Movies I've seen Recently

Quantum of Solace: A James Bond film that has seemed to upset many a fan of the original tried and true Bond. While I love my martini drinking womanizing Sean Connery era Bond as much as the next person, I was still very much entertained with this newer more rugged one. The film has Bond trying to find the people responsible for the murder of his girlfriend Vesper Lynd who died in "Casino Royale". The film is very compact clocking in at only 100 minutes, but in that you get some real exciting chases, gunplay, and fist fights. Granted this film could've been condensed to 20 minutes and added on to the already too long "Casino Royale". I'm glad it was short and sweet, and here's hoping Bond has shaken off those demons and is back to his martini drinking and womanizing ways in the next film. 3 stars out of 4

Frozen River: A miracle of a film that works as a suspense film, family drama, and character study all with a very small budget. Melissa Leo is Ray Eddie, a single mother of two who's husband gambled away all their money for a new house and ran off. Desperate for money, she meets Lila (Misty Upham) who lives on the Mohawk reserve and gains money by transporting illegal immigrants from the Quebec border into the States. Ray becomes use to her since she is white and cops don't stop white people. Both of these women are fascinating characters and both are desperate to find money, they form an uncommon bond. Both Leo and Upham deserve Oscar nominations, and even though the film was tough to get into at first due to the restraining budget it proves what "Once" did last year, and that's it doesn't matter how much money you have as long as you got a good story to tell. This one does, it was mesmerizing. 4 stars out of 4

Twilight: Much like "High School Musical" I somehow found myself in the theatre watching this with friends, and just like that film I must say this was not for my audience. That isn't to say I didn't appreciate it. "Twilight" does have some redeeming qualities particularly from its two main stars who's names I won't mention since you all should know them by now. Unlike "Frozen River", this film does suffer from a lack of a budget, the special effects are never really impressive, however it was nice seeing a fantasy movie that was based more in reality. I appreciated how director Catherine Hardwick stuck with the romantic melodrama that comes right for its source material and I don't think she has gotten enough credit for it. I felt very old watching this film as I sympathized more with the father (Billy Burke) than I did with the teenage cast. No doubt the sequel will have a bigger budget and perhaps then this series will really bloom. 2.5 stars out of 4