X-Men

Today, I watched X-Men. Now, I know that X-Men is not the confirmed classic that Goldfinger is. However, I enjoy X-Men much more than I have ever enjoyed a Bond movie.

I have seen X-Men before, just as I have already seen many of the 501 movies I must see.

The film begins with Marie, "Rogue", a girl who, when she touches people, drains them of their life force. She runs away and hitches a ride with Wolverine, mutant (a superhero) who has the power to heal rapidly. His body is fused with a metal called adamantium, giving him retractable metal claws.

Wolverine becomes Rogue's protector as they join forces with the X-Men, a group of superheroes that run a school for superhero children. The school is run by Charles Xavier, a telepathic. He and his group are waging a war against Magneto, an old friend of Xavier's. The basic conflict is this: the government wants to force mutants to expose themselves, Magneto decides to turn the world's leaders into mutants, and the X-Men are trying to stop them.

Hugh Jackman is simply badass (pardon my French) as Wolverine. His charisma shines through, and creates a memorable, unique character. Though not the best acting I've ever seen, he makes a great action hero.

The movie is a fast-paced superhero movie, without becoming too much about gadgets, super-powers, or a tragic past for Wolverine.

It's cool, all right. But what about the story? It's unique, I'll give it that. While outside the comfort zone of many, I find the story on a great par for superhero movies. The resulting theme is also fairly deep for a superhero movie: as Magneto, the villain, said, "mankind has always feared what it does not understand."

Ultimately, it is not my favorite superhero movie (that would be Batman Begins), but it is a great superhero movie.

My dirty pleasure movie today was Run Fatboy Run, starring Simon Pegg.

Goldfingah

Okay. I'm the first to admit that I am not the biggest James Bond fan in the world. I've just never been all that interested in the movies. Sure, Sean Connery is very suave as the iconic action hero, and sure, they are a part of classic filmography.

However, I'm simply not interested. And I wish I could say that Goldfinger changed my mind. But it didn't. It just reinstated in me that old belief that Bond movies have almost nothing to bring to the table for me. They're the kind of action movie that makes my mind wander, and then I sit there, confused. I comfort myself with the only positive things I can find in old Bond movies: the bad action scenes, the fashion fopas, and Sean Connery.

As a female, I am attracted to Connery on a basic level. He is at his best in Goldfinger, and that's all there is to say about it.

I don't know. In the past, when people tell me 'You've got to see this movie' and 'You're gonna LOVE it', I feel some obligation to him/her, and I at least pretend that I enjoyed it. But I can't with Goldfinger. Maybe it's because I'm spoiled by the fast-paced action of some of today's Bond wannabees like The Transporter or basically anything else with Jason Statham.

What it comes down to is this: Bond just isn't my thing.

But anyway, I got one more movie down. That makes 497 movies to go!

P.S. My guilty pleasure movie today was "Addicted to Love." Meg Ryan and Matthew Broderick. Check it out.