy seeming kind of guy. But I remember when seeing that presentation of how Oswald has been concluded to be the killer of JFK, it seemed that anyone who’s done any research on that subject should put together that the corporate mass media is controlled, and thus so are our minds!
All these years later they’re still bullshitting us about that one.
Conspiracy 101 in America could start with JFK. Once people can accept the facts on that one, then it’s time to jump down the rabbit hole.
What a total load of crap. These lame April Fools jokes are really getting old.
I wish the Colonel were joking Robert. I think you accidentally commented here in regards to the “Ain’t Not Gone with the Wind” write-up. Well, at least April 1st only happens once a year.
Jeremy Steele says:
‘Conspiracy 101 in America could start with JFK. Once people can accept the facts on that one, then it’s time to jump down the rabbit hole.’
True, and once you jump down the rabbit hole, you’ll find some plausible theories, some far fetch theories and some absolutely, completely asinine theories. Some of the most bizarre, insane and weird conspiracy theories:
Barack Obama is The Antichrist.
Lee Harvey Oswald had a doppelgänger.
UFOs fly from a Nazi underground base in Antarctica.
The world is run by a race of blood drinking, shape shifting lizards that come from a planet in constellation Draco.
On September 11, 2001, when the twin towers were burning in fire, faces of demons appeared in the smokes.
I could go on, but I believe you got the picture. Some of these theories are so stupid and wild that make you wonder who in the world would come up with something like that. Possibly the government generates and spreads some of the most insane conspiracy theories as an act of disinformation: Once naïve, inexperienced and uneducated people face these kinds of theories, they think all conspiracy theories are this bogus and ridiculous, and will stay away from the entire subject. The area of conspiracy research, like any other research area, is saturated with so much noise. You have to seek and find the right frequency.
Robert, you’re either on the wrong thread or you’re not. Either way, you’re an idiot.
I’ve seen those photos, different photos of different demons from different angles. Eerie. Someone claims it’s not demons or the devil, but Bin Laden (Ha). Actually, one looks exactly like the devil on the shroud of my Black Sabbath “The Mob Rules” L.P. cover.
Don’t forget if you roll up- what is it the 5 dollar bill?, you can see the towers on fire. This might be fun or interesting stuff, but of course, you shouldn’t use things like this to prove conspiracy theories.
Nazi UFOS, shape-shifting reptiles nesting underground, Obama as the anti-christ. Hey, anything’s possible. Oswald definitely had some doubles at the time.
But yeah, deal with fringe theories last, once you’ve exhausted yourself or need a break from researching all the important stuff.
I’ve pondered the possibility that victims’ spirits could form a cloud formation as a way of communicating, but these kinds of fantasy speculations are not important or relevant to questions of complete defensive failure that day.
In fact I’ve also seen the pictures of supposed demons appearing in twin towers smokes on September 11, 2001. Here is the problem with these kinds of theories: Once your mind is preoccupied and you have a pre-perception of something, when you put a spin on something and are determined to, for example find certain clues in certain pictures, then eventually you’ll find what you’re looking for. It doesn’t mean it’s there, it means your mind had made it up. In that regard, seeing demons in twin towers smokes is no different than seeing a picture of Virgin Mary at your backyard door.
However, I’ll tell you what baffles me: I don’t understand why whenever The Elite orchestrate a high profile conspiracy (i.e. assassination of John F. Kennedy, moon landing, 9/11 attacks, Iraq war, etc.) they conduct their plans in such a clumsy, ludicrous and redundant manner and leave too many clues, raise so much doubt and fail so miserably at covering up their mess. Perhaps like Robert Anton Wilson said: The biggest conspiracy of all is the conspiracy of stupid.
Personally, I don’t rule out the possibility of omens, messages. At the same time, I would never try to convince anyone else of it.
I’ve had paranormal experiences before. Once I was at at a cemetary and felt this intense energy while in a masoleum.
Capnomancy (AKA libanomancy) is a form of divination in which answers are sought by interpreting movement and shape of smoke.
A&E has a “Civil War Ghosts” CD collection.
There’s definitely a pattern with haunted places. Locales that have seen tragedy, deaths, suicide, and other emotional and physical traumas seem to have more ghostly activity than more mundane locations.
Anyway, regarding sloppy cnonspiracies:
The feasts of the obscene leaves lot of messes.
Conpiracies of evil (mass murder for profit) are all participated by people who are not conscious souls, therefore it includes participants who are a bit thick in the skull. But as you’ve pointed out, Colonel, so are we, as we have been conditioned to be.
The fact that these people have successfully sold lies of physical impossiblities as the official story in the past, such as a truck filled with fertilizer causing the damage it did to the Murrah building in OK City (and the later surpressed initial local news reports of multiple bombs
going off in that building), this gives confidence of pulling things off no matter how ridiculous.
Some of the ridiulous aspects of the 9/11 scam:
One of the alleged 9/11 pilots clean passport
was found on top of the WTC wreckage.
Testimony that the alleged hijackers
were at a titty bar, drinking the night before 9/11
being loud, obnoxious, attracting attention to themselves and bragging about attacking America then leaving a copy of the koran. Suicidal hijackers
have to be orthodox and obstaining if they are to
have the chance to go to heaven with 77 virgins for all eternity. Otherwise any martyr mission has no reward in Allah’s heaven.
The idea that any plane could hit the Pentagon
considering that it has ground launch missles
surrounding it, the air force nearby, not to
mention well over an hour warning that we were under attack with the the WTC having been hit.
The idea that all 4 black boxes holding valuable flight recordings were somehow damaged so we can’t hear what supposedly happened on board.
The fact that they had a list of hijackers
names so quickly when none of these people were on the flight passenger lists.
Lots of other details too…
But the point is we’ve been conditioned to
into uncommon sense and believing rediculous impossibilities when we watch movies (such as “Casino Royale”).
I think the makers of James Bond even know of the scams going on and it’s affected their persona. Insider trading regarding put options on United and American airlines was mentioned by M to Bond. Also in Casino Royale a building collapses. Buildings have never collapsed except due to earthquakes and demolitions prior to 9/11. Now Bond isn’t fun any more. It reflects on their franchise’s current main character who kills people needlessly and has little to no charm or outward feeling…
Ok, now. I decided to re-watch James Bond; Casino Royale, and jump to the building going under water scene. Here we go…
Now pay attention to this closely, folks.
About 2 hours 9 minutes into it (where they’ve presumed you must’ve aready fallen brain-dead at this point and just bumping along to the excitement like a fk’n puppet), our sociopathic hero, James “Daniel” Bond decides to shoot what appears to be a water tank.
Then, mysteriously all of a fuckin’ sudden, the ENTIRE structure of that building is more unstable than a school kid on microsoft windows doing a google search on “lesbians”.
Of course it then proceeds to collapse, just sort of like 9/11. Well, me being a self-proclaimed and ordained “9/11 Truthologist”, and knowing a few details on the subject, I concluded that this was an indirect way of brainwashing us with the fictitious notions of: 1a. How easy it is for buildings to get as jittery as a heroin addict on withdrawel, and then fall faster than some assholes’ careers… and, 1b. Suggest or confirm that the best guess of why WTC building 7 fell because someone maybe blew up a gas tank under the building and thus made it just fall like the demolition of one of them over the hill vegas casinos
To me, this combination of M’s mentioning of the 9/11 inside stock trading tips on the two airlines involved in the wtc disasters, along with that scene where the more “settled down” in heart James Bond loses his girlfriend… so he can go “boo hoo” on the inside, maybe show a tad more emotion and get more sociopathic for the next James Bond movie…. these are trying to both tell or sell us something and refect it’s own affect reality has had on “entertainment”.
Hey, what ever happened to all the hot broads who died around you and it was like “Oh well. Next…”?
I think we can all agree that post 911 James Bond is a different man in a different time with a different attitude, doing the best he can with a ridiculous script. Hey, the locations are still nice, at least.
They need to work on the music too. Even they’re falling asleep to this shit.
I lot of people, the majority actually that I’ve read amazon reviews of, love this movie.
I always wonder about amazon reviews, however. Regardless, if you can have more of a Larry-like: “It’s just a movie” mentality, then that certainly makes it more interesting and entertaining, I suppose.
You ever have one of those looks on your face, like, “Yeah, sure”, “Not again” or “Did that idiot just say that?”, “WTF”? Well, I did through most of it.
I had asked Cindi if I could do a whole article analyizing “Casino Royale” in particular
“and it’s representation of and effects upon Society 101” and she said “no” because it would have nothing to do with porn.
Jeremy Steele says:
‘I think we can all agree that post 9/11 James Bond is a different man in a different time with a different attitude, doing the best he can with a ridiculous script.’
That’s because James Bond movies have a certain flexibility, and always adapt to the current mood and trend of society and cinema. For example in the 1970’s, when Star Wars was released and started a sci-fi frenzy, James Bond took his adventures to outer space in Moonraker. Consequently, the 2000’s saw a shift towards a complex, grim and tragic antihero trend which was kick started with Jason Bourne movies and TV series like 24. So it was natural for Bond movies to go towards that trend.
I don’t see James Bond as contract assassin at The Elite’s service. I see him as a lone wolf, an adventurer, an adrenaline junkie with a dark past and personal motives. There’s a definitive scene in Golden Eye, where Bond gets into a brutal fight with his arch nemesis Alec Trevelyan, former agent 006 who betrayed Bond and joined Russians. When they’re both are hanging from a large satellite, Bond is holding Trevelyan from his legs and is about to drop him down. Trevelyan says in a taunting voice: For England, James. Bond replies: No, for me; and drops him to his death. That’s a key scene to understanding Bond’s mindset and motives.
On the other hand, how can James Bond movies be criticized for the lack of realistic accuracy? They’re fantasy movies, they have always been fantasy movies with über bad guys, deadly women and fascinating gadgets; and no matter what dangerous situation Bond gets involved in, he always survives, kicks some major ass and gets a fair share of pussy. It’s Bond. James Bond; and that’s just that. If you enjoyed 1970’s and 1980’s Bond movies featuring Roger Moore, if you believed Bond when he was wrestling Jaws at the edge of a telecabin in Moonraker or fist fighting Gobinda on the wings of a flying airplane in Octopussy or chasing Max Zorin on top of The Golden Gate bridge in A View to a Kill, then there’s no reason to criticize Bond for escaping from a collapsing building in Casio Royale, regardless of how that building collapses. I’m a diehard James Bond fan, I have a huge Bond collection consisting of everything from original novels to DVD collections, encyclopedia books, sculptures, etc; and I love all 6 actors who played Bond to this date. Each of them had brought something unique to the character. I look forward to seeing the new movie which currently is in pre-production.
Ok, man. Sounds like Bond’s your religion so I won’t criticize any of your popes. In spite of that, I thought you might dig a couple of my interpretations, such as M mentioning “inside trading”.
I remember Alex Jones was speculating why they’d mention it, as if someone within the Broccoli Production was trying to spark a mass awareness. I’d say it’s to just neutralize it by throwing it out there. Even Alex Jones and truthers are confused.
Also, the building. I couldn’t help but think that. You know the b.s. about the official version of how the towers came down. Same with Casino Royale. It’s hard for me to decide which scenario is dumber.
Both completely defy laws of physics, common sense and reality, but I guess that doesn’t matter…
Yeah I know it’s always been a bit on the unreal side a lot of times. I don’t look forward to those instances, honestly, but get a kick and/or laugh when it’s done well.
If Bond’s gonna be unreal than keep the characters fun, like Moore.
I want more Moore. Can we have a Roger Moore 007 prequel, have a guy that looks like a younger Moore? Maybe a younger Jaws with braces and Barbara Bach (barely legal with big boobs, or something). Remember that oil of oley lady?
And Moore can give us, the audience, a wink once in a while.
I better not give out any more ideas…
Anyway, it seems as if MI6 is doing damage control. You know gov’t and media usually have an incestuous sort of relationship. Also do you know about former MI5 or 6 employees spilling a few beans? The myths are dying and it seems they’re acting funny about it.
The stories of the real life James and Jane Bonds are more interesting; Real and real interesting.
I could get more into Casino Royale, in detail but you probably don’t want to hear it.
As for M mentioning inside trading and similarities between the collapse of the building in Casino Royale with 9/11 events, honestly I don’t read too much into it. I believe it’s more like seeing demons in twin towers smokes or the face of Virgin Mary at your backyard door. It’s an example of going too far down the rabbit hole. There are some people who always look to interpret one thing into another, for instance some weeks ago I came across a web site which claims to expose Illuminati symbolism in mainstream media. One article was explaining how the art cover of the latest Lady Gaga album means we are living in a state police. Another article was talking about the subliminal messages in the classic movie The Wizard of Oz. That’s pure speculation and too far fetch for me.
On the other hand, I believe the next James Bond movie will move more towards the fantasy mood of Roger Moore movies; and I’ll tell you why I believe that: Bond movies have a certain tempo of their own. Every time a Bond movie gets too serious, the next one is usually more fun and campy and vice versa. For example Goldfinger which came after From Russia with Love, a serious Bond movie, was a campy Bond movie. Consequently, when they took Bond too far in camp realm with Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only brought him back to a more serious level. In fact, one of the reasons Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson decided to replace Pierce Brosnan and reboot the franchise with Casino Royale, the very first James Bond novel, was because they felt Bond was gone too far in fantasy realm with Die another Day: Invisible car, laser weapon, ice fortress, etc. It was time to go back to the basics; and now it’s time to revisit camp realm.
As for the real spy stories in oppose to James Bond stories, I enjoy those stories too, if and when they’re done well. One of my favorite spy movies of all time is The Spy Who Came in from the Cold starring Richard Burton. It’s one of the most grim, hard hitting and realistic spy movies ever.
I love this topic, man. I can rant about James Bond and spy movies all day long.
I find these revelations about Casino Royale fascinating, especially since I loved the movie but never made these connections. I believe these plot pieces were put in as a subtle hint of Anti-Americanism by a European movie. Similar subtle Anti-Americanism was seen in the South Korean movie “The Host”.
And even further Canook James Cameron took another stab at America by casting an Aussie in the starring role in Avatar and of course all the other Anti-american references in the movie such as the Sterotypical bad guy marine, the environmental havoc caused by the enemy from earth (obviously meant to be American’s) etc. etc.
Oh, by the way Quantum of Solace sucked ass.
Never saw that Richard Burton movie. His last one he did before he died was “1984”. Great job. HOWEVER, DO NOT WATCH THE DVD VERSION. Get the VHS. For whatever reason, they took out or perhaps for legal reasons could not keep in the original tweeked Eurythmics soundtrack. It got replaced by this really lame classical music (I’m a classical music fan, but this music is aweful). It’s amazing the difference of feel or lack of it. The original score was masterfully done and gave a real surreal, melodic, disturbing and haunting feel to the movie, so if you have a VHS player and/or VHS-DVD converter, see if you can buy it on amazon. It was sort of like replacing John William’s Star Wars music with sloooow elevator music.
It’s a good thing in Casino Royale that Bond had double Aces (of course). Amazing luck he has. It makes me think of Monty Python’s Life of Brian when Brian is being chased by the Romans up a tower, he falls out and then a spaceship with one eyed aliens (with hands holding up their eye balls and big lips with lipstick on) happens to fly by and catch and save him, then continuing in a space battle before crashing in the same spot where it caught him. Python made me laugh because it was meant to be ridiculous. Casino Royale was equally as ridiculous but only made me just shake my head and silently groan.
I like far fetched speculations, some times. They might not prove anything but it doesn’t matter. There are fundamental facts to explore which do prove certain things. I’m not so gaga for Lady Gaga, so wouldn’t know, but hey, anything’s possible. Sometimes those kinds of interpretations are self-evident, it seems, other times they are ridiculous. Either way, they’re entertaining.
Someone said Lady gaga is the greatest thing going in music these days. That’s why I like to play my LPs. I’m tired of hearing gaga every fucking time I go to the gym.
It’s interesting though, if Lady Gaga is really trying to tell us we live in a police state, but her advice is to “just dance”.
Here’s an article on
The Transhumanist and Police State Agenda in Pop Music http://vigilantcitizen.com/?p=3306
Jeremy Steele says:
‘It’s a good thing in Casino Royale that Bond had double Aces (of course). Amazing luck he has.’
But of course, my friend, he’s James Bond. Playing poker in Bond movies is as traditional as kicking bad guy’s asses, banging hot chicks and drinking Vodka Martini, shaken, not stirred. In Dr. No, the first James Bond movie, we’re not introduced to Bond as he’s reporting for duty or writing a report or cleaning his gun. We’re introduced to him as he’s playing poker. Speaking of which, that poker scene in Casino Royale is directly adopted from the novel, the only difference is that in the novel, they play Baccarat while in the movie it’s Texas Hold’em. As for Quantum of Solace, I enjoyed and loved it even more than Casino Royale. Bond hasn’t gone rogue like this since License to Kill. Kudos to director Marc Forster for delivering such a ballsy Bond movie.
Man oh man, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is quintessential Richard Burton. Be sure to check it out. Another one of the greatest real spy movies of all time is Funeral in Berlin starring Michael Caine; and of course The Third Man starring the fabulous Orson Welles.
I have 1984 both on VHS and DVD, and the soundtrack does make a difference. I don’t understand why they messed up the DVD release by changing the soundtrack. Must be a conspiracy.
Has James Bond ever in his life lost a hand of cards?
Remember when some dude mistakes Bond for a valet guy and gives him his keys? Bond then crash parks the car into another, causing damage to multiple vehicles. Talk about a temper: This “hero” of ours is a psycho. He also, for no explained reason, breaks into M’s residence. I figure maybe he’d rape her or something, but she just tells him to never do it again.
I would add a lot more to what I’ve said far and from what I’ve read from others who have similar sentiments, but here’s some one star amazon reviews of Casino Royale I agree with:
——
I thought this film was a total disaster. It contains none of the features that made the old James Bond films fun to watch. No humour, no memorable supporting characters, no witty repartee, no exciting, wacky chases,no innuendos, no fiendishly elaborate but ineffectual attempts to dispose of Bond, nothing to delight the viewer. A distinct shortage of beautiful women for my husband to ogle (he was very discontented). And as for Bond himself, this one is entirely lacking in charm, character, and charisma. I will say nothing about the plot, as I found it completely incomprehensible from beginning to end.
I have always been a fan of the Roger Moore films myself, but this one made even Pierce Brosnan look good.”
—–
M was taken over by Judy Dench with the coming of Brosnan, yet all of a sudden we just stuck her in a pre-Connery role? This makes no sense.
——
a gratuitous torture part involving Bond’s wanker. Of course, in the very next scene, he’s back having sex again.
—–
Then, there’s the guy supposedly carrying around $150 million in a briefcase. Did the bank print up special bills or something so that they fit? Then, the briefcase gets dropped into the rushing flood waters inside an imploding building. Yet, moments later, we see some random bad guy walk off with the case, completely dry. You have to really stretch to believe this rubbish.
——
CASINO ROY-ILL
What new Bond film did everyone else see that they are raving about it? Was it during the Spiderman sequence as two man are scaling a construction site? Oh, and the chase through a construction site (popping in and out of shafts and construction holes) apparently so perfectly choreographed that it may as well be “A Chorus Line.” No one runs at top speed through a major construction site unscathed or unblocked shooting and skipping through unknown crevices, without slamming into some dangerous obstacle on the other side — ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!!!
——
where was Q, the wonderful gadgets and cool cars. Not to mention Bond driving a Ford come on that was sad.
—-
Martini shaken, not stirred? When a barman asks the new Bond whether he’ll take his martini shaken or stirred, Craig snaps “Do I look like I give a da*n?” Apparently the producers, Broccoli & Wilson, feel the same way, because they have killed the James Bond loved by millions and replaced him with what comes across as a classless, bumbling, sadistic psycho, who goes by the same name.
Jeremy Steele says:
‘Remember when some dude mistakes Bond for a valet guy and gives him his keys? Bond then crash parks the car into another, causing damage to multiple vehicles. Talk about a temper: This hero of ours is a psycho.’
James Bond doesn’t crash park dude’s car for no good reason. He does that to create a diversion so he can break into the surveillance room and check out the security camera footage and finds a clue about the person who sent the last text message to the terrorist he chased and killed in Madagascar.
As for Amazon reviews, who cares about a couple of reviews from a bunch of people who don’t know much about cinema and James Bond franchise? Perhaps they need to watch the movie again and do their home work. The fact is that Casino Royale is the highest grossing Bond movie, making $594,239,066 worldwide. As for critical reception, it’s also one of the most highly acclaimed Bond movies ever. Here is some data on that regard:
The Daily Telegraph compared the quality of Daniel Craig’s characterization of James Bond to Sean Connery’s and praised the script as smartly written, noting how the film departed from the series’ conventions. The Times compared the more assertive portrayal by Craig to Timothy Dalton, and praised the action as edgy, with another reviewer citing in particular the action sequence involving the cranes in Madagascar. Critics Paul Arendt of BBC Films, Kim Newman of Empire and Todd McCarthy of Variety all described Craig as the first actor to truly embody Ian Fleming’s James Bond from the original novel: Brutal, cold and deadly.
The movie was similarly well received in North America. Roger Ebert gave it a four out of four star rating, the first for any of the James Bond movies he reviewed. Ebert wrote:
‘Craig makes a superb Bond who gives the sense of a hard man, wounded by life and his job who nevertheless cares about people and right and wrong.’
Entertainment Weekly named the movie as the fifth best of the series, and chose Vesper Lynd as the fourth best Bond girl in the series. MSNBC gave the movie a perfect 5 star rating. The movie was described as taking James Bond back to his roots, similar to From Russia with Love, where the focus was on character and plot rather than the high tech gadgets and visual effects. Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie a rating of 94%, the highest rating for a wide release of the year. It is the fifth highest rating for a Bond movie on the site behind Goldfinger which received a 95%, From Russia with Love which received a 96%, and Dr. No with a 97% score. Metacritic gave the movie a Metascore of 81, signifying Universal Acclaim. Some critics were so impressed by Craig’s performance that considered him a viable candidate for an Academy Award nomination.
Ultimately, Casino Royale is just a movie; and like all movies, some like it, some don’t. To each his own.
I presume you’re enjoying this debate, Colonel, so let’s continue…
Good point, I guess, about crash parking the car as a diversion, although it could’ve easily attracted more attention to him rather than away from him.
I think the butter in all that popcorn Ebert’s been eating over the years has got to his brain.
He says “Craig makes a superb Bond who gives the sense of a hard man, wounded by life and his job who nevertheless cares about people and right and wrong”
“Cares about people and right and wrong”? Is this why he needlessly killed the first villain in the opening scene, as well as the next guy he was chasing who he himself said needed to be kept alive? I still don’t get that one. And, why did he need to shoot up
the embassy, anyway? Why couldn’t he have just walked in there with his credentials to capture the man he was looking for? Yeah, embassy’s offer protection, but MI5 could’ve followed him where ever he tries to go.
Le Chiffre is first introduced to Bond via an internet news article titled “British government agent kills unarmed prisoner”. The article
also shows a photograph of the “in cold blood” murder and reminds us of the ridiculous scenario with the still image showing Bond shooting a guy while 6 machine gunners are pointing at him yet still noone else fires as the victim is falling down from the shot. Then, Bond shoots the gas tank, allowing him to escape. Uh-huh.
The next scene I think is very telling, and in my opinion is worth analyzing, even though it’s just M rambling.
We are introduced again to M who says: “Who the hell do they think they are? I report to the Prime Minister and even he’s smart enough not to ask us what we do. Have you ever seen such a bunch of self-righteous, ass-covering prigs/pricks (not sure
what word she said)? They don’t care what we do. They care about what we get photographed doing. And how the hell could Bond be so stupid? I give him “Double O” status and he celebrates by shooting up an embassy. Is the man deranged? … Christ I miss the Cold War”.
I believe this is a philosophy they’re trying to feed us. Keep in mind that the U.S. military has a lot of influence over Hollywood war movies. We’ve recently seen how political even the Oscars are. Former CIA director William Colby says the goverment controls the media.
You don’t think the MI5 James Bond franchise isn’t
influenced by politics?
Anyway, M is telling us that it used to never matter what they do. Now all of a sudden it does, which is scary to M and MI. Their collective philosophy is that it shouldn’t matter what they do. Their actions should be unaccountable. Do you agree?
Because they weren’t held accounable they were very arrogant and ABUSIVE!
Similar to the way the LAPD used to be before the Rampart scandal, they had an attitude that they could do no wrong. And it was that way until they got “caught” and exposed.
The fact is a lot of sinister shit has been unveiled about the so-called “good guys” that we, the Anglo Western world supposedly are. If you do a youtube search on MI5 Whistle-blower (former MI5 operatives) David Shayler and Annie Machon you’ll find out why they left MI5. In their own words they joined to fight terrorism but discovered that they, for nefarious poltical reasons having to do with power, wealth and control were hired to be the terrorist themselves and carry out assassinations of leaders such as Khadafi.
There’s no way that MI5 doesn’t know about the 911 truth movement. It’s activism like that which has shaken them to their foundation. Their image is tarnished, to say the least. British and American citizens may be brainwashed by the controlled news media, but MI are not stupid and uninformed. They know the WTC 1,2 & 7 didn’t just “collapse”. Anyone who does any serious research knows this. They know about the inside trading, so they even mentioned it in the movie.
This movie to me is a lame attempt at indoctrination and spin control. Why does that building implode towards the end of the movie? It makes no sense (just like 911). Bond had shot a water tank and all of a sudden the entire building is shaking and cracking before collapsing.
I can babble on more about it, but I think it’s worth looking into. Also, that article on Transhuman pop culture in music is worth looking at too. Do you think all this chic militarism is coincidental? Is everyone coming up with the same ideas on their own or are they being guiding by the entertainment industry? It’s important to know who the puppet masters are.
I do enjoy debating movies, Jeremy, but as long as we both keep in mind what kind of movies we’re talking about: If it’s a drama of any kind (horror/mystery/war/etc.) I’ll judge the movie on its own merits (story, directing, performances, etc.) not based on its realism and historical accuracy. If it’s a documentary, then it’s different and it’s all about the realism and historical accuracy. In that regard, I believe analyzing a fantasy movie like Casino Royale based on its realism and historical accuracy is pointless. Like I said, anybody can look at anything and draw whatever conclusion, it doesn’t mean what one concludes is what was intended by the author(s) of that work. As for Roger Ebert’s explanation of the character of James Bond in Casino Royale, I can’t answer for him, but it appears to me when he says in this movie Bond cares about people and right and wrong, he’s talking about Bond’s emotional relationship with Vesper Lynd, and the fact that Bond ignores his superiors time and again to do what is necessary and most be done.
As to your other questions: Do you think all this chic militarism is coincidental? Is everyone coming up with the same ideas on their own or are they being guiding by the entertainment industry? My answer is: Yes and no.
Nothing in life is abstract. I do believe in collective unconscious. There is a difference between the collective unconscious and the personal unconscious, in that the personal unconscious is a personal reservoir of experience unique to each individual, while the collective unconscious collects and organizes those personal experiences in a similar way with each member of a particular species. Carl Jung stated in his book Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious:
‘My thesis then, is as follows: In addition to our immediate consciousness, which is of a thoroughly personal nature and which we believe to be the only empirical psyche (even if we tack on the personal unconscious as an appendix), there exists a second psychic system of a collective, universal, and impersonal nature which is identical in all individuals. This collective unconscious does not develop individually but is inherited. It consists of pre-existent forms, the archetypes, which can only become conscious secondarily and which give definite form to certain psychic contents.’
This explains a lot of things, including how and why there are similarities in mythological accounts, religions and works or art throughout the ages and in different parts of the world. Having said that, I also believe, as I stated in this article, that The Elite certainly have vast cultural, economical and political influences in the entertainment industry and the media. There are some entertainers and media personalities who have close ties with The Elite and serve their purpose, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that everybody who releases a dance album or makes an action movie or represents the weather broadcast is working by/for The Elite. That’s paranoid thinking and there’s no shred of evidence or proof or even plausible explanation to support that. If I go down that path, next thing I’ll be looking for Illuminati symbols in the art cover of Lady Gaga album or will be watching one of those *Michael Jackson Was Murdered by Illuminati* videos on YouTube; and that’s just absurd.
Colonel, dead on about Michael Caine as Harry Palmer in Funeral in Berlin, Ipcress File is great too. The Fourth Protocol is a great and underrated spy movie, of course it has Brosnon and Caine. As for the The Third Man, I could watch it over and over again, I enjoy it far more than Citizen Kane. Citizen Kane though, should be listed as the greatest movie of all time, it is the first “modern” movie, genius. The moons were aligned with that film.
Happy Easter, Everyone!
Well, Colonel, they decided, first of all, not me, to bring up 911 in something that I presume is supposed to be escapist entertainment. That’s as sobering as the new James Bond character is, and it certainly sparks my desire to critique even more when 911 is being used to sell something.
Also, I always am critical of movies which display flagrant disregard for realism, unless they are ment to be ridiculous, or have elements of the supernatural, the unconscious, fantasy, dreams or surrealism.
James Bond may be fantasy in terms of there always being a hot chick in every scene, and whatnot, but I think it’s still reasonable for the audience to expect action that’s physically plausible. At the very least, in only makes the movie much better.
James Bond isn’t all fantasy. Otherwise, Bond could just jump out of plane without a parachute, land on his feet and live. Then, at that point, who really cares what happens next? Where’s the suspense of “Wow. How is he gonna get out of that one?” when he and the things that happen around him are so supernatural?
“Bond ignores his superiors time and again in order to do what needs to be done”. Needs to be done? Like killing people that even he said needed to be kept alive? M is right to say Bond is deranged.
More than that, today’s Bond is cynical, and I think this reflects the franchise’s attitude. When asked what kind of drink he wants, instead of saying “Shaken not stirred”, he says “Who gives a damn?” Bond is no longer debonair like he used to be. Craig resembles more a thug bouncer better suited as a bit extra in the movie, than the main character.
It just would never work for him to say “Bond. James Bond”. It doesn’t suit him, in the least. A zombie or rapist has as much charisma as Craig’s Bond.
They also had Le Chiffre, the bad guy, as an evil banker who makes money funding terrorism. But I thought all banks did this, anyway.
I saw that Michael Jackson youtube video. Michael, himself said there’s a conspiracy in the entertainment industry, but, unfortunately, I don’t think the video did a good job of proving it.
Regardless of the reason the entertainment industry is guiding artists to glorify militarism and a posthuman robotic society, I find it disturbing.
Right on, Larry. Speaking of the great Orson Welles, let’s not forget to mention Touch of Evil, one of his masterpieces and a quintessential film noir.
May his soul rest in peace.
Jeremy Steele says:
‘Today’s Bond is cynical, and I think this reflects the franchise’s attitude. When asked what kind of drink he wants, instead of saying ‘Shaken not stirred’, he says: Who gives a damn? Bond is no longer debonair like he used to be. Craig resembles more a thug bouncer better suited as a bit extra in the movie, than the main character.’
Taking each and every scene out of the context in a fantasy movie like Casino Royale, over analyzing it and putting spin on it doesn’t go anywhere. For instance in the scene where James Bond orders his drink, that’s right after he lost the game to Le Chiffre, he’s agitated and is planning to follow Le Chiffre and engages him in a fight in order to prevent his possible escape. His mind is distracted, therefore when asked whether he likes his Vodka Martini shaken or stirred, he says: Do I look like I give a damn? He doesn’t say: Who gives a damn?
If today’s Bond is different and as you like to put it, cynical and resembling a thug bouncer, that’s because like I said before, Bond movies always adapt to the current mood and trend of society and cinema. When going against the likes of Jason Bourne and Jack Bauer, he should be cynical and resemble a thug bouncer. On the other hand, if a brief mentioning of 9/11 attacks which is intended to create a sense of relevance to the current world events bothers you so much, then I don’t know what to tell you. All in all, you don’t like Casino Royale for whatever reason. Fine. I don’t care. We agree to disagree on this; we still agree on many other subjects. We don’t need to debate this any further.
We agree to disagree? I disagree. Just kiddin’. Anyways, I guess we’ve squeezed all the juice out of that tangerine.
We agree to disagree? I disagree. Just kiddin’. Anyways, I guess we’ve squeezed all the juice out of that tangerine.
Good point in Bond updating to reflect spies like Jack Bauer and Jason Bourne. This Bond also shows his battle scars. Good Bond movie also has a well developed villian. The last two had that, they screwed up in the last Brosnan movie. Toby Phillips(great I thought) was underused, too much on the fellow with the diamonds in his face and the turncoat lady agent. Touch of Evil, Welles’ long shot opening, awesome. I always think that the old SCTV joke with Johnny Larue receiving the crane from Santa Claus after Guy Caballero sends him in the street with one camera and a microphone was inspired by Welles. To me, that was Candy’s best SCTV character. The porn equivalent to that is in the Buttman movie after he made Buttman’s Big Tit Adventure. Roscoe exiles Buttman after that movie and then it becomes a hit. Bruce Seven walks in as Roscoe is eating some pieces of paper after he sees in AVN that the movie is a big success.
I’m a bit late to this dance and haven’t read all replies but in regards to Freemasonry: I worked for the largest lodge in my state for 3 years and forget world domination, those guys couldn’t fight their way-individually or collectively-out of a wet paper sack.
Upon hire, I was given the speech of “top hat lodge…pillars of society…influential…” blah, blah, blah.
Instead, I discovered that the ’08 WM was a three time convicted felon(in violation of the Masonic code of conduct as set forth in the Digest and Grand Lodge regulations), one whose predelection for purchasing teenage brides off of websites led to suspicion of involvement in an unsolved child murder case, the retired postman who kept his cream pie and facial film collection beneath the stairwell “just in case other brothers want to swap,” the secretary of 18 years who embezzled roughly 200K from the Blue lodge and appendant bodies, and the motion picture debut of our chaplain in the movie Pirates, now available in both X and R versions.
No wonder Grand Lodge wants me to shut up.
Momn8rx says:
‘In regards to Freemasonry: I worked for the largest lodge in my state for 3 years and forget world domination, those guys couldn’t fight their way-individually or collectively-out of a wet paper sack.’
What you stated in your comment is a very good example, a glimpse of the big picture: Freemasonry and other secret societies are as corrupt, decadent and greedy as they are influential, powerful and wealthy. Corruption in these societies runs from top to bottom, and there’s so much conflict of interest they can’t get anything done or clean and cover up their mess. They might have inherited some kind of ancient knowledge, but whatever that knowledge is, it hasn’t improved them humanly and spiritually. In the end, they’re nothing but a bunch of lying, selfish scum, and when the push comes to shove they too will suffer and pay the ultimate price. That’s the universal law: What goes around comes around. Period.
Humanity in the 21st century is like the sinking Titanic: Regardless of our class and ticket, we’re all in this together, and the ship is going down.
That’s certainly true on the lower levels, Mom.
Rarely does the bottom know what the top is doing or what they’re doing.
It’s like the Little Rascals’ “Order of the Woodchucks”
Do a search on Bohemian Grove or Bilderberg Group, Trilateral Commision, even, to find out about the real clubs.
Jeremy Steele says:
‘Rarely does the bottom know what the top is doing or what they’re doing.’
That’s because of compartmentalization and the secretive nature of these shadowy societies. The only thing the bottom and top levels of these societies have in common is they’re both utterly corrupt and unable to clean and cover up their mess, whether it’s purchasing teenage brides off of web sites or the assassination of an American president and orchestrating terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. Shame.
Best Bond car: hands down, the BMW Z8.
Ah yes, BMW Z8 from The World Is Not Enough, fabulous. Also, let’s not forget to mention Aston Martin DB5 from Goldfinger which kick started Bond Cars tradition.