Skyfall / Bowmore Aston Martin Master's Selection 22 Year Scotch

0:00 In 2012, director Sam Mendes and star Daniel Craig gave the world an explosive introspection into the world of secret agents, espionage and aging. In 2024, we go wheels up with a James Bond classic. The film is Skyfall. The whiskey is Bo more 22 year Aston Martin and. We'll review them both. This is the. Film and Whiskey podcast. Welcome to the Film and Whiskey podcast, where each week we review a classic movie and a glass of whiskey. I'm Bob Book.

0:54 The name's G Brad G. And this week we are looking at the 2012 James Bond classic Skyfall. Bob, you know what we were talking about right before we got on that. I think the audience needs to know. We're talking about a lot of different things. I don't know where you want to go with this. Enlighten me, Brad. The James Bond theme song is freaking incredible. I don't. Think we can get a copyright strike for just humming it? We. Probably will, but I. Anyway. Here's. The thing about the theme song is that we were just breaking this down at its most basic, pure level, like the chord progression and the sort of underlying bass notes that like, bum, bum, bum, bum, it's so easy to remember. But then everything on top of that, the melodic part of the James Bond theme is what makes it even better. Like it is, it is a perfect theme because any part of it that you want to hum, if you want to do the little orchestral Stinger at the beginning, the it's freaking great. If you want to do the electric guitar like Brad just did, it works perfectly.

2:17 Like there's no part of that theme that isn't just perfection. And like, at this point, it has been stamped upon the cultural consciousness that like, you can play it anywhere and it's so recognizable that you can't divorce it from James Bond. Like, it's smooth and classy and elegant and rich and like, awesome and like, it's everything you want James Bond to stand for. And I like, it's amazing to me that it has been around for so long and it's still freaking rocks. It it's the perfect remnant of the Bond film's early 60s roots.

3:01 So Doctor No comes out in 62, From Russia with Love in 63 and then Goldfinger in 64. And by the time he gets a Goldfinger, the sort of musical identity of Bond has really taken shape. And I think it's it's just perfect because that's where you get that sort of modern twangy, almost like surf style guitar in the background. Yeah. And, and if the Bond theme had developed in the later part of the 60s, like when The Beatles went from being the mop tops to being on LSD, you know what I mean? Like, I feel like the theme would have developed in such a way that it would sound like not just cheesy old quote UN quote, but actually like antiquated.

3:42 And I think there's something about the particular style that they hit on in the early 60s with that theme that it feels more timeless than anything. 100% And I, I, I think this is the proper place to start because in a lot of ways, Skyfall feels like a culminating moment in the history of the James Bond franchise. And I, I just felt like we had to start this episode by starting at the start and saying the first thing you often hear in a James Bond film is the theme. And it it never gets old for me. This is the third Bond film that we have done on our show. And by the way folks, welcome in to film and whiskey.

4:22 If this is your first episode here, welcome in. You came for a freaking banger, 'cause I love Skyfall. But what we do on this show is we talk about movies and we drink whiskey. This season we are looking at films that came out in the last 20 years and we're asking, does this film deserve to be considered a modern classic? Skyfall's a really interesting one to talk about, Brad, for all of the reasons that we've already mentioned. But getting back to my point, third film in the Bond franchise out of I believe 27 now 28 maybe. And we started with Casino Royale. We then went back last season and looked at, I keep saying Goldfinger. It's not Goldfinger, Goldeneye from the 1990s. And now we're coming back into the Craig era for Skyfall. And I'm sure that much of our conversation today is going to focus on the comparisons and contrasting elements between Casino Royale and Skyfall.

5:20 These are the 2 crown jewels of the Daniel Craig era. He was in five Bond films and I would dare say that these are the only two that are worth talking about. So he batted 40% you know, which is, you know, 400's a great batting average in baseball. I don't know about in movies. But it also might be the case that these are two of the three best Bond movies ever made. Yeah, When you look back at the history of the Daniel Craig Bond films, I feel like the quality of Casino Royale and Skyfall kind of overshadows the rest. But for me, I have a distinct memory of like I went to see all of the Daniel Craig Bonds in theaters, probably through Spectre, the one following this. And I just remember the two in between Casino and Skyfall. I I think it's Quantum of Solace and. There was only one.

6:16 It was just Quantum of Solace, then Skyfall, then Spec. Wow well then Quantum of Solace really sucked. I remember thinking I was like oh wow, Casino Royale was a banger and I might not ever go see another Bond movie after watching Quantum of Solace. I thought it was so bad. Well, let's put a pin in that because we've touched on a few different topics that I think we really need to hit on to contextualize this movie. But before we get too far down the rabbit trail, it's time for our first segment of the day, which we call, Brad explains. Brad's going to give us the movie plot with only 60 seconds taken on the clock, so let's go ahead and do your take with this little segment that we call Brad explains. Brad Explains is the part of the show where Brad breaks down the plot of the film that we have just seen, often for the first time.

7:07 Brad, this is clearly not your first time with Skyfall. You apparently saw it in the theater. Have you watched it in the interim? In the intervening 12 years. I don't think I have. I think this is my second time with the film. Along with Casino Royale and a couple others, this is maybe the most compulsively rewatchable Bond like it. It's very weighty and very heavy, but I think the action set pieces are so well constructed and it's such a beautiful movie to look at that I've caught myself many times, like flipping through channels and sky falls on and I'm like, yeah, I'm going to watch it till that subway train crashes through the roof because that's that just sounds like a good way to spend the next 25 minutes, you know?

7:48 Yeah, I, I found myself forgetting most of this movie. I like there was so much of this film that I'm like, Oh yeah, there's like a Komodo dragon. I forgot about that. Oh yeah, there's a trash island. I forgot about that. Like there was a lot of this film that I did not remember and I was mostly happy to return to. I think that Skyfall was so beloved by critics and, and it made so much money that I don't want to say there was a backlash afterwards. But, you know, maybe five years on, people started to really say, like, you know, Skyfall was good, but it didn't feel like a Bond movie to me. I like Casino Royale better.

8:29 And I what I have found to be anecdotally true is that people haven't gone back and watched Skyfall a lot. And when they do, what they realize is kind of similar to your experience. There are a number of like moments and scenes that are like embedded into your James Bond memories and you forget that they all come from this movie. Like I think when you add up the sum total of like Bond on the floating raft in that Navy blue tuxedo, the Komodo dragon, the fight where they're all in silhouette. Like everything in this movie that you remember, once it comes up in the movie, you're like, oh, did it. This is in Skyfall 2. That's crazy. I could have sworn this was in some other movie. So anyway, all that to say, I'm very pumped to talk about the iconic moments in this movie, but we have to get the plot out of the way. So folks, if you have not seen Skyfall, I would highly recommend you go watch it.

9:20 Hit pause here. Come back and join us in 60 seconds after Brad spoils the hell out of it. Brad, you have one minute on the clock and go. Skyfall is a film about the latest exploits of the famed agent Double O 7. Bond's latest mission goes wrong, and the list of names. If you've ever seen the first Mission Impossible, it's the exact same plot. The list of names of a lot of agents across the world is stolen and eventually exposed. M is forced to face a political inquiry into her leadership as Bond goes on the hunt for the mysterious rogue agent who has stolen the list.

10:04 They find each other, get into lots of fights, blow a lot of things up, return to Bond's childhood home and at the end of the film M the played by the famed Dame Judi Dench dies. But she's replaced by the famed Rafe Fines, so. You know which would you make that trade? I wouldn't say it's an upgrade, but it's definitely like a lateral move and I think that that's her saying a lot, honestly, because Judi Dench is so good as M. She's incredible, man. We have a lot of places to go today. Brad, you've done a great job of encapsulating this movie very succinctly.

10:45 I kind of want to start by framing this movie in the context of the Bond franchise. So this is like the 23rd, I think, movie in the Bond franchise. It marks the 50th anniversary of the franchise and the third movie in the Craig era. Now the Craig era kicked off with a sort of, we're doing a gritty reboot thing. If you remember the first part of Casino Royale where it's all black and white and you know, Daniel Craig looks nothing like the Bonds that have come before. They're definitely leaning into and I'm sure we talked about this in the Casino Royale episode, the Jason Bournification of action films and kind of stripping Bond back down to a more hand to hand combat, realistic grounded quote UN quote Bond.

11:32 They do Casino Royale. It works really well. They give the sequel movie Quantum of Solace to this director Marc Forster. It gets horrific reviews and no one likes it. And so now they're back to the drawing board with Craig as Bond. And it kind of seems like this movie, Brad, and you've hinted at it. Aside from just trying to re establish Bond as culturally relevant. They wanted to make this movie kind of the biggest and best Bond ever in terms of what it wants to tackle narratively, the inner psychology of Bond, but also grappling with Bond's own place in the culture and reminiscing on 50 years of Bond lore. And it, it's trying to do a lot here. And I think in order to do that, the studio and the people that hold the rights to the Bond franchise went back to the drawing board very similarly to like, OK, the 2004 US men's national basketball team only won bronze. This is an embarrassment on an international level. We need to get our shit together. And then in O8, they came back with a super team. You know what I mean?

12:39 It kind of feels like we're gonna get Oscar winning director Sam Mendes. We're gonna bring on his collaborative composer Thomas Newman. We're gonna let Roger Deakins film the thing and we're gonna go big this time. We're going to get an Oscar winner in Javier Bardem to play the big bad. Like, they just, they stacked the deck for this one. And I don't think that, like when you're just watching this movie in a vacuum, that it quite sinks in exactly how much they were pushing all their chips in on this movie. Yeah, I and can I just say the horns in this film are incredible. Like at multiple points throughout the movie, whether it's Javier Bardem's entrance from a mile away, like it's Monty Python and the Holy Grail, like the horns during that sequence are incredible.

13:28 When M is like, I think it's right after Bardem dies at the end of the film, they just have these really beautiful soft French horns just leading the way into her death. I I don't know why, but for some reason there were multiple points throughout the film where I was just like, man, this score is awesome. You know what? It's funny because Thomas Newman, we've talked about him quite a few times on the podcast. He's a very prolific composer. I his particular style doesn't always jive with me and he likes to use really unique instruments in the background. And I was actually just before we jumped on Brad, I was Googling what are the unique instruments that Thomas Newman uses.

14:09 And he likes to use the hammered dulcimer a lot. I don't know if you're familiar with this instrument, but it's like. Don't get me started on the hammer dulcimer, Bob. Underneath a lot of his music, you'll hear that like Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding. And then sounds just like that in some of the action sequences in this movie. And I didn't even realize. I didn't look up the composer, but I'm watching this and I'm like, oh, that's Thomas Newman. They let Thomas Newman do a James Bond movie. To your point though, like when it matters, the guy does nail it. And I think it it kind of contributes again to we don't just want to re establish Bond as the pre eminent action franchise, but we want this to be really taken seriously as a work of cinema.

14:52 And I will say this really is the first time that James Bond is given like awards recognition or at least consideration, right? And I think it it kind of starts, if we can get into the cast a little bit with Judi Dench. This is Judi Dench's movie. Like I think that she may not steal every scene and they may not always be giving her the Mediast stuff, but she's been a part of this franchise for I think 17 years at this point. And I think her first film was Goldeneye. Goldeneye, yeah. So we have now covered the extent of her career with AS as this role. And she's, you know, she's ready to be done with this part. I don't blame her at this point. And so this is her send off.

15:34 This is her swan song. But thematically, narratively, everything is leading to Judi Dench as kind of this figure who was representative of old Britain. And so it's it's both the send off for the character and the sort of rich metaphorical thing. I guess I'll start by talking about how I'm surprised they didn't push her harder for a supporting actress nomination because it kind of seems like it's almost like with, you know, Ian McKellen as Gandalf or, like, I don't know, Alan Rickman as Snape. Or like some of these roles where it's like, did you really just not want to try to get them nominated? Because it seems like you set up the entire movie for this to be their shining moment, and then you really fumble the bag at the end here. Well, and and didn't fumble the bag cinematically. Like to be clear, like they fumble the bag in not even marketing, but just pushing for them to be nominated, which even that feels a little weird.

16:32 Like I feel like as a common person looking at it, you're like, oh, I thought that all the people are just supposed to watch the movies and decide who's best. Like it. It shouldn't have to involve Harvey Weinstein being sleazy and marketing his people. But I think when you look at Dench in this movie, the reason she shines so much is because she has this ability to convey the lack of professionalism that she has when it comes to Bond under the surface. Like she truly views him as a son, as someone that she cares about. And I think that when you look at Javier Bardem as the villain of this film, the way he continues to call her mother and act as if she had betrayed him, like you find yourself drawn into this web of, is she just a professional, cold hearted?

17:31 I don't care about my agents. Or does she actually care about Bond? And, and like, that's at the absolute heart of this is as an audience, should we care about the person of James Bond or not? Like we've had him for 50 years. Is he a character worth our emotional attachment or not? And and Dench is the the audience standing in that way. That's really good way of thinking about it. I actually didn't put that together until now because I was taking the reading on this movie and I'll make a few more references to this. But if we talk about the Jason bournification of action movies, then we also have to talk about the really long shadow that was cast by The Dark Knight.

18:17 I think The Dark Knight is an influence that's all over this movie, especially because when The Dark Knight hits theaters in O 8, it obviously wasn't the first time that you had a villain who was espousing a philosophy and the philosophy makes sense. And so as an audience member, you're kind of torn between this guy is making a whole lot of sense, but I know he's bad. It's not the first time that that was done, but I think it really re established this emphasis on villains who don't just muscle their way around, but they're like thinking man's villains. And and that really comes to fruition here in Skyfall. If we want to dive into Bardem a little bit, I think we do a great job with his character. The point I was going to make was in The Dark Knight, we had that long talk about like the Patriot Act and how people accuse that movie of like, you know, supporting surveillance States and everything else.

19:13 I think if if there's any movie that you could really make that argument with, it's kind of Skyfall. Because like the the entire Judi Dench character is kind of a stand in for like the old way of doing things as a nation and how we still need it. And like this movie is proof that we still need it. And so I kept looking at it that way. I didn't put it together that she is the audience surrogate. And the question that's being asked of us is like, does James Bond still matter? So well done. Yeah. Yeah, thanks man. Oh, OK, sorry. I keep thinking that you're going to like go into something and then you're just not. Yeah. No, I'm just, I'm just going to bask in the glory that you have given me. You're welcome.

19:56 Yeah. Well, on that note, then let's dive into Javier Bardem, who is just having a hell of a good time with this role. Like he is hamming it up like crazy, which is what a Bond villain should do. Like he comes in with his fake ass blonde hair and dude and that light colored Sport coat and is just flamboyant and he's touching all over Bond and he's playing with him and he does the little playful face that he does in No Country for Old Men a couple times. And you're like, this is it just works, man. I don't know what else to say. I did not like Javier Bardem. No, Brad. Come on dude. I was like, he is so extra if I'm allowed to use that word. I, I know I'm getting older.

20:44 I, I could not take it. And I, I'm with you. Like Bond villains are supposed to be extra. But the rest of the film is so serious and sexy and like worried about the future and who we are. And then Javier Bardem, like, slides his way into the movie and it just felt terrible. I and I will say he got better as it went along. I think by the end of the film I loved his character, but the first shot of him walking in from the elevator felt like it was a Monty Python skit.

21:25 You don't like that monologue about the rats eating each other? Oh, it's. Dude, it's so crazy, so good, dude. Now they don't. Have a taste for coconut. Now they only eat rat. I was like, hell yeah. I couldn't take it dude. He is so hammy and so ridiculous. I like, I am so convinced of your wrongness that I'm not even going to engage with it. But I do think this is a good jumping off point to talk about kind of this movie in particular, but also the Craig era and how I think one of the big flaws of the Craig era was that their emphasis on quote, UN quote stripped down Bond meant that they had to reckon with the past of Bond and how Bond is undeniably cheesy in some. Like, you know, there's movies where James Bond goes to space. You're looking at like cue making him gadgets. And so their response in this movie is like no gadgets. It's a radio and a gun and that's all you get James Bond. And and I do think that there that's kind of why people go back to Casino Royale because it had a little bit more bondiness to it.

22:35 But I do feel like if you're going to do a serious Bond, this movie is kind of the ideal for that because Bond still gets, I don't know, 21 liners in this movie. Albert Finney as the caretaker, get some jokes. Judi Dench get some jokes. Javier Bardem gets jokes. And I think the humor, it works in, in terms of like, alleviating tension. And I think they do a much better job. It sounds like you never saw the last Craig movie, which is called No Time to Die. I did not. That movie is a mess bro. First of all, the Bond villain is Rami Malek. Enough said. And. Christoph Waltz. No, Christoph Waltz is Inspector and he makes a a brief appearance in No Time to Die, but the main bad guy is played by Rami Malek.

23:22 Gotcha. And they tried to do both, where they make it even more serious than Skyfall, but then they try to bring back really cheesy gadgets and like sight gags and they throw it into a three hour movie and it's like there is no direction here. Does does Malek have like big fake teeth to mess with the way he talks? It's just, it's just Malek dressed like Freddie Mercury. He just comes out in like a unitard and he it's the same shot of like Javier Bardem but but Rami Malek pops out and just raises his first and goes waits for James Bond to respond.

24:05 Somehow, Bond becomes the music producer that, like, tries to shoot them down. Nobody will listen to Bohemian Rhapsody. Anyway, I want to get your thoughts. This is a good place to start comparing Casino Royale and Skyfall. But before we get into the meat of that, do you see that as kind of a flaw of the Bond era, and do you think this movie addresses it in a satisfactory way? No, I, I think that this film is too on the nose about certain elements of the Bond past and like is, is just Snooty about it. Like the way that Q says like, this is all you need. Like, I think what it did for me was it pushed things so far into the realistic sense that my brain went to like, oh, so you're going to put a fingerprint sensor on a gun and think that's going to work every time? Like, what if he shoots with his other hand? What if something happens and like his, his, the, the thing stops working?

25:14 Like there's so many things that could go wrong with that, that it, it's like, OK, you want me to be realistic? I'm going to think about this as realistically as possible and say, this is really dumb and it wouldn't work. And so I just, they were so on the nose about certain elements of the Bond history and how they were throwing it out that it just took me out of the film and took me out of where they were at. Like, allow the audience to be smart and like, understand where you're going with the film. Like, we're trying to be more realistic so there's less gadgets. Like, don't say that out loud.

25:57 And yet I do feel like it. You're kind of between a rock and a hard place. If if this is the direction you're going with the series, then you're left with the options of either stick to your guns and be stripped down Bond or try to shoehorn in gadgets and stuff. And you know, I man, I wish you had seen no time to die, because I think that's a really good comparison point. I I do appreciate that at least for this one film, they stuck to their guns, but I think that it makes this movie for me, Brad, I really love this movie. Like I, I think this is, I'm going to give this a very, very high score. And I think that this might be the best made movie in the Bond franchise. And it might not be particularly close, but I don't know that I would call it the best Bond movie if, if someone's asking like what's a James Bond movie, I don't think I'd want them to. Skyfall, like Casino Royale, clears this by a lot if you're just talking sheer bondiness.

26:59 Yeah, and, and I would say that Casino Royale is the perfect mixture of high quality filmmaking paired with the bondiness of it all. I think that Skyfall leans into we're going to get away from the bondiness and make a high quality film. And I think they do succeed in that. The the cinematography in this is it's Deacon. Like it's so freaking good and there's so many memorable sequences and the music is incredible. And I'm with you that this is an incredibly well made film. But there are definitely moments that I go, oh, you're going a little over the top here with what you're shooting for, whether it's Bardem's character or the gadgets or even some of the jokes, like when Bardem looks at at Bond from the the ladder and goes.

27:53 I go to Radio 2. Beep. This is for you. He, he. I like it. Do you know? Do you know why I liked it? Why'd you like that? Because a. Train comes through the roof. That is what I literally I've seen this movie. I don't know five times probably. And I I, you know what's coming and I still I'm watching. I'm sitting on my couch and I just leaned back and like put my hands behind my head like a satisfied dad. Like it was just like, this is what movies were made for. Was this practically done effect of a subway train crashing through the roof of something? Have you ever seen that before? It's so cool. I think it looks really cheesy and it makes me gosh, dude, that they play so they play up this this villain as this like super genius who is a better agent than anyone else. And yet somehow he knows that he's going to be running away from Bond at this exact moment, this exact time. He's going to get shot at.

28:55 He's going to pause on the ladder for just long enough to go. He, he radio bomb. Ha ha, Watch the train come like that. Like it's so far beyond any capability of believability that I just kind of go, OK, sure. Isn't it funny how some films were willing to suspend our disbelief for and some were not? And I I don't know that I could ever provide a satisfactory answer to why I don't care about that. You know what I mean? Like, sure, I think maybe it's the payoff. Maybe it's just like, because it is something that is so cinematic that I've never seen before that I'm like, yeah, of like, of course he would have no idea at exactly the time Q accidentally let him into the mainframe and then this like he couldn't time that up with a train. And yet I'm not thinking about that at all in that sequence. And it's just funny to me that you are. And I think maybe it's a sign that you just weren't as bought into what led up to that.

29:53 And so your your mind is wandering to like the logic of it all. Yeah, it's just so. Funny that like there's some movies where I'm in your chair and I'm like, yeah, I, I was thinking about the logic and you're like, dude, just enjoy the movie and I feel like I'm in that. Point I'm sitting here going could I have gotten like 5 more minutes of back story on Javier Bardem that would have been. Great. Shut up, dude. Here's the thing, they make the movie so serious and real and gritty that when it's not, it's so noticeable to me. I think that's the problem is that Casino Royale stays within the ridiculousness of it a little bit that I I never get thrown off.

30:35 This one is just more tonally. Yeah, see. An on and off. I do think that this movie feels like an outlier in the Bond universe. I hate using the word universe, but you know what I mean. The the bond averse. The the Bond averse because it really does play like a thriller movie that just happens to have James Bond in it. Like it's a really well made action thriller and you can almost forget that it's a Bond movie for large chunks of it. And I think for a lot of people that's kind of a non starter, right? Like if, if you're going to make my Bond movie not Bondy, then it's not a good Bond movie. And I, I understand that point of view. I think for me, it was just like I got so caught up in how well made of an action thriller it was that those callbacks to other Bondy things like the Aston Martin showing up, it was just enough fanservice that I felt like they were kind of keeping people who were starting to wander on board. And so for me, it worked.

31:33 It sounds like it didn't work to the same extent for you, Brad, but I think that one area where we might be in agreement and we should hit on this really quick before we go to break is the inclusion of Rafe Fines as some government guy named Mallory. Government guy #37. Yeah, who then becomes M at the end of the film. And I think that even more than any performance he gives, it is inspired casting because this is for such a huge chunk of the movie, this is a who is the bad guy and how do we find him out? And then having Voldemort and, you know, Aman girth from Schindler's List come into your movie as new government guy. It does such a good job of throw it, not throwing you off the scent.

32:19 But like, even after Javier Bardem is caught and apprehended and like sitting in the basement, you have this moment where like he escapes. And then Q is talking to the, you know, Ms. sidekick guy about like, how do we hide this breadcrumb trail? And and he's saying like, we have to make it not so obvious that he doesn't smell a rat. And right when he says that, Ray Fiennes walks in the back of the room. And it's just enough to make you wonder like, oh, no, like, is this also a bad guy? And I think just having that extra 30 seconds of like, making the audience feel a sense of unease is exactly why you cast Ray Fines in this role. 100% to to get to more of the script choice. I also found myself wondering if Naomi Harris who plays the other agent who accidentally shot Bond. I think her name is Eve in the movie. Like she feels like she could also be the villain throughout the entire film.

33:22 Or at least the informant, the mole. And I, I think they do an excellent job with both of those characters of leaving them mysterious enough to wonder if they are good or bad. And it's not until Ray Fiennes is in the room shooting at Javier Bardem that you're like, OK, this guy's legit. He's on the good guy side and I like him. Yeah, man. And I and I got to say, it's fun to have Ray Fines in a role where I want to like him as an audience member and not just as somebody who likes movies and is like, wow, what a great bad guy. Yeah, exactly. All right, man, I think we're in a good spot to hit pause. I am really, really excited about the whiskey we chose today.

34:03 So what do you say we get into drinking some very expensive, very well aged Scotch? You literally could say that sentence to me any moment of any day and I would be in. All right, today we are checking out Bo Moore 22 year single malt Isla Scotch Whiskey. This is made in collaboration with a little brand that you may have heard of if you're a fan of the James Bond franchise, Aston Martin. So it's a Co branded venture. And this is, I mean, Brad in the movie, they drink 50 year old McAllen in lieu of that.

34:45 I think maybe we picked the perfect whiskey for this. Episode correction Daniel Craig drinks 50 year old McAllen and Javier Bardem wastes 50 year old McAllen. He does. He does. It's really disappointing. Well, you know what? We're not going to waste. Today is 22 year old Bo Moore Aston Martin Scotch. We have never tried a product from Bo Moore before. I'm very excited. This is a This is part of their Master's Selection series. I believe this was the third one to come out in that series. It says that it is double matured in specially chosen European oak and Olaroso Sherry casks. It clocks in at 51% ABV or 102 proof, which means it's on the higher end of the proof spectrum for what we've tried from Isla Scotch's bread. Yeah, it, it 100% is.

35:36 And I, I've said this before about Scotch in general, they actually do have a lot of Scotch above 100 proof and it is delicious. So I am so excited to not just try something above 100 proof today, but something that is very well aged. So they don't really go into any amount of detail that I can find about the aging process. It says aged 22 years in that combination of bourbon and Sherry casks. But we don't know if it was like aged for 19 of those years in bourbon and then in Sherry where if they're just combining two different batches. No idea. All we really know is this is very old. It was put in casks in I believe, 2000, bottled in 2022. Brad, I am freaking excited.

36:23 Let's get into it. The nose on this is absolutely gorgeous, Bob. There is pine cones and citrus. It's really like a nice grapefruit note for me. There is honey, there's saline. It's really lightly peated in my opinion, and the more time I spent with it, the more I got like a really nice fresh vanilla note that I thought was incredible. This is a 9 1/2 out of 10 for me, Bob. I have absolutely nothing to add. Those are perfect nosing notes, Brad. I'm, I'm also at a 9.5. I think this is a, you know, I haven't tasted it yet, but just from a nosing perspective, this is a perfect like intro to peated Scotch Scotch because it has all of the notes that you and I really love on our Highland scotches.

37:14 And then it adds just a little bit of peat to it. And I think this is perfect, dude. Now, I will say on on the note of Bond being from Scotland, you know, apparently Ian Fleming liked Sean Connery so much that then he went back and wrote into the lore that Bond was Scottish. And the location that they use in this movie for Bond's home, Skyfall is in Glencoe, Scotland, which is in the Highlands. So this is, you know, we're, we're looking at an Isla Scotch today. I'm just really glad that we have some connection not just to the James Bond franchise, but also it reminds me a little bit of a Highland Scotch on the nose. So I like, I like it a lot, man.

37:54 I'm tasting it now. Brad, why don't you give us your tasting notes? Dude, this the first word I wrote down before I wrote anything else. This Scotch is idyllic that it is like a honey roasted almond. There's a lot of like really nice cigar flavors. There's orange peel. It gets decently peedy from what I got on the nose, and there's a little bit of a grapiness to it that just came through to kind of give you a bit of sweetness. I think this is a perfect Scotch Bob. Like I think this is a 10 out of 10. Incredible pallet. I would happily buy a bottle of this. Dude you are on point with these tasting notes today. Cigar smoke is a perfect note on the front of the pallet. The Pete doesn't really come in until the very back of the pallet, but in between that, the second you said orange peel, I'm thinking orange zest.

38:55 And for me, that citrus note, as it starts to carry to the back of your palate, it becomes a little bit more grapefruit. Y not the bitterness of grapefruit, but it reminded me of like a Ruby red grapefruit. Really, really nice man. And again, yeah, the Pete's there, but it's not paired with those sort of bitter medicinal notes that you sometimes get on peet at Scotch. Again, I think this is a almost a platonic ideal of what Scotch can be, but it would also be maybe the best thing we've ever had to introduce somebody to Pete at Scotch because there's no offensiveness to the Pete. Here it is a 10 out of 10 on the pallet. I'd love to hear your finish notes because you're freaking knocking it out of the park so far man. I think on the finish you were talking about the medicinal.

39:38 It barely gets into medicinal for me. Have you ever like smelt or tasted rose hip? It's got a little bit of a rose hip vibe for me, which is almost like an autumn leafy herbal Y type of note. There's the saline really comes through strong on the finish. It turns into the meatiness I often like in Scotch, almost like a prosciutto and the the cigar smoke finally like lands in APD location once you're done drinking it and that finish is just lingering there. I. I think that this is nearly a perfect finish. I'm going to give it a nine and a half.

40:19 I'm going to come down to a nine. I just had my second sip of it and I really liked the finish on the 1st sip. This is one of the rare whiskeys where once my palate acclimates to it, I actually think the finish is more bitter the second time around. I actually got like bitter herbal notes on the very, very back of my palate on the finish here. And so it's, it probably is the weakest part of the experience for me, but you know, it's the difference between A10, a nine and a half and a nine. So yeah, I'm at a nine on the finish. On balance, I'm going to give this a 9.5. I I thought about A10. That second sip, the finish is just a little bit too bitter to justify A10 for me. But I'd love to hear where you're at, Brad. I'm at a 10 out of 10 on balance. Like I think that this brings a complexity of an experience that you need from a luxury whiskey.

41:11 And the complexity is a lot of really great, great flavors that work incredibly well together. So I like this is an ideal balanced whiskey. Like when I think about what we want in the realm of balance and I, I think that when we're talking about a luxury whiskey now, you know, we, we brought the luxury category on so that we could talk about whiskey's that are so highly priced, you only go after them if you know what you're getting into. And I, I think it was helpful because it's hard sometimes to say like, what's the difference between a $350.00 whiskey and a $700.00 whiskey?

41:53 Like it's just difficult to quantify that sometimes. Whereas the difference between a $30 whiskey and a $70.00 whiskey, it feels a little more obvious. I think that in the category of luxury, and it looks like I could find this online for like 350 to $500. I think that this is a nine out of 10, Bob. OK, So what I'm seeing online, Brad, is that they've released 3 versions of the Aston Martin. And this is the, it says 2023 on the label. But then I'm looking at the bottles and the label of the sample that we have matches up with the Aston Martin release #2 So I just want to get that out there because if you go by the 3rd batch or the 1st batch, that might not be what we're trying today.

42:42 Again, that's just the downside of trying one in a range of things. But I'm finding the batch too. Like I'm on a website right now that's selling it for $450. I saw it for as much as $650. This is the first time that I've been like, you know what? Yeah, if you, if I had $500 laying around and a bottle of this came up for sale, I would strongly consider not fixing something around my house to buy a bottle of this. Brad, this is a I'm going to give it a nine out of 10, which is taking me to one of my highest scores in the history of this podcast. I'm at a 47 out of 50, Brad. I'm a one point higher than you difference. I'm at a 48 out of 50, Bob.

43:27 This might be the highest scored whiskey we've ever tried, Brad. Yeah, I'm telling you, I was not expecting this today. I thought it would be a good whiskey. Yeah. Wow, we're at a 47.5 on average. We're a 95 out of 100, Brad. Oh, we've definitely never hit 95 on our average. This is insane. It's so good. I am so disappointed that we don't have more of this to drink because man O man like Now I will say this is better than Lagavel in 16, but I think Lagoval and 16 is close enough in quality to this that for $105.00 I feel justified in my choice to keep that on my shelf at all times. The thing I like about this is that there's a softness and a subtleness to it that I think sometimes peated Scotch overwhelms the ability to, to pick up some of those softer notes on something.

44:26 And this, this still carries like I'm getting notes of strawberry still on the finish. I'm getting some melon here. Like it. It's really softly peated, but in a way that I think everything complements each other to an extent that I've never had in a peated whiskey. And that is something to to really celebrate here. Yeah, this is a whiskey. You're right Bob, to be celebrated Bo more. If you want to send us more of this, we will happily grovel at your feet because it is incredible. Brad, we have a little bit more to talk about with the movie Skyfall. So what do you say we get back into that?

45:06 Let's get to it, Bob. All right, everybody. That was Bo Moore Masters selection, Aston Martin 22 year. We believe it's the second edition of that line up. I, and I'll just say this, I am like 99% sure it is the highest combined rated whiskey we have ever done on this podcast. Yes, and I am going to be emailing them and tweeting at them and everything I can do A to try to figure out is this the batch 2 and then C, how do we get on your distribution list for every year that you I'll, I'll do a Bond movie every year when this comes out if we can pair.

45:51 It with this movie yeah we just need to find a holiday that that makes sense with it We'll we'll have our our Thanksgiving cruise miss and whatever we come up with for bond because Bo more is incredible. What do we need to drink? More Bo More. Fantastic, dude. All right, Brad, I'm coming off a loss last week in our next game, which we call 2 facts and a falsehood. Brad is gonna try to stump your ball. 2 are right and what is wrong. 2 facts and a falsehood. 2 Facts and a Falsehood is the part of the show where Brad presents me with three items as fact about the making of this movie and I have to guess which one is the falsehood. I started the season 5 and O and last week I knew I was going to get it wrong no matter what I picked and that self fulfilling prophecy came true.

46:42 You were so confident in it that like, I feel personally like you are threatening the integrity of the game. I think you threw last week, Bob. I didn't throw last week, but I can't trust you. And you were like, dude, you know, you can change your answer. And as soon as you said that, I was like, I, I, I, you're playing 3D chess with my mind now. I don't know. I know I can change it, but once you start imploring me to change it, I'm like, do you, do you feel pity for me as a friend or are you just trying to get the win here? I'm just, I'm trying to prop you up as much as you can, Bob with, with like meaningless things. This is basically what is it? Whose line is it anyway? Yeah, exactly.

47:23 Well, I'm five and one on the season. I did very little research into the background of this film. So Brad, you are ripe for another win this week. Hit me with your two facts and a falsehood. Fact #1 The script supervisor had a difficult time with continuity in some scenes, especially in EMS first meeting with Mallory as her bag kept disappearing and reappearing in cuts from Dench to fines. Fact #2 Dame Judi Dench played the role of M in this movie at the age of 77, which also coincided with it being her 7th appearance in the role of M Fact number three in the 50 years of Bond films history up until this point. Daniel Craig is the first double O 7 to ever be shown actually being shot in the line of duty.

48:16 Interesting. #2 sounds like it's the most plausible one. I'm not sure if she was 77. You may have been making that number up, but I'm counting Goldeneye. She was 77 1/2. Goldeneye Tomorrow never dies, The World is not enough, Die another day. Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall. It's definitely her 7th appearance so I'm going to just for now, assume that's true. Has James Bond been shot before? I have to imagine that he has. I'd like you know, my guy could take a bullet in the shoulder if he needed to.

48:59 I mean, in this movie he does. And then does the bag keep appear disappearing? Great, that sounds like AI think. My gut is telling me 3 is the falsehood and if I overthink this and drag it out it's going to be boring audio. So I think for the sake of brevity and just being as confident as James Bond when you're gambling, I'm going to say 3 is the falsehood. Now, Bob, if I invite you to change your answer this time, is that like encouraging you to do it since it discouraged you last time? Where? Where are you at on the mind? We're not even going to entertain that. We're just going to go with the the gut today and say 3 is the falsehood. Final answer, final answer, final answer is correct.

49:41 Yeah. All right, now, did you do any amount of research into when he has been shot? Yes, this was the second time he has ever been shot. The first time was in Thunderball, so it it was a rare thing to happen in the movies, but this is the second time he had ever been shot. The amount of times people have shot at James Bond with machine guns, for him to never get shot is seriously impressive. Yeah, I it's, it's a suspension of disbelief, Bob. All right, man, so I'm back in the win column. I'm six and one on the season.

50:21 Feeling pretty good about that one, Brad. Yeah, I'm very happy for you, Robert. All right, let's talk about some things in this movie that Bob book really liked. And I'll, I'll say this because I, I feel like you're going to be with me on this one, Brad. Yeah. I love a movie where the characters have to fortify a building and make their last stance. There's something about Last Stand movies that just appeal to me as a dude. Yeah, when when Judi Dench is like building plastic bag nail bombs, it's freaking cool. Like there's, there's no other way around it. There's limited resources and lots of bad guys. And we got to figure this out.

51:06 And I'm just like, it's like every little boy's like play session in the woods where you're just like, we have to win and we have no chance of doing it. Let's freaking go. And this is what the montage was invented for. It's like cheesy ROM com girl trying things on in the mirror or dudes fortifying a building because like those, those are the only two things you ever need or Rocky training to fight somebody. Those are the three uses for the cinematic montage. And it just works so good. Because then you get that that shot of like Bond going back inside and giving one last look to the outside before he locks himself in.

51:50 And and then you have the calm before the storm conversation with Judi Dench, and it has that feel and that tension that you get with on a much larger scale, a movie like The Two Towers when you're waiting on Helms deep to start. I just, man, I couldn't make it any farther in the episode without talking about a good fortification movie, you know? Yeah, I have a public service announcement. Sylvester Stallone with a beard is incredible. Like just stupendous. Daniel Craig with a beard. A little less impressive in this movie. Does he have a beard? I mean, he has some stubble. It's like. Yeah, it's like stubble, but it it's like enough that you're like, oh, I don't know if Daniel Craig can actually grow a beard. I think that there's very different uses of facial hair going on.

52:36 Like 1 is to to make him look like a haunted, disheveled man. Whereas Rocky's beard is like, This beard is evidence that I conquered a mountain. Yeah, you know what I mean? I need to see Craig with Mountain Man beard to know if it's good or not. Yeah, if if like by the end of the film he had a giant mountain man beard and a Scottish accent as he was defending the house, I think I would have been a little more bought in on the beard. But you are right, Bob, the fortification scene freaking rocks. And it's the only thing I truly remembered from this film 12 years after watching. It that's crazy. So I feel like some of the more I I keep using the word iconic.

53:18 I don't want to make it sound like this is the the biggest cultural movie ever. But when I say iconic, like the iconography of this movie, the the memorable shots that are purposely inserted into this movie. I remember a lot of conversation happening around some of these. And you know, for a guy that used to read GQ, this movie is where Tom Ford puts Daniel Craig in a midnight blue shawl collar tuxedo. And it literally it was like The Devil Wears Prada. You know, that scene in The Devil Wears Prada where Anne Hathaway's like, I don't even need you guys. And then Meryl Streep's like that blue sweater you're wearing is the result of like 10 years of fashion progress until you found it in a market.

54:02 It's like that like that blue tuxedo. Go ahead. I. Think that's the dumbest scene in the world? I mean, it's true, though. It's a good encapsulation of how the fashion industry works. Yeah, I. Also think it's really dumb I'm not. I'm not arguing with that. I just want to say that tuxedo like set the fashion roll on fire for a long, long time. And so like that, that is maybe the most iconic Bond outfit of the last, I don't know, 50 years. So like the stuff like that, I think this movie did a really good job of becoming like having tentacles that went outside of just good action movie. This is the first Bond movie.

54:45 This is the first Bond movie that hit a billion dollars at the worldwide box office that had never been done before. Like, this was truly something caught on here with this movie that I don't know if we give enough credit to now. And maybe it's because there's been two mediocre Daniel Craig movies that came after it, But this one? Everybody saw this movie The year it came out. Yeah, this really was a cultural icon for a time. I will say, I don't know if I've ever thought of the Bond suits as like something to take note of. I like, I know that they have been a big deal in the world of fashion. I think if anything, I'm just proving in this episode that I don't give a freaking RIP about fashion like we need at school. Neat.

55:35 We know we know. Besides besides that though, like I said, they they tried to stack the deck in terms of the cast, the crew. They also got Adele the year after she comes out with 21 and sets the world on fire with Rolling in the Deep. It becomes one of the best selling albums in history and they get Adele to sing the song Skyfall, which is at the same time not a good song. And also there's like 2 lines in the song that everybody like let the sky fall. Like there's just, there's just something about the hummability of that one little part of the song that it's like, is this a one of the best Bond songs?

56:20 And I don't know. Because I, I don't think it's a really, when you just sit and listen to it, I don't think it's a very good song, but it's also, it feels like a Bond song. It has the weightiness that Adele brings to a song, and I think that's what makes it such a good Bond song is that they like, she just has that huskiness and depth and, like, epicness that you're like, Oh yeah, man, I'm watching James Bond. Well, I think that's aided by the fact that the Bond franchise, to its credit, has really stuck to its guns on having the opening credit sequence where there's just silhouettes of naked women and then like, ominous imagery of like, things that might happen in the movie. And I do think that the Craig series is the apex of the opening scene or like the opening titles in the Bond universe.

57:16 Because even when you watch like a, like a, a Pierce Brosnan Bond movie, they're light hearted and cheesy enough that, yeah, they're showing you like clips of things that are going to come up in the movie. But it never feels like foreshadowing. Whereas I feel like because these movies are more serious, you're seeing these, these images on screen of things Bond is going to encounter in this movie. And you're like, oh, this seems, this seems ominous. I think that one of the best prop shots in any of the Bond movies is the like elk that is on top of the the gate into his childhood home of Skyfall.

57:58 It's just such a beautiful shots of a beautifully crafted item that its inclusion in the opening sequence was just so cool. All right, bro, there's one more thing I want to talk about and we're going to zoom out and just talk about life here for a minute. This movie came out 12 years ago. Yeah. Which first of all, that that flew by because this feels like it's a recent movie and it's not anymore. It's 12 years old. It feels like a movie from a different time. And I don't know how else to say it. Like at multiple points of the movie, like, yes, it's Deacons. Yes, it's like I recognize all these actors.

58:39 It felt it felt more akin to a 90s thriller than it does to a 2024 movie. And it made me very bummed out that like we we don't really get movies like this anymore. The closest thing we're getting is the Mission Impossible franchise, which to its credit, also has the opening title sequence. They know what they're doing. But it's because Tom Cruise is, like, so desperately trying to remind people of why movies like this work. And I spent a good portion of this movie, like, feeling old because everybody in this movie looks so much younger. I couldn't believe these last 12 years have aged these people a lot. Like, Judi Dench is already 77.

59:22 And I'm like, wow, she looks like a spring chicken, you know? And like, Ray Fiennes still looks like he has the youthfulness that he doesn't have any more. And I was reckoning with how long it's been since this had come out, but also how far cinema has strayed from this model in just 12 years, that this feels like a relic. Dude, I, I said that this is an introspective movie on the world of secret agents, espionage and aging. And like I said that for a reason. I think that this movie is freaking sad, especially now that we are watching it in 2024 and it already feels like a Inception level dream within a dream.

1:00:07 Like a movie about aging that has already aged. You know what I mean? Like I it is so hard to sit down and watch this movie and reckon with the fact that. We all have to face ourselves with that question that M and Bond find themselves asking throughout the movie. And answering is like, what do we actually care about in this world? Like in a place where we feel like things are often life or death and we have all these big questions about the world. And, and like, to be honest, I, I think this episode is coming out sometime around a week or two after the election. Bob, is that like we are asking big questions about what we want for the future of our country and the future of the world? We all have to reckon with the fact that it is the close relationships that we form over the years of our life, just as M and Bond have done in a professional setting. Like, those are the things that matter most. And are we going to be satisfied with them when we come to our deathbed, as Judi Dench does at the end of this movie or not? And I like, that's such an important question for us to ask.

1:01:28 And I don't know if I expected to be asking that question at the end of a James Bond blow things up. You know, like room defense. Awesome. They like there's so much great stuff in this movie, and yet I didn't expect to find the heart of it to be such a basic elemental question of humanity. 100% And now I think for us, we're going to reckon with, do those questions pan out and does it work at what it's trying to do. But before we give it a final score and really evaluate it, it's time for our last segment of the day, which we call Let's Make it a double presented by Blackwood Distilling Company.

1:02:09 We're near the end of the episodes of Things listening to the film and Whiskey Show. Let's pair another film with this one, even if it's struggle. It's a final segment of the day. Now let's make it a double. Let's. Make It a Double is the part of the show where we pick a movie to pair up with this one to make the perfect double feature. Brad, do you want to go first today or do you want me to? I think I could probably go first. Let's. Do it. I think that a perfect double feature for Skyfall would be Mission Impossible Fallout. I think that both films kind of capture the idea of an aging, you know, super spy that is trying to finish his one last mission.

1:02:54 I I think that there's a lot of really beautiful, beautifully choreographed action scenes in both. I think the cinematography is great in both. I think that Craig is really awesome in his role. I think that Tom Cruise is the pinnacle of the Super spy. Like, it would just be an absolute blast of an evening to watch these two films back-to-back. Yeah, they really are like brothers as as movies. They're all about, you know, reckoning with your own decisions and mistakes and regret. I'm trying to decide, like, which of these two movies do I think is better? Because they're very different movies. But it, I mean, it's definitely the pinnacle of the Mission Impossible franchise.

1:03:35 And in a lot of ways, I feel like this is the pinnacle of the Bond franchise. So yeah, great pairing, dude. Thanks man. Where where are you going with your pairing for? Let's make it a double. You know, I, I had one that I'm still going to stick with it, but I was like, no one's going to see this coming. And then you named the movie like 5 minutes ago. So I'm going to pair this movie with Christopher Nolan's Inception. I saw Inception in the movie theater again earlier this year. And I feel like I forget how much that movie becomes about Leonardo Dicaprio's repressed memory and regrets and how he keeps burying things deeper and deeper in his psyche and how it comes back to bite everybody.

1:04:18 And the idea of hiding his wife inside of this mental castle that he's constructed for himself, where you have to go, like, way down the elevator to encounter his deep, dark secret. I was reminded of that in the sequence where Bond kidnaps M and is shuttling her off to a place no one would ever find me. And it's, you know, it's his past. It's the thing he he misses the most, he regrets the most. His kind of rosebud is Skyfall, and I think that like a Inception and Skyfall are both just freaking bangers. But I said that Dark Knight was a huge influence on this movie. I don't know if they did any tweaking to the script between the time Inception comes out in 2010 and the time this movie comes out in 2012, but I have a feeling that Inception is a little bit of an influence on this movie as well.

1:05:09 So Inception is my choice. Mission Impossible Fallout is Brad's. Talk about 3 good movies dude. Also fun fact, great usage of horns in inception. Do you think that, like, Hans Zimmer came in to meet with Nolan at one point and he's like, all right, I got it. I know the exact thing. I'm going to build this around. He's like, oh, yeah, what is that? He just flips the laptop rod and presses play and it's just that one note. Yeah, he's like D flat, my friend. D Flat.

1:05:49 What do you mean, Hans? It's just a note. He's like, you'll see. They'll all see. They'll all see. Let's make it a double was presented by Blackwood Distilling company. No matter what you choose to pair this movie with, you can always make it a double with Blackwood Distilling Co. And if you'd like to try Blackwood Distilling, what we'd like you to do is go to bourbonoutfitter.com/film Whiskey. That's bourbon outfitter slash film whiskey. Use our code film whiskey with an E at checkout and you will save 5% off of a bottle. Now folks, 5% doesn't sound like a lot of money, but remember for Blackwood is a luxury product and every dollar counts in this economy. We would love for you to check out Blackwood, especially that toasted rye.

1:06:34 Brad, how freaking good is that stuff? Yeah, you will not regret buying this bottle. I I have been slowly working my way through my bottle and it is incredible every single time through. So yeah. Code Film Whiskey, Bourbon outfitters.com. Slash film whiskey, you got to do both. So use use the URL and the code to get 5% off your bottle of Blackwood. All right dude, let's give Skyfall some final scores. You're clearly cooler on this movie than I am, so I I will turn the floor over to you. Where are you coming out on Skyfall And and as you give your score too, do you feel like you can evaluate this movie in a vacuum or are you always going to be comparing it against the rest of the Bond franchise?

1:07:19 And what expectations are for a Bond movie? Man, that is so tough because I truly had growing up. I remember like watching scenes or like half or 1/4 of some of the old Sean Connery, what's his name? Rodger. Rodger Moore. Yeah, Roger Moore. Like I remember seeing scenes from those. I don't know if I ever actually sat down and watched an entire one with my dad. So really the Bond universe for me is Daniel Craig through and through. Like I, you know, I watched Goldeneye for the first time as like a 31 year old for the podcast. So for me, I think that the Daniel Craig universe is the pinnacle of Bond and it's what I think of when I think of Bond. I think that Skyfall is incredible. I still think I like Casino Royale more. I don't remember what I gave Casino Royale. I think it was like an 8 1/2 or A9. I think that I'm at an 8 out of 10 on Skyfall. Like beautiful film, really well choreographed fight scenes, a great score, some really engaging characters. But there are some major flaws, in my opinion, with the tonality of the film, the tonality of the villain, that there's just too much going on that takes me out of the experience for me to be like 9 out of 10.

1:08:52 Brad, I'm going to give this movie a 9 1/2 out of 10. I am way higher on this than I remembered being. And I think for me it was it was realizing halfway through that yes, everyone's complaints about this not being a very Bondy Bond movie are true, but at what it is, which is a Oscar caliber action thriller, it's a freaking great movie. I had a hell of a good time watching this. You know when when Albert Finney comes around the corner and shotguns a guy in the chest and then says welcome to Scotland, I was like, hell yeah. What a movie. I can, I can get down with that one liner because he's just like a throwaway character that I'm like, yeah, sure, why not?

1:09:36 Like, that's awesome. Now, Bob, I, I will say, I think every time I hear you say the word 9 1/2, my like eye twitches a little bit because I remember that that's what you gave The Last Jedi. And I think my brain will always and forever indelibly think Skyfall is so much better than The Last Jedi. Can I tell you I I literally so much better? I have a page of notes on my phone that I've been going through and making sure we hit every topic and the only remaining item I swear to God on this list is mention the Last Jedi just to piss Brad off. That is literally the last thing on here.

1:10:16 I I'm just going to finish this episode by saying The Last Jedi is a garbage, horrifically made, poorly executed film. So. I love hearing I can hear the wheels in your head turning on. How do I segue well? We got to end the Episode. I, I was going to bring it up at some point because I was like it. It's kind of doing the, you know, grappling with its own lore thing that Last Jedi does. And I didn't know if that would be influencing you at all, but you hadn't, you hadn't even tangentially brought it up. So I was like, I'll set that aside. We'll we'll piss Brad off some other day. But now you've brought it up. So there you go, man. It lives rent free in your brain dude. It is your fault that you gave that terrible movie at 9 1/2 and so now every future 9 1/2 that you give is like tainted in my mind because I'm like, well if he gives Last Jedi a nine and 1/2, he could just throw it to any movie. And throw it I did.

1:11:15 Skyfall's a 9.5 out of 10, folks, which is bringing our average to an 8.75 out of 10. But we'd like to know what you think. Is Skyfall the apex of the Bond franchise? Or would you pick something else? Let us know on any of our social media channels Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok or YouTube at Film Whiskey. Or you can join the conversation on our Discord server. We are on there every single day trashing Rian Johnson and The Last Jedi. So if you want to join that very important piece of cultural discourse, you can find a link to our Discord server at the end of every single one of our show notes. Next week, a movie that I cannot wait to talk about.

1:11:56 It is David Fincher's 2007 unsung masterpiece Zodiac. So we'll be back looking at serial killers next week probably. Going to give it a nine and a half I. Absolutely will, but until then, I'm Bob Book. I'm Brad. Gee, and we'll see you next time.