Spectre and Get Low

11/15/15 Spectre, not yet nominated, 2015

It's funny, I would not consider myself a James Bond fan, and yet I have seen all of the Daniel Craig movies in the theater, usually in the first couple weeks. So, a couple friends and I went to the theater this past weekend and waited. They waited for him to take off his shirt and I, well, that's not why I was there. The movie opened with some incredible views of the Day of the Dead parade in Mexico City. That was pretty impressive. Then Bond goes off and does Bond things, like killing people and flying a helicopter dangerously low to the crowd. Upon his return to London, he is reprimanded by M, now played by Ralph Fiennes, and told to behave himself. It may take me a while to get used to Fiennes, as I really loved Judi Dench as M, a role she first played in 1995. M (Dench) left Bond a brief upon her demise and Bond heads off on a mission to Rome, driving a spectacular car. Christoph Waltz is Ernst Blofeld (a familiar character to Bonds fans), and he really is a great bad guy. Since the movie is still so new and there are more detailed synopses elsewhere, I will not dwell too much on the story. Lea Seydoux (Blue is the Warmest Color) is Dr. Madeleine Swann, the daughter of one of Bonds's nemeses, and Bond has promised to protect her, even if she doesn't want him to. There are a couple of cool explosions, one was the largest explosion on a set (I'm pretty sure there will be some Oscar nominations for effects, sound and editing). There were a couple of story elements that I liked, they were a little unexpected and added a twist (no spoilers here). So, what about the song? Sam Smith co-wrote and performed "The Writing's on the Wall". It was fine; I have to admit that I have never heard him sing, so I didn't know what to expect, and I was surprised when he hit some very high notes. I think while Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger" is THE Bond song, Adele's "Skyfall" is right up there, and for those new to Bond films, it probably is THE song, so it must be hard to follow Adele. My guess is it will be nominated for an Oscar as well, and could be quite an interesting performance in 2016. The big question - did I like the movie? The movie ended and we looked at each other and kind of went, oh, okay, that was all right, but none of us left thinking that was the best movie, or even the best James Bond movie we'd seen. I wanted more gadgets from Q, I thought they were kind of lame and my friends wanted less clothes on Daniel Craig.

11/15/15 Get Low, 2009 

 I saw the trailer for Get Low a few times and thought it looked funny, Bill Murray is dry and cynical and Robert Duvall plays an enigmatic hermit in Tennessee in the 1930s. Felix Bush (Duvall) lives alone in the woods and decides to throw a funeral for himself and ask people to tell a story or memory about him. Frank Quinn (Murray) is the owner of the funeral home who sees a great opportunity to make some money and generate some publicity; his assistant, Buddy Robinson, is not so mercenary about it, and befriends Bush. Mattie Darrow (Sissy Spacek) is a contemporary of Bush, and we're not totally certain of their relationship until further in the movie. Get Low is a quirky little film, in some ways it reminded me of St. Vincent from a few years ago, which starred Bill Murray, you think it's going to be some gut busting hilarious movie, and it suckers you in, and then shows you a flawed man who has some demons. It kind of reminds you that everyone has a story and everyone has pain, some just bury it deeper than others. There are great performances from everyone, especially Duvall and Lucas Black who played Buddy.