November 23, 2006

  • movies I've seen recently...

    Casino Royale (2006)  B+

    "Casino Royale" is not really a typical "James Bond" film, and that's actually a compliment. This is a good espionage action / drama, without the over the top elements that usually makes a Bond film. Daniel Craig is probably the grittiest, most serious, and arguably the best acted James Bond I've ever seen. Eva Green is also one of the most memorable Bond girls to ever grace the franchise, and shows great chemistry with Daniel Craig. The gadgets used in the movie are actually real gadgets that we can use in reality; which is cool, as opposed to the fantasy spy toys that we expect from 007. The typical Bond jokes have been toned down a bit for this movie, but they are pretty satisfying when they do happen. The story for Casino Royale is pretty engaging, mixed with some awesome action sequences, and even a good chunk of the movie dedicated to the texas hold 'em poker tournament. The movie is rather lengthy at near two and a half hours, and I was a little annoyed at the seemingly false endings. Not perfect, but a very good promising start to rebooting the franchise.

    Tenacious D : The Pick Of Destiny (2006)  B-

    "Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny" does not hide the fact that it's a rather silly rock opera-ish road tripping comedy. This movie is made for the cult film audience, so don't expect an Academy Award winner here (but the songs qualify). If you like rock and roll, heavy metal, caper scenes, buddy films, .... getting stoned, then this is the movie for you. Jack Black and Kyle Gass do a good job playing more or less their over the top selves, and the humor is entertaining enough to keep you watching. Throw logic out the window, and just enjoy the craziness, as well as the songs by Tenacious D themselves.

    Who Killed The Electric Car? (2006)  A-

    "Who killed the electric car?" does a good job in selling you the idea that we should be driving electric vehicles. The problem here ofcourse, is that you can't purchase an electric car, and the movie gives you the reasons why that is. The documentary covers the steps that birthed the electric car as well as how it fell to it's demise. I kinda wish they did more comparisons on the capabilities of the electric car to the other cars out there, but they did say just enough to prove their point.