Stuff and Things: First Bond Reviews Trickle In

-- A bunch of early reviews for Quantum of Solace have arrived online, and the consensus seems to be that while exciting and fast-paced, it's not as good as Casino Royale. The Guardian adds, "I was disappointed there was so little dialogue, flirtation and characterization in this Bond: Forster and his writers Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade clearly thought this sort of sissy nonsense has to be cut out in favor of explosions. Well, perhaps that is what Bond fans want (not this Bond fan, though). But I was also baffled that relatively little was made of the deliciously villainous Amalric." [More reviews: Empire, BBC]

-- Black Film snagged a whole bunch of new images from the film Cadillac Records, starring Beyonce Knowles (in the blonde wig above), Adrien Brody, Jeffrey Wright and Columbus Short, among others.

-- Anne Pressley, a TV news reporter who also played Anne Coulter in Oliver Stone's W., was attacked in her home over the weekend -- beaten and stabbed several times -- and is suffering injuries that police say are "life-threatening". There are no suspects right now, however seeing as her purse was missing, police suggest a robbery.

-- Page Six claims Steve Carell is interested in remaking The Bobo (1967), which originally starred Peter Sellers and Britt Ekland. Story tells of an unsuccessful singing matador who's offered a prime gig, but only if he's able to convince a beautiful woman to spend the night with him. Word has it Eva Mendes is on the wish list to play that beautiful woman.

-- Several outlets threw a number of Nick Fury questions at Samuel L. Jackson during the Soul Men press junket, and the actor told IESB that, according to Jon Favreau, Fury will have a much more prominent role in the Iron Man sequel. Also on IESB: Daniel Craig talks about turning down the role Thor in Marvel's upcoming movie.

-- Scott Feinberg takes a look at why bad things sometimes happen to good movies. From the article: "Case(s) in point: The annals of history have recorded that disposable junk such as Frank Coraci's "Click" (2006) and Brian Robbins' "Norbit" (2007) were worthy of Oscar nominations, but future classics such as Jason Reitman's "Thank You for Smoking" (2006) (pictured) and Sidney Lumet's "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" (2007) -- to say nothing of certified classics such as Charlie Chaplin's "City Lights" (1931) and John Ford's "The Searchers" (1956) -- were not. What the heck is going on here?!" [Read: The Envelope]

-- Natalie Portman and Rashida Jones present their brilliant idea on how to fix our struggling economy. Check it out below ...



-- CNN takes a look at five actors who turned down what would later become legendary roles. For example, did you know Cary Grant was originally offerred James Bond, or that Will Smith turned down Neo in The Matrix?

-- Yahoo has released a brand new featurette for The Spirit called The Origin of The Spirit, which explains, well, the origin of The Spirit. Watch.