Skyfall

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#TBT Year in Review: 2012

In the year the world DIDN’T end (looking at you John Cusack)…

  • After 244 years of publication, Encyclopedia Britannica discontinued its print edition. 
  • Felix Baumgartner became the first person to break the sound barrier without machine assistance by diving out of a helium balloon from outer-space. 
  • Key & Peele made their Comedy Central debut.
  • Whitney Houston passed away at the age of 49.

And here’s what happened in Movies, Music and Sports…

Movies

Comedy

Ted, 21 Jump Street, The Dictator, Pitch Perfect, Wanderlust, American Reunion, What To Expect When You’re Expecting, This Is 40, Project X, Think Like A Man, Dark Shadows, Rock of Ages, The Lorax, Wreck-It Ralph, The Campaign, Casa de Mi Padre, Safety Not Guaranteed, For a Good Time Call…, The Guilt Trip, The Three Stooges, Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie, Magic Mike, The Five-Year Engagement, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Hit and Run AND…

Moonrise Kingdom

Action/Thriller

Skyfall, The Avengers, Savages, Safe House, The Hunger Games, Taken 2, The Bourne Legacy, Man on a Ledge, Looper, Safe, Stolen, Jack Reacher, Resident Evil: Retribution, Premium Rush, End of Watch, Sinister, Contraband, Erased, Battleship, Seven Psychopaths, Dredd, Total Recall, Prometheus, The Amazing Spider-Man, Chronicle AND…

The Dark Knight Rises

Drama

Django Unchained, Silver Linings Playbook, Argo, Zero Dark Thirty, Lincoln, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Les Miserables, The Master, Cloud Atlas, The Vow, Flight, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Mud, Disconnect, Red Tails, Promised Land, Amour, Trouble with the Curve, Hitchcock, The Place Beyond the Pines

Argo

The 85th Academy Awards

Best Actor

  • Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
  • Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
  • Denzel Washington, Flight
  • Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
  • Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln – Winner

(This was his 3rd win out of 5 nominations dating back to My Left Foot in 1990)

Best Supporting Actor

  • Alan Arkin, Argo
  • Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
  • Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
  • Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
  • Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained – Winner

(Waltz has won both times he was nominated. Both for Tarantino roles)

Best Actress

  • Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
  • Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
  • Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
  • Naomi Watts, The Impossible
  • Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook – Winner

(JLaw was nominated 3 times in 4 years, beginning in 2011 for Winter’s Bone)

Best Supporting Actress

  • Helen Hunt, The Sessions
  • Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook
  • Amy Adams, The Master
  • Sally Field, Lincoln
  • Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables – Winner

(Hathaway was nominated once more in 2009 for her lead role Rachel Getting Married)

Best Picture

  • Amour
  • Beasts of the Southern Wild
  • Django Unchained
  • Life of Pi
  • Lincoln
  • Les Miserables
  • Silver Linings Playbook
  • Zero Dark Thirty
  • Argo – Winner

(Argo won 2 more Oscars out of 7 nominations, for Best Writing and Editing)

Music

Rock Albums

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Hip Hop Albums

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Pop Albums

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Billboard Year-End Top 25 Songs

  1. “Somebody That I used to Know” – Gotye featuring Kimbra
  2. “Call Me Maybe” – Carly Rae Jepson
  3. “We Are Young” – fun. featuring Janelle Monae
  4. “Payphone” – Maroon 5 featuring Wiz Khalifa
  5. “Lights” – Ellie Goulding
  6. “Glad You Came” – The Wanted
  7. “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” – Kelly Clarkson
  8. “We Found Love” – Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris
  9. “Starships” – Nicki Minaj
  10. “What Makes You Beautiful” – One Direction
  11. “Wild Ones” – Flo Rida featuring Sia
  12. “Set Fire to the Rain” – Adele
  13. “Sexy and I Know It” – LMFAO
  14. “Some Nights” – fun. 
  15. “Wide Awake” – Katy Perry
  16. “Good Feeling” – Flo Rida
  17. “Whistle” – Flo Rida
  18. “One More Night” – Maroon 5
  19. “Drive By” – Train
  20. “The Motto” – Drake featuring Lil Wayne
  21. “Where Have You Been” – Rihanna
  22. “Everybody Talks” – Neon Trees
  23. “Take Care” – Drake featuring Rihanna
  24. “Titanium” – David Guetta
  25. “I Won’t Give Up” – Jason Mraz

Sports

Baseball

League Leaders

Offensive

Average: Buster Posey (SF) – .336

Hits: Derek Jeter (NYY) – 216

Home Runs: Miguel Cabrera (DET) – 44

RBI: Miguel Cabrera (DET) – 139

OPS: Miguel Cabrera (DET) – .999

Stolen Bases: Mike Trout (LAA) – 49

Pitching

Wins: Gio Gonzalez (WSH) – 21

ERA: Clayton Kershaw (LAD) – 2.53

Strikeouts: Justin Verlander (DET) – 239

Complete Games: Justin Verlander (DET) – 6

Shutouts: Felix Hernandez (SEA) – 5

Saves: Jim Johnson (BAL) – 51

MVP

AL – Miguel Cabrera (DET)

NL – Buster Posey (SF)

CY Young

AL – David Price (TB)

NL – R.A. Dickey (NYM)

Rookie of the Year

AL – Mike Trout (LAA)

NL – Bryce Harper (WSH)

World Series

San Francisco Giants sweep the Detroit Tigers 4-0

Basketball

NCAA

Final Four

(1) Kentucky (2) Ohio State (2) Kansas and (4) Louisville

National Championship

(1) Kentucky over (2) Kansas 67-59

NBA

League Leaders

Points Per Game: Kevin Durant (OKC) – 28.0

Rebounds Per Game: Dwight Howard (ORL) – 14.5

Assists Per Game: Rajon Rondo (BOS) -11.7

All-NBA Team

Kobe Bryant (LAL)

Kevin Durant (OKC)

Dwight Howard (ORL)

LeBron James (MIA)

Chris Paul (LAC)

MVP – LeBron James (MIA)

Rookie of the Year – Kyrie Irving (CLE)

NBA Finals

Miami Heat over the Oklahoma City Thunder (4-1)

Football

NCAA

Heisman Trophy – Johnny Manziel (Texas A&M)

BCS National Championship

(2) Alabama over (1) Notre Dame 42-14

NFL

League Leaders

Passing Yards: Drew Brees (NO) – 5,177 

Passing Touchdowns: Drew Brees (NO) – 43

Passer Rating: Aaron Rodgers (GB) – 108.0

Rushing Yards: Adrian Peterson (MIN) – 2,097 

Rushing Touchdowns: Arian Foster (HOU) – 15

Receiving Yards: Calvin Johnson (DET) – 1,964

Receiving Touchdowns: James Jones (GB) – 14

Receptions: Calvin Johnson (DET) – 122

AP MVP – Adrian Peterson (MIN)

Super Bowl XLVII

Baltimore Ravens over the San Francisco 49ers (The Harbowl) 34-31

Hockey

League Leaders

Goals: Steven Stamkos (TB) – 60

Assists: Henrik Sedin (VAN) – 67

Points: Evgeni Malkin (PIT) – 109

Hart Memorial Trophy: Evgeni Malkin (PIT)

Stanley Cup

Los Angeles Kings over the New Jersey Devils (4-2)

Did I miss anything? Let me know on Twitter @Mike_PiFF03 or on Facebook.

Also checkout past #TBT Years in Review.

2011

2010

2007

2006

2005

2002

1999

1998

1992

1990

1989

1988

1987

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007 #SPECTRE Trailer: Bond On The Run

Sony Pictures released the first official full trailer for “SPECTRE”, the latest installment of the modern n007 series.

“The say you’re finished…I think you’re just getting started.”

There’s a lot to digest from the latest footage to Sam Mendes’s follow up to “Skyfall”. Nearly a decade into the Daniel Craig era of James Bond, it appears to be as thrilling, slick, and exciting as ever. Unfortunately, Pierce Brosnan’s Bond didn’t age as well.

Let’s go frame by frame, breaking down the new trailer and start putting the pieces together before SPECTRE’s Nov. 6th release.

“Mexico City…What were you doing there?”

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007 picked one hell of a day to take a “holiday” to Mexico. In what’s obviously a Dia de los Muertos (Day of a Dead) celebration, Bond is hunting this ghoul, and probably blowing him up. This could also be Bond in full Reaper garb, but that’s not really his style. Ralph Fiennes begins his run as the new M (*skypoint to Judi Dench’s tenure*) playing damage control as the British government is on a mission to disband MI6, and he doesn’t appear happy with Bond’s actions. Who was in Mexico City worth killing? All likelihood, they are tied to SPECTRE.

“So what’s going on, James…?”

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Carrying over from the events of “Skyfall”, the British government is too keen on spies and MI6’s history. The vibe I get from the conspiracy mood in the teasers and trailer is that SPECTRE has some Hydra-like reach and influence with British lawmakers, which would explain the insistence to dissolve MI6. We notice contention between Bond and M early in the trailer, but going dark may be what’s best for 007 to get the job done.

“Zero to sixty in 3.2 seconds.”

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Behold, the new Bond-mobile. The Aston Martin DB10 was unveiled long ago, but it still has an aura in Q Branch’s garage. Deliberately sharing the speed and the “few tricks up its sleeve” suggests Bond is going to have some eluding to do, which we see right after in a sweet car chase sequence.

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Bad guys drive Jaguars anyway, right?

Introducing Mr. Hinx.

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This looks to be the villain behind the wheel of the aforementioned Jaguar. Former WWE World Champion and current “Guardians of the Galaxy” badass Dave Bautista plays Mr. Hinx, the evident SPECTRE #1 henchmen. We get a glimpse of Hinx breaking necks Bane-style in the trailer. Bautista is fantastic when it comes to nonverbal intimidation. Will Drax the Destroyer go down as one of the better 007 hired killers, like Jaws, Oddjob, Baron Semedi and Red Grant before him?

Drax gif

“Tell me where he is?”

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After Bond asks Q to help him disappear, we see him go into snow seclusion to find someone from his past. The character isn’t listed on IMDB yet, but previous teasers make it seem he and Bond were close once…In our experience, those close to 007 wind up either dead or evil…and then eventually dead. However, this old strung out soul looks to be James’s best connection to finding whoever is in charge of SPECTRE and is “protecting someone”.

“Why should I trust you?”

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Being creepily watched by Mr. Hinx is Madeleine Swann played by Lea Seydoux (previously in “The Grand Budapest Hotel”). She is likely whoever our sleepless friend from above is protecting and plays an important role in taking down SPECTRE for Bond, her “best chance at staying alive.”

“Its name is SPECTRE.”

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If SPECTRE sounds familiar to you, that is because the organization made an appearance in the 3rd Bond film, “Thunderball”. The name SPECTRE was also at the center of a long copyright battle between Ian Flemming and director Kevin McClory. McClory’s estate and MGM settled the issue in 2013, awarding the film rights of SPECTRE and the characters associated to MGM…Which leads us to the present.

We see the organization stand around the table. They seem to have influence over corporations and governments around the world and are led by the only man sitting down…

“It was me, James…The author of all your pain.”

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Enter Franz Oberhauser, played by the charming yet terrifying Christoph Waltz. The name of Waltz’s character is a hat-tip to Fleming’s “Octopussy” short story and the background character “Hannes Oberhauser”, who was described as Bond’s temporary legal guardian when he was young.

Waltz joins a series of Bond villains that have established themselves as memorable as any. Mads Mikkelsen and Javier Bardem were excellent predecessors in the Bond era, but the two-time Oscars winner could hurt Bonds in ways the others haven’t yet…and this hurt pretty bad.

Mads rope

Bond Is Not Alone.

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Sweet turtleneck, Q. Remember the great scene in “Skyfall” when Bond met the new Q for the first time?

Q says he can do more damage in his pajamas, but now he seems to be out in the field with 007. He trusts Bond, which makes it easy to think he would be capable of lifting a middle finger to authority, but I think this could mean M is assisting Bond in his quest. While he may be as bureaucratic as bureaucrats get, Gareth Mallory has proven his loyalty to Bond and MI6’s cause before. If the British government is compromised by SPECTRE, Bond is his best weapon.

Who called Jim Moriarty?

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This is not the face of a good guy. Famous for playing the recent “Sherlock” series villain Jim Moriarty, Andrew Scott looks cryptic and scary in London. Is he leading the government’s charge against MI6? We shall see, but my initial feeling is that those eye brows don’t bode well for Bond.

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Have some more thoughts about the new SPECTRE trailer? Let me on Facebook and Twitter.