Two Really Good Movies

[swerb]

Saw two really good movies over the last couple days. Blood Diamond and Casino Royale.

Blood Diamond is a great story with great acting, even if the plot meanders. They coulda chopped about 20 minutes off the film IMO. It stars two of my favorites, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Connelly.

Set in the late nineties, in Sierra Leone in Africa. Country is in civil war, basically due to the fact the country is rich in diamonds. A native fisherman and his family are taken captive by rebels, put into slave camps. The father, a man by the name of Solomon Vandy (brilliantly played by Djimon Hounso), finds a monstrous diamond while panning for them for the rebels. He attempts to hide it, and is caught doing so ... but just as the rebel camp is attacked by the government army.

DiCaprio is a smuggler black market diamonds dealer. He bails Vandy out of jail with the promise of finding him a buyer for it. Jen Connelly is a journalist, in Sierra Leone to try and report on the "blood diamonds" that are leading to so much violence and killing in this small African country. The three form a bond, and the hunt for the diamond (and Vandys family) that he stashed fuels the exciting ending of the film.

Leo was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in it over his role in the Departed. Now that I've seen Blood Diamond, I know why.

Casino Royale was one of the funnest films I've seen in some time. A wild ride from the get go, and by far the best Bond film I've ever seen. I guess it's actually a remake of the first Bond film ever, and Daniel Craig is great as Bond in his first whack at it. Eva Green, whi I had never even heard of before, is drop dead gorgeous as the token Bnd film eye candy.

Basically, Bond is sent to Montenegro to stop an international terrorist by the name of Le Chieffre, who needs to raise some cash quick ... and organizes a mega high stakes game of no limit hold em poker to do so. He needs the cash to pay back rebel terrorists who bankrolled a plan to destroy the worlds largest airliner. A plot foiled by Bond early in the film.

Just a great film. I'm probably not doing it justice with the writeup. Here's Mitch's review ...

http://www.swerbsblurbs.com/article_detail.php?id=1039

And his review for Blood Diamond ...

http://www.swerbsblurbs.com/article_detail.php?id=1114

Both are well worth seeing.

[Mr. MacPhisto]

Casino Royale is not really a remake of the first Bond film. I believe it technically was the first Bond shown, but it was a TV episode for CBS' Climax! series in the mid-1950s. There was a spoof film made in 1967 that lampooned the Bond movie series.

Casino Royale was the first book about Bond written by Ian Fleming. This film was the first serious film adaptation of that book, though there are many differences due to the modern story telling.

[swerb]

Ahhh ... thanks for the heads up Mac.

Good movie though, I really liked it. Even though Mitch gave it a good review, I didn't have super-high hopes. I'm not a big Bond guy.

The new Bond guy was great. And the girl was drop dead gorgeous.

Classic line ...

Bond: "Don't worry, you're not my type anyway."
Hottie: "What's that ... smart?"
Bond: "No. Single."

[Mr. MacPhisto]

I'm not a big Bond guy either. Like the Connery stuff and some of the Moore stuff, but I never like Brosnan much and thought that the franchise was getting hokier and hokier.

I wasn't looking forward to Casino Royale either but came away surprised and impressed. I really like Daniel Craig in the role and think he's the perfect Bond. I'm looking forward to the next film in the series now. I've never been anyone who's really looked forward to Bond releases because most in my lifetime have stunk.