Casino Royale via AICN

Currently in Earphones: "Never Drink 'Em Dry (Johnny Tarr's Funeral)" by Gaelic Storm

Drew McWeeny (aka Moriarty) from AICN wrote a very smart review about the recent James Bond installment, and I particularly appreciate this one gripe/praise he has concerning the book vs. the movie...

"My biggest problem is one that I’ve had since the script stage: the change from baccarat to poker. It’s literally pointless. The poker in the film doesn’t matter, and having knowledge of the game doesn’t matter. At all. Not even a little bit. Because card games in movies are inherently boring. You know there is no chance involved because it is scripted. The cards are going to be dealt according to drama, not chance. The reason that baccarat simply works better is because it’s so uncommon. No one knows how to play baccarat. Le Chiffre has a fetish for the game because of its obscurity. And when MI6 decides to send someone in to play across from Le Chiffre, there’s really only one guy inside the agency that knows the game well enough to compete. You think it matters what cards turn over on the table between those two guys? No. What matters is what happens between them, and the film gets it right. Campbell directs the poker the best way he possibly can, by making it inconsequential. He’s got the dealer to explain every hand, so you don’t have to know anything about the game, and he directs everything so it’s about the way Bond and Le Chiffre play off each other. It’s just Mads Mikkelsen and Daniel Craig, every gesture loaded with meaning. No invisible cars, no creepy dudes shooting lightning out of their fingers, no CGI or snowboarding. Just two men, both desperate to accomplish something, depending on this civilized warfare across a card table."

- "Moriarty", Link

Amen!

Enough, More Later.
- James

Gaelic Storm!!!

Currently in Earphones: Bring Yer Wellies by Gaelic Storm

The song "Kelly's Wellies" by the above mentioned group always makes me smile...


When I was a young 'un, I knew a lad from Ballybunyon
He hadn't got a single penny to his name, you might say,
He had a raggedy coat, and like two rubber boats
He kept his Wellington Boots on from December until May.

(Chorus:)
It was Kevin Kelly, with his chopped off Wellies
In the middle of the Summertime, he was lookin' fine!
His pants had holes in the knees, but he was proud as you please
With his old Wellies...he'd keep strollin' along!

As we got older, and slyer and bolder
And the girls we had our eyes on, they got older as well.
With paint on their faces, and curves in nice places!
Well we were dressed to impress them and we thought that we were swell!

Well our duds were in fashion to kindle the passion
And there was Kevin on the dance floor looking anything but neat.
He was tryin' to flirt, in his hand-me-down shirt,
With the same old Wellies on his two big feet!

(Chorus)

Well we teased him and we mocked him, but sure that never shocked him,
He painted on some laces and cut them down to look like shoes.
He was poor but he had style, he made everybody smile
He wore his ol' wellies, He wore his ol' wellies, He wore his ol' wellies....
Like he had nuthin' to lose!

The next time we found him, well the girls were all around him
He was busten' out the moves, he was as happy as can be!
One of the girls came near, and whipsered in my ear,
"Only boys who wear their Wellies have a chance wit' me!"

(Chorus x2)


You know it's a fun song when the lead singer starts giggling through the last line of the chorus!

Enough, More Later.
- James