Blood-Sucking Bond & Other Such Mussings

Okay, I know it's tough to follow a blog when that particular blog is seldom updated. I still haven't been able to replace my computer, and without daily internet access it is tough to check my e-mail, let alone blog. I'll try to do it as often as I can but until I can get a new computer, it might prove difficult.

Well what's been going on in the world of popular culture? Plenty by my watch. last week I went out to see the new James Bond movie "Quantum of Solace".

I had high hopes for it because I enjoyed "Casino Royale" so much, also I was one of the few that found the title interesting and intriguing. I mean you have the word "Quantum" which makes me think of the excellent late 80's TV show 'Quantum Leap' starring Scott Bakula as a time-traveling-body-shifting do-gooder (I have mentioned in past posts my affinity for anything involving entertainment and time-travel).

And then you also have "Solace" which to me makes me think of both the Russian sci-fi Tarkovsky film "Solaris" (they made us watch it in film school) and Superman's 'Fortress of Solitude' up at the north pole (I wonder how Superman and Santa Claus get along?).


So how was "Quantum of Solace"? I'd give it three stars. The action set pieces were really fun, but it lacked a polished story and the character development that made the last James Bond film so much fun. Big action set pieces with little story come out all the time, but James Bond is supposed to be different, the gold standard for all other action movies. I did, however, like the little wink to Bond fans with the Bond girl called "Fields" (in the credits she is listed as "Strawberry Fields"). Fields, a female agent, is killed and left on a hotel room bed covered completely in oil. The scene was an obvious homage to the famous Sean Connery Bond film "Goldfinger". I always appreciate when the new films reference the ones that came before it.

All in all, this new one is just okay. Of course James Bond has often faultered, with many of the later Bronson and Moore Bond movies being especially bland ("View to a Kill" and "Die Another Day" always seemed especially sad--with an exception being the "View to a Kill" theme song by Duran Duran--it's an 80's classic).










It has been requested that I blog about the Twilight phenomenom. To be honest I don't have a lot to say other than no matter what the teenyboppers of today think, there will never be a better teenage vampire movie than "The Lost Boys". I mean, this British heartrobe that plays Edward could really never hold a candle to the gravely gothic performance of a young Kiefer Sutherland as the ultimate bad-boy teenage vampire. Something tells me that if Kiefer's vampire met pretty-boy Edward there would be only one left standing. Heck, if Edward even came up against the teenage Frog Brothers (wannabe vampire hunters) he wouldn't stand a chance (Note: Contrary to poular belief, only one of the "Coreys" was a Frog Brother--it was Feldman)

I think I was one watching a late-night monster movie-fest on cable where they were showing "The Lost Boys". The host explained that the main theme of the film was essentially "How far would you go to sleep with Jamie Gertz?" Would you drink blood and become a vampire? I think the answer for most of us back then was a resonding 'yes'. And there's the real heart of the movie, and that heart is way cooler than anything the "Twilight" gang can come up with. I mean, even "The Lost Boys" tag line "Sleep all day, party all night...it's fun to be a vampire" is much better than "When you can live forever, what do you live for?" from the "Twilight" promotional materials. I hope to blog again soon. I've been itching to get to another "What's Raf listening to this week" post. I'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip your waiters.

P.S. Fun Fact: Regarding my love of time travel entertainment, and to show you how eveything in the pop-cutlure universe is connected--Did you know that Alex Winter who played Bill in "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" is also one of the teenage vampires in "The Lost Boys". It's true! He's the first one to get killed by the Frog brothers! Now if only I can remember whatever happened to Ted.