James Bond Movies

The James Bond franchise has been going strong for over 40 years, yet for whatever reason I had neglected most of the movies. Well not anymore. Over the next few months I plan on watching every James Bond movie there is, in the order that they were released. So expect to see a lot of Bond movies pop on here. Before I started this Bond-a-thon I had only seen 3 of them (Goldeneye, Casino Royale, and Quantum of Solace), but so far I have watched the first 3 and have the 4th one sitting next to me.

At this point I would rate the ones I have seen accordingly (from best to worst):

Goldeneye (might stay my favorite the whole time, I love Goldeneye)
From Russia With Love
Quantum of Solace
Goldfinger (many people consider it the best one, I liked it, didn't love it)
Dr. No
Casino Royale (a ton of people loved it, I didn't like it at all, but I just taped it on my DVR and will watch it again before I am done)

Should be a fun time watching them all. I think it will be a cool little accomplishment to say I have watched every single James Bond movie.

So how many have you seen? Which is your favorite?
Let me know in the comments.
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Armored (2009)

Armored
2009
Action
Laurence Fishburn, Matt Dillon, Jean Reno, Skeet Ulrich

Armored is about a team of armored car drivers who plan on stealing the money from the cars they are supposed to protect. Now with a heist movie the thing that usually draws me in is that the criminals have an ingenious plan. This is definitely not the case with the plan in Armored. The plan they come up with is one of the worst heist plans I have ever heard in my life. Their plan is to hide the money then just say they were robbed. That's it. It is like something a five year old came up with. If that really happened the police would figure it out in about a day. One of the characters says "the police will be all over us, but only at first" so stupid. Thankfully for the movie's sake the plan does not go according to schedule so they are forced to deal with new circumstances as they happen. And since they aren't that smart to begin with (based on their origianl plan) they don't really adpat that well. All the performances were quality. I don't know how they managed to get so many recognizable actors in this movie when they all only really play supporting roles, but it benefits the film greatly. I mean this isn't exactly Oscar material, but it is always nice when actors still do good work in a movie like this. The last 30 minutes or so were very exciting because you don't really know what is going to happen and how all the characters will deal with the twists happening around them. Armored isn't a great movie, there are much better movies about heists you could check out, but its got enough good stuff going for it (like the cast), that it is worth checking out.

3 out of 5 Stars
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Black Dynamite (2009)

Black Dynamite
2009
Comedy
Michael Jai White

DYNOMITE!

Black Dynamite is awesome, it is as simple as that. Even though it got a lot of positive reviews I avoided it at first because I didn't think it's area of humor would connect with me. Black Dynamite is a spoof of 1970s blacksploitation movies like Shaft, where black people battle the man and say the word "jive" a lot. I have never seen any of the movies BD is spoofing but it really didn't ruin my enjoyment of it at all. I probably would have found a few more subtle references funny but thats probably it. Because most of the humor is BD can apply to everyone since a lot of it consists of sight gags, funny dialogue, and over the top characters. Black Dynamite is played by Michael Jai White. He does a great job, always playing the part dead serious regardless of the ridiculousness going on around him. There are so many one liners and funny scenes that I keep wanting to use or talk about but can't since no one else I know has seen it yet. Hopefully that changes soon though, because I have a copy and will make people watch it at the first possible opportunity. I mean the movie ends with a nunchuck fight against President Richard Nixon, how can't a movie like that be great?

Black Dynamite Trailer



4 out 5 Stars
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Battle of the Warriors (2006)

Battle of the Warriors
2006
Foreign/Action
Andy Lau

Who is up for some historical epic Chinese action? I know I am. Of course Red Cliff is my most anticipated movie in that area, but before I watched that I decided to check out The Battle of the Warriors. In the movie Andy Lau plays Ge Li a man recruited by a small village to help protect it from a massive army preparing to destroy it. For those who don't know, Andy Lau is basically the Chinese George Clooney. I enjoy his acting so the fact that he was the star played a big part in me checking it out. As expected there are sweeping shots full of hundreds of Chinese soldiers and beautiful landscapes. Even though one side is a massive army the movie does not choose to focus solely on huge battle scenes. It deals quite a bit with the strategies Ge Li uses to defeat a superior army. This makes sense since the original name of the comic book the movie is based off of is The Battle of the Wits. They probably should have just kept that title since Battle of the Warriors is probably the most generic sounding movie title ever. Some of the plans he comes up are really impressive. He seems to know what the enemy is going to do before it actually happens, and how to best defend against it. The movie also deals with how the leaders of the village react when an outsider suddenly gains great support from the local population. I probably would have preferred a few more action set pieces, but this movie wasn't going for that sort of feel. A few of the supporting characters just aren't interesting and seem to slow up the whole show when they appear on screen. It is a minor complaint but there are several scenes where they use CGI special effects and a few of those look really awful. Andy Lau delivers a fine performance, living up to my expectations. This isn't the best historical Chinese epic I have seen, but it still a very solid and entertaining flick.

3 out of 5 Stars
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The Informant! (2009)

The Informant!
2009
Based on a True Story
Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Joel McHale

The Informant! is based on a real guy and true events, which is amazing considering some of the crazy turn of events that occur in it. Matt Damon plays Mark Whitacre, who works for ADM (a bio-agriculture company), in the mid 1990s he contacts the FBI with information that ADM and its competitors are conspiring to fix the price of lysine (a corn additive) which allows them to raise the price of basically every product that contains corn or corn syrup (which is A LOT of stuff), ripping off consumers for millions of dollars every year. When he comes to the FBI with this information he begins working for them as an informant, making tapes and collecting information about the price fixing scheme. I won't say anything else because it takes some crazy terms towards the end. He is obviously not a trained spy or anything so things like watching him trying to fix his wire right in front of the people he is trying to tape makes for some quick laughs. I consider Matt Damon a pretty good actor, but this role is unlike anything else he has done. Which makes the fact that he does an amazing job so much more impressive. Without someone as talented as Damon playing the lead the film might not have worked as well. Because Mark Whitacre is a pretty complex guy. Mark Whitacre is also the source for all the comedy found in the film. From all the crazy stuff he does, to how he constantly compares everything that is happening in his life to Michael Chrichton books. One thing I really enjoyed about The Informant! is that many comedic actors are cast in small dramatic roles throughout. It was nice to see those funny people playing different kinds of roles. It may be because of my degree in Criminal Justice, but I find movies about investigations like this extremely fascinating. The average person does not normally know how exactly the FBI works when it is collecting information and trying to build a case against someone. This movie is only based on true events, but I think the insights it gives about corporate crime and how agencies attemtp to stop it ring pretty true. If you like Matt Damon as an actor make sure to rent The Informant, you will have a good time watching Damon transform into the quirky Mark Whitacre, while at the same time saying "This can't really be based on a real guy, can it?" It is an interesting movie about real life crimes that you may not have heard about, but affected you for years.

3 out of 5 Stars
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Rocket Science (2007)

Rocket Science
2007
Drama/Comedy
Reece Thompson, Anna Kendrick

Yes, another Anna Kendrick movie, but I promise, I didn't rent it because she was in it. Although I freely admit she is very quickly moving up my celebrity crush list. No, I rented Rocket Science in my continuing attempt to see every movie set in high school (or college). There are some I have skipped because they seem like they are trying to hard to be quirky or indie or something else like that which I would hate, at first Rocket Science seemed like it could have turned out like that, but having never heard anything about it before I saw it on Netflix I decided to give it a shot. And I am happy I did, because I really liked it. The movie follows the life of Hal Hefner (Reece Thompson), who has a terrible stuttering problem, who is recruited by star of the high schools debate team Ginny (Anna Kendrick) to be her new debate partner. Even though he has a terrible stutter and can't speak in public to save his life, he accepts her invitation to be her parter, eventually developing a huge crush on her. A lot of stuff happens after that point, but I won't spoil it. It may sound like sort of a ridiculous premise but the way it is actually presented is anything but. I can honestly say I had absolutely no idea how this movie was going to end or where it was going most of the time, which was refreshing. I think Anna Kendrick may actually be a little cuter in this than she was in Up in the Air, but I can't really put my finger on why (I think it may be because she is a little chubbier in this movie, therefore more realistically in my league). Nevermind about Anna Kendrick because even though she is good in this movie, Reece Thompson in the lead in phenomenal. There is just something about his character and performance that comes off as so authetic. I really believed he was the character. Which is not easy considering he has to compete with the stutter the whole time. I also liked how they handled the stuttering, it wasn't there for you to laugh at, or feel sorry for, it was just part of life, and you accepted that and moved on. Rocket Science containts a variety of emotions, it features some very dramatic (and slightly depressing) scenes, but also has plenty of scenes that had me cracking up, sort of like real life I suppose. Hal Hefner is a character you root for. There were a few things about it that annoyed me because it was trying to be hip (like the parents playing accoustic Violent Femmes covers all the time), but they did not distract from the overall experience. If you think you have seen all realistic portrayals of high school from movies, make sure to see Rocket Science, because it is a great example ofit.

3.5 out of 5 Stars
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Up in the Air (2009)

Up in the Air
2009
Drama
George Clooney, Anna Kendrick, Vera Farmiga

Up in the Air is about a man who probably has the most depressing job ever, going around to different companies and firing people for a living so the employers don't have to do it themselves. A job that forces him to spend most of his life in an airplane flying around collecting frequent flier miles. With a life like that, and taking into account our current economic times, this movie could have very easily been a very depressing affair. However, I did not find Up in the Air to be all that depressing at all in the end. Even with dour subject matter I found it quite charming and it managed to have me in a good mood almost the whole time. I guess I I would have to credit the cast with that achievement. George Clooney is one of the top actors in the business right now but I don't think I personally give him enough credit. His skill is apparent here where he somehow manages to effortlessly become his character. I totally believed him the whole time and never just saw him as George Clooney playing a part. Anna Kendrick might have been my favorite part of the movie. Her character just came off as so real. She was cute, but with enough annoying personality quirks that made me not fall in love with her completely, just like people in real life. She was nominated for an Oscar for this role and I wish she would have won. I know I will like her performance for more than Monique's who beat her with her part in Precious (a movie I make a point of never seeing in my life). Vera Farmiga also received an Oscar nomination for her part. I liked her as well but not as much as the other two leads. However there is a twist towards the end about her character's life that I really enjoyed and made me appreciate her work more than I previously did. When Up in the Air first came out it seemed like it was critic's favorite to win Best Picture and since I ended up liking it more than The Hurt Locker, I think I would have preferred it to win (even though it was not my favorite movie of the year).

You should definately see Up in the Air. It is a well made movie about a guy who has an usual job, as well as a slice of life in our current economic times. There is a heart and charm about it that somehow carries it above its possibly gloomy storyline. The cast is fantastic and really steals with show without seemingly doing anyting out of the ordinary.

4 out of 5 Stars
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