Nov 7th 

Skyfall** (12A)                                                   
(Odeon Colchester)

GB/US 2012.MGM/Columbia/Eon. 143m. ws

Bond is shot in action and returns to find a sadistic ex-colleague is terrorizing his bosses.
An atmospheric melodrama characteristic of this Oscar-winning director, allowing for some strong performances with some relatively minor Bond formula trimmings. Hardly quintessential Bond, and lacking a considerable amount of plot logic, but several points up from Quantum of Solace.

Written by: Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, John Logan.
Producers: Barbara Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson.
Director: Sam Mendes.
Starring: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Berenice Marlohe, Albert Finney, Ben Whishaw.
Photography: Roger Deakins.
Music: Thomas Newman.

July 27th 
Happy and Glorious**                               
(GB 2012)
BBC. 5m.

James Bond escorts the Queen by helicopter from Buckingham Palace across London to the Olympic stadium.
The prize gimmick of the 2012 Olympic opening ceremony, a quite niftily made little short with some clever trickwork (animating Churchill's statue), and suitably entertaining for these sorts of occasions.

p: Lisa Osborne
d: Danny Boyle
s: Daniel Craig, H M Queen Elizabeth II

+ the Queen's "double" for the helicopter scenes was Julia McKenzie

A major coup for Danny Boyle: after sixty years of on-screen portrayals by the likes of Jeanette Charles, Helen Mirren and others, the real thing decided to have a go.

Oct 8th
Johnny English Reborn (PG)
Odeon Colchester

Second instalment of the bungling would-be James Bond from the credit card ads, slightly slicker this time round (with some knowing nods to the recent Daniel Craig incarnation), with Atkinson on just as good form as before and the rest of the cast enter into the spirit of things, the cheerfully idiotic plot moving along quite enjoyably - like the typical old-fashioned James Bond film in fact.

d: Oliver Parker
s: Rowan Atkinson, Rosamund Pike, Dominic West, Gillian Anderson, Daniel Kaluuya, Stephen Campbell Moore, Tim McInerney

June 16th
Goldeneye**
GB 1995. United Artists. 130m. Panavision

James Bond combats a renegade Russian force out to use a powerful satellite, led by a treacherous former colleague.
After six years in the doldrums and the end of the Cold War, the Bond series returned in passable fashion with a ready-to-order 007 (who missed out back in the 1980's because of contractual commitments to Remington Steele), but in spite of its post-Cold War setting, old habits die hard; the overdressed plot, surfeit of action and (of course) gadgets occasionally have some surprises up their sleeves - such as the introduction of a female M (mimicking real life when Stella Rimington became head of MI6.)

Written by: Jeffrey Caine, Bruce Feirstein.
Producers: Michael Wilson, Barbara Broccoli.
Director: Martin Campbell.
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean (as 006), Izabella Scorupco, Famke Janssen, Alan Cumming, Joe Don Baker, Judi Dench (as M), Samantha Bond (as Miss Moneypenny), Gottfried John, Robbie Coltrane, Desmond Llewellyn, Tcheky Karyo, Michael Kitchen, Minnie Driver.
Photography: Phil Meheux.
Music: Eric Serra (title song sung by Tina Turner).
Production Design: Peter Lamont.

Nov 20th
Quantum of Solace* (12A)
Hollywood Film Theatre, Ipswich

James Bond follows the trail of an international criminal organisation with friends in high places, which leads to a Bolivian entrepreneur.
Action-driven sequel to Casino Royale, of which most of the action is unintelligible, as also is the story (with a plot that vaguely resembles Licence to Kill - another "tougher" Bond - in its second act.) A hotchpotch of Bonds old and new, with one interesting Hitchcock-style set piece at the Vienna opera, and the star is as mean and moody as before.

d: Marc Forster.
s: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric, Judi Dench, Gemma Arterton, Jeffrey Wright, Giancarlo Giannini, Jesper Christensen, Tim Pigott-Smith.
Titles: MK12.

Preceded by:
Elevator Music*
(Virgin Media Shorts) (d: Serdar Ferit.)

July 11th
Casino Royale**
GB/US/Czech/Ger 2006. MGM/Columbia/Eon. 144m. bw/colour. Panavision

James Bond acquires his double-o licence, and uses it to hunt down a terrorist financier whom he competes with at the card table.
After 40 years of trying to adapt Fleming's first Bond novel, the official Bond film makers finally got round to it with this sensational new tough-as-nails 007, perhaps the most sadistic and closest to the original version of the character ever produced. The most startling elements of the novel also remain, in spite of anachronistically switching the setting from the Cold War to the present day.

Written by: Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Paul Haggis, based on the novel by Ian Fleming.
Producers: Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli.
Director: Martin Campbell.
Starring: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright, Giancarlo Giannini, Caterina Munro, Simon Abkarian, Jesper Christensen, Sebastien Foucan.
Photography: Phil Meheux.
Music: David Arnold (song "You Know My Name" sung by Chris Cornell).
Editing: Stuart Baird.

100 Favourite Films: Casino Royale (2006)