Quantum of Solace ***

I wanted to be James Bond as a kid. Yes, I was a girl, but I still wanted to be Bond. Not a 'Bond Girl', but Bond. He was always so cool, and had way better toys than me.

This movie was done as a sequel to Casino Royale. (Ane by the way, I loved this remake with Craig.) Quantum of Solace portrays Bond in a plot to find who breaks in and tries to kill M. But the subplot here is that he's also looking for revenge from who killed his girl in Casino Royale. Lots of crazy cool action sequences later, he has taken care of both issues, as well as a few of someone else's.

I have a major problem, however, with the way this Bond was written. (Ian Flemming did not write this story at all. He wrote a short story with the same title, but it bears no resemblance to this movie.) Quantum of Solace portrays a Bond who is way too in touch with his emotions. True James Bond is supposed to be unaffected by what happens to him personally. He's supposed to be able to make sane, rational decisions for the greater good, all of the time. He does have a license to kill, right? This Bond was killing almost indiscriminately. True Bond would never seek revenge!!

And, there wasn't even a real 'Bond Girl' in this one. Yeah, there were a couple of hot chicks, one that succumbed, but the typical role was not there at all! Yes, the role usually is really sexist, but even I want it!! And I'm a huge feminist!!!

My take?? All in all it's a really good movie. Love Daniel Craig. Lots of cool effects.

But it's NOT BOND!!!!! It's some kind of psychoanalyzed, humanoid Bond!!! He should be wearing a polyester leisure suit, or jeans and a bomber jacket! It's not Bond!!! I don't like him!!

So, my advice to the higher movie powers would be:
If Ian Flemming didn't write the story, then just don't call him James Bond.
Keep on with the re-makes!


If you really have to buy it for your collection, instead of sending it back to Netflix, I've included an Amazon link below.

Twilight ***1/2

My step daughter has read the whole series. I've seen her starry eyes as she told me how amazing the books were. I should add that she has the typical teenage vampire infatuation that's going around these days. When the movie came out she was so excited. And yes, I saw the starry eyes again as she told me how wonderful it was. She typically cannot sway me toward the horror-fantasy genre at all. (I can't watch one without making fun of it the entire time. No exceptions.) BUT, since this movie has swept the young world, I thought I should give it a look.
The thing about it is that it's not really about vampires. It's actually a young love story. That's why all the young girls are ga-ga!! It's really just another forbidden love story. The newness of it is the way the whole vampire thing is woven into the plot. Of course since they're vampires, they have a whole different bag of tricks with which to play. This makes for some really nice special effects which we just crave in our movies these days!
All in all the movie is very well done and definitely held my attention for the two hours. I can definitely see how this is a must see for the 15-20 year old girl, or the girl at heart at any age. It's great intense love story at its best. There are several sexually suggestive scenes, but no nudity.
I haven't read the series, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was a Romeo & Juliet type ending coming up???

Nobel Son ****

This one was a nice little surprise! It was much better than I expected it to be. Alan Rickman is one of my favorites for whom I try to keep an ear open, but there wasn't really much buzz at all about this movie.
It has sort of a twisted and complex plot with a wide variety of characters. This is one where you need to be paying attention or you'll miss something. That's one of my favorite criteria for a movie -- figuring things out and keeping up. It's not quite as fast paced and difficult here, but still enough to keep my attention. If that's not the kind of thing you enjoy, then you may not enjoy this film.
It follows a pompous, arrogant man (Rickman) who is a new Nobel laureate, as his only son is kidnapped and held for ransom. The thickening of this plot is aided greatly by the main character who plays this ass of a man extremely well. You kind of want bad things for him -- he's that obnoxious! The other characters of course lend to the unfolding and thickening of the plot. There is a fast paced, really cool action scene involving the hand-off of the ransom money, and plenty of twists for your head to ponder as you go along.
A surprise -- it was quite enjoyable!!

Kid rating - One sex scene (nothing exposed but some skin), some bad language and really bad manners.