Flixens: Movies, DVDs, TV, comic books and pop culture for women. The boys shouldn't have all the fun.

Ian Fleming's licensed-to-kill superspy James Bond is back in both his first and his latest adventure in Casino Royale, the reboot of the venerable film franchise that shows no sign of mellowing with age.

It seems as if each time a new Bond film comes out, the nay-sayers reiterate how Bond has become an anachronism and that his adventures have become old hat.  Daniel Craig's debut as 007 will be the main reason that people go to see the movie, I'm sure.  I'm happy to report that Craig fills out the tuxedo quite nicely, thank you, dare I say even delivering the best Bond since Sean Connery?  At least, I think he's closer to Fleming's original character than Pierce Brosnan and certainly Roger Moore... rougher than either but smoother than Timothy Dalton.

The plot of the film is relatively straight-forward and uncharacteristically low-key.  After earning his 00-status and his licence to kill (after fulfilling the 2-kill prerequisite which we've all seen in the trailer, James Bond is assigned his first mission, which takes him to Madagascar to capture a bomb-making terrorist, played by real-life "freerunner" Sebastien Foucan.  Simply put, freerunning is the art of running as fast as you can, avoiding all obstacles in your path as gracefully as possible, and Foucan is the inventor of the sport.  His talents are put to incredible use in the film's first big action sequence (there are only three).  I've never seen anyone move quite like Foucan before, and the sequence is both thrilling and mesmerizing.

Bond sort of blunders the mission and earns the disdain of M, played once again by Dame Judi Dench.  Trying to set things right, James teams up with Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), one of Her Majesty's Treasury agents and eventually gets involved in a game of high-stakes poker in Montenegro with Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelson), a global money-launderer to various terrorist organizations who just so happens to be gambling with his clients' money.  James' hopes to beat Le Chiffre at his own game in order to leave the villain no safe purchase in the world except with MI6's interrogators.

If you are familiar with the story, then you will know there are some twists along the way, but nothing you won't see coming down Fleet Street.

For the most part, the film succeeds in its mission.  As I said, Craig makes a great Bond, the locales are gorgeous and places we will never see otherwise, the stunts are physical (Craig may be the most bloodied and bruised Bond yet), and the story is interesting.

The film falls apart in its final act, which suffers from "LOTR Multiple Ending Syndrome" and just about grinds to a halt before the 3rd and final action piece.  At 144 minutes, it's about 20 minutes longer than it needs to be, and could have used some judicious editing to keep the momentum going.

Long-time fans may be upset to see Texas Hold 'Em being played instead of Baccarat, or by the absence of Q and his gadgets and Miss Moneypenny, or by the jumbled timeline of Bond's first mission with the M who replaced a previous M, but it is nice to see Bond back in his Aston Martin again (sorry BMW), and there are some nice moments related to previous Bond traditions, i.e. his response to "Shaken or stirred?" is perfect.

Oh, and it's a Columbia Picture, so get ready for the Sony product placements that we've all come to know and despise.  The film is loaded with them, although I was honestly surprised that the PS3 wasn't a major plot point.  There may be hope for Sony yet.

It's been a while since we had a Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix update... but Warner Bros. has released the teaser poster for the upcoming fifth film in the film franchise based on J.K. Rowling's wizarding hero.

The poster features Ralph Fiennes as none other than the insidious Lord Voldemort warning us that "you will lose everything."

Hoping to entice people to go see the animated penguin 2D 3D film, Warner Bros. will debut the OOTP trailer before Happy Feet tomorrow (Nov. 17).

The 3-disc Deluxe, Extended Edition of Peter Jackson's King Kong hits the DVD streets tomorrow, featuring a commentary  track with director Peter Jackson and co-writer Philippa Boyens, 13 minutes of additional, completed footage, 38 minutes of deleted scenes, the 8-part documentary "Re-Creating the Eighth Wonder: The Making of King Kong", "A Night in Vaudeville" featurette, pre-viz animatics, electronic versions of the 1996 and 2005 versions of the script, bloopers, design galleries, and more (including a cool Kong statue depending on which version you buy).

You may remember my original review of the film, which I enjoyed, despite its flaws.  I'll be the first to admit, it's very hard for me to be completely objective about a Kong film.  Remember, I'm the kind of girl who can sit at home and watch a double-feature of King Kong vs. Godzilla and King Kong Escapes in all their man-in-suit glory and actually enjoy them.

But I'm curious to know how many of you are planning on buying the new double-dip.  Jackson's film was overly long, by most accounts, so do we really need 13 more minutes of additional footage (plus over a half-hour of deleted scenes)?

Put me in the "Yes" column, I guess.  I've been dying to see the "raft" sequence ever since it was cut out of the original release, only to find its way back onto the new DVD.  Plus, as complete as the Production Diaries were, they weren't nearly as complete as the behind-the-scenes features on the Lord of the Rings extended editions.  THIS is the edition I've been waiting for.

I can't help it.  I am weak.

A couple of weeks ago, Nina and I were fortunate enough to interview director Tad Stones just before the world-premiere of his Hellboy: The Sword of Storms on the Cartoon Network.  Hopefully you were one of the lucky ones to see the film, which offered up a totally new take on Hellboy and his trippy cohorts, fish-man Abe Sapien and fire-starter Liz Sherman.  Personally, I'm looking forward to the DVD release, which will arrive soon enough, commercial-free and chock full of extras.

I had an opportunity to chat with Tad after the premiere about The Sword of Storm's reception by the fans, the upcoming DVD, and the second animated Hellboy feature, Hellboy: Blood and Iron.  Imagine my surprise when Tad dropped a little scoop right into my lap about a third animated Hellboy film... and more!  Read on...

Movie MILF: Hello Tad!  It's so nice of you to take time out of your busy schedule to chat with us again.  I take it your family survived the premiere?

Tad Stones: Nice to talk to you again.  Family’s fine except for the fact our water heater decided to break at 2am and spill forty gallons of hot water on the floor.  Luckily my wife was up working on a writing project.  Much sponging and mopping followed but the wood floor will never be the same.  The repairman turned out to be a Darkwing Duck fan but we didn’t get a break on the bill (I will avoid any puns).  Sooner or later that has to pay off for me.

MM: About Hellboy: The Sword of Storms... I did think it was strange that the Cartoon Network didn't really promote the film.  That's a shame, as I know a lot of people (judging from internet forums) didn't even know it would be on.  We DID tried to do our part by getting the word out!

TS: And I appreciate that, the bribe is in the mail.  As to promotion on Cartoon Network, they're in a weird spot.  They've bought some older skewing movies like Hellboy and the Ultimate Avengers but the rest of their line up is much younger.  So from the programmers point of view, advertising a red demon who says, “Screw you,” during Pokemon or My Gym Partner is a Monkey is inviting trouble.  So they only advertise where it fits the audience... which turned out to be not very many places.

MM: Hopefully response to the DVD will be good and CN will be encouraged to beef up promotion for the 2nd film.

TS: Well, the same restrictions will apply but I’m really encouraged that so many people who were talking about it online and mentioned they wanted to buy the DVD.  We’re trying to pack it with extras.  We’re hobbled by not having had cameras shooting the work as we were in productions but there are lots of interviews.  If you’re a fan, it’s a place to find lots of Mike Mignola talking about Hellboy in all his forms.

MM: You mention in your online production diary that Mike is on the commentary track as well.

TS: Yes, Mike, Phil Weistein and I recorded it weeks ago.  Mostly me saying "What I should have done is..."  Mike had only seen part of the movie when he did the commentary so you get some of his first reactions to the final film.  I trust Starz will put enough promotion bucks into the marketing so no fan will miss hearing about the DVD.

MM: So what's happening with the second animated Hellboy film then?

TS: We’re editing Hellboy: Blood and Iron right now.  I’m working on getting permission to make the movie a couple of minutes shorter.  That may sound like you’re getting less value for your money but it’s the opposite.  We don’t have the extra camera coverage that a live action film has so if I want to trim frames from a scene or cut a scene completely to improve the action I’m hard pressed to replace the footage.  My goal is to get the longest film possible, but I don’t want it flabby.

This movie is soooooooooo different from the first it makes me nervous.

MM: Can't wait!  I really enjoyed Hellboy: Sword of Storms. What do you have planned after Blood and Iron? Taking a much-deserved rest I assume...

TS: I’ve been approved to work on the script of the next Hellboy movie.  Mike and I know the villain story which is chock full of cool stuff and evil plans.  There will be many characters from the comics and you’ll see the animated version of Hellboy’s origin.  We still have to work out how we will tell the story and the emotional elements that will affect our heroes.  We know Hellboy, Kate and Broom will be in it, we’re not sure who else. But there’s no green light on the actual production.  I’m assuming that will have to wait for the reports of DVD sales.

In the meantime, I’ve been approached to guide the animated adventures of another comic book hero, one of the biggest in comics in fact.  But no deals have been signed yet.

MM: "Biggest" as in popular, or as in size?  I mean, are we talking "Wolverine" big or "Galactus" big?  And a third Hellboy film?  Hmm... I think I just figured out the angle for our next chat!  Until then, thanks for the scoops!

TS: Always fun talking to the Flixens!  Say “Hi” to Nina for me.

MM: Hey, she can get her OWN interview... this is so MY moment!  Toodles!

Lindsay Lohan, fresh off a media scolding for her behavior on the set of Georgia Rule, has already lined up her next project where she can act like a child and delay production and be threatened by the producers and then have her mother complain that she's being "singled out".

The Hollywood Reporter says that Lohan has agreed to star in I Know Who Killed Me, a suspense thriller about a woman who is rescued after being abducted and tortured by a serial killer.  Upon returning home, she claims to be someone else, leading to questions about whether she is suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or whether something more insidious is happening to her.

Lohan is reportedly preparing for her role by binge-drinking and staying out late partying every night.

Producers expect her to arrive late to the set starting next month.

Kirsten Dunst will star in and produce the supernatural thriller A Jealous Ghost, a story about a woman studying in London who begins dating one of her professors, after which she begins seeing demons, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The film is based on a book by author A. N. Wilson, but is expected to deviate from the book with the adaptation consciously dropping some characters and plot points in favor of some created specifically for the film.

Dunst was reportedly interested in starring in a supernatural suspenseful film like The Shining or Repulsion, probably after seeing how films like that have kept Sarah Michelle Gellar in business, most likely thinking about life AFTER Spider-Man.

Considering that the last thriller she starred in was Interview With a Vampire, which launched her career (and rightfully so), I'd say it's about time she went back to her "roots."

The only thing is, with that plot synopsis and the title of the book/movie, don't we already know everything we need to know about the film?  It's a bit like calling The Shining "Haunted Hotel," isn't it?

We've all witnessed the long, slow slide to mediocrity that is Robert De Niro's post-Goodfellas career.  What was once the finest actor of his generation has now become a parody of his former self, most recently slumming in movies like Analyze This/That and Meet the Parents/Fokkers, and Shark Tale.

Well, the decline has finally hit rock bottom I think, with news from the Hollywood Reporter about De Niro's latest project, New Orleans, with a plot right out of The Simpsons' fictional "McBain" series of cop films.

De Niro will play a veteran cop whose partner was not lost in Hurricane Katrina, but gunned down, and he gets teamed up with a new partner, played by 50 Cent, to find the real killer, ultimately leading him to the world of... wait for it.... police corruption!

You can just hear McBain shouting "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" or "Mendooooooooooooozaaaaaa!" already, can't you?

And hasn't the old white guy/hip black dude buddy cop formula pretty much been beaten into the ground?