"Drinking doesn't cause hangovers; stopping drinking causes hangovers."
I'm very close to having the latest Star Trek entry up, for those few who are interested.
Here's a status update on the movies/dorky equipment front.
Last night, I finally got around to seeing Quantum of Solace (2008) on BD. Overall I liked the film well enough. Daniel Craig is really good and the movie is loud and expensive-looking. A few things though... I find myself wondering what happened to the humor of James Bond? Does every action movie lead have to have a psychological profile in the Dark Knight mold? It's getting old and doesn't work for me in a James Bond movie. The series has never really been taken very seriously and I'm not seeing that changing very much. Yes, Bond now has this brooding soul, but everything around him is still quite cartoonish. It would work better some tweaking to the character and dialogue. And the right-wing stuff makes its appearance here; the evil "Nature Conservancy" baddie along with a fuel cell-powered luxo hotel that blows sky at the drop of a hat. A few observations:
1. The people who made this movie wanted to make a Bond film that is the opposite of the Roger Moore era ones. Fine, but give Craig a bit more to work with than humorless (save for a few select scenes) brooding thug.
2. These same people wanted to make a combo of the Bourne films and Batman. The action isn't as well crafted/cut as the Bourne trio and Bond just isn't credible as a Dark English Keniggget.
3. This is a Bond film. You're using the characters and the logo. You're trying to have it both ways. If you're going to try and have a "modern" updated "dark" Bond, and then resort to some of the old characterizations (the whole bit with "Strawberry Fields"), it comes off as hollow.
OK, so I'm being way too hard on what's still a fun action movie. And I did enjoy it. However, it should have been MORE fun. We don't need to go back to the Moore stuff, but how about some balance? I'm sure Craig is up to the challenge.
The BD looked and sounded spectacular, as you'd expect. The sound mix is really fun and all the expensive location shots really look nice. I didn't sample the bonuses because, well, do we really care for a film like this?
Also, I'm trying the Computer-as-Video Appliance thing using a Mac Mini in our bedroom system. I've got it set up with Boxee software to access downloaded video as well as streaming offerings from Netflix etc. So far, I'm mixed on it, but it has potential. I'll be doing a more through update after I've used it a bit longer.
But for now, let's launch into this week's new releases:
Caprica (2009) The pilot for the Battlestar Galactica prequel series. I haven't seen it yet, but am curious about it.
Dallas: Season 11 11 seasons!!!
Frost/Nixon (2008) Also on BD.
The Last Word (2008) Also on BD.
Notorious (2009) Also on BD.
Tiny Toon Adventures: Season 1: Vol. 2
The Wrestler (2008) Also on BD.