The 12 Best Sci-Fi Movies Ever Made

Daniel Craig’s James Bond bit the big one in 2021. It was a fitting end to one of (if not the best) run of 007 films in the franchise’s six decade history. There was a depth, a continuity, a feeling of finalism that caused all fans to reflect instead of the usual curse of leaving the theater thinking, “what’s next?” So, the wait for who would don the dinner jacket for MI6 in the newest iteration of the agent has been long, but somehow simultaniuously snuck up on us. It has been five years since we’ve had a new James Bond film, and it will likely be another year or two before we do, marking the longest wait.

But that doesn’t mean we aren’t getting things to chew on in the meantime. Outside of the books and video game content we have gotten this year, we have also been getting updates on casting, and this weekend marks the final round of James Bond auditions, and here is what we know so far.

Chocolate and peanut butter. Beer and pizza. Buzz and Woody. Ruth and Gherig. There are just some things that work well together. And no matter what you do, you will never beat them and spend all of your time trying to find a more iconic pair than what already exists. I can count on one hand how many times I have smoked a cigar without an old fashioned in the other hand. And, there is a reason there aren’t more times…because, honestly, why would I waste the time smoking without drinking? Why would I waste chocolate without peanut butter? Why would I waste beer without pizza? I wouldn’t. And the Yankees wouldn’t have been the same without Murderer’s Row. And Toy Story would have been nothing without the rivals-to-friends of Buzz and Woody.

But how do you pair a cigar with the right drink? For me, bourbon mixed with sugar, bitters, and a bit of fruit is a good combination with anything. But I reached out to John Gaglio from La Aurora to get a little more guidance on how to deepen my pairing of the two, and here is what I learned.

One of the many times I watched The Gentlemen, I laughed at the scene where Matthew (Jeremy Strong) joked that it was illegal in France to name a pig Napoleon. Of course, there are ridiculous laws all over the place. Want a few? In Georgia, it is illegal to eat fried chicken with a fork. In Arkansas, it is against the law to say the name incorrectly. Which means Bill Clinton would have come after me for years of me saying “ARE-Kansas.” It is prohibited to sleep on top of a refrigerator in Pennsylvania. That means my cat is a thug in Penn. And one of my favorites: It is illegal for unmarried women to parachute on Sundays.

The point is that there are crazy laws all over the place that seem completely ridiculous, and there is almost always a story behind them. So, is the Napoleon pig law a real thing? Is it illegal to raise a swine and name it after the legendary French Emperor? Well, let’s dig in. Why? Because I am a nerd and I need company in the weeds.