Review of "Casino Royale"

It seems like forever since Die Another Day where Pierce Brosnan was able to somehow manage to escape from a burning-but-not-yet-exploded airplane in a helicopter with Halle Berry in tow. Well, we have a new Bond and you don't piss him off. Focusing on the 00 agent's early years, Casino Royale is a very welcome return to what seems to be classic James Bond. When the movie started I almost freaked out because there was no gun barrel intro, but rest assured, it's only delayed. The opening credits are fantastic by the way. And Chris Cornell's "You Know My Name" is way too catchy. It's a shame the only way to obtain it is through semi-legal means.

The plot is solid with very few unbelievabilities. There is little focus on gadgets as evidenced by the lack of Q and no watch lasers. At one point he even, God forbid, drives a Ford. The film was co-produced by Columbia thus connecting it to Sony explaining the multitude of Sony-branded products throughout the movie. I almost expected him to whip out a PS3 in his off time. But, no this is a darker movie. The villain, Le Chiffre, is very cool, very calm and sophisticated...in the first part of the movie. I feel the casino scenes show some 21st Century influence with the use of Texas Hold 'Em Poker as the game of choice but it helps you connect more. M is also much more determined in this movie, for lack of a better word. Bottom line: If you're a Bond fan, and action fan, or just like great movies, go see this film. This or Happy Feet...whatever.

My rating: 009.5 out of 10
DVD-worthy: I will most likely own this as soon as possible, if I can wait until March 27th.

Where Have I Been?

OK, recap. This could get as long as a Jodie post but I feel the need to catch up on what's been going on.

Game Day and V for Vendetta
On November 4 the Sci-Fi Club had our Game Day. It was a lot of fun. I rented LEGO Star Wars II and DDR Extreme 2. I also played some Risk and we watched a bunch of movies. We had a good turnout but they kicked us out at 9. We're going to do it again for our Christmas Party and we'll ask to stay longer like at WillyCon. The next day we played V for Vendetta for the campus in Ramsey. There was some confusion about whether or not it was public and if it was illegal. We decided it is illegal but no one cares. We had a decent turnout but it gave us ideas for other movies. I then played LEGO Star Wars II and beat the first one.

My Brother's Wedding
Last weekend my brother got married. I guess they both got really sick with the flu before the wedding. I got down to Beatrice in record time and we went to the rehearsal. It went well and then we had the prenup at Valentino's. My cousin brought up Guitar Hero and I watched him play it. I went over to Wal-Mart at about 11:00pm and was really tempted to get it.

The next day I helped set up the video for the reception. We wanted to get it connected to the overhead speakers without putting a microphone next to the speaker. I went over to RadioShack and picked up a microphone extension cord and a minijack adapter. It worked well. The Holiday Inn lady didn't even know that was possible. The tuxedos were nice but very restricting. I drove over to the church outside of Plymouth for the pictures. They had good weather so some were taken outside. The wedding went well. They had trouble getting a CD to play so me and her brother Caleb went over to look at it when they fixed it. So we had to run back downstairs to get back in our cubby at the front. It was a really neat wedding. The flowers had some sort of fruit in them and a feather. They also threw lavender at the couple as left left the church. Her family is so crafty. After the ceremony I was to take my cousins, the guest book attendants to the reception. I went to my car and found out I locked myself out. Stupid Wayne habits! My spare was also inside because I didn't want bulky pockets during the wedding. My uncle, my dad, and I worked on getting in but those Pontiacs are built air tight. So we left it and went to the reception. The food was fantastic and the video worked well. I basically winged my speech off the top of my head. But people liked it. That made me fell good considering this senior in college can be a total idiot at times. My uncle manages Sid Dillon in Fremont and he had them make up a key. We had another spare at home so we decided that I would ride back with my uncle to Fremont, stay the night, and drive back with him to unlock the car.

We got the car open and drove back to the hotel to load up my stuff. I felt so bad and my confidence was shot so that was fun. I helped my parents load up and they gave me gasoline and I began my 3 hour drive to Wayne. I stopped at home to get some things and let the animals in. I got back here at a reasonable time but I enjoyed the wedding for the most part. I'm so excited now.

Last Night
Yesterday Rachel, Steph, Faye, Daniele and I went into Norfolk for stuff and things. I guess the comic book store is gone now so we went to Target. I picked up The DaVinci Code on DVD along with Batman Begins UNO. We then went to Sonic to confuse the carhop. After the food we went to Hastings where I got a used copy of V for Vendetta. We then went to Wal-Mart and I picked up an external hard drive. My current one had only 2 GB out of 120 GB. So now this gynormous one is for videos only. I like it.