A while back Shelley invited us all out to Bond Night, and I was only half committed and mostly that was because Donna and I really don’t go out much anymore. Then I got an email from my wife (yes, probably sent from 30 feet away!) that I should get a sitter and go have fun, just make sure the sitter watches Claire at her house not ours so Donna could write.

I grew up in a Bond house. My dad’s obsessed and my father-in-law watches the Spike TV marathons. My favorite is still Never Say Never Again, and Duran Duran’s A View to a Kill still holds a special place in my heart. Pierce Brosnan as Bond was scary and didn’t work at all for me, which is maybe why I never gave Craig a chance in Casino Royale. I will admit I never saw it.

So tonight we hit On the Border with Biray and others (even Donna came to dinner!), and then we headed to the movie. I immediately realized they were referencing some things from Casino Royale, but I had a pretty good idea.

I was struck in the film by the filters and cinematography. They had things set up that made the film look “old.” More like early Connery Bond than anything since. I also really loved the jump shots and shaky camera angles. I flinched several times throughout. This was also a younger, darker Bond which alot of people are complaining about. Another comparison is to the Bourne movies (Side note: An acquaintance said that complaining that QoS is too much like Jason Bourne is like bitching that Adam West wasn’t in Dark Knight!).

After the film, I was talking to Shelley and mentioned my comments, and she explained that this Bond and Casino Royale before it were harkening back to a time before Dr. No. This is suppose to be pre-Connery, which I think it awesome! It’s like what Lucas tried to do with the second trilogy and failed. QoS is setting up what will later become campy mid-1980s Roger Moore Bond. Great movie. Now I need to see Casino Royale.

Ah yes, and for Bond girls. Camille (Olga Kurylenko) was pretty good, but Strawberry Fields (Gemma Arterton) is truly forever!

Ok ok I’ve posted about this before, and here I am again. There’s been a new wave of garbage here. Several of my students showed up recently to my 6:30AM zero hour class and they were tired. Very tired. Two of the girls then bounced into my room with these white and pink ball caps. They were giddy and hurried up to me to show me their new hats.

“Mr Adams, do you like our new hats we got last night?”
“No.”

The girls looked shocked, and asked why. Immediately, I went into a whole class diatribe since obviously half the class had been out the night before catching the midnight showing of High School Musical 3. They were all so excited about this film, and I just couldn’t believe this. I asked them what they think about girls like Vanessa Hudgens (who stars in these movies as an innocent high school girl) who has naked pictures of herself posted on the Internet. Their response was pretty much “So what?”.

So what? I can’t believe our teens today are so desensitized to the objectification of women that this is ok with them. Would these kids want their own naked photos posted? Would they even consider posing? Probably not. When I put it this way, there’s pose. But seriously. These are Disney movies! The Mouse House is suppose to put out these innocent, family products (and I know they don’t!), and then we have people like Hudgens (and Jamie Lynn Spears).

These students just shrugged and several have seen it 2, 3, and 4 times since! I just don’t get it. If you do, come on, please comment below. Explain this to me.

This is the world in which my three year old daughter will grow up, and it’s freaking me out.