Ready to rumble with 'Royale'

Finally finished reading Fleming's
1st James Bond novel, movie is next

WINDERMERE — "Casino Royale" was Ian Fleming's first novel, and it introduced James Bond, agent 007, to the world in 1953.

Oddly enough, the other 13 Bond books were made into 14 films ("Octopussy / The Living Daylights" was split into two) before "Casino Royale," so this weekend's premiere will be the ultimate prequel.

(Woody Allen and Peter Sellers did a send-up of "Casino Royale" in 1967, but that spoof doesn't count.)

The book was a fairly easy read — that took me nearly two months to complete. Students in one of my classes at Valencia Community College read three or four chapters each week, followed by eight quizzes, so I resisted the temptation to finish the book in one sitting, which could certainly be done. (I liked the book; most of my kids hated it!)

Now it's time to see the movie, which opens Nov. 17.

Unless you've been ignoring every mass media outlet for the past two months, you're aware of all the hype surrounding "Casino Royale" and the new Bond, Daniel Craig. If you're like me, you'll be looking for a theater near you with a 12:01 a.m. Friday showing.

Midnight Madness they call it, and I'll be at Universal City Walk for the first screening!

Whitaker amazing in 'Last King'

Performance as Idi Amin is mortal lock
in race for Academy's Best Actor Oscar

MAITLAND, Fla. — Over the years I have made lots of predictions — about sports, movies, life — but I rarely will commit to calling something a sure-thing, lead-pipe-cinch, mortal-lock, no-brainer guarantee.

I learned my lesson in sports on Dec. 22, 1979. For nearly a month leading up to the Holiday Bowl, I was telling anybody who'd listen (thankfully, not many did) to bet all the money they could find on BYU over Indiana. BYU was led by Marc Wilson, one of the greatest college quarterbacks of all time, and they were 11-0. They won that year by scores of 48-3, 31-7, 54-14, 59-7 and 63-14.

The betting line opened at BYU minus 9, and I bet the Cougars. It moved to 11 ... I grabbed the late Kenny Hlatuch(?) at Lad's Tavern on Broadway and bet BYU again. The line went to 13, and I matched the two earlier bets.

To make a long story short — but no less painful — Wilson threw, like, a dozen interceptions, BYU missed, like, six field goals, the Cougars fumbled, oh, seven times, and Indiana ran back, like, four kicks for scores. The Lee Corso-led Hoosiers actually won the game 38-37 ... appropriately when BYU's kicker missed a 27-yard field goal at the buzzer! I lost $400 — $440 with the vig, more than I had at the time — and haven't bet on football since.

That brings me to movies. I've made only four Academy Award guarantees, and I'm 3-1.

In 1981, I said I'd never go to the cinema again if Sissy Spacek didn't get Best Actress for her performance as Loretta Lynn in "Coal Miner's Daughter." She won, thankfully.

In 1991, I said Val Kilmer's portrayal of Jim Morrison in "The Doors" was better than Spacek as Lynn, and that he'd easily win the Oscar. He didn't even get nominated! (Oliver Stone backlash, no doubt.)

In 2001, I was taking a class at the University of Central Florida, and I wrote on a student Web site that Denzel Washington was a lock for Best Actor in "Training Day." (Part of it was he was great, and part of it was he was due, after getting screwed as Malcolm “X.”) He won.

In 2004, I — and the rest of the world — said Jamie Foxx WAS "Ray" Charles, and he'd have to win the golden statuette. He did.

That brings me to 2006, and the latest lock of the century.

Forest Whitaker will win the Academy Award for "Best Actor in a Leading Role." His portrayal of Uganda's Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland" defies description, but Joe Morgenstern of the Wall Street Journal tried when he wrote:

“Whitaker's portrait of Idi Amin is enormous, mercurial, terrifying and endlessly seductive. It's one of the great performances of modern movie history."

I couldn’t have said it better myself ... but I did say as much, when I walked out of the Enzian Theater on Saturday (and before I read Morgenstern’s review).

Whitaker has always been a good actor — if you haven’t seen him in Jim Jarmusch’s “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai,” go rent it — but he’s beyond amazing as Amin.

It’s a shame, but all the other actors of 2006 can skip writing acceptance speeches.

Forest Whitaker will win the Oscar.

I guarantee it!

* * * * *

As for sports, bet Ohio State minus the points against Michigan on Nov. 18. They won't lose on my 50th birthday ... will they?

Azinger already righting ship

Forces PGA to make changes,
boosts U.S. Ryder Cup chances

The foundering ship that is the U.S. Ryder Cup team has a new captain for 2008, and already Paul Azinger is proving to be a master with the bilge pump.

Before he accepted the job, he convinced the PGA of America to revamp its point system — again — give him two more wild card selections (four), and more time to make them.

We won’t expect miracles from one of the game’s most irascible characters, but he sure is off on a good foot.

“I’m going to get the blame if it doesn’t work,” Azinger said Monday at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky. “I would like some of the credit if it does.”

America is waiting to give anyone some credit, as long as the U.S. team starts to play up to its collective résumé.

Azinger has the personality and slightly off-center perspective on the game to wake up the moribund U.S. players, and he has already shown that he can shake up the system.

“I like the idea of being able to pick four players,” Azinger said. “I like the idea that I don’t have to pick them immediately after the PGA Championship. I have an opportunity that no other Ryder Cup captain has had, and I really appreciate that.”

While the new points system remains indescribably convoluted, suffice it to say it is based on money earned and not top-10 finishes. In the past a player could finish 11th at The Masters and get no points, but earn points for a ninth-place finish in a run-of-the-mill PGA Tour event. Now Azinger should get eight players from the top of the heap, while holding four chances to grab, in NFL draft parlance, the best player left on the board.

Azinger is a solid choice who has already advanced the U.S. cause. Now he needs to cut into all the hoopla and distractions that surround the American squad and get his men into a position where they can just play golf.

Here are some suggestions, Paul, in case you need ideas:

• Don’t waste any mental energy on meaningless details, like picking uniforms. Two white shirts, two red shirts, two blue shirts, black trousers, black shoes and black hats. Done.

• Give the wives their badges on Monday and say, “See you Sunday.” They’re not part of the team, they’re spectators. (If you can pull off separate rooms for the troops, do it.)

• Eliminate as many outside functions as possible, starting with the so-called gala. This is a golf match, not the club’s autumn cotillion. Use that time for serious golf talk with the caddies over beer and chicken wings and yardage books. Or, better yet, make it Maker’s Mark, since you’ll be in Kentucky.

• Skip the special-guest pep talks. No former presidents, no former basketball players, no former hockey players. Give the Bush and Jordan and Gretzky families their passes on Monday and say, “See you Sunday.”

• If stumped for a captain’s choice, take the bigger hitter. Past captains have always looked first for players who can chip and putt, but it’s time we turned the big dogs loose on those Euro pattycakers. Here are some good picks right now — John Daly, J.B. Holmes (Kentucky bred, and breeding counts in Louisville), Bubba Watson and, oh, anybody else averaging 340-plus. If we’re going to lose, let’s at least go down swingin’ from the heels.

• Just in case, see if you can restore Ryder Cup eligibility to American-born Aaron Baddeley.

• While you’re at it, see if you can somehow doctor Camilo Villegas’ Colombian birth certificate. South America is still America, right? You need somebody to trash-talk Sergio Garcia in Spanish. (“¿De dónde conseguiste esos pantalones amarillos? ¿De tu hermana?” “Buen putt, Alice. ¿Tu juego del marido golf?”)