His name is Smith. Sam Smith. And he sings the terrific new theme song for Spectre

"I'm prepared for this," Sam Smith sings -- sounding somewhere in that midnight-blue middle ground between assured and apprehensive. "I never shoot to miss." OK, that part sounds aptly James Bondian enough. But then Smith hits us with his best shot -- "For you I have to risk it all -- 'cause the writing's on the wall!" -- and it's clear that the folks behind Spectre, the new 007 action-adventure opening Nov. 6, are signaling that this time, maybe, Bond will... well, maybe let his guard down a bit?

(Of course, the last time 007 really let his guard down was in On Her Majesty's Secret Service -- and that didn't turn out too well, did it?)

"Writing's On The Wall" was co-written by Smith and fellow Grammy Award winner Jimmy Napes, and I have to say after, oh, I dunno, about a dozen or listens, that it strikes me as one of the very best Bond themes ever. But don't take my word for it. Starting today, you can downstream it here and/or buy it here.

"This is one of the highlights of my career," Smith says of his involvement in the Bondwagon. "I am so excited to be a part of this iconic British legacy and join an incredible line up of some of my biggest musical inspirations. I hope you all enjoy the song as much as I enjoyed making it."

Spectre producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli are equally -- and appropriately -- upbeat. "Sam and Jimmy have written the most inspirational song for Spectre," they said in a prepared statement timed to the song's Friday release, "and with Sam's extraordinary vocal performance, 'Writing's On The Wall' will surely be considered one of the greatest Bond songs of all time."

By the way: This is the first 007 theme recorded by a major British solo artist since 1965 -- way back when Tom Jones went ballistic with Thunderball.

R.I.P.: Joseph Wiseman (1918-2009)

Diehard fans of Michael Mann's classic Crime Story TV series will always remember actor Joseph Wiseman as Manny Wisebord, the cold-hearted mob boss who received an experimental heart transplant. But everybody else -- well, OK, everybody, period -- will remember him best as Dr. No, the eponymous archvillain of the very first big-screen 007 adventure. Sometimes, all it really takes is a single role in a singular movie to ensure an actor a kind of immortality.

Happy 100th for the man who gave the world Bond, James Bond

To celebrate the May 28 centennial of Ian Fleming's birth, Penguin UK and Doubleday in the US will publish a brand new James Bond novel -- by another author, of course. According to Amazon. com, Devil May Care, written by Sebastian Faulks, "is set in the Cold War, picking up where Fleming left off in 1966 with Octopussy and The Living Daylights. Faulks, writing as Ian Fleming, has created the perfect continuation of the James Bond legacy. Devil May Care features all the glamour, thrills, and excitement that one would expect from any adventure involving Bond . . . James Bond." Well, let's hope so.

BTW: Speaking as someone who'll turn 56 later this year, I'm more than a little shaken (not stirred) to be reminded that Fleming was the same age when he died of a heart attack in 1964. (No, that's not a typo: Octopussy and The Living Daylights -- a collection of short stories -- was published posthumously.) He lived to see only the first two 007 movies: Dr. No and From Russia With Love.

Casino Royale II: Battle of the Bonds

Anne Thompson links to an extraordinarily clever 007 mash-up.

Correction: Birds beat Bond (but just barely)

The final b.o. figures won't be reported until Monday, but preliminary estimates suggest that Happy Feet, not Casino Royale, will claim bragging rights for the No. 1 spot this weekend.

But never mind: The Batman Begins of the 007 franchise smashingly succeeds at establishing a new star (buff and brutal Daniel Craig) as the legendary Brit secret agent, even while offering a darker, edgier and -- dare I say it? -- slightly more realistic take on superspy derring-do. (Ian Fleming very likely would have approved.)

With a minimum of high-tech gadgetry and a maximum of hand-to-hand, fist-to-face, club-to-balls rough stuff, Casino Royale is hugely satisfying and impressively exciting, beginning with an ice-cold black-and-white sequence that has James Bond earning his license to kill, careening through some sensational action set pieces (including a spectacular confrontation on an airport runway, and an ingeniously sustained foot chase throughout Madagascar), lingering on some smoothly (and cleverly) suspenseful card games at the title locale -- poker, not baccarat, is 007's game of choice here -- and climaxing with a thrilling image of Bondian iconography.


My only real complaint is directed at the saggy pacing in the last half-hour or so: There's too much time spent on an obviously doomed romance between Bond and fetching femme fatale Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) after the chief bad guy is dispatched. (So much time, in fact, that even the dimmest bulb in the audience will have long enough to realize that, hey, Something Else is bound to happen before the closing credits.) Otherwise, a great reboot for the series, a welcome treat for long-time fans, and a terrific introduction for newcomers to the 007 mythos.

What's that? You say there's a new James Bond movie coming out this weekend? Really? Gee, why haven't we heard more about it?

But seriously, folks: New York Daily News profiles the "Bond girl" who's clearly uncomfortable with that dubious title, and the on-set photographer who's hugely impressed by the new 007. And long-time Bondophile Louis B. Parks offers a nifty overview of the superspy franchise and an amusing sidebar about Bond's introduction to American audiences (and readers) in the Houston Chronicle.