Casino Royale (News: 28/02/2006)

Right..

I've started a HUGE thread on the OUT website but I thought I'd bring some of it over here...and hopefully including some more exclusive stuff :)

As some die-hard Bond fans (who are reading this) may know, filming of this next James Bond installment is well underway. You may have also seen some of the on-set pics that have been posted on the net already. If not..check out some of them below:

Now, personally he's not my ideal choice for Bond! I'm wondering if he too is starting to think this...given the string of bad luck he's encountered since filming started. So what has happened to Daniel so far? Well:

• He is now suffering from prickly heat, according to a British tabloid newspaper. A source on set had this to say about it: "It's driving him mad. He constantly wants to scratch. It's worst when he does a costume change. He's in agony! He's been moaning to his assistants that he's got prickly heat. He's extremely wary of being outside now but the nature of filming is such that he is out in the heat all day.";
• he got sunburned whilst topping up his tan before filming in the Bahamas. Ooops!
• he had two teeth knocked out whilst filming a fight scene in Prague;
• he's admitted that he doesn't like guns and gets queasy on speedboats;
• and to add insult to injury, Bond's traditional Aston Martin DB5 has even had to be converted to an automatic so the star can drive it!

So what can we expect from this actor? I feel he has a lot to prove before he is even accepted by the fans. Sure...his current fan-base may be singing his praises. He can talk the talk..but can he walk the way Bond can? I'll keep you folks posted on any further developments as and when i hear them!

The Matador - the review.

The Matador - Starring Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear and Hope Davis. Released 3rd March 2006.

Written and directed by Richard Shepard, this dark comedy centres around Julian Noble (played by the delectable Pierce Brosnan)who is a freelance hit man. Julian's very good at what he does, but is losing his taste for the business. In comes Danny (played by Greg Kinnear), a salesman whose marriage and finances are in trouble. One fateful night, in a bar of a Mexican hotel where they are both staying, these two men meet. Before long, they find themselves having an extremely unique 'Mexico City' experience, one that will change them both forever. What more could clash? Julian the hit man, Danny the ordinary American businessman find that while they have nothing in common whatsoever, they both need each other in ways they never knew they would.

Highlight of the film for me was the scene in the bull-ring, where Julian gave Danny an insight into what an hitman really does.



I thoroughly enjoyed this film, watching the experienced assassin gradually lose the plot...with Danny at his side.



Pierce was the main attraction of the movie, and if ever the old question of whether there was life after James Bond ever needed answering, he gave it crystally clear that there was. He had the perfect the mix of suaveness and showed moments of the character's 'self-doubt' well.

Trinity's verdict: 2 hours wonderfully spent - the best Pierce Brosnan comedy to date! A well deserved 5-star rating!

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Movie Releases - This week I recommend..

Right - apologies for the long delay in posting on here folks. Been a bit manic recently...most of which I will place all the info on here :)

But..in the meantime, here are my recommendations for movies to watch at your cinemas this week:

It's Oscar Awards season and out in the UK this week is..



Capote - Nominated for 5 Academy Awards ® (including one for the Best Actor in a Leading Role category), this is the story of the celebrated author Truman Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who decides to make his next project the shocking murders of the Clutter family in a small, conservative Kansas town.... where nothing usually happens. Then, researching his project, the author becomes fascinated with one of the killers, Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.).

Lucky Number Slevin - is set in the world of New York gangsters and follows a case of mistaken identity, which lands Josh Hartnett's character (Slevin) in the middle of a murder being plotted by one of the city's most notorious crime bosses. Starring Morgan Freeman, Bruce Willis, and Sir Ben Kinglsey, this film sets to be something of a satisfying view on for a Friday/Saturday night. Sorry...no film website for this release :(

Aside from a couple of 'Scary Movie' comedies out, i wouldn't really like to put my name to those recommendations...but by all means check out 'Date Movie' if you dare :)

Movie Releases - I recommend...

Right...back to business..

My recommendations this week are:



Final Destination 3 - set 6 years after the original story, this installment centres around a high school student who has a premonition of a fatal roller coaster accident - involving herself and everyone of her friends. When it comes true, Death comes after those who manage to escape the freak accident. A film that I am very much looking forward to seeing.

And the only other film that i definitely recommend is..



{proof} - Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by David Auburn, "Proof" follows a devoted daughter (Gwyneth Paltrow) who comes to terms with the death of her father (Anthony Hopkins) - a brilliant mathematician whose genius was crippled by mental instanity - and is forced to face her own long-harbored fears and emotions. Over time she adjusts to his death with the aid of one of her father's former mathematical students (Jake Gyllenhaal) who searches through her father's notebooks in the hope of discovering a bit his extraordinary mind. While coming to terms with the possibility that his genius, which she was inherited, may come at a painful price, her estranged sister (Hope Davis) arrives to help settle their father's affairs.
Having lost her real father a few years back, Paltrow is set to give a moving performance. Having lost my own father a few years back too...I am eager to see how this grief is translated on screen.

And there we have it...my recommendations this week!

Back again..

Really sorry for the long delays in posting. Been a bit of a manic week both at work, gym and social life.

Two topics I will bring up today..meetings with exes and my recommendations for movie releases in the UK this week.

So first things first...exes.

Why is it so easy to go back? Is it the familiar touch - the whole better the devil you know scenario? Or is it that we're just too lazy to find that someone new, where the unknown seems too daunting to even think about?

The other evening I had drinks with a guy I used to see a few years back, and it was safe to say that I had a great time..

We hadn't seen each other in months, and was great to catch up. Romantically...nothing much has happened in our lives...both guilty of the odd fling here and there, but nothing really serious or long term. The crunch came when at the end of the night...in a drunken-fuelled conversation, I asked him if he definitely had to go back home that night. Alas he did...but we both felt a strong attraction that night, but the practicality of working the next day, and getting back to my place to change/him back to his place to get changed in the early hours of the morning just didn't sway in my favour.
So what is this all about...the first interest I get in a while is from an ex of a few years back? We're compatible...both in and out of the bedroom. So what's the problem? Well...we both know each other all too well..and wouldn't want to ruin the peace that we have built up over the years..

It IS a shame though, because we seemed to click all over again...but then again maybe this is expected of past relationships?

So can this circle ever be broken? Or do we hunt down a new person to throw the hula-hoop over and claim them as our new fascination? One thing I know...it was good to feel appreciated again. Not only sexually (which by the way...nothing happened the other night....honest!) but mentally. It felt great to be appreciated for the whole package, rather than just the sex side..
I think we all need to feel that appreciation in our lives...and you lucky folk who are already attached...at least you can have in on demand most of the time. Although having said that...some say that the lust/love side of things becomes less pronounced after a few years. Or is that just with gay men?

I'll let you ponder on that one..

See the next post for my movie releases recommendations..

I'm back..

Sorry for the delay folks...Been up and down with doing stuff away from the ole blogger.

Anyway...I went on a Speed Dating event, and it was kind of refreshing.....better than what I thought it was going to be. Check out my mini review of my experience..

The event was held by: www.xfactordates.com

There were just over 30 guys there, and we got to date just over 25 of them. There were loads of good looking guys there, however a few didn't really have much going on between the ears. In the 3 mins (which most of the time felt like 1 min) you have to try and gage enough information about the individual and select an option on your scorecard of whether you think 'Yes', 'No' or 'Friend'..I'd say there was an even split of guys i thought were either in the no/friend category. Several i actually marked 'Yes'...but the snag is to wait and see what they marked me. I've logged all my results onto the website and wait for them to mark me accordingly. If they marked me as a 'Yes' ( and me vice versa) then i will get access to their contact details...and i can take it from there. All in all...after a wine-fuelled experience...i wasn't disappointed. Most were very chatty, and the dates shyed away from the traditional 'strict questions'...eg: What would you do in this instance...etc.

If most of the speed dating events are like this one..then i'd highly recommend them. The trick is not to expect anything from it...and relax.

So this weekend...anyone up to anything interesting?

This weekend i shall be in Brighton, going to a party event with a friend off the internet..who i should add...i have never met :S We get along fine...and he's asked me to be his guest for the gala, so it should be fun.

Work wise I've been the boss since Monday, as my boss has gone away for a week. Been going well...apart from a very difficult and lazy worker. He says he's done certain things...but after investigation we find he hasn't. What to do...I really don't know, but a group of us will be bringing it up with our manager discreetly. It's sounds horrible to go behind his back...but what other way is there to deal with people like this - despite asking if he's ok with work, and offered to answer any questions he may have?

Oh well....will see how that goes.

Entertainment, entertainment, enterainment. Folks...sorry I failed to provide you with my film recommendations for the coming week. This Friday though I will definitely be giving my choices for all you cinema fans out there :D

In the mean time I must dash..

:)