The Critic

It's been about two weeks since my last post. Here's my attempt at a brief review of all the books, movies and music I've absorbed since then:

Casino Royale. This is not your father's James Bond. I admit, I was a little skeptical of Daniel Craig (above) taking over the role, but any doubts I had went out the window once the movie started. Without a doubt, this one is top 3 in my list of favorite Bond movies, behind only Dr. No and Goldfinger. Why did I love it so much? No ridiculous gadgets, no cheesy lines, and no fight scenes where Bond barely breaks a sweat. As Judi Dench's M refers to him in one scene, Craig's Bond is a "blunt instrument". This is Bond as Ian Fleming intended him to be—a brutal professional hitman who gets the job done and then drinks and screws his memories away. By stripping the character down to his origin (much like Batman Begins did for the Batman franchise) and conciously trying to echo the tone of the earliest Connery films, Casino Royale gave James Bond exactly the type of reboot the aging, graying franchise was in dire need of. The suave, smooth secret agent so many of us had come to know in the Roger Moore—Pierce Brosnan years had become irrelevant, and it was either time to retire the character or start over. They made the right choice. The opening chase scene following the credits is one of the most intense stunt scenes I've ever seen, and Craig plays Bond with just the right mix of cold calculation and darkness. I very much hope he gets a chance to play Bond again, and I hope the filmmakers continue in this vein.

Inside Man. Spike Lee's layered bank heist film was worth watching just to see Jodie Foster play completely against character as a powerful "problem-solver" for New York's elite, but I was pretty disappointed in the twist ending. After all that build-up, I expected more. Still, I was surprised Lee went so mainstream with this film until I noticed he managed to throw in a few subtle touches that made me think he's still trying to subvert the system, this time by working through it.

Bobby. Emilio Estevez surprised me with the depth and deftness of his directing on this huge ensemble piece following a variety of characters in LA's Ambassador Hotel on the day of Robert F. Kennedy's assassination. If only his pacing could have been as good. The movie has an incredible cast, but after spending so much time with each of them, I was exhausted by the time the fateful event arrived. A little editing might have made this a fantastic movie. Instead, it was OK.

Nacho Libre. Jack Black wears a wrestler's mask, a monk's cowl, and a polyester jumpsuit and acts silly in Mexican-accented, PG sort of way. Good for a couple cute laughs and not much more.

Superman, The Dailies: 1939-1942. A nicely-packaged collection of all the Superman newspaper strips from the early WWII era gives an interesting look into the origin of the character. At this point, Superman spends most of his time fighting foreign agents and gangsters, rather than the supervillains we've come to know and love. Clark worked for a newspaper called the Daily Star (not the Daily Planet) and Superman's powers were quite a bit different from what we know today. They were influenced by gravity, not the sun's yellow rays, and there's no sign of heat vision, freezing breath, or flight (he can leap tall buildings in a single bound, but he can't fly over them yet). Also yet to appear is any sign of political correctness. Most notably, Clark's condescending attitude toward Lois, who constantly tries to scheme her way off the Love advice column and into a "real" reporter's job.

Girlfriend (Legacy Edition), Matthew Sweet. This 1991 album gets the well-deserved double-disc deluxe treatment. The first disc is a remastered version of the album plus three demo versions from the Girlfriend EP, and a second disc contains Good Friend, a collection of live and alternate versions of songs from Girlfriend, as well as a few covers that betray Sweet's influences. The highlight here is a live cover of Neil Young's "Cortez the Killer" with the Indigo Girls. Listening to this disc again takes me back to the moment when I discovered "alternative" rock. After a steady diet of hair metal in high school, I was ready for something different when I got to college. Girlfriend dropped right around the same time as Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten. But while those albums sometimes get dialed up in my iTunes as period pieces from the days when grunge ruled the earth, Girlfriend withstood the test of time. I listen to it as often today as I did 15 years ago.

Here's a crapload more music, either bought or downloaded, way too much to review.
A Christmas Album, California Guitar Trio
A Grand Don't Come for Free, The Streets
Ben Kweller, Ben Kweller
How to Grow a Woman from the Ground, Chris Thile
Stay Under the Stars, Teitur
Merry Mixmas: Christmas Classics Remixed, Various Artists
Long Island Shores, Mindy Smith
Awake is the New Sleep, Ben Lee
Try!, John Mayer Trio
Language Sex Violence Other?, Stereophonics
Has Been, William Shatner
Too Far to Care, Old 97's
The Black Magic Show, Elefant
Traveler '06: A Six Degrees Collection
A Baroque Christmas
Nightcrawler, Pete Yorn
Shine, Trey Anastasio
The Duhks, The Duhks
2005 Warped Tour Compilation
Suicide Squeeze Records: Slaying Since 1996
Hopelessly Devoted to You, Vol. 6