The Bond Identity

I don’t usually attend midnight screenings, but since I missed not one but two press screenings of Quantum of Solace – and given the fact that I think that Daniel Craig is like, the second coming – I just had to buck up, have a delicious Toll House chocolate chip ice cream sandwich, and stay up late last night.

It was sooo worth it.

Directed by Marc Forster (the auteur behind Monster’s Ball, Finding Neverland, and Stranger Than Fiction), Quantum of Solace is the first sequel in the enduringly successful James Bond franchise.

The movie picks up right where Casino Royale left off, with 007 (Craig) betrayed by Vesper Lynd (the indelible Eva Green), and quite thirsty, not for martinis but rather for revenge.

It opens with an eye-catching car chase across Italy’s Lake Garda, with Bond racing to deliver Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), whom he captured in the last movie, to M (Judi Dench) for an interrogation that proves all-too revealing.

It turns out that QUANTUM, the dangerous and far-reaching organization for which Mr. White works, is unknown to MI6, and has “people everywhere,” including the agency.

Cut to another 007 chase, after an attempt on M’s life, this time across Siena’s tiled rooftops.

With Bond veering recklessly over revenge’s edge – M, still grooming him, needs to know she can trust him – the two realize they’ve stumbled onto a seriously nasty organization.

A clue leads our favorite secret agent to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where he bumps into feisty Camille (Olga Kurylenko, from Paris, Je T’aime), a woman who has her own vendetta.

Camille leads Bond straight to Dominic Greene (an oh-that’s-what-he-looks-like Mathieu Amalric, from The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), a ruthless business man and major force within QUANTUM.

On a mission that leads him to Austria, Italy, and South America, 007 discovers that Greene, conspiring to take total control of one of the world’s most important natural resources, is forging a deal with the exiled Gen. Medrano from Bolivia. Using his associates in the organization, and manipulating his powerful contacts within the CIA and the British government, Greene plans to overthrow the existing regime in the Latin American country, and give Medrano control of the country in exchange for a seemingly barren piece of land.

That’s where the Huh? moment in Quantum of Solace comes in – just like in all of the Bond movies. The villain wants what? But it doesn’t matter, I suppose, since the reason you’ll be in the movie theater is to see what 007 will do to save the world, after all.

What is interesting about this follow-up is that, since Casino Royale ushered in the Craig Era and re-introduced the James Bond character as a more real, grittier, and blonder fellow, Quantum of Solace allows Bond to grow, not too much just yet, into the man he will become.

At 105 minutes, this is the shortest Bond movie of them all, but it’s a taut one. When the credits finish rolling, the promise that James Bond – and Craig (he’s signed on for two more movies) – will be back appears.

I cannot wait.

My Rating ***1/2

Photo: MGM/Columbia Pictures.

2008: The Year in Review

It was a good year at the movies, wasn’t it?

Superheroes showed us that they can both blow up stuff and blow our minds (thank you, Iron Man and Batman). Sexy ladies proved that they are, indeed, a force to be reckoned with at the box office, and a little robot made us fall in love with him with nary a word spoken.

Here’s a look at what I liked most about the year that was. I hope 2008 was everything you wanted it to be and more.

Have a good 2009!

Best Body: Jason Statham (The Bank Job, but really this is because of Transporter 3, which I didn’t see, but c’mon….)

Best Cameo: Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder

Best Chemistry: The cast of Tropic Thunder

Best Comeback: Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man, Tropic Thunder)

Best Dressed: (tie) Amy Adams in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day and the cast of Sex and the City

Best Ensemble: Sex and the City

Best Hair: (tie) Cate Blanchett in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Keira Knightley in The Duchess

Best Look: Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman in Australia

Best Prop: “Roger,” the vintage studded belt Sarah Jessica Parker wore in several scenes of Sex and the City

Best Quotable: “Skadoush!” (Kung Fu Panda)

Best Trailer: Revolutionary Road

Hey, Madonna – Nice Try (I Mean It!): Filth and Wisdom

Hey, Madonna – I Don’t Have the Sundance Channel (When’s the DVD Coming Out?): I Am Because We Are

Biggest Scene-stealer: (tie) Danny McBride (Tropic Thunder, Pineapple Express) and Jason Bateman (Hancock)

Can't Get Enough – Female: Gwyneth Paltrow (Iron Man)

Can't Get Enough – Male: (tie) James Marsden (27 Dresses) and John Krasinski (Leatherheads)

Can’t Wait to See You Again on the Big Screen – Female: Kristen Bell (Forgetting Sarah Marshall)

Can’t Wait to See You Again on the Big Screen – Male: Thomas Kretschmann (Wanted, Valkyrie)

Could Have Gotten More: Daniel Craig (Quantum of Solace, but really this is because of Flashbacks of a Fool, which I just rented on DVD, and Defiance, which hasn’t opened in my market yet)

Coolest Title (Even Though I Didn’t See It): Guy Ritchie’s RocknRolla

Dreamiest Casting: Keri Russell in Bedtime Stories

Guiltiest Pleasure: Cloverfield

Most Beautiful: The cast of Sex and the City

Most Disappointing: Speed Racer

Most Handsome: Daniel Craig in Quantum of Solace

Most I Love You But Please Don’t Sing: Mamma Mia!’s Pierce Brosnan

Most Improved: The Hulk franchise (The Incredible Hulk)

Most Promising: (tie) Jon Favreau (director of Iron Man) and Dustin Lance Black (screenwriter of Milk, pictured at right)

Most Underrated: Ricky Gervais in Ghost Town

Most Romantic: WALL-E’s WALL-E and EVE

Most Welcome to the A-List: (tie) Anna Faris (The House Bunny) and Michael Cera (Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist)

Most Enjoyable: Get Smart

Least Enjoyable: Over Her Dead Body

Breakthrough Performance – Female: Elizabeth Banks (W., Zack and Miri Make a Porno)

Breakthrough Performance – Male: David Kross (The Reader)

Best Supporting Actresses: Penélope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), Viola Davis (Doubt), Rosemary DeWitt (Rachel Getting Married), Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Kate Winslet (The Reader)

Best Supporting Actors: Josh Brolin (Milk), Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder), James Franco (Milk), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt), Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)

Best Actresses: Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married), Angelina Jolie (Changeling), Sarah Jessica Parker (Sex and the City), Kristin Scott Thomas (I’ve Loved You So Long), Meryl Streep (Doubt)

Best Actors: Christian Bale (The Dark Knight), Daniel Craig (Quantum of Solace), Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Sean Penn (Milk), Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)

Best Directors: Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire), David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight), Gus Van Sant (Milk), Andrew Stanton (WALL-E)

Best Animated Film: WALL-E

Best Documentary: American Teen

10 Best Films of the Year: (in alphabetical order)

Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Milk
The Reader
Sex and the City
Slumdog Millionaire
Tell No One
Tropic Thunder
WALL-E

Honorable Mention: Marley & Me

Photos: Lionsgate Films (Transporter 3); IFC Films (Filth and Wisdom); Paramount Vantage (Defiance); Focus Features (Milk); New Line Cinema (Sex and the City); 20th Century Fox (Australia).

Need Me to Take Care of That, Daniel?

People are saying the new James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, is cursed.

A series of unfortunate events has plagued production seemingly since Day 1, and today comes word that star Daniel Craig has sliced off the top of his finger during filming of an action sequence.

Craig was taken to hospital for treatment, but this accident comes just one week after his handsome face reportedly was cut in the middle of another scene – requiring eight stitches.

Alright, back it up. The line to kiss that boo-boo begins here.

Seriously, though, someone get the cast and crew some good luck pronto.

Just last weekend, an outdoor set was damaged when a fire broke out at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, England, and in April, a stuntman suffered serious head injuries after losing control of a vehicle and slamming into a wall in Northern Italy.

This followed yet another mishap when an Aston Martin sports car had to be fished out of Lake Garda, Italy, after it skidded off a narrow road in torrential rain and plunged into the water.

Best to all at Quantum of Solace…and Daniel, I’m serious.

Photo: JustJared.BuzzNet.com.

Not Just a Spy You Know…

I’ve been previewing fall movies a lot lately, and there’s not one but two that call Daniel Craig their star opening as the year winds down.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you about the other one, the one that’s not Quantum of Solace – and let’s face it, any of excuse to write about Craig is a good one.

So here’s your reminder about Defiance.

Opening on Dec. 12, the Edward Zwick-directed film stars Craig, Liev Schreiber, and Jamie Bell as real-life brothers who escaped the Nazis to form a resistance army of runaway Jews in Belarus during World War II.

This one’s awards bait, so don’t miss it.

Photo: EW.com.

Update: Aw, bummer! Quantum of Solace is now opening on Nov. 14, not on Nov. 7, a.k.a. a day after my birthday.

The strategic move places the highly anticipated James Bond adventure one week closer to the prime Thanksgiving holiday window and takes advantage of Warner Bros.’ decision to move the release date of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to next summer.

Of Bond Things Past, Present, and Future

Oh, Skyfall, Skyfall, Skyfall – I thought you’d never get here, but here you are...and there you’ve been, with your winks to classic elements of your enjoyable heritage (check out that pic above again, y’all) and making millions around the world before coming out stateside.

Good goin’, Mr. Bond.

For a while there, it looked as if the latest 007 adventure starring Daniel Craig wouldn’t happen at all. It has been five long years since Quantum of Solace, and in that time, MGM ran into financial woes. If anything or anyone was ever going to serve as an incentive for the studio to get its act together (GTS), that was always gonna be James Bond.

So let's just say he did it, and does it in this new movie, for queen, country...and Hollywood.

I ascribe that savior descriptive to the legendary character (who is seriously looking bettah than evah as he celebrates his 50th anniversary this year, by the way) because – Minor Spoiler Alert! – Bond like, dies in this 23rd chapter of the franchise.

Ish.

As he says in the movie’s trailer, though, the guy has a special hobby: resurrection.

And, boy, does he come alive in this one – especially after the halfway point of the movie’s 145-minute run – because in this one, the bad guy hits home.

The Sam Mendes-directed movie opens with Bond and an associate named Eve (Naomie Harris, whom you should remember from 28 Days Later and Miami Vice) in hot pursuit of a murderous suspect through the streets, markets, and outskirts of Istanbul.

The pre-credits-featuring-Adele’s-titular-theme-song sequence is fackin’ phenomenal and thrilling, but I won’t go into too much detail here or elsewhere when it comes to plot descriptions because that’s why you go to the movies...and I know you don’t want your fun spoiled now, do ya. Let me just say Bond fails in his mission. A shot is fired. He is believed dead.

Of course, he isn’t.

While he is recuperating nicely and bare-chestedly on some beachy paradise somewhere off the grid, MI6 and, more pressingly, M (Judi Dench) become the target of bloody cyberattacks.

With the integrity of the British spy game compromised – the intel Bond and Eve were tracking is directly tied to these attacks – and M’s steely leadership of the agency in question (enter Ralph Fiennes as a is-he-good-or-is-he-bad? suit), Bond comes back from the dead and reports for duty.

That’s our good 007! And M’s.

With the help of a new Q (Ben Whishaw, whom I am finding increasingly appealing), our favorite licensed to kill agent tracks down the cyberterrorist behind the mayhem, meeting an alluring creature along the way, natch. She’s the beautiful and vulnerable Severine (Bérénice Lim Marlohe), and she has a word of warning: The man he is looking for embodies fear unlike any Bond has ever met.

He is Silva, a slithery creep that sooo should go down as one of Javier Bardem’s most memorable creations thanks to another signature hair situation (a blond that’s almost white, and a long that’s long enough to be sophisticated in a ponytail...and menacing when it’s undone and seen through flames).

Silva has history and beef with Bond and, in particular with M – or don’t they remember. And Silva is dead-set on not only making M suffer (he makes her watch as he blows up MI6, he threatens the lives of all her spies); he wants to introduce her to her maker.

The guy is fearsome because he gets his evil on by getting under his prey’s skin. He likes to keep his distance (that’s why he’s a cyberterrorist who operates from a remote abandoned island), so he can get in people’s heads...make them feel like sitting ducks.

One of the big questions in Skyfall is: Can he get under Bond’s skin and test his loyalty to M so that he unwittingly becomes a pawn in his plan?

The bigger, more important question of the movie is: Is there still a place in the world for the likes of 007 and his operation?

By the end of the coulda-been-tauter-in-the-middle-there movie, the answer is clear. And the cost of that answer, found in the coldness of the Scottish Highlands, is both sad and reinvigorating.

So here’s to the first 50...and to the next 50.

My Rating ****

Photo: Sony Pictures.

I Want to See Daniel Craig Groove to This

Today is “Another Way to Die” Day.

That, movie fans, is the title of Jack White and Alicia Keys’ contribution to the Quantum of Solace soundtrack.

“I like to call it rock ’n’ soul,” said Keys, adding that the theme song for the next James Bond movie (and the first duet in Bond-theme song history) is, “kind of like a roller coaster because it gets really big and loud, then it gets pulled in and soft.”

Quantum of Solace, starring Daniel Craig, opens on Nov. 14.

Check out the “Another Way to Die” video and anticipate:

What a…Cute Name

And the official title of the new James Bond movie is…Quantum of Solace.

Up until recently, the project was known as Bond 22.

Daniel Craig – swoon – will reprise his role as James Bond in the film, which picks up where 2006’s Casino Royale left off, with 007 contemplating revenge after his betrayal by his true love, Vesper Lynd (Eva Green).

Here’s to hoping Quantum of Solace, like Casino Royale, features a smoldering scene or two of Craig on a beach. (I mean...take a look-see at right.)

Photo: MGM/Columbia Pictures.

Quantum of Solace is Going to Rock

A new trailer for the upcoming new James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, starring Daniel Craig, has been released.

The new (awesome) footage reveals more about Mathieu Amalric’s villainous character, as well as Olga Kurylenko’s (that’s her at right with our hero).

But it’s all about Craig, of course. It’s all about him, alright.

Photo: MGM/Columbia Pictures.

Bonding Music

The White Stripes’ Jack White and Alicia Keys have recorded the theme song for Quantum of Solace, the 22nd James Bond movie starring Daniel Craig and opening on Nov. 7.

It is official, then: Amy Winehouse is off the assignment. Shocker.

“Another Way to Die” was written and produced by White. This is the first duet in Bond-theme song history.

“We are delighted and pleased to have two such exciting artists as Jack and Alicia, who were inspired by our film, to join together their extraordinary talents in creating a unique sound for Quantum of Solace,” said producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.

The movie’s soundtrack will be available on Oct. 28.

Photo: E! Online.

007 Wants It

Revenge, that is.

The trailer for Quantum of Solace, due out on Nov. 7, is out, and it looks like James Bond’s latest adventure will be your average revenge tale.

Since the Sexiest Man Alive Daniel Craig is once again suiting up – and shedding his shirt – to star, though, Quantum of Solace will be anything but average.

Take a look-see (I’m so excited I learned how to do this):

Bond Bound for Peru?

According to El Comercio, Peru’s leading newspaper, a team of 250 people working on the new James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, are set to arrive in the South American country to shoot scenes in Cuzco early in March.

There’s no word on whether star Daniel Craig, or any of his co-stars, will be part of the journey, but rumor has it 007 gets married in this movie.

Back to Craig in Peru, though. A trip down south is sounding mighty tempting, after all.

Photo: Guardian.co.uk.

Thank You for Rubbing It in My Face, Satsuki Mitchell

Daniel Craig took his girlfriend, movie producer Satsuki Mitchell, to the premiere of Quantum of Solace in London last night.

Click here to see another photo of the happy couple.

Whatever.

Both Prince William and Prince Harry caught the screening as well. If you want, look to your left, see the links I have listed on this page, pick one you feel definitely will take you to them, and see for yourself.

Photo: UsMagazine.com.

Because It’s Been Almost a Month Since I Mentioned Daniel Craig

Click here to hear Quantum of Solace star Daniel Craig, director Marc Foster, and the rest of the cast discuss the pressures of making the movie, due out on Nov. 7.

“I think we’ve got something really special,” Craig says in the video.

I think you’ve got something really special, Dan-Dan.

Photo: MGM/Columbia Pictures.

He Was Gorgeous Before the Surgery

In an unprecedented move, Quantum of Solace star Daniel Craig has revealed that – gasp! – he’s had cosmetic surgery.

“It [was] a stupid inconvenience because we had to stop filming,” he said. “But they gave me an excellent plastic surgeon.”

The 40-year-old actor, who was recently spotted wearing an arm sling, had to have eight stitches in his face after being accidentally kicked by an unnamed co-star on the set of the latest James Bond movie opening next month.

Craig also discussed his approach to playing 007.

“I wanted some fallibility. It’s no good if Bond is a cocktail-swigging sexist pig with no interior struggle. Bond is often pissed off or upset, and I wanted to bring that out,” he said. “I won’t play [him] forever. But I’d like to think I’ve added something to the lineage of how the man has changed.”

Uh, don’t worry, dear. You have, and then some.

Photo: BestOf.Provocateuse.com.

Zombie Warrior

Brad Pitt is out to save the world.

After almost a year of rumors, the actor has officially signed on to star in World War Z, an adaptation of Max Brooks’ book about a zombie apocalypse directed by Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace).

Mireille Enos (AMC’s The Killing) will play his wife.

Production is set to get underway in June for a summer 2012 release.

Photo: Crushable.com.

Stillbourne?

After director Paul Greengrass announced he

will not be making the fourth film in the Bourne series, Matt Damon has revealed he – oh dear! – “wouldn’t do it without him.”

“He’s got to go to work, you know? He’s ready to do another job, and it wasn’t the right job now. I get it,” Damon said at the premiere of Invictus on Thursday. “I think he’d change his mind if a good script came along.”

Josh Zetumer (who did a last-minute polish on Quantum of Solace) is currently in the middle of writing a script for Bourne 4.

“Someday it’s going to happen,” Damon added. “People like the franchise, including us, but the only reason to do another one is if we can make it great.”

We’ll be waiting.

Photo: Esquire.com.

I’m Just Sayin’

New production photos of Quantum of Solace, the new James Bond movie opening on Nov. 7, have hit the Web, and O-M-G.

Can I just take a moment to imagine star Daniel Craig…running toward me?

Oh dear….

Photo: MGM/Columbia Pictures.

When Sam Mendes Will Meet Bond

Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes (American Beauty) is in talks to direct Daniel Craig & Co. in the 23rd chapter of the James Bond franchise.

The untitled project is currently being written by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade (Quantum of Solace, Casino Royale) in collaboration with Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon).

The movie is oh-so-tentatively slated for 2011. And opinions on this particular choice shall begin in 3...2...1....

Photo: WMagazine.com.

Update: The great debate has begun!

At It Again

“It’s On Again.”

Or so sing Alicia Keys and Kendrick Lamar on the Pharrell-produced lead single off the Amazing Spider-Man 2 soundtrack.

It’s a bit of a groovy track, one that, Keys says, evokes the message that, “We can all be superheroes in our own lives!”

Btw, this isn’t the first time Keys has played the soundtrack game. In 2008, she and Jack White recorded “Another Way to Die” for the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace.

Photo: Billboard.com.

The New Q

There’s a new, younger Q in the Bondverse, people, and he will be played by Ben Whishaw in this fall’s Skyfall.

Q has yet to assist Daniel Craig’s James Bond – the character wasn’t part of Casino Royale or Quantum of Solace – so his inclusion in Sam Mendes’ movie is especially, well...special.

007 fans will be pleased to know the guy will, in fact, play a pivotal role in helping Bond rescue MI6 from a looming threatening force from M’s (Judi Dench) past.

Photo: EW.com.