Review: Quantum of Solace

Bond, James Bond.

Sorry it had to be said, because the movie sure as hell didn't. Not that I am complaining mind you, Quantum of Solace is a fun, fast and exciting film from beginning to end. This is the first direct sequel in the 21 film history of the franchise and I can't help but wonder why. The semi-parallel universe that Bond exists in is the perfect place for large overlapping stories. The espionage and intrigue of world wide criminal organizations against the top secret arms of the biggest governments seems to large to handle convincingly in just one picture, and QoS proves the point. You buy the level of sophistication and complexity of Quantum because we spent 2 previous hours climbing the ladder to get to the top, and we still haven't gotten to the big bad yet. I buy that this organization has men so deep in MI6 that M's private bodyguard of 5 years ended up working for them too. QoS also gives us glimpses at a believable world conquest scenario. As much as I love classic Bond archetypes, I never really understood why a villain would want to ruin the world in his attempts to gain control, holding the world hostage simply never works and the very best villains should know better. The bad guys running Quantum do realize that, their global domination plans are far more sneaky and ultimately, believable. Quantum is funding government coups and paying off the big governments with access to the most precious of commodities, oil, in attempts to run gain influence over everything.

So the basics are there, believable villain, beautiful women, exotic locals, but what about that classic Bond touch. That element that is not really quantifiable, but always present in the best of the Bond films, lets call it the essence of Bond. Well as I mentioned never do we hear "Bond, James Bond" and we never see him ask for a martini "Shaken not stirred." For the second strait film they're no gadgets to speak of, and Bond still looks more like a rugged street man then the most charming double O working today. So how much 007 can we get with so much of his trademarks no where to be seen? Plenty. In fact much more then Casino Royal, and it suits the Craig Bond well. Not only do you get a sinister villain who is a match in power for Bonds wits, not only do you get a battle an actively exploding hotel in the middle of the desert, but you get field agent Strawberry Fields. Yes, with the love of Bond''s life dead we get a return to the one night stand charmer that Connery encompassed so well. We finally get to see Bond flash a smile and get a woman to bend to his whim. We finally get to see Bond throw out a vague innuendo that is reciprocated by immediate coitus. Director Marc Forster also throws out a few bones to us Bond fans who miss the obvious. Such as the bartender giving Mathis the recipe of Bonds martini instead of the classic line or death of Ms Fields by drowning in oil. She is later discovered laying on a bed completely covered in oil, ala the golden death in Goldfinger. Its an iconic homage that really helps sell this as a 007 movie.

All is not perfect, however, as I did think the ending was unsatisfactory. The very point of most of the movie is to find information about Quantum, and at the very end Bond gets two characters to spill the beans of what they know and we the audience are left in the lurch. We follow Bond through this whole adventure and we don't get to share in the total payout. I also think it worked against the movie to only resolve Casino Royal threads in the final scene with out giving us anything new to get excited about. Other then those two relatively minor complaints I did thoroughly enjoy the film, and I recommend it to any one and every one who saw Casino Royal.

I give this film 4 Oily nude brits out of 5

Apparently the Insane Don't Have to Abide by Copyright Laws

We live in a society based on money and power. As a result, things that are successful often are imitated in an attempt to cash in on that success. In the realm of movies this leads to the mountains of knock off DTVs that line the discount "3 for 1" buckets at Wal Mart. This is a double edge sword in my mind, because for all of the artistic bankruptcy in the conception of these films there is still real work being done by young and determined people who are only trying to make the best of what they have. So I do consider my self an ally to these productions, even if I would never claim to have liked a single one.

These knock offs come in all types. You have your poster design thieves, who basically recreate a poster design and put it on their DVD covers to entice a sell. The title abductors, who recreate titles and fonts with only the slightest of differences. The plot takers, who jump on the bandwagon of a film and use elements of the popular plots. Then once in a blue moon you come across the mother load. Asylum films has become synonymous rip offs and they have the massive balls to not even care. Take a look at some of their titles.

18 Year Old Virgin
Snakes on a Train
Transmorphers
30,000 Leagues Under the Sea
AVH: Alen vs Hunter
Bram Stoker's Dracula's Curse
Street Racer
Sunday School Musical
Death Racers
Allan Quartermine and the Temple of Skulls
Da Vinci Treasure
Pirates of Treasure Island
Halloween Night
100 Million BC
Hillside Cannibals
Universal Soldiers
I Am Omega
and
The Day the Earth Stopped

Yeah, these are my new favorite guys in the world. I should bring them my idea's for Kill Bob and IronClad Man. Seriously, these guys made a movie called Trasmorphers, how do they not become the coolest guys that walk into any room. This is our future people because with balls this big, these guys are going to have liters of children. Massive props also go these guy's way because doing these types of films is all the work C. Thomas Howell can get these days. He is honestly in 25% of Asylum's films.

The good times might be fated to end, however, as Fox has come in and filed suit against The Day the Earth Stopped. Presumably because Asylum stole the trifecta of plot elements, title and poster design with out blinking an eye. Clearly this is a knock of The Day the Earth Stood, but I can't help but side with the Asylum guys. Judge for yourself.

Is the Tyrell Corporation a Utility?

I have known Sir Ridley Scott was involved in making a live action Monopoly for a little while now. In fact, I even thought this could be a fun escape into the world of fantasy economics in today's otherwise turbulent times. Imagine a world where people can buy things with pink and orange paper, its like a "What If... Russia was a Capitalist Nation" story. I was looking forward to this free spending action extravaganza, but it looks like Ridley just smacked a giant Hotel on my anticipation.

A report on CHUD.com has been posted stating that Sir Ridley is now looking to direct the Parker Bros. board game adaptation. It even goes as far as to say Sir Ridley wants to make the film sci-fi, with the "futuristic sheen" of his iconic Blade Runner. WTF!?!? A sci-fi Monopoly? How does that make any sense. I am all for sci-fi blockbusters, I am all for ANYTHING Sir Ridley does, heck I might even be interested in board game adaptations into feature films, but I can't help but get the feeling that this is a Hershey Kisses and bubble gum type scenario. Then again, who am I to pre judge a certifiable genius. Perhaps he will even go one step further and add a horror element to movie, the Flat Iron has to pass go in two turns or a chest burster Alien will collect a 500 Space Dollar tax.

One can only hope it will be half as good as this impending Masterpiece.

You Know What?

I think am a huge fan of music I find in advertising.

I have found so much great music from film & game trailers and commercials. Most recently I have fallen in love with the song "Sill Alive" by Lisa Miskovsky, which is featured heavily in the Mirrors Edge trailer. Another great one is "Choke" by Hybrid, a song that nearly single-handedly made me want to see The Spirit. Apple is another great source of music that I would otherwise never find.

I know a lot of people think that as soon as a song hits a commercial it becomes about the money and not about the art, but I take a different stance. Art can never be contained by those who make it, once unleashed upon the world an artists creation takes on hundreds upon thousands of new lives. It thrives in the mind, heart and soul of everyone who is touched by it. As an artist, and a human being, I feel it is my duty to affect the most people with my creations. Our existance is a pond and the noise we make is our ripple. I want my ripple to be a tidal wave. I want every man, woman and child to partake in my creation. I could care less if they hated it or loved it, just the fact that they were exposed to it means everything. Which is why I have no problem with finding amazing music through advertisements. Other artists have made their splash and the "cold and souless" marketing hand has delievered that ripple to me. How art is delievered to you shouldn't affect what we feel about it. Once we can get over our collective cynism about things "beneath" and "above" us we can enjoy a whole range beauty otherwise kept silent by invisble walls.

So you know what? I dig the heck out of music in ads.

Welcome

This is my blog, but I think you already figured that out.

I decided that the best outlet for my random urges to create was with a good old fashioned blog. So here I am, here is the place for random stories, my opinions (and god knows there are tons of those) and any other sorts of fun things I feel like sharing.