Reel life: Readers take on 007, 'Peanuts' reviews

Dann: Had to laugh that you could not understand how Bond got the car to Rome, or not having effects from (sorry, spoiler deleted!). What about the other 1,001 things Bond did, or happened in the movie that could never happen in reality?

Oh, yes, it's only a movie, and he's Bond, James Bond. Dann, it's fantasy, not a documentary. People see these movies because he does stuff you, I, or anybody else can't do. I do agree the theme song (stinks). - Jerry Novoryta

Jerry: I am glad we agree on Sam Smith's pathetic attempt at a 007 theme song.

However, "SPECTRE" qualifies as neither a fantasy nor a documentary. The latter must be factual. The former must employ fantastical characters or situations that have no counterparts in the real world. "Die Another Day" is the only 007 film that might qualify as a fantasy, given its invisible Aston Martin V12 Vanquish, although that skirts the boundaries of science fiction.

"SPECTRE" is mostly a wild adventure. I am OK with James Bond changing with the times, being a comic spoof of Sean Connery (as Roger Moore played it) or a superficial GQ cover boy (as Pierce Brosnan stamped it). But Bond can't be "The Ipcress File" and "Our Man Flint" in the same movie.

"Casino Royale" (the good one) blew the doors off the franchise with Daniel Craig's brawny rumbler announcing there's a new spy in town and he's kicking major espionage butt. That movie changed the rules toward a harder, meaner, more realistic Bond.

Paul Baack of Bloomingdale, a friend and fellow 007 fan, posted this in his Nov. 7 "SPECTRE" review: "The new film returns us to what is recognizably Ian Fleming's fantasy world, where the absurd is still rooted in the tangibly real."

The key phrase "rooted in the tangibly real" is important. Craig's Bond returned 007 to the "tangibly real" world. In "SPECTRE," what happens to Bond at the hands of Christoph Waltz's disappointingly tepid villain crosses into Wile E. Coyote cartoon absurdity, exactly the sort not rooted in either the tangible or the real. - Dann

Dann: You were way too generous with your review of "SPECTRE." I give it one star. This was filmed for people who enjoy bad foreplay and no sex. - Tom Egan, Streamwood

Tom: Succinctly stated in a 007-ish sort of way. - Dann

Reader likes Snoopy

Dann: I must take exception with your desire to see more of a 2015 flavor in this particular movie ("Peanuts"). This is a nostalgic throwback to the original story, original characters and homespun bits of wisdom. According to the producer, this was a loving tribute to Charles Schulz and his wonderful cast of characters, and he wanted it to reflect as closely as possible Schulz's characterizations.

He succeeded. We all recognized the familiar faces, relationships and kind of adventures the characters typically get involved with.

This was not the time to take the holy, high road of moral indignation because the movie reflects its own time and cultural history.

Yes, the teacher is portrayed in her honky voice as politically insensitive to our time.

Yes, Snoopy should have had a cat opponent so the movie would not seem animalistically biased. Yes, the classroom scene should have involved a rogue shooter who starts firing a gun in the classroom, severely injuring Charlie Brown, and possibly Peppermint Patty.

Yes, the girl with the big red hair might seem to make fun of redheads in a sexually insensitive portrayal.

Yes, the movie should have taken place in Beijing or Dubai to make it more contemporary with at least one cartoon character speaking in Australian dialect. Maybe some graffiti outside the school building would be more authentic for today. Maybe next time.

We love the movie for its innocence and its lack of cellphones, and other distracting electronic social devices. That is part of its charm and the reason we go to see "Peanuts the Movie." - John Kula, Mount Prospect

John: First, I apologize for shortening your email a bit. I trust your essential points remain.

Second, we agree on the qualities that make "Peanuts the Movie" so attractive: nostalgia and charm.

But I would argue that the movie never reflects its own actual time (especially during the riot-ripped, drugged-out, Vietnam-warred-out 1960s), but presents an idyllic retreat to the never-really-existed conflict-free white American past depicted on TV during the 1950s.

I didn't suggest the comic strip change its character, just add new characters as Charles Schulz already did from time to time.

There's a little bit of Charlie Brown in everybody. Why can't there be just a little of all of us in a Charlie Brown movie? - Dann

Film critics notebook:

• A fundraiser for Palatine's not-for-profit Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival will be held from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, at Smith Street Station, 180 N. Smith St., Palatine. Go to bwiff.com.

• The Salvation Army and Classic Cinemas will show the classic musical "The Wizard of Oz" at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15, at the York Theatre, 150 N. York St., Elmhurst. Tickets cost $7.50 with proceeds benefiting the Salvation Army. Go to classiccinemas.com for details.

• The After Hours Film Society presents "Grandma," starring Lily Tomlin as an aging lesbian teaching life lessons to her teen granddaughter. It starts at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16, at the Tivoli Theatre, 5021 Highland Ave., Downers Grove. Rated R. 80 minutes . . . ½ afterhoursfilmsociety.com.

• If you can't get enough of 007 movies, get a rundown on the best and worst of James Bond cinema (including "SPECTRE") when Dann & Raymond's Movie Club presents "No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Die! 53 Years of 007 Movies" 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18, at the Palatine Public Library, 700 N. North Court, Palatine. Free admission. Go to palatinelibrary.org.

• Dann & Raymond's Movie Club presentation "How He Got into My Pajamas I'll Never Know: The Great Comedies, Part 1" moves to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19, at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library, 500 N. Dunton Ave., Arlington Heights. Clips from such classics as Charlie Chaplin's "City Lights," "It Happened One Night," "Duck Soup," "Some Like It Hot" and "Harvey." ahml.info.