escapism over real-life

I actually have all manner of moderately interesting things to report on, but instead I’m going to do some movie reviews.

Casino Royale – numerous thumbs up.

I didn’t feel like studying last night, so a friend and I went to the new 007. When you find a girl that wants to see an action movie you run with it. Although not a cinematic classic, I place this pretty high in the Bond franchise. I enjoyed the Pierce Brosnan movies, but Daniel Craig’s Bond would totally wreck Pierce. There’d be no competition. The opening action sequences were amazing. I admit that I’m a fan of parkour (martial arts applied to urban environments) so may be biased, but the seen at the construction site and embassy were phenomenal. There were many spots of action throughout, though the movie did drag a bit near the end. This film removed a lot of the Bond sex and replaced it with actual romance, which I think improved the film. The one-liners were kept to a minimum, which also grounded the film. It certainly wasn’t a perfect film but it was definitely the best 007 since Goldeneye and probably the best since Roger Moore.

Here’s my list of Bonds:
1. Daniel Craig (basing a number one spot on a single film is risky, but I’ll change it if he falls from grace.)
2. Sean Connery
3. Roger Moore
4. Pierece Brosnan
5. Timothy Dalton
6. That hack Lazenby

Stranger Than Fiction – 8 out of 9 stars

This movie was great. I’ve been seeing a lot of enjoyably bad movies lately (my most recent viewing had been Crank) and it was nice to switch it up and see an straight-up good movie. Again it wasn’t perfect, but it was very rewarding. I know I’m mimicking every critic in the world, but Will Farrell actually acted in this movie. Much akin to Adam Sandler in Punch-Drunk Love and Jim Carey in The Truman Show, we get to see him attack a real film. It’s not a Will Farrell movie, it’s one that happens to have him in it. And he completely nails the character. His performance, and the whole movie, is completely deadpan. It never ceases to be amusing to place people in these surreal situations and watch them work their way through. The humor is all high-brow and the drama is understated, but seems sincere. A good time will be had by all.