The Movie: Casino Royale, directed by Martin Campbell
Recommendation: A lot of people.
Reason: Best Bond in awhile.
In awhile? Try best Bond movie ever. Fanboys beware, I'm declaring this race over. Daniel Craig is an excellent new Bond, possibly the equal of Sean Connery. From the parkour riddled opening sequence to the high-tension poker game, from the first Bond girl to the last, Casino Royale was excellent. I'm sure when I see the movie entirely uninterrupted, it'll be even more awesome. It was Bond concentrated, with a dash of Bourne thrown in to make it even more believeable. And for once, the gadgets weren't stupid.
I saw the film at the local cheap movie theater, and it's very good of them to provide that service. However, it'd be pretty awesome if they could run the entire movie without it stopping three times, and the lights coming up. I know that the 'projectionists' in this city suck some serious ass (about a quarter of the movies I've seen recently have started out of focus), but really people.
As usual, I'm mourning the cars that were destroyed in the film. Drooling over the Aston Martin, weeping for the sporty number Bond destroys trying to save the girl. The filming wasn't anything to write home about, but Bond movies have always been character pieces. And lest we forget, the divine Mrs. M. Judi Dench was a pleasure as always, cutting and sarcastic when necessary. Her dialogue was a real high point in the movie.
-70/365 down, 295/365 to go
Showing posts with label daniel craig. Show all posts
Showing posts with label daniel craig. Show all posts
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Friday, March 2, 2007
Can someone please un-pussify Guy Ritchie?
The Movie: Layer Cake, directed by Matthew Vaughn
Recommendation: Me
Reason: I wanted to see how the new James Bond shaped up in his earlier roles.
Guy Ritchie needs to shape the hell up. I'm a huge fan of Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Hey, everyone loves a caper movie, right? Ocean's Eleven through Thirteen (just speculating on that one), O Brother Where Art Thou?, they've been decent hits, good movies to watch just to have something to watch. Heist movies live and die on style, and Ritchie had a whole hell of a lot of it. There was just something so perfect about the fast cuts, the writing, the casting, and the directing that Ritchie did on his better known pictures. He was supposed to direct this little number, but he didn't. Passed on the torch to Matthew Vaughn, on a movie that could have been a triumphant return to the genre he'd helped revive.
Vaughn was involved in Lock, Stock... and Snatch as a producer, so it's no surprise he handled Layer Cake so nicely. It has a similar feel to Ritchie's originals. Unfortunately, it's not so engaging as either. The plot twists and turns in some really great (though predictable) ways, but aside from Daniel Craig's stone cold XXXX and a very good ending, it doesn't stand as an equal to the movies it's succeeded.
Daniel Craig is definitely comment-worthy. He's a unique, understated actor with a great unruffled feel about him. His bearing and his tone just fit. I had to give myself a little giggle when XXXX picks up his first gun and immediately strikes a Bond pose-at the time Layer Cake was shot, Craig was probably unaware that he was soon going to become that legendary character. At any rate, Craig alone commends this flick. If you liked Lock, Stock... or Snatch, you might get something out of Layer Cake. It'd also be a pretty decent introduction to the other two, should you be looking to get someone else interested.
-59/365 down, 306/365 to go
Recommendation: Me
Reason: I wanted to see how the new James Bond shaped up in his earlier roles.
Guy Ritchie needs to shape the hell up. I'm a huge fan of Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Hey, everyone loves a caper movie, right? Ocean's Eleven through Thirteen (just speculating on that one), O Brother Where Art Thou?, they've been decent hits, good movies to watch just to have something to watch. Heist movies live and die on style, and Ritchie had a whole hell of a lot of it. There was just something so perfect about the fast cuts, the writing, the casting, and the directing that Ritchie did on his better known pictures. He was supposed to direct this little number, but he didn't. Passed on the torch to Matthew Vaughn, on a movie that could have been a triumphant return to the genre he'd helped revive.
Vaughn was involved in Lock, Stock... and Snatch as a producer, so it's no surprise he handled Layer Cake so nicely. It has a similar feel to Ritchie's originals. Unfortunately, it's not so engaging as either. The plot twists and turns in some really great (though predictable) ways, but aside from Daniel Craig's stone cold XXXX and a very good ending, it doesn't stand as an equal to the movies it's succeeded.
Daniel Craig is definitely comment-worthy. He's a unique, understated actor with a great unruffled feel about him. His bearing and his tone just fit. I had to give myself a little giggle when XXXX picks up his first gun and immediately strikes a Bond pose-at the time Layer Cake was shot, Craig was probably unaware that he was soon going to become that legendary character. At any rate, Craig alone commends this flick. If you liked Lock, Stock... or Snatch, you might get something out of Layer Cake. It'd also be a pretty decent introduction to the other two, should you be looking to get someone else interested.
-59/365 down, 306/365 to go
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