CASINO ROYALE is out, and after seeing it I can say one thing without fear of retribution or reprisal: Daniel Craig is going to be the best Bond since Connery.

Those who think I'm jumping on the newly-built "Craig is Great" bandwagon should look back at prior Blog posts where I repeatedly build him up as a GREAT choice for 007. Some actors have that elusive "It" quality, and Craig has more of "It," meaning charisma and screen presence, than ANY single Bond actor--EVER. More than Connery, more than Brosnan.

The only other actor that I think makes the same sort of impact these days is Clive Owen, who had also been rumoured (note the 'u,' Anglophiles) to be up for the role. Owen would have been terrific. But Craig may be better.

Because this movie is about Bond BEFORE he was Bond. And for that, I think you really need to cast against type. Craig is blond, sneering, tough, and rough. He's not polished or suave in his roles--rather, he usually has an underlying though noticeable brutish quality about him.

Yep, I'm crowing a bit. But after weathering to all the complaints about Craig's casting, I think I deserve it. Now, if only they could write a better plot, and what the hell was that stuff with the building in Venice sinking into a canal at the end....?

ONCE IN A LIFETIME is that rare documentary that a) Isn't thrusting some 'issue' down one's throat and b) Is entertaining and c) Is about a subject that does not sound inherently interesting but IS.

Yes, you guessed it, ONCE IN A LIFETIME is about the old New York Cosmos Soccer Club!

What a great little doc. Funny, poignant, and fascinating, one HAS to marvel at the men that brought the world's greatest athlete, Pele, to the U.S. to play football in the--wait for it--THE SINGLE shittiest soccer stadium in the world!

The players dodged broken glass, rocks, dirt, crud, junk, and everything else, and yet PELE STAYED. He played out the year in that hole before he and the team moved to Yankee Stadium and then onto The Meadowlands. (you know, the "Jimmy Hoffa buried under the end zone" stadium.)

But that's not even the best part. Somehow, by some miracle of...well, miracles, the Cosmos then went out and signed soccer legends Giorgio Chinaglia, Carlos Alberto, and Franz Beckenbauer! To show you how ludicrous this is, imagine some little soccer team in Kazikhstan signing David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Ronaldo, PLUS bringing Zinedine Zidane out of retirement.

For non-soccer fans, imagine a cartoonist in Albania signing Bugs Bunny, Tweety, Tom (AND Jerry!) and Bullwinkle. All to the same squad--in Albania!

It's a great way to spend 97 minutes, especially when one gets to watch that human-bloat now called Giorgio Chinaglia overtly lie and lie to the camera (if he was wooden, I swear his nose would be growing) while he, apparently, is waiting for his order of extra-large double cheese in-the-crust Pizza Hut Supreme 'za's to arrive before hitting on the delivery girl. What a lout.

A soccer doc--who'da thunk it? It's hilarious and lively and even details sex acts performed on the team plane on the way to the "Soccer Bowl" championship game--plus some footage of Studio 54! STUDIO 54, PEOPLE! Any documentary that shows footage of that horrid old place deserves to be seen.

You gotta' love it. I am literally on my knees, begging you to rent it.