Bond + Bird

Our Thanksgiving almost always includes a movie. We pop the bird in the oven and then head off to while away some of the cooking time with the big screen instead of the small screen and football. Last year it was "Rent" which I loved but was a bit of a downer. This year I made the choice and decided on "Casino Royale" not because I was dying to see it, but because it played at a convenient time. I'm not a huge Bond fan and this new blond Bond...well, I wasn't sold.

Well, I was SO wrong! The movie, like all Bond movies, has over-the-top, non-stop action sequences. My brother and I were laughing at how much the guy could survive and still get up for more, yet my adrenaline was pumping. And then once the action slowed a little and we got to see a bit more into Bond's head...aaah. It got me.

This is a kind of "Bond Begins" story, and we see a less smooth, more reckless-for-the-sake-of-recklessness side of James. This is a guy with a few rough edges still, and it really worked for me. It worked for all of us, from my twenty-one-year old niece who has a whole new appreciation for older men, to my fourteen-year-old son who was wowed by the action sequences. So I highly recommend it if you're looking for a fun time at the movies.

It's long, though, and I was worried about my bird, at home alone in the oven with only two dogs for company. (I was also worried about the homemade cookies on the counter, as one dog was not ours and I wasn't sure how mannerly she was.) But while we were all Bond-ing happily at the multiplex, turkey roasted away and dogs kept their noses out of the baked goods.

So all in all, an entirely wonderful day, including the boys glued to the new Wii and our dip in the hot tub to end the evening. We're not shopping until later this morning, but I'm thinking I'd forego all that for another movie. It's been a long time since I had so much fun with popcorn.

Any movies you're planning to see this season? I still want to see "Deja Vu" and "Apocalypto" looks intriguing but scary (saw the trailer yesterday). Son 2 wants to see "Happy Feet."

P.S. Don't forget my new book, MUST LOVE MISTLETOE, will be out on Tuesday. Romantic Times gives it 4 1/2 stars and says, ""Ridgway delights yet again with this charming, witty tale of holiday romance. Not only are the characters sympathetic, intelligent and engaging, but the sexual tension between the main characters is played out with tremendous skill. The plot is well constructed and the characters' emotional responses are satisfyingly believable, both in dialogue and in action."