Former AWN/VFXWorld senior editor Bill Desowitz chronicles the 50-year evolution of 007 on the big screen in James Bond Unmasked, featuring interviews with all six Bond actors. Desowitz contextualizes the experience in a way that helps us fully understand and appreciate the contributions of each actor:
The super-cool charisma and effortless physicality of Sean Connery that launched a phenomenon and propelled the Scot to superstardom; the swaggering, one-off by Aussie George Lazenby, who nonetheless put a human face on Bond; the fun absurdity of Roger Moore, who's had the longest reign; the Shakespearean-trained Timothy Dalton, who brought Bond back to reality; the neo-classical Pierce Brosnan, who was confronted with a changing world after the end of the Cold War; and the post-modern Daniel Craig, who's come full circle back to the gritty humanity of Fleming.
What's it like being part of this League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? How is each Bond different yet the same? "An elegant orgy of all things Bond," asserts William Joyce (director of the Oscar-winning animated short, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore) in his advance praise. "As essential, cool, and satisfying as one of Mr. Bond's martinis."
James Bond Unmasked is now available on Amazon. For more info or to order a copy, go to: www.jamesbondunmasked.com [1]
Desowitz will be signing copies of James Bond Unmasked on Friday, June 8, at 6:30 pm, at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles for the launch of The American Cinematheque's 007 at 50: The Complete James Bond Retrospective [2]. Co-Presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Los Angeles in celebration of their 25th Anniversary, the launch will include screenings of the 1962 Dr. No and 1963’s From Russia with Love. http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/dr-no-from-russia-with-love-0 [3]
On Sunday, June 17, at 6:30 pm, Desowitz will participate in second book signing at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica for the screening of the 1987 Bond feature The Living Daylights and 1989’s Licence to Kill. http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/the-living-daylights-licence-to-kill [4]
Desowitz is owner of the Immersed in Movies [5] blog, and a regular contributor to AWN and Thompson on Hollywood at Indiewire.
Links:
[1] http://www.jamesbondunmasked.com
[2] http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/007-at-50-the-complete-james-bond-retrospective
[3] http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/dr-no-from-russia-with-love-0
[4] http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/the-living-daylights-licence-to-kill
[5] http://www.billdesowitz.com/