James Bond: Quantum of Solace!

I went to see the new James Bond movie, Quatum of Solace, last night and here are my initial thoughts on it! And please remember ... my initial thoughts! I tend to need at least three or four viewings of a Bond film before being able to make a proper assessment of it!
!! Spoiler Warning for those of you who haven't seen it !!

As of now, I felt that Quantum of Solace was quite uneven. Some things were really good, while others didn't impress me at all. I appologize if the review seems confused, but that is bascially because my impression of the movie was rather confused.

I really like the fact that it picks up right where Casino Royale left off!! Casino Royale did end with a cliffhanger, and it was great to see that cliffhanger picked properly! I also have to say I like the basic storyline - going after this very powerful organization nobody's heard of and know nothing about takes me back to the early days of SPECTRE ... and that is just to my liking! :) Also, the motive of Bond being almost a rogue agent is appealing! It has been done (or tried?) before, in Licence To Kill, (and to a certain degree in the beginning of Die Another Day) but I have to say this time, it's way better!
I also enjoy the fact that it is a true agent-story - we never loose that perspective which is really good. Since Bond really is on the verge of crossing the line, the questions of what happens when a secret agent goes over to the other side (since it appears that's what Bond has done) is really dealt with here, and dealt with in a very realistic way ... except for maybe one thing: Would the head of MI6 really travel around the world to check up on agents? In this movie we see M on at least two locations, and while I really enjoy Judi Dench's performance, is that really realistic?

Moving on to not-so-greats. My first impressions of the main title and the title song was: Terrible! I'm sorry to say it, but it didn't feel "Bond" at all to me! I wasn't thrilled about the main title in Casino Royale either, but I really like the title song - here, none of them appealed to me.
Also, while I think the action-and-fight sequences are impressive, without a doubt, they are much to long for me! I can't help but get the feeling the movie has come in short, so they have to add as much fighting, car chasing, boat chasing, chasing on foot, as they possible can, just so the movie will be long enough! Like I said, it is impressive, but when it goes on for too long, I just get bored with it ...Daniel Craig does make a nice James Bond, even though I wasn't quite comfortable with him at the start. There has been a trend of making Bond more "human", going back all the way to Timothy Dalton in the late 80's, but I think it's basically Craig that can pull it off ... Pierce Brosnan did a pretty good job of it in Goldeneye, when he ended up fighting his life-long friend Alec Trevelyan, but the opening of Die Another Day - which also was supposed to show Bond's more vulnerable side - didn't sit quite right with me. But Daniel Craig does bring something to the part when it comes the human side of Bond - very impressive!

I am less impressed with the "Bond girls" (yeah, I know it's not politically correct to call them that these days, but it's just old habit ... sorry) - to be frank, I didn't get the sense of their characters at all. Bond's first meeting with Camille (Olga Kurylenko) just felt very confusing, and even though we later on got some insight to her character, she felt rather flat to me. The other lady, Fields (Gemma Arterton), didn't make much of an impression either - although her part was rather small. I did like the way they portrayed her death - nice homage to Goldfinger!!

Dame Judi Dench as M is wonderful as ever! While keeping her in this "new" series does make things confusing, she certainly fits the part and does an amazing job with it! I also enjoyed seeing
Giancarlo Giannini again, once again a nice look-back to Casino Royale.

As of now, I don't want to make some definite statement on the movie, as I have to see it more times before - but like I said in the beginning: It felt quite uneven. Some things really good, some things, not at all so good.

Busy Day!

Today I have gotten quite a lot done, so I'm really pleased with my day!
I was up pretty early and did some light cleaning, and when the landlord's office opened at 9.30 I was there - feeling quite nervous and anxious. There were already people there waiting in line, so it took a while before I got to see him.
We dealt with a few matters, the "real" issue was my bathroom floor. I didn't get that much clarity, but apparently some professional "guy" will contact me and I guess I'll have to discuss the details with him. It sounded like I'd be able to stay home for the most part of it anyway, which is good - doesn't feel to happy about imposing on friends for weeks at a time ... also, since I have Zorro, it's not just me imposing, it's a crazy cat imposing as well! ;)

I felt quite relieved after having handled that meeting, but I still knew I had two phonecalls to make, so I couldn't quite relax either. I managed to gather strength and took care of those as well - yay me! Everything worked out very smoothly, and after that, I took a well-earned nap!

During the afternoon I took a walk downtown (takes about 25 minutes) and ran a few errands before walking home again. I haven't gotten that much done since I came home, but I did manage to start preparing some Tradera auctions! I have tons of stuff I should add, and I only had energy to fix 8 of them ... but if you want to check them out, feel free to do so by **clicking here**!

Unfortunately I didn't get my dvd package today :( ... but I couldn't help myself to a few more dvds today! *feeling a little guilty*
I bought the first Stargate movie, "Stargate: Ark of Truth", from Play.com - and on eBay I found the Aussie movie "Caterpillar Wish" (Philip Quast) rather cheap! :)
I'm so waay behind on Stargate - I haven't even seen "Atlantis", and I haven't seen the SG-1 movie "Ark of Truth" either - and now the second movie "Continuum" been released ... guess I have some catching up to do there!
And finding something with Philip Quast always makes me tick! I know I'm still missing a few movies - like "Me and Mrs. Jones" and the episode of "Inspector Morse" he's in ... but I'm definately keeping an eye out for them! :)

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My Life At The Moment!
Currently reading: I For Innocent (Sue Grafton)
Currently watching: Family Guy
Currently listening to: The Secret Garden (Original London Cast)
My Plans for tomorrow: Getting a haircut, shopping at a nearby mall, maybe more Tradera-auctions.

Activities Started!

Yes, I have had a more active day today - although I haven't gotten everything done!
The entire morning was spent in the Amanda Tapping Forum ... I had so much to catch up on - but I really like it there, so it was worth the time, learning what everybody had been up to during the summer.
I've also gotten a few things done online, spent some time cleaning the kitchen ... all in all, not too bad a day! :)

Tomorrow will be even more active, I have to have a lengthy conversation with my landlord. My bathroom floor hasn't been good for some time, I approached him earlier but nothing happened - and now it's even worse ... I fear they will have to open up most of the floor and at least put in a new carpet - I have no idea when or how that works, but I at least have to talk to him about it. I also have a few other matters to discuss as well.
Also, a few boring phonecalls to make. While my Social Phobia is getting better and better, I still find it terribly difficult talking on the phone. I get nervous just thinking about it, and while it's nothing major I have to get done over the phone, I'm still having anxiety problems ... Still, making phonecalls is a part of your everyday life, so it's just something I have to get used to.

I also have a feeling that I have a dvd-package waiting for me at the Post Office tomorrow. They had a bit of a sale, and I haven't bought dvds in ages, so I ordered the first season of "Remington Steele", season 1 of "Stargate Atlantis" and the movie "Clubland", starring Rebecca Gibney and Philip Quast. Unfortunately "Atlantis" was out of stock, so I'm gonna have to wait for that one - but I still look forward to seeing Remington Steele and "Clubland" ... I also need to get a few errands done downtown ...

It feels good being back on track now, I hope things will work out smoothly tomorrow as well, so I can get started on visiting my friends, dealing with the fact that Uni starts in about two weeks etc.

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My Life At The Moment!
Currently reading: A Sue Grafton Novel
Currently watching: Stargate SG-1, season 2 ("Secrets")
Currently listening to: Nothing
My Plans for tomorrow: Running errands, making phonecalls, talking to the landlord

Crazy About Lord of the Rings!

I have a feeling my friend Sara will appreciate this post - she's a huge Lord of the Rings fans, and fact of the matter is that I've spent I don't know how many hours watching the triology lately! :) I have also managed to read the book, so I'm hoping to get some time during the summer to read some more of Tolkien (I've only read Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit)!

Have to say I think the movies are really wonderfully done!! To actually pull through transforming such an epic to the movie screen is truly amazing!! I don't know why I've ended up in such a frenzy right now, but I just can't seem to stop watching ... the movies, all the extra materials, dvd commentaries ... can't bring myself to stop! *lol*

I have also made caps from The Fellowship of the Ring so far - so I'll add some graphics at the end of the post. Hope to be able to make caps from The Two Towers and The Return of the King as well - although it takes quite a lot of time.

I know there's been a lot of debate - especially when these movies came - about what should have been included, what shouldn't have been in the movies etc. And that's always tough. You can't include everything from the books in the movies, but I have to say I mainly miss two things. First of all - the most common one ;) - the Old Forrest and Tom Bombadill. It was such a wonderful part of the book, you can't help feeling that it would have been amazing on screen. I know they've sort of tried to insert bits and pieces of it later on in the movies ... some of the things Treebeard says to Merry and Pippin seem to be quite related to how Tom Bombadill would react for example. And also the tree that "catches" Merry and Pippin and almost "swallows" them in Fangorn Forrest in The Two Towers is exactly from the Old Forrest in the book. But I still would have liked to see the whole episode of The Old Forrest on screen.
The other thing I would have loved to see is the return of the hobbits to The Shire. There is a whole storyline built around that in the book (yeah, right: spoiler warning!!), where Saruman - in disguise - has influenced and manipulated The Shire. To me, this is a great way of showing how much Merry and Pippin - and Sam - has grown throughout their adventures. They were just "funny little hobbits" when they left, but they come back with so much authority and security and wisdom, it is fantastic to see what the journey has done to them. This is completely overlooked in the movies ... well, you get the feel for it when Merry becomes Esquare of Rohan, and Pippin is Guard of the Citadel in Minas Tirith, but it becomes so much clearer when they are at their home, in the Shire ...

I'm certain Peter Jackson has his reasons for not including these sequences - I guess some people think the movies are long enough as they are now! *lol* - but I still would have liked to see them! :)

Here are the graphics I've made so far:

And some variations on the same graphic:

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My Life At The Moment!
Currently reading: Andras Plåga/The Torment of Others by Val McDermid
Currently watching: The Two Towers Cast Commentary
Currently listening to: --
My Plans for tomorrow: Preparing for my trip north: cleaning, laundry, shopping, packing ...

Lord Of The Rings Mania!

Thanks to a friend, I've started re-discovering the movie-triology Lord of the Rings. I've always liked it - and the books - but it was a really long time since I watched it. And then I started talking to a friend, who aparently is almost obsessed with the movies! I was inspired by her, and during the week, I've watched all three movies - extended versions of course! - and now I've started on all the extra material that's included! I totally need to make dvd caps from these movies, it'd be wonderful to make LOTR-graphics!!! Ah well ...

What have I done today?
Well, I wrote a little something about our Uni-observation this morning ... we'll probably have to change some of it, but at least it's a start, right!? Points for effort. (quote from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, for all those not quite so obsessed as me *lol*) I did a little bit of cleaning too, and I got hold of my tutor, and arranged for a meeting on Monday! Really great!! We'll have a group meeting on Thursday, but since I'm in such a hurry, it feels great to talk to him alone first!

And, of course - the big thing: The name is Bond. James Bond.
I went to see the premiere of Casino Royale this evening, and it was really nice to see it!! Lots of people have asked for reviews, so I have written one (see below!) ... I wish to point out though, that it's very difficult to write a decent review after only having seen it once - so I may well change my mind about certain things when I've seen the movie again!
Anyway, I still hope you'll enjoy the review!

Good night!


Jessica's Websites

James Bond: Casino Royale

I've just come back home after seeing the premiere of the new James Bond movie, Casino Royale. I know I promised I'd write a review, but in advance I have to say that it's very hard to after only having seen it once. I will give it a try, but I might change my mind about certain things later on ... :)
I will also try to not give away far to much, but a certain amount of "spoiling" will probably be unavoidable if I shall give a fair review. Therefore, if you don't want to know anything at all about the movie before seeing it yourself - I advice you do not read this review ...

Okay, here we go! :)
Daniel Craig as James Bond ... not perhaps my first choice. He's a very talented actor, and he's got a very intense look, but I have a hard time really accepting him as James Bond. He does grow on you a bit, he felt a lot more believable in the part in the end of the movie than in the beginning - so I might get used to him given time! :)

Unfortunately it's been a long time since I read the book, but I certainly remembered some things, even though a lot has changed too.
One little thing, and this might be considered a spoiler, for those of you who hate those *lol* ... This movie is really a "pre-Bond" movie ... which feels rather strange. It actually takes place before all the other Bond movies, and before you come to terms with that, it tends to be a little confusing!
Some of it is made in a great way though, for instance you find out where Bonds original Aston Martin comes from! *lol* And also where he gets the scar over his eyebrow (which is more evident and important in the books than in the movies, but still ...) - although I think the make-up department was a little less than consistent with this. This little "time-warp" did however create some problems as well, and I know I have a hard time accepting some things. This might change when I get a chance to see the movie a few more times, as it tends to be rather confusing the first time.

Mads Mikelsen as villain Le Chiffre was really good! Very, very impressive, and totally creepy! Wonderful casting indeed!!
Eva Green as Bond-girl Vesper Lynd was also quite good, although she's not one of my favourite Bond women. I remember not feeling to fond of her when I read the book either, so it might the character that I don't really get along with.
Dame Judi Dench did a wonderful job as M again, of course! She's such a talent, and she brings so much to every scene. She really played out this time-thing, she acted with a little less authority around Bond than in previous movies, and you could really understand that she was not so certain of either her own position or of Bond himself!

The storyline in itself was of course not the same as the book, as that never would have worked. Still, I found the storyline quite believable and not bad at all.
However, the "time-thing" was confusing, I can't help that. I don't know if it gets clearer if you see the movie a few more times, but there were things about it that I felt didn't quite add up ... I'll have to get back to you on that when I've seen it a few more times! :)

The ending was quite good! Definately surprising and different, and I always like that!
I won't go into trying to 'grade' the movie, I simply can't do that after only having seen it once. However, I think it works, definately! I think that true hard-core James Bond-fans may have a hard time accepting some of the inconsistancies, but it definately works!!

Hope you enjoyed the review! :)





Jessica's Websites

Bond ... James Bond!

Well, as some of you may know, the new James Bond movie, Casino Royale, will premiere in Sweden on November 24! Well, I got a letter today, from the company that own the flat I'm in, and they offer tickets to an exclusive premiere of this movie, for 50:- ... which is less than US$7 and about £3.60!!! Amazing!! Aparantly they will release the tickets on Tuesday, and of course I have a lecture on Tuesday! Hopefully though, the tickets won't sell that fast, and I should still be able to get one on Tuesday afternoon! *fingers crossed* It's the last lecture of this course on Tuesday, and I think we'll be getting our big final assignment then, so I probably won't be able to just rush out at 10 o'clock sharp either, but hopefully the tickets won't sell out completely the very first hours ....

Nothing much has happened today. I have tried to catch up with some studying ... didn't have a huge success though, unfortunately! I always seem to be one assigment behind, and I can never manage to finish them in time! *sigh* I'll really make an effort to catch up during the weekend though, I have Saturday through Tuesday to get four assignments done and I simply have to manage that! Period!
I'm getting seriously nervous about tomorrow as well. It's this whole "lecture-watching-movie-going-out-for-beer-and-discussion"-thing ... Somewhere I feel like it's gonna be a fun thing to do - it's certainly not something you usually do at Uni *lol*, and then I just get super-nervous and don't know what to do, or say, or how to act ... and I just feel stupid! I am going through with it, I have already decided on that - but that doesn't stop me from being nervous! At first I thought that I'd at least have these two girls I've been talking mostly to, so I knew that I could talk to them if things got awkward, but yesterday I found out that none of them are coming!!! *yikes!* I talk to the others as well, but not in the same, relaxed way, and since I'm nervous to begin with, I don't know if I will cope with trying to socialize with people I don't feel I know at all on top of the other stuff!

I'm trying not to let this get to me too much, but instead take things as they come along and try to do the best of any given situation! Easier said than done, of course, but I can at least try, right?!?
One thing I've learned these past weeks is that I can actually experience both great and horrible things (earlier I haven't had that much experience in the "great-department" ...), and somehow that strengthens me! Should there be a disaster of everything tomorrow - and I don't really think there will be a disaster! - at least I know that just because this thing went wrong, everything else will go wrong too! Quite the oposite actually ... things do go both good and bad ... so, really, what's the point of worrying about them??

Well, I've even managed a little personal pep-talk in the blog today, that's not bad, is it?

Oh, and before I forget - I've booked tickets for the Christmas show on December 3rd tonight!! Yay! (soooo need to save money now!!! *lol*) Anyway, I haven't had many interests before, so it's really really nice to finally find something that I truly enjoy, and that really gives me an energy boost!!

Well, I'd better start to wind down now, and let my little pep-talk above sink in!
Take care, guys!



Jessica's Websites

'Marnie'

I have nothing much to write about today, since it has been rather slow! I was meant to go to work today, but woke up exhausted and with a headache so I decided to give it a miss. I've tried to get some studying done, but it's gone very slow, so I still have some work left to do tonight.

Instead I thought I'd write a little about one of my favourite movies, Marnie, since I got the dvd today! :-)
This is a Hitchcock movie, although maybe not one of his most famous movies. It's extremely well made and actors 'Tippi' Hedren and Sean Connery are marvellous!!
It's hard to label this movie, I guess you would call it a psychological thriller if you have to call it something. The storyline is very compelling and quite daring for its time (it came out in 1964)!

The main character, Marnie ('Tippi' Hedren), is a women who constantly rob her employers, she's almost made a game out of it. She gets a job at a rich firm, awaits her moment, steals a lot of money and disappears. She has lots of aliases and are not likely to get caught. However, she's not a bad person per se, almost all the money she steals goes to her old, sick mother, who knows nothing about how Marnie aquires her money!
One day Marnie gets a job at Rutland & co, where she meets Mark Rutland (Sean Connery). He realizes something is not quite right with Marnie, and the movie centers on his attempts to find out what makes Marnie act the way she does. There are signs of other strange behaviors as well, she's terrified of thunder, she can't stand seeing red color on something white. Mark ends up marrying Marnie, but the wedding night turns out to be rather disturbing.
Mark is determined not to rest until he finds out what all this is about ... and the revealing ending of the movie is quite astounding!!

Despite this being an 'old' movie, it certainly has a lot of qualities and as I've pointed out before, the acting from 'Tippi' Hedren and Sean Connery ... fantastic!!! I love the way we can go through all of Marnie's anxiety, Miss Hedren really plays that so well, you can feel all her agony yourself, and the way she gets a little child's voice whenever something really disturbs her ... very powerful indeed!
I strongly recommend this movie to anyone who hasn't seen it, it's really worth watching!
Enjoy some pictures here below (and don't you agree that Sean Connery is just SOOOO handsome ...) !

I guess I shouldn't sit here much longer, as I still have some reviews to write for tomorrow's lecture. The problem is I'm stuck! I've read the chapters, and I pretty much understand what they're all about - I just can't seem to find anything to write down. I don't know what I think about the stuff, or if I have any critical comments ... I just don't have much to say at all - which constitutes a problem, since I have to hand them in tomorrow ... oops! Guess this will be a long night ...

Also, I'm starting to worry a bit about Friday! We're having lectures 10-12, and that's no big problem! Then, our teacher has aparantly realized that the movie The Matrix has some relevance to the course we're taking now (!!) - I have never seen The Matrix, so I can't say for sure, but I guess I'll have to trust that he knows what he's talking about! Anyway, he's going to arrange it so we can see The Matrix after lectures on Friday, at like 1 p.m. or something - and than he thinks that we should "go out and have a beer and discuss it" ... Okaay ... never saw that "drinking beer" would be part of the sociology course, it kind of feels a bit ... what shall I say ... unorthodox, perhaps! Not many teachers include "beer-drinking" in their curriculum, do they? Kinda cool though ... But, anyway, I feel quite nervous about this whole "beer-drinking-thing", I'm soooo not good - or experienced - at that sort of socializing!! I feel that's it's working better with the other students now, so that's probably not gonna be a great problem, but the "form" of the thing is what I have trouble with ... how to act, what to say, what to do ... I know this sounds utterly stupid to most of you, but the fact is that when you've never done something, you're often rather nervous about it and feel insecure. I have come so far now though, that at least I'm not thinking of how I can get out of it - and that is a huge improvement for me!! I think that had this been suggested six months ago, I would have found an excuse and not gone along - and I will go this time ... even though I'll be horribly nervous about it!! But hey - I was horribly nervous about the presentation too, and I went through with that and no disasters occured!! *cheering myself up now*

Okay, this entry turned out longer than I had expected ... I guess I should go back to writing reviews about stuff I don't have anything to say about now (and if you felt that was confusing - it's nothing compared to how I'm feeling ... )

Take care, guys!


Jessica's Websites