Skyfall

I went to see Skyfall over the Thanksgiving holiday with my wife and cousin. The movie was action-packed, with death defying stunts and visuals typical of any Bond flick. As we left the theatre, we were still talking about the film; asking questions about the plot, discussing the geography of the film, and debating about what parts of the movie were the most far fetched. That's when I knew that this was a very impressive addition to the Bond collection...any movie that leaves you talking about it for hours after you see it is a good movie in my opinion.

After watching the movie I instantly went to IMDB to look up facts about the movie. Here's what I found out if you want to take a look!

1) Where the heck is Macau?: In the movie Bond puts on his classic tux (with the help of fellow-agent, Eve) and heads to a casino in a place called Macau. I had never heard of Macau before, but on screen it looked like a fusion of Thailand and Monte Carlo. Macau is one of two special adminstrative regions of the People's Republic of China (the other is Hong Kong). Macau was formerly a Portuguese colony from the mid-16th century until it was reunited with China. Some interesting facts about Macau is it has the second highest life expectancy rate in the world. It's economy is fueled heavily by tourism (as seen by the swanky casino scenes in bond). Seems like a cool place to play roulette to me. For more info check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macau. (I know what you're thinking, oh right, wikipedia, that's credible...but I've found it's a great way to get an overview on general unfamiliar topics. Example: I aced my college Classics course with the help of wikipedia!)

2) What ethnicity is the new bond woman? In real life, French actress Berenice Marlohe is French Cambodian. This was quite a breathrough role for Marlohe, who previously starred in French television. In the movie, I project that Marlohe is an example of a Macanese woman, an ethnicity that is a mixture of Portuguese and Chinese that makes up roughly 2% of Macau's racial demographics. Whether French Cambodian or Macanese, Berenice Marlohe is truly exotic and stunning.

Another milestone in regard to Skyfall's Bond women, up until this film, leading Bond ladies were always referred to as "Bond Girls" in production notes and publicity materials, however this year they were referred to as "Bond Women". Even if they are still casted as production eye candy in the script, at least the women of Bond films are getting an extra ounce of respect!

3) I'm melting!?!?!?! *Spoiler alert* Skyfall villian, Raoul Silva, seeks to demonstrate the hell M has put him through by pulling out his face prosthesis sustained from an attempt at suicide during a Chinese imprisonment. It's like Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom all over again as his face melts center camera. "Could that really happen?" my cousin asked curiously as she left the movie. As a middle school science teacher, the scientific blunders in the film are harder to swallow than believing that Bond would have no problem jumping off a 250 ft. bridge into a raging river with a gun shot wound. Can cosmetic surgeons really do this complex of a job? I had some trouble finding out more about this on the web. I'd love a blog follower to chime in here. How plausible is this? An article I found online is about an Oregon woman Chrissy Steltz who sustained a near fatal shotgun wound to the face that left her blind and demolished 2/3 of her face. Check out the ABC news article for more.

Thanks to IMDB for great Skyfall facts.