Thanksgiving and "Skyfall": both tasty and recommended

And so the Great Feast is over and the long weekend began. I celebrated Turkey Day by eating the bird with grubbstreet, his lovely bride, and the usual cast of witty and brilliant companions to be found at the House of Grubb. The menu was extensive featuring, among other things, the time-tested and company approved, world-famous rumaki appetizers, the beloved brined bird, two different kinds of stuffing, a corn souffle that couldn't be beat, my (or perhaps I should say Weight Watchers') apple-topped sweet potato casserole, potatoes of the mashed kind, green beans, sauteed mushrooms with onions, lots of wine, and for dessert, two different apple pies, two different pumpkin pies, and a pumpkin cheesecake. The company was excellent, the food quite fine--overall a lovely way to spend the holiday.

I spent the better part of yesterday doing a teeny bit of shopping and not much else--though I did go to see Skyfall with oldmangrumpus. For my money, it's the best Bond we've had in a while: character driven, relying on action just enough, great turns by Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, and Albert Finney, who is unfailingly delicious in just about everything he does. A friend over on Facebook complained that she thinks Craig is too ugly for the role and that she can't connect to him. I disagree. I mean, if she can't connect to him, that's her problem, but I think Craig is beautiful in his craggy way, and I also think that his look is part of the point of this new interpretation of Bond: this guy has seen some mileage and lived to tell the tale. It's also nice to have a Bond who's handsome to look at from the neck down, too. Bond films are famous for their beautiful women. Bond himself has always been slim and handsome, but we rarely got to see much of him outside his tux, and what we usually saw, for the above-average face, was an average body at best. Craig is buff and beautiful to behold without his shirt on. But more important to me than the looks is the fact that this film tells a coherent story driven by who these people are and the things they care about most. (And the action? Pretty great, with some over-the-top sequences on rooftops, bridges, and underground where perils of the urban kind await our trusty, craggy hero.) Bond films are rarely so substantial and, for my money, that's the best thing about Skyfall.