GoldenEye

"Do you destroy every vehicle you get into?"
"Standard operating procedure. Boys with toys."

James Bond (Brosnan) is trying to take down the Janus crime syndicate.  He follows Xenia Onatopp (Janssen, who works for Janus, in Monte Carlo where she and General Ourumov (John) steal a helicopter.  Nine years before, Ourumov killed Bond's best friend and MI-6 agent Alec Trevelyan.  Ourumovand Xenia travel to Severnaya, Siberia to a Soviet satellite facility.  They kill everyone in the facility except for Natalya Simonova (Scorupco), who hides, and steal a program called the GoldenEye.

M (Dench) sends Bond to Russia to find Janus and get the GoldenEye.  Along the way he picks up Natalya, since she understands the weapon.  In Russia, they meet with CIA agent Jack Wade (Baker) and enlist the help of an old rival, Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky (Coltrane).  Can they find Janus and stop the GoldenEye?


This is the 17th film in the James Bond film franchise. The series had a six year hiatus after the 1989 release of License to Kill.  With this film, they started fresh: new Bond (Pierce Brosnan), new M (Judi Dench), etc.  Dench was the first woman to play M.  The only actor who returned to the franchise was Desmond Llewelyn as Q.  Brosnan was the fourth man to portray Bond, taking over the role from Timothy Dalton.  Dalton originally signed on to star in this film, but pulled out due to the hiatus.  They used the film as a reboot for the franchise.

For the reboot, they decided to go with an original story, and not one of author Ian Fleming's Bond stories.  The screenplay was written by Michael France, with additional writing by Jeffrey Caine and Kevin Wade (who created the CIA character that is named for him).  The theme song, "GoldenEye," was written by Bono and The Edge and performed by Tina Turner.  Eric Serra was the composer for the rest of the film.  The film also inspired a popular Nintendo 64 game.

It grabs your attention with the opening free-fall and piles on the action. Not my favorite Brosnan Bond film, but it is a fascinating ride.

Golden Eye (1995) 130 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for a number of sequences of action/violence, and for some sexuality
Director: Martin Campbell
Starring: Pierce Brosnan as James Bond
Sean Bean as Alec Trevelyan
Izabella Scorupco as Natalya Simonova
Famke Janssen as Xenia Onatopp
Joe Don Baker as Jack Wade
Judi Dench as M
Robbie Coltrane as Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky
Gottfried John as General Arkady Grigorovich Ourumov
Alan Cummings as Boris Grishenko

A Lego Brickumentary

LEGOs are an iconic building/construction toy.  In the 1930s, Danish carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen started manufacturing wooden toys.  He founded The Lego Group (taken from the phrase leg godt, which means "play well") and started manufacturing plastic toys in 1947.  Two years later they started making the iconic building block.  By the mid 1950s, Christiansen's son Gottfried Christiansen started to sell the toy internationally as a creative toy, and the late 1970s saw the introduction of the yellow figurines.

Since then, Legos have become more than just a toy for children.  They have a dedicated fanbase (called A.F.O.L.s or Adult Fans of Legos) and have inspired creativity across the globe.  They are also used by doctors, professors, and scientists, and even NASA uses them.


Like most children, I grew up playing with Legos.  I loved creating the designs on the boxes, but even more than that, I loved all of the things I could make with the pieces.  Around the same time as the release of The Lego Movie, this documentary was made.  It provides a history of the toy, along with the varied ways it has affected the world around it (or is affected by the world).

LEGOs are not just for children.  Although they were initially designed as a child's toy, there is a dedicated adult fanbases (A.F.O.L.s or Adult Fans of Legos).  Their passion has led to Lego conventions around the world, including Brick Co in Seattle, WA.  These conventions allow A.F.O.L.s to show their creative designs and compete for prizes.  The innovations of these A.F.O.L.s have lead to new branches of the Lego company (architecture models, a competition to have Lego produce their designs, etc).

Legos are also being used in other areas, which the film explores.  A doctor is successfully using Legos as an autism therapy.  They are also used in a collegiate mathematics course, and by NASA scientists.  And an artist is using Legos as his medium of choice.  It is a perfect model for stop-motion animated films.  The documentary also briefly talks about the (then) upcoming Lego Movie, and how the live-action Lego sets were created by Lego master builders (employed by the Lego Group).

It is especially interesting if you don't know much about Legos, hardcore fans may already know much of the information.

A Lego Brickumentary (2014) 93 minutes
Director: Kief Davidson & Daniel Junge
Starring: Jason Bateman as Narrator

Pride and Prejudice: A Latter Day Comedy

Elizabeth Bennet (Heskin) is a college student in Utah.  She lives with her best friends: sweet Jane Vasquez (Sola), demanding Lydia Meryton (Stables), Lydia's impressionable sister Kitty Meryton (Hamilton), and awkward Mary Lamblen (Kerwin).  She is also trying to get her novel published and works at a bookstore.  After receiving another rejection letter, her roommates force her to go to a party, hosted by Charles (Gourley) and Caroline (Holden) Bingley.

The Bingley's are wealthy, and Lydia plans to catch Charles' eye by following the guidelines from "The Pink Bible," which offers steps to find and keep a man.  But Charles and Jane are instantly smitten and dance the night away.  Elizabeth is disgusted by his best friend, Will Darcy (Seale), and spends the night avoiding the men in her life: Collins (Palmer) is awkward and thinks they are dating, while  Jack Wickham (Maguire) is a serial flirt who wants a serious relationship.

She turns down a marriage proposal from Collins and keeps Jack at arms length, content to keep him as a friend and nothing more.  Even though Elizabeth can't stand Darcy, their paths continue to cross.  Can she find a publisher for her book and sort out her messy love life?

This film sets out to be a modern retelling of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice", with Mormons.  Much like Clueless (based on Austen's "Emma") re-imagines Austen's story to a modern teen romance, this film modernizes the story and context.  However, it is necessary to understand the Latter-Day Saints (LDS) to get some of the humor.  I know nothing about the LDS Church, but I love Austen's novel.  I understood the film, but didn't pick up on all of the nuanced humor that people that know/understand the LDS would get.

The plot remains the same, but makes a few minor changes.  First, the main characters (Elizabeth, Jane, Lydia, Kitty, and Mary) are now roommates, instead of sisters.  Elizabeth Bennet keeps her name, but the rest of the women have different last names.  Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are absent from the film, although they are referenced a few times.  Also, the characters of Lady Catherine de Bourgh and her daughter Anne are missing.  Darcy's sister has a slightly different name, and the role of Elizabeth's best friend Charlotte, is diminished.  The missing characters change some aspects of the story.  It also changes the futures of the characters, specifically Lydia, Wickam, Mary, and Collins.

The cast is ok, but not great.  Kam Heskin and Orlando Seale are solid leads, especially when they are bickering.  Henry Maguire plays the line between charming and jerk as Wickam.  Kelly Stables (the only cast member I recognized before watching the film) is a good Lydia, annoying but still interesting (most Lydia's are more grating than anything else).  Amber Hamilton Russo (billed as Nicole Hamilton) is an interesting Kitty, and makes the character more than just Lydia's sidekick.  Charlotte is downplayed from Elizabeth's best friend, to a classmate.  She is played by former American Idol contestant Carmen Rasmusen.  Collins is the perfect amount of awkward, as played by Hubbel Palmer.  The only character that I didn't particularly like was Jane.  Lucila Sola is beautiful, and Jane did grow on me, but she wasn't a great choice.

I prefer the BBC miniseries (with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth) and the 2005 film (with Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen), but it isn't bad.

Pride and Prejudice: A Latter Day Comedy (2003) 104 minutes
Director: Andrew Black
Starring: Kam Heskin as Elizabeth Bennet
Orlando Seale as Will Darcy
Ben Gourley as Charles Bingley
Lucila Sola as Jane Vasquez
Henry Maguire as Jack Wickham
Kelly Stables as Lydia Meryton
Nicole Hamilton as Kitty Meryton
Rainy Kerwin as Mary Lamblen
Kara Holden as Caroline Bingley
Hubbel Palmer as William Collins
Honor Bliss as Anna Darcy
Carmen Rasmusen as Charlotte Lucas

Dr. No

"You believe in living dangerously. I can see that."

After the murder of one of the operatives, Strangways (Timothy Moxon), in Jamaica, MI-6 sends James Bond (Connery) to investigate.  Strangways ran the Kingston station of MI-6 and was working with the American CIA on a case.  He had hired boatman Quarrel (Kitzmiller) to take him to collect rock samples from the surrounding islands.  Quarrel also worked with CIA Agent Felix Leiter (Lord).  The last island Quarrel and Strangways visited was Crab Key.

Crab Key is a private island with tight security and owned by Dr. No (Wiseman).  Bond and Quarrel travel by night to check out the island.  In the morning, they stumble across Honey Ryder (Andress) who is collecting large shells from the beach.  Can they defeat No and his island of secrets?


This is the film that launched the James Bond film franchise.  It is based on the 6th novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series.  Fleming created the character in the early 1950s.  Producers Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli purchased the film rights and launched two companies specifically designed to make the Bond films (Danjaq to own the film rights and Eon Productions to produce the films).

They hired Terence Young to direct the film.  Young would direct 2 more Bond films: From Russia wtih Love and Thunderball.  Monty Norman was hired as the composer for the film, and is best known for writing the now iconic "James Bond Theme".

The film also launched the career of star Sean Connery.  Connery started acting in the early 1950's in theater and TV, and started making films in 1957.  Bond was his big breakthrough role, and he played played the character in 6 more films (From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever, and Never Say Never Again).  Every actor that takes on the role is compared to Connery, and how they differ from him.

It is a solid start to the franchise, introducing the suave spy to the world.  Many of the tropes of the series began with this film, but were finessed in later films (the opening credits, the "James Bond Theme", etc).  The film does not feature the gadgets found in later films and does not feature Q (Desmond Llewelyn originated the character in the sequel, From Russia with Love).  It introduced the idea of SPECTRE and Bond's CIA counterpart, Felix Leiter.

It isn't the best Bond film, but it is still a great start to the franchise that is still going strong 40+ years later.

Dr. No (1962) 109 minutes
Director: Terence Young
Starring: Sean Connery as James Bond
Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder
Joseph Wiseman as Dr. No
Jack Lord as Felix Leiter
Bernard Lee as M
Anthony Dawson as Professor Dent
John Kitzmiller as Quarrel
Zena Marshall as Miss Taro
Eunice Gayson as Sylvia Trench
Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny

Africa Screams

"Have you seen a short fat man and a tall thin man running through the jungle?"

"No. I don't want to either."

Stanley Livington (Costello) and Buzz Johnson (Abbott) work in the book department of Klopper's Department Store.  Buzz is always looking for an angle, while Stanley is terrified of all animals.  Stanley is approached by thugs Grappler (M. Baer) and Boots (Baer) and Buzz is approached by Diana Emerson (Brooke) about the book "Dark Safari".  They do not carry the book, but the buyers are specifically interested in a map contained in the book.  Stanley has read the book, so they hire him to draw the map.

Diana is planning a safari to Africa to find a rare animal.  Lion tamer Clyde Beatty is leading the expedition, and Buzz convinces Diana to take them along as well.  Diana and her thugs are actually looking for diamonds, but are using Beatty to make the trip look like a legitimate safari.  They also drag along Diana's butler Joe (Besser) and near-sighted hunter Gunner (Howard).  Can Stanley and Buzz survive the dangers of Africa and their own party?


I grew up watching this film, but hadn't seen it in years.  It is still enjoyable years today.

The film, written by Earl Baldwin, sticks to the usual formula for Abbott and Costello films: Abbott is the shady idea man and Costello is the bumbling fool.  This time they are co-workers and Costello's Stanley is afraid of animals and Abbott's Buzz wants to find an easy way to get rich.  They are directed by Charles Barton, who directed all of their films starting in 1946.

They are joined by Hillary Brooke, who would later star on their TV show The Abbott and Costello Show and their film Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd.  She was Costello's love interest in both.  Comedian Joe Besser also was a member of The Abbott and Costello Show.  Here Brooke is the villain, while Besser is her whiny butler.  Besser would later become a member of the Three Stooges, replacing Shemp Howard.  Howard has a small role in this film as Gunner, the near-sighted hunter.

Boxers Max Baer and Buddy Baer appear as Diana's henchmen.  Buddy Baer also appeared in Abbott and Costello's Jack and the Beanstalk as the Giant.  Lion tamer Clyde Beatty appears as himself, and provided the lions for the film.  Frank Buck was an big game hunter / animal collector and author, and occasional actor / director, and appears in this film as himself.

The film is funny and has a great cast, but the sets are low budget.  It doesn't distract from the performances, but it doesn't help the film.

Another funny film by Abbott and Costello!

Africa Screams (1949) 79 minutes
Director: Charles Barton
Starring: Bud Abbott as Buzz Johnson
Lou Costello as Stanley Livington
Clyde Beatty as Himself
Frank Buck as Himself
Max Baer as Grappler McCoy
Buddy Baer as Boots Wilson
Hillary Brooke as Diana Emerson
Shemp Howard as Gunner
Joe Besser as Harry

The Boss (2016)

"We are gonna start a brownie empire and teach these girls real business skills."

Michelle Darnell (McCarthy) is a successful and ruthless businesswoman.  She avoids personal entanglements and has written several self-help books encouraging others to do the same.  She sits at the top of an empire and is one of the wealthiest women in the world.  Her assistant, Claire Rawlings (Bell), is a single mother and over-worked.  Michelle is convicted of insider trading and sent to prison.

When she is released from prison, her reputation is tarnished and her assets are frozen.  The only person from her life that will speak to her is Claire, who has Michelle's remaining items.  Claire has a new job with a horrible boss (Cecily Strong) and a helpful coworker, Mike (Labine).  Claire, and her daughter Rachel (Anderson), invite Michelle to sleep on the couch until she finds somewhere else to live.  Her old colleagues, including her nemesis Renault (Dinklage), have shut her out.  Since she can't find a job, she is forced to accompany Rachel to a Dandelions meeting.  That inspires her to start her own troop, Darnell's Darlings, to teach girls business skills by selling Claire's homemade brownies.  Can Michelle succeed?


Fifteen years ago, Melissa McCarthy created the character of Michelle Darnell for the comedy group the Groundlings (it was her favorite character).  McCarthy and her husband, Ben Falcone wanted to bring the character back to life.  They wrote the screenplay, along with Steve Mallory, and served as the producers.  Falcone also directed the film and has a brief cameo as Michelle's lawyer.  Falcone previously directed McCarthy in the 2014 film Tammy.

This film has potential.  The character is funny, as are the cast, but there is something missing.  Michelle Darnell is an interesting character, it is easy to see why she worked well in comedy sketches... but she might not be the best focus for a feature film.  It would probably work better to have someone not as close to the source writing the film or directing the film.  Kristen Bell is the straight man in the act, which works here.  Tyler Labine is the love interest for Bell's character, while still getting a few laughs.  He tends to play the funny friend, so it is nice to see him do something different.  Kathy Bates is Ida, Michelle's rough-edged mentor.  Annie Mumolo is also a Groundling alum.

It wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible.  There were some funny scenes and some fell flat.  Overall, unmemorable and crasser than necessary.

The Boss (2016) 99 minutes
Rating: R for sexual content, language and brief drug use
Director: Ben Falcone
Starring: Melissa McCarthy as Michelle Darnell
Kristen Bell as Claire Rawlings
Peter Dinklage as Renault
Ella Anderson as Rachel Rawlings
Tyler Labine as Mike Beals
Kathy Bates as Ida Marquette
Timothy Simons as Stephan
Annie Mumolo as Helen Kreagan