"James!"
Phew! Week 3 is over and I can finally breathe again! I'm actually enjoying a four-day weekend and, since I'm only teaching ONE PERIOD!!!! next week (the final week of Practicum) I don't have anything to stress over, so can actually relax and get some real sleep and all the rest of it.
So, the week went well: I taught the grade 8s twice, the grade 10s twice and one period of Writer's Craft (grade 12) which bombed. Ah well. It was a frantic, hectic, busy, stressful week, where I worked all day and night putting together the resources I needed and the lesson plans and just generally freaking out. Still, by the end of the week I felt more like a real teacher and less like a fraud!
My mother-in-law took us out to see the new James Bond movie last night, which was very cool. As far as I can make out, the synopsis of Quantum of Solace goes something like this: picking up where Casino Royale ended, that is, with a betrayed and grieving Bond knee-capping Mr White, the villain is delivered to M in Italy but they are betrayed and Mr White escapes. Following a sketchy paper-trail of the betrayer, Bond goes to Haiti and discovers a much bigger operation than they had expected, led by a Dominic Green (Mr White, Mr Green - Reservoir Dogs anyone?) who has a big environmental company but who is really in cahoots with a Bolivian general who wants to be dictator of Haiti, which Green can deliver in exchange for a piece of Bolivian desert which everyone thinks has oil - in fact, it's the water that Green is after.
A number of things to mention:
- The movie is high-powered, adrenalin-fueled, fast-paced and chaotic to watch, since the fight scenes etc use that annoying music-video technique of zooming in, out, here, there, everywhere until you're dizzy (TV commercials are fond of this too). Adds to the atmosphere sure, but it's hard to tell what the hell's going on and is a bit like being on a roller-coaster. Hey guys: less is more!
- There are some neat nods to past Bond movies in this one too, especially the unpleasant death of one character that distinctly brings to mind a similar occurrence in Goldfinger. Also, the tongue-in-cheek humour is present and correct; I do wish though, despite the fact that villainy is very global these days, that the movies would stick to just one (or two) countries like they used to. All this jet-hopping makes it harder to follow the story sometimes (not to mention the logistical problems) - it just seems to be a real trend of action movies these days: how many exotic locations can we squeeze in this time?!
- Loved the timeliness of the plot: the oh-so-wonderful environmental company being a front for villainous, money-grubbing bastards who are out to exploit the hard-working poor. Also takes a dig at the CIA and puppet governments, the situation in Haiti in particular.
- The wrapping-up of the personal revenge side of the story was good, though a little tricky to follow: Bond finally comes face-to-face with Vesper's boyfriend, the one she thought she was saving by double-crossing British intelligence (and, more importantly, Bond). He's in Russia, and has a Canadian spy falling into the same trap. Now, I think this fella is part of Green's wide-flung network, and I think his role is to turn secret agents into moles, but I could be confused.
- Daniel Craig is as great as ever. If I didn't have such a sentimental, nostalgic fondness for Timothy Dalton and Roger Moore (I grew up on a diet of Bond films), Craig would be my absolute favourite. I love that they all bring something new and a bit different to the role - though I think Pierce Brosnan was the worst, and most bland, Bond, and too "chunky" for the role - he just wasn't lean and suave enough.
Also saw a preview of the new Star Trek movie (called Star Trek - very original) - you won't catch me saying this again, but it actually looked pretty good. Mostly I'm a sucker for amazing, creative "other worlds" and the planet-bound scenes in this movie are certainly very epic. I'm tempted to see it just for that. Oh and does anyone know anything about The Day the Earth Stood Still? Looks like they've made a new movie of it with Keanu Reeves - very tempting!
So, the week went well: I taught the grade 8s twice, the grade 10s twice and one period of Writer's Craft (grade 12) which bombed. Ah well. It was a frantic, hectic, busy, stressful week, where I worked all day and night putting together the resources I needed and the lesson plans and just generally freaking out. Still, by the end of the week I felt more like a real teacher and less like a fraud!
My mother-in-law took us out to see the new James Bond movie last night, which was very cool. As far as I can make out, the synopsis of Quantum of Solace goes something like this: picking up where Casino Royale ended, that is, with a betrayed and grieving Bond knee-capping Mr White, the villain is delivered to M in Italy but they are betrayed and Mr White escapes. Following a sketchy paper-trail of the betrayer, Bond goes to Haiti and discovers a much bigger operation than they had expected, led by a Dominic Green (Mr White, Mr Green - Reservoir Dogs anyone?) who has a big environmental company but who is really in cahoots with a Bolivian general who wants to be dictator of Haiti, which Green can deliver in exchange for a piece of Bolivian desert which everyone thinks has oil - in fact, it's the water that Green is after.
A number of things to mention:
- The movie is high-powered, adrenalin-fueled, fast-paced and chaotic to watch, since the fight scenes etc use that annoying music-video technique of zooming in, out, here, there, everywhere until you're dizzy (TV commercials are fond of this too). Adds to the atmosphere sure, but it's hard to tell what the hell's going on and is a bit like being on a roller-coaster. Hey guys: less is more!
- There are some neat nods to past Bond movies in this one too, especially the unpleasant death of one character that distinctly brings to mind a similar occurrence in Goldfinger. Also, the tongue-in-cheek humour is present and correct; I do wish though, despite the fact that villainy is very global these days, that the movies would stick to just one (or two) countries like they used to. All this jet-hopping makes it harder to follow the story sometimes (not to mention the logistical problems) - it just seems to be a real trend of action movies these days: how many exotic locations can we squeeze in this time?!
- Loved the timeliness of the plot: the oh-so-wonderful environmental company being a front for villainous, money-grubbing bastards who are out to exploit the hard-working poor. Also takes a dig at the CIA and puppet governments, the situation in Haiti in particular.
- The wrapping-up of the personal revenge side of the story was good, though a little tricky to follow: Bond finally comes face-to-face with Vesper's boyfriend, the one she thought she was saving by double-crossing British intelligence (and, more importantly, Bond). He's in Russia, and has a Canadian spy falling into the same trap. Now, I think this fella is part of Green's wide-flung network, and I think his role is to turn secret agents into moles, but I could be confused.
- Daniel Craig is as great as ever. If I didn't have such a sentimental, nostalgic fondness for Timothy Dalton and Roger Moore (I grew up on a diet of Bond films), Craig would be my absolute favourite. I love that they all bring something new and a bit different to the role - though I think Pierce Brosnan was the worst, and most bland, Bond, and too "chunky" for the role - he just wasn't lean and suave enough.
Also saw a preview of the new Star Trek movie (called Star Trek - very original) - you won't catch me saying this again, but it actually looked pretty good. Mostly I'm a sucker for amazing, creative "other worlds" and the planet-bound scenes in this movie are certainly very epic. I'm tempted to see it just for that. Oh and does anyone know anything about The Day the Earth Stood Still? Looks like they've made a new movie of it with Keanu Reeves - very tempting!