As promised, here’s the first video blog from Skyfall director Sam Mendes. Skyfall is currently shooting in London with Daniel Craig making his third outing as James Bond and Dame Judi Dench returning as M.

I actually wouldn’t call this a “video blog” at least how we’ve come to know them from Peter Jackson’s use of the term and the medium to document the making of The Hobbit films. There’s no footage of the actual film, none of Dench, and only a fleeting glimpse of Craig, no sneak peeks at Ralph Fiennes or Javier Bardem. It seems to be  more of a Mendes interview, in which he mentions his personal feelings about Bond and the legacy he’s been handed, as well as Daniel Craig as Bond in particular.

I’m making two assumptions based on this clip. One it’s probably only the start of updates we’ll be getting (that might be wishful thinking on my part), as I think Mendes has decided if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, or at least control the flow.  I also think this is probably part of a “making of” for the dvd release. We’ll see. I can’t think about dvd now. That’s a year away. I’m too excited for Skyfall’s theatrical release this fall.  Even though it’s still shooting, Skyfall hits theaters in the UK on 26^th October and November 9 here on this side of the pond.

Enjoy the video. We also have a few more pics of filming in the past few weeks. (I'm kind of partial to the one at the top of the post. I'll let you figure out why.) More will surely follow.

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A new image from the set of Skyfall has been released via the film’s Facebook page. Dame Judi Dench can be seen with director Sam Mendes. That’s cinematographer Roger Deakins (whose credits are too numerous to mention. He was the DP on two previous Mendes films, Jarhead and Revolutionary Road. He was also visual consultant on How to Train Your Dragon. I consider it a good sign whenever his name is attached to a film.) behind the camera, with the full head of white hair. Not sure who the man in the middle is. He could be one of the writers but I think he’s probably an Assistant Director.

The plot of Skyfall (or  Bond 23 as it’s still known in some circles) finds 007′s loyalty to M tested as her past comes back to haunt her. When MI6 comes under attack, Bond must track down and destroy the threat, no matter what the personal cost.

I cannot wait!

The cast includes Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Berenice Marlohe, Helen McCrory, Ben Whishaw and Albert Finney. It opens in the UK on 26^th October and November 9 in the US. Stay tuned, apparently a video blog from director Sam Mendes is in the pipeline for tomorrow!

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The cast and crew of Skyfall, the latest in the James Bond franchise were spotted near Glencoe, Scotland, on Thursday February 9, filming scenes with Daniel Craig and Dame Judi Dench on location (as well as Bond’s Aston Martin DB5) in near freezing conditions. It’s Scotland in February. I’m sure they knew what they were in for.  In Ian Fleming’s novels, James Bond's father hailed from Glencoe. The author was also known to love the area. Thursday’s shoot included the picturesque peak of Bauchaille Etive Mor, one of the best known and loved of all the Munro peaks, as a backdrop

Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Jarhead, Revolutionary Road) is at the helm of Skyfall, also known as Bond 23, with a screenplay by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade (the pair responsible for The World is Not Enough, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace) and John Logan (The Hurt Locker, Hugo, Coriolanus).

The cast includes Bérénice Marlohe, Javier Bardem, Naomie Harris, Ralph Fiennes, Albert Finney and Ben Whishaw and locations will include, in addition to Pinewood Studios, London and Scotland, Shanghai and Istanbul. 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the Bond films and MGM and Sony will release Skyfall in the UK on 26^th October  and in the US on November 9.

Enjoy the latest pics courtesy of MI-6 HQ. We also have a couple of new ones from the Charring Cross shoot last week of Bond in action.

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I’m sure that once this movie comes out there will be no end to hotel references along the lines of “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel earns 4 stars” etc etc. Not having seen the thing in its entirety, I can’t yet say. I can say, however, that ever since I saw the trailer in a theater, I’ve wanted to see the film. Directed by John Madden, who won an Oscar for Shakepeare in Love, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel “follows a group of British retirees who decide to ‘outsource’ their retirement to less expensive and seemingly exotic India. Enticed by advertisements for the newly restored Marigold Hotel and bolstered with visions of a life of leisure, they arrive to find the palace a shell of its former self. Though the new environment is less luxurious than imagined, they are forever transformed by their shared experiences, discovering that life and love can begin again when you let go of the past.”

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is based on the novel “These Foolish Things” by Deborah Moggach (who wrote the screenplay for 2005’s Pride & Prejudice). The screenplay is by writer/director Ol Parker (I wish he’d write something good for his wife, Thandie Newton) and boasts a cast of brilliant thespians of a certain age that includes Dame Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Penelope Wilton (so good on “Downton Abbey”), Dame Maggie Smith, Celia Imrie and Ronald Pickup. It also appears to give Dev Patel his best role since Slumdog Millionaire.

Take a look at the trailer and see if you’re not completely charmed.

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The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel opens in the UK on 24^th February and May 4 in the US and Canada.

The push is on for David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, trying to get the word out ahead of its December 21 US release (26 December in the UK). I’m not sure there’s anyone left who might be interested in this film that doesen’t already know about it, but I’m not complaining when they keep dropping goodies on us left and right. Here are two new just released tv spots, both trying very hard to make sure that we know that Rooney Mara is as weird and eccentric as Lisbeth Salander as Noomi Rapace was. No one has to try to convince me that Daniel Craig is going to be a great Mikael Blomqvist. Yes, I have been convinced. I will see this movie.

In other news, Sam Mendes’ Skyfall, otherwise known as Bond 23, has finally begun shooting in London. I’m apparently not the only one excited about this as there have been pics  (most of them blurry) coming off of the set all week that show Craig in a car or Dame Judi Dench walking across a parking lot. Riveting stuff and yet they’ve boomeranged all over the web. The producers found it necessary to release an ‘official’ first image: a scene marker set against the backdrop of a dingy public bathroom. Fascinating.

Enjoy the vids!

There are a lot of new pics available for Clint Eastwood’s new baby, J. Edgar starring Leonardo DiCaprio as the original head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. J. Edgar Hoover was the symbol of American law enforcement for nearly 50 years and assembled a cohesive, cooperative federal enforcement agency that advanced the use of forensic evidence, especially fingerprints. He was also hated as much as he was admired. His  now legendary abuses of power include the manipulation and blackmail of elected officials, wiretapping and the intimidation of civil rights leaders.  But, "…behind closed doors, he held secrets that would have destroyed his image, his career and his life." J. Edgar tells the story of this dichotomy.

Also in the cast are Dame Judi Dench as Hoover's mother Anne Marie, Armie Hammer as Clyde Tolson, Hoover's friend, ally, constant companion and perhaps lover (the movie is leaving it open to interpretation), Josh Lucas as Charles Lindbergh, Naomie Watts as Helen Gandy (seen in the pics at various stages of her fifty-four years as Hoover's trusted secretary) and  Jeffrey "Burn Notice" Donovan as Robert F. Kennedy. (And is it me or does it look like Hoover is arresting Conan O'Brien in one of the pics? It's actually Damon Herriman as Dewey Crowe… Bruno Hauptmann)

Written by Dustin Lance Black (Milk, "Big Love"), J. Edgar will open in the US and Canada on November 11.

Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Dame Judi Dench, Director Rob Marshall, Penelope Cruz and Daniel Day Lewis are at the Odeon Leicester Square in London premiering ‘Nine‘.  This musical/romance is described as:

Famous film director Guido Contini struggles to find harmony in his professional and personal lives, as he engages in dramatic relationships with his wife, his mistress, his muse, his agent, and his mother

The film opens Christmas Day.  Will you be seeing it?

Pictures after the break

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