goldfinger Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Quantum of Solace
Daniel Craig's second outing as James Bond, this time under the direction of Marc Forster, was a straight-ahead revenge drama, with rough edges intact, missing many of the character touches that we've come to expect from 007. That made it feel too much like an anonymous, overly-caffeinated action thriller for my taste, but there are enough dynamic, high-powered sequences to justify a rental. Olga Kuylenko is pretty easy on the eyes, too. Available in one and two-disk DVD editions, as well as Blu-ray. Rent it.

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Bolt
"An entertaining movie for kids," our own Jette Kernion opined. "However, there's not much here for grownups to enjoy ... apart from watching the kids get a kick out of the film." Sounds like it was made for home viewing. John Travolta and Miley Cyrus voice key roles. Available in one and two-disk DVD editions, as well as Blu-ray. Rent it.

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Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter & Under the Hood
Two vital components of the original Watchmen graphic novel that didn't make the theatrical cut; pirate saga Tales of the Black Freighter is brought to life as a 2-D animated mini-feature and features the voice of Gerard Butler, while Under the Hood uses live-action and CGI to spin a faux-autobiography of the original Nite Owl. Both may be included in a forthcoming Director's Cut of Watchmen, but if you just can't wait any longer ... Also on Blu-ray. Rent it.

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After the jump: Indies on DVD, more Blu-ray picks, and Collector's Corner

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• Timothy Albrecht (?-2006) - Choreographer for The Intern, Camp and Pretty Dead Girl. He died in his sleep December 9, in Los Angeles.
• Nicolas Balla (1918-2006) - Producer of many short documentaries for the National Film Board of Canada.
• Jack Bean (c.1922-2006) - Producer of Witches' Brew and Very Close Quarters. He died of pneumonia December 5, in Beverly Hills, California.
• Peter Brayham (?-2006) - Stuntman on a number of Peckinpah and 007 films, including Straw Dogs, Goldfinger and Live and Let Die, as well as Brannigan, The Guns of Navarone and Sweeney! He later coordinated/arranged stunts on Cross of Iron, Time Bandits, The Razor's Edge, White Nights, Spice World, Quadraphenia, Drowning by Numbers, Bridget Jones' Diary and My Left Foot. He also played named characters in From Russia With Love and Safari 3000. He died of a heart attack.
• Glenis S. Gross (c.1943-2006) - Co-founder of Coming Home Entertainment and Coming Home Studios, which produced straight-to-video music documentaries and concert films. She died of complications from diabetes November 24, in Oceanside, California.
• Anthony Jackson (1944-2006) - Actor who provided character voices for Labyrinth and appeared in Alan Cumming's Burn Your Phone. He died of cancer November 27, in London.
• Max (c.1987-2006) - Potbelly pig owned by George Clooney, who once told USA Today that the pet was his longest relationship. He died of natural causes December 1, in Hollywood, California.
• Kevin McClory (1926-2006) - Director, screenwriter, producer and assorted crew member who co-wrote and produced the 007 pic Thunderball (and its sorta remake Never Say Never). He was a boom operator and assistant to John Huston on Moulin Rouge (1952) and The African Queen, assistant director on Huston's Moby Dick, second unit director on Around the World in 80 Days (1956), location manager on The Cockleshell Heroes and writer-director-producer on a flop called The Boy and the Bridge. He died November 20, in London.