Oscar should prefer Daniel Craig as Bond as opposed to Daniel Day Lewis as Lincoln

Rating: 10/10 (16 December 2012)

Though I have enjoyed adventure/mystery flicks over the years, I have never previously seen an entire James Bond movie. As a child, I would catch glimpses of old Bond movies on television, and I always found the dialogue to be trite and boring, prompting me to change the channel. But now comes 2012 and the draw of the chiseled, serious-minded, Daniel Craig, drew me to finally watch a Bond movie. I took my 70 year old father, who enjoyed the movie, but afterward quipped that "Sean Connery was a better looking James Bond." I have not watched Connery as Bond, but Daniel Craig sizzles with sexiness as this dark blonde, brooding, dangerous, unsmiling, elegant agent. Setting aside the sultry energy that this actor emits on screen (something that I do not believe any modern day actor equals; Craig's smouldering affect is akin to Cary Grant in North by Northwest or Brando in On the Waterfront), the plot of this movie is fast-paced, energetic, and overall entertaining. Craig's moving performance is corroborated by the assistance of being surrounded by great actors, such as Dench and Bardiem. And, of course, Bardeim's villain matches his equally demonically dark presence of his character in No Country for Old Men. The Skyfall script is tight, unpredictable, and the cinematography is nothing less than stunning (and no, I am not talking about the scenes of a shirtless Bond - though Craig is as visually beautiful as the Scottish landscape).
I have not been so entertained by a movie in many years. I am actually going to see this one again next weekend and, while I made repeat trips to the theater to see Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark as a child, I have not made a repeat visit to a movie theater in adulthood.
In closing, Daniel Craig should get an Oscar nod for this movie. I am tired of hearing about the "brilliant" acting of Daniel Day Lewis in Lincoln and the "brilliance" of Spielberg. Lincoln was a mediocre movie at best, and this is coming from a person who resides in the Land of Lincoln and who is a Civil War buff (Ridley Scott's Gettysburg is one of my favorite movies). Spielberg has not made a great movie since Schindler's List and, while DDL was indeed "brilliant" in My Left Foot and There Will Be Blood, his performance in Lincoln is hampered by a silly, exaggerated, sophomoric, Joey-the-horse type, of script.