Amazon has acquired MGM, and also recently bought into the James Bond franchise. That means Amazon owner, billionaire Jeff Bezos, now has access to this iconic global cultural phenomenon, leaving me not shaken but stirred. Not only does he control the future of James Bond; he also can re-purpose the existing 007 catalog. I have some modest suggestions.
Amazon Prime could begin work on a new streaming TV series with the borrowed title From Russia with Love. It follows the fictional (?) adventures of a compromised American president who is seeking to destroy the western alliance and to subvert a valiant ally facing Russian invasion. The first episode, The Living Daylights, has that president pardoning insurrectionists who attacked law enforcement at the U. S. Capitol, setting off alarms that continue in the second episode, Thunderball. The third episode, On His Majesty’s Secret Service, finds British Prime Minister Keir Starmer meeting with King Charles to create a European bloc against the corrupted president.
In episode four, The Spy Who Loved Me, shows a Cabinet of sycophants cooperating with the corrupted president, while episode five, six, and seven (Tomorrow Never Dies, Die Another Day, and You Only Live Twice) show the valiant ally persevering against Russian aggression. Episode eight, Live and Let Die, opens with the U.S. struggling with a pandemic and a vaccine-skeptic blocking action against it. This distracts the corrupted president and his top aide who also is his top campaign contributor. The deaths continue in episode nine, No Time to Die, but the president and top aide ignore that and plot to steal gold from Fort Knox (Goldfinger, episode ten), replace it with junk bonds (Casino Royale, episode eleven), and corner the global gems and minerals market (Diamonds Are Forever, episode twelve, and The World is Not Enough, episode thirteen).
Hope begins to emerge as the graft, greed, and incompetence lead to a voter uprising; the new Congress finds new evidence of Russian collusion in episode fourteen, For Your Eyes Only. The climactic ending in the finale, Quantum of Solace, gets to an impeachment vote.
Bezos initially may be pleased with another mini-series about the owner of a private space company, Moonraker, whose competitor’s rockets blow up, Skyfall. The series, however, takes a sharp turn when that same bald billionaire buys a major newspaper (Golden Eye), spikes its presidential endorsement (A View to a Kill), drives away its cartoonist (License to Kill), and ruins its editorial page (Spectre).
Ownership of the Bond catalog opens so many options. Octopussy could be repurposed for porn. Dr. No could become T-shirts for medical professionals opposed to vaccine skeptic and new Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. The Man with the Golden Gun could be educational films for gun safety advocates.
This moment calls for more than product placement and copycat scripts, and I’m ready to step forward if needed to save the world from evil.
|
|
Discussing:
- New images could change cancer diagnostics, but ICE detained the Harvard scientist who analyzes them (1 reply)
- A 50501 day of protest, Saturday, April 19, 2025 (3 replies)
- Downtown Knoxville parking requires smartphone and credit? (4 replies)
- Wonder what Kane thinks? (3 replies)
- Parking in Knoxville (2 replies)
- Nationwide 'Hands Off' Protests today, April 5, 2025 (5 replies)
- Burchett at Cotton Eyed Joes last Saturday (3 replies)
- China imposes 34% reciprocal tariffs on imports of US goods in retaliation for Trump’s trade war (2 replies)
- Liberation Day 2025 (3 replies)
- Bird flu, new pandemic? (1 reply)
- Horse of a Different Color: a Political Fantasy (2 replies)
- With Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service in charge, is Social Security breaking down? (1 reply)
TN Progressive
- The Meidas Touch (RoaneViews)
- Massive Security Breach Analysis (RoaneViews)
- What Trae Said! (RoaneViews)
- Ever Seen a Cover done this fine? (RoaneViews)
- (Whitescreek Journal)
- Lee's Fried Chicken in Alcoa closed (BlountViews)
- Alcoa, Hall Rd. Corridor Study meeting, July 30, 2024 (BlountViews)
- My choices in the August election (Left Wing Cracker)
- July 4, 2024 - aka The Twilight Zone (Joe Powell)
- Chef steals food to serve at restaurant? (BlountViews)
- Blount County, TDOT make road deal for gun mfg ignoring town of Louisville,TN, (BlountViews)
- Winter at the Big Rocks (Whitescreek Journal)
TN Politics
- U.S. Senate Dems request report on cuts to Social Security Administration (TN Lookout)
- John Cole’s Tennessee: Tennessee’s state bird? The cooked goose. (TN Lookout)
- Republican supermajority passes bills to “dismantle” DEI in state, local government (TN Lookout)
- Tennessee ‘human smuggling’ bill heads to governor’s desk (TN Lookout)
- Tennessee bill denying immigrant children right to an education dead for year (TN Lookout)
- Memphis schools “takeover” bill dead until next year (TN Lookout)
Knox TN Today
- ‘Once Upon a Time’ … 35 times every week! (Knox TN Today)
- Bibles for kids (Knox TN Today)
- HEADLINES 4/23: Pope’s funeral to high school graduation schedules (Knox TN Today)
- South-Doyle soccer ready for another deep postseason run (Knox TN Today)
- Maggie Lamb: Journey to playing Dolly (Knox TN Today)
- Lea Ann Wright found her purpose: Teaching (Knox TN Today)
- Pellissippi and Career Magnet celebrate 10 years (Knox TN Today)
- Sports update and Alcoa Tornadoes are to watch (Knox TN Today)
- Knoxville to rally for Edye Ellis (Knox TN Today)
- Manifold Station: Another forgotten story in the Fork (Knox TN Today)
- Knoxville was ready for legal brews again in 1933 (Knox TN Today)
- HEADLINES 4/22: Earth Day to potholes (Knox TN Today)
Local TV News
- Alcoa's Halle Bailey following mom's famed footsteps to Tennessee softball team (WATE)
- Armed man taken into custody outside of Sevierville day care (WATE)
- New resort coming to Sevierville sparks traffic concerns from neighboring residents (WATE)
- Greenback prepares for thousands of visitors ahead of Rock the Country music festival (WATE)
- East TN families receive refunds as cabinet business files for bankruptcy (WATE)
- Knox County Register of Deeds Nick McBride launches bid to unseat Trustee Justin Biggs (WATE)
- Fallout from state investigation: Knox Co. employee suspended for taking public vehicle home during lunch hour (WBIR)
- Longtime Knox Co. register of deeds takes step to run for trustee, challenging incumbent Justin Biggs (WBIR)
- KPD investigating fatal rollover crash on Broadway (WBIR)
- Tip to county's fraud hotline led county to investigate Trustee Justin Biggs (WBIR)
- The Golden Roast, a popular coffee shop near UT campus, announces sudden closure (WBIR)
- Know Before You Go: 2025 Dogwood Arts Festival (WBIR)
News Sentinel
State News
- Chattanooga’s WorkHound acquired by California-based WorkStep - Chattanooga Times Free Press (Times Free Press)
- Reneau, Hamilton County’s newest lawmaker, passes ‘chicken pot pie’ bill - Chattanooga Times Free Press (Times Free Press)
- Jury selection starts in Chattanooga for Memphis officers charged in death of Tyre Nichols - Chattanooga Times Free Press (Times Free Press)
- Dear Abby: Mom devastated by daughter’s intended wedding plans - Chattanooga Times Free Press (Times Free Press)
Wire Reports
- Trump says he might call Powell to press for interest rate cuts - Axios (Business)
- Trump says Zelenskyy is prolonging war in Ukraine by resisting calls to cede Crimea to Russia - AP News (US News)
- IBM Results Fail to Meet Market Hopes on Concerns About Tariffs, DOGE Cuts - Bloomberg.com (Business)
- Eli Lilly sues companies selling alternative versions of its weight loss drug : Shots - Health News - NPR (Business)
- Trump reversals on Fed chair, China tariffs send markets higher - Los Angeles Times (Business)
- After EU fines, Big Tech wants Trump to swoop in - Politico (Business)
- Victims' loved ones denied chance to confront Highland Park mass shooter - NBC News (US News)
- Chipotle Stock Falls After Earnings Growth Slows, Sales Drop - Barron's (Business)
- Southwest to cut flights this year, pulls guidance, citing 'macroeconomic uncertainty' - CNBC (Business)
- Surprising Elon Musk news sends Tesla stock surging after earnings - TheStreet (Business)
- Dozen states sue Trump in bid to block new tariffs - CNBC (US News)
- Durbin, No. 2 Senate Democrat, to Retire After 44 Years in Congress - The New York Times (US News)
- New Jersey wildfire explodes to 12,500 acres, could be largest in 20 years - ABC News (US News)
- At Elon Musk’s Behest, Voters Cast Ballots for a New Town: Starbase, Texas - The New York Times (US News)
- ‘Crazy’: Forest Service cuts ignite fear, fury over wildfire risks - Politico (US News)
Local Media
Lost Medicaid Funding
Search and Archives
TN Progressive
Nearby:
- Blount Dems
- Herston TN Family Law
- Inside of Knoxville
- Instapundit
- Jack Lail
- Jim Stovall
- Knox Dems
- MoxCarm Blue Streak
- Outdoor Knoxville
- Pittman Properties
- Reality Me
- Stop Alcoa Parkway
Beyond:
- Nashville Scene
- Nashville Post
- Smart City Memphis
- TN Dems
- TN Journal
- TN Lookout
- Bob Stepno
- Facing South