Quantum of Solace

Quantum of Solace is the 22^nd Bond film and a sequel to Casino Royale which came out in 2006. Casino Royale introduced us to Daniel Craig as Bond, and more importantly, it introduced us to the new James Bond formula. Bond is grittier, nastier, he has issues, driven to succeed at any cost, and in this movie, out on his own agenda…which is revenge.

Quantum of Solace picks up right where Casino Royale ends, with Bond reeling from the death of his lover Vesper Lynd and seeking revenge. The opening seen jumps right into a high speed car chase, between Bond’s Aston Martin DBS V12 and his machine gun firing pursuers in an Alfa Romero, around Lake Garda in Italy. The action jumps from Italy, to Haiti, to Austria, to Bolivia and to Russia. And aside from the action sequences on the land, we are treated to a once sided dogfight in the air, and a boat chase on the sea. Much of the gritty fight scenes were shot at close range, like the Bourne series, to give us that realistic fight for your life, fight like an animal, feel to it.

Whereas the first movie became a love story and clocked in at almost 3 hours, this movie was nothing more than a revenge movie, (with one short love scene), keeping us sitting for only an hour & forty-five minutes. The story itself seemed forced to me. Where the writers had an idea of where they wanted to go, but not sure how to connect the dots. In some ways, it was hard to follow the plot. Add all the international accents and it makes it that much more difficult. I would also suggest watching Casino Royale right before you see Quantum of Solace so as to remind you of all the characters that re-appear in the latter as well as the names that were mentioned in the former. Also, maybe it’s because of the Bourne series, or movies like Saving Private Ryan or even Casino Royale, where the fight scenes are shot in much the same way anymore, I wasn’t wowed by them in this installment of the 007 series as I was in Casino Royale.

I never saw any of the Bond movies that came out before Casino Royale in the movie theatre. They were always a little to silly for me to waste the money. I was perfectly happy watching them at home when they would have those Bond marathons on TBS. Casino Royale was different. I saw it at the theatre. It was a great movie theatre film. And it even transcended it to being a great home theatre film. I own it at home and have watched it several times. Quantum of Solace has me questioning as to whether I should go back to my pre-Casino Royale thinking of waiting for it to come out on DVD and renting it. I realize this statement, makes it seem like I disliked Quantum of Solace, which is untrue. I liked it, I’m just not 100% sure how much I liked it. In many ways, Casino Royale broke from the original Bond formula that gave us something completely new. It re-energized a stagnant series. Quantum of Solace keeps up with that formula mostly, but with a thinner plot. And to add another old plotline, they brought back the idea of an evil corporation. All we needed with Quantum was to find out that it was an anagram for something much the same way SPECTRE was an anagram for Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge & Extortion. That was silly. I graded Quantum of Solace on a curve and give it three crows feet out of five.

High School Musical 3: Senior Year

Yes, I did go to see it so shut up. I promised my 12 & 7 year olds I would take them and a friend. So I did the dad thing and went. And other than realizing how dreamy Zac Efron is, I noted these tidbits.

1)       I can, I can fall asleep in a movie theatre w/o any narcotics.

2)       I found Vanessa Hudgen’s voice to be extremely annoying.

3)       Are there any real black dudes named Chad? How about Corbin?

4)       Gay or straight, I hope Lucas Grabeel doesn’t dress like that in real life.

5)       To go with her annoying voice, I could help but think about that Hudgen’s photo scandal   

6)       Maybe Corbin Blue can finally cut his hair

7)       Chicks are heartbreakers no matter what

8)       Ashley Tisdale is adorable

9)       This movie made over 80 million worldwide in it’s first weekend

Okay, having seen all three of the HSMs as well as a stage version of it, it was probably a better version. Much of that having to do with a bigger budget because of its release on the big screen. The camera work during the opening scene of a basketball game was good as well as the effects during Efron’s solo “Scream”. The movie had a lot of Zac in it. Much more than any other actor. Disney must have some bigger plans for him to feature him in that way. In a lot of ways he and the movie reminded me of a lesser known John Travolta in Grease. Okay, maybe I am stretching it there, but that is what I thought.

Anyway, not that it’s something I would normally watch, but I have to look at it from a parent’s aspect and from my little girls eyes. It was rated G, so there was nothing remotely questionable other than a kiss, hand holding, and a half naked skinny kid. All in all, it’s a fairly wholesome movie for your kids to watch. My 12 year old wanted to see Twilight too, so between the too, HSM was the better choice. And considering that everyone in my house had been bitten by the acting bug, it did nothing but drive the girls to WANT to perform on stage. L is trying out for Wizard of Oz in school and J….well, the whole world is her stage and I feel sorry for the person who tries to tell her otherwise.

Again, on a curved scale, but for different reasons, I give HSM3 three crows feet out of five.

Take Care and Happy Thanksgiving

Scarecrow

Together, together, together everyone
Together, together, come on lets have some fun
Together, were there for each other every time
Together, together come on lets do this right

Here and now its time for celebration
I finally figured it out (yeah yeah)
That all our dreams have no limitations
That's what its all about(yeah yeah)

Everyone is special in their own way
We make each other strong (we make each other strong)
Were not the same
Were different in a good way
Together's where we belong

We're all in this together
Once we know
That we are
We're all stars
And we see that
We're all in this together
And it shows
When we stand
Hand in hand
Make our dreams come true

Together, together, together everyone
Together, together, come on lets have some fun
Together, were there for each other every time
Together together come on lets do this right

We're all here
and speaking out with one voice
we're going to rock the house (YEAH YEAH!)
the party's on now everybody make some noise
come on scream and shout

We've arrived becuase we stuck together
Champions one and all

We're all in this together
Once we know
That we are
We're all stars
And we see that
We're all in this together
And it shows
When we stand
Hand in hand
Make our dreams come

We're all in this together
When we reach
We can fly
Know inside
We can make it
We're all in this toghether
Once we see
Theres a chance
That we have
And we take it

Wild cats sing along
Yeah, you really got it goin' on
Wild cats in the house
Everybody say it now
Wild cats everywhere
Wave your hands up in the air
That's the way we do it
Lets get to it
Time to show the world

We're all in this together
Once we know
That we are
We're all stars
And we see that
We're all in this together
And it shows
When we stand
Hand in hand
Make our dreams come true

We're all in this together
When we reach
We can fly
Know inside
We can make it
We're all in this together
Once we see
Theres a chance
That we have
And we take it

Wild cats everywhere
Wave your hands up in the air
That's the way we do it
Let's get to it
Come on everyone!

Aaaaaahhhhhhh......make it stop!