Picturenose

Sing-along-a-Bond?
Do you want the good news or the bad news first? The bad? OK. Amy (’Look at me! Look at me!’) Winehouse was reported by the BBC to be involved in the production of the latest Bond outing Quantum of Solace. The good news? A couple of days later, her producer, Mark Ronson, was quoted as saying that Ms Ooh-Aren’t-I-Controversial is “not ready to make music”. Hardly surprising, really. My theory is that she’s either being a bit heavy-handed with the Columbian marching powder, or she simply can’t think of anything that rhymes with ’solace’. Let’s face it, she’s no Sheena Easton, is she?

By the way, if any of our sharp-eared readers can think of a rhyme for solace, let’s hear it. I’ve got ‘Horace’, ‘Wallace’ and ‘Boris’. I think a rap/hip-hop base would work best, so I give you:

Oh-oh-seven got game, like William Wallace - he’s a Brit from London, his main man’s Boris - Droppin’ bombs on the suckers in the metro-pol-is - Down with the ladeez, there’s yo’ Quantum of Solace.

I think Eminem’s career is safe for a bit. Before you post your insults, have a go - it’s not easy! I’ll be genuinely interested to see if the title gets worked into the theme song. Oh, and ‘props to the homeys’ at The Rap Dictionary.

Iron Man Abides

I took my son to see Iron Man (2008) last weekend. I have no idea if he wanted to go or not, but I needed an excuse. Turns out it wasn’t at all bad. For a full review, check out James’ take on our partner site, Expatica. It was made more enjoyable by a good turn from Jeff Bridges as the bad guy - a part he apparently enjoyed immensely. As you know, it is practically illegal to mention Bridges without a reference to The Big Lebowski (1998), so here’s mine. With the summer coming, there comes a new round of the phenomenon known as The Lebowskifest. If you find yourself in Louisville, Kentucky around the 11 and 12 July, you could perhaps attend the main Lebowski event of the year. I’m just sad there’s nothing here in Europe. I quite like the idea of dressing up as The Dude, unlimited bowling and White Russians galore.

Why So Serious?

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of The Batman. It was with much joy that I stumbled across this new trailer for the soon-to-be-released The Dark Knight. Not only do I like the fact that Christian Bale is continuing his role as - in my opinion - the best Batman ever, but the late Heath Ledger’s Joker looks absolutely fantastic. The film looks to be packed with gadgets (batmobile, bat-bike), big-name stars and an awful lot of blowing stuff up. Can’t wait.

Can you tell what it is yet?

I try to save the strange stuff until last, and today is no exception. People of a certain age (or those in possession of cable TV) will no doubt have seen MacGyver, long-time heartthrob of Patty and Selma Bouvier in The Simpsons. The plot to MacGyver was simple. He would be caught by whatever bad guys were around at the time and locked in a room, which usually contained all the things he needed to build himself a gadget with which to escape. Apparently, the series writer, Lee David Zlotoff, kept the rights to the movie and now plans to make it. That’s all very well, but who will play the lead? Somehow I can’t see Ralph Fiennes making a go-kart out of a scaffold pole, a paper bag, two boxes of soap powder and a nail gun…