Yes, I include Murray in the "first SNL cast" too even though he showed up in season two, I guess as a replacement for Chase. Also I was a big fan of SCTV and thought that was a great comedy cast too. Always made me laugh!

I have not seen Casino Royale yet so I have not formed an opinion on the new Bond. I've heard a lot of people compliment him though so I will check it out at some point.

As far as the 70s goes for film, it seemed like there was an explosion of creativity and they just started turning out some amazing films. I think the 50s and 60s influence was there in spades but they went in directions that filmmakers never would have before. Obviously they were allowed to portray certain things that they had not been able to in past decades but I think as you mentioned without film noir, westerns like The Searchers, and the influence of foreign film they would not have done the things that they did. So, yeah, I love the 50s, 60s, 40s, 30s too.