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‘Skyfall’ With Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Amanda Dobbins

November 21, 2019 · Skyfall (2012) · Action · Adventure · Thriller · 1:34:30

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Most Rewatchable Scene

Amanda Dobbins▶ 21:44M reading Tennyson while Daniel Craig sprints through London, the Skyfall sequence with Kincaid planning ('Some men are coming to kill us. We're going to kill them first'), and the train fight sequence where Bond adjusts his sleeve
Chris Ryan▶ 19:10Five scenes: Shanghai skyscraper shootout, new MI6 Churchill's tunnels Bond training sequence, Silva and Bond meet for the first time/William Tell scene, the tube chase, and the church scene at the end
Sean Fennessey▶ 20:32First meeting with Q at the Turner painting, Mallory and M's philosophical conversation about working in shadows, plus appreciation for smaller dialogue-driven scenes over big action sequences

What's Aged the Best

Amanda Dobbins▶ 43:33Themes of waning British empire and Brexit parallels, movies about middle-aged men being washed up, the cast overall, and Ben Whishaw's sweater plus various costume design elements
Chris Ryan▶ 41:31Judi Dench's performance, Adele's song, the locations (Istanbul, London), the cinematography by Deakins, and Daniel Craig's tracksuit outfit during training
Sean Fennessey▶ 44:16The idea of casting a prestige director (Sam Mendes) to make a franchise movie, which influenced later films like Ryan Coogler doing Creed and Black Panther

Casting What-Ifs

Amanda Dobbins▶ 58:26Sean Connery — Agrees Sean Connery casting would have been like 'Marvel interconnecting universe' approach which doesn't fit Bond movies, also mentions 'Release the Peter Morgan cut'
Chris Ryan▶ 57:04Sean Connery — Discusses Sean Connery being considered for Kincaid role but agrees with decision not to cast him as it would be distracting stunt casting
Sean Fennessey▶ 57:23Kevin Spacey — Mentions Kevin Spacey was originally approached for Mallory role and agrees Connery casting would have been distracting, praises Ralph Fiennes' performance

Dion Waiters Award

Amanda Dobbins▶ 59:37Albert Finney — Suggested Finney and Wishaw as candidates
Chris Ryan▶ 1:00:10Ben Whishaw — Ben Wishaw
Sean Fennessey▶ 59:44Ben Whishaw — Ben Wishaw (praising his reinvention of Q)

Apex Mountain

Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:00:52Daniel Craig — Daniel Craig's apex mountain is Skyfall in terms of actual power, despite his later creative choices. Javier Bardem's apex mountain was after winning Oscar for No Country for Old Men
Chris Ryan▶ 1:00:15Daniel Craig — Yes for Daniel Craig - Skyfall era (Olympics, $1 billion Bond movie considered the best ever). No for Sam Mendes (earlier peak after American Beauty) and Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men was his peak)
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:00:26Daniel Craig — Agrees Daniel Craig peaked at Skyfall despite later good work like Knives Out. Sam Mendes peaked right after American Beauty. Javier Bardem peaked with No Country for Old Men

Joey Pants Award

Chris Ryan▶ 1:03:24Helen McCrory — Helen McCrory (who plays the minister questioning Judi Dench and later Polly Shelby in Peaky Blinders)
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:03:31Helen McCrory — Suggests Rory Kinnear would be the pick for most people, also mentions Ola Rapace (Patrice), but defers to the Helen McCrory consensus

Half-Assed Internet Research

Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:13:46Made connection between 'Once Upon a Spy' alternative title and Tarantino's 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood', saying 'it's all coming together'
Chris Ryan▶ 1:13:34Alternative titles were Silver Bullet, A Killing Moon, and Once Upon a Spy. Golden Dragon Casino interior shot at Pinewood Studios. Production visited China, Turkey, locations across England, London, and Scotland Glencoe. Silva's Island shot off Macau but based on real abandoned mining town Hashima off Nagasaki coast.

Picking Nits

Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:22:18Takes 3-4 months for hackers to decode one list is stupid; NATO agents list being on one hard drive in 2012; hackers posting reveals on YouTube; Q doing top secret work on giant screen in headquarters; questioning if you can strangle someone with your knee underwater
Chris Ryan▶ 1:19:08Bond wearing khakis in bed after sex is weird; Bond doing scorpion tricks at the bar while pretending to be dead breaks his cover; being mad about them selling his apartment while he was 'dead'
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:25:04James Bond always tells everyone his name and is incredibly conspicuous for a secret agent - villains should just shoot him in the face instead of elaborate schemes

Best Quote

Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:27:58Mommy was very bad
Chris Ryan▶ 1:28:02Mommy was very bad
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:27:55Mommy was very bad

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:30:08Responds that M's explanation of trading Silva for six agents was likely perfunctory - the relationship wasn't deeper than standard spy business
Chris Ryan▶ 1:29:40What was Silva's relationship to M beyond being an agent she screwed over - what caused their deeper connection and what transpired between them

Who Won the Movie

Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:31:56Barbara Broccoli — Barbara Broccoli / the Broccoli family and James Bond franchise
Chris Ryan▶ 1:33:40Sam Mendes — Sam Mendes (the director)
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:32:00Initially said Sam Mendes/the director, but ultimately agreed with James Bond/the franchise

Movies Referenced (43)

Casino Royale (2006)

6 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Amanda Dobbins▶ 3:12IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Spectre (2015)

6 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey▶ 2:12IMDb ↗Lb ↗

American Beauty (1999)

5 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan▶ 44:29IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Quantum of Solace (2008)

3 mentions · Sean Fennessey▶ 5:17IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Away We Go (2009)

2 mentions · Sean Fennessey▶ 44:21IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jarhead (2005)

2 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan▶ 44:38IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Knives Out (2019)

2 mentions · Sean Fennessey▶ 1:00:26IMDb ↗Lb ↗

No Country for Old Men (2007)

2 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey▶ 1:01:23IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Road to Perdition (2002)

2 mentions · Sean Fennessey▶ 44:29IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Unforgiven (1992)

2 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey▶ 15:43IMDb ↗Lb ↗

1917 (2019)

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey▶ 1:32:08IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Ad Astra (2019)

1 mentions · Amanda Dobbins▶ 49:00IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Directors Referenced (5)

Sam Mendes

13 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for 1917, Road to Perdition▶ 1:34IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Christopher Nolan

5 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for Tenet, Interstellar, Inception▶ 2:26IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Danny Boyle

3 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for 127 Hours, 28 Days Later, Shallow Grave▶ 23:04IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Woody Allen

2 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for Annie Hall, Deconstructing Harry▶ 1:01:47IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Quentin Tarantino

1 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, From Dusk Till Dawn▶ 46:11IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Actors Referenced (54)

Javier Bardem

22 mentions · Chris Ryan, Amanda Dobbins, Sean Fennessey · Known for Skyfall, No Country for Old Men▶ 3:02IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Daniel Craig

21 mentions · Amanda Dobbins, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for No Time to Die, Casino Royale, Skyfall▶ 3:31IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Judi Dench

16 mentions · Chris Ryan, Amanda Dobbins, Sean Fennessey · Known for Skyfall, Shakespeare in Love▶ 6:01IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Sean Connery

10 mentions · Chris Ryan, Amanda Dobbins, Sean Fennessey · Known for Dr. No, The Untouchables, The Rock▶ 3:14IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Ben Whishaw

8 mentions · Chris Ryan, Amanda Dobbins, Sean Fennessey · Known for Skyfall, The Lobster▶ 6:17IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Rory Kinnear

7 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for Quantum of Solace, Skyfall▶ 6:17IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Albert Finney

6 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Amanda Dobbins, Chris Ryan · Known for Erin Brockovich, Big Fish▶ 15:04IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Ralph Fiennes

5 mentions · Chris Ryan, Amanda Dobbins, Sean Fennessey · Known for The Constant Gardener, Schindler's List, The Grand Budapest Hotel▶ 6:01IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Richard Madden

5 mentions · Amanda Dobbins · Known for Rocketman▶ 1:15:39IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Tom Cruise

3 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Amanda Dobbins · Known for Top Gun, Minority Report▶ 22:52IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Christoph Waltz

2 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained▶ 8:55IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Definition of Sound

2 mentions · Chris Ryan▶ 2:17IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Writers Referenced (4)

Peter Morgan

8 mentions · Amanda Dobbins, Chris Ryan · Known for The Last King of Scotland▶ 11:24IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jez Butterworth

3 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, Amanda Dobbins · Known for Edge of Tomorrow, Fair Game▶ 2:02IMDb ↗Lb ↗

John Logan

2 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for Skyfall, The Aviator, Rango▶ 1:56IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Ryan Coogler

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for Black Panther, Creed▶ 45:50IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Cinematographers Referenced (2)

Roger Deakins

3 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for Blade Runner 2049, Skyfall, No Country for Old Men▶ 5:28IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Robert Barcelona

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for Elysium, Venom, Jurassic World▶ 1:01:43IMDb ↗Lb ↗