Gawker: defamer, casino royale

Trade Round-Up: Queens And Spies Big With BAFTA

Mark — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 15:02:14 EST

· DreamWorks marketing guru Terry Press is leaving longtime partner Jeffrey Katzenberg after more than a decade of service to start her own company. But don't worry, she's still handling a variety of upcoming DW projects, ensuring that their ambitious Shrek the Third campaign, in which every child buying a Shrek-promoting Happy Meal will be painted bright green at the time of purchase, doesn't have to be overseen by a lesser visionary. [Variety]
· More Viacom corporate upheaval fun! MTV Networks president/COO Michael Wolf resigns after 15 months at the company. [THR]
· Sacha Baron Cohen's recent, insufficiently snuggly, out-of-character interviews make Var chieftain Peter Bart note that while he's clearly a "gifted satirist," he's a little too uncomfortable with the media when robbed of his protective, stinky grey suit. [Variety]
· The Brits love them some monarchs and intimidatingly muscled super-spies, with The Queen landing 10 BAFTA nominations and Casino Royale nabbing nine. [THR]
· A profanity- and Bada-Bing-titty-free Sopranos bow scores A&E the highest-rated off-network premiere in the history! of! cable! Self-congratulatory, full-page ad in the trades featuring James Gandolfini chomping on a cigar while being serviced by a stripper to follow. [Variety]

Bond-ed And Insured: UK Company Pens Estimate For 007's Car Insurance

Ray Wert — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 15:15:00 EST

A UK car insurer pulled out the calculators over the weekend to come up with the price it'd expect to collect in premiums in order to ensure a quick replacement of 007's pretty new Aston Martin DBS in case anything should happen to the fictional character's car. And, after carrying the one and adding a zero somewhere, the folks at Kwik-Fit / Virgin Car Insurance came up with the princely sum of 7,108.50 ( approximately $13,478.39 in real American dollars) for protection on the roads. So that means whether the ride's being fliped over a damsel-in-distress or taking a missile up the arse, James Bond's "perfectly-formed" one will feel comfortable knowing he'll not have to pick up his paycheck from "M" with the price of a Brit sports car deducted from the bottom line. Now, if only the producers of the movie had known this going in — you know, before they totaled the DBS used in the movie (along with a few others) in a record-breaking seven-roll stunt. Check out the gallery below to see the Aston Martin's prettiness before it meets its more than likely end in the new movie. – Ray Wert

TELL ME MR BOND, HAVE YOU MADE ANY CLAIMS? [mirror.co.uk]

New Bond Squats And Crunches His Way Into Purists' Hearts

Seth — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 15:22:05 EST

It's Casino Royale's opening day, and in true Bondian fashion, new 007 Daniel Craig appears to have emerged unscathed from the threat of the eviscerating laser beam trained squarely on his manhood by his many internet-enabled detractors since his casting was first announced. Did they expect him to fail? No, Mr. Craig: They expected you to quit, and cede the role to a more debonair, less pigment-challenged actor. But it's he who is getting the last laugh, as his reviews have been raves, singling out for particular praise the ultimate secret weapon he's been hiding under his tuxedo jacket all along: A rippling, inflated torso that just begs to be ogled. (Even the Queen threw on her slinkiest number to meet the generously manboobed object of her affections.) Giggles The Guardian like a schoolgirl:

In re-enacting the Andress pose for a generation that has learned to love the male body with almost as much unashamed joy as the female, Craig has made himself iconic in the most familiar way. He is simply demonically sexy.

The frame of the movie where he emerges from the sea in those clinging trunks is so scorchingly hot I feel embarrassed watching it, even when alone. It has been used as the key piece of pre-publicity on the movie, and with good reason. Good film directors recognise gold dust when they see it. This is the kind of image that even straight men can't peel their eyes from.

Indeed, poor Eva Green has found herself in the unenviable position of being the first Bond girl expected not just to play a subordinate role to the lead, but who's been required to wear a variety of neck-to-ankle-covering 1920s bathing suits and Little House on the Prairie-inspired dresses, in order to guide the audience's thirsty gaze away from the French beauty and keep it squarely trained on the featured beefcake attraction.

The spy who buffed up [Guardian]