Sups, X-Men, Bond movie footage finds way online

Over the course of the weekend, arguably my three most anticipated movies saw footage find its way online to various extents.

To start things off, Hugh Jackman appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno Friday night, bringing along with him a short clip from the movie that confirmed something that had long been rumored to appear in the movie: Spoiler Alert Sentinels Spoiler Alert. How freaking cool is that? Here's hoping they do it well. Check out the clip here at YouTube or here for a better quality AVI. X-Men: The Last Stand is due out May 26th.

Secondly, an Australian Coca-Cola commercial featuring some short shots from the upcoming Superman Returns. There isn't much to see, as it is only about 9 seconds long, but what is there definitely looks cool. Its just a few shots of Superman flying around. Find the clip here in AVI format. Superman Returns is due out June 30th.

And finally, we have Bond. James freakin' Bond. It looks like the first trailer for Casino Royale (set to debut in the next few weeks along with The DaVinci Code) found its way onto French Television this weekend. The bad news is that it is dubbed in french, so unless you speak the language, you're going to have no idea what is being said. The good news is that it doesn't matter and that it looks positively amazing. This movie looks like it combines the best of From Russia with Love with the best of GoldenEye. This Daniel Craig guy is really starting to take on the part for me, no matter how blonde he is. Are you ready for this? I know I am (although I had my reseverations before). Find the clip here to download in WMV format. Casino Royale is due out in November.

I heart movies.

A note for the Megaupload site: Let the counter in the upper right count down to Zero, then X out the MegaLinks box to reveal the download link. Enjoy.

Technorati Tags: Movies, X-Men, James Bond, Casino Royale, 007, Daniel Craig, Superman, Brandon Routh, Superman Returns, Comics, Coke, Advertisements

Craig, Daniel Craig: There's a new James Bond on the block

[Editor's Note: I just wanted to get this one out there ASAP because I'm a bit late on it, and I've neglected the blog over the last week because life got pretty intense. It is not even really proof read yet. I'll update with formatting, links, researched articles as soon as I can.]

There hasn't been a day like last Friday in twelve years. Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli -- producers (read: resident money-hungry Nazis) of the aging James Bond film franchise as well as senile and cowardly nincompoops who I believe fear the prospects of making a good movie -- along with Metro Goldwyn Mayer and Sony Pictures Entertainment (who just bought MGM) announced on an old WWI ship stationed under London Bridge, that James Bond was going back to his roots, and he had dyed his hair.


They should have introduced him as: Craig, Daniel Craig. Blonde hair, blue-eyed Daniel Craig. It seems that the world is taken aback that James Bond is now blonde -- even going as far to use the single worst headline in the history of journalism:

Blonde, James Blonde.

Give me a break people, you are supposed to be professional. Pun or no pun. Rhyme or no Rhyme. That is offensively annoying.

Now, the natural question that you are asking (and if you aren't, you really should be): How do I, a seasoned James Bond fan who lives comfortably and dichotically in the world of film tastes (preferring the classic, smarter Bond films, but still able to appreciate the modernity of Hollywood films that bend the laws of physical reality. Transporter 2, I'm talking to you), feel about this new guy? This blonde, new guy?

I really don't care that he is blonde. As far as I'm concerned, Roger Moore -- that pompous jackass who disgraced the 70s Bond films, many of which were great, with his ugly mug -- was also blonde. For me, this blonde-thing is not a first.

I do question the choice of Craig, who has starred of such films as Layer Cake, Road to Perdition and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. (Tomb Raider? Danny-boy, come on! Where was your sense of respect on that one. Angie is hot, but really man - Tomb Raider!?). When Wilson and Broccoli (did I mention that they are Nazis) kicked Pierce to the curb, they said it was because he was too expensive (requesting a rumored $30-40m. Pierce later denied that, saying he had asked for a salary "that was not out of the ballpark, that other men and women have received for the same [type of film]”). Afterwards, when they decided to go with Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, as the story for the next movie, they cited a need for a younger Bond, about half Pierce's age.

Ok, so you need a 28 year-old Bond. Fine. Then explain to me why you signed a 37 year-old guy who looks like he's 47.

I don't get it. I don't really have a feeling one way or the other about Craig. I watched Layer Cake over the weekend. By all accounts, it was a good movie, from what I could make of it. Craig has a thicker British accent than I would like Bond to have. He wobbles a bit when he walks. And, after all the crackpot talk about Ewan McGregor being too short for Bond, Craig looks too short to me. Besides all that inconsequential stuff, his acting was good and by the end of the movie I had a small sense of what his Bond would be like. I think he'll be a fine 007 (definitely better than Dalton. Sorry Tim, you know its true).

Really, at this point I'm mostly concerned about the movie-ization of Casino Royale. I am pretty livid that they have replaced the central card game in the story, baccarat, with no-Limit Texas Hold 'em, just because poker is all the rage now. I'm also pretty confused when Martin Campbell, Casino Royale's director, says the film is going to be darker and smarter and not have all the gadgets and action of the latest Bond movies, and then Wilson and Broccoli turn around and reassure fans that they really aren't changing the formula at all. I hope Campbell wins on this one, but I don't see it happening. I would certainly prefer From Russia With Love to another disgrace like The World is Not Enough.

I guess next November, we'll know.

Para Sonreír

Despite my recently diagnosed ailments and some annoyances at work, I've got to say that today I feel like smiling, for reasons both personal and worldly.

First and foremost, Kentucky's newest and most beautiful resident graced me with her presence last night (however simplistic in nature it may have been), as well as with some great and memorable photos. It is amazing what simply seeing her words on my screen has done for the melancholic incompleteness bestowed in my heart upon her recent departure.

Additionally, I patched up some animosity with one of my oldest and dearest friends. Things may not be perfect, but the road to recovery is well at hand.

In other news unrelated to myself, it looks as if Pierce Brosnan is, after a tumultuous year of cat and mouse, looking to reprise his venerated role as Ian Fleming's Special Agent 007, James Bond. This is tear-inducing news to anyone who has seen the capricious list of possible replacements that has been circling since news of Brosnan's departure was announced. Arguably the best Bond since Sir Sean Connery, Brosnan would be a welcome (re)addition to the forthcoming entry into the series, Casino Royale. A rant regarding Casino Royale will likely appear in the blog soon.

And finally, today is (hopefully) a revolutionary day for Nintendo fans, for videogame fans. At approximately 10pm this evening (11am tomorrow Japan time), Nintendo CEO Satura Iwata will take the stage at the annual Tokyo Game Show to give his keynote speech, where it is expected that he will shed light on Nintendo's mysterious new controller. This controller is said to bring about a much needed revolution in the world of videogames. If Nintendo fails to deliver on this promise, it is likely the videogame market will crash harder than a recent NASA endeavor into a brick wall in terms of innovation, destined to suffer perennial releases of the same Grand Theft Auto and Madden games we've seen year in and year out for years.

Royale Trailer in English. Half Monk, Half Hitman

Well it certainly did not take long for Sony to notice the leak of the new (french) James Bond trailer. However, instead of squashing it, Sony has gone ahead and released a high quality English version early and updated the official website. Plus five for Sony.

Links: Superherohype.com, Aintitcool.com, CommanderBond.net, MI6.co.uk

Topics: James Bond, 007, Daniel Craig, Casino Royale, Movies

Ready to go to the Casino

I'll admit, I was a bit ... skeptical ... when Daniel Craig was announced as the new James Bond on that old WWII vessel under London Bridge last October. You might even say I was angry - even offended.

But, in the time since said announcement, my anger has abated (even though, for other vocal fans, it has definitively not) and one might even venture to say it has ... 180-ed into ... pure and rampant fanboyism. This has nothing to do with Craig, per se, but it has everything to do with the fact that there is a new James Bond movie coming, and after the deluge of recent interviews, pictures, and video clips, it looks to be really, really good.


Just check out this quote (my italics for emphasis) from Barbara Broccoli, Bond producer and heir apparent of the franchise:

We're going back to the origins of the character and the story, but we feel that even though it's rougher and more complex. We're still making something, which is what we call heightened reality. It's more realistic and it's not as fantastical as the last couple [movies] have been or we've made through the series [Editor Note: invisible cars in Die Another Day much????]. There were times, when the films got very fantastical like with Moonraker and things like that. You change because you change with the times. At the moment, I think everybody is feeling very serious about the world and they don't feel frivolous about the world, and I think it's the right time to tell this story."

Now that, coupled with statements from everyone across the board that they are going with more grit and stuntwork as opposed to CGI-laced action, the addition of a script from Paul Haggis (He just won Oscars last week for writing, producing and directing the "Best Film of the Year" Crash), and the fact that Daniel Craig is regarded as a really great actor, has got me excited. To say the least.

Technorati Tags: Movies, James Bond, Casino Royale, Daniel Craig, 007

Movies, Movies, Movies

My, my. It's getting to be that time of year again. The antithesis of the summer-blockbuster season -- the winter-blockbuster season -- is readily upon us. Shall we start with some simple (mini) reviews of movies seen lately and then meander onto what I'm currently frothing at the mouth to see?

Employee of the Month: Dane Cook and Jessica Simpson star in this Costco romantic comedy. Cook is funny but not at his best, and Simpson sports some really big ... ears. Not even joking about that one. Rental only (You probably will have trouble finding it in theaters anyway, at this point).

The Departed: Scorsese has returned to his former glory with this film that is endearingly being referred to as Irish-fellas. If you don't get that joke, you may not want to see it. The cast is too great and too large to list, but Jack Nicholson does some of his best work, I think, since Batman -- the man is a genius anyway. Matt Damon's (authentic) Boston accent makes me want to stick scissors in my ears, however. The movie is a little graphic with the language and the visuals -- you have been warned. See it in theaters and buy it on DVD.

The Prestige: Wolverine joins the cast and crew of Batman Begins in this magician extravaganza. This film is beautiful to watch and listen to, Michael Caine is a gem of modern film-making, and you will now doubt leave the theater with plenty to discuss. See it in theaters and buy it on DVD.

Thank You For Smoking: A well done, intelligent satirical comedy that will leave you laughing and thinking. On DVD now - rent, perhaps purchase.

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And now -- what can't I wait to see over the next month and a half?

Casino Royale: If you've followed my blog at all, you know that I'm dying to see this movie. Just over a year ago, Daniel Craig was announced as the man-who-would-be-Bond, and my initial reaction was a bit hesitant. But every day since, I have found myself getting more and more excited. The advertising campaign is romping up, and we have exactly three (3) weeks to go!

I want to make this bet right now: I think one of the (if not the) last lines in the film is going to be the iconic "Bond. James Bond" line, quickly followed by the first notes of the Barry's James Bond theme. And, I also think that Craig will not utter its smooth cadence until such time.

Also, the new Spider-man 3 trailer will be attached, showcasing the world's first glimpse (I hope and assume) at Spidey's arch-nemesis, Venom.

I. Can. Not. Wait.

Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny: Gotta love Jack Black doing what he knows best: Rocking out hardcore. I was a bit worried about this movie based upon the less-than-stellar trailers that have been up, but Harry over at AIC news is still gushing about it, and he knows his stuff fairly well. I'm assuming it will bleed Rock and Roll and make my brain melt. Anything less will be a disappointment!

Eragon: This looks like Lord of the Rings with lots and lots of dragons. From what I understand, it is based on the first of a trilogy of books, which my wonderful girlfriend tells me are some of the best books ever. I hope this movie lives up to her expectations (assuming I can get her to see it with me). It looks pretty fantastic from what I've seen. New trailer at Apple here.

Stranger Than Fiction: I've wanted to see this odd movie about a man whose life is being written by a real-life writer since the first time I saw the trailer. I have, however, seen this trailer about 800 times more since that initial offering, and fear that if I see it again, I will never want to hear Emma Thompson speak again.

Other honorable mentions and movies coming out farther along the road: Flushed Away, Happy Feet, Charlotte's Web, Pan's Labyrinth, The Good Shepard, and Bridge to Terabithia.

And now, I'll leave you with a GREAT YouTube Video by Jack Black, reminding you that stealing movies is wrong :D