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For years, James Bond degraded in terms of its ability to capture the audience in a gripping and action-filled feature film. The years of Connery saw the character blossom in roles that brought with them the uncharacteristic sexism that today seems so politically incorrect that many favour the Bonds of the last 20 years. But it was the one-liners that pissed me off so much about the more recent Bonds, played by Pierce Brosnan. In the last Bond film, Die Another Day, the character of Bond was tarnished by these blemished lines and cheesy direction and cinematography. The traditional role of the Bond Girl was occupied by skilled actresses who were badly represented on screen thanks to their poor script.

But today is a new day for 007 James Bond of MI6. The Commander of the secret espionage world of British Military Intelligence has a new face, this time a blonde, in the form of Daniel Craig. Although Craig was rubbished at the time of accepting the role as being unable to captivate audiences and his poor acting of recent years, I held faith in the Englishman because of the bigger picture.

This isn’t just a new Bond movie, one in the chain of the Robert R. Broccoli series, this is a whole new film. Casino Royale breaks the mould of the James Bond film, and in turn mocks the Bond lines we’ve all come to cringe at.

Gadgets are few and far between in this movie. Bond is an action hero in this film, which sets Craig’s Bond apart from the rest. While he admits doing most of the stunts himself, its palpable cinematography left the cinema audience I was amongst at the edge of their seats. We all knew Bond would make it, but no one really knew what was coming next.

A major winning factor in this movie is that the trailers don’t reveal all, and make the movie a subsequent foregone conclusion. Casino Royale takes audiences by the hand and rips them through foreign lands and vistas, through Africa, Britain, Eastern Europe and Italy. It’s a fantastic combination of cinematography, directorial skill and seductive scripting.

The Bond Girl also plays a new role, adding a much more fluid dimension to the film and in doing so, the Bond Girl becomes part of the story, albeit after a rather late entrance. Craig seems to have a lot of fun with this movie, and his affliction for pain in stunts echoes well with the sly humor that offers a genuine laugh for the audience throughout this two-and-a-half-hour quest. The Girl, played by Eva Green, is a seducteress of manic proportions, with sculpted curvature and eyes that embody ‘the woman with a 10 year plan’, she brings the story into the realm of adulthood. Craig’s on-screen chemistry with Green plays into the wonderful weave of the story and brings a new lease of life to the ailing movie series.

I for one was delighted with my rare €7.50 investment in this magnificent film. Not only was it value for money in terms of longtitudal diversity, but Bond has now become a real action film, and according to the critics, much more in tune with the original character created by Ian Fleming. A must see movie!

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The Christmas carol of old revered with lines about the 12 days of Christmas, playing music at the happy times of the past where Christmas had a religious touch that went beyond the boundaries of the church walls. Christmas 20 years ago was a time of family, of friends, of giving and of contentedness. That was a time when money was a frugally extinguished resource that was spent wisely and with much planning. It was a time at which relatives and friends spent time writing cards, visiting their roots and repatriating themselves to their native regions for the holidays. It was a time where the country came to a halt to observe the national holidays, to relax and to take stock of the time gone by.

That was then and this is now. For the most part, I have very fond memories of the Christmasses of yesteryear. It was a happy time, when Santa Claus existed, the cold weather outside forced us all into one room to get heat from the fire, a time when electricity outages were common and fun, a time when we all (for the most part) got on with one another.

But in the post-Síbin times we’re in now (Síbín is what I call the Celtic Tiger) are filled with differences that seem impossible to reverse. If there’s anything I look forward to at Christmas nowadays, I cannot for the life of me remember. Years ago, the best thing about Christmas was the food, the presents and the time off school. These days Christmas seems to be more of a hindrance than a happiness. Everything revolves around the universality that is materialism. And it’s getting worse.

This time last year I wrote about the commercialisation of Christmas. I thought it was bad then, but this year I noticed Christmas ads at the end of September!! And two weeks before Hallowe’en, we were subjected to Genesis of the commercial period of Christmas once again. Now, heading into the first week of November, the adverts are coming thick and fast. Gone are the subtle nudges of toy advertisments, and in come the blatant words that now have even Morphy Richards marketing the latest kitchenware aimed at the Christmas market. Even Meteor, Ireland’s doomed mobile network (doomed because it’s run by Eircom) has a clever angle on saying it’s November in a Christmas ad.

This is all becoming too much. The pressure’s on all of us now to invest heavily in material gifts for each-other this holiday season. And God have mercy on the person who doesn’t give us the best present of all time. 20 years ago a jumper would be an insult, today a 2GB iPod nano wouldn’t cut the mustard… not when there’s a RED 8GB nano on sale and Maria down the road has the Black 8GB one. It’s gone beyond a joke.

Síbín, you raped and pillaged our people and now we’re fighting for the scraps. What good is a country with all the latest technology, the newest buildings, the fastest expanding infrastructure in Europe and one of the most sought-after property markets, when we’ve lost the value of Christmas - the emotional feeling of belonging, or warmth, or happiness and of pleasure.

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