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WOW.

Do yourself a favour, and go and see ‘The Dark Knight‘.

I don’t want to go into too much detail and spoil the film for anyone. But the hype surrounding this film is very much worth it all.

Story? Amazing. Performances? Outstanding. Special Effects? Must be real right?

As an Aussie, obviously our hearts go out to the family and friends of Heath Ledger for his untimely passing.

The Joker is such a cold, evil character that he even killed the actor portraying him. Heath Ledger was unrecognisable. If I didn’t know it was him, I wouldn’t have known it was him. He is ultra-creepy, and the sort of character that would create your worst nightmares. Yet at the same time, amongst all his evil and creepiness, there’s an element of humour about him. No words can really justify his Ledger’s performance. An incredible performance by a truly talented actor.

I’m not movie critic, or not even a journalist… so this isn’t a review. Just go and see it. Seriously… what the fuck are you still doing here reading this? GO! NOW!

Last night I watched (for the second time) Casino Royale.

I LOVE that movie. It is just soooo awesome.

Bond in his beginnings. It’s raw, back to basics. Most noticably he is human. He gets scratched and hurt, and the next scene he is still cut and bruised from the escapade a few nights earlier.

I also love it how he loses his ‘cool’ when he loses the poker game. Just cracks the shits because he fucked up. There is also a big emphasis on how his ego is so huge that it gets in the way of his professionalism and causes problems. Which is cool to watch.

Daniel Craig is the best Bond since Sean Connery, and reflects more about who the original Bond really was.

I am also a big fan of the LACK of gadgets. The movie is actually set slightly in the future from today with the use of technologies which aren’t commonly available yet, such as Blu-Ray recorders and nifty GPS phones. Sony has careful product placement throughout the entire film, giving us an insight to what technologies we can expect to be readily available in the next few years.

I am also impressed with the way Bond chose his mission over the girl and actually (stupidly) left the hottest girl ever hanging as he went to go kill a bunch of people.

YOU IDIOT!! Caterina Murino is, to say the least, incredible. Especially in that dress she was wearing, and the Italian accent… wow.

The main bond girl, Vesper Lynd, played by Eva Green, is also absolutely gorgeous. She is also a nice change from the more typical Bond girls, with freckles and a very pale complexion.

In the end we see how Bond learns not to trust anyone, and that his ego does need taming

Very much worth a watch - especially on a huge 42″ Panasonic Plasma and Krix/Onkyo $5k sound system HOO-RAH!!

Vesper Lynd: Am I going to have a problem with you, Mr. Bond?
James Bond: No, don’t worry, you’re not my type.
Vesper Lynd: Smart?
James Bond: Single.

Last night I acquired Linkin Park’s new album, ‘Minutes to Midnight‘.

Now I’ve been a fan of Linkin Park since ‘Hybrid Theory‘ was released way back in 2000. When they came out, it was something a bit fresh and new. You could play the album from start to finish and love every song (well, I could).

‘Meteora‘ (2003) was released, and it was good. It had gone a bit more commercial which I wasn’t a fan of, I preferred the raw sound of their previous album (not including the re-mix albums).

Now ‘Minutes to Midnight’ is released, and it’s no breath of fresh air. In fact, it’s really not all that much to get hyped up over. The only tracks that I find that are really worth a listen are -

• ‘Given Up’, (Track 3) because it is a bit heavier and sounds like they forgot to put it on their first album, so decided to chuck it on this one.
• ‘Bleed It Out’, (Track 5) brings back the rapping style which they haven’t used much, and is just a more upbeat song, although it almost sounds as if they have sped it up in post-production.
• ‘Shadow Of The Day’, (Track 6) isn’t a bad track. But it is almost a chick song. Slow paced with melodic tunes and soft singing.
• and ‘What I’ve Done’ (Track 7) which is getting played on the radio a fair bit. It is a good track, but certainly not good enough to be rated 5 stars in iTunes.

A few other tracks such as ‘Leave Out All The Rest’ and ‘Valentine’s Day’ are also rather commercial and slower paced songs that I guess would appeal to all those 15 year old emo chicks about.

All in all, I much preferred their earlier albums, but a band must evolve. It’s unfortunate that it’s at the expense of many of their fan’s tastes.