Film & BooksIssue: Sagittarius 06
Casino Royale
The latest James Bond, played by Daniel Craig, has quite a bit more depth than previous installments. With a female boss and a smarter, more dynamic “Bond Girl” who is actually a true love interest, to a certain degree, this Bond seems to have come down to earth.
Yes, it is still full of the usual cheesy dialogue and the ridiculous feats of physical strength (although fewer gadgets) that we have come to know and love about the James Bond franchise. But, this movie, based on Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel, does not jump blindly into the story. It actually gives us some insight into the darkness behind the sophisticated yet cold hearted 007 character.
The movie begins with James’ initiation into the life of a 007, killing for the second time, and then proceeds to his first mission--stopping a banker from winning a casino tournament and using the prize money to fund terrorist activities. Along the way, he is teamed up with the young, lovely Vesper Lynd, played by Eva Green. Vesper immediately asserts her equality with James and appears to truly make James vulnerable. The scenes where James falls in love with Vesper actually feel awkward, yet they are somehow easier to take with this new, more complex actor.
It is not surprising that Daniel Craig is such a pleasure to watch as the new James Bond because he has already proved his acting ability in movies like “Munich” and “Sylvia.” And “Casino Royale” is just the kind of vehicle that should propel him to super-stardom for quite some time. The much younger Eva Green starred in Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Dreamers" in 2003, and this would be considered her next big break. However, historically, “Bond Girls” have never gained much fame or furthered their acting careers by playing along side any James Bond, so unless this movie is actually ushering in a new era, this could be just a lateral move for Eva.
Nevertheless, if you are a Bond fan, you will enjoy the repackaged 2006 edition. 
Film & Books Archives (total entries: 29)
Capricorn 08 - The Career Issue
Sagittarius 08 & Honest Self Expression
Like real life-families who have a member struggling with drug or alcohol addiction, the focus of “Rachel Getting Married” isn’t on Rachel, even though it should be. It is on her narcissistic sister, Kym, who is out of rehab for the weekend to attend Rachel’s wedding.
Scorpio 08 - The Money Issue
At a time when our nation’s security is in question and our economy is in shambles “The Good Society: The Humane Agenda” by John Kenneth Galbraith has much to teach the abiding liberal as well as the dutiful conservative.
Honestly, I have never been one for self-help books, but what I liked most about "How We Choose to Be Happy" is that it celebrates the wisdom of a variety of literary greats balanced by the stories of ordinary people.
This book won the 2008 PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction for good reason. I started the “The Great Man” on Saturday morning and had to finish it by lunch the next day. When it started to rain I traded my lawn chair for the couch and kept on reading. This novel is fabulously funny, mischievous, and easy to read.
A quirky look at boyhood and film-making in the 1980s, “Son of Rambow” is a welcome diversion from the current deluge of blockbuster remakes and super hero epics in theaters this summer. Written and directed by Garth Jennings and produced by Nick Goldsmith, I like the way this film spins a standard, winning movie formula at a slightly awkward angle.
Although “The Maytrees” by Annie Dillard is marketed as a novel, it reads from beginning to end as a poem. Like body surfing, the poetry will move emotions in directions that the mind may not understand. When this wave brought me to shore, I needed air and I wasn’t quite certain where I had been or where I had landed, but I was, in the truest sense of the word, in awe of the experience I just had.
April and May are notoriously bad months to go to the movies. The Academy Award hopefuls of 2008 won't be released until the fall, and the summer blockbusters won't be out for a few months. So what is a film reviewer to do when all the movies in the theaters are lame? This reviewer is going to suggest that you catch up on the best movies of 2007!
After an unsuccessful attempt to climb K2, Greg Mortenson stumbled into the village of Korphe in Pakistan’s Karakoram Himalaya region. The generosity and hospitality of the Korphe villagers inspired Mortenson to establish the Central Asia Institute (CAI). Since the establishment of CAI ten years ago, the organization has built 55 schools serving Pakistan and Afghanistan’s poorest children, especially girls.
Based on Marjane Satrapi's books, the film “Persepolis” tells the poignant story of a young girl coming of age in Iran in the midst of revolution and war.
