The Daily Minutiae

Rue in Europe, woes in China (not to mention things getting worse), and everybody's blaming the stars and stripes.  Many seem to think the United States has plunged the world into economic limbo and catastrophe.

Haha ... oops.

Pursuing the metaphor a little further, all huddled around a campfire, the thrower  is the only one that really knew how far he or she or it threw that bottle rocket.

Which, of course, inherently knew how bad the big ka-boom was going to be, not to mention the first one to know to run away.

I'm liking this model.  Next quarter, I'm running this by my macroecon professor.

And you know for some reason the U.S. is that tone-deaf douchebag with the taped-up acoustic guitar.  Now —playing devil's advocate here— what if some that were seated at this G-20-style campfire, spoke out about old America's numb-nutted renditions of "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" and "Smoke on the Water" and "Seven Nation Army?"  Let's get really out there.  What if everybody else was playing "Wonderful Tonight" and "Stairway to Heaven?"

So with reports of the last month's big bailout working, it looks like as the world is falling to pieces, the Yanks are, yep, once again emerging out on top.

Haha ... oops.

With the casting of Daniel Craig, the sixth briton to dawn the tuxedo and grab the Walther PPK, in 2006's Casino Royale, the Bond franchise caught a second wind.  Younger people were drawn into the good ol' fashion, suave, "shoot 'em, blow 'em up" formula that has kept 007 in commission.  Young audiences were taken in by a trendy change of pace that puts Bond in the center of an internal struggle as well as dealing with supervillains.

The 2006 action-flick --where Bond was finally portrayed as a feeling young agent with a rich story-- was budgeted for the then-highest in the franchise, $150 million.  November's next installment, Quantum of Solace, looks to eclipse it, budgeted at $230 million.

From the trailer, we can see some fun things ahead, namely some European chase scenes, planes, and what looks like a hefty sequence around a harbor.  With location shooting officially done in June, we watch the rest of the parts of Quantum of Solace unfold.

Bond chick? Check.  Olga Kurylenko -Ukranian model/actress.  Doubtful to disappoint.

Post-production special effects?  In the works/wrapping up.

Testosterone-pumping, sexy theme song?  Finally leaked on the Internet.

On par with the rest of the "New Bond"'s taste for shaking things up, Quantum of Solace employs the talents of two unlikelies for the 22nd theme song in the franchise, "A New Way to Die."  The White Stripes' Jack Black and R&B singer Alicia Keys have teamed up for the song, a first-ever duet for a Bond film.

Below I have a Coca Cola commercial that has an instrumental in the background.  A leak that was recently taken off YouTube had a full demo of the song.

I say demo only because that's what I hope it was.  When I first heard the leak, I've got to say, I was disappointed.  That classic White Stripes minimalism really bled through the leak.  Jack White himself are on the drums, which is probably a good call.  God bless Meg White --I hope she's doing better after the tour cancellation,-- but her drumming is a little underbred for a spy flick.  

Thankfully, the Coke commercial sounds a lot cleaner.  Offhand, I think the demo was missing a few filler instruments or they weren't completely figured out.  It's exciting to hear what White can do given the resources.  He also brings another first to 007 music -distinctive, belting, rock vocals.  It goes well with Keys (and match her pitch most of the time) not to mention gives a new look at the psyche of a double-oh agent.

Quantum of Solace hits theaters November 14.

(Both from YouTube)

Official Quantum of Solace HD Trailer:

Coca Cola Commercial: