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.

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.”

On March 5^th, the third European track pack will release featuring “Break it Out” by the Italian pop punk  band Vanilla Sky, and “In the Shadows,” a track performed by one of Finland’s most successful bands, The Rasmus.  The third in the pack, “C’est Comme Ca,” is a top single from French pop rock Les Rita Mitsouko.  Clearly, the boys over at Activision have done some globe trekkin to find their latest digs, and from past European iterations I can’t help but be excited.

March 19^th brings the music of Dutch symphonic rock/metal band Within Temptation to the stage with “What have you done.”  Already famous for their work on Guitar Hero 3, German punk band Die Toten Hosen (that is so fun to say) will perform the full band experience of their 1988 hit “Hier Kommit Alex.”  Finally, rounding out Europe is Spanish rock band M-Clan with “Carolina.”

World Tour returns stateside with three Jimmy Hendrix classics, “Angel,” “Freedom,” and a 1969 live from Woodstock rendition of “Foxey Lady.”   Hendrix, known for his chop busting, face melting solos, is sure to challenge even the hardened guitar hero fan.  All 3 songs will be available March 19^th.

Furthermore, Wii fans are also getting love with the songs from the first Jimi Hendrix Track Pack “If 6 was 9,” “Little Wing” and “Fire” also available on March 19th as downloadable singles.

Why stop there? Activision sees no reason to.  On March 26^th 3 iconic tracks from Rock and Roll hall of fame legends Queen will go live.  “We are the champions,” “Fat Bottom Girls,” and “C-lebrity” round out the trifecta.  I can’t wait for my vocal session. “And we’ll keep on fighting to the end.”

Also on the 26^th, James Bond fans everywhere can raise their axes in harmony to the tune of a new recording of the James Bond Theme.  I’m a bit skeptical over the *new* but I’m sure justice will be done to arguably the most memorable and recognizable audio tracks in all of film.

If there is one guarantee for virtual currency well spent, it would have to be extra songs for your favorite music game.  A quick Youtube search reveals everything you could ask for, and with songs available for purchase individually, the biggest mistake you could make would cost only a couple dollars.

Sure, Guitar Hero doesn’t churn out songs at the rate of Rock Band, but it also doesn’t feature tracks by Miranda Cosgrove and the Jonas Brothers.

The songs in the two European Track Packs, Queen Track Pack and the James Bond Track will be released as downloadable singles for Xbox 360 for 160 Microsoft Points, PLAYSTATION 3 system for $1.99 and Wii for 200 Wii Points each. The Jimi Hendrix tracks will be available as downloadable singles for Wii for 200 Wii Points.

If you like purchasing in bulk and saving some scratch, the two European track packs, Jimi Hendrix pack, and the Queen pack will be available for 440 MS points on Xbox 360 or $5.49 for PS3.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — “Quantum of Solace” would be a good action-drama, if only it weren’t a Bond film.

Daniel Craig’s second performance as James Bond picks the up the action from the moment “Casino Royale” leaves off, and that’s the problem.

Director Marc Forster (”Monster’s Ball”) correctly assumes that viewers of “Solace” already saw the previous film and know what’s going on. He seems to forget, however, that fans of “Casino Royale” who are sitting for “Quantum of Solace” are looking for James Bondish elements to the movie. There are none. Except for the good-as-always performance of Judi Dench as “M,” you would never know this was a Bond film.

SPOILER ALERT

That alone is enough to ruin a supposed 007 film. No MI6 headquarters moments. No Moneypenny. No Q Branch. No new watch. No cars with machine guns and missiles. No sex scenes (the redhead didn’t count). Was this a Bond movie or not? Was this the British import we Americans have come to love and honor, or has the series finally succumbed to the reality of American film stupidity where explosions and kill-shots rule supreme over plot?

There wasn’t even a decent Bond villain. The so-called and so-dead “bad guy” was a hapless little dweeb who never really posed much of a threat. Even the boilerplate evil general seemed vapid and undeveloped.

He doesn’t even say “The name’s Bond, James Bond” in the entire movie.

END SPOILER ALERT

It seems to me that you could have tacked this movie onto the special features of “Casino Royale” and bottled it down to a half hour.

Ukrainian beauty Olga Kurylenko is the latest Bond girl, Camille. Kurylenko slept through her role and failed to sell her revenge-driven rage character line. She may be the worst bond girl ever.

The real Bond girl in this movie was Miss Fields, (the redhead) wonderfully portrayed by 22-year-old Brit, Gemma Arterton, who should have had a much more predominant role in the movie. She gives the best performance in the film and gets about five minutes on screen for her troubles.

The movie is driven by the subplot of a far-reaching evil organization, reminiscent of early Bond films, but we never truly get a picture for what that organization is. It, like most of the movie, gets swept under the rug to make room for someone getting killed in every other scene.

There is an interesting scene where Camille and Bond try to parachute out of a falling plane and end up walking in the desert in a tuxedo and black cocktail dress. You almost get the hint that you’re watching 007 in action, but then you shake your head and wake up. No.

Cinematography-wise, “Quantum of Solace” is a very good movie and well-made, even with purposefully jerky camera moves.

It’s just not a Bond movie, and if it’s really to be billed as such, then “Quantum of Solace” is the worst Bond movie ever made.

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.”

For the college crowd, by now, you’ve not only had a few awkward Facebook conversations with your new roommate (look to see how many pictures he or she is tagged in that are added by others, not by themselves-that’s how you know they’re cool), but you’ve probably acquired your brand-new comforter and Twin-XL sheets and you’ve got your shower caddy and shower shoes safely packed away. You’ve spent the past few days tinkering with your new Macbook’s iSight camera and you think you’re prepared to face the great beyond of post-high school life.

Well, you’re not. You’ve almost certainly forgotten a few items that will make your college experience a whole lot better, but thankfully for you Blast Magazine has decided to help you out.

10. Organization

Depending on how cheap your university is, they may or may not provide desk drawers or a hutch/bookshelf. And as much as you think you won’t be studying, you’ll still need a place to store your unused hundred-dollar textbooks and to hide your solo cups and ping-pong balls from the wandering eyes of resident assistants. The best (and most flexible) option if you don’t want to actually buy any kind of quality shelving, is stackable cubes or bins-basically, you want them to be small enough to fit in the nooks-and-crannies of exposed space in your dorm room (on the window sill, under your bed, bottom of your closet, etc.) and you want to be able to configure them to fit your needs.

9. Water

In college, you need water for everything. Whether you’re trekking to class, making a cup of tea at 3am in the morning, or you’ve run out of soda on Saturday nights, water is essential. And frankly, it’s not only expensive but incredibly wasteful to burn through 24-packs of Poland Spring. Instead, buy a filtering pitcher like a Brita pitcher to keep in your fridge. It’s also important to have a plastic bottle on hand, both to carry water around and to bring to dining halls so that you can liberate juice and milk.

8. Fan

Even if your dorm room has air conditioning (unlikely), a small fan is essential. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never slept with white noise before, a fan is ideal in order to block out your roommate’s snoring (or to block your snoring for your roommate) and it is also important to keep some air circulation going in your tiny room. Dorm rooms are small, compact places and frankly, it’s in both your interests to have a little breeze here and there. Your best option is probably an oscillating tower fan.

7. Visitor accommodations

The thing about dorm life is that there are always people around. Once you make friends, there’s a good chance that someone besides yourself and your roommate will be hanging out with you. Where do they sit? Some people are uncomfortable either offering their beds or sitting on others’ beds, and so a chair of some kind is a definite plus. The coolest thing I’ve seen is actually a Yoga or Pilates ball that just rolls around your room—not only are they really fun (and people fight over them!), but they offer a nice break from the monotony of sitting on your ass on a hard, uncomfortable chair (more on that later) and they’re really good for your posture.

6. Comfy clothes

The other thing about dorm life is that everyone sees everyone in their pajamas and ratty old field hockey shirts and so on and so forth. On wet days, you’ll come back to your dorm and get out of your soaked jeans as fast as possible and you’ll probably do your best not to leave your dorm room for the rest of the night. A good pair of sweatpants and a REALLY good pair of slippers are invaluable for times like these (especially if you actually go to your 8ams). You don’t want to walk around bare-footed because dorms are dirty places and no one wants to see your feet, anyway. Personally, I recommend L.L. Bean’s Wicked Good Moccasins (they have male and female versions) and your college bookstore will have a good selection of sweatpants.

5. Lap desk

I don’t care how studious you are, you won’t want to sit at your desk for hours and hours and hours on end. So you’ll move to your bed, bringing your laptop with you, and an hour later the fire alarm will go off thanks to your overheated computer bursting into flames. So a good-sized lap desk that holds your computer and a notebook or two is definitely a good investment.

4. Personal decorations

“But I already bought two awesome posters,” you say. But what you probably bought was yet another Klimt “The Kiss” or Dali”“Narcissus” that everybody and their mom already have tacked up on their wall. Go for something original; if you have a few unique posters on your wall your roommate and your dorm-mates might actually be interested in you. Don’t forget that the whole point of college (besides a degree and stuff) is to unashamedly be yourself. So if you’re an Apple fanboy, fly your true colors. If you’re a die-hard Bond fan, don’t be embarrassed of your Goldfinger movie poster reprint

3. A good backpack

You absolutely need a quality, comfortable back-pack. You might have a cool new shoulder bag or an adorable designer tote, but you’ll use it for one day and then realize that they make back-packs the way they do for a reason. You’ll need a bag big enough to hold your laptop (with sufficient padding for it, too), a notebook, a variety of extra pouches and so on for whatever you might need, and an easy way to carry your water bottle. If you sleep over someone’s room or take a weekend trip, a back-pack is honestly the best solution. Don’t hesitate to spend a significant amount on one, either, especially if it’s high-quality like a North Face or an L.L. Bean (which has a lifetime guarantee).

2. A nice set of speakers

Obviously it depends on your studying methods, but personally I have music on all the time. And laptop speakers just don’t cut it. Whether it’s a weekend night or you’re watching a movie with a friend or studying, a subwoofer makes all situations more fun. There are a lot of good options out there, but you can get a very nice set of two satellites + 1 subwoofer from Logitech for a decent price.

1. A comfortable office chair

I was lucky enough to get this advice before my freshman year and it was honestly one of the best purchases I’ve ever made. A proper rolling office chair lets you bring seating to others’ rooms easily, makes sitting on your ass for long, long hours much more comfortable, and is generally 12462343x better than the terrible hard, wooden chair that the college had mass-produced especially for you. Even though they might be expensive, a good chair is undoubtedly worth it. If you don’t believe me, just go to college and sit at your desk for a week. Then go buy a chair.

There you have it — my ten essential dorm room accessories. Now go forth and be educated.

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.

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.