New members. Welcome

[skywalker]

Welcome to the forum Alvin. Glad you chose this site to express your love and admiration of Craig.

[alvin]

Thanks for the welcome. I joined another forum called commanderbond.net. The excitement they have over there for Daniel is so deeply moving and I made a few posts a while back but I just couldn't go on because the excitement just gets to me and I realize that Daniel just represents everyman and more. Did you know that forum members over there are not ashamed to admit they are breathless at the presence of Daniel? That's what I'm talking about. I can't, for the life of me, remember any current actor that can do that. I remember when early photos of CR were released, there was one member that admitted he was practically about to pee in his pants in his excitement. He made me realize that deep down inside, there's something in every man that gets liberated by Daniel Craig. Maybe they're old emotions, something that society made us suppress, but only a great star can get that out of us. It goes back to mythology, and that's what Daniel is all about as Bond. He speaks to the man in all of us. God, you don't know how much self-confidence I've gained when I walk into my classroom and I imagine myself like Daniel's Bond and I wonder what the cute girls in class think of me. I'll admit they haven't looked at me but I feel more confident. So then I found this forum and the scepticism and criticism thwarted at Daniel makes me concentrate better on the positives of what this great actor has done for Bond. Make no mistake, whatever negativity you see being thrown at Daniel will eventually go away. People are gonna catch on.

[quang]

This guy is funny guy.

Joking aside, I wish you warm welcome Mr. Alvin. Your youth show innocence in ideas and I will ultimately respect that.

As for assertion that Craig liberate men? I am sure Craig is good person in real life. But I am not sure what exactly Craig liberate in me. I will strive for more dignity and look elsewhere before I turn to any actor for finding freedom.

[poirot]

Nov 19, 2008 14:34:57 GMT -5 alvin said:

Daniel just represents everyman

Exactly.

[alvin]

Nov 19, 2008 16:42:20 GMT -5 poirot said:

Nov 19, 2008 14:34:57 GMT -5 alvin said:

Daniel just represents everyman

Exactly.

Daniel has raised Bond to a symbolic level. There is the Bond in all of us.

[alvin]

Nov 19, 2008 16:37:57 GMT -5 quang said:

This guy is funny guy.

Joking aside, I wish you warm welcome Mr. Alvin. Your youth show innocence in ideas and I will ultimately respect that.

As for assertion that Craig liberate men? I am sure Craig is good person in real life. But I am not sure what exactly Craig liberate in me. I will strive for more dignity and look elsewhere before I turn to any actor for finding freedom.

I'll admit that the way I express myself probably sounds goofy. But I believe in letting out emotions and not being ashamed to do that. And Daniel has only reinforced that belief. Despite the backlash when he was first cast and despite even now there are segments of society that still don't find him appealing (for example, my classmates tell me he is boring and weird-looking and all wrong for Bond), he's carried on and made QOS the arty film that it is. Marc Forster was also brilliant. I tell you, these two men are my heroes. I wont' be ashamed to admit that. You know, at the end of CR, I cried when Daniel cried and held Vesper in his arms. The next day, I wrote a letter to Sony, thanking them for a brilliant movie in CR. But I never finished the letter because I couldn't get past the first couple of sentences. I just found the experience overwhelming. So my two closest friends and I just talked about the movie until 2AM. We agreed that CR is a modern tragedy and that there's a good chance it will be taught one day in university english lit classes. I think it was a profound oversight on the part of Time Magazine that Daniel wasn't made Man of The Year back in 2006.

[skywalker]

Nov 19, 2008 17:25:43 GMT -5 alvin said:

Nov 19, 2008 16:42:20 GMT -5 poirot said:

Exactly.

Daniel has raised Bond to a symbolic level. There is the Bond in all of us.

Since the hiring of DC I'd be inclined to agree.

[skywalker]

Nov 19, 2008 17:30:45 GMT -5 alvin said:

Nov 19, 2008 16:37:57 GMT -5 quang said:

This guy is funny guy.

Joking aside, I wish you warm welcome Mr. Alvin. Your youth show innocence in ideas and I will ultimately respect that.

As for assertion that Craig liberate men? I am sure Craig is good person in real life. But I am not sure what exactly Craig liberate in me. I will strive for more dignity and look elsewhere before I turn to any actor for finding freedom.

I'll admit that the way I express myself probably sounds goofy. But I believe in letting out emotions and not being ashamed to do that. And Daniel has only reinforced that belief. Despite the backlash when he was first cast and despite even now there are segments of society that still don't find him appealing (for example, my classmates tell me he is boring and weird-looking and all wrong for Bond), he's carried on and made QOS the arty film that it is. Marc Forster was also brilliant. I tell you, these two men are my heroes. I wont' be ashamed to admit that. You know, at the end of CR, I cried when Daniel cried and held Vesper in his arms. The next day, I wrote a letter to Sony, thanking them for a brilliant movie in CR. But I never finished the letter because I couldn't get past the first couple of sentences. I just found the experience overwhelming. So my two closest friends and I just talked about the movie until 2AM. We agreed that CR is a modern tragedy and that there's a good chance it will be taught one day in university english lit classes. I think it was a profound oversight on the part of Time Magazine that Daniel wasn't made Man of The Year back in 2006.

There are quite a few members on here that share the opinions of your classmates.

I'm glad you have a renewed belief and confidence since watching a Bond film. I can sort of relate to that but for differing reasons. I actually admired the class, sophistication, wit and ability with the ladies of both Connery and Moore.

[harrypalmer]

Welcome Alvin!

I hope you are not doing a Jeremy Beadle. Are you dressed as a policeman...?

[Greg Haugen]

I understand where Alvin is coming from. I felt the same about the late Reg Varney.

[alvin]

Thanks again everyone, though I admit I don't get some of the humor you express. My apologies but I don't know Reg Varney and Jeremy Beadle. But I know your jest is friendly and in good spirit. Based on those photos, I don't see myself like that at all. To be honest, I see myself more like a man reborn since realizing that the Bond franchise has been revolutionized by Daniel. I've already seen QOS 4 times and it just blows me away. Now I understand why many people had the kind of fandom for stars like Elvis. Daniel has shaken my world and I find it an honor to see his presence on screen. Admittedly, in my intro film appreciation class during a general discussion, the students have been dissing QOS and act like they're puzzled why Daniel is Bond. So I got up in front of the class to enlighten them. Man, I was nervous, but I imagined myself like Daniel, the way he walked in that gunbarrel logo, and each step I made felt like I was soaring higher and higher. I explained that QOS has to be looked at like an art film. You have to approach it like the way you approach a Bergman film. QOS is an acquired taste like opera. And then I explained the film's theme of order and chaos. I've already explained that in this forum so I won't go into it again. Admittedly, my classmates thought my interpretation was pretentious but that's ok because we're dealing with an art film and not everyone is gonna get its concept. But I'll have you know that my best friend Ron stood up and clapped. I saw he had tears in his eyes and promised me that we would watch Daniel's upcoming film Defiance upon its release.

[Robert Sterling]

Don’t you think you’re over exaggerating a bit? After all it’s just James Bond – adventures of fictitious hero meant to provide entertainment. Not the Bible adapted for the screen. All your references to Nietzsche, clash between order and chaos, now to Bergman sound (I’m sorry to say) preposterous and remind me of those talks about modern art. Let’s take the famous Duchamp’s “Fountain”. Now, art critics can say all they want and find whatever they want in it, but that doesn’t change the pure, simple fact – it is an urinal. On display in the art gallery, right, but nonetheless the urinal. In my view you’re trying to do the same thing with Craig Bonds – you’re trying to talk people into believing that they’re unique and have some almost supernatural qualities, in the same time implying that those who don’t see it are just too plain to get this artistic concept. Well, that may be so in my case as I don’t pretend to be an art expert (I leave that to Jim Fanning). Nevertheless, I would be very grateful if you could explain why the heck QoS is such an art film. Is that because Bond went to the opera? He had already been there (and to the concert hall as well) in TLD and nobody claimed it was more than a spy thriller. So what else do we have? A clash between order and chaos? It’s a laugh, but can as well be said about any of the previous Bonds as “construction has never been Bond’s speciality. Quite the opposite in fact” (recognize the quotation?). Let’s go on. “Daniel [Craig] has raised Bond to a symbolic level.” That’s really great, but what exactly does he symbolize, what is mythological about him? “Daniel just represents everyman”. Here I must strongly disagree. I personally know couple of men who aren’t that ugly.
But sarcasm aside, the real reason I’ve written this post is that your oh so serious approach to these matters really puzzles me. It is either the best example of irony I’ve ever seen or is dangerously close to fanaticism, which is never a good thing I believe.

[alvin]

As over the top as my comments may sound, I am only expressing the phenomenon surrounding Daniel Craig. We can't deny the media's support for Daniel, and they support him because Daniel has reinvigorated the fan-base and the enthusiasm that the general public now has for BOnd. No other actor has turned around an initial backlash to his casting into a realization that he is a great actor, but Daniel has done that. Remember, Barbara Broccoli even went as far as saying that Daniel has redefined acting for his generation. As I said in a previous post, the excitement for Daniel is like the excitement for Obama. Daniel is just as phenomenal. In terms of the Bond franchise, I believe Daniel is The One. I've got friends in my chess club who are just completely blown away by his Bond. One guy, who was never a Bond fan, is suddenly excited by Daniel's portrayal of BOnd and considers Daniel the greatest living actor. He even went as far as saying that he would be honored to pick up mess off the ground to make DAniel's pathway clear. Just look at the fan reaction over at commanderbond.net. There was even one member over there that had the honesty to admit he was almost forced to pee in his pants when he got excited at seeing early photos of Daniel in CR. So you see, Daniel has the ability to liberate people. That's what I meant about Daniel's Bond having a mythic aura.

To tie this in with this thread's theme of member acquaintenance, I can tell you personally that Daniel has changed my life. He's given me a renewed strength and self-confidence because he has overcome all sorts of criticism when he was first cast. And look at him now, he's on fire! I'll have you know that my friends all feel the same way about Daniel. We've all seen QOS multiple times and one member in the club even went so far as promising us that he'll create a web site for Daniel, the goal being to promote the idea that Daniel should do more than the 7 Bond movies that Roger Moore and Sean Connery made. He'll have a petition on the web site, pleading for Eon to keep Daniel for a long time, and he'll list all the positive reviews for Daniel on this web site. He plans to call it foreverdaniel.com. If only you could have seen the excitement for this proposed web site! Remember when that political commentator Chris Matthews said on TV that he had a tingling sensation on his legs whenever Obama spoke? That's the kind of reaction to Daniel that I'm talking about. The members of our club just gushed in excitement. I have to admit I trembled in excitement at the thought of Daniel doing at least 7 Bond movies. And I now understand why some celebrities have garnered such a big following, like Elvis for example. In fact, DAniel is like the Elvis in the Bond franchise.

Now about Daniel bringing Bond to a symbolic level. I believe he represents everyman and he reminds us of the potential Bond in all of us. I think that has resonated with audiences. Now for my other comment about QOS as an art film, has it ever occurred to anyone that what seems like a puzzling movie is simply its arty style? That's why I brought up the Bergman example in my film apreciation class. Bergman's films and all those arty european films have that weird flow to them. That's how you have to view QOS. Don't forget that Marc Forster directed it, and you can't get a more artistic director than that for a Bond film.

[alex]

Well, over here Craig hysteria has reached epic proportions. The Prime Minister has just announced that in Trafalgar Square they've decided to tear down Nelson's Column and replace it with a mile high statue of Daniel Craig.

[Kadov]

I like this new member Alvin. To paraphrase Hannibal Lecter, the world is more interesting with him in it.

Nov 18, 2008 15:35:50 GMT -5 alvin said:

.... my buddies and I believe that the producers read between the lines of that Ian Fleming writer and really saw what the writer had in mind. A no-nonsense agent that has the quality of a badass bouncer combined with the nasty hoodlums you find at street corners.

And to think that if we took the time to pick up an actual book from "that Ian Fleming writer" and read it (truly an arduous task) we'd learn that he's none of those characterizations that you mention. Fleming was basically playing with the archetype of the dark romantic figure, not the classic literary image of a bouncer or your two-bit homeboys at street corners. Then again, the producers seem to be catering to the Homeboy segment of society, based on the inanity of using that quasi-rap number from Jack White. So maybe your on to something.