And We Have a Bond!

Finally! In my favorite words: 'bout fuckin' time! We now have an official announcement on who will be playing 007 in Casino Royale next year. And thankfully it is not someone my age. It's Daniel Craig, long rumored to be the guy. Well he is and I'm excited. Gone is Brosnan. Much as I like him if he'd been reanounced I'd just be annoyed at him for the four year wait. Well, I'm hopeful about the new guy. He's more Dalton than Brosnan and gaining popularity right now. He certainly has potential. With him and Paul Haggis on board this thing is looking good. Now hire a good Bond girl and ditch Judi Dench and I'll be a happy man.

Serenity Now!

Joss Whedon's Serenity

A-

Well, I have seen it. Finally. Let's just say that I got my hands on a copy. I won't go into the pros and cons of the hows and whys. Whether it's good or bad is not my problem. My problem was simple: I needed this fucking movie. So now that I got it, what's my opinion?

Pretty fucking good.

It's not mind blowing. But then again, I watching Firefly. Let's just say Joss Whedon skipped about seven years of Firefly and went right for the finale. And it's a slam, bang, rip roaring, fun flick. It's Star Wars when it was cool. Wait. It's cooler than that. Serenity itself is simply better than the Falcon and Mal Reynolds would easily shoot Greedo first. Hell, he'd probably shoot him before he even entered that bar.

I'm a bit hung up about this film. I'm not sure how much I loved it and I keep comparing it to the series, which may be a mistake. I figure after another viewing or two, I'll really know how I feel about it and can better analyze everything.

What I know Serenity does well is tackle the series' basic premise and give us both an ending and a beginning. I will say things have changed and certain details seem odd. There's a slight whiff of cheese and a feeling of lost opportunities at times. But what I really walk away with is the need to see this back on TV. I've been short changed. Serenity is nice, but seven seasons of Firefly would have kicked way more ass.

I'm not sure why this film hasn't caught on. I'm not there to see it, but I do know it's not because of quality. Serenity's a good, solid science fiction film that is all about character. And that's something so many films forget about these days.

Veronica Mars returns...

I came into this show late. Saw an ep here and there last season, but never settled down to get hooked, but this summer I got my grubby mits on all of season one and in less than a week I came to love this hybrid teen drama-Nancy Drew series. It's quite a nice little show with good characterizations, an overlapping narrative and self contained plots. Nice show and well worth anyone's time.
Season two is here and I can say that the premier nicely sets up a new year of mystery and drama for VM and company.

Normal is the Watchword

A-

Alias 5.1

Prophet Five

B

I'm not really sure what to think of Alias these days. Sure doesn't feel like J.J. Abrams is behind the thing anymore. And you just hear so much about Garner's personal life. Too much really. And then of course there is Lost, which gets all the attention and the ratings. So, my question is: has Alias jumped the shark? Maybe. But it still has my interest...for the moment.
Now, there is no denying seasons 1 and 2 were the high points, but I've stayed a loyal viewer and was quite interested in this premier especially after the out of nowhere fourth season finale. A quickie revelation and a crash and this episode picks right up where we left off. Michael Vaugn's startling revelation that he's not Michael Vaugn. A WTF moment to be sure, but surprisingly well handled in the premier. No, he's not a double agent and he's not a clone or imposter. He just had his name changed as a child by his father in an effort to hide from a mysterious government project called Prophet Five. Which ties in to Rambaldi through some manuscript. It's enough to say Vaugn's dad was way more into this than we've ever been led to believe.
So, the plot is easy, Vaugn may be a double and while the G men try to figure this out, Vaugn spills the beans. Fairly easy plot, but what you really see in this episode is all the behind the scenes machinations at work. Garner's pregnancy, the loss of several cast members and the introduction of new ones. I see this show turning the shark, not quite jumping it. Changes are afoot and the Alias of old is surely gone, but is that going to be bad? Time will tell. For now the show has a new season five mystery to propel it forward.

Quickie Book Recommendation

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

9/10

Never much interested in this book I only found myself buying it after seeing the trailer for the upcoming film version.....and now I am a fan. I'm hooked. I'm obsessed with Geisha now and can not wait for the film. Score says it all. I highly recommend this to anyone. It's a bit of a fairytale, but it's a good fictional look at what these women go through. And afterwards, well you'll want one.