• Bond on the bayou
It started, oddly enough, with an ending -- a jazz funeral on Chartres Street in the French Quarter.

• Movies
NEW THIS WEEK

• The blond, blue-eyed Bond takes a 'Quantum' leap
LOS ANGELES -- James Bond is still in a foul mood over that whole dead girlfriend thing from "Casino Royale." But the man who plays him is as happy as can be.

• 'JCVD' gives Van Damme a surprising comeback
Do yourself a favor and forget everything you know -- or you think you know -- about Jean-Claude Van Damme.

• Short subjects
--- Thinking outside the box office ---

• AMERICA'S SWEETHEART
Decades before Britney Spears even was born, there was another popular Mouseketeer who became a pop princess.

• FOR THE BLOODTHIRSTY
This holiday season the gaming world is going to be even bloodier than usual. Three of the biggest video game releases will be the death-filled "Resistance 2," "Gears of War 2" and "Call of Duty: World at War."

• Reel winners
Top 10 at the box office

• ALSO OPENING
--- Man on Wire (STAR)(STAR)½ Director: James Marsh. Rating: PG-13, for some sexuality and nudity, and drug references. Running time: 1 hour 34 minutes. Where: Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center. ---

• HOME, JAMES?
Facing pressure galore in the form of expectations even greater than its production values, the newest big-screen mission for British superspy James Bond picks up right where 2006's "Casino Royale" left off -- in every way except one.

• Rogues' gallery
With the new Bond film comes a new Bond villain -- this time in the form of talented Mathieu Amalric -- but it's hard not to notice that the enemies of Daniel Craig's new and (definitely) improved Bond aren't quite as colorful as they used to be.

• Movies
NEW THIS WEEK

• THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

• THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON This is the film that shot in and around New Orleans in late 2006 and early 2007. Based on the novella by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it tells the bizarre but touching story of a person who emerges from the womb as an old man and gets younger as the years tick by. The problems are obvious, particularly where romance is concerned. Why I'm excited: David Fincher ("Fight Club," "Zodiac") has proven that he is a director with a thrillingly unique imagination, giving him the ability to take difficult-to-shoot stories such as this one to the big screen. His vision, combined with Fitzgerald's wonderful tale and a bountiful cast -- not to mention a huuuuuuge budget -- could result in very, very good things. Cast: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson, Tilda Swinton. Director: Fincher. Studio: Paramount/Warner Bros. Opening date: Dec. 25.

• Soul Men
--- Soul Men (STAR)(STAR) ---

• FUTURE AND PAST TENSES
War continues, leading eventually to the fall of America and nuclear apocalypse. Washington is a rubble of near-finality; wilting in gray heaps of sorry, ruined facades. Americans who survive the war become murderous or go bonkers and talk in gibberish.

• New on DVD
ARRIVING THIS WEEK

• Reel winners
Top 10 at the box office

• Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer
Directors: Robbie Cavolina and Ian McCrudden.

• 'Gonzo' offers fascinating peek into mind of Hunter S. Thompson
Absent a fistful of peyote buttons and fifth of Wild Turkey -- shoot, maybe even with them -- it's probably impossible to truly understand the mad genius of paradigm-shifting celebrity journalist and general hell-raiser Hunter S. Thompson in any meaningful way.

• HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM HOLLYWOOD
The big guy's list probably has yet to be checked twice, but it would appear at an initial glance that New Orleans movie-goers have been good this year.

• Madagascar: Back 2 Africa
--- Madagascar: Back 2 Africa (STAR)½ ---

• 'Role Models' upends its feel-good formula
The premise is completely formulaic: A couple of slackers get arrested and, for their community work assignment, must serve as big brothers to a pair of misfit kids.