Lynne Connolly’s movie review of “Quantum of Solace”

I went to the first night of “Quantum of Solace” tonight. A strange mix at the multiplex. You could tell pretty easily who was going to see “High School Musical 3” and who was there for Bond.

This is the first film review I’ve done, so I’ll do it like I do books. A brief résumé without spoilers, and what I thought of it. And I get the totally delectable Daniel Craig as a picture here. That’ll do me!

The film starts about an hour after the end of “Casino Royale.” Bond is still raw from Vespa’s death, and he desperately wants to deny it. The brutal car chase at the start of the film presages what is to come, and for the most part the script is in the action, not in the words. If you took “scriptwriter” literally, Paul Haggis and his team had an easy job, but I don’t think they got their percentages (if they were lucky enough to get any) from just writing the words.

The whole film reflects Bond’s state of mind — he’s in denial. The death of the woman he loved hit him so hard he can’t really contemplate the blow, and he tries desperately hard not to. So he denies his grief and moves straight into anger. Every time M, who at one point in the film he refers to as like a mother (don’t worry, she isn’t, they haven’t moved so far away from the basic Bond story), says something like “I’m not sure you’re over her death yet,” or “Don’t go seeking revenge” (that’s in the trailer), he goes and kills somebody.

The violence in this film is brutal, although still spectacular and Bond-ish, frequent and close-up. In fact, at one point the hand-held camera work made me a tad queasy. But this is a hang-on-to-your-seats film with only a very few pauses. Characterisation is sparse, as it should be in a film where Bond refuses to enter his inner self and face his own demons. But it’s there, nevertheless.

The villain, Mr. Greene, played by Mathieu Almaric is a great villain in the Bond mold — he’s attractive, in a sinister kind of way, picks up and discards women like confetti, and can sneer a treat. The main Bond girl is Camille, played by Olga Kurylenko, nicely badass, and one I’d like to see more of, but I doubt we will in the Bond canon. Camille has a similar arc to Bond, in that she is after someone for revenge, but she is at the end of her grief cycle and there is an achingly sad nihilistic scene

I’d like to have seen the CIA agent Felix in more action, as he’s Bond’s counterpart in the books and earlier films. And yes, I know we’re not supposed to remember them but at a few points here there are definitely references to earlier films, most notably “Goldfinger.”

Me? I held on, gasped and whooped at certain points (the sound was so loud I would have had to have brought a megaphone to be heard), enjoyed the spectacular set pieces and yes, I’ll be getting it on DVD when it comes out.

A straight Grade: A from me.

Gwen’s review of Enchanted directed by Kevin Lima
Live-action/animated movie released 21 Nov 07 by Andalasia Productions

I saw this film this weekend with my 8-year old daughter.  We went on a complete whim.  We just left her father at the airport so he could return to England where he lives, and the curtain-climber was sad.  So we showed up at the theater with no clear plan and no idea what was showing.  Boy did we get lucky.  Enchanted was worth every penny of the matinee-priced tickets and then some.  Even if I had had to pay for the full-priced tickets, I would have been happy.  It was that good.

What I think I liked the most about the film was it didn’t take itself too seriously.  It was not openly a farce, but neither did it try too hard.  Plus it had the most wonderful HEA(s) I’ve seen in a long while.

Amy Adams was AMAZING as Giselle.  I loved her character.  Susan Sarandon was a wonderful villain.  Timothy Spall (Nathaniel) played a very good henchman - actually a bit sad.  Patrick Dempsey and James Marsden were both very good heroes.  Pip, the chipmunk, was very funny in New York.

The romance was believable and so nicely done, I was smiling like a besotted idiot at the end.  In addition to being completely suitable for kids, it would make a terrific date night movie - I’d be shocked if you’re not feeling romantic at the end.

I totally recommend this movie, whether or not you have kids.  You will not regret the entertainment dollars spent.

Grade: A+
 Blurb:

In an animated fairy tale world, a young girl meets and falls in love with the handsome prince of her dreams. News of this romance upsets the prince’s mother, the evil queen, who uses her black magic to send the girl hurtling out of the animated world into the one place in the universe where there is no true love: modern day Manhattan. The now-real girl has to survive in New York City and find her way home again to her true love.

Watch the trailer.