All the New Movies That I Have Seen

1. Casino Royale (2006).

An attempt to restart the James Bond franchise that works surprisingly well. Daniel Craig is the best 007 in years and the movie actually makes it seem as if the writers were making as much of an effort as the stuntmen. Here's hoping that this film is a sign of good things to come.

2. Hancock (2008).

What was Will Smith thinking? What were his writers thinking? And what was with the “interracial sex is a bad thing” subtext? That was the last thing I expected to find in a movie released in 2008 America.

The movie starts off in a promising fashion with Smith playing a superhero who really does not want to be a superhero. But then halfway through the movie, the whole thing goes awry and whatever promise the initial premise had is jettisoned in favor of a shamelessly awkward backstory and a ridiculous-even-by-comic-book-standards subplot.

Smith has done better.