PhillipSimons

Throughout the whole movie Christian Bale dominates. His character grows with every new scene, and his acting is realistic as usual. So the only unique thing this movie has is Bale and the other actors who did a solid job. Even Eva Longoria, alt ought hard to imagine as a bossy girlfriend of a low-life in L.A.-s dangerous parts, does her job very good. "Harsh Times" is a perfect blend of many already seen movies, like "Training Day" or "Traffic", even "Falling Down". A sharp picture with yellow and grey tones which dominates through the whole movie only enhances the already existing realistic touch. The only segment this movie completely lacks of is a decent score.

Last week I went to the cinema rather skeptic but also very excited to see the new Bond movie. And I must say, the movie surpassed my expectations.

It's a real comeback of James Bond, and may I say in style. Daniel Craig has been constantly disputed as a adequate Bond-actor, and in the first few times he looks a bit unconfined. But in a very curious way, Craig transforms and adapts - charming when needed, but mostly serious and dark, like the Bond interpreted by Timothy Dalton, but better, even deeper and more variable, somewhere near the middle of the picture we become familiar even with his very Bond-unlike look(he could have easily been chose for a Bond villain role, makes the perfect Russian spy/general look). But not only Craig should be praised, but the entire cast, especially the very confident, sophisticated and comfortable Mads Mikkelsen who makes a terrific Bond villain. Moreover, finally we get a brake from all the high-tech insane terrorists and their scams to destroy the world in a bizarre way, and can concentrate on some very amusing card - game duels and money chases.

But the strongest thing about this movie is the balance between action and the plot development, something that lacked in every of the past Brosnan movies. Very smooth and easy going, you can enjoy the plot development all the 144 minutes of the movie. And finally a Bond movie manages to evade that unnecessary megalomaniac behavior, and stays away from paroles like "The World is Not Enough".

David Arnold pointed one more time out that he is the right man to make the score, although we all miss some John Barry tunes.

We get some rest from "Q" and his tricky gadgets, no Moneypenny dialog, but despite of it all, this movie should be considered as one of the best Bond pictures ever.

This movie is not another boring and superficial teen movie. Based on Jane Austins works, it manages to bring some of Jane's charm.

Alicia Silverstone (Cher) is excellent, as well as the rest of the cast. All together they successfully manage to present one of the strongest side of this movie - a rich gallery of various and very exciting characters. In addition the convincing but unobtrusive acting helps to create a trustfully atmosphere.

Also, the classic love story seems to be just one of many perspectives and themes around this movie. We get a pretty good glimpse of the Beverly Hills High world, and their fractions. But the real thing is the surprisingly free-flowing dialog, the fast and quite unpredictable plot and the funny but not overdone gags.It is a movie worth watching more then once...