timothy dalton Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Even though it's TIFF time and seemingly the entire movie world is descending on my home town of Toronto, remember, the Great White North isn't your only source of movie news. During the London-based Disney Animation Showcase, Pixar's John Lasseter dropped a tiny bombshell and let a few details fly about the upcoming sequels (or 'threequel' in Toy's case) to Toy Story and Cars. To be fair, we only got a taste, but at least we know a little more than what we did before. So on that note, let's go right to the big dog first, shall we?

Toy Story 3
Back in June, Elisabeth brought us the news that Pixar was looking to make a more a little more 'grown-up', but details about the flick were still being kept under lock and key. Today, though, the big news came when Lasseter showed a clip from the film with Andy all grown up and packing for college, while Woody and the gang headed for a storage container. The scene goes on to show Andy changing his mind and holding on to Woody, but unfortunately the rest of the toys aren't so lucky. Lasseter also gave a preview of the upcoming trailer that fleshes out the story a little more, and it looks like the action will center on Woody saving his friends from a local daycare center. Lasseter must have been in the 'sharing mood' because along with the clips and trailers, he confirmed that Timothy Dalton will be adding to the mix as a stuck-up hedgehog by the name of Mr. Pricklepants -- a name I will totally steal if I ever get a pet, but I digress.

After the jump: an update on Cars 2...

I've been a bit of a lapsed Bond-ophile as the series has evolved over the years. I grew up with Roger Moore's slightly more campy Bond, and as an adult I worked my way through the Connery years for a little historical perspective...and yes, I even gave Timothy Dalton a try. But by the time Pierce Brosnan had stepped in I had tuned out. The arrival of Daniel Craig as our new Bond was the chance to reignite a franchise, and say what you will about Casino Royale, (and there is plenty to complain about, which for the purposes of time and brevity, I won't get into here) Craig proved that he could hold his ground as 007. But no matter what I may have thought about Royale, by the time the credits rolled on Quantum of Solace, all was forgiven.

So today's Credits Report might be a bit of a cheat because really, it's about two scenes: the opening car chase, and the iconic Bond theme by Alica Keys and Jack White. So first let's get to that car chase. Well, you can't have Bond without a little vehicular mayhem and Forster delivers with expert uses of sound and stunts. We even get Bond delivering a rare moment of cheekiness before those opening chords of Solace's theme.

After the jump; a few words about Keys and White's 'Bond Song' and two worthy additions to Bond's canon of car chases and snazzy credit sequences...

Even as the franchise began to shed staples with 2006's Casino Royale and tomorrow's Quantum of Solace, the James Bond series is still known for several keystones across twenty other films: girls, gadgets, guns, martinis, silhouettes of female figures thrusting about during the credits, and so on. Some would say that these were the traditions that helped lead James Bond down the path that would end in 2002's Die Another Day, which some would say made them want to take a top hat to their own throats. (Me? I didn't hate it.)

Among these recurring touches were the last lines, often cheeky turns of phrase that seemed to suggest that everything was going to be just fine between Commander Bond and that chick who we'd never see or hear about ever again. So, out of twenty-one films, I humbly offer up my picks for the seven best of the bunch. I'll leave you to find out if Quantum ends more along the lines of Royale's "The name's Bond... James Bond", or with something a bit sexier...

Don't worry, I'm not going to go off on a tangent here about how things were better in my day, but I will say that watching the whacked out 80's incarnation of Flash Gordon is one of my favorite childhood memories (I can hear the strains of Queen's theme song as I type this). So you can imagine I wasn't exactly thrilled with the news that the man behind the 'swashbuckling bomb' Sahara had signed to direct an update of the classic sci-fi story. Variety reports that Sony has won the bidding war for the rights to make a live-action film based on Alex Raymond's original comic strip with Breck Eisner at the helm.

In the original story, "Flash was a handsome polo player who is kidnapped and taken to the planet Mongo. He is pitted against an evil ruler named Ming the Merciless." Some of the other incarnations of Flash included making him a football player, and a hover-boarding teen in the 90's (um, OK). In 2007, the Sci-Fi channel also attempted to reboot the series with Eric Johnson in the lead, but the series was canceled shortly after.

Believe me, I know the 1980 film was a total flop, and most of it looked like it was conceived on a mushroom trip. But how you can say no to flying hawk men, Timothy Dalton dressed like Robin Hood while in a fight to the death, and Max Von Sydow in a skull cap?

Starting tonight and running through December 17th, Edgar Wright is taking control of the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles. Wright, director of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, is programming a festival of his favorite movies, and it's a wonderful and eclectic bunch. He's calling the fest "The Wright Stuff," (also the name of a universally beloved screenwriting column on this very site), and he will be on hand to introduce several screenings with special guests. As always at the New Beverly, one of Los Angeles' absolute treasures, every screening is a double feature.

I'll just tell you about the screenings with special guests, all of which start at 7:30. But don't forget to check the website for all show dates and times. Tonight, Edgar and songwriter Paul Williams will kick off the event with two musicals -- Bugsy Malone and Brian DePalma's Phantom of the Paradise. December 5th, the first feature is Flash Gordon, with special guest (and ex-Bond) Timothy Dalton. The second feature is Mario Bava's Danger Diabolik, introduced by Edgar and the great Joe Dante. On December 7th, Edgar will introduce The Last Boy Scout and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang with one of the finest action screenplay writers of our time -- Shane Black. December 10 is John Landis' An American Werewolf in London and Tremors (which I spouted my love for here). Landis will help Wright introduce his film. December 12th is Top Secret! (almost as funny as Airplane and The Naked Gun, in my opinion) and Woody Allen's Bananas, with David Zucker on hand. December 14th is the Roger Ebert - penned Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, and Head, hosted by Wright and Micky Dolenz of The Monkees. And on December 16th, Wright will introduce Evil Dead 2 and an all time favorite of mine -- the Coen Brothers' Raising Arizona.

Here is a press release from Edgar with his thoughts on the included films. If you live in the Los Angeles area, there's really no excuse to miss this. See you there!

James Bond -- when played by Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan and now Daniel Craig (and a bit less so when played by Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and George Lazenby) -- has long been the gold stanard by which all other cinematic spies have been judged. He's smooth, aloof, quick-witted and charming. Guys want to be like him and women with names like Pussy Galore want to sleep with him. But these days, 007 has some serious competition from a more reserved, grittier and -- dare we say -- more likeable amnesiac spy named Jason Bourne (Matt Damon).

When The Bourne Identity came along in 2002, it pretty much reinvented the action-spy genre, placing its hero, Jason Bourne, squarely in the real world (where things like Bond's invisible car do not exist) and dealing with the unheard of (in the Bond world, at least) issues of moral accountability, character metamorphosis and even vulnerability. Clearly influenced by his neophyte rival, a new Bond was born in 2006's Casino Royale, with Daniel Craig stepping into the tux of a more down-to-earth, relatable and gadget-free 007. Even so, the gap between these two men remains enormous.

From the cars they drive to the villains they battle to the way they fight to the women they bed, Moviefone compares the two most badass spies ever to grace a movie screen in a Jason Bourne vs. James Bond gallery. Check it out and then tell us: Who do you think is the more super spy?

We're back! James Bond touches land, air and sea in this episode as we talk about our favorite Bond cars, the Spy-Fi Archives exhibit coming to the Queen Mary, and the re-opening of the 007 Stage in London. We also talk to a special guest in this episode, screenwriter and Young Bond Dossier expert John Cox -- who takes us into the literary world of the Young James Bond novels, which are very popular right now.

Some links and highlights from this episode:

• The 007 Stage reopens: visit their revamped website and check things out.
• The James Bond Car collection: subscribe and have Bond replica cars sent to you.
• Spy-Fi Archives at the Queen Mary: on exhibit April 7th through September 2007.
• John's amazing Young Bond Dossier site: check out the links to the Young Bond "apache" gadget, and the new Centenary Bond novel coming out next year.

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[Update! We had some problems with our RSS feed and iTunes subscription links below. All has been fixed. Happy listening!]

Bondcast is back! This episode Athena Stamos of CommanderBond.net and I talk about the aftermath of the Casino Royale DVD release and head to a screening party. We also cover our favorite Bond girls, although we both learned that it is very hard to choose just one. Athena takes us through the list of actors that were considered for the role before the mantle went to Daniel Craig.

Since they didn't include one with the recent release, we'll soon be bringing you our own feature-length Casino Royale commentary that you can play along at home with your copy of the film (or without it, if you have an extremely active imagination.) Upcoming interviews on the show include actress Lana Wood who played Plenty O'Toole in Diamonds Are Forever, and John Cox, who runs YoungBondDossier.com, a great source for James Bond news and information in the literary world.

Here are a few tidbits that, even with our vast Bond knowledge, we didn't have at our fingertips during the podcast. When we refer to the post, you can glance here for the points we're talking about.

• England got the Region 2 DVD release of Casino Royale earlier this week (3/19), while the States got the Region 1 discs last week (3/13). Sort of ironic that we get Britain's superspy in our homes before they do.
• CommanderBond reports that after battling with The Secret, Casino Royale has indeed ended up as #1 on the DVD sales charts.
• Pussy Galore's bevy of flying beauties is the eponymous 'Pussy Galore's Flying Circus.' An interesting fact is that while the group is comprised solely of women, it was actually men wearing blonde wigs. Yow.
• Robbie Coltrane portrayed Valentin Zukovsky in both GoldenEye and The World Is Not Enough. Plus, he also plays Hagrid in the Harry Potter films. The guy is versatile.
• The Tudors actually premieres on Showtime on April 1st.

Thanks for tuning in, and be sure to join us for the next Bondcast!


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During the run-up to Daniel Craig's casting as James Bond, I was fervently hoping that the producers would go in a different direction and give Scottish actor Dougray Scott a chance. He would have been the leanest, meanest Bond since Timothy Dalton, I thought, and still think -- although I was pleasantly surprised by Craig's performance. Scott also infamously missed the boat on Wolverine, barely losing the part to Hugh Jackman. Luckily, he isn't being completely ignored by Hollywood -- IGN reported yesterday that director Luc Besson has said Scott will co-star in the long-awaited movie-version of the Hitman game. Timothy Olyphant stars in Hitman as Agent 47, an assassin who works for a shady outfit called The Agency.

According to what IGN was picked up, Scott will play the antagonist who pursues Olyphant throughout the film. Production on Hitman is scheduled to begin this month in Prague. Cinematical recently spoke to Olyphant and touched on what his hopes for Hitman are -- you can read that here. He'll next be seen in the fourth Die Hard installment, Live Free or Die Hard, while Scott's next project may be the mystery drama The Last Chapter.

With Casino Royale coming out on DVD next week, rumors abounding about Bond 22 everywhere, and a general love (on our part) for all things having to do with that certain British secret agent, we're bringing you our very first Bondcast. Filled with news, rumors, speculations, stories ... and co-hosted by the lovely and talented Athena Stamos from CommanderBond.net. We'll have a new episode every two weeks in which we'll bring you interviews, reports, and more news on the next Bond film.

Plus, be sure to let us know what you'd like to hear. Got a favorite Bond flick? We'll break it down for you. Want the skinny on a particular gadget and its background? We'll dig it up. One of the Bond girls really tickle your fancy? We'll interview her. The sky's the limit. A big thanks to Athena for co-hosting, and to CommanderBond.net for letting us poach her, and for having such a great website devoted to all things James Bond. Swing by and check them out.

Be sure and swing by Moviefone's Casino Royale page which is jam-packed with trailers, interviews, and a great Unscripted where Daniel Craig and director Martin Campbell interview each other.

Corrections: I mistakenly refer to Vesper's boyfriend as Argentinian, not Algerian, whoops. Hopefully he won't be coming after me. Also, the Wal-Mart Casino Royale DVD set does come with a deck of cards and a poker chip, but sadly no briefcase.

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