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The new James Bond movie hauled in $70 mil this weekend.

Hardly unexpected. Who wouldn’t wanna see another Bond adventure starring Daniel Craig after “Casino Royale?

But are audiences cheering the latest Bond adventure? Let me know your thoughts on the new film … and whether you’re eager to see a new Bond installment in two-plus years …

Can’t help it … I’m a sucker for those Monster Truck Show pitches where the guy screams the same day of the week over and again.

For this site’s sake, it’s my way of promoting my new A-Z movie listing to be posted tomorrow — Nov. 16 — courtesy of a “tag, you’re it” game with Dirty Harry … and my review of “Slumdog Millionaire” from the Starz Denver Film Festival’s Big Night showing.

• Campbell, Bruce Campbell. The cult hero of “Evil Dead” fame spoofs his own highly spoof-able image in “My Name is Bruce.” My Washington Times review breaks down why “Bruce” won’t be the actor’s next cult classic.
• “… I do a stomach thing and a bum thing,” says Kate Winslet to People Mag regarding her fitness regimine. Keep it up, Kate. It’s working.
• The indispensable Dirty Harry chats about the new Hollywood blacklist.
• The new “Star Trek” trailer goes online at 1 pm EST Monday!

“Quantum of Solace”

Bond grieves for gal pal

Wrangles with eco-villain

Franchise takes step back

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(Photo: Daniel Craig returns as James Bond in “Quantum of Solace.”)

Set aside those Freedom Fries jokes … WWTW has been chatting up a pair of talented French filmmakers, and I’ll be posting the interviews in the coming weeks.

First up: Philippe Claudel. A true Renaissance man, Claudel is a painter, novelist and professor when he’s not writing and directing feature films. His latest, “I’ve Loved You So Long,” is an emotional drama about a woman (Kristin Scott Thomas) trying to start her life anew after a lengthy prison term. Thomas, who speaks fluent French, is garnering heavy Oscar noise for her performance — deservedly so.

Next month, WWTW chats up Laurent Cantet. The director’s latest film, “The Class,” took home the Palm d’Or at the recent Cannes Film Festival. His feature follows a dedicated school teacher trying to bring harmony, and an education, to a group of diverse and unruly students.

Who’s Wallace Shawn? It’s a name you may not know, but you know his face — or better yet, his voice.

Try this:

“In-con-ceivable!”

Yup, he’s the guy from “The Princess Bride” who tried to smite our golden heroes.

Now, he’s just another actor/writer drowning in Bush Derangement Syndrome: (hat tip: Newsbusters)

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Barbra Streisand wouldn’t talk to stepson Josh Brolin after he took the lead role in Oliver Stone’s “W.”

• “Captain America” has found its director.
• Reason no. 246 to dislike Sean Penn.
• MGM is putting its content catalogue on YouTube.
• Patrick Goldstein assesses “Soul Men’s” sorry b.o. take.

Mark J. Harris gets to rub elbows with tomorrow’s filmmakers today.

Harris, a three-time Oscar winner and Distinguished Professor of Film and TV Production in the School of Cinematic Arts at USC, works with some of the most promising young movie makers around. He checked in with WWTW to share his thoughts about the next generation of filmmakers and the directors who matter most to them.

WWTW:Tell me about the fledgling film students who apply to the USC School of Cinematic Arts — are their tastes and talents different from past generations? Are they more or less prepared on day one of classes than their predecessors?

MH: Each generation of students is different from the last. They grow up in a different world and under different influences. I fell in love with movies in the ’60s and was greatly affected by European cinema: Truffaut, Godard, Resnais, Louis Malle, Fellini, Antonioni, Visconti, Bergman. Also Kurosawa and Satyajit Ray.

Despite the easy accessibility of these films on DVD, most of the students who come to USC, especially undergraduates, are not familiar with these masters.

Who are the filmmakers who influence them? Americans mostly: Spielberg, Lucas, Coppola, (Spike) Lee, the Coen brothers, Tarantino, Scorsese and Apatow (Ang Lee possibly being an Americanized exception.) Some do see martial arts films from Hong Kong, but in general they have not seen many foreign films because only a few revival houses remain and films with subtitles don?t usually play at the local multiplex.

I wish there were women directors I could say were models for female filmmakers, but actually it’s the absence of prominent female directors that often motivates women to come to film school. They feel the time has finally come to bring their vision of the world to the screen.

WWTW: Do your students gravitate more toward short films … documentaries … features … and has this changed in recent years?

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