Actor Corey Haim has been found dead at age 38 in his apartment from an apparent overdose. While this will be a harsh reminder to many of how out of control drugs and our society have become, many of us eighties children will reminisce on the movies he starred in that we love. A quick glimpse at his filmography shows a career spanning over two decades with classics such as The Lost Boys in the list. Although Haim had fallen from grace as a child actor, and had become the brunt of many jokes this decade – mostly due to a reality tv stint with fellow Corey in the Two Coreys. He was working and doing his thing with five movies in pre-production and a possible comeback in 2010.

For you young readers who have no clue who this man is and why the internet blogosphere is lining up to post news of his death, rent or pick up a movie called The Lost Boys from Netflix. Here’s a sad video of Corey and his good friend Corey Feldman discussing his battle with drugs:

Corey Haim’s Filmography

The Edison Twins (1982) (TV) Firstborn (1984) Secret Admirer (1985) Silver Bullet (1985) A Time to Live (1985) (TV) Murphy’s Romance (1985) Lucas (1986) Roomies (1987) (TV) The Lost Boys (1987) Watchers (1988) License to Drive (1988) Dream a Little Dream (1989) The Dream Machine (1990) Fast Getaway (1991) Prayer of the Rollerboys (1991) Oh, What a Night (1992) The Double 0 Kid (1992) Blown Away (1992)

Double Switch (1993) (VG) Anything for Love (1993) Fast Getaway II (1994) National Lampoon’s Last Resort (1994) Dream a Little Dream 2 (1995) Life 101 (1995) Snowboard Academy (1996) Shooter on the Side (1996) Fever Lake (1996) (V) Demolition High (1996) Busted (1996) Never Too Late (1997) Demolition University (1997) (V) Merlin (1998) (TV) Without Malice (2000) (TV) The Back Lot Murders (2002) Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003) Universal Groove (2007)

Lost Boys: The Tribe (2008) Crank: High Voltage (2009) Shark City (2009) Terminal Hotel (2009) American Sunset (2009) Trade In (2009) The Girl (2010) The Pick Up (2010)

For the record Corey Haim has been battling drug addiction for a long time. Although he was relatively forgotten in the last decade of Hollywood celebrities and actor favorites, death is always the great reminder and I am sure that Haim will be remembered for the positives within his life on and off screen.

How much cocaine can I buy for 100 Million? Please I need to know this, please answer me people! Is it enough to snort “white girl” for the rest of my life? Myself and Lindsay Lohan wish to know, in case her latest attempt on cashing in on some Superbowl  bread pans out.

Do you even remember Lindsay Lohan? Well you probably recognize the name but don’t remember anything she has starred in or even care. She did do a movie way back in the day called Mean Girls and has been the brunt of many a “drunk crack whore” joke since then. What Lindsay is REALLY known for and will never live down is being part of the foul wave of crotch-shot heavy, drug-ridden, spoilt, rich, over-celebritied brat pack of Hollywood (circa early 2000) that held people such as Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie in its membership. Well Lindsay has resurfaced recently – and no it’s not for an upcoming movie or anything, but for a frivolous lawsuit against E*Trade for their latest ad featuring a baby girl named Lindsay that is labeled a “milkaholic” by the E*Trade baby’s girlfriend.

Hmmm, am I to assume that only one Lindsay exists? That the gingered coke-aholic is THE Lindsay. Well I say nay! I have known many a Lindsay, so if this one gets 100 Mil, I think they should too. But let’s take a look at the ad before we continue tearing this crackhead actress a new one.

Cute!

So if this doesn’t scream opportunistic bullshit suit I don’t know what does. Hey Lindsay get over yourself hon, I had forgotten about you, your substance abuse and your train wreck of a life prior to reading this today. None of us guys at the heavily populated Super Bowl party that I attended -- watching this ad premier even recalled your drunk ass when we saw cute Milkaholic baby girl. Please go away or go star in something else other than online scandal rags and Google Image nip-slip cameos. If you get even a penny off of this it will only green light other washed up coke addicts to come out of the woodwork to sue companies in order to keep their dream merchant happy. Amy Winehouse I hope you’re paying careful attention to this… okay that was mean, I love Amy’s music, I should stop now.

We will be watching the outcome of all this with great interest.

Most of us are salivating at the mouth at the prospect of seeing Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) don the Red and Gold to fight off Whiplash in the Iron Man 2 sequel. Well did you know that Stark has several suits for different occasions? Of course you do, but I am asking the non comic book nerds reading this…. well check out this trailer and wait till the few seconds near the end where Stark dons a brand new suit. It’s enough to bring a tear to the eye, this movie is going to be awesome… and yes ScarJo is looking pretty damn tasty as the Black Widow, but come on with all the technology and firepower going on, who has time to admire sexy femme fatales? Check it out and if you aren’t excited for Iron Man 2 you may want to check if you still have a pulse!

Moonraker represents the epitome of far-fetched in the James Bond series. This is a heavy crown to wear being that the James Bond series in general had embraced “far-fetched” a long time ago since the entrance of Roger Moore as 007. Moonraker feature’s space-aged laser beam fights (yes laser beams), James Bond teaming up with long-time rival Jaws (Richard Kiel) and the villain has a plot to wipe out earth to repopulate her with perfect people. Let that sink in for a second as you think about it, laser beam fights, a Nazi-caliber plan of world domination and James Bond.

Outside of the ridiculous plot and people involved, this is one of Moore’s best portrayals as James Bond. For fans of James conquering women sexually, he sleeps with every woman that bats eyes at him in this movie, counting three separate women who spend the night with him in three different countries. The gadgetry is restricted to a cool wrist dart, but the device is used quite effectively throughout when James deemed it necessary. Moonraker fails as a compelling James Bond movie, trying it’s best to be what it isn’t a Sci-Fi, Space-aged action movie. The lasers looked awful and seeing the Americans clash with the bad guys in their astronaut outfits shooting lasers was such a bad look.

Moonraker does come with a ton of eye-candy, depicting Rio de Janeiro as a haven of scantily clad sexy women, jiggling and shaking their asses down the street. The villain Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale) was hell bent on building the perfect world so he of course kept a haven of beautiful women on his island, more eye-candy for this movie even when it wasn’t even necessary. Sadly the weakest and most horrid movies in the James Bond series are numbered within the Roger Moore legacy, this being one of them. It’s a shame that such a great portrayal of James is lost amidst the laser beam fire and bad special effects but he more than makes up for it in his next movie For Your Eyes Only.

Bond-o-meter Score (ranges from 1-10)
James Bond/Story (9): Roger Moore does not disappoint as 007, and again he delivers in his role. Too bad the writing could not do him justice and he was the only bright light in this debacle.
Bond Girl – Holly Goodhead (5): After meeting Corinne Dufour (Corinne Clery), Dr. Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles) seemed bland and not so hot. Nothing special about this gal and her act has been done before.
Bond Toys (5): a wrist watch that shoots darts and a supped up power boat… yawn?
The Villain (4): Hugo Drax, while being a driven man with more money than god, mr. Drax had zero charisma or coolness to him. He was a boring villain and we hate boring villains.
Spicy Rating (4): A forgettable pile of garbage with space-age laser beams. Not thanks, NEXT!

  STAR RATING: (5/10)   ★★★★★★★★★★

Of all the positives that Alice yielded, the pacing was tops as it started, spanned and ended in very good time. My viewing was done in IMAX 3D but it only reinforced how well Avatar was done to take advantage of the technology. Alice does not need 3D to work, being a colorful, bright and beautiful movie that incorporated a lot of contrastingly dark landscapes to the bright animation. The 3D was a bit of a bonus on top of all this but had I seen it without I would not have felt as if I missed anything. Still it will get its fair share of critique by the usual suspects and will no doubt get mixed reviews on the emphasis on free thinking, enterprising and entrepreneurship through Alice and her father (rolls eyes).

With a fun story and a positive protagonist, Alice in Wonderland manages to capture the magical luster that makes both adult and child like a movie. It’s a safe blind-buy for the future and could turn out to be an awesome Blu-Ray disc once it leaves the Box Office. If you remember anything of the little girl’s trip down the rabbit hole and into the wonderful world of Wonderland then this is a beautiful reminder of the tale.

Beware of Tim Burton Haters with Movie Review Blogs
When you read a negative review on this movie play close attention to it, make sure there are no hints of prejudice towards Tim Burton and his love for casting Johnny Depp. In our modern age it is the cool thing to hate on things like this and unfortunately the trend has found its way into movie and music critique… right Taylor Hicks? Although it didn’t dial home any huge action, suspense or thrill for me, Alice in Wonderland was far from a  bad movie and one that you may want to check out in the near future. Judge for yourself and if you liked it as much as I did, come on back and holler at me.

  STAR RATING: (8/10)   ★★★★★★★★★★

Brooklyn’s Finest is a hardcore drama detailing the lives of three unconnected policemen of differing positions that eventually end up in the same place. The lives of these men lead them to a place of desperation, depression and anger where death is a welcome escape to the lives they live. Director Antoine Fuqua, the man behind the scenes in  Training Day brings us back to this familiar ground of dirty police officers and enterprising ghetto gangsters. The effort is led by three brilliant actors who all played their roles beautifully as Tango (Don Cheadle), Eddie (Richard Gere) and Sal (Ethan Hawke). The pacing was reminiscent of CRASH, a spiraling gloomy descent of intense anticipation as each one of these men reached boiling point as life got harder and harder. Although the finale bordered a bit on ridiculous, I understood the symbolism of it all and enjoyed the movie immensely.

The Players (Three Cops at Boiling Point)

Tango is an undercover cop who has been undercover way too long. So long has he been under that the lines begin to blur as his ambition of reaching detective seems more like a carrot being dangled in front of his face by the upper brass. He is angry, hardened, has done prison time and has made his bones in the streets along with the thugs. To anyone outside of his superiors Tango was the real deal, a rags to riches hustler and boss whose love extended only to his buddy Chaz (Wesley Snipes) the main boss of his drug empire, an ex-con whom he helped get free, and a man who had saved his life in prison. When his wife leaves him and his promotion is threatened Tango begins to fall more into the darkness and the fake street name that he had made for himself begins to become his reality.

Eddie is a burnt out 22 yr veteran of the NYPD who has one week left till retirement. The first time we meet Eddie he has a gun in his mouth and pulls the trigger resulting in a click due to no bullets being in the chamber. Eddie is completely burnt out, he has no life, his woman is a prostitute to whom he pays top dollar for a few hours pleasure. He is aloof, dead to caring about anything except getting out and a miserable wreck to watch onscreen. Of the three characters you can feel the depression of this character, he is done, finished and he made me feel tired just watching him go though the motions to get to that final day. It would have been an easy trip to that pension had the chief not paired poor Eddie up with a rookie who brings him back to reality, an unwelcome reality that leads him to commiting one good act.

Sal is a father of four beautiful kids, his house is a shithole and his wife is pregnant with kids. He is a great father and a struggling Catholic, his poverty straining the strings of his faith. His boys want a room to themselves so that they can get a turtle, his eldest daughter wears her skirts too short. Sal knows that drug money doesn’t end up helping the poor victims of the street but rather ends up padding the pockets of the political fat cats. He needs money because his house has mold that is affecting the health of his wife and unborn kids, but he has a realtor friend and she’s holding a house for him. The house is about to go back on the market if he can’t get her the money within the week. He’s short on money, his salary can’t help him out outside of feeding his family, he prays but God isn’t helping. The daily raids he lead brings him within the reach of thousands of dollars stuffed into stoves, mattresses and toilets. He’s getting desperate and time is running out, he has to make a choice.

The lives of these men are a depressing rollercoaster to watch and of the three I would say that Sal was the hardest to watch. You wanted to cheer for the guy, he was a good father, hated racism, wanted to be a man of faith and was actually quite good at his job. Regardless of all these qualities the one thing he lacked was control, his wife was a baby machine, his check was small and he had no other income stream to help him get better accommodations. His life was a screwed up mess and he wasn’t dealing with it well. All three of these men were extreme caricatures of things we all go through in life, we work at places where we can’t get promoted. We never seem to have enough money and with the aspect of losing our homes looming over our heads we get desperate. Brooklyn’s Finest was a joyride through emotional hell on many levels, I would urge you to go out and see it.

  STAR RATING: (9/10)   ★★★★★★★★★★

Rudy Ray Moore stars as Petey Wheatstraw, a comedian who strikes a deal with the devil in order to take revenge.

Growing up on the poverty-stricken streets, Petey is one day accosted by some bullies as a seemingly broken old man looks on. The boy does his best to fend off the bullies but loses the fight in the process. The old man, impressed by the boy’s bravery offers to teach him self-defense. After mastering karate, and various weapons, Petey tells his old master that his true passion was to be a comedian and to have people laugh. The old man gives him his blessings and Petey grows up to become an extremely successful comedian.

Later on in life, comedians Leroy (Leroy Daniels) and Skillet (Ernest Mayhand) strike a deal with a gangster named Mr. White (George Mireless) in order to fund a new venue. They are told that if the show does not produce numbers they will be dealt with severely and they gladly accept the offer. One day Petey returns to do a show for his old neighborhood in a rival venue to Leroy and Skillet. This starts a feud and since the duo owed Petey money from the past he refuses to postpone his show which leads to an all out war. During the war Petey is killed and is visited by the devil who gives him a strange offer in return for his life. The devil wishes for Petey to marry his ugly daughter and produce an heir to his throne. Petey accepts but never plans

Well there is cheesy and then there is cheesy and Petey Wheatstraw is pretty bad. Once you’ve gotten past the slow motion martial arts and Rudy Ray Moore’s sassy rhyming, you are left with a crazy story, some god-awful props and I think I saw an 8 yr old playing the part of a newborn baby. This is pure camp in all its glory and if you are a fan of the rhyming, jiving, high-kicking comedian, you will no doubt love Petey Wheatstraw. For myself, no amount of naturally buxom succubus’s and witty devils could sucker me into liking this flick. It’s amusing, but that’s about it.

  STAR RATING: (3/10)   ★★★★★★★★★★

So the Southland premier season ended with a bang and the new episode launched without missing a step in this beautiful dance of Cop drama. Season One’s finale showed us what detective Lydia Adams (Regina King) could do when pressed, and she showed her quality in prime fashion with a shotgun, some focus and a whole lot of heart.

In the season opener Lydia is given a new partner in Rene Cordero (Amaury Nolasco) and has a hell of a time adjusting to the change. When she finds out that her long-time partner Russell Clarke (Tom Everett Scott) was shot and in the emergency room, she makes it a habit to schedule regular visits along with calling him numerous times during the day. It felt as if Lydia was giving the man more attention than even his own wife (what’s up with that?) And upon finding out that he doesn’t plan on returning to duty, she bursts into tears outside of his hospital room. Pause… what the hell Lydia, do you have issues, or do you have issues? While I speculated that the character has some deep rooted abandonment issues, a friend of mine eluded that she may have fallen in love with the man and with him gone it was an “opportunity lost” for her to rob him from his wife. This seems viable but far-fetched based on her consistency with being such a caring, moral individual.

The introduction of Rene as Lydia‘s partner is a welcome addition. His confident swag and bulletproof ego (at least to Lydia‘s insult shots) is enough to predict some future action in the tender way between he and she. I mean, SOMEBODY needs to sleep with this woman, all goodness aside – I do not question her character, but she needs to get laid badly! While I’m sexualizing the female cops did you get a look at Officer Chickie Brown (Arija Bareikis) in casual clothes? Chalk it up to her growing on me but she was looking pretty damn good! So good in fact that rookie Ben Sherman (Ben McKenzie) could not resist the urge to casually ask her out for a drink. I suspect a future romp in the bedroom between these two good looking Officers. Plus with the good ‘ol boy crew giving Chickie hell for ratting out that asshole Dewey (C.Thomas Howell), she needs a good friend right about now. Hell and who else would hit on her? It’s not like Cooper (Michael Cudlitz) would do her any good unless she came with some pain killers for his habit. Zing!

This episode detailed a homeless ex-con preying on old people to steal money for his crack habit. There was a semi-riot scene when Chickie’s worthless new partner accidentally shoots at a kid that stole a car. This led to herself, Cooper and Ben being swarmed by people in the neighborhood jumping on their backs, lunging at them and showing no disdain despite the 9mm’s pointed at them. It was an intense scene, but the best part of this episode was the severe lack of (can we get a moment of silence for this) no Tammi “psycho bitch” Bryant (Emily Bergl) – God I hate her! Can we put a bullet in her character please, she is the one downer on this show and I’m hoping they keep her screen time to a minimum.

We also get to see some jailhouse shanking and The Wire’s Wood Harris as a possible recurring crime boss. This was a great start to the new season and I look forward to tuning into it every Tuesday on TNT.

After being bombarded by the trailer to Shutter Island for months now I was elated at the chance of watching it and putting the whole thing behind me. Not because I expected it to be bad… hell it has Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio and Sir Ben Kingsley, I just wanted the trailers to finally go away. Shutter Island ended up being nothing like the trailers suggested, it was a journey through a series of dark hallways leading to a typical conclusion. The journey however splits off somewhere near the end, leaving you pleasantly surprised as well as remorseful at your earlier assumptions. While Martin Scorsese has built a reputation around depicting gangsters on film, this movie deals with a different form of drama than the ones we have grown accustomed to from him.

Plot (Minor Spoliers):
Shutter Island is a tale about U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his new partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) visiting a large Psychiatric Facility on a remote island known as Shutter Island to investigate the disappearance of a patient. The island has had a dark reputation that places fear in the hearts of would-be residents and the tall dank buildings with their courtyards decorated by the patients is enough to make it seem so. No-one looks happy at the facility, the doctors are drawn and melancholy, the residents have dead eyes, the orderlies shuffle along slowly about their duties and everyone is monitored by a host of armed guards. When Teddy and Chuck begin their investigation they are met with a cold reception and the smooth tongue of the island’s head physician Dr. Crowley (Ben Kingsley).

Teddy Daniels begins to suffer from migraines and nightmares detailing his dead wife, his service as an infantry man in World War 2 and the missing girl from Shutter Island. His dreams are long, odd and particularly creepy as his wife gives him clues and his flashbacks on the war shows piles of Jewish bodies, frozen and discarded in an inhumane fashion. When he comes to he is sweaty, disoriented and confused. The patients, police and doctors are elusive in their answers about the missing girl but some patients comply in subtle ways, hinting at a darker plot beyond what was being spun. The answers from the interviewees seemed coached and when Teddy finds out that the other head doctor – Dr. Naehring (Max von Sydow) is an old German, his suspicions of foul play increases.

As Teddy falls deeper and deeper into a bit of psychosis from his nightmares, the migraines and the continuous stormy weather on the island, his trust begins to wane even for partner Chuck. He admits to having an ulterior motive for coming to the island and his pursuit for Laeddis (Elias Koteas) the man who killed his wife begins to turn into obsession. When a bad storm disrupts the electric gates and barbed fences holding the patients in, Teddy takes the opportunity to slip into the maximum security building C, a building that had been held restricted from he and his partner since their arrival and the building that he suspected would have Laeddis and possibly the answer to the missing girl.

Shutter Island’s atmosphere is a miserable, dark, wet mess of rocks leaves and sea water. The patients looked marginally cared for and the dress, look and feel of everything was very much of the 1950’s. Leonardo DiCaprio’s raw emotion was powerful to witness near the end of the movie and his volatile actions throughout made him an unpredictable protagonist to follow. Ben Kingsley shows why he is a dangerous man to contend with onscreen as he captured the audience immediately in every scene that he held. His portrayal of Dr Crowley was that of a shady, sophisticated  man who you couldn’t pinpoint whether to trust him or not during the investigation. The score was subtle and appropriate, skipping the need for loud noises and dramatic rush music to drive the audience’s emotions – I instead found it complementary to the movie and melancholy throughout. Above all else is the direction, the movie was a mind f-ck and you are constantly wondering intently until the closing scenes. The ending is poetic, as is the trademark of a Scorsese movie and you will be utterly pleased the way I was. It’s the solid team of Scorsese/DiCaprio all over again, this time in the dark, mysterious complication of the human mind.

  STAR RATING: (8/10)   ★★★★★★★★★★

For Your Eyes Only stars Sir Roger Moore in his second to last movie as the British spy 007. Starting out at the gravesite for his beloved wife Teresa (see On Her Majesty’s Secret Service), James places roses on the headstone before being whisked away by helicopter to attend an emergency meeting with his superiors. The meeting and helicopter trip turns out to be a trap set by the elusive Ernst Stavro Blofeld (yes the supposedly dead Blofeld) of SPECTER. But James is able to spring the trap and escape, commandeering the helicopter and dropping Blofeld into a tall factory chimney. I assumed the drop finally killed the old man, but the credits start rolling right after and we are treated to Sheena Easton singing the famous title song – For Your Eyes Only.

When a ship holding a top secret device used for coordinating submarine strikes is bombed and sunk, Mi6 is alerted and a secret investigation is set out to find the people responsible for the attack. 007 is given the job and his first clue is the mysterious assassination of a Greek contact and his wife. The beautiful Melina Havelock (Carole Bouquet) had flown to Greece to rendezvous with her parents in between her jobs, but upon dropping her off on her father’s ship, the plane takes off and fires at them, instantly killing her mother and father.

The camera shows her eagle-like eyes as she follows the planes path before checking on her parents. She is the daughter of the Mi6 contact who James is investigating and her pilot was a hired hitman from Madrid Spain. Taking revenge into her own hands, Melina (A skilled archer and professional) runs into James Bond and saves him from capture after shooting her father’s killer in the back. Serving as a convenient help to Bond into the investigation, the two pursue the man who hired the hitman all the way into Greece while enlisting the help of the Italian secret service. What James eventually runs into is a crafty double cross involving a trusted informant and an alleged drug lord named Colombo (Topol).

Although FYEO (For Your Eyes Only) had some really cheesy special effects in the beginning (skin cap baldy on Blofeld), it balances out quickly with Roger Moore playing the spy quite well. The host of characters throughout are likeable, (though I hated the choice of Geoffrey Keen as the Minister of Defense) and Melina Havelock is a crossbow shooting treat on the eyes. I really liked this addition to the Moore files, and I only wished that some of his earlier attempts were as good as this one. Loved the cinematography, loved the Kristatos/Colombo rivalry and loved the Bond Girl.

Bond-o-meter Score (ranges from 1-10)
James Bond (9): Roger Moore’s best role as 007 hands down, all business no jokes.
Story (8): Although it bordered on the ridiculous, the story tied up rather well by the end and the direction only made it better.
Bond Girl (7) – Melina Havelock: Melina was strong fierce and beautiful, but her emotionless face and wooden acting killed what could have been the ultimate Bond girl.
The Villain (7): The bad guy in FYOE was not threatening or even diabolical, just a glorified drug dealer chasing money.
Spicy Rating (8): Loved it, I would recommend it even to the newbie Bond watcher. A serious spy’s tale and a 007 who chooses mission over chasing tail.

  STAR RATING: (8/10)   ★★★★★★★★★★

Goldeneye is my favorite Bond of the Pierce Brosnan era, actually it is the favorite Bond of most people who grew up watching Brosnan as the primary Bond. The most memorable aspect of this movie is probably the double-cross which pitted double o versus double o. One of the most beautiful Bond girls in Natalya Simonova (Izabella Scorupco) and an actual plot that was reminiscent of the pre-Moore days of James Bond. Pierce Brosnan as well as Timothy Dalton had difficult shoes to fill in the James Bond role. People were talking about the glory days of Sean Connery, and Moore had quite a number of fans to fund the campy movies that were written for him. So when a newcomer enters the Bond franchise, especially a newcomer with a completely different take on 007, let’s just say it isn’t the easiest role to accept. This may be why after refusing the contract to be 007 before, Brosnan accepted with this script.

When James Bond raids a Russian Chemical plant with fellow spy Alec Trevelyan 006 (Sean Bean) he loses him to a gunshot from General Arkady Grigorovich Ourumov (Gottfried John). After escaping the shootout, James is driving along some windy roads, flirting with his psychiatrist when he meets and races a beautiful villainess by the name of Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen). Xenia is probably one of the most famous Bond villainess due to her sexual lust for choking out men with her thighs. Stalking Xenia to find out what was going on, Bond soon learns that she and General arkady are behind the theft of a Harrier helicopter and a plot called Goldeneye, which involves a laser targeting satellite in space.

Pierce Brosnan in this movie made me think that it was specifically written for Dalton due to the style and pacing of the film itself. Though it lacked the darkness of The Living Daylights and the solidity of Goldfinger, on its own it is or should I say was a great comeback film for the James Bond franchise. This was a great introduction for Pierce as James Bond and though his career as the spy was at best lukewarm, he did a good enough job to not harm the franchise per se. Aside from the beautiful Izabella Sorupco, Samantha Bond as Miss Moneypenny is nothing to shy away from either. Goldeneye also has dame Judi Dench as M, a choice that was one of the better changes to the franchise.

Bond-o-meter Score (ranges from 1-10)
James Bond (7): Pierce played the role safely without much of his own personal character.
Story (7): It’s the age old Russians are evil, let’s wipe em out Bond tale – it never gets old.
Bond Girl (9) – Natalya Simonova: What a drop-dead gorgeous girl, she seemed like the marrying type which leads me to believe Bond ran like hell after the credits started rolling. In any event, she can hack code, run like a track star and trade jokes with the geekiest guys. Yup we love Natalya.
The Villain (8): Ahh the double cross, the ultimate mirror match of Mi6 skill. Alec was a great villain.
Spicy Rating (8): This is how you make a comeback, and the movie inspired one of the heaviest hitting games on the Nintendo 64. Although it seems a bit long, watching Famke Janssen squeeze guys to death never gets old and the only gripe is the god-awful bad aim the Russian soldiers display throughout. It’s no From Russia with Love, but it isn’t a bad movie by any means.

  STAR RATING: (8/10)   ★★★★★★★★★★