Entries for November 2008

I have a confession to make: I often have absolutely no idea what is going on in James Bond movies. I mean, I can physically see whichever actor playing Agent 007 at the time chases down bad guys in an Italian sports car, dodging bullets as he performs corkscrew maneuvers flying over a cliff in the Mediterranean before ejecting himself mid-air and continuing the pursuit on a high-powered Vespa — that he parachuted onto.

At some point in his life, a guy is going to wonder if he's a good role model for young people. Basketball bad boy Charles Barkley once defiantly stated, "I'm not a role model. Just because I can dunk a basketball doesn't mean I should raise your kids." Another time he got right to the chase: "I'm no role model," he said.

Earlier this year, Angelina Jolie lost the Oscar for Best Actress for her role as Mariane Pearl in "A Mighty Heart," the story of a woman who lost her husband in Iraq while the two were working as journalists there. Come February, it may be another tale of deep personal loss that earns Jolie the Academy Award that eluded her just a year before. If she's not a serious candidate for her role as a woman searching for her missing son in Clint Eastwood's "Changeling," something's more off than a corrupt police department.

Edward Norton should really consider making more movies. In fact, I wouldn't be all that opposed to him being in every movie ever made. If it prevents me from having to watch another lame Vin Diesel or Brendan Fraser action picture, why not? Norton does action and drama so much better than almost anyone.