Movie Review: Quantum of Solace

Daniel Craig is back as the British super-spy, James Bond. And just like in Casino Royale, he does a great job of playing the part in Quantum of Solace. I wasn't sure what to expect with this movie, since most reviews were all over the place on whether it was good or not. After watching it and thinking for a bit, I've come to the conclusion is was pretty good. Is it excellent? No. Could it be better? Yes. Could it have been a lot worse? Definitely.

Comparing Quantum of Solace to its predecessor is inevitable. James Bond movies had become a parody of themselves, and were on the verge of franchise death when they were completely re-imagined and presented in a new light by Casino Royale. How does Quantum shape up? Well, it's not as good as Casino Royale. It suffers from some plot and cinematography issues that Casino Royale didn't, but it's still far and away better than the James Bond crap that Hollywood has been shoveling at us for well over a decade.

Let's start with the good stuff. Quantum of Solace is chock full of wholesome violence. From the opening seconds of the movie to the final roll of the credits, people, cars and buildings are being shot, smashed and burned beyond recognition. There's some awesome gun play as well as a good car chase to keep your attention. While it's a short movie, it doesn't waste any time. There is something exciting going on for every second of this movie.

However, therein lies one of the movie's greatest flaws. It's hectic. Really, really hectic. 8 year old child with ADD snorting 30 pixie-sticks kind of hectic. This movie doesn't stop to take a breath or check out the views for even a moment. And why would it? It's too damn busy leaping from machine gun battles to airplane crashes to jet boat jumps to knife tortures to sporadic ninja attacks. Okay, maybe no ninjas, but that would kick ass. Get ready to be confused. There really is no time to think during this movie, and I found myself on several occasions wondering, "Wait, why the hell is he flying there? What does this have to do with the last scene?" The plot isn't necesarrily bad, it's just that you will have absolutely no time to absorb it.

The action scenes (which are really all of the scenes in the movie) left me a little dissapointed as well. Don't get me wrong, they're good. However, they decided to go with the Bourne Identity "lets strap a camcorder in some guy's armpit" cinematography. You can't really tell who's hitting who or what the hell's going on. I get it. It's supposed to simulate the violence and confusion of an actual fight. But I don't care. I paid $12 to see a damn movie, I want to be able to, you know, actually see what's happening.

Other than the complex and frenzied nature of the plot and cinematography, I really have nothing to complain about with Quantum of Solace. It was a good spy movie with lots of action and violence. I appove whole-heartedly.

SCORING: I give Quantum of Solace 3.5 Agent Smiths out of a possible 5.

State Fair Time!

I went to the State Fair last week with some of my family. The fair is an interesting beast. I always want to go to the fair, but once I get there and stay a little while, I realize it kind of sucks and I'm ready to leave. The fair has good food. Really good food, but that's about it. It's expensive and the crowd is a little... rough around the edges.

Oh well, regardless of the downsides of the fair, I had a good time and I'm sure by the time it rolls around next year, I'll be wanting to go again.

It was Really Busy at the Fair

Mary and Mom Went with Me

And so Did Dad

Did I Mention the Crowd is Rough?

But This is Why We're Here. FOOD!!!

Fried Hot Dogs!

Fried Bread!

Fried Sandwiches!

Fried Oreos!

Fired Moon Pies!

Fried Twinkies!

With a Sno-Cone Chaser

Why? Will He Clean the Table?

Judging from My Previous Caption... No.

Parent Of The Year Award

Now That I'm Full... Rides!!!

And More Rides

Play Some Games?

Pop a Balloon...

...and Win A Prize

Hasta Lluego State Fair

Colorado

I just returned from Louisville Colorado, and boy is it good to be home! Colorado is home to the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA), and that's where I've been working my butt off for the past week. NITA has a pretty intensive litigation program, and I picked up a lot of good trial tips. However, they had me working from about 6am to 10pm every day of the trip. Sadly, that meant I didn't get out much to take photos. :(

Another thing that caught me off guard was how different Colorado is from what I envisioned it as being. I kind of assumed there would be... you know... mountains and trees there. In reality, it's flat as far as you can see and consists mostly of dead grassy plains. Caught me totally off guard. It's how I envisioned Montana would look. Maybe I should go to Montana now, and see if it looks like how I envisioned Colorado.

This is Colorado!

Denver International Airport

Long SuperShuttle Ride from DIA to Louisville

I Stayed at the Omni Interlocken

Flags in the Battleground State

Front of the Hotel

Nice Lobby Sitting Room

Hotel Pool & Golf Course

My Room!

One Last Look at CO Before Leaving...

Electric Palms

Every now and again, I like to just take photos of things around my house. It's a good exercise in subject spotting.

These Uplit Trees are in a Strip-Mall Near My Home

Last Camp of the Season

Just returned from taking advantage of the last good camping weather of the season. Paul, Sheenae, Jason and myself spent the night out in the backwoods right on the edge of the Mogollon Rim (pronounced 'mug-E-on'). Despite a foreboding weather report, the weather on the rim was actually pretty nice!

We Found a Nice Secluded Spot with Good Tree Cover

Yes, there are Trees in Arizona

Weatherman Lies! No Storms Here

Paul!

And Sheenae!

She Secured our Campsite by Murdering the Previous Campers

Fail Catch

I tried my hand at star photography for the first time this trip. It didn't turn out all that great, but I learned a few things. 1. Ambient light will really show up in the exposures. The trees are all red from our small campfire that was about 20 yards behind the camera. 2. The exposures need to be long. This exposure was an hour and fifteen minutes, but wasn't nearly long enough. And 3. Watch the moon. It actually crept in the left side of my picture at the end creating a bright streak. Hopefully I can get some better results on my second attempt.

1hr 15min Sky Exposure

Fire GOOD

Who is Raul and What is He Doing With My Flashlight?

Until Next Time, Keep Your Feet Warm!