Let's All Go to the Movies
So what movies are opening this weekend, the last weekend before the holidays start up?
The big one seems to be the new Bond flick, Casino Royale. It's getting good reviews and getting a lot of attention because of it's desire to "restart" the Bond franchise by changing the tone and introducing the "origin myth" as it were in telling how Bond became the Bond, James Bond we all know and love. Frankly, from what we're hearing, the new Bond is all broody and angsty and apparently gets roughed up. Even worse, there's only one femme fatale. In all seriousness, we don't want our Bonds angsty and broody and dark. We want our Bonds making bad jokes and sleeping with tons of hot women and having no problem with violence. What made Sean Connery so badass was because he was the only Bond really to actually look like he was enjoying himself. And if you were James Bond, how could you not be enjoying yourself?
Our theory has always been that Bond needs to acknowledge its origins as a 50's and 60's, Cold War icon and just make all the new flicks back in those days. The spy myth worked much better if it's set back then (especially the idea of anyone caring about the British Secret Service) and because it's much easier to do un-PC Bond. Is there really any other way to do Bond?
We think not.
Also opening is Fast Food Nation, the movie based on the (great) book. We have no idea how this movie is going to work as "Fast Food Nation" was non-fiction and the movie fiction, but it's by Richard Linklater and trust his judgment. Or at least we do when he's not cashing a paycheck and doing a dumb Hollywood movie.
Also is the also the next Christopher Guest movie, "For Your Consideration," another one of his patented mockumentaries, this time about a movie that thinks it might be an Oscar Contender. We've thought Guest's movies are getting slighter and slighter and Hollywood in-jokes grate, but we'll give him the benefit of the doubt as even slight, he's still funny. It also stars Ricky Gervais, maybe the funniest person on the planet. And how stoked are we that he and his writing partner Stephen Merchant wrote an episode of the American "Office?". And wasn't last night's episode hilarious?
Also opening up is "F---" a movie about the word not the act, "Happy Feet," this week's computer animation flick, and super-serious Nicole Kidman shelling for another Oscar in "Arbus." Yawn.