Licence to Spiel

Despite some overlong action scenes and an ending stuffed with Christmas puns, we can’t help but wonder if this one might have actually benefitted from a longer runtime. This episode might not make up for a rather long and unexpected hiatus, but it’s such a perfect place to start.

What do Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Pryce, Julian Fellowes, Geoffrey Palmer, and Teri Hatcher have in common? They all starred in Tomorrow Never Dies with Hugh Bonneville. Or is that just fake news?

James Bond enters the 90s with new actors and a new tone to the franchise, and we’re here for it.

Our licence to spiel has been revoked, but we’ve gone rogue and released this episode anyway.

We finally watch a good movie again, Joe Don Baker notwithstanding.

Dance into the fire with us this week as we meet you with A View to a Kill.

This film is a high point in the franchise, if your metric is escape methods disguised as animals.

If you listen to our episode about For Your Eyes Only, we may just buy you a delicatessen in stainless steel.

007 goes to space, Jaws falls in love, and we are inexplicably thirsty for 7up.

Roger Moore has finally hit his stride with The Spy Who Loved Me, and we’re here to talk about.

Join us as we talk about the second installment in the JW Pepper cinematic universe!

Roger Moore makes his franchise debut in a film that that we should perhaps let die.

Richard Nixon (ahem, we mean Sean Connery) is living it up in Las Vegas this week.

This never happened to the other guys. Actually, it’s still just Carl and Thad. We couldn’t find Australian replacements to talk about On Her Majesty’s Secret Service for us.

You only hear us talking about the fifth James Bond film twice, or so it would seem.

This week—for real this time—Licence to Spiel strikes like Thunderball! Thad and Carl discuss the fourth James Bond film and draw their attention to many things in this (perhaps overlong) movie, including Largo’s several fashion faux pas , the introduction of Kevin McClory, how NOT to be secret, and of course, that jetpack.

At long last, No Time to Die is finally here, and so are our thoughts on it, fresh from the theater.

The Bond series hits its stride with Goldfinger, where we learn how not to smuggle gold, discover that Kentucky Fried Chicken may not be in Kentucky after all, and help Thad with his aversion to unnecessary hydraulic lifts.

From Russia with Love turns this into a full-fledged franchise and adds some elements that will become staples of the series. Join us as we talk about Sean Connery’s second Bond film.

In our first episode, we cover the film that started it all: Dr. No.