The Tea Parties that have sprung up all over the country are a grassroots response to our Government spending more money than they have. It is a legitimate action taken by people who are sick of our governments financial decisions of the past 6 months. This is not just an indictment on Obama, but also on Bush, as well as our congress for letting things get so far out of hand, and stepping over lines into the control of the private business sector. The liberal media is trying hard to ignore the Tea Parties. They show quick shots of the protestors, and then a liberal politician denouncing them as an organized group of conservatives, sponsored by some right wing money. Of course no one ever names the source of the money, or even better addresses why these people are protesting all over the country. So desperate to dissmiss the Tea Parties, Keith Olbermann of MSNBC's The Countdown, had Janeane Garafalo on to give a rant full of lies, "Let's be very honest about what this is about. This is not about bashing Democrats. It's not about taxes. They have no idea what the Boston Tea Party was about. They don't know their history at all. It's about hating a black man in the White House. This is racism straight up and is nothing but a bunch of teabagging rednecks. There is no way around that." Nothing she said is true, and as such, I wonder why Keith Olbermann did not require that the arrogant has-been, back up any of her bull. She is just another useful idiot for the liberal media. Whereas a news channel pretending to be unbiased could not say those things, they can allow a hate monger like her to say it for them. There is no way around that.

For years the animated shorts were one of those annoying categories at the Oscars wherein the nominated films were never seen by the vast majority of people watching the telecast. Thanks to the internet though it has become much easier for you and I to see them.

Presto (available for sale on iTunes) - This is the one seen by most people. It's the short that was featured before WALL-E and involves a magician's rabbit desperate attempts to get his carrot. It features Pixar's trademark wit and excellent computer animation.

This Way Up (available for free at BBC.co.uk.) - This one tells the story of two dedicated undertakers comic attempts to carry a casket to its grave, going through the very pits of hell itself to accomplish their goal.

Lavatory - Lovestory (watch it for free on youtube.com) - This is a rather sweet entry with simple line-drawing animation about a lonely female bathroom attendant in Russia who is looking for love and discovers that she has a secret admirer.

Oktapodi (watch it for free on youtube.com) - This is the shortest of the entries but still quite well done and for I'm sure a fraction of Pixar's budget. It shows the lengths an octopus will go to, to get his love back after she is purchased from the seafood store where they are.

"La Maison en Petits Cubes" is the only one I haven't been able to find online yet. I know that the translation means "The House of Small Cubes" and it tells the story of an old man who keeps building his house up higher to escape the flood waters.

My favorite two of the entries are Oktapodi and Presto, but all of them are entertaining. If I was giving the award away it would probably go to Presto even though it almost seems unfair when you compare the resources available to Pixar versus the other animation houses.

*All of the shorts, animated and live action will be available for sale on iTunes beginning Feb. 17th.

BEST PICTURE
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"Frost/Nixon"
"Milk"
"The Reader"
"Slumdog Millionaire"

BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway, "Rachel Getting Married"
Angelina Jolie, "Changeling"
Melissa Leo, "Frozen River"
Meryl Streep, "Doubt"
Kate Winslet, "The Reader"

BEST ACTOR
Frank Langella, "Frost/Nixon"
Sean Penn, "Milk"
Brad Pitt, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler"
Richard Jenkins, "The Visitor"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, "Doubt"
Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
Viola Davis, "Doubt"
Taraji P. Henson, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Marisa Tomei, "The Wrestler"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin, "Milk"
Robert Downey Jr., "Tropic Thunder"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Doubt"
Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight"
Michael Shannon, "Revolutionary Road"

BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire"
Stephen Daldry, "The Reader"
David Fincher, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Ron Howard, "Frost/Nixon"
Gus Van Sant, "Milk"

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Dustin Lance Black, "Milk"
Courtney Hunt, "Frozen River"
Mike Leigh, "Happy-Go-Lucky"
Martin McDonagh, "In Bruges"
Andrew Stanton and Jim Reardon, "WALL-E"

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Simon Beaufoy, "Slumdog Millionaire"
David Hare, "The Reader"
Peter Morgan, "Frost/Nixon"
John Patrick Shanley, "Doubt"
Eric Roth, Robin Swicord, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"The Baader-Meinhof Complex" (Germany)
"The Class" (France)
"Departures" (Japan)
"Revanche" (Austria)
"Waltz with Bashir" (Israel)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
"Bolt"
"Kung Fu Panda"
"WALL-E"

BEST ART DIRECTION
"Changeling"
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Dark Knight"
"The Duchess"
"Revolutionary Road"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
"Changeling" Tom Stern
"Slumdog Millionaire," Anthony Dod Mantle
"The Reader," Chris Menges
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Claudio Miranda
"The Dark Knight," Wally Pfister

BEST FILM EDITING
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall
"The Dark Knight," Lee Smith
"Frost/Nixon," Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill
"Milk," Elliot Graham
"Slumdog Millionaire," Chris Dickens

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
"Australia," Catherine Martin
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Jacqueline West
"The Duchess," Michael O'Conner
"Milk", Danny Glicker
"Revolutionary Road," Albert Wolsky

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)"
"Encounters at the End of the World"
"The Garden"
"Man on Wire"
"Trouble the Water"

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Slumdog Millionaire," "Jai Ho"
"Slumdog Millionaire," "O Saya"
"WALL-E," "Down To Earth"

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Alexandre Desplat
"Defiance," James Newton Howard
"Milk," Danny Elfman
"Slumdog Millionaire," A.R. Rahman
"WALL-E," Thomas Newman

BEST MAKEUP
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Dark Knight"
"Hellboy II: The Golden Army"

BEST SOUND EDITING
"The Dark Knight"
"Iron Man"
"Slumdog Millionaire"
"WALL-E"
"Wanted"

BEST SOUND MIXING
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Dark Knight"
"Slumdog Millionaire"
"WALL-E"
"Wanted"

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Dark Knight"
"Iron Man"

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
"Auf der Strecke (On the Line)"
"Manon on the Asphalt"
"New Boy"
"The Pig"
"Spielzeugland (Toyland)"

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
"La Maison en Petits Cubes"
"Lavatory - Lovestory"
"Oktapodi"
"Presto"
"This Way Up"

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
"The Conscience of Nhem En"
"The Final Inch"
"Smile Pinki"
"The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306

Die Another Day is the 21st James Bond movie that I have watched in the past 21 days. It's also the last Bond movie with Pierce Brosnan in the lead and the last Bond movie before the reboot with Daniel Craig.

This go round is very different in tone than Brosnan's earlier Bond movies. It contains a lot more gadgets and is more overtly science-fiction than his previous outings. People complain about the invisible car being too over-the-top.

I think most people actually misunderstand this movie. What it really is, is a tribute to all of the Bond movies that came before it. If you made a drinking game out of this movie by taking a drink every time a reference is made to an earlier Bond movie, you would be totally shitfaced by the time the movie had ended. If you know the movies well (or if you've just watched all previous 19 of the official Bond movies in a row, as I did), then you will see all of the little gadgets and lines that are nods to the earlier movies that are hidden inside this one.

Most of the Classic Bond movies feature Sci-Fi elements so naturally this one does. They also featured gadgets, so this one does too. Is an invisible car really any more absurd than a car that turned into a submarine? Or a car that turned into a plane? Two things both featured in Bond movies of the 1970s. I think it's just that seeing these things now comes as a shock because Brosnan's first three Bond films were more realistic.

But were they realistic at all? At best, any Bond movie is only pseudo-realistic; even the Daniel Craig Bonds. None of the Bond movies are believable. They're fantasy.

No, the invisible car isn't a problem, but the CGI Bond stunts are. When Roger Moore was Bond there were some outrageous stunts; skiing off the cliff, flipping the car across the river, etc.. What was great about them was that even when you said, "No fucking way!" while watching them, you knew that someone had really done that stunt, which made them kind of awesome anyway, even if they were too far out there. But with CGI Bond you lose that awesomeness. Am I supposed to think, "There's no way that could happen, but damn those computer graphic guys really went out on a limb with that one!"?

People (wrongly) claim that Daniel Craig's Bond is like the Bond of Ian Fleming's novels. Well this movie is more like the James Bond of the movies, all the movies. It's not the best entry in the series, but what it is, is a loving tribute and a celebration of all those movies that came before it. Sure, it misses the boat a few times, but it hardly deserves the bad rap that it has been given since its release.


Included below is a quote from the Internet Movie Database's page of trivia regarding the in-movie references to earlier Bond films.

In honor of the franchise's - 40th anniversary, there are references to each of the previous - 19 Bond films, including: - Dr. No (1962) - Jinx (Halle Berry) walking out of the sea in a bikini, wearing a white belt and a diving knife. The synthesizer sounds from the opening credits play when Bond escapes the MI6 hospital. The gun that Jinx has to surrender to Miranda on board the plane is a Beretta Cheetah. In "Dr. No", the Armorer remarks to 007 that the Beretta made a good woman's pistol. During the "Kiss Of Life" scene, David Arnold's film score includes samples of the same electronic sounds heard in the gun barrel sequence of "Dr. No." In that film, Bond asks if the government house sent him a car; he uses the name "Universal Exports" in order to be patched through. In this movie, Bond claims he is from Universal Exports asking about the Delectados (cigars) in order to gain access to the contact in Cuba. - From Russia with Love (1963) - The shoe with the poison-tipped blade is seen in Q's station laboratory. There is a knife concealed in a briefcase. In the ice palace sequence, there is a game board (the chess match). Enemy spies are behind a one-way mirror in a hotel room with cameras. Graves' engineer is seen holding the Icarus control and petting it like it is a cat. When they first meet, Jinx tells James her name, and adds, "My friends call me Jinx." Bond replies, "Mine call me James Bond." In "From Russia with Love", Tatiana Romanova introduces herself and adds, "My friends call me Tania," and Bond gives the same reply. - Goldfinger (1964) - Jinx is nearly cut with a laser in Mr. Kil's laboratory. The rest of the fight scene is also a tribute. Bond once again drives a gadget-laden Aston Martin, specifically with a passenger ejector seat. The new Q comments that, as he learned from his predecessor, "I never joke about my work, 007." The scene where Bond and Graves fence for money, only to see Bond up the stakes for one of Graves' diamonds, is suggestive of the golf match between Bond and Auric Goldfinger. The golf match had originally been for money, until Bond throws down a gold brick to "up the stakes". Bond is threatened with death in a depressurizing plane. Bond and Jinx receive electric shocks from a villain - Oddjob was killed by electrocution. In the pre-title sequence, Bond removes a wetsuit to reveal ordinary clothes underneath. - Thunderball (1965) - The jet-pack in Q's workshop. Bond uses a pen-like underwater breathing system. After Bond comes through the window of the medical facility in Cuba, he grabs a few grapes as he did before making his exit from a room in the medical center in "Thunderball". - You Only Live Twice (1967) - Scenes of the Icarus unfolding in space are shown on screens in the Ice Palace. Jinx descends from the ceiling of the fake diamond mine on a rope system similar to that of the ninjas in the volcano crater lair. The name of the ship Bond is on: the HMS Tenby. The use of Japanese swords in the films. Bond's death is faked (or exaggerated) in both films to free up 007's maneuverability - On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) - "OHMSS" written on a CD on Moneypenny's desk as she types a report at the end of the film. Bond escapes from another huge avalanche. During the ice field car chase, the score references the opening to this movie's theme. - Diamonds Are Forever (1971) - While fencing with Bond, Graves says, "Well, diamonds are for everyone." Much of the plot includes diamonds. A large satellite is uncovered in space and has the power to harness the sun's rays and project them as a fine laser to destroy any given target. In the "High Life" magazine article for Gustav Graves' diamond company, the caption at the bottom says, "Diamonds are forever, but life isn't" A villain changes his appearance. One character calls another "Bitch!" in a single line--this was, famously, the first strong curse word used in a Bond film. - Live and Let Die (1973) - The laser causes row upon row of explosions across a vegetated area, in this case detonating thousands of land mines, and is reminiscent of the extermination of Kananga's poppy fields. Bond uses the same revolver used on the island of St. Monique. - The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) - The corridors in the secret area of the Gene Technology department in the Cuban hospital contain rotating mirrors and objects, much like Scaramanga's Fun Palace. The Field office of MI6 is on a ship in the Hong Kong harbor. Bond retrieves a diamond from Jinx's navel (bullet in the belly-dancer's navel). There is a solar-powered superweapon. - The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) - Graves uses a Union Jack parachute. The Ice Palace resembles in some ways Stromberg's Atlantis hideout. When Madonna's character is introduced, a few bars of "Nobody Does it Better" is heard. - Moonraker (1979) - Moon's hovercraft falls down by a large waterfall in a manner similar to Jaws' boat going over the Iguaçu Falls. Bond surfaces in a bubbling pool of water surrounded by much interior vegetation, similar to the scene with the water python in Drax's headquarters. Both movies have spies named Chang. Bond's sword fight with Graves was much like the fight with Chang in the glass factory. Bond and a villain fight over a parachute - For Your Eyes Only (1981) - The scene as Bond hangs onto the ice cliff (before it collapses) resembles the climax near the monastery, especially as the rope slips and Bond drops some distance further down the cliff, although this time it was all performed from a vehicle. The yellow diving helmet in Q's lab. - Octopussy (1983) - Both the crocodile submarine and the AcroStar MiniJet are visible in the background in Q's station laboratory. Upping the stakes on a bet with the villain (see also Goldfinger). Jinx's backward fall to escape echoes Magda's exit from Bond's suite. Q's coil of "magic rope" being kept on the lowest shelf in the Q lab, along with a lot of the five-pointed knife. - A View to a Kill (1985) - Bond is suspended over a cliff on the wire and hook much like the Russian guard in the Siberian chase that Bond catches. Bond once again uses a rather unorthodox method of skiing, this time the hatch from the back of the car. Graves watches over the destruction that he wreaks from the front windows of his aircraft in the same way that Zorin watched Silicon Valley from his aircraft before it flooded. The electronic snooper is in Q's lab. Bond's cover is blown by his picture being taken and run through a facial recognition program. - The Living Daylights (1987) - Cars exit the rear cargo hold of the plane. Bond's Aston Martin had retractable spikes in the tires controlled by a switch labeled traction. When Bond is driving Graves' rocket car, he drives through a patch of trees and bits are shorn off, just as the skis on the Aston Martin are removed by trees in The Living Daylights. - Licence to Kill (1989) - The plot idea of Bond going renegade, although this time it is less through choice. M rescinds Bond's licence to kill. Bond uses a rifle as a sniper. When Bond disarms the Chinese "masseuse", she has her weapon concealed in exactly the same fashion as Pam Bouvier. A projectile misses Bond's car when it passes underneath. The hanging yellow laser controller in Kil's lab is the same one that operates the trap door over the shark tank in Krest's warehouse. Bond puts the Alvarez Clinic ticket inside his right jacket pocket, and later pulls it out of the left one. In "Licence to Kill", Bond puts his airplane ticket first into his inner left jacket pocket, only to inexplicably remove it later on from his inner right jacket pocket. - GoldenEye (1995) - Bond's watch contains a laser, which he uses to cut through a section of ice, reminiscent of his escape from the train by cutting through the floor. Jinx sets the timer for the bomb at the gene therapy lab in Cuba to three minutes, the same three minutes that Bond set the timers for in the chemical weapons lab and later Trevelyan set the timers for on the bullet train. Bond is betrayed by a fellow agent. A man is killed by a falling ice chandelier, reminiscent of Trevelyan's death in GoldenEye. Bond says to Jinx that "the cold must have kept you alive" - In "Goldeneye" Bond tells Natalya Simonova that being cold is what keeps him alive. The opening title sequences feature a gold eye that opens. Jinx makes a dive from the DNA compound wall into the sea which is very similar to Bond's dive from the dam in "GoldenEye". The US command bunker in South Korea has computer monitors suspended from the ceiling, looking very similar to the monitors suspended from the ceiling in the Severnaya control room in "GoldenEye". - Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) - Jinx throws a knife straight into a guard's throat just as he comes through a door. This is similar to a scene on the Stealth Ship where Wai-Lin sticks a Shuriken throwing star into a guard's throat just as he finds her (this scene is deleted from some "Tomorrow Never Dies" releases on VHS and DVD). Remote control car. Jinx descends on grappling lines, reminiscent of Wai-Lin's entrance/escape. Bond escapes by being tethered and running down a wall similar to Wai-Lin's escape. There is a fake headline on Moneypenny's computer. In the pre-credits sequence in Korea, Bond jumps onto a hovercraft and spins round firing missiles, much like the pre-credits sequence of "Tomorrow Never Dies" where Bond spins a military jet and uses its guns and missiles. A Chinese character called Chang. The footage showing a ship launching the anti-satellite missile, is exactly the same footage used in the opening scene of TND, where the ship launches a cruise missile against the terrorist camp. Bond's car "speaks" with the same voice in both films. - The World Is Not Enough (1999) - Bond dives over Graves as they fence to do a forward roll as he lands, in a manner similar to the shoot-out between Renard's men and himself where he dives through a closing door and rolls the other side. As Bond dives to safety from Moon's flamethrower on the hovercraft, the shot of his dive from in front is almost identical to another scene where Bond is diving from an exploding bomb with Christmas. The use of a geodesic dome. - The World Is Not Enough (2000) (VG) - Bond's training program is essentially the same as the second level of the game. - Some of the incidental music (minus of course the James Bond Theme, which is used in every film) is re-used in this film, notably at the end as Bond beds Jinx. - The cars Zao owns are all updated model of former Bond cars Q mentions in his station laboratory as he hands Bond his new watch: "This is your twentieth, I believe," in a nod to this being the twentieth film occurring on the fortieth anniversary.

Still chugging my way through all of the Bond movies in order and I'm now up to The World is Not Enough, Pierce Brosnan's penultimate appearance as 007. I have to say, Brosnan's first 3 Bond movies were quite outstanding. The writing, the acting, and the balance between comedy and tension, fantasy and reality are all very well done.

One bit of trivia about this movie is that it contains the longest pre-credit sequence of any Bond film, clocking in at 14 minutes. This was due to the original pre-credit sequence of Bond escaping from the office in Spain not being considered exciting enough, so they just moved the credits back to include the boat chase on the Thames.

I have to agree with the one common complaint most people have with this movie and that is the casting of Denise Richards as a Nuclear Physicist. It sounds like a joke, but when you watch the movie it appears that it's one that the filmmakers weren't in on.

Just rewatched Tomorrow Never Dies, Pierce Brosnan's second outing as James Bond, and was struck again by what a missed opportunity this movie has. Teri Hatcher plays Paris, a woman from Bond's past. I think it would have been great if they had actually chosen to cast a previous Bond girl in the part. In the movie Bond has feelings for this woman because of their shared past, but the audience has no relationship with her character so it doesn't have the same emotional oomph it could have. They could have cast Maryam d'Abo from The Living Daylights, I always thought it seemed like her and Timothy Dalton's Bond had something real going on by the end of the movie.

That also reminded me that part of the reason I don't enjoy the Daniel Craig Bond films is that because they rebooted the series, we no longer have the history that the series built up over the years and occasionally made use of.

Random surfing on the internet led me to discover that the very first filmed female orgasm in a mainstream movie came in 1933's Ekstase (Ecstasy) starring Hedy Lamarr. She also flashs her breasts in an earlier scene while swimming. You can watch part of the movie here. If you skip to the 6:30 mark you'll see the love scene.

And you just have to love the symbolism of the dripping flowers at the end of the scene.

Damn you Hays Code for stopping movies like this!

As I continue plowing my way through the James Bond movies in chronological order, I've now arrived at For Your Eyes Only, which I'd already reviewed. But as watching them in order, so close together has given me new insights in James Bond, I wanted to jot down a few reactions to watching the movie this time.

First there is the jokey pre-credit sequence that seems out of place when compared to the rest of the movie. I have an explanation for it at last. It is a dream Bond has while flying in the helicopter back to headquarters. He was just at his wife's grave so naturally he would be thinking of Blofeld. And in his dream Blofeld is still wearing the neck brace he was wearing when he killed Tracy. He's also bald like he was in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. We know that by Diamond's are Forever (his last appearance), Blofeld wasn't wearing a back brace and he had hair so why would he be wearing one here unless it was a dream? If only the opening had ended with Bond opening his eyes with the pilot saying, "Mr. Bond, we've landed." It would have been perfect.

This opening reference to the late Mrs. Bond is part of what is almost a homage to On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Like that movie this one features a serious tone, a lot of skiing, a fight on a beach with Bond in tuxedo pants and shirt, but no jacket. And when Bond is dragged off to meet Columbo it's a lot like when he was dragged off to meet Draco.

Roger Moore looks way too old for this part and watching the ski chase now it's ridiculous to think that old guy is doing all of those super-human stunts on skis. And when Bond flirts with equally creaky Moneypenny, it's like watching your grandparents flirt. For most of the movie this is actually fine as this Bond doesn't seem to be trying to play younger except during the action scenes.

One sad note is that this is the first Bond movie not to feaure Bernard Lee as M, Bond's crusty old boss. Lee passed away from stomach cancer and it would be a few movies before they officially recast his part. He had a prudish disapproving chemistry with both Connery and Moore's Bond that was a small but fun part of the series.

In Eric's review of this movie he specifically states that the line, "I Love a drive in the country, don't you?" is groan inducing and Moore's only bad line in the movie. I actually enjoyed that line. It is the most Roger Mooreish of all the lines and it suits him. His is the unflappable Bond.