Happy birthday, 007!

In honor of 50 cinematic years of Bond...James Bond.

BOND:
Who are you?

PUSSY:
My name is Pussy Galore.

BOND:
I must be dreaming.

In my opinion...

BEST BOND: Connery. Absolutely.  (But Daniel Craig sure is terrific. He's finally reintroduced some excitement and intensity to the role.)

BEST BOND GIRLS: Honey Rider (Ursula Andress), Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi), and Domino (Claudine Auger).

BEST VILLAINS: Red Grant (Robert Shaw), Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe). 

BEST FLICK: Goldfinger.

BEST THEME SONGS: Thunderball and Goldfinger (but I sure do love Diamonds Are Forever and You Only Live Twice; From Russia with Love is also quite good).

BEST SCORES: John Barry was a genius, so I consider all the Bond scores to be pretty special.

BEST BOND NOVELS: Funny, I was actually named after James Bond -- my mom read the Bond books when she was pregnant with me -- but I've never read any of them. I should.

Enjoy this cool Bond tribute I found on YouTube!

* The above photo is of me with the Goldfinger Aston Martin (one of them, anyway) taken back in 1982, when my brother had it in his possession for a period of time. I actually got to drive around town in the car. Boy, we sure did turn some heads!

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My book Q & A: The Working Screenwriter - An In-the-Trenches Perspective of Writing Movies in Today's Film Industry is now available in a lower-priced paperback edition!