My pockets ain't empty, cuz! (He's back!)

First off, I would like to call out that my movie quality prediction qualities are in full swing when I said Australia would be nothing more than a ho-hum average flick. Yahoo me. What I really want to talk about isn't potential Oscar picks (though I do think Che will be up for one). I want to talk about the masterpiece that will be Fast and Furious.

Alright, I know, I know, nothing that Justin Lin has ever directed has actually been good. Tokyo drift had some cool scenes, but thanks to Chris Morgan, the plot was pretty sub par. Well they're both back but this time they have the original cast from the classic The Fast and the Furious. Will it be good? Probably not. Will it have unrealistic-testosterone-driven-action coupled with meat- headed-trash-spittin' disses and scantily clad women driving rice-burning, supercharged, ridiculously-painted, decal'ed imports? Yes.

Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez are back and sadly, the one named wonders, Tyrese and Ludacris have retired. Darn. After seeing the trailer, which you should check out if you haven't already, it's apparent that Lin has learned from the mistakes of Cohen and Singleton (the first two directors of the series). Let's hope Morgan can do the same. Even if he doesn't, I honestly believe Fast & Furious has the potential to reign supreme in sales with the younger crowd this summer when it hits theatres June 2009.

Crikey

First of all, it has been far too long since a post has made it's way on here. With Thanksgiving craziness and traveling around it has been tough to get a chance to post, but alas here we go.

Over Thanksgiving it has become a family tradition of seeing a "girly" movie. In the past years on Thanksgiving I have see Rent, Enchanted, and movies of the like. This year I saw Australia.

Now I did make a prediction on an earlier post that this movie would have a shot at being nominated for Best Picture, it doesn't. I also claimed that Hugh Jackman could win a Best Actor Award, he can't. That being said this is a good movie, not a great movie. An epic love story that only spans a two year time period.

The story was not all that unique. Basically Titanic lite. Girl upper class, Boy lower class, she needs his help and he helps. The interesting part of the film involves the story behind the Stolen Generations of the half Australian half Aboriginal children that were taken from their mothers and placed at a Missionary. It is an important part of Australian history that most of the rest of the world knows nothing about.

The visuals of this film were the strongest aspect of it. You can really see how much effort director Baz Luhrmann puts into his films. But like I said before nothing new story wise. Worth seeing but it is a long movie that easily could have been cut in half and been just as strong.

Bond, Jason Bond

Yes, QoS was much like Bourne in terms of action and cinematography, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Bond is still Bond, and more now than ever before. The Bond of today is nothing as the Bond was ten years ago when we saw him blowing himself out of a submarine and then hooking up with a chick named Christmas. The Bourne trilogy is definitely in my top five, with Ultimatum being nearly just as good as Identity, for what I thought of as awesome camera direction. That said, I personally thought the action sequences of Quantum were much better than those in Royale, but to each his own.

I think the main issue here is that Quantum of Solace would be nothing without Casino Royale. In retrospect, they should have called it CR.5. It is very confusing in certain areas as to what exactly is happening and why in that exact moment, but the overall plot of QoS is Bond wrestling with the demons of his former love, Vesper (Yes, my bad, I messed up a character's name, I'm a terrible person). Throughout the whole movie, the topic of Bond not being able to sleep, constantly seeking out revenge and killing everyone that may have been involved in the Q organization is touched upon. He's an emotional guy. So emotional in fact, he drinks a gin martini and doesn't once introduce himself as "Bond, James Bond."

Again, being that this was basically Casino Royale and a half and it picks up right where it left off, I don't see how the opening car chase was unnecessary. Sure, I guess Bond, M, and everyone else could have interrogated Mr. White at his house, but that just wouldn't make for good cinema. As for Gemma Arterton, her character was completely pointless, but Bond uses her as an object and this is really the only proof that the Bond in this film is the same Bond from others (see the last sentence in previous paragraph). Beyond that, she's super hot. Also, her character paves the way for Bond to go against authority and do what's right.

This was not an OK Bond film, this was an amazing Bond film. An OK Bond film would be any Brosnan film other than Goldeneye, about 75% of the Moore films and I won't even go into how low that goofy fuck Lazenby took the franchise. QoS doesn't have the originality that Casino had, but it certainly won't be labeled as just another 007 film either.

There Will Be Bond.

Casino Royale is the best Bond film, period. Everything about it is perfect. The balance between action an emotion is unprecedented. The acting is phenomenal and the story is tightly constructed. Knowing all this, any new Bond film has very large shoes to fill.

Quantum of Solace is an OK Bond film. It is a great action movie. I do agree that it had the feel of The Bourne Ultimatum, which is exactly the thing I disliked the most about this movie. Bond is not Bourne. Bond is Bond. In having a first time action director take on a Bond film, guess who he hires as his director of photography, the same guy who was the DOP for Bourne. Mistake number one.

As you stated below, critics say that Solace lacked plot. And it did. I didn't really know why anyone was doing what they were doing until pretty late into the film. I do understand that misdirection was a key element in this film, but it becomes pointless when you keep getting shown things that, in the end, don't matter. Mistake number two.

I could go on about how the opening car chase was unnecessary, as was Gemma Aerton's role in the film. Although, we did see some heart shown by Bond in the loss of Vesper (not Vespa, Drew; I don't think she got 50 mpg). The best moment of the film (which I will not spoil here) was a reflection about Casino Royale. It was the most emotionally charged moment since the scene in the shower in Royale.

Like I said before, this is an OK Bond film. See it. Let me know what you think. But I have to say, the order still stands: Royale, Goldeneye, Solace.

Quantifiable

After drying my eyes caused by the pain brought about by paying $12.50 for a ticket, I walked into the non-stadium-seated, over capacity theatre on the Upper West Side. From beginning to end, Quantum of Solace had me in awe. Between the perfectly choreographed fight/chase scenes, excellent plot and by far the most beautiful Bond girl, this movie was, I dare say, better than Casino Royale.

Ok, ok, I know. Casino Royale was the greatest Bond film of all time. It will always remain a classic in the respect that it was the first to break the mold of how a typical 007 film should be. Quantum expands upon that. Bond is now out for revenge and the viewer can actually sense how much the death of Vespa has taken its toll. Though there are plently of elements of dry Brititsh humor, Quantum is a darker, angrier film than its predecessor.

I have read many reviews that say Quantum is lacking in plot, basically all icing without any cake. I respectfully disagree. There was very much character development throughout the film and between all the main characters. Many relationships are fueled by events in each characters past and bonds are formed. Through this, we see the new James Bond actually has a heart, as was seen in Casino Royale.

Olga Kurylenko is in my opinion, the hottest of all the Bond girls who have graced the silver screen. Strawberry Fields, played by Gemma Arteton, who in the movie refers to herself as simply Fields (with good reason) is not only more attractive than previous girls, but younger too, being 18 years younger than Craig. I expect to see both of these fine ladies' fame rise and perhaps a reappearance by Kurlenko in future Bond films.

The action in Quantum of Solace was much akin to The Bourne Ultimatum; intricate hand to hand combat with amplified sound effects, extreme close-ups on individual fist-to-face connections, and of course an amazing car chase (that was missing from Casino Rolyale) with extreme close-ups on just how dented and mangled an Aston Martin DBS can get. On top of all that, we even see a plane chase, something that I'm not aware has happened in any previous Bond film.

Quantum of Solace will get mixed reviews from all that see it. It's not a typical Bond movie, just as Casino Royale wasn't. The plot is a mere firecracker compared to the explosive, red-eyed action throughout the movie, but they come together to produce a needed bridge in this new route that Bond has taken. I'm already excited for Bond 23.

My P.I.C.

This weekend I went to see a movie and only paid (gasp!) $7.00. That's because I was home in Palm Beach rather than (home) in Manhattan. It's a great thing when a movie ticket is cheaper than a beer in the city. A greater thing when is that movie is a memorable, quotable, belly aching laugh fest.

Role Models was great. Every actor played their part perfectly from Seann William Scott and Paul Rudd all the way to Ken Jeong as the dorky, arrogant King Argotron. I have to agree that Bobb'e J. Thompson was the stand out comic that stole the show. Of course McLovin' (as he will forever be known) played a great role as well and proved he can play a dork outside of school too.

There are literally Role Models posters every 50 yards here in New York and it's rather surprising to me that it only made 19.2 mil this weekend, a mere third of what Madagascar 2 made. That's two weekends in a row that stupid movies with flashy colors have beat out funny movies with great plot and lines. There's no doubt in my mind that Quantum of Solace will take the cake (and eat it too) this weekend, but let's hope it still reigns supreme when Bolt and Twilight come out on the 21st. Given the amount of giddy school girls out there, I'm betting it won't.

Role Models.

A few days ago, I posted my hopes for this movie. Some say that they were bold claims. But guess what? I was right. I just saw Role Models and I have to say that it is fucking hilarious.

Paul Rudd truly has become one of my favorite comedy movie actors because of how he (and Seth Rogen) bring in outside movie quotes into their films. Sean William Scott was awesome. The very first joke of this film shows his style of comedy perfectly. Jane Lynch was crazy and incredibly funny. Whoever wrote her character is a genius.

That being said, the funniest people in the movie were the kids. Mclovin as we all know him was great, playing the Dungeons & Dragons type nerd. However, the scene stealer of the movie was Bobb'e J. Thompson, the little black kid. Every single thing he says and does is unbelievable. Especially in the way you do not see it coming.

If you have any doubts about seeing this movie, let them go. You will be laughing your ass off and come away with quotes you will be using for a while.