I’ve never been a James Bond fan. The films I’ve seen in the past were, in a word, boring. Skyfall, however, is ridiculously, fabulously good. Seriously. Like, don’t ask any questions, okay? Just trust me and book your bloody ticket.

Skyfall is not your typical mindless skop, skiet and donner. It’s slick, sexy, witty and well-paced. I loved that it sucked me in from the word go and then held my attention the whole way through with an absorbing, emotionally driven story line. You kind of got a bit of insight into what makes Meneer Bond who he is. Oooh! And Judy Dench, who I adore – ADORE! – gets loads and loads of screen time. I was also super impressed with Havier Bardem who’s been hailed the best Bond villain of all time and for good reason. Dude totally killed it.

Anyway, the reason why I ended up watching the film, despite my initial 007 reservations, is because I was invited to the premiere at Canal Walk. It was organised by Offlimit Communications  and the VIP guest (ahem) list was supplied by Mint Productions. (Thanks Andrea!) My flat mate and I, lured by the promise of unlimited martinis, came out with a shared date; Cosmo calendar boy hottie Bjorn Steinbach who was on loan to us as his girlfriend, my beloved Karis Piss, was up in Jozi for another event.

Once there, we got to pick a Bond name for ourselves (‘Leigh Lovelace’ has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?) and mill around with a crowd that had been peppered with under cover actors. One approached Bjorn and gave him an envelope with a clue that set him off on a little treasure hunt-style mission that saw him winning a Nu Metro voucher and an Adele Skyfall CD single. This resulted in me throwing a foot-stomping li’l tantrum (‘cos I’m sooo not childish or pathetic at all) and demanding that I win something too. I mean come now, I did not just curl my hair and inflict loads of heat-styling damage for just a free limited edition James Bond Coke Zero, okay?

Eventually, after harassing asking enough people who I suspected might be actors, I got to win a CD too. Yay for me! This is how I got to meet actress Daisy ‘Natalya’ Dickinson who was posing as a Russian spy. (Just so you know, Daisy and Bjorn are currently starring in a theatrical production of The Great Gatsby at Spier estate. Daisy’s actually playing ‘Daisy’ and Bjorn’s snagged the role of Jay Gatsby himself.)

Later, I was lucky enough to win yet another prize, an iPod Nano, (without being a brat about it, promise!) as the judge thought my Bond name was one of the best. Double yay for me!

Anyway, if you haven’t seen Skyfall, make a plan and go, even if, like me, you had no intention of seeing it ‘cos you’re not really into Bond. I think you’re going to be very, very impressed.

Love, love

Leigh

*You gotta love the friend who points out the fact that your white watch looks like a hospital bracelet and that, when teamed with a gun, gives you the whole ‘escaped murderous mental patient vibe’ and that it ‘suits you’! Hmpff!