#GraciasManu

Doesn't it feel eerie that in just one summer, the San Antonio Spurs lost Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green, Kyle Anderson, and ultimately, Manu Ginobili?

Earlier this day, Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs announced that he will be retiring from basketball after a colorful 16-year NBA career.

Ginobili's announcement

Ginobili achieved success in all of his 16 years with the San Antonio Spurs, that has got to be one of the longest stints ever in one team. But of course, Tim Duncan, the main man of the Spurs' Big 3, played with the Spurs for all 19 years of his NBA career.

Notice how I sued the preposition "with" and not "for". I used "with" because, from my point of view, Ginobili was not just a player that is on the payroll of the San Antonio Spurs office. He was a vital part of the Spurs system, just as everybody in the team is. Everybody is working with one another for the betterment of the team, just as Duncan, Gregg Popovich, Tony Parker, and all of the Spurs team did.

Ginobili and Coach Pop

Popovich spoke about the significance of Ginobili to their system a year before they won their fifth title. He said that it was impossible to win the title with an injured Manu Ginobili. No can do.

Pop and the Big 3 won four championship titles together with role players who gave whatever the team was needed in each of those years. Although Ginobili did not take the Finals MVP honors at the end of the 2014 NBA Finals, I thought that title was because of his performance. This would be because a sub-par performance from him in the 2013 NBA Finals was not helpful for their fight. It can be remembered that he was very apologetic knowing that he did fail to give his best.

Nevertheless, he gave a redeeming performance and helped the Spurs the next year. Four years after, he gave us this announcement of retirement. 

#GraciasManu for the extra four years of showing your clutch shots, razzle-dazzle handles, incredible passing, multiple stealing, and of course, your James Harden block (which has been my cellphone wallpaper ever since you did it).

Ginobili's block from 2017 Playoffs

#GraciasManu for accepting that sixth man role and actually getting that Sixth Man of the Year award.

#GraciasManu for pulling pranks on Timmy, and for catching that bat.

#GraciasManu for everything. There will never be another Manu.

MANU GINOBILI

*Photos are grabbed from the Internet and all thanks are for those who own it. For sharing purposes only. Thank you for understanding.

What has Happened to James Bond?

Both shaken and stirred.

Just this August 24, 2018, Bond fans woke up to the news of Bond 25 Director Danny Boyle quitting on the film due to creative differences with the producers. His exit on the film was announced in the official Twitter account of the James Bond movie franchise.

And here is the actual tweet of that announcement:

The official announcement from Twitter

From the looks of it, Daniel Craig is not only the 007 actor, it seemed that he was part of the production personnel as he was in the last film Spectre.

Before the news of his exit, three casting calls were made for what I have thought to be for the main villain, the Bond girl, and the henchmen. Should we say goodbye to that casting calls? Should we say goodbye to that December-set start of the shoot?

Or worse, should we say goodbye to James Bond?

During the Sean Connery era, the Bond films were released year after year. Dr. No in 1962, From Russia With Love in 1963, Goldfinger in 1964, and Thunderball in 1965. It was only in 1965 when they started having a year between Bond films. This was when Connery started being bored" of his character.

Sean Connery in Goldfinger (1964)

George Lazenby came for 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Connery was lured back for 1971's Diamonds Are Forever. Roger Moore had a regular one-year gap from 1973 to 1985 except when The Man with a Golden Gun released in 1974 to catch up with the martial arts craze in the '70s. 

George Lazenby in On Her majesty's Secret Service (1969)

Roger Moore in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

Timothy Dalton, with his two films, followed the trend of Moore's Bond films having his films released in 1987, and 1989. After this, there was a six-year hiatus due to legal issues which made Dalton leave the franchise.

Timothy Dalton in The Living Daylights (1987)

Pierce Brosnan brought Bond back to the cinemas with 1995's Goldeneye. This was followed up with three more, released in 1997, 1999, and 2002. I strongly believe that Die Another Day was only pushed for a 2002 release just to coincide with the 40th anniversary since Bond was shown in the cinemas.

Pierce Brosnan in Die Another Day (2002)

Brosnan was fired from the role and the search was won by Daniel Craig in 2005. With him in the role of 007, the producers thought of rebooting the franchise and starting with Bond's debut in the novel, Casino Royale in 2006. This was followed up by 2008's Quantum of Solace. After another string of delays due to the bankruptcy of studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Craig's third Bond film Skyfall had to be pushed for a 2012 release, which also was the 50th anniversary of the franchise.

Daniel Craig in Spectre (2015)

Three years after Spectre was released. This film made critics and fans alike to give some hate to the writers who made all Craig's Bond films tied up complete with recurring characters (Mr. White in Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, and Spectre, and Rene Mathis and Felix Leiter in Quantum of Solace, and Spectre). Not to mention, the return of Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

Additionally, they gave the MI6 quartet (which was just a trio before) of M, Q, Moneypenny, and Bill Taner larger screen time than they have had in the previous eras. Honestly speaking, Spectre was more like a Mission: Impossible movie with a whole team working for one aim. 

Bond worked better alone, or with just one ally with him, in the previous Bond films. That is the formula and not with the whole MI6 team.

Bond 25 was set for a November 2019 release, having a four-year gap after Spectre. But with the recent news, would it still be realistic to have a Bond film with just over a year of production?

As it was said earlier, earlier Bond films were released year after year and the longest gap was still the six years between Licence to Kill and Goldenye. 

Other issues that the franchise is having right now is the acquisition of an actor from another color to be Bond, with some people clamoring for Idris Elba to be the first black James Bond. Another one is to have a female James Bond. Might as well have a gay James Bond or any other sexual preference. 

Here's what I have to say about all of this. Bond is a fictional character based on the works of its original author Ian Fleming. Fleming had his description of who and what Bond is and for the sake of a realistic adaptation of the character, I would go for not going far from the descriptions that he had laid. 

James Bond is not Asian, and definitely not a woman. But whether or not James Bond - 007 is a code name is a question for another time.

*Photos are grabbed from the Internet and all thanks are for those who own it. For sharing purposes only. Thank you.

Only the Good Die Young

These men of the music industry have proven that those who are so damn good in their crafts might not have the chance of fully enjoying it. They may not be remembered for the longevity of their music career; however, they will still be remembered because they are simply great that anyone may forget to cross their names off.

1. Chester Bennington, 41

This man was the latest reason why the world has come to unite again for mourning his loss. The man that gave voices to the songs that surfaced the genre "Rap/Electronic Rock" to the music scene took his life on the birthday of his good friend, Chris Cornell, who is also on this list.

Chester Bennington as Linkin Park frontman

2. Kurt Cobain, 27

Nirvana frontman, Kurt Cobain, was found dead with a shotgun and a suicide note, suggesting that he took his own life. Before the suicide of Cobain, he was put in rehab because of suicidal tendencies.

Kurt Cobain

3. Bob Marley, 36

Like everyone here in this list, this man also poured out his all in his craft. Think about reggae and the Rastafarian culture and you'd definitely think of Bob Marley. Cancer which developed under his toe nail was his tragedy.

Bob Marley

4. Chris Cornell, 52

Chris Cornell also excelled in his musical path and was on the top with Chester Bennington. Among his works was the critically-acclaimed Bond theme song "You Know My Name".

Like his friend, Cornell also committed suicide due to depression and substance abuse issues.

Chris Cornell

5. John Lennon, 40

There can be no one greater than John Lennon. Just as he was starting to make his comeback in the music scene via Double Fantasy, he was shot by a fan named Mark David Chapman after giving Chapman an autograph. The tragic incident ended all hopes for a Beatles reunion in the 1985 Live Aid (where only Paul McCartney showed up and played a piano-only version of "Let It Be").

John Lennon

*Photos are grabbed from the Internet and all thanks are for those who own it. For sharing purposes only. Thank you.

MOVIE REVIEW: Dr. No Part 2

Welcome to the second part of the Dr. No movie review.

Bond is welcomed to Jamaica by an uninvited guest. Bond learns that the driver was not sent by the government, but was from the man who wanted Strangways dead. Bond tried to dig information from the driver, however, he sacrificed himself opting to be kept silent through a cigarette filled with cyanide poison.

Bond learns about Strangways’ colleagues in the island, the most notable one being Professor Dent who also tested Strangways’ samples from Crab Key. Now, Crab Key is a secluded portion where fishermen and the likes do not dare to come near. They were scared of the dragon that is guarding the place. (Bond will know later on that the dragon they are afraid of is just a mechanical robot dragon, perhaps placed by the mastermind of everything that has happened on the island.)

We also meet Felix Leiter, Bond’s friend and ally from the CIA. He will occasionally pop in and out of Bond movies, often played by different actors. In this film, he is almost equal to Bond. They both look cool, wearing suits on sunny beaches, neatly-combed hairs, and menacing physiques that complete the package of being the ultimate spy.

Being an ultimate spy can give you ultimate danger. James Bond is in deep trouble in Jamaica. The Three Blind Mice tried to have a shot at Bond, but for some reason, they did not try at all. Professor Dent becomes bothered by Bond’s investigations leading him to go to Crab Key himself, revealing the lair, and the voice of the main villain Doctor Julius No. We learn here that the doctor does not tolerate failures, which explains the cyanide death scene earlier. Dr. No gives dent the deadliest creature that can possibly end James Bond – 007, a tarantula.

Waking up to a tarantula

Of course, James Bond survives the tarantula with a help of a cartoon-like musical score.

The next few scenes are building up to probably the second best scene in this film – the cold-blood shooting of Bond at Professor Dent. Bond discovers that the secretary, Miss Taro, is working for Professor Dent. He arranges to meet up with her, making her believe that hey we’re going out on a date. Bond insists that they meet.

Before reaching Miss Taro’s house, Bond was disturbed again by the Three Blind Mice in an effort to finish the spy off. Bond survives the very first car chase of the series which, to be honest, has not dated well. It still looked magnificent and massive, though. Bond bangs Miss Taro and then, gives her to the police. He then waits for someone to reach Miss Taro. He has his suspicions proven right after seeing Professor Dent at the door.

Bond, being the spy that he is, creates a decoy on the bed and waits behind the door. Dent shoots the decoy, using up all of his bullets. Bond takes advantage as he says, “You’ve had your six.”

Shooting Dent

Bond, Leiter, and Quarrel, the fisherman friend of Strangways, meet up at the docks. Bond opted to go with Quarrel to help him reach Crab Key, the forbidden island. Reluctantly, Quarrel agrees despite his fear of the dragon. They wait up until the next morning before they make their move as Bond wakes up to the very first Bond girl’s song. 

Honey Ryder

Bond meets Honey Ryder who was looking for shells, while Bond was just looking, at her in her swimsuit. Who wouldn’t?

The next scenes do not do much except that Quarrel is burnt alive by the fire-breathing mechanical dragon, and Bond and Honey Ryder are caught leading to their stay in the Doctor No Hotel.

Yes. A hotel.

Dr. No and Bond

They are treated very well in the villain lair, complete with bed, bath, breakfast and new clothes for their dinner with Dr. No. Dr. No reveals that he is not alone in his evil schemes. He reveals that he is a part of the group SPECTRE – Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion. Bond is not happy with his plan, so then he is locked up in a dungeon, or a room which is very escapable.

Bond foils Dr, No’s plan after a lousy fight due to Dr. No’s metal hands. Yes, he has metal hands. And as we go deep into the Bond movie franchise, you will get to know more villains who have physical irregularities.

Dr. No

Honey Rider rides with Bond at the end of the film away from their audience from the theaters, and their rescuers for privacy.

Do I like this film?

 Yes, no reason not to, but to be fair, this film has its flaws. Aside from its technical aspects, there are also scenes in the movie that can really be unaccepted by today’s audience. An example is when Bond tells Quarrel this, “Fetch my shoes.” And of course, another one is the womanizing antics of James Bond.

It is the perfect Bond movie to jumpstart the franchise, this film actually has the right ingredients. Not too much and not too dull. Shaken, not stirred.

This review will return with From Russia With Love.

*Photos are grabbed from the Internet and all thanks are for those who own it. For sharing purposes only. Thank you.