Bette is gone for the night, so while eating leftover Chinese, I usually watch something unacceptable to the family. Gotta be short, no time for a whole movie. Some days it’s the lobby scene in The Matrix, some days a Futurama episode or two. Today I found the DVD of BMWfilms.com presents The Hire, 8 short films by big name directors made in two batches between 2000 and 2003 and released to the web. I downloaded them all and tried to write them to DVD, but then the DVD was released directly from BMW and I bought. What a deal!

All of them star Clive Owen as the Driver, who, in each short, drives a suitably equipped BMW either carrying or chasing the main characters at high rates of speed. He is really good. After seeing these shorts, I though HE should be James Bond, not the other losers. Although Daniel Craig sounds OK – haven’t seen the QOS flick yet.

So I watched the zany “Beat the Devil” with James Brown, directed by Tony Scott. Madonna at her bitchy best in ex-boyfriend Guy Ritchie’s “Star”. But the best of the lot, I think, is the emotionally packed “Powder Keg”, directed by Alejandro Gonzalez-Inarritu, set in a Latin American wasteland and with an ending sure to rip the heart out of anyone who has lost a child.

Unfortunately, BMWFilms.com is inactive, although still registered to “Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Munich, DE”. Looks like the marketing didn’t work, but these are really good movies. Try to find a copy. And hope they try again soon in the age of YouTube.