Check out this incredibly funny YouTube video that just might change you mind about everything you remember about "Mary Poppins." This clip really shows you the power of editing and music when done correctly.
Here is the link: http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/news.php?id=4847
What, a Bond that bleeds, who gets bruised, whose doubts his own ability to be fulfilled with a life in the British Secret Service, and undoubtedly a Bond with a soul. Could this possibly be a real James Bond movie, it is, and it is unlike anything we have seen from the Bond universe before. There is no villain bent on world-domination, no cheesy catch-phrases or puns, no expendable women only filling the screen for the sole purpose of sex appeal and male ogling, and no gadgets to get Bond out of the exact situation they were meant to get him out of. He must fight and struggle to beat the odds, and boy does he have his successes and his failures. This is a bond that is real, a bond that is human, a bond that is hopefully here to stay.
The whole purpose of Casino Royale is to show how Bond becomes Bond. In fact, this is the Batman Begins of the Bond series. Bond didn't always drink a martini "shaken and not stirred," he did not always view women as dispensable pleasures, he was not always the bond we all know him to be, yet in Casino Royale we begin to understand why he becomes that way. In essence, this is very much an origins film about Bond being sent on his first mission to stop and international terrorist from garnishing millions in a secret poker tournament at famed Casino Royale. Bond is sent in to seek out the mastermind behind the tournament, who is trying to save his own hide from African militants. What we get with this plot of twist and turns is some of the most thrilling action scenes of recent years, one of if not the best scripts of the franchise, and a movie the takes you into the psyche of the man that has come to be regarded as one the greatest hero's in all of Hollywood History.
When news that Daniel Craig was stepping into the shoes of 007, and when Bond fans around the world said "Nay," I got excited. I was excited because Craig has come boldly upon the Hollywood scene in recent years with a sense of sheer veracity and pure masculinity, and he brings every ounce of it into his role as Bond. Just looking at his track record shows why he is such a great pick including rolls in such films as Lakercake, his exception performance as Tom Hanks nemesis in Road to Perdition, and his near Bond performance as a Mosad assassin in Steven Speilberg's Munich (The movie that sold me on Craig as Bond). There is no doubt that Craig was the best choice among others thought to be choice picks (i.e. Ewan McGreggor, Clive Owen).
Casino Royale is the most real and gritty bond of all them all. It may even rival Goldeneye and Goldfinger as one of the best Bond movies ever, and Daniel Craig may even rival Connery as one of the best actors to ever where the tux.
GRADE: A-
RECOMMEND: Enthusiastically with caution for some intense moments of violence!
Here is an article from ROPE OF SILICON that shows how not everyone is laughing outloud for the antics of Borat's Sasha Coen:
"If you have seen Borat already then you remember the Winnebago of University of South Carolina frat boys that picked up the hitch-hiking Kazakh journalist and then proceeded to make racist and sexist comments all while putting back a fair share of booze. Well, two of those frat boys have decided their major motion picture appearance wasn't too cool and have decided to sue 20th Century Fox and the producers of the film claiming they were drunk at the time they signed a release to appear in the film. Uh, so? I don't hear the racist fella from the rodeo complaining... at least not yet.
Here's the real kicker, "Plaintiffs seek unspecified damages and demand that Fox pull Borat from theaters," reports Variety. Hey fellas, why don't you ask for a cow to jump over a moon? Or perhaps see if you can get an anal-dwelling butt monkey to come out of your butt. Trust me, you will have a better chance with this one.
This isn't the only trouble Borat has run into of course. Once again, for those that have seen it, I hardly need to explain, but the other bit of news that broke in Variety yesterday was banned from playing in Russian theaters by the nation's Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography. Why? Well the reason they claim is because, "The film contains material that some viewers may consider offensive to certain nationalities and religions." Talk about a boo hoo statement, perhaps those people could stay home? Just a thought.
Oddly enough the now super-sensitive U.S. has decided to bump Borat from last week's miniscule 800+ theaters it bowed in last week to 2,566 engagements. Man, talk about the little film that could. Borat has caused worldwide comotion, been banned, pokes fun at society and rakes in $26.4 million in one weekend with only 837 theaters. I even heard a rumor that someone thought Sacha Baron Cohen deserved an Oscar nomination for the role! While I don't really think that is going to happen I don't see the box-office dollars falling short this weekend. Fox has got to love all this free press!"
What if you woke up one day and suddenly heard the sound of a voice in your head? What if this voice started telling you the story of your very life as you lived it, acting as your own personal narrator? What if this very same voice which seemed to know every detail of your boring and inanimate life told you that you were going to die at the stories end? How would you react?
One of the most offensive, insensitive, and crude movies to come out of Hollywood in years. It picks fun on everyone including politicians, Jews, Christians, Red Necks, Celebrities, Foreigners, and even Frat Boys. But somehow, this movie is filled with random enough random stuff that is so outlandish, so nuts, that is undoubtedly one of funniest movies in years.
When a journalist from Kazakhstan comes to see all that America has to offer, and he looks like the guy in the poster, you can just imagine what happens! Sashan Koen is absolutley brillant as Borat, and what is so amazing is that Koen is actually English. This is Dumb and Dumber supercharged with enough bathroom humor to keep anyone out of the bathroom for days.
GRADE: B-
RECOMMENDED: With extreme caution for crudeness and rudeness!
Clink the following link to see what should amount to be one of next years best and most anticipated movies! It is a glorious site to behold!
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/30649?its_the_ultra_webtacular_spiderman_3_trailer
The film releases this coming May!!!
Martin Scorsese is nothing less than an artistically brilliant director. He paints his stories (his movies) with every sense of artistic excellence. From the cinematography, editing, costume design, musical score, sound, visual effects, and even the actors themselves you are astounded by the fact that every frame of his films are set-up to mean or say something in the most excellent and meaningful of ways. The problem then does not exist in his near perfect execution, but in the story and themes are the result of it. Mr. Scorcese has proven time and time again that his films are a feast for the eyes, yet at what cost to the sensibilities of the audience watching? He continues to show us the depravity of man in every visceral and self-indulgent way, yet where has he left the hope that only the light can bring to the darkness in our hearts, obviously he has left it on the cutting room floor. It would have been easy to make The Departed an even greater and more excellent film, simply by cutting down the intoxicating vulgarity, and giving the main characters the opportunity to examine their immoral, pitiful, ugly, and sinful lives in a more objectible and thought provoking way. Don't mistake my objections for denying a filmakers right to show human depravity because I think nothing of the sort. I have no problem whatsoever for filmakers to show the depravity of man. Just look at films like Unforgiven, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and The Godfather. All three films shows human sin at its worst, but they also show the consequece of such actions, and how it destroys the characters and their lives in the end. These films question the result of doing what is morally objectable, where as the characters in The Departed seem to throw it on the ground as if it is worth nothing to them. Even the Bible shows us mans depravity of light through sin, but it never fails to show us that this depravity is the direct result of rebellion from God, of which the consequence is death unless redeemed through the blood of Christ. When it comes down to it, it is our free will, the choices that we make that determine the consequences of every one of our actions. Martin Scorcese is a master at showing us the darkness in the everyday lives of men and women, but when you stay in darkness for so long, how can you ever experience the warmth and the brightness that only moments in the light can bring.
GRADE: B+
RECOMMENDED: With EXTREME caution for high usage of F-Bombs and other vulgarities, several occurences of violence, and some sensuality.
Bare with me as in the coming weeks we get this NEW BLOG SITE off the ground... expect an onslaught of movie reviews to appear including WORLD TRADE CENTER, THE DEPARTED, and a current list of my favorite films of the year thus far, and even what we have to look forward to in the coming months as we get ready for what is reving up to be an extremely competitive Oscar season. STAY TUNED!!!
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