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Ahh Mr Bond. Without a doubt the biggest and longest running movie franchise ever. We’ve seen many men step into the shoes of James Bond and the current one, Daniel Craig, does not disappoint. To be fair, after Pierce Brosnan my mother would have done a better job. Whoever was responsible for the utter tripe that was the Bond movies under Brosnan should be shot. Even so, Craig has done an excellent job of reviving the franchise and steering it in a new direction. The credit is not all his naturally. Those that make the decisions for the Bond movies have hit a home run with Casino Royale and I hope they continue.

Casino Royale takes us away from corny one liners and forgettable plots and introduces us to the beginning of 007. We see a real man that gets cut up, beat up, outsmarted and has his heart broken. It explains the how and the why which no other Bond movie did to date. The performances were fantastic and the baddie played by Danish Mads Mikkelsen was in particular outstanding. The pacing is a sweeping roller coaster ride with 3 clear acts each distinctly unique. A must see at 9/10.

Casino Royale (2006)

I’m a photographer and I generally shoot B&W film. For this reason I love watching old B&W films. Their use of shadows and tonality is fascinating to me and Ace in the Hole did not disappoint in that regard.

We meet Charles Tatum in an out of luck part of his life. He’s been fired from all the major newspapers for various reasons which leads him to Albuquerque. A dead end job for a high flying city reporter. The only way he can see an out is to catch a break with a major story and sell himself to one of the big papers. After a year covering what he considers nothing he makes his own front page story and what a reaction he gets.

Tatum is not a nice man. He’s surrounded by various characters who are rather selfish and nasty much like himself. In the middle, a man lies in a cave slowly dying while a party atmosphere builds just outside the cave. Will the man survive? Will Tatum get what he wants? Is he going to suddenly develop a conscience?

This movie looks at media sensationalism and how it affects people. It’s a late noir led by Kirk Douglas in a strong role that fits him well. I gave it a 7/10 but considered bumping it up to an 8 simply for the last line of the movie. It’s pure silver screen magic.

Ace in the Hole (1951)

Today not only marks the beginning of 2009 but of my one year smoke free anniversary. Here’s to many more.

I don’t feel like smoking and I certainly don’t have cravings or miss it. To be honest, I don’t even think about it anymore.