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We don’t usually think of them this way, but movies are made in pieces. Little bits of footage are cut and assembled into something that hangs together, and ideally, makes sense. Editing is a complicated, delicate skill, practiced by professionals who’ve spent years refining their craft.

Ralph Fiennes, while recently chatting about his part in “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” let it slip that’s he’s set to play M, replacing Dame Judi Dench as the head of British Secret Service, in the upcoming Daniel Craig Bond film. Shooting is set to begin in October, in time for the 2015 release of “Bond 24” (a working title, we hope).   Why should this announcement from Ralph get us all worked up? Well, in addition to the fact that he seems an excellent choice to succeed Dame J., confirmation of a new Bond movie means... new Bond Girls!   Whether these ladies start out on Bond’s side or against him, they all succumb to his charms eventually (except the really bad ones who just use him for rough sex and then still try to kill him – you just can’t trust some women.)

Where yesterday’s list highlighted the beauties of yesteryear (Most Dazzling Bond Girls from the '60s and '70s), today’s list covers the recent past, present, and near future of Bond Girls. If there’s one common thread through all five of these choices – other than awe-inspiring beauty, shapely legs, and handiness with handguns – it’s the more modern trend towards depicting women with the self-respect, ingenuity, and smarts to match James Bond himself.    Though filmmakers aren’t likely to give up the “Damsel in Distress” plot device anytime soon, it’s nice to see “well-rounded” (sorry!) women featured in this series – women who can go toe-to-toe (so to speak) with 007 any day. With that said, on to the list!  

How best to describe the impact of Fred Astaire on film? Apart from his undeniable charm and way with a song, Astaire fundamentally changed the way dance was portrayed on film. Utilizing extended takes, Astaire- whether solo or with mainstay partners Ginger Rogers and Cyd Charisse- performed uninterrupted, intricate dance sequences that kept audiences captivated for decades. It’s hard to believe that after his first Hollywood screen test, the casting director (who must have been drunk) famously wrote, “Balding. Can’t act. Can dance a little.”

Great speeches have always made history, and in the movies, the voice of a single character, equipped with just the right words to suit the moment, can stir the emotions and stick in the memory, almost to the exclusion of everything else.

“Who’s the greatest actor of all time?” When that unanswerable question gets asked in my circles, I tend to hear four names repeated: Marlon Brando, Spencer Tracy, Laurence Olivier, and Daniel Day-Lewis.

In 1910, the prestigious Fred Karno theatrical troupe in England got the chance to tour America.  Its star attraction, a twenty-one-year-old performer named Charles Chaplin, was on-board that first ship crossing the Atlantic.

It always irked Gene Kelly that dancing was considered an effeminate activity for men. When his mother first enrolled him and his brother in dance classes when Gene was still a boy, he had to endure taunts from his classmates which he promptly settled with his fists.