No Time to Die (2021)

So much for my prior perception that Spectre would be Daniel Craig's last turn as James Bond. Well, it makes sense that an agent like him wouldn't stop having adventures just because he had resigned from MI6 after capturing Spectre leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz). Spectre holds a grudge, for one thing.

Bond's long-time CIA buddy, Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), first asks his help to locate abducted MI6 scientist Valdo Obruchev (David Dencik), whose work with nanobots could make it way too easy for terrorists to kill everyone with a genome sufficiently similar to a given target. Bond doesn't sign on until hearing from the new Agent 007, Nomi (Lashana Lynch). Blofeld is indeed still a player from within his prison, but there are more than two sides in play here....

Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

I picked this almost at random among the many theater offerings on Monday evening. Queen is one of my favorite bands, but I'd been putting it off because of the highly mixed reviews, with far more positive vibes from the general public than from critics. Then I remembered that Get on Up demonstrated that I could enjoy a reputedly middling musician biopic, and Pitch Perfect 2 taught me that good music alone can make a viewing worth my while.

The story begins shortly before Farrokh Bulsara (Adam Rauf), the man who would become Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek), joins the band that would become Queen. The titular song comes together about 40 minutes into the 154. After that, the focus is less on the band's rise and more on its trouble staying together, particularly with Freddie being such a prima donna. And a hot mess.