Work and movies...

I've been working a lot and then coming home and collapsing in an exhausted heap. Things at the new gig are chaotic. It bothers me because I feel very rushed and consumed by work. I'm hoping the holidays will bring a nice slowdown. The upside of the new gig is that it is a child focused non-profit- which is awesome, and it has a generous time off policy where you earn a day and a half off every month and you get all the obscure holidays off, plus a 'floating holiday' of your choice. I will be taking a my "floating holiday" on Dec. 26 and a personal time off day from my time off bank on Dec 27. I'm very much looking forward to it.

If you know me, you know that I love going to the movies- in the movie theater, J., my husband doesn't really understand, but to me the movies represent the opportunity to "check out"- you are in a dark, quiet place, transported into a story (hopefully) and it is acceptable, nay, almost required that you eat snacks and drink soda pop. You can for an hour and a half or so, tune out the world. To me, a little slice of heaven. Plus, I really like all kinds of movies.

Anyway, Saturday night J. and I saw "Casino Royale"- I'm not a huge Bond fan, but have watched a good deal of the Bond movies either in the theater and on TV. I was a little skeptical of the new Bond, simply because I like Pierce Brosnan. Anyway, I wasn't sure of the choice of Daniel Craig- I was thinking that Clive Owen (see him in "Croupier" he is fabulous and intense) would make a better Bond. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by Daniel Craig- first of all- he is smokin' hot! I swear the women in the audience audibly gasped at the sight of him in the swim trunks emerging from the ocean. He has the most blue, blue eyes I have ever seen. I read a reviewer that compared him to Steve McQueen, and I think that is accurate. He has that vibe.

Other than the eye candy factor (the movie is equal opportunity eye-candy, there were plenty of gorgeous women in the film) It was a very good story line. Plenty of action, minus much of the lame humor and silly gagetry that other Bond films had devolved into. Even though it was an edgier action film, it still kept faith with the key elements of the Bond tradition- a freaky villian with a bizarre tic (spoiler alert: the villian cries blood) Nobody rocks a tuxedo like James Bond, fabulous European locales, spy double agents, incredible cars. Judi Dench is "M" and does a wonderful job. I highly recommend "Casino Royale" even if you are not a Bond fan.

Another film out I highly recommend is "Stranger than Fiction" - starring Will Farrell and Emma Thompson. Will Farrell does not play his usual over the top comedic character in this. He is a dull IRS agent who finds his life narrated by Emma Thompson, who plays a neurtoic writer. It was fun to see a comedy that was intelligent and engaging at the same time. It could have come off as a ham handed "message movie" about "living your life to the fullest" but it was so well done and clever it avoided that pitfall. Dustin Hoffman has a wonderful small role in the film.