Movies

King of Swamp Castle: When I first came here, this was all swamp. Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built it all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up. And that's what you're going to get, Lad, the strongest castle in all of England.

Casino Royale introduces James Bond before he holds his license to kill. But Bond is no less dangerous, and with two professional assassinations in quick succession, he is elevated to "00" status. "M" (Judi Dench), head of the British Secret Service, sends the newly-promoted 007 on his first mission that takes him to Madagascar, the Bahamas and eventually leads him to Montenegro to face Le Chiffre, a ruthless financier under threat from his terrorist clientele, who is attemptin to restore his funds in a high-stakes poker game at the Casino Royale. "M" places Bond under the watchful eye of the Treasury official Vesper Lynd. At first skeptical of what value Vesper can provide, Bond's interest in her deepends as they brave danger together. Le Chiffre's cunning and cruelty come to bear on them both in a way Bond could never imagine, and he learns his most important lesson: Trust no one.

I am admittedly not a James Bond fan. I have seen a few - not many - of the movies in this highly celebrated series and I have been relatively entertained. I think the more recent installments have been a little too much for me. I feel like James Bond is a role that needs to be overacted and cheesy, and I don't like it. With Casino Royale I was faced with an unpolished James Bond who still has an unabashed cockiness that gets him into trouble more often than it gets him out of it. That was the piece missing from the other James Bond movies. I really liked Casino Royale.

I thought Daniel Craig did a fantastic job as James Bond, especially in the face of so much skepticism from the die-hard fanbase. He fit the mold of the unrefined hot shot very well. He was reckless and broke the rules. Maybe an imperfect James Bond is actually a more perfect James Bond. Think about it.

The chase scene in Casino Royale can certainly rival that of most, if not all, other movies. At the beginning of the movie Bond must chase a man, but it is on foot rather than in cars. The pace of the chase coupled with the stunt work done for the scene were great.

If you're a James Bond fan, I will assume you've already seen it. If you're not, like me, I think there is still plenty here if you like action/spy flicks.

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Baroness Kessler: My latest work: "The Devil: History and Myth" - a kind of biography. It will be published next year. Dean Corso: Why the devil? Baroness Kessler: I saw him one day. I was fifteen years old, and I saw him as plain as I see you now: cutaway, top hat, cane. Very elegant, very handsome. It was love at first sight. Dean Corso: 300 years ago, that would get you burned at the stake. Baroness Kessler: 300 years ago I wouldn't have said it!

Academy Award Winner Denzel Washington, Academy Award nominee Clive Owen and Academy Award winner Jodie Foster star in this intense and explosive crime thriller. The perfect bank robbery quickly spirals into an unstable and deadly game of cat-and-mouse between a criminal mastermind (Owen), a determined detective (Washington), and a power broker with a hidden agenda (Foster). As the minutes tick by and the situation becomes increasingly tense, one wrong move could mean disaster for any one of them. From acclaimed director Spike Lee comes the edge-of-your-seat, action-packed thriller The Wall Street Journal calls "a heist film that's right on the money."

The story was well thought-out, the characters were likeable, and there was enough action to keep me entertained throughout. One thing that surprised me was that I felt myself tugged in two opposing directions. Do I root for Clive Owen as he robs the bank? Or do I root for Denzel Washington while he tries to stop Clive Owen from robbing the bank? I love movies where you have to carefully weigh your loyalties. (Not that I could imagine anyone choosing Richard Gere's side, especially against Bruce Willis, but Inside Man was like The Jackal in that regard.)

Some Clive Owen performances are so good that I wonder why I don't like everything he does. The key is that some roles are just better suited for him (how's that for rocket science?). I love - of all things - how he sounds in the movies. His particularly-slow cadence really emphasizes his lines. When teamed with the right script, it is great. Inside Man played to this strength. (For another example, see Croupier.)

I thought the entire cast did a great job. Clive Owen was great, it was nice to see Jodie Foster on screen again and Denzel...was Denzel. The movie was suspenseful and entertaining. I don't expect it to make a short list of your favorites, but it was still very good.

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Gregoire De Fronsac: A silver bullet? Are you afraid of werewolves? Jean-Francois de Morangias: I like to sign my shots.

Mean Creek

When Sam (Rory Culkin) continually gets picked on by the school bully, he and his protective older brother decide to teach the bully a lesson he will never forget. Together, they come up with a plan that involves inviting the bully on a special river trip for his birthday where they will make sure he is humiliated for all to see. Deciding that he no longer wants to go through with the plan, Sam tries to call it off but it's too late and he must live with the resulting consequences.

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1. Glory

2. Remember the Titans

3. Man on Fire

4. Inside Man

5. Fallen

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Doc Wilson: It's the truth that you should never trust anybody who wears a bow tie. Cravat's supposed to point down to accentuate the genitals. Why'd you wanna trust somebody whose tie points out to accentuate his ears?