The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on November 21, 2021

This is post #1000 of The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog. One Thousand!!?? I can't believe I've written a thousand of these things....and I can't believe that they've had much of an overall effect. Nevertheless, I plan on continuing to write them for the time being. I tried to figure out...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on November 20, 2021

James Stewart's feature movie debut was the 1935 MGM production THE MURDER MAN, in which he played a supporting role to Spencer Tracy. Stewart and Tracy would go on to become two of MGM's biggest stars, but the only movie in which they actually co-starred together was MALAYA (1950). James...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on November 14, 2021

When it comes to the American TV Gothic soap opera DARK SHADOWS, I have to admit that I am not a major expert on it. I own a Blu-ray of the first theatrical film based on the series, HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS (which is very good), and I know the...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on November 13, 2021

ROCKY IV: ROCKY VS. DRAGO is writer-director-star Sylvester Stallone's reinterpretation of his famed ROCKY IV, one of the ultimate examples of 1980s American pop culture. I wasn't able to see this at its only recent theatrical showing, but I did view it on AppleTV. There's a bit of a difference...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on November 7, 2021

It's back to Arrow Video's COLD WAR CREATURES: FOUR FILMS FROM SAM KATZMAN Blu-ray set. This time I'll be looking at THE WEREWOLF (1956). THE WEREWOLF is by far the best film in this set. It's not as outlandish as the other entries, and it's downbeat and realistic tone makes...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on November 6, 2021

AN ANGEL FOR SATAN (1966) is the last true Italian Gothic film that the iconic Barbara Steele starred in. The movie finally gets a proper official Blu-ray release courtesy of Severin Films. Sometime in the 19th Century, a young artist named Roberto (Anthony Steffen) travels to an Italian villa in...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on November 5, 2021

French filmmaker Abel Gance will always be known for his stupendous silent-era epic NAPOLEON. But he also made another movie featuring the famed conqueror--a 1959 production called THE BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ (aka just AUSTERLITZ). I recently purchased a bargain-priced DVD of this film from Edward R.   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on November 1, 2021

Denis Villeneuve's new cinematic adaptation of DUNE is the best one so far. The choice to cover Frank Herbert's sprawling novel over two films is an intelligent one, as it gives the filmmakers far more time to cover various aspects of the complex story. (As a matter of fact, this...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on October 31, 2021

And now we come to the end of my personal ranking of the James Bond films. 21. MOONRAKERAn absolutely ridiculous film. But...If one adjusts for inflation, this still has one of the highest budgets of any Bond film. And it looks it--the money is all up there on the screen,...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on October 30, 2021

We're entering very mediocre territory here. The films are not the worst of the Bond series (at least from my perspective), but they have in common an overall inconsistent tone. 16. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTSA sorely-needed change of lead actor highlights this film, with the younger, more serious Timothy   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on October 28, 2021

Now we're getting into middle-of-the-pack territory, and it's getting harder and harder to differentiate these films from one another. In all honesty I could have written the choices from #11 to #20 about a dozen ways. There really isn't much separation between the Bond movies here, and I'm sure th   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on October 27, 2021

In this round, we deal with numbers 6 through 10. 6. DR. NOThrough 21st Century eyes this movie might seem a bit quaint. But considering it was the very first James Bond film, it's quite effective, with Sean Connery already defining the role in his debut as 007. With tone-setting...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on October 26, 2021

It's finally come to this--my ranking of all 25 of the official James Bond films. I'll be revealing these in increments of five, starting out with my very favorites first. There were a number of other Bond film posts I was going to write, but I started to realize that...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on October 17, 2021

MY FAVORITE JAMES BOND VEHICLES: Aston Martin DB5 (used in GOLDFINGER)You HAVE to pick the classic DB5 as the greatest James Bond vehicle. 007 will be forever linked to Aston Martin, although for various eras in the Bond movie series the company's cars did not appear. Aston Martin DBS (used...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on October 14, 2021

THE BEST JAMES BOND SOUNDTRACK COMPOSERS:1. John Barry2. David Arnold3. Everyone elseMY FAVORITE JAMES BOND SOUNDTRACKS: ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE, John BarryFROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, John BarryGOLDFINGER, John BarryYOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, John BarryCASINO ROYALE (1967), Burt BacharachYes, I know t   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on October 10, 2021

In the (very, very long) pre-credits sequence of NO TIME TO DIE, Daniel Craig's James Bond visits the grave of Vesper Lynd. It occurred to me while watching this that Craig has been mooning over Lynd's death for most of his time as 007. The Craig-Bond films are all basically...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on October 9, 2021

Being an ally in a James Bond movie is like wearing a red uniform shirt on the original STAR TREK TV series--you're not gonna last very long. 007's allies are usually comic relief and/or sacrificial lambs, and they are so expendable that for the most part they don't make much...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on October 5, 2021

I realize that in the 21st Century, referring to a person as a "Bond lady", let alone a "Bond girl", will annoy some folks...but what do you want me to call them?? This is a list of my favorite/least favorite leading female performances in the James Bond movie series. What...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on October 3, 2021

James Bond Month continues with my favorite (and least favorite) James Bond villains. I'm not just going to rank the main villains here--I'll also be dealing with the henchmen....or should I say henchpeople? Or supporting villains?One thing you will notice on these Bond lists is how much I favor th   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on October 1, 2021

This month the latest James Bond film NO TIME TO DIE finally gets released to theaters. Because of this I will spend all month on this blog writing various best/worst lists relating to the Bond movies. It was something I had planned to do when NO TIME TO DIE was...   read more