With filming less than a week old, an entire mini-gallery of photos have arrived from the set of Bond 22. Some of those are 'out of the office' shots of M, played of course by Judi Dench. In the shots that leaked out we see M and one of her confederates walking down some London street -- the kind of scene that will probably comprise two to three seconds of screen time in the finished film, if at all. Some snaps of Daniel Craig were also obtained by JustJared this week and picked up by MI6, when the actor showed up to film some scenes at Burwood Place, London. According to the report on MI6, some are saying that the local fire department was on hand to help the production create fake rain for the location shoot, but this isn't confirmed. The only other thing to be said about the shots is that they are completely unrevealing of anything about the film, other than the fact that it's actually shooting.

Meanwhile, MI6 is also reporting that according to their sources, Gemma Arterton's role in the new Bond film is "not the major role," meaning the real Bond girl has yet to be cast. They stress that "extensive" casting searches have focused on finding a Latin American actress for that position and they also say that Moneypenny is not thought to figure into this film -- so who is Arterton playing? The fact that her given name is "Fields" instead of something like Baroness von Whoever, I now think it's likely to assume that she's some new MI6 recruit who either gets killed early on or turns out to be a villain later in the piece like Rosamund Pike in Die Another Day.

Signs of a slow, post-holiday news day: Cinematical reports on the signing of a second unit director. Ah, but this isn't just any second unit director, and Dan Bradley hasn't signed on to just any movie. The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Bradley, who's been the action designer behind the last two Bourne films, has hopped onboard Bond 22 as the film's second unit director. Not a bad decision if you ask me; Bond has taken a backseat to the highly-acclaimed Bourne series over the past few years, and it's wise for EON Productions and Columbia Pictures to look toward the latter in an attempt to bolster their franchise going forward. Casino Royale was certainly a good start, and Bradley's involvement means the next Bond installment will at least kick tons of ass in the action department.

According to HR, Bond producers want Bradley to "continue and build on the more realistic and gritty approach to the veteran British spy begun in last year's Casino Royale." Apart from Bond 22 (which will most likely begin filming this winter), Bradley has also done work on two Spider-Man sequels, Jackass: The Movie (now there's an interesting assignment), Seabiscuit and, most recently, Indiana Jones 4. I'm not sure whether the guy was in a lot of fights when he was a kid, but he sure knows how to help deliver some fantastic action sequences, so much so that I wouldn't be surprised if the man is considered to potentially helm Bond 23 if director Marc Forster doesn't decide to return. So far Daniel Craig (Bond) and Judi Dench (M) are signed on to reprise their roles in the next Bond film, with a Bond girl(s) announcement due (hopefully) fairly soon.

One person you won't get to see win an Oscar this year, even if she does win, is Dame Judi Dench. The six-time nominee (and the only actor to make the crossover from the Pierce Brosnan Bond films to the Daniel Craig Bond films) is unable to attend this year's ceremony because she will be having a knee operation. Apparently she is fine with missing the event, though, and told reporters not to bet on her to win for her performance in Notes on a Scandal. Of course, nobody in their right minds would bet on anybody but Helen Mirren for the Best Actress trophy. Still, it is always nice to see Dench at these things.

It would also be nice to see her win in the Best Actress category at some point. Although she won a supporting Oscar in 1999, for Shakespeare in Love, she also deserves the honor of winning a lead prize. In many ways, she is like Meryl Streep -- dependable, always amazing and often nominated, but perhaps appreciated enough already as one of our 'great actresses' that the Academy feels no obligation to recognize her any further. Hopefully this isn't really the case.

I'm sitting here watching Volver for the second time, and both remembering how much I enjoyed it when I first saw it at the Toronto International Film Festival, and catching little things I'd missed before. Like how great the Hitchcockian feel of the film is in the scenes where Raimunda (Penélope Cruz) is getting rid of the body, how carefully thought-out the color palette is, and, most of all the brilliance of the acting. The ensemble as a whole -- Cruz, Lola Dueñas as Sole, Raimunda's sister, Yohana Cobo as Raimunda's daughter, Paula, and Carmen Maura as Irene, Raimunda and Sole's dead mother -- is one of the best ensemble performances I've ever seen.

Cruz, though, really shines in this film. Maybe there's just something about the magic of her working with Pedro Almodóvar (and my little film geek heart is all a-flutter over the news that the duo are pairing up for another film), or maybe she just really took a shine to this particular role, but her performance is just everything it should be: nuanced and funny, intense and passionate. This is Cruz at her best, and after watching Volver again, she's who I'm going to be rooting for to win Best Actress come Oscar night.

Helen Mirren had the early lead, and many still think she's a solid lock for her performance in The Queen, and yes, she was great in it -- but she's such an obvious choice, and maybe people are tired of hearing how everything she does is Oscar-worthy. Mirren and Judi Dench could end up canceling each other out, anyhow, leaving a path for one of the other nominees to slide up the middle for the win. There's buzz that Streep might just sneak in there for the win, but if she does I'll be pissed. She was good in The Devil Wears Prada, sure, but I wouldn't call it the performance of her career, and the film itself is very light to be Oscar-caliber.