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Italy: Dario Argento, 1977

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USA: Ben Sharpsteen/Hamilton Luske/Bill Roberts/Norman Ferguson/Jack Kinney/Wilfred Jackson/T. Hee, 1940

(Watched with commentary by Leonard Maltin, Eric Goldberg and J.B. Kaufman)

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UK/USA: Marc Forster, 2008

Now this is frustrating. A number of people, whose opinions I value highly, have praised Quantum of Solace, but I must confess that, as I watched it, I kept thinking "Am I missing something?" I should, I suspect, say up front that I'm not a James Bond fan. I've only seen a handful of the films, and Casino Royale is the only other one I own a copy of. I found that particular film to be a very impressive reboot of a series that, from what I could see, had become very formulaic and rooted in fantasy. It toned down the over-the-top set-pieces and brought characterisation to the forefront, giving Bond a distinctive personality, something he never really had for me in any of the other films I'd seen. I had high hopes for Quantum of Solace, but was ultimately very disappointed. The basic plot itself isn't the problem. I rather like it, in fact, and the thematic elements, particularly the recurring motifs of betrayal and trust, could have made for some meaty material. For me, it comes down to a combination of the script, which is muddled and unfocused, and the direction, which is confusing at best and staggeringly inept at worst, especially in terms of the action sequences. Newcomer Marc Forster appears to hail from the "shakeycam" school of direction and the "blunt scissors" college of editing, and as a result the film has too much in common with the Bourne franchise for its own good. Scarcely a minute went by when I didn't find myself wishing Martin Campbell and his editor, Stuart Baird, had stuck around after Casino Royale and handled this one too. Casino Royale was genuinely well-made and its stylistic restraint was greatly appreciated in an age where every action film director seems to think making things as incomprehensible as possible is the way to go. Some striking images aside (Bond and Camille wandering through the desert is a particular stand-out), this just looks and feels like a generic action movie.

Daniel Craig is good in the title role, but he doesn't have anything like as much to work with here as he did in the previous film, beyond the vague notion of him being hell-bent on revenge. Olga Kurylenko and Gemma Arterton, meanwhile, do their best, but they don't fare well on the heels of Casino's Eva Green, who to be fair is, alongside Emily Blunt, possibly the most charismatic actress of her generation. The performance I enjoyed the most was that of Giancarlo Giannini, whom I've enjoyed in everything from The Black Belly of the Tarantula to Hannibal, and who manages to give the character of Mathis some real humanity.

For a more favourable take on the film, by the way, Baron Scarpia is your man.

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USA: Ben Sharpsteen/Hamilton Luske/Bill Roberts/Norman Ferguson/Jack Kinney/Wilfred Jackson/T. Hee, 1940

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Original title: La Corta notte delle bambole di vetro
Italy/West Germany/Yugoslavia: Aldo Lado, 1971

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USA: Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois, 2002

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USA: Chris Williams, Byron Howard, 2008

Those with more than a passing interest in Disney will probably know that Bolt started off as American Dog, the brainchild of Lilo & Stitch director Chris Sanders. When Disney Feature Animation was shaken up with the arrival of John Lasseter as its new chief, many projects were scrapped entirely or heavily retooled, with Sanders and American Dog being unfortunate casualties of this regime change. The result is that the film that has now made it to our screens bears only a passing resemblance to what it once was, the extent to which the new version has been homogenised and defanged having been documented in a post I made last year. Furthermore, it's hard to shake the feeling that the plot is a step-by-step retread of Lasseter's own Toy Story, with the eponymous Bolt going through the same character arc as that film's Buzz Lightyear. The end result is an enjoyable film, alternately funny and moving in the fairly typical Disney way, and if not quite a return to form then it is at least a significant step in the right direction. However, I fear it will be remembered less for what it is than for what it might have been.

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Original title: L'Uccello Dalle Piume di Cristallo
Italy/West Germany: Dario Argento, 1970

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USA: Eric Bress, J. Mackye Gruber, 2004

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UK/USA: Ridley Scott, 2001

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