I am so far behind on my movie watching. On Saturday my wife took the kids to her sister's place for the day, and I was home a good part of the afternoon and evening by myself. So I pulled out a couple of DVD's that I had bought but hadn't watched and plugged them in.

One was a horror movie. My wife hates horror movies, so even though I like scary movies, I never get to watch them except on days like this. I had bought SAW and SAW 2 for like 5 bucks each on sale once at either Circuit City or Best Buy, and so the first one I plugged in was SAW 2. (I have already seen SAW.) I had read the reviews on feoamante.com (a fan site dedicated to horror movies and stories) and sort of knew what to expect. E.C. McMullen liked them both, but liked SAW 2 quite a bit more.

By the title, you'd assume these are very bloody excuses to mutilate and kill people in as horrific manners as possible, and you'd be mostly right. But these things actually have some good writing behind them, and are more than just an excuse to show a lot of gore and blood. If you know the story, there is a "serial killer" who has been tagged with the nickname Jigsaw. His real purpose is to show those who don't appreciate or are wasting their lives the value of said lives, through a "game" that forces them to want to survive, and to use their brains to do so. In this one, he is caught pretty quickly and easily, but he's got a surprise for the cops: a bunch of people are locked in a building of some sort, and among them is the estranged son of one of the cops. Jigsaw, whose real name is John, is dying of cancer and is in constant pain. And they need him there to find out where the people are and how to save them. The story cuts back and forth between the cops and John, and the people in the building, who, as it turns out, have all been framed by the cop whose son is there also. There's tension building because if those ex-cons figure out whose son the kid is, it can't be good. Meanwhile, they need to work together, but mostly are incapable of that sort of cooperation.

It's a well written, well plotted story with a good twisty ending, and yes, plenty of blood and on screen killings. It's not for everyone; but just because you don't like Friday the 13th movies or stuff like that, I wouldn't write this one off totally. Read the review at feoamante.com if you want to find out more. It's probably the reason I gave them a chance, because I don't like blood for the sake of seeing blood.

The second movie was CASINO ROYALE, with Daniel Craig as the famous superspy James Bond. This story is a prequel of sorts. At the beginning, Bond does not have his double-0 status, as he does not have two confirmed kills. But he gets them in the first few minutes of the movie, and then is thrust into a terrorism funding plot. Beautiful women abound, as do fast cars and great looking threads. And guns, of course. Not nearly as many gadgets as a lot of Bond movies feature, which was a good thing.

Craig's Bond is almost a psychopath; he kills without compunction or regret. He's smooth, a fantastic card player and gambler, and a real ladies' man. And he obviously works out a bit more than some other Bonds. Without spoiling the story I can say that there was plenty of action in this film, and it is a worthy addition to the Bond library, a more serious, dangerous Bond with far fewer wisecracks. A Bond that somehow doesn't seem invulnerable, but one who you know will win out somehow. M is played by Dame Judi Dench, who played the secret service head in the Brosnan films also (which I liked also). She's good in the role. One other thing - it seemed a bit out of character to see Bond relate to a female character as something more than an object, but that was a minor quibble, I suppose. This was one I had trouble pausing because I wanted to know how it came out. Good movie, fun with plenty of action.