Do We Know Too Much?
In which I wonder how background knowledge impacts the movie experience, we send a book on its way, and start researching heroes for a short story.
Last Sunday my Bond vs Spy Movies podcast co-host Jarrod Alberich raised an interesting question.
Do we know too much?
We were partway through recording an upcoming episode that compares the two 007 movies released in 1967, You Only Live Twice and Casino Royale (the spoof one).
At the time he raised the question we were discussing Sean Connery’s performance as Bond in You Only Live Twice when one of us remarked that his dissatisfaction with the producers, his frustration with the way that Bond’s fame had impacted his life, and general lack of interest in the movie, was evident in his somewhat stoic and subdued performance.
But were we only reading our own take on his performance based on the fact that we knew about all the behind-the-scenes shenanigans?
When I was in high school, You Only Live Twice was one of only two movies that our school movie club owned, so I saw it - a lot. And I loved it. For decades it was my favorite 007 outing (and is still my comfort Bond movie today if I want to watch 007 blow things up after a tough week.)
Back then I didn’t know that Connery refused to act if the producers were on set, that he was asking for a significant pay increase, that he was besieged in his hotel room by fans, that he felt type-cast and unable to escape the mantle of Bond. I just enjoyed the movie for what it was, a high-concept adventure with spectacular sets and awesome vehicles.
Does knowledge of a movie’s production issues impact the way you watch the movie?
In today’s social media content-driven world it’s almost impossible to watch a movie without having been exposed to some information, good or bad, about its production and any behind-the-scenes issues. We all walk into any screening bringing with us some preconceived bias.
As much as I enjoy my Bond scholarship, research, and writing and talking about the franchise - I also miss the innocent excitement of just watching the movie.
I think our information age has robbed us of that sense of magic and anticipation when the lights go down in the movie theater. And maybe we are a little worse off for that.
Alan
Other Stuff
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Brabazon Bits
Earlier this week I turned in the completed manuscript for the Bristol Brabazon book two months ahead of the deadline. Reaching that milestone left me feeling excited, accomplished, and somewhat nervous. It's a strange feeling to hand it off to someone else to take it over after two years worth of work.
However, I’m looking forward to seeing how it all comes together.
Assuming everything goes to schedule “Bristol Brabazon: The Ocean Liner of the Skies and its Ongoing Legacy” will be published on 30 MAY, 2025 in the UK and 30 JULY, 2025 in the US.
It’s also available for pre-order on both Amazon UK and Amazon US sites.
Word Slinging
If you are in the Baltimore / Washington DC / Delaware / Southern PA area come check out the Books & Brews event on 16th November. I’ll be there from 11:00am until 2:30pm with some of the historical short-story anthologies that have my words in them.
Now that the Brabazon book is off my hands, it’s time to turn my attention to the next project on the schedule, a new Musketeers short story for an upcoming anthology. This week I’ve been watching various Musketeers stories and doing some research on the historical d'Artagnan (Charles de Batz de Castelmore d'Artagnan 1611-1673) to see if there’s a nugget of his life story that will spark something. I have a general idea of the type of story I want to tell, and as I didn’t use either d'Artagnan or Porthos in my last Musketeers outing, I think it’s about time saw some action.
Podcast Procrastinations
A while ago I was delighted to be asked to return to the SpyHards podcast to join hosts Scott and Cam to discuss the Man From U.N.C.L.E.’s third cinematic outing - One Spy Too Many.
The episode went live this week and you can check out our reactions HERE or on the podcast platform of your choice.
Pages and Screens
Books Read in 2024 - “House of Bone & Rain” by Gabino Iglesias
Another exquisitely written supernatural thriller from Gabino. This time out we follow the violent misadventures of five friends in Puerto Rico who set out to revenge the murders of one of their mothers and soon find themselves way over their heads.
Throw in the arrival of Hurricane Maria, and the unleashing of dark spirits and you end up with a perfect blend of crime story, horror story, and ghost story, as well as a reflection on the power of friendship, and the dual standards of colonialism.
Again Gabino delivers a masterclass in writing a dual language narrative, with the characters naturally switching between Spanish and English, that we monolingual English speakers can still follow with ease.
Our online bookstore at Bookshop.org is fully up to date with the books read so far in 2024, so you can pick up copies of any that interest you, while also helping out local independent bookstores.
Weekly Web Round-Up
Batman On The Cover - The journey through Batman’s comics publishing history continues as we move into August 1969 with new issues of Detective Comics, Batman, Brave & The Bold, and World’s Finest published in the US by DC Comics .
The standout this week has to be Brave & The Bold #85 which introduces a new look for the Green Arrow, both costume and distinctive facial hair, designed by Neal Adams that redefined the hero from that point onward.
Where on the Web is Alan?
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See you next time
Alan J. Porter
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