Ten years of movie reviews. How do you pick the best? Our theory from the very first day of publishing borg has been reviewing only those things we like, things we think are fun, imaginative, or just plain cool—because if we think they’re cool, maybe you will, too. What makes a great movie? #1 for us is great writing—great storytelling. #2 is re-watchability. Lots of movies are good, but if every time you watch it you enjoy it all over again and maybe find something you didn’t see before, then you likely got far more value from the movie than the price of a movie ticket. #3 is innovation—there’s nothing to top off a good story like new technology surprising us. Finally, the experience must be fun—why else would you devote two hours or more of your valuable time?
So in Casey Kasem style, here are the Top 40 movies we recommend, spanning 2011 to 2021. These are our favorites. How should you use lists like this? If you like what we talk about at borg, you’re probably going to like these movies. If you’ve missed any, odds are you have some new movies to take a look at. Let’s start at #40 and move our way to #1. As with everything borg, we’re stressing genre movies, so don’t expect to see strict dramas or a lot of Best Picture Oscar winners here. Title links are to our original borg review.
In the event you somehow forget to get your cat something for the holiday season, we have some tested items that are sure to please your cat as much as they did our furry friends. Some of these can still be shipped in time for Christmas by Amazon. But your cat probably won’t care if they have it in time. Ultimately your cat wants you, your time, and a warm home. But some of these items will help you connect with your cat.
A new book by the animal trainer for the Harry Potter movies will get you involved with your cat. Think your cat can’t learn all the tricks dogs know? Then you need to read Superstar Cats: 25 Easy Tricks to Make Your Cat Shine in the Spotlight. Professional trainer Julie Tottman explains what is needed (like treats, a blanket, etc.), how long the trick might take, and step-by-step her method of getting Daniel Craig’s cat to lie down on command in Spectre, or Crookshanks the cat to carry an object from point A to B as in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Get it for your cat or your favorite cat lover for a stocking stuffer available now from Running Press here at Amazon.
Rule one of playtime for any pet? Don’t let them play unsupervised. Animal hospitals are full of cats and dogs that swallow a small item, and many toys can be chewed up and swallowed if the cat or dog has enough time to do it.
What have we found to be the #1 toy for our cats? Just like the National Toy Hall of Fame named the ball, the stick, the blanket, and the cardboard box to its list of toys for humans, our cats routinely pick this over the rest: It’s the plastic strapping material that holds heavy shipments you might find wrapped around a boxed self-assembled shelf. Home Depot and Lowe’s have these literally lying on the floor in their aisles, as they are used to hold multiple boxes on shipping pallets. We learned ours was a toy when a heavy box arrived and the cats went crazy for it. Just wash it before use. How do you use it? Just run it along the floor, twist, or twirl it, and watch your cat go crazy. And it’s free. We picked up a few extra lengths from a helper at Home Depot.
The #2 favorite cat toy? A cardboard box. Any box will do. They’ll sleep in it. Hide in it. Chew on it. If you order anything from CatIt, their box has great pre-printed holes, so you pull out the item and your cat is likely to use the reassembled box with cut holes longer than the toy it contained. Drop in a ball (or another piece of cardboard, or one of these things I don’t remember buying that my cat found under something somewhere) and they’ll never get tired of it until it falls apart and you replace it. Again, it’s free.
Still want to buy your cat some actual toys? Here are eight more recommendations, tried and tested by our cats:
Christie’s & Eon Productions are auctioning off 24 lots from last year’s latest James Bond entry, SPECTRE, now out on Blu-ray and reviewed here at borg.com last week. An online-only sale will offer 14 of the 24 lots, open for bidding beginning tomorrow, February 16, 2016, through Tuesday, February 23, 2016, with an invitation-only live auction being held on Thursday, February 18, 2016, at Christie’s in London. The live auction is also open to Internet and telephone bidders.
1. Blu-ray disc signed in gold marker pen by Daniel Craig plus James Bond’s blue initialed ‘JB’ Tom Ford cufflinks worn by Daniel Craig
Each set with oval lapis lazuli panels engraved with the monogram ‘JB’ for James Bond, to single-link connections, signed Tom Ford, 15mm wide, in maker’s case and card box. Bond’s cufflinks were personalized for SPECTRE, designed by Jany Temime and made by Tom Ford. Daniel Craig as James Bond wore these cufflinks throughout the film with each of his suits apart from the ‘mother-of-pearl’ version which he wore with his dinner suit (see Lot 15). They are one of two pairs held in the EON archive.
Estimate: $4,300–7,100
2. James Bond’s Day of the Dead Costume worn by Daniel Craig
Designed by Costume designer Jany Temime and mask designer Robert Allsopp. The set includes:
Black frock coat with white hand painted bones, size IT38
Skull mask with elastic fastening
Black leather gloves, size M
Black top hat, 100% wool with grosgrain ribbon hat band ‘Jaxton Victorian’, size 7 ⅝” (61 cm.)
Skull cane
This is one of three Day of the Dead Costumes worn by Daniel Craig (the other two are retained by EON) in the pre-title sequence of the film. Bond is in pursuit of assassin Sciarra.
Estimate: $17,000–25,000
3. Longines ‘Conquest Heritage’ watch
This is the 18-carat rose gold automatic wristwatch worn by Ralph Fiennes as M in SPECTRE. With a diameter of 35 mm, this model in 18-carat rose gold displays a sunray silver dial with pink applied indices, “dolphine” hands with superluminova and date aperture at 12 o’clock. Fitted with a self-winding mechanical calibre L633, it indicates the hours, the minutes and the seconds. The caseback is decorated with a gold and enamel medallion representing a constellation. One of only two worn by Ralph Fiennes in SPECTRE, the other retained by Omega.
Estimate: $7,100–9,900
4. Final Legal SPECTRE script signed by Sam Mendes, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli
Estimate: $4,300–7,100
5. Oberhauser’s SPECTRE gold ring worn by Christoph Waltz
The ring is made of 9 carat yellow gold, with 7 tentacle octopus logo rendered in distressed black, and has some marks on back of ring. This is one of only two gold rings made for the film, the other is retained by EON.
For every new Bond actor there is a handful of films that are forgettable. SPECTRE is not one of those Bond movies. In fact SPECTRE is on the heels of being as good a James Bond formula piece as Daniel Craig’s Casino Royale. After re-watching it on Blu-ray, now available this week, it may just be better.
So why is SPECTRE a cut above the rest?
It has the most elaborate, exciting, and best choreographed action scene opener of any Bond film. Ever. We begin with Bond and his attractive companion Estrella, played by Mexican actress Stephanie Sigman, at the Day of the Dead festival in Mexico City. A single-take shot parade walk. Bond is in pursuit of an assassin, for a reason yet to be disclosed to the viewer. Bond in a skeleton suit is still unmistakably Daniel Craig’s Bond. We get an inadvertently blown-up building. A foot chase through a parade culminating in a hand to hand fight in a helicopter over the crowded festival. Want exciting? This scene has it all.
Gone is the tired, old, worn-out Bond emphasized in the plot of Skyfall. Gone is the disheartened Bond of Quantum of Solace. This is Bond as he is supposed to be–confident, cocky, and calm, solving a puzzle and seeking some revenge for all that has happened to him, and revealed to us since Casino Royale. And physically Craig could still out-match all prior Bond actors at any age.
SPECTRE’s main “Bond Girl” is a well-developed character this time around. French actress Léa Seydoux’s Dr. Swann is compelling and interesting, closer to Eva Green’s engaging Vesper Lynd than any Bond film actress since. But equally appealing is Italian actress Monica Bellucci as Lucia Sciarra, a character widowed by Bond, who Bond actually rescues in an almost uncharacteristic act. Did Bond make sure she was safe because he failed to do so in a similar encounter in Casino Royale with Caterina Murino’s Solange?
Well it’s been one long year, with plenty to do and see, plenty of good and not-so-good to read and watch, and as with last year we’re certain we reviewed more content this year than ever before. This year was a big year for borgs in TV and film, so we had some difficult decisions to make. All year long we sifted through all that Hollywood had to offer and honed in on the genre TV, films, comics, and other books we thought were worth examining. We went back and looked at it all and pulled together our picks for our annual Best of the Best list.
Today we reveal the entire list–the best genre content of 2015–with our top categories Best Sci-Fi Fix, Best Fantasy Fix, Best Superhero Fix, Best Animated Fix, and Best Borg selected regardless of medium. A dozen properties garnered multiple mentions.
We hope you agree with many of these great creations of the entertainment industries, and wish everyone a great 2016!
Best Sci-Fi Fix – Killjoys (Syfy). Surprised? Killjoys pulled together great worldbuilding, characters and actors in a year of a dozen new sci-fi shows to provide us the closest thing to the next Firefly we’ve seen in a long time.
Best Fantasy Fix – Galavant (ABC); Runner-up The Librarians (TNT). It aired early in 2015 but nothing surpassed Galavant’s medieval high adventure and all-out Princess Bride-style fun.
Best Superhero Fix –The Flash (CW). Of all the Marvel movies and TV series from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to Agent Carter and from Arrow to Supergirl, nothing had us coming back for more each week like the superhero world in The Flash.
Best Animated Fix – Star Wars Rebels (DisneyXD). Compare it to Star Wars: The Force Awakens and see if you think this animated Star Wars galaxy had an even better story and characterization, along with the return of its own group of original trilogy actors, compelling visuals and rousing music.
Best Borg – Pops (Arnold Schwarzenegger) from Terminator Genisys(Paramount). Schwarzenegger created yet another borg that could stand up against his prior successful characters from the series. A cool, moving character in a big year for borgs on screen!
Best Borg Movie – Ex Machina (DNA Films). Incredible storytelling and a small cast of talented actors provided a classic science fiction story and Oscar-worthy film about our favorite subject.
Best Borg TV Series – Humans (AMC). On television the most in-depth look at life as a borg and among borgs has never been portrayed more dramatically than on this year’s surprise sci-fi hit series from AMC.
Best Kickass Genre TV Heroine – Liv Moore (Rose McIver), iZombie(CW); Honorable Mentions: Dutch (Hannah John-Kamen), Killjoys (Syfy); Helena (Tatiana Maslany), Orphan Black (BBC)
Want to know who we picked for best villain and best comic books of the year? Take a look after the cut…
If you’ve been too busy buying your advance tickets for Star Wars: The Force Awakens and forgot to get to the theaters to see the latest James Bond film, here’s your wake-up call. Get thee to the theatre before it’s gone! For every new Bond actor there is a handful of films that are forgettable. SPECTRE is not one of those Bond movies. In fact SPECTRE is on the heels of being as good a James Bond formula piece as Daniel Craig’s Casino Royale. It will be hard for any Bond movie to top that one, since it was as close to perfection as an action vehicle can get.
So why is SPECTRE a cut above the rest?
Let’s start with the required action scene opener. We begin with Bond and his attractive companion Estrella, played by Stephanie Sigman, at the Day of the Dead festival in Mexico City. Bond is in pursuit of an assassin, for a reason yet to be disclosed to the viewer, and the result is some of the best action in any Bond movie. Ever. Bond in a skeleton suit is still unmistakably Daniel Craig’s Bond. We get an inadvertently blown-up building. A foot chase through a parade culminating in a hand to hand fight in a helicopter over the crowded festival. Want exciting? This scene has it all.
Gone is the tired, old, worn-out Bond emphasized in the plot of Skyfall. Gone is the disheartened Bond of Quantum of Solace. This is Bond as he is supposed to be–confident, cocky, and calm. And physically Craig could still out-match all prior Bond actors at any age.
Bond’s main “Bond Girl” is a well-developed character this time around.
Léa Seydoux’s Dr. Swann is compelling and interesting, closer to Eva Green’s engaging Vesper Lynd than any Bond Girl since.
The villains are perfect, starting with Dave Bautista’s Mr. Hinx and his Groot-like single word of dialogue, and Christoph Waltz’s mastermind is as classic a Bond villain as you’ve ever seen. He’s creepy, but not too creepy like Javier Bardem’s villain in Skyfall. Also well-written are the classic Bond supporting roles: Ben Whishaw’s Q gets more, key screen time than any prior Q, Naomie Harris’s Moneypenny gets more backstory, and Ralph Fiennes’ M gets to take on his own parallel fight against villainy.
The same agency that taunted James Bond in five classic James Bond films (Thunderball, Dr. No, The Spy Who Loved Me, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, and You Only Live Twice) is the subject of SPECTRE, the 24th in the current franchise and 26th to feature Bond (if you include David Niven’s Casino Royale and Never Say Never Again). Two-time Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz will star as the next Bond villain, “Oberhauser.” SPECTRE is also the agency led by fan favorite Bond villain Blofeld, which has led to speculation that Oberhauser is really an alias for Blofeld. With the last trailer released a few hours ago and the release date almost upon us, we’re that much closer to learning the truth.
Have you voted yet in out our James Bond – Bond Girl poll? Check it out here.
Skyfall director Sam Mendes again directs Bond in SPECTRE. New cast members include the BBC Sherlock’s Moriarty, Andrew Scott, as Denbigh, Monica Bellucci and Léa Seydoux (Blue is the Warmest Colour) as the new Bond girls Lucia Sciarra and Madeleine Swann, with Guardians of the Galaxy’s Dave Bautista as Waltz’s henchman Hinx. Returning cast includes Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Rory Kinnear, and Ben Whishaw, reprising their roles from Skyfall as well as Jesper Christensen as Mr. White.
James Bond hasn’t looked any cooler. Well at least since Sean Connery played him in his white dinner jacket and red carnation. Or wait, until Roger Moore sported the white dinner jacket. Well, Bond is back in the nice white digs again as Daniel Craig is featured in the latest poster for the next Bond flick, SPECTRE, which features this classic Bond look as seen in Goldfinger, Octopussy, The Man With the Golden Gun, and Diamonds Are Forever.
And he’s carrying his signature Walther PPK pistol.
That guy in the background is pulled from the signature spectacle opening action scene, which this time round takes place at a Dia De Los Muertos or Day of the Dead festival in Mexico. Expect Bond to be running after someone along the parade route before you’ve had your first handful of popcorn.
Check out this SPECTRE vlog of the behind the scenes production of the opening scene:
The same agency that taunted James Bond in five classic James Bond films (Thunderball, Dr. No, The Spy Who Loved Me, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, and You Only Live Twice) is the subject of SPECTRE, the 24th in the current franchise and 26th to feature Bond (if you include David Niven’s Casino Royale and Never Say Never Again). SPECTRE, which stands for “SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion,” is the movie incarnation of the less gritty sounding SMERSH, a Russian acronym for “Special Methods of Spy Detection” in the original Ian Fleming Bond novels. Two-time Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz will star as the next Bond villain “Oberhauser.” SPECTRE is also the agency led by fan favorite Bond villain Blofeld, which has led to speculation that Oberhauser is really an alias for Blofeld. Soon we shall see.
Skyfall director Sam Mendes again directs Bond in SPECTRE. New cast members include the BBC Sherlock’s Moriarty, Andrew Scott, as Denbigh, Monica Bellucci and Léa Seydoux (Blue is the Warmest Colour) as the new Bond girls Lucia Sciarra and Madeleine Swann, with Guardians of the Galaxy’s Dave Bautista as Waltz’s henchman Hinx. And of course, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Rory Kinnear, and Ben Whishaw will reprise their roles from Skyfall as will Jesper Christensen as Mr. White.
If you like cool cars (and who doesn’t?) and you like ogling the latest and greatest high-end, high-performance cars, then you need look no further than the latest James Bond movie. Bond will be back this November in SPECTRE where he takes on the latest villain, Mr. Hinx, played by Guardians of the Galaxy’s Dave Bautista. The production recently closed down the streets of Rome for the next Bond high-octane car chase, this time pitting Bautista against Daniel Craig’s Bond in two unreleased cars.
First is Bautista in this sleek, jaw-dropping Jaguar C-X75. Then Craig, of course, has his Aston Martin, this time the new DB10. And they apparently made plenty for filming action scenes in the new entry in the Bond franchise.
A new featurette just released by MGM shows some behind the scenes images and interviews with cast and crew. Check it out, after the break:
