Sunday, June 10, 2007

I saw the new Casino Royale last night, and I actually thought it was good. I think I remember hearing it soundly panned at the time it was in theaters? I wanted to see it then, but was simply too busy. This Bond is way more physical, and the first 20 minutes or so are a lot like a free running exercise. It was almost exhausting. I kept waiting for Bond or the bad guy to sprain an ankle.

Daniel Craig is always a badass in films, and in this one he continues his trend of getting totally nekkid. He seemed to spend a lot of the film in various stages of undress (all germane to the plot, naturally), but he does have presence and I think he makes a good Bond. I'd like to see one Daniel Craig film where he doesn't get totally naked. OK, well, he was a monk in Elizabeth, but he ends up naked when he's being tortured at the end, dun't he? Anyway, I'm seeing a trend-- I wonder if he has a rider in all his contracts requiring that he be shown naked? I think he digs it.

Anyway, good film, longish. At one point, Bond drives a *gasp!* Ford. The times, they are a'changin', but not all for the worse.



(here's a video of free-running, but I recommend watching it without the sound)

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

F loves this stuff, we watched this one alot. What, you don't like this song? A

Barbara said...

VERY impressive! No wonder the cops can't catch up with them...

LawDog said...

Phlemmy, the man that Craig is chasing in the first part of the movie is Sebastien Foucan -- one of the founders of the sport of free running, and a second level contributor to the sport of parkour.

LawDog said...

For more parkour goodness, see this clip from the movie Banlieue 13.

The runner is David Belle, who founded parkour.

phlegmfatale said...

Sis - F WOULD love it. I can just see him. Let's try to steer him to pop-n-locking, ok? Um, not my favorite, though I do like a couple other tracks by him

babs - yeah, it's amazing!

lawdog - COOL! I never bothered checking, but I figured at the very least, that whole scene was choreographed by a free-runner - thanks for the info & the link -

Wow, he had me at through-the-transom - very cool clip. Thanks again!

phlegmfatale said...

but about the video, I'm wondering when East L.A. gangs started taking over Paris!

phlegmfatale said...

but about the video, I'm wondering when East L.A. gangs started taking over Paris!

Barbara Bruederlin said...

Oh I well remember the scandal that erupted over a blond Bond. It all seems rather pointless now, doesn't it?

Kevin said...

I liked the new Bond. It seemed grittier and more realistic than those that went before - especially the fight scenes. But WTF? Bond isn't supposed to fall in love! C'mon now!

phlegmfatale said...

barbara - Yeah, I mean, who cares? I thought he was fantastic.

kevin - Me too - yeah, he's hardcore. Yeah, when he said that line --something like 'that must be why I love you'-- I kinda puked in my mouth. I was seriously uncomfortable with that. Clearly, she had to die.