Editor’s Note

Bond Between Girls

Was that it? We had our chance and now it’s over?

For decades we knew James Bond as a promiscuous, womanizing stud who, while never being overtly misogynistic, was incapable of forming a real romantic connection with any woman. And he had quite a buffet from which to choose — spicy redheads, busty blondes and wicked brunettes who, as a group, even spawned their own term: Bond Girls.

But as the franchise got its reboot with the 2006 prequel Casino Royale, the ladies (and gentlemen) who love a good romance were thrown a bone. This new Bond would fall in love, for realsies this time. And it would be a love so great that when it broke we’d finally understand why Bond would never love again, not truly. Sigh.

The fact that it was Daniel Craig with those watery blue eyes and big shoulders who did the falling didn’t hurt. We knew his love would be fleeting, but we were caught up in the moment so we didn’t care. And then it ended, as we knew it would.

So what now? Must we make do, once again, with a deadly assassin who has no capacity for real romantic connection?

From the sounds of it, yes. Check out “Double Your Pleasure,” to meet Quantum of Solace’s two new Bond Girls. There’s Olga Kurylenko who plays a woman as damaged as Bond himself, with the result being, as Kurylenko flatly puts it, “She doesn’t care about meeting a boyfriend.” And there’s Gemma Arterton as Agent Fields, a more classic Bond Girl who, from what we’ve heard, has her way with Bond in that classic way that classic Bond Girls do (read: she won’t be getting a ring, and won’t be back for the next movie).

One glance at the photo of Jamie Foxx that accompanies our interview with the actor and it’s clear that he really went for it this time. The movie, The Soloist, comes out next spring and is based on the true story of a homeless musician. Hmmm…a true story about a musician who led a tragic life. Methinks Foxx has been here before…and with award-winning results. Read “Getting Serious with Jamie Foxx” to find out how Foxx tapped into his own musical background for this role.

There should be an award for the actor who plays the two most diverse characters in a one-month period. Elizabeth Banks would win. On October 17th she hit theatres as Laura Bush in Oliver Stone’s W., and now she’s playing a woman who makes her rent money by having sex with her BFF in front of a camera in Zack and Miri Make a Porno. In “She’s Got Balls,” Banks explains why she was so comfortable with the raunchy role.

Kristin Scott Thomas had critics buzzing at the Toronto International Film Festival. They said that her performance in the French film Il y a longtemps que je t’aime (I’ve Loved You So Long) was one of the best of the year. In “French Immersion,” Scott Thomas explains her approach to her character, a cold and broken woman just released from jail.

Marni Weisz, editor