"Don't U Drive Me!" the case against fully automated cars

Following up on my friend nd colleague Daviot Kelly's well-placed rant against auto-drive autos, here's this screed from Fast Company

What will we get up to in our cars when they drive themselves and we have nothing to do? A new study looks at the possibility that we will use the time to be more productive, spending those saved minutes on work tasks, hacking through our to-do lists, and getting things done. It finds this is unlikely.
The paper, from Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle of the Transportation Research Institute at the University of Michigan, finds that the self-driving car will be a pretty bad place for getting productive, thanks to three main problems. One is that many U.S. citizens won’t be able to get any work done. According to previous studies by the authors, 23% refuse to ride in an autonomous car, 36% think they would be so scared that they’d do nothing but watch the road, and a handful suffer from motion sickness. In total, that’s 62% of U.S. citizens who won’t get anything done.

The final reason is the most compelling. The average journey is just too short to get much done other than checking Twitter or Facebook some friends.

In time, we'll get used to our cars doing the driving. We may be terrified to begin with, but humans are pretty good at getting bored and acclimatizing to perceived risk. Look at air travel for a great example of that.
Right now we all face forwards, and safety features like airbags and seatbelt are designed with this position in mind. In the fully autonomous vehicles of the future, we no longer need to sit in front-facing rows. We could have beds, or easy chairs, or seats that allow us to face other passengers. But, says the report, "not only would many of these nontraditional positions and postures vary considerably from the optimum for which the restraint systems were designed, some of them also have the potential to be near-worst-case positions or postures."
Safety, then, will have to be re-thought as cars morph to fit their new purposes. But that, too, can be solved. The biggest barrier to productivity then, is that we just don’t spend that much time in our cars. Or rather, while we spend an average of an hour per day driving around, the average journey only lasts 19 minutes (around 9.5 miles)—not enough time to open up a spreadsheet and start deciding on the best font to use for that report.

Film: Back As Bond

 1 year, and a reported US$150m later, Daniel Craig appears to have found some new love for 007

-GQ.com

During his press tour for Spectre, Daniel Craig went on something of a rampage against his role of James Bond, labeling the character a misogynist and declaring he’d much rather “slash [his] wrists” than ever again don the perfectly tailored tuxedo of 007.

That seems to have changed a year later, though, in the wake of Craig reportedly being offered a cool $150 million for two more 007 films. In a recent interview, Craig hinted at returning, saying he would “miss the role terribly” if he had seen the last of the franchise. What a difference a year makes.

This will come as a blow to everyone who’s jumped the gun and created fan petitions and fantasy-cast their ideal next Bond already. Top candidates include Idris Elba, who’s had to field questions about these rumors for years now, poor guy.

 Whatever the future of the series, we know Skyfall and Spectre director Sam Mendes won’t be returning. Hopefully the next director, whoever they may be, will have the vision and courage to include at least three distinct sex scenes and some shots of cars speeding up winding mountain roads.

Auto: BMW honours the '02 in 2016

BMW has big festivities planned for Monterey Car Week this year. Not only is it the brand's centenary, but also the 50th anniversary of the legendary 2002. So to mark the occasion, the Bavarian automaker will roll out a new version of its 2002 Hommage concept.

As you may recall, BMW first revealed the 2002 Hommage at theConcorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este this past May, reinterpreting one of the company's most celebrated models in modern form. The “re-imagined version” will be presented at the event known as “The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering” on Friday, August 19. Expect a fresh coat of paint and some other minor alterations.

The 2002 showpiece is the latest in a string of retro concepts that BMW has created over the past several years. Others have included conceptual tributes to the 328 and M1. Last year's 3.0 CSL Hommage concept was similarly unveiled at Villa d'Este (in dayglow yellow) and subsequently reintroduced at Pebble Beach as the 3.0 CSL Hommage R concept with a retro racing livery. We wouldn't be surprised to see Munich take the same approach this time around.

BMW will also be the featured marque at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca this year, where it will bring out no less than 64 classic racing cars from the 328 of 1930s vintage to the V12 LMR from 1999.

Auto: the "King's Bimmer" comes back

The glittering comeback is now following one of the most spectacular classic-car discoveries of recent times. The BMW 507 was driven by US musician Elvis Presley, famous already at that time as the “King of Rock’n’Roll”, while he was doing his military service in Germany. After that it disappeared for nearly 50 years and was believed to have been lost before returning to the limelight. After almost two years of exacting restoration work, BMW Group Classic is presenting the roadster for the first time in a public arena. Restored to its original condition, it will be exhibited on 21 August 2016 at the Concours d’Elegance in Pebble Beach, California. The BMW 507 with chassis number 70079 will be on view for visitors to the popular classic car show exactly as it was when soldier Elvis Presley took delivery of the car on 20 December 1958: with paintwork finished in Feather White, the 150 hp V8 aluminium engine under the bonnet, centre-lock rims, black-and-white interior and a Becker Mexico radio.

“The opportunity to bring back the BMW 507 owned by the King of Rock’n’Roll to us here in Munich for purposes of restoration in accordance with the wishes of the previous owner, Jack Castor, was a dream come true for all those involved,” commented Ulrich Knieps, Head of BMW Group Classic. “This was an exceptionally fascinating project. The outcome is not simply a source of great pride to us. Jack would undoubtedly have been delighted by the outcome.” In the summer of 2014, the exhibition of the unrestored discovery at the BMW Museum generated a great deal of excitement among classic car enthusiasts, but it also threw up questions: Was this really once Elvis’ BMW 507? And will it even be possible to transform this roadster back into a jewel of the 1950s?

From “Return to Sender” into “It’s Now or Never”.

The condition of the two-seater really was a cause for concern. Although the original body parts and other components were virtually all present and intact, the roadster had lost its engine and gearbox. The rear axle was a “replacement part” of unknown origin, rust was eating away the floor assembly, the seats were worn and there was no instrument panel. However, the fascination of a rare and beguilingly beautiful automobile outweighed all the inadequacies and deficiencies, augmented by the memory of Elvis Presley and his greatest hits. While the roadster came back to Munich under the slogan of “Return to Sender”, the solution was undoubtedly “It’s Now or Never”. A project managed by BMW Group Classic succeeded in restoring the automobile. In-house experts and external specialists joined forces to carry out the work and the result defined new benchmarks for the restoration of a BMW 507.

Looking back on the process, the story of Elvis’ BMW 507 and its restoration is pure Rock’n’Roll: as captivating as the swinging hips of the “King”, energy sapping, an emotional roller-coaster, and full of surprising twists and turns. This is not simply a tale about the young GI Elvis Presley. It is also about the experienced “hillclimb champion” Hans Stuck, kissable lips daubed on white paint, a retired space engineer and a warehouse for pumpkins, a Chevy engine that was much too big, rubberised coconut mats and door handles printed in a 3D process. And the story already began three years before the “King” started military service with the US Army stationed in Hesse, Southern Germany.

Myth among rarities: The BMW 507 of the “King”.

The BMW 507 has always been one of the most exclusive and sought-after rarities in the model history of the brand with just 254 automobiles being produced between 1955 and 1959. Right after its world premiere at the Frankfurt International Motor Show in 1955, the two-seater penned by designer Albrecht Graf Goertz was hailed in the press as the “Dream from the Isar”. Celebrity owners like Alain Delon, Ursula Andress and John Surtees contributed to the image of the roadster as a status symbol. However, no other automobile of this model is shrouded in mythology like the BMW 507 once owned by Elvis Presley. This particular roadster was believed to have been lost for almost five decades. In fact, there was not even certainty about the chassis number of the car driven by the “King”. There were also doubts about whether Elvis Presley had ever transported the car back to the USA after he finished his military service in Germany, and nobody knew anything about the subsequent ownership of the car.

All these puzzles have now been solved thanks to the experts at the BMW Group Classic Archives and American journalist Jackie Jouret, who works for “Bimmer” magazine in California. In 2006, she was already searching through contemporary reports for Elvis’ BMW 507 and relevant literature going into the history of this model. During the course of her work, she uncovered an essential detail. Various sources highlighted the fact that the BMW 507 delivered to Elvis Presley in Germany was not a brand new automobile but had previously been used by racing driver Hans Stuck. Between May and August 1958, the racing driver known as the “Hillclimb Champion” won a number of hillclimbs in Germany, Austria and Switzerland – in a white BMW 507 with chassis number 70079 and registration plate M–JX 800. It is also a known fact verified by photographs that this roadster rolled off the assembly line on 13 September 1957. A few days later, it was exhibited at the Frankfurt International Motor Show and repeatedly used for test drives by the press. As early as October 1957, Hans Stuck presented the car at the London Motor Show and then drove the roadster through Belgium, where he presented it to King Baudouin, before motoring down to the Turin Motor Show. And as if that were not enough, in the summer of 1958, Stuck’s BMW 507 won the automobile beauty competition in Wiesbaden and then played a role in the Bavaria film studio for the feature film “Hula-Hopp Conny” with Cornelia Froboess and Rudolf Vogel.

This vehicle had been carefully serviced at BMW after every race, the engine had been upgraded and a new gearbox fitted when it ended up with a dealer in Frankfurt in the autumn of 1958. The young US soldier Presley was 23 at the time, and he came along and took it out on a test drive for a spin. The “King” was immediately impressed by it and decided to buy the car. Photos taken at the time show that export licence plates had already been fitted to the BMW 507. Later on it was given a registration from the US military that changed every year. This was part of the reason why subsequent identification of the vehicle proved to be complicated later on. The experts from the BMW Group Classic Archives were only absolutely certain about its provenance when they came across the insurance proposal from December 1958 which contained the chassis number 70079 alongside registration of the keeper of the vehicle as Elvis Aaron Presley.

Pampered in Germany, radically modified in the USA.

Elvis Presley used the BMW 507 to drive between his home in Bad Nauheim and the US Army Base in Friedberg. His female fans always kept a close eye on him and he was often mobbed by them. The paintwork of the roadster was frequently daubed with messages of love painted in lipstick. These signs of adoration were by no means unusual for a rock star but they were an embarrassment to Presley as a young US soldier. A new livery in Red for the vehicle solved the problem.

In March 1960, Elvis Presley ended his military service in Germany. Back on American highways, he must have abandoned sheer driving pleasure in an open-top BMW since a few months later he traded in the red roadster bearing chassis number 70079 with a Chrysler dealer in New York. The dealer in turn sold the car for the ridiculously low price from today’s perspective of 4 500 dollars to radio moderator Tommy Charles. Charles took the automobile to his home town of Birmingham in the state of Alabama where a very successful racing career began, although this move was very questionable when it came to the issue of authenticity. The BMW 507 was fitted with a Chevrolet engine in preparation for action on the race track. This took up so much space that parts of the front frame carrier had to be cut out. The gearbox and the rear axle, and the instruments in the cockpit were replaced. Charles won a race in Daytona Beach/Florida with the radically modified roadster and he lined up on the starting grid in several more competitions before selling the vehicle in the course of 1963.

Two more changes of ownership followed and the BMW 507 then went to California. Space engineer Jack Castor acquired the car in 1968 and he used it occasionally as a runabout for everyday use before deciding to put the car into storage for a subsequent restoration. Castor was a passionate collector of historic bicycles and over the years he also amassed an impressive collection of classic automobiles in Half Moon Bay to the south of San Francisco. He got involved with several classic car clubs and delved into the history of the vehicles he had acquired.

The “Holy Grail” in the pumpkin warehouse.

Castor also put together a comprehensive dossier on his BMW 507. Meanwhile, the engineer had gone into retirement and one day he happened to see the article in “Bimmer” magazine. Castor wrote to the author, told her about the BMW 507 with chassis number 70079 that he owned and invited her over to look at the vehicle. He was aware that he was the owner of the racing car driven by “hillclimb champion” Hans Stuck, but up to then he had only been able to speculate about a potential connection with Elvis. However, Jackie Jouret was absolutely certain about this issue. She accompanied Jack Castor to a warehouse for pumpkins where the red BMW 507 was stored alongside other venerable vehicles. “Jack had tied down its engine bonnet with ropes,” recalled the journalist when she looked back on the moment of discovery. “It took some time until we actually got the engine compartment open and identified the stamped chassis number: 70079, the Holy Grail among BMW numbers.”

Jack Castor had already collected a large number of parts carefully stowed in boxes for the planned restoration of the roadster to its original condition. What he lacked was an appropriate engine and the necessary time to see the project through. However, things then started to happen. Jackie Jouret set up the contact with BMW Group Classic where new information about the identity of the BMW 507 used by Elvis Presley in Germany was being gathered. This allowed the facts that had been researched in the USA to be confirmed.

Jack Castor was not interested in making a fast buck out of the unexpected additional fame of his BMW 507. However, the contact with BMW Group Classic was strengthened. After several years and a number of discussions with the experts for restoring classic cars at BMW Group Classic, Klaus Kutscher and Axel Klinger-Köhnlein, an agreement was reached. Alongside the purchase of the vehicle by BMW Group Classic, it also included the authentic restoration of the car along the lines envisaged by Castor.

By container to the museum – and from there into the workshop.

The time had come in the spring of 2014. The BMW 507 was shipped to Germany in a container, together with the spare parts collected by Castor. The first stop in Munich was the BMW Museum where the roadster was presented to an admiring audience in the special exhibition “Elvis’ BMW 507 – lost and found”. Work then began on restoration in the workshop of BMW Group Classic.

As was usual for projects of this nature, phase one was primarily destructive in nature. The vehicle was completely dismantled, a process which in this special case took an entire week, rather than the two days that had been originally planned. Initially, the aluminium body was separated from the floor assembly made of sheet steel. This was the only way of retaining as much of the original material as possible. The paint was then removed from the floor assembly in an acid bath and from the body in an alkaline bath. The engine had already been removed and the remnants of the interior that remained had been set aside.

A lot of components had to be remanufactured from scratch because the stocks of original parts for the BMW 507 are limited even at BMW Group Classic. Traditional craftsmanship in the style of the 1950s was melded with high-tech production procedures of the modern world. The instrument panel was newly cast on the basis of the original. The leather upholstery was created to precisely match the pattern shown in old photographs and catalogues. When the seats were reconstructed, it proved possible to use the original steel subframe for the seats after all the rust had carefully been removed. A rubberised coconut mat was then drawn over the steel springs. This natural material was already being used in the 1950s for series production of the BMW 507, alongside the overlaid felt and linen layers to make the seats as comfortable as possible. Window winders and door handles were remanufactured in an advanced, modern 3D printing process based on the original dimensions. After producing a digital data set by three-dimensional scan of the original part, a facsimile was generated with the help of additive manufacturing and mirror finished afterwards. By contrast, the rubber seal for the tank cover was reproduced in a conventional manufacturing procedure. Since this component like many others in the BMW 507 had fallen prey to the ravages of time, a small series was produced. This means that roadster users are now able to source this spare part in the parts shop of BMW Group Classic.

The BMW 507 makes a comeback – it’s just like the car Hans Stuck drove, the one Elvis purchased, and this is the way Jack Castor wanted it.

The engine for Elvis’ BMW 507 was completely rebuilt from spare parts. The 3.2 litre V8 engine was reconditioned precisely in conformity with the original specifications of the BMW 507, but it was not given an engine number on account of the unavoidable but otherwise unusual use of old and new components. The front frame carrier, which had been cut down at an early stage, also had to be reproduced in its original geometry and integrated in the floor assembly. The wooden nailing strip for fixing the soft top in place was also reproduced using materials and processing methods in keeping with the 1950s.

Maximum authenticity was also the objective in painting the vehicle. The BMW 507 is now resplendent once again in Feather White. The primer coat, the filler and the top coat were not applied by the methods that are commonplace today. Rather, they were implemented in a procedure that corresponds to the technology in use some 60 years ago. This enabled the excessive colour brilliance to be avoided which is considered desirable nowadays but is inappropriate for classic cars.

Similar to the reconstruction of the V8 engine and the use of true-to-original parts and production procedures, the selection of paintwork also corresponds precisely to the conditions defined by Jack Castor. Right from the start, he wanted to restore the roadster to the original condition it was supplied in back in 1958. However, his aspiration to be able to see the BMW 507 through the eyes of the “King” remained unfulfilled. Jack Castor passed away at the age of 77 in November 2014. We will therefore remember him at Pebble Beach. The BMW 507 will be presented there for the first time not simply as the automobile of the “King”, but also as the legacy of Jack Castor and a masterpiece of BMW Group Classic.

Brands/Auto: inside Cadillac House

Cadillac House is one of the brand’s most public-facing initiatives and a signal that they're serious about being part of its new home in NYC. We got an exclusive look at the experiential space with John Bricker, a Partner and the Creative Director atGensler, who has worked with Cadillac for the last several years to rethink (and bring to life) their dealerships and new NYC HQ.

Cadillac has a few goals: to actively engage with NYC’s cultural scene and be a part of their west SoHo neighborhood. Of course, they want to attract new people to the brand too, and see Cadillac House as a means of creating a dialog with them. There's a coffee bar, a retail space for up-and-coming designers, a gallery supporting artists with their less commercial work, frequent programming and a place to hang out or work. Melody Lee, Cadillac’s Director of Brand Marketing, says that “While Cadillac product will be featured prominently, Cadillac House is more about placing the brand at the heart of art, fashion, design, film and community. It’s about Cadillac finding points of intersection for the brand with our customers’ passions and interests, and being the brand that helps them pursue them.” Taking its “Dare Greatly” messaging to heart, the brand sees Cadillac House as a way to live that. Nathan Tan, the Associate Director of Brand Partnerships and Experiences, adds “…Cadillac House is our commitment to substantively investing in and shaping culture rather than just co-opting it for our own gain. Cadillac House is a statement of intent that brands can and should be producers of culture, not just advertisers.”

Gensler recommended that the front part of the building be recessed, creating a raised veranda and a set back entrance. It’s unusual, and it demands attention from people walking or driving by. Having a vintage Cadillac parked there is a nod to the brand’s long history, but placed in a very modern setting, with glass and mirrors and video screens inferring that what lies inside isn’t about what used to be. Bricker says “Cadillac House is called ‘House’ because it isn’t about a shop or a showroom, it’s a place for people to socialize as one would in a house.” He adds, “Using product sends a message that this is a destination that’s unique. We’ve interrupted the façade of this industrial manufacturing building from turn-of-the-(20th) century and punched it out with modern sensibility with this great street presence."

Brands/Watches; Blancpain goes with "The Bull"

From the watches. tv

http://www.thewatches.tv/en/editorial/blancpain-competes-on-le-castellet-racing-circuit-with-lamborghini/

In 2009, Blancpain introduced a new collection of watches in its portfolio, the L-Evolution, a much sportier line of timepieces. The “L” stands for Leman which is a more traditional line of the brand, but it could also stand for Lamborghini since Blancpain immediately set up a partnership with the Italian super car manufacturer to help promote this new collection. 

This partnership first started with the creation of the Blancpain Lamborghini Super Troffeo, a series of races held in Europe with the same car base for all the participants, the Gagliardo. This alliance soon developed much further with the extension of these races in the US and in Asia as well as the creation of the Blancpain Endurance series where more than 60 cars have to compete for 6-Hour or the first to cross the 1’000 Km mark. 

Well that was the program for this edition of race held at Le Castellet, a famous race circuit in the South of France, but it can go way beyond that with for instance a 24H version at the legendary Belgian Spa circuit. Blancpain’s involvement in motorsport is therefore a very serious one and has kept increasing over time and the parallel between the world of quantic mechanics of watchmaking and the relativity dimension of car mechanics is a rather natural one.

Auto: Top gear "emigres come up with "The Grand Tour" for Amazon

Thing is," said Jeremy Clarkson, "We'll be travelling the world hosting each episode in a different country, from a giant tent. It's a sort of 'grand tour,' if you like. So we've decided to call it 'The Grand Tour.'"

The Amazon Prime show will feature short films shot in different locations around the globe and the studio audience portion of the showcase will also take place at a different location around the world every week. The pre-recorded studio sections of the program will be filmed in front of a live audience, all housed within a giant tent. Therefore in this spirit of travel, adventure and intrigue, the presenters have decided to call the show The Grand Tour.

"Well, that took a while..." said Jay Marine, VP of Amazon Video Europe. "After nine months of deep thought, debate and deliberation, the guys have come up with a name that reflects the global ambition of the new show. The Grand Tour will be one of the most anticipated TV launches ever, and we're excited to be bringing it to Amazon Prime customers around the world this autumn."

The Grand Tour will launch this fall for Amazon Prime members and the new travelling format means Amazon customers around the world will have the chance to be in the audience when tickets are released through a sweepstakes this summer. Details of the location schedule and information on how to apply for tickets will be announced shortly.

 Fans can follow The Grand Tour on Facebook(www.facebook.com/thegrandtour) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/thegrandtour) and at www.amazon.com/thegrandtour to get news about the show first.

Amazon announced in 2015 that Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May would reunite to make a new car show available for Amazon Prime members. The show is produced by the trio's long-time executive producer Andy Wilman. The award-winning team have committed to three series as part of this landmark global TV deal. The first series went into production in late 2015, and the series will premiere for Prime members this fall.

The Grand Tour joins Amazon Prime's line-up of award-winning and critically-acclaimed TV shows and movies, which includes series like Mr. Robot, Downton Abbey, The Americans, Orphan Black, and Amazon Original Series and Movies from Amazon Studios likeTransparent, The Man in the High Castle and kid series Tumble Leaf, and Chi-Raq. Prime members can choose to stream or download from Prime Video, to make keeping up with their new favorite shows effortless, whether on the move or at home.

The Girl From Naked Eye

So, its a Saturday night (we just picked that one randomly), you're home, you're bored with trolling and tweeting and haven't found anything new to "like".

You decide you're in the mood for a movie, but nothing too "heavy"; sure, you want some action, a couple of good, hyperkinetic fight scenes, some gunplay, a little T & A, you know...the usual.But not too much in the way of "story' no brain-twisting conundrums, no slowly unfurling relationship complications, no Byzantine revenge and political schemes. Just a "regular" guy, with a taste for the seamy side, but who's gotten himself in debt to the wrong kinda people and who has lost his taste for the fast lane.

And just to spice things up, you can throw in a not-so-innocent young girl, still in her teens, with long-shelved dreams of becoming a poet, and now content to offer herself to all manner of losers who just happen to have money to pay for her favours. Stir in a ruthlessly crooked cop and a somewhat principled nightclub/escort service owner, set somewhere in contemporary L.A. and watch sparks fly.

Martial arts champion Jason Yee takes much of the blame (or the credit (depending on your perspective) for the above, doing triple duties as writer, co-producer and star. he's enlisted some obscure but strangely likeable talent to help him deliver this potboiler, but none more winningly than Ron Yuan, as the bald-headed club owner, pimp and wanna-be gangster mentioned above. The interplay Yuan and Yee, particularly in a near humourous initial conflict that features one of the "girls" as a hapless (but vociferous) third wheel, almost lifts the movie.

But Girl From Naked Eye still bears too much of the modern B-movie funk to be more than just a throwaway. it doesn't wear out its welcome, but like a burger from a late-night greasy spoon, you won't miss it after its gone through your system.

A Wild Ride to the Darkside: Drive

With no fewer than 20 previous features with the same title, one could well be forgiven lowering expectations for this thriller, even with Ryan Gosling in the starring role.

But this spacey, yet intense work, from Danish import Nicholas Winding Refn not only shows Gosling, the hot Hollywood property of the moment, firmly in control, but more than adequately challenged by Albert Brooks, near flawless as the urbane yet sadistic loan shark who dogs him almost from the beginning.

Our hero (he's never actually named)  in fact moonlights as a wheelman (that is, he drives a getaway car for bank robbers, etc) in between doing movie stunts and working for a local mechanic, who cals him only "The Kid". In his apartment building, he meets Elise (Carey Mulligan) a young mother who's awaiting her partner's release from prison, but not, as it turns out with great anxiety. The two engage in a wonderfully underplayed semi-platonic affair.

Two dark threads interwine with this urban idyll. First, the mechanic fancies himself a stock car owner with the kid at the helm but, of course such things need money, and lots more of it than he can lay his hands on. Enter Brooks, who routes his operation through a pizza parlor owned by an outcast Jewish mafioso (the suitably creepy Ron Perlman).

The second issue is that Elise's spouse, a small-time hood with the oddly statesmanlike name of Standard Gabriel, has been sprung, but he still owes protection money to another bad guy, who's now demanding (with a serious beating as persuasion), that he rob a certain local pawnshop as part settlement on his "debt".

Seeing the distress that Gabriel's position places on mother and son, our hero chips in - he offers to drive the getaway car, of course. This brings him into contact with said bad guy and the luscious but hapless Christina Hendricks (Oh the fantasies...but, we digress), a gangster's moll who even the gangster is apt to ignore.

Of course, the job is a set-up. It yields an indeterminately large sum of cash, but also precipitates a high-speed chase and marks the step-up point in the movie's violence quotient. Gabriel is shot dead at the scene, and the luscious redhead is dispatched with a shotgun blast to head.

Gosling, forced to keep his head whilst all about him are losing theirs, demonstrates he knows his way around guns and improvised weapons the way he knows his way around cars. Also, as tender as he was with Elise, he's not baove slapping said gangster's moll half silly, in order to get at the truth.

Laconic, and with seemingly permanent half-smirk throughout the proceedings, our hero might seem hard to like, but Gosling does a good job of humanizing him and investing him with a strong, but off-kilter sense of morality.

The "Miami Vice-style" titles and cinematography may be a bit off-putting, depending on your visual taste, and there's also the near cheesy New Wave soundtrack (I'm not knocking New Wave). But beyond that, Drive is a silm in which heart and mind are aligned to offer some real surprises - most of them welcome.

Take it for a spin and see.

Nothing to do but wait for the summer (2011)

The above line is from a Leif Garrett song (remember him?), but slogging through this Christmas, and taking note of the gigantic slate of sequels and other massive movies due next year, it could sum up the Hollywood mood right now

Among the expected box-office heavy hitters for 2K11 are:

Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On stranger Tides;
The Hangover 2;
Kung Fu Panda 2
Thor

X-Men: First Class;
Cars 2
Green Lantern

Transformers 3;
Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part II (series finale ?)
Captain America

looks to be an epic summer