If you are looking for a good holiday movie then look no further. Forget all those literal Christmas and New Year’s movies; “The Adventures of TinTin” has everything you could want and nothing bad in it at all. There is mystery, action, adventure, well-placed comedy, and so much more.

Steven Spielberg takes us on a wild ride trailing a young reporter named TinTin (voice of Jamie Bell) and his brave little dog. They come across a beautiful model ship that is more than it seems. It turns out a wealthy and devious man named Sakharine (voice of Daniel Craig) wants the ship as well. Secret clues are hidden within that lead to the sunken treasure of the great Captain Haddock (voice of Andy Serkis). The hunt takes them down south to Africa and all over the ocean.

The action was pretty constant and the story moved at a really good clip. I was never bored. There was even an amazing sequence of action in an African city with no cuts. Only Spielberg could come up with an amazing section where the camera constantly follows the action and nothing else. My jaw dropped. And leave it to the Einstein of directing to come up with a new fight scene involving cargo cranes. Didn’t know you could do that.

The music: If you listen carefully, you might be able to recognize a few other movie soundtracks in there. That is because John Williams composed the score. Williams is notorious for taking a few bars of music from one of his other compositions and creating a whole new score around it. I know this because I have listened to nearly every John Williams song and watched nearly every movie more than three times. I can recognize it when I hear it. I can tell you that there are sequences from “Indiana Jones,” “Harry Potter,” and “Star Wars” in this movie. As you watch “The Adventures of TinTin” be sure to pay attention to the music.

I am pleased to say that this movie stays true to those adorable Belgian characters we know and love. TinTin still wants to get his story, Snowy is still a very resourceful pooch, and Captain Haddock still loves his whiskey. This movie adventure actually incorporates two TinTin comics at the same time: “The Secret of the Unicorn” and “Red Rackhams Treasure.” I was very impressed at how seamlessly these two stories could be combined. Definitely enjoyable.

“TinTin” is an excellent movie for children and men, but very little of it appeals to girls outright. There are no female characters that last more than a scene, no evil temptress, no love interest. This is a straight-up boy’s adventure fantasy. That isn’t to say girls wont enjoy this either, but I just noticed that Spielberg didn’t even try to throw anything our way. It doesn’t matter; go see this movie as soon as you can. I already saw it twice, and I’m going to have to see it a third time with my family as our holiday movie. Have fun.

A press conference in London’s Whitehall announced the return of James Bond in the newest installment, “Skyfall”. Shooting has been delayed for more than a year due to MGM’s bankruptcy, but officially began on Thursday.

Daniel Craig will be starring as James Bond for the third time in the upcoming film, and will be opposed by Javier Bardem as the antagonist.

Sam Mendes, the director, says “[It has] all the elements of a classic Bond movie, including – to quell any rumours – lots of action”.

The film is scheduled to be released in 2012, coincidentally the 50th anniversary of the first Bond film, “Dr. No”.

I had such hopes for this movie. Really, I did. I thought, hey, something big and silly and infused with self-awareness. Perhaps Jon Favreau is the new pastiche-king, the new Tarantino, the new master of male-centric camp! Perhaps the steampunk aliens want to blow up lots of hastily constructed Western town sets! Wouldn’t that be lovely?

It sure would have been. Which is why it’s so disappointing that “Cowboys and Aliens” doesn’t fail because it’s too stupid, it fails because it tries to be too smart. Enamored with its concept, it riddles the writing, the cast, and the entire design with Western and sci-fi film cliché and in the end topples under the weight of its own over-confidence.

There are six- count ‘em- six writers who worked on this movie. And for what? The story is a Man With No Name (Daniel Craig) who wakes up in the desert with a bizarre mechanism strapped to his arm and no memory of who he is. He wanders back to a town that is literally called Absolution, complete with a meek bartender/doctor (Sam Rockwell), a preacher-man with a salty mouth (Clancy Brown, and the most likeable character in the bunch) and the local wealthy cattle rancher (Harrison Ford). No Name discovers that he’s a criminal named Jake, but before the feds can cart him away, the town is attacked by mysterious flying machines that steal people away using- really- steel lassos. The only person who seems to know anything about them is the mysterious Ella (Olivia Wilde) who seems to think “mysterious” can be conveyed by gaping your mouth open like a fish and staring at the sky.

The movie isn’t poor technically- in terms of camera work, editing, and styling it’s perfectly competent. Favreau makes excellent use of the natural scenery and everyone looks terrific, lit so the details on the spurs and prairie dresses glimmer as brightly as Craig’s pretty, pretty blue eyes. And the “Iron Man” director has a serious pop-culture literacy, which I suppose counts for something.

But somewhere along the way the writers decided that just making a Western blended with a B-sci-fi flick wasn’t enough. They had to throw in an adorable child, an adorable mutt, father/son relationship pathology and fierce yet noble Native Americans who can cure amnesia with chanting. They throw this all in, and the kitchen sink too, but include not an ounce of irony, fun or good humor. Somewhere along the way someone started taking this movie seriously, which basically killed it where it stood.

The one moment of clarity comes when they discover the reason of the aliens’ attack on Earth (spoiler ahead.).

They love gooooolllllddddd!

I’m serious. They want gold. And there is a much-needed release when Ford, scowling through his leather-mitt face, looks incredulously at Craig and exclaims, “Gold?! Well what are they going to do- buy something?!!” The line is much funnier than it has any right to be, because it’s the first time in the whole movie that someone stands up and says, “This whole concept is insane! Why are we acting so dour? For God’s sake can someone just take in for a second that this movie is called ‘Cowboys and Aliens’?!”

But then the moment passes, and there’s a weirdly bloodless action scene between the aliens and the cowboys, and Olivia Wilde sacrifices herself for the greater good, and all is well in the town named Absolution, where the Man With No Name finds…oh, whatever. But I wonder what would have happened if one of the 500 writers on this project wrote that line, and then had an epiphany. What if they went back and re-wrote the script the way it should have been written: with joy and madness and a keen love for the bizarre? “Cowboys and Aliens” could have been sort of wonderful, a masterpiece of insanity. Instead of reaching for the stars, Favreau and his team decided to stay down-to-Earth. That was the biggest mistake of all.

The current James Bond, Daniel Craig has married girlfriend Rachel Weisz, according to a spokesman for Craig.

“They are married,” simply stated a Los Angeles-based publicist.

The couple was first spotted together last fall. Reports indicate the wedding was small and quiet in New York on Wednesday.

Craig is 43, Weisz, if you can believe it, is already 41.

They play — big stretch — a married couple in the upcoming movie “Dream House,” due in September.

Laura Saltman can dish it out. Whether she’s interviewing the stars for Access Hollywood, posting celebrity news on her blog A Dish of Salt, or discovering the next big thing in entertainment, Laura Saltman isn’t afraid to ask the juicy questions. And she does it all with a smile on her face and a light in her eyes. She’s bright, she’s funny, she’s passionate, and she really cares about the people she interviews.

Blast recently chatted with Access Hollywood’s celebrity reporter about rising stars, Glee, American Idol and her beloved dogs (a black lab and a beagle/spaniel mix). What do you ask someone who asks really cool people questions for a living? Well, you start with the really cool people.

BLAST: What is your favorite interview you’ve ever done?

LAURA SALTMAN: My favorite was with Hugh Jackman on the day it was announced he was People’s Sexiest Man Alive. I love Hugh Jackman. He gave a fantastic interview, and I think he’s drop dead gorgeous. But there was this controversy, with people at work saying "Hugh Jackman’s not the sexiest man alive!" So I came up with the 10 reasons why I love Hugh Jackman and why he should be the sexiest man alive. I had it framed, printed on nice paper, and I brought it to him at the interview. He absolutely went nuts for it, he thought it was the greatest thing ever. He was reading the whole thing and he couldn’t believe that I went through all this trouble! He told me he was going to put it in his man room, which is his version of the man cave in the basement. And I really believe that that is hanging on his wall in Australia right now.

BLAST: What were some of the things you put on the list?

LS: He man-scapes. The fact that he is still married and loves his wife. His masculinity, even though he’s played a gay man on Broadway. And I think one of the reasons was his chest. And because he’s a great interview and he always knows the right answer to give. He’s the best, such a sweetheart.

BLAST: What was your worst interview?

LS: My worst interview was Daniel Craig, which is ironic, since they’re currently starring on Broadway together. It was for the movie "Defiance." But he’s Bond, right? You’re going in, thinking he’s going to be suave, charismatic, sophisticated, so cool. I’d never interviewed him before and never met him, and I was expecting him to be Bond, and he was not Bond. He was just charmless. He was very matter-of-fact, and I could not get him to warm up to me. Of course I thought it was me! But then I asked other people about it, and they all said the same thing, that he’s just not the person you expect him to be. He’s a very serious actor, and he doesn’t play into all the Hollywood stuff. He just wants to be an actor, and that’s all. But he’s Bond! It surprised me.

BLAST: What’s it like interviewing someone who’s on a reality show, as opposed to someone who’s born and bred famous?

LS: To me it’s better because people who are on reality shows don’t have the agents, the managers, the publicists breathing down their neck, telling them every single word to say. It changes to much, they’re just being real. I would so much rather interview somebody who’s just being who they are than someone who’s already calculated what they’re going to say to me. I don’t like stuff like that. I would rather interview someone from American Idol, or one of the Bachelors, or even the celebrities from Dancing with the Stars, who have been knocked down a few pegs and are now doing the show trying to come back. I’d rather interview them because they’re less guarded than celebrities.

BLAST: Do publicists get in your way a lot? Are there a lot of canned responses?

LS: It’s become a bigger problem in our industry as the tabloids have taken over. You have to walk a fine line. I have to think, "If I were a celeb, would I want someone asking me that? What would I say back?" Some take it better than others. I’d rather have someone say to me "No comment" than just walk away. With Twitter, people are now getting ahead of the story. Like Jessica Simpson. There was a story about when she broke up with Tony Romo, and she went on Twitter and said "I’m doing ok, don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine." So instead of the paparazzi hounding her to get the first response from her, she just went on Twitter and said how she was feeling. It took the paparazzi out of the picture.

BLAST: What’s it like to interview a rising star? I noticed you interviewed Lea Michele from Glee recently. What’s it like to interview someone like that, where you know that this is their first big break?

LS: It’s cool because you can see it in their eyes. You can see how excited they are for the interview. I was one of the first people on the set of Glee, and I could just see it—they had this glint in their eyes, they were so excited for Access Hollywood to be there. The great thing about Lea is that now that the show is so successful—I’ve seen her seven or eight times since the first interview—she still has that gleam in her eye. Lea, to me, is still excited, and I think she’s going to be a huge star.

BLAST: Any other young celebrities we should keep our eyes on?

LS: Today I interviewed Victoria Justice. She has a Nickelodeon show coming out called Victorious. It’s kind of like Fame, High School Musical, Glee… and she is drop-dead gorgeous. She was on Zoey 101, but she wasn’t the lead. Nickelodeon is really pushing her to be their next big star. She looks just like Nina Dobrev from The Vampire Diaries, so we actually talked about how people mistake them for each other. If the show does well, I think she’ll actually end up being a pretty big star.

BLAST: What’s your absolute favorite thing to report on?

LS: American Idol. I love it. I’ve been covering it since the very first season. I was interviewing some of the contestants from last season and Alexis Grace said to me that all the people from the last eight seasons of American Idol all know each other, and they all hang out. And I said it was so nice that they all stayed together, and she said, "Yeah we’re like a family, but we feel that you’re part of our Idol family too, because you’ve always been around and everybody knows you." She just made my day! I feel like I’m part of the American Idol family, and I would be devastated to not be a part of it anymore.

BLAST: Speaking of things we love, you interviewing Katee Sackhoff from Battlestar Galactica. What’s she like?

LS: She’s awesome! She’s one of my most favorite interviews. She is like a ball of energy, and she’s funny! You don’t expect that, because she’s Starbuck, right? You expect drama. I told her when she walked in, "I feel like you could totally kick my ass." I told her she could do a sitcom she’s so funny. Every time I asked a question she came up with this hilarious joke about it. I absolutely loved her. I surprised her by bringing in some of our fanboys who work at Access Hollywood, and she could not have been nicer to them. You can tell that she really loves the attention, and all these guys adore her. She’s great. Absolutely loved her.

BLAST: What first made you want to be an entertainment reporter?

LS: I was obsessed with celebrities. I just wanted to know everything about them. I was such a huge fan of movies and TV, and I was fascinated by the process of making TV shows. I’ve always said that I don’t want to be a star, I just want to interview them. It started when I was a little girl, because my parents put a TV in my room since the age of 7. My parents would make me go to bed at 9 o’clock, and there were certain shows that I wanted to watch, so I’d take the TV and I’d put it under my bed and watch it upside down, so they wouldn’t see the light. I’d hang over the edge of my bed and watch "Dallas" upside down! I’ve always wanted to do this.

BLAST: And now you have a great reputation as a no-holds-barred interviewer, and everyone takes you very seriously.

LS: It does get me in trouble though. (laughs)

BLAST: Do you have any words of advice for young people who want to do your job?

LS: Everyone told me I was never going to be what I wanted to be, it was too difficult, but I was still determined. If someone tells me no, I do the opposite, I prove them wrong. Now it seems like it’s a lot easier to get into because there’s so much media involved with celebrities and entertainment. Obviously you’ve got to go to school, but as soon as you’re out of school, you’ve got to get on these internet sites and become a writer. You don’t even have to live in LA now, as you know, to do this. You just have to meet the right people, get out there, start writing stuff, and learn as much as you can, meet as many people as you can. A lot of people that I’ve met have helped me meet someone else. So never say no to any job in entertainment, because you never know who can be your first stepping stone.

This Access Hollywood reporter knows how to do a good interview, no matter what side of the table she’s on. You can follow Laura Saltman on Twitter, or check out her blog.

If I were Daniel Craig, I’d be pretty bummed right now. According to the New York Daily News, Megan Fox turned down an offer to be the next Bond girl.

Apparently, the 23-year-old actress is trying to break out of the eye-candy role she fell into in the “Transformers” movies. Surprisingly, she’s not the first stunner to turn down a Bond girl offer. “Slumdog Millionaire” beauty Frieda Pinto also rejected the role in the next Bond flick, and before Eva Green was chosen for “Casino Royale,” Sienna Miller, Angelina Jolie, Charlize Theron and Rachel McAdams all said no.

While it’s an admirable move toward a real career, I think I speak for men and women alike when I say, Megan, we beg you to reconsider.

MGM announced today that Daniel Craig will reprise his role of Ian Felming’s James Bond in the 23rd James Bond film.

The film is currently untitled, but producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli announced that Peter Morgan (“Frost/Nixon,” “The Queen”), Neal Purvis, and Robert Wade (“Quantum of Solace,” “Casino Royale”) will be the screenwriters. The trio will begin work on the script once they complete their current projects.

A date for the start of production has yet to be announced.

Craig has starred as Bond for the franchise’s past two installments: “Casino Royale” and “Quantum of Solace.”

Blast had an opportunity to speak with “Defiance” director Ed Zwick in November. Now, from the voice recorder hidden in the bowels of entertainment editor Terri Schwartz’s car, the transcript of the interview finally emerges. Zwick discusses the lengthy process creating the film, how it was working with Daniel Craig and the true metaphors behind the film.

BLAST: You said you first came across the story of the [Bielski] brothers 12 years ago.

ED ZWICK: Yes.

BLAST: What was the process between then and now in creating the movie?

EZ: Well, we optioned the book, and then we, on our own, worked on a story from the book. An adaptation. We go a studio to pay us to write a script, and they then abandoned the process. We worked on it ourselves but, inevitably, life intercedes and making a living and the other things that catch your imagination. That included several other movies over those years. But each time, we would go back to it, think about it, try to find financing, not necessarily be able to, work on it. There was a significant amount of work that happened about three years ago when it occurred to me that there was a central flaw in what we were doing in the telling that involved trying to tell too much an it was about telescoping the beginning significantly and telescoping the end so as to intensify the fabric of it. That really helped. It sort of took on a new life and it somehow galvanized me to rededicate myself to trying to get it done. And I had gotten Daniel Craig. He had wanted to do “Blood Diamond” at a certain moment, and the studio was not interested in that. But I had met him and really liked him. I had liked his work before I had seen him in “Layer Cake” and “The Mother” and I had seen “Infamous;” these great roles. And it was only a matter of time before his gift became known, so that when I finished this draft, he was the first person I sent it to. And he read it and said he wanted to meet and we got together in London and had a six hour conversation that was terrific and really, by the end of which, it was clear to both of us that we wanted to do this thing. I had to secure the financing then. We had been rejected by every conventional means and again, with Daniel’s participation, were rejected again. So I found an independent financier who was willing to put up the money who then pre-sold some of the foreign rights to mitigate his own investment. And then we got a domestic distributor, which was Paramount Vantage, to distribute it.

BLAST: And that’s where we are today.

EZ: And, well, there was four months in Lithuania and some post-production.

BLAST: ["Defiance"] is very different than other World War II and Holocaust movies that are out there, just in the fact that you think “World War II” you think “D-Day” and you think of “The Holocaust” you think “concentration camps.” Was there a conscious decision to keep those aspects out of it?

EZ: They were not intrinsic to the experience of the story. I wanted the story to be very subjective: from the experience of these people, which means that the Germans themselves were at a distance. If they were close to you, it meant that you were dead. So therefore, they had to be at removed. Similarly the camps were, at that moment, nothing but a rumor, if that, so they couldn’t figure in the story. I really wanted to remain true to the circumstances and to their experience, and that defined the telling. It was about “the forest” and what happened in that forest became, metaphorically, a place of change and transformation, as it has been in literature from the Brothers Grimm to “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” It’s a place where people go to seek refuge but are changed by it.

BLAST: Did you ever meet with any of the [Bielski] brothers or any of the families?

EZ: The three oldest brothers in the story are dead, and were when we began. But their sons became very important to us and told the stories their father gave us, videotapes of their fathers that they had collected. We met others who had been in the brigade. They came to visit us. It turns out that they gave us access to an autobiography that Tuvia had written.

BLAST: Has that been published?

EZ: No, it is unpublished and it’s literarily very odd and stilted but it’s very interesting as a document. It has some of the Soviet party nomenclature in it. It has a very casual attitude toward violence. It contradicts itself at certain times. It’s very interesting.

BLAST: Not personally having known the story [of the Bielskis] before this movie, were there any creative liberties taken?

EZ: Definitely, in the composite of the other characters, and in the imagined dialogues between people. I mean, who knew what happened there really? And these conversations? There was a dialectic in the Nechama Tec book about the decision to seek revenge and the impulse to save others. That found its expression in these two characters [Tuvia and Zus Bielski], and that becomes the central metaphor of the story.

BLAST: There are a lot of metaphors in the whole Passover idea of [Tuvia] coming through as Moses and splitting the sea. What was the basis behind that decision, other than the obvious?

EZ: Besides my own artistic so-called interpretation, I felt that the metaphor was implicit. These two brothers, it evoked Moses and Aaron. These people wandering from one place to the next, it evoked the wilderness and the diaspora. I just thought that there was a real value to its epic nature to find those metaphorical parallels. When they were passing through the water [at the end of the film], that happens to be true but it’s remarkable.

BLAST: Was it true that [the passing through the water] occurred at Passover or was that a creative liberty?

EZ: No, I believe that the big attack did take place during Passover. I could be wrong, but I think that’s true. What’s surprising is that people who [don't get the metaphors] go along anyway. We screened the movie in Westminster, Colorado where they may have heard of Jews but never seen one, and it played wonderfully, and people got it. They related to it as a story; a story of survival and of community and all the other parts of it. I mean, there is a special relationship that one has with a story if you imagine your relatives or yourself in that situation, so how could it not but be that? But it’s not necessary I hope.

BLAST: How was working with Daniel [Craig] and Liev [Schreiber]?

EZ: We had a great experience together. We really did. They’re both from theater. Daniel is a working-class British actor from theater, and Liev is one of the great lights of the American stage right now and has been for the past 15 years. So at some times they’re very similar, even though one of them has just happened to be vaulted into mega-stardom suddenly.

BLAST: Well, [Liev] is going to be the next Sabretooth.

EZ: Well he is in fact. I wanted him to send me a picture of himself wearing some big cat suit with whiskers or something like that, but he said they managed to avoid that. I said I wanted to see him in spandex.

BLAST: You should have managed to incorporate that into ["Defiance"] at some point.

EZ: It would have been good, don’t you think? At some point just a kind of a “Rawr.”

BLAST: Have the hair and the nails; I think it would have gone with the theme of the movie.

EZ: Well there was a whole Holocaust theme in the first X-men [comic books]. The genocide of the mutants and all of that. There was Jews, homosexuals, and mutants. That’s who was sent to the camps.

BLAST: So basically, “Defiance” is just a big metaphor for “X-men.”

EZ: [laughter] You’re right, it’s in reverse.

BLAST: Tell me a little bit about your background. Obviously you’ve been a big player in [Hollywood]. Tell me a bit about your history and where you started.

EZ: I started directing the theater when I went to college. I did not study theater. I directed in the theater because it was a great opportunity to direct. I studied literature and history and anthropology and science and everything but theater, and I think that was the best thing that ever could have happened to me. I wrote journalism while I was in school and for a year or so thereafter. Somehow both of those things found their expression in these movies: the theater and the journalism; the research of a subject or the immersion in a subject.

BLAST: Do you think that’s more important to being a director than necessarily going and studying for eight years?

EZ: In film? I do. I do. I mean, otherwise you’re just making movies about other movies, as opposed to knowing how to learn about the world or going out in the world and actually seeing what the world has to tell you and to holding the mirror up to the world.

BLAST: Your stories tell about aspect of history, like with “Glory” or with “Defiance” and “The Last Samurai.” They’re aspects of history that people might not necessarily have known about beforehand. Do you set out, when you make these movies, to educate people, or is it just topics that you find interesting?

EZ: First I find them interesting, and I do want to suit myself because, I can’t keep myself interested for two years, how can I expect people interested for two hours? I think that’s for sure. But, there’s nothing wrong with people learning something while they’re being entertained. I think that’s one of the ways we actually learn most of what we learn. Even this presidential election, you saw both candidates trying to present themselves as a narrative. They understood that that was the way of communicating their story; their beliefs were somehow tied up in their narrative. And I think narrative is the way that people open themselves to learning as opposed to through the more rigorous, clearly academic process.

BLAST: What do you have next in line? Are you going to keep with the theme of “Blood Diamond” and “Defiance,” or are you going to make the next “Superbad”?

EZ: Well that would be good. Yeah, I liked “Superbad.” I wonder, what would it become? “Super…..”

BLAST: An adult version.

EZ: Yeah, I waited and I missed it. [laughter] I never really can predict. I just really tend to immerse myself. And then it’s done. And then I look around and I’m convinced I’ll never think of anything else and I’ll never get to make another movie.

BLAST: Which clearly is what’s been happening to you for a while ago.

EZ: It’s going to happen someday. [laughter]

BLAST: Nothing’s got your mind?

EZ: It’s a lot of head scratching, yeah.

BLAST: How long did it take you to film the movie, when you were in Lithuania?

EZ: Pretty fast: 60 shooting days. That’s about 12 weeks, or 10 weeks with six day weeks. It was a tough schedule and we were very far north and it was very cold and very wet. It didn’t get light until 7:30 in the morning and then it got dark by 4:30. It was a hard thing.

BLAST: Did you actually manage to film during winter?

EZ: Oh sure. We went all the way into real snow. Sometimes we filled it in with fake, but when you’re trying to load an automatic weapon in freezing conditions [...] you’re just trying to get it done, and it looks great on film. The breath is real, and the shivering is real, and the faces are blue and the teeth are chattering. That’s a good thing. By the way, people suggested we film [in America], but those faces, the faces of the extras, you just can’t find them. They’re from Eastern Europe. That’s who they are.

BLAST: What kind of preparation did the actors have to go through for the film?

EZ: Weapons training, certainly. Dialect work. A lot of research. Russian. Daniel and Liev had to really learn how to speak Russian.

BLAST: The movie is obviously a very sensitive and emotional subject. Was that hard at all on the set for actors to cope with it or for you to cope with it?

EZ: You know, you’d think that, but in fact, when you’re doing something that you believe in or that has meaning, it never feels hard. I think what’s hard is when you’re doing something that’s cynical and you feel a little shabby and that you’re giving yourself away. I think that’s much harder.

In anticipation of the November 14 release of Quantum of Solace, MGM released on six James Bond movies on Blu-ray on October 21.

So we sat down and watched them all.

The flicks included “For Your Eyes Only,” “From Russia with Love,” “Dr. No,” “Live and Let Die,” “Thunderball” and “Die Another Day,” — Pierce Brosnan’s last Bond run.

Our generation grew up with Pierce, and “Die Another Day” his second best of the four he did, but don’t miss “From Russia with Love,” and “Thunderball.” They’re a bit different than we’re used to, but they’re very good, classic 007 titles.

The films have been remastered for Blu-ray, and play in DTS surround sound.

They join “Casino Royale,” which was Daniel Craig’s first Bond role, which came out on Blu-ray last holiday season, and it has been one of the best, and best-selling Blu-ray titles.

There are more special features than movie minutes. They really pack the 50 GB dual-layer discs. There are image galleries, behind the scenes features, documentaries, featurettes on the various Bond actors, making-of features, profiles of the villains, and TV/radio spots

The films can be purchased individually, or on an Amazon.com exclusive six-pack.

Be warned, you’ll probably have to upgrade your firmware if you have an older DVD player. That has been a problem for a lot of late, great Blu-ray releases, and it was a problem when DVD first came out as well. Do your homework, but realize that this is one of those holiday “must haves.”

James Bond video games have had their peaks and their valleys.

Goldeneye became a staple in the first-person shooter genre as a good way to balance a FPS while keeping the plot interesting and inviting.

However, Goldeneye was the first and last bond game to really revolutionize a genre and/or just be itself a good game.‚  Subsequent games have been lackluster since then, and we didn’t even see a Casino Royale adaptation.

The next bond game, Quantum of Solace, could prove beneficial for the franchise and for first person shooters in general.

Developed by Treyarch, the Call of Duty developer, QoS combines the same intense combat found in those games with a unique third-person cover system.‚ Using the Call of Duty 4 engine, enemy A.I. will be smart and responsive.‚ The weapons, graphics and overall combat this time around are bound to garner some intense moments often seen in the Call of Duty franchise.‚ 

Likewise, using a cover system, which is lacking in CoD, could prove to make QoS as revolutionary as Goldeneye was.‚ It feels as if Treyarch looked at two recent and incredibly popular first person shooters and combined them both. It’s like Call of Duty 4 and Rainbow Six Vegas merged.

On top of a reliable engine, QoS offers players the ability to not only play as Bond in Quantum of Solace but also in Casino Royale.‚ I know, you were asking yourself, “Where is the video game?” after you walked out of Casino Royale two years ago.‚ And, of course, the original screen actors are in the game for added realism.

It’s about time the 007 video game franchise made its way out of the gutter.‚  It’s been a long time since Goldeneye, and it’s been a long time since we’ve seen a good Bond game.‚  Let’s hope for the best; let’s be shaken, not stirred.

A two-disc special edition of “Casino Royale,” the latest installment in the James Bond franchise, is now available on DVD in regular format, as well as on Blu-ray disc. The film, which many critics considered to be a throwback to the Bond films of yore, is a must for any 007 completist.

Sony announced last week that the film is the first high definition disc to ship more than 100,000 copies. It’s also the first to have broken into the top 10 on Amazon.com’s best-seller list.

The movie is a perfect selling point for Sony’s Blu-Ray format, and an appropriate one for the company to use as a launching pad to surpass rival format HD-DVD. The crisp transfer on the Blu-Ray version allows fiery explosions to jump off the screen, and highlights every drop off water dripping off Daniel Craig’s sculpted abs as he emerges from a swim.

The special edition-available in both wide screen and full screen-includes a handful of extras tied to both the film and the franchise. A “Becoming Bond” documentary highlights the transformation of unlikely casting choice Craig into a blonde James Bond. A version of the 2002 AMC production “Bond Girls Are Forever” examines the role of leading ladies in Bond films over the years, and is updated to include Eva Green’s Casino Royale character, Vesper Lynd. Stunts performed in the movie’s numerous action sequences are dissected in a second featurette. And then, of course, is the token pop music video: in this case, for Chris Cornell’s “You Know My Name,” which provides the soundtrack to the opening credits of the film.

However, film buffs may want to hold off on rushing out to purchase the DVD, as in what is becoming the norm for DVD marketing, something along the lines of a “Super Special Deluxe Edition” will likely be released in the coming months, with additional extras and perhaps never-before-seen footage.