Movies For Thanksgiving

In two more days it will be Thanksgiving Day.

If you do not plan on spending the holiday consuming turkey with family or friends, you may want to consider a couple of movies now out in release to enjoy.

Spectre, starring Daniel Craig at Ian Fleming's James Bond. The new M and Miss Moneypenny return as do Skyfall's director. We also get introduced to a new Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Unfortunately, Spectre pales in comparison to Skyfall. Sure, it was a tough act to follow, but when you figure that since director Sam Mendes did such a great job with Skyfall, Spectre should also be a great movie. It isn't. It isn't a "bad" movie (such as several of Roger Moore's and Pierce Brosnan's Bonds were), but it was a bit of a letdown to me. I actually enjoyed the much-maligned Quantum Of Solace more.

Still, it was entertaining and I would give it a B+ grade.

****

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Donald Sutherland is the forth (and, I presume, the last) in the series of "science-fiction dystopian adventure films." I missed the second and third sequels, but I kind of liked the first one. I saw this one today and even though I missed the sequels, I enjoyed it. A lot of action, explosions, creepy scenes and political intrigue were featured in this movie. I probably would have enjoyed it more had I seen the second and third installments. Sutherland is always great when he sinks his teeth into a meaty role, and he did quite well here.

Despite missing two of the movies in the series, I have to give this one an A.

For Your Eyes Only

A trip to Pasadena today was productive. My roomie had a culinary club meeting in connection with her cooking school there. So, I had an hour or so to browse around.

Fortunately, there's a used bookstore nearby and I did some rummaging around.

Last summer, I read the Ian Fleming James Bond books I have (except a couple I already read). There's a few that I don't have: Thunderball, The Man With The Golden Gun and For Your Eyes Only.

At the used bookstore, I found a Signet paperback of For Your Eyes Only (pictured above). I snagged it for $5.00.

For Your Eyes Only is a collection of five short stories. They are:

From A View To A Kill

For Your Eyes Only

Quantum Of Solace

Risico

The Hildebrand Rarity

This book should be sufficient enough for a good night's (or two) reading.

New Bond Shatters Box Office Records

The newest James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, broke opening day box office records in the United Kingdom.

Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily reports:

MGM/Sony's Quantum Of Solace, the 22nd James Bond motion picture, made box office history on its opening day in the UK, taking a staggering £4.94 million and making it the biggest Friday opening of all time. This shatters the previous record held by Harry Potter And The Goblet of Fire, which took £4.025m. The latest 007 installment from the longest running franchise in film history also beat the opening day figure of £2.9m for Casino Royale, the first to star Daniel Craig. Quantum Of Solace opened in 542 cinemas in the UK and Ireland on Friday and will release in the U.S. on November 14th.

However, some fans are disappointed that Miss Moneypenny, Q and "Bond, James Bond" trademarks are not in this movie. (Did they bring back the gunbarrel opening?)

Quantum of Solace opens in the U.S. November 14.

James Bond Girl Meets Sticky End

The Daily Mail in the U.K. is reporting that the new Bond girl meets a sticky, oily demise in the new James Bond flick, Quantum of Solace.

They wrote:

In the new 007 movie Quantum Of Solace, Gemma Arterton’s character is drowned in crude oil and her lifeless body is left draped over a bed in a scene deliberately reminiscent of the 1964 Bond classic Goldfinger.

Arterton, who plays an MI6 spy ordered to keep an eye on a renegade Bond, was covered from head to toe in sticky black liquid for the dramatic sequence.

Daniel Craig returns as Agent 007.