The past week has been an interesting combination of music, movies, books and games.  It started out with going to see the new Bond movie with some co-workers.  I have to say the movie was good but it didn't feel like a Bond movie.  There was too much action, too few one liners and I don't like the idea that Bond has so little a leash that he has to go it on his own to get the job done.  I can buy into the fact the new Bond movies are from the perspective that Bond isn't the grizzled veteran that we saw in former Bond movies but it's just not the same.

When I got back from Milwaukee I decided to explore the options for streaming movies from Netflix to my 360.  I first tried to watch the new Lost Boys movie but I barely got 30 minutes in and knew this movie sucked.  I ended up trying something that was in the top 50 I had not heard of, Cashback.  Turns out to be a very good British movie about an art student that takes an overnight shirt job in a grocery store.  I really joyed the film for it's quirky humor and compelling story telling.

I recently got a couple BluRay movies and I watched Iron Man last night.  That was a great movie from start to finish. Robert Downey Jr. did a great job portraying Tony Stark.   I wasn't a huge comic book fan growing up but have enjoyed the job the Marvel folks have done bring their comics to the big screen.  I also like the fact Stan Lee always makes a cameo in every single one.  It's interesting that of my BluRays I own five of the seven are based on comic books.

I have started  reading the Gears of War novel about Aspho Fields which is a book about the events before the first game and between the two games.  So far it's not a bad read and is interesting to fill in the gaps about the games two main characters: Marcus and Dom.  I've heard there will be more too.  I don't think it does as well as the Halo books but I'm sure a few people will pick up the book.

I've been toying around with my Zune lately.  I did download the free ten holiday songs available as well as purchased a few more.  I really like the look of the marketplace and the recommendations.  It's interesting to see how they really do personalize the experience for your tastes.  I ended up buying a couple songs I've liked but never felt compelled to hunt them down.

On a gaming front I've been playing a lot of Fable 2 but think it's time to move on.  I've got Fallout 3 and Dead Space sitting on the bench just waiting to get a chance to shine.  I have recently been playing some Gears 2 match making.  On my second time through the campaign I'm not as impressed as my first run through.  The game play just isn't as good as the original which I think I may have played through three or four times.  That's not to say they game isn't a great experience, it's just not as compelling the second time through.

I did have one huge disappointment this week.  I downloaded the trail version of Street Fighter 2 Turbo Redu HD hoping to get some fighting action on but was dismayed that the trail only offers local multiplayer.  So unless I'm going to challenge my four year old son to a match I really can't demo this $16 game.  That seems pretty stupid to me but I'm guessing they didn't want to give too much away for free.  Too bad because they definitely lost a sale with me.