Casino Royale (2006)

DVD
Leighton & Sabine: *** 1/2

The new Bond is pretty slick. Casino Royale is a "reboot" or "restart" of the Bond myth, basically taking us back to when Bond is a brand-new double-0 agent. But we haven't gone back to the 60s, and Judy Dench is still M, so it's starting over from the present. The new Bond is Daniel Craig (Lara Croft, Road to Perdition). He's got all the action of previous Bonds, but very little of the techno-wizardry. There was no Q in this movie giving Bond any crazy gadgets. The beginning of the movie has a dynomite chase sequence using the "free running" style of the French Parkour fad. It was pretty cool. About the only flaw in the movie we could find is that the ending tends to drag on a bit and feels a little anticlimactic after everything that came before it.

Here is the trailer...

Borat (2006)

Actually, the full title of this movie is...
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
NetFlix Rental
Leighton: ****

The character of Borat Sagdiyev originated on the television show Da Ali G Show. He is a fictional television reporter from the country of Kazakhstan who is terrified of Jews and in love with Pamela Anderson (FYI, the actor and creator of Borat is himself Jewish). He is in America to learn about us and our customs. The point of the movie (and of the segments he appeared in on the TV show) is for Borat to act stupid in front of unsuspecting Americans and get them to act stupid in return.

I already knew what to expect from the movie since I was familiar with the TV show. I thought it was hysterical. Yes, parts were shocking. Yes, parts were stupid. But that disguises a lot of the intelligence of the movie. There is a reason Roger Ebert describes it as "the funniest movie in years." and gives it four stars.

And, really. How can you not appreciate a guy who stands in the center of a rodeo and, in fake broken English, proclaims to the audience of proud Americans, "We support your war of terror."

Here is a sample of Borat from the TV show where he gets a bar full of Americans to sing along to the song "Throw the Jew Down the Well."

The Departed (2006) & Infernal Affairs (2002)

The Departed - Blockbuster Rental
Infernal Affairs (Mou gaan dou) - NetFlix Rental

Leighton: Departed - ****, Infernal Affairs - ***

I decided to do a combined review of the Academy Award winning movie The Departed along with the original Chinese movie that it was based on, Infernal Affairs.

When an American remake of a popular foreign is made, I generally prefer the original to the remake (case in point, La Femme Nikita vs. Point of No Return).

The Departed is the rare case where I actually preferred the remake. I can't point to any one thing as to why this is so. The Departed just left me more satisfied at its conclusion, overall. The Departed is a great Martin Scorsese film, but I can't say if it's his best since Goodfellas since I haven't seen many of his films in between. The story was basically the same in Infernal Affairs, except the gang was a drug dealing Triad gang in Hong Kong rather than an Irish mafia gang in Boston dealing in stolen computer chips. Each mole is racing to find his counterpart, as in The Departed. In Infernal Affairs, there are two female leads, who were combined into a single character in The Departed. And the ending is slightly different in Internal Affairs. [Highlight text to read spoiler -> One of the characters who dies at the end of The Departed doesn't die at the end of Infernal Affairs. I'll let you wonder which one. <- End Spoiler]

I definitely recommend The Departed unless you're really put off by violence. If you're interested in the origin of the story, Infernal Affairs was a good movie. But I don't think you're missing out on anything if you decide to skip it.

Sir! No Sir! (2005)

Netflix Rental
Leighton: ****

Sir! No Sir! is a documentary about the GI movement to end the war in Vietnam. I really enjoyed it and was amazed at how widespread the movement was. Today, the Internet and blogs make it easy for information to be spread. Then they had underground newspapers, pirate radio, and word of mouth. The interviews with members of the movement are really fascinating.

Here is the trailer for the documentary...