Sir Roger Moore to star in romantic comedy Connemara Days

Sir Roger Moore is returning to the big screen afte a 10-year gap to star in Connemara Days, a fictional film about the making of the 1952 classic The Quiet Man.

Described as a romantic comedy, the film will be made in the Irish village of Cong, the same location where the Hollywood original, which starred John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara and was directed by John Ford, was filmed.

Roger Moore is James Bond

The Irish Times reports that the film will be directed by Kevin Connor and produced by Belfast company Causeway Pictures with support from Fáilte Ireland.

The former James Bond star will be joined by fellow cast members Aidan Quinn, Geraldine Chaplin, Stacy Keach and others on the project. Sir Roger is also listed as an executive producer.

The Connemara Days plot concerns an 18-year-old girl, Heather O’Dea, who falls for one of Ford’s assistant directors. Also lined up to act in the film are Sarah Bolger and Thomas Dekker. In a statement issued yesterday by Fáilte Ireland, Moore said he was very excited to be part of a ‘delightful project’.

‘The Quiet Man was undoubtedly the best movie John Ford ever directed. It is also one of my all-time favourite films,’ he said. ‘The opportunity to revisit the time when Hollywood arrived in Ireland to shoot it was simply too delicious an opportunity to miss.’

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Dr. No kicks off Big Screen Classics series at Lafayette Theatre

James Bond will be opening the 8th Big Screen Classics series at New York’s Lafayette Theatre next month.

Dr. No

Fans will be able to catch a special screening of Sean Connery’s 007 debut in Dr. No, scheduled to take place on Saturday, 13 March at 11:30am.

A brand new print courtesy of MGM, this Dr. No event will also include a lobby display of rare posters and memorabilia associated with it’s 1962 release.

The Lafayette Theatre is located at 97 Lafayette Ave., Suffern, NY 10901. For further information regarding this James Bond screening, phone 845-369-8234 or visit the official website.

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James Bond's rocket man coming to Niagara Falls on 18 February

James Bond fans will have the chance to meet up with the man dubbed ‘the greatest rocket belt pilot in the world’ later this month in Niagara Falls.

ROCKETBELT PILOT’S MANUAL: A Guide by the Bell Test Pilot

According to the Niagara Falls Review, William Suitor will be at the Niagara Falls Public Library on Thursday, 18 February to talk about the rocket belt and his more than 1,000 flights at places around the world. He will also be signing copies of his book ROCKETBELT’S MANUAL: A Guide by the Bell Test Pilot.

As many fans are aware, it was Suitor who doubled for Sean Connery’s 007 in the pre-credits sequence of Thunderball when he flew the rocketbelt.

‘There’s never, ever a time you’re not at least … apprehensive,’ Suitor said, when asked how nerve-racking it is to be thrust in the air with a rocket pack attached to your body. ‘Ignorance is bliss. Some-times, it’s better not to know a lot of the things that can go wrong,’ he laughed.

He also adds that he hears a ‘bazzilion’ questions regarding his brief appearance in Thunderball: ‘I didn’t know anything about it at the time. It was just another job to do. Now, it’s regarded as one of the best films in the James Bond series.’

The event will be free to the public. The Niagara Falls Public Library Victoria Avenue branch is located at 4848 Victoria Avenue, Niagara Falls, ON L2E 4C5. For further details, visit the official website.

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Thunderball screening in Hamburg, Germany on 19 February

Thunderball

1965’s classic James Bond adventure Thunderball will be back on the big screen later this month in Hamburg, Germany.

007 fans can attend the screening of Sean Connery’s fourth Bond film on Friday, 9 February at the Metropolis Kino, located at Steindamm 54, 20099 Hamburg, Germany. The event kicks off at 9:15pm.

For ticket information and additional details, visit the official website.

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Peter Murton passes away

Cinema Retro reports the sad news that acclaimed production designer and art director Peter Murton passed away shortly before Christmas 2009. An accomplished technician in his field with a career spanning six decades, Murton is best known in the world of 007 for his work on three James Bond films.

Goldfinger

Murton got his start in the art department in the mid-1940’s, working as a draughtsman on Madonna of the Seven Moons and Caravan. He continued this role on several films that followed into the 1950’s, also serving as a set dresser on titles such as Across the Bridge, The Wind Cannot Read and Carry on Sergeant.

In 1959, Murton would receive his first assistant art director credit on Tarzan’s Greatest Adventures, which featured a pre-007 Sean Connery in the cast. He also served in this role the following year for Walt Disney’s classic family adventure Swiss Family Robinson.

1961’s Mr. Topaze, starring Peter Sellers, provided him with his first art director credit. Murton also headed the art department on 1963’s Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb and 1964’s Woman of Straw, the latter also starring Connery.

Thunderball

It was also in 1964 that Murton was introduced to the cinematic world of James Bond, working as the art director on Goldfinger alongside production designer Ken Adam. The two would meet up again the following year for the even more successful Thunderball as well. In between his two 60’s Bond films, Murton also worked as the art director on the classic espionage tale The Ipcress File (produced by Harry Saltzman).

Several years would pass until Murton took on another 007 film, but he kept very busy with credits on Funeral in Berlin, Half a Sixpence and The Lion in Winter (the last featuring a young Timothy Dalton almost 20 years before he would debut as the fourth official James Bond).

The Man with the Golden Gun

In 1972, Murton transitioned to the role of production designer on The Ruling Class and continued in this position for his third and final 007 credit, 1974’s The Man with the Golden Gun, creating the film’s numerous standout set pieces, including Scaramanga’s junk and the funhouse.

After he departed from Bond, several more high-profile film credits followed in the 1970’s and 80’s, including The Eagle has Landed, Death on the Nile, Dracula, Superman II and Superman III. His final credit was 1994’s Stargate, on which he served as art director.

In 2005, Murton was reassociated with the James Bond series when he attended the 40th anniversary Thunderball event in London. This was followed by appearances at Bondstars.com’s ‘Behind the Scenes of Bond’ in July 2007 and ‘Goldfinger: The Reunion’ in April 2008. The former event reunited Murton with fellow production designers Ken Adam and Peter Lamont.

CommanderBond.net wishes to extend their condolences to the family and friends of Peter Murton.

James Bond double feature at Toronto's Scotiabank Theatre

Two classic James Bond films featuring Sean Connery’s 007 are scheduled to screen back-to-back at the Scotiabank Theatre in Toronto later this month.

Bond fans can catch Dr. No and Goldfinger on the big screen on Wednesday, 10 February. The debut 007 film will play at 7:00pm, while the 1964 blockbuster will follow at 9:45pm.

Both 007 films are being screened as part of the Great Digital Film Festival, which presents classic and popular films shown in a digital or high definition format on the big screen.

Ticket prices are: General Admission (14 and over) $12.50 | Child (3 – 13) $8.99 | Senior (65 and over) $8.99.

The Scotiabank Theatre is located at 259 Richmond Street West, Toronto, ON, M5V 2E9 near the corner of John St. and Richmond St. in the heart of downtown Toronto’s Entertainment District.

For further information or to purchase tickets, phone 416-368-5600 or visit the official website.

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Pierce Brosnan to attend the 60th Berlin Film Festival

Pierce Brosnan is scheduled to attend the Berlin International Film Festival (also known as the Berlinale), which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.

Variety reports that the former James Bond actor is among the top names for the event, including Leonardo DiCaprio and Jackie Chan.

A total of 26 films from 18 countries will be shown in this year’s main section, 20 of them in competition for the Golden and Silver Bears. Overall, more than 400 films will play in the festivals various sections.

One of the high-profile films this year is the premiere of Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer (which stars Brosnan alongside Ewan McGregor). This mystery thriller is Polanski’s first film since 2005’s Oliver Twist.

Pierce Brosnan and Ewan McGregor in The Ghost Writer

SYNOPSIS

When a successful British ghostwriter, ‘The Ghost,’ agrees to complete the memoirs of former British Prime Minister Adam Lang, his agent assures him it’s the opportunity of a lifetime. But the project seems doomed from the start—not least because his predecessor on the project, Lang’s long-term aide, died in an unfortunate accident.

The Ghost flies out to work on the project, in the middle of winter, to an oceanfront house on an island off the U.S. Eastern seaboard. But the day after he arrives, a former British cabinet minister accuses Lang of authorizing the illegal seizure of suspected terrorists and handing them over for torture by the CIA—a war crime. The controversy brings reporters and protesters swarming to the island mansion where Lang is staying with his wife, Ruth, and his personal assistant (and mistress), Amelia. As The Ghost works, he begins to uncover clues suggesting his predecessor may have stumbled on a dark secret linking Lang to the CIA—and that somehow this information is hidden in the manuscript he left behind. Was Lang in the service of the American intelligence agency while he was prime minister? And was The Ghost’s predecessor murdered because of the appalling truth he uncovered?

Resonating with topical themes, this atmospheric and suspenseful political thriller is a story of deceit and betrayal on every level—sexual, political and literary. In a world in which nothing, and no one, is as it seems, The Ghost quickly discovers that the past can be deadly—and that history is decided by whoever stays alive to write it.

The 60th Berlin International Film Festival runs from 12 to 21 February 2010. For full details, visit the official website.

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Four Tet on the Quantum of Solace closing theme: Crawl, End Crawl

As first reported on CommanderBond.net way back in late 2008, Quantum of Solace became the first James Bond film since Tomorrow Never Dies to feature an original end-title theme.

Four Tet (aka Kieran Hebden)

Composed by David Arnold and Four Tet (also known as UK electronic musician Kieran Hebden), the track, entitled ‘Crawl, End Crawl, was described by Hebden as ‘kind of remix of stuff from the score of the film’.

In a just released interview with New York Magazine, Hebden goes into the origins of this original 007 track a little further. He states: ‘They contacted me and I went and met David Arnold, and he played me the all the multitracks from the sessions, and I just took away whatever sounds I wanted. I think I had, like, a day to make this piece of music—the deadline was really tight.’

‘A week later it was on at the premiere,’ he continues. ‘It was a little bit weird for me because the kind of melodies and riffs they use in the James Bond music is so different from what I’d normally use. You just couldn’t get away from the James Bond–ness of it. It was just, like, there, in every little string sound I was given. But I guess that’s the point in some ways.’

Click here for the complete interview.

While not included on the official Quantum of Solace soundtrack, Bond fans can purchase ‘Crawl, End Crawl’ from the Apple iTunes store.

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Upcoming talk show appearances for Pierce Brosnan

Former James Bond star Pierce Brosnan will be making two upcoming appearances on US television early this month.

Pierce Brosnan

First up is an appearance on the Live with Regis and Kelly talk show on Friday, 5 February. While details are still to be announced, it is expected that Brosnan will be promoting his appearances in the soon-to-be-released films Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (a fantasy adventure also featuring fellow GoldenEye actor Sean Bean) and The Ghost Writer (with Ewan McGregor).

The Live with Regis and Kellyofficial website.

Brosnan is also slated to be a guest on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson the following Monday, 8 February. The show airs at 12:35 am (EST) on weeknights.

As always, keep turning to the CommanderBond.net main page and our Discussion Forums for all the latest news from the world of James Bond.

Martin Campbell backs Sam Mendes for Bond 23

Sam Mendes is yet to be officially attached to Bond 23—whether as a director or consultant—but the Oscar-winner is be backed for the job by two-time James Bond helmer Martin Campbell.

Sam Mendes

In a recent interview with Time Out, the Casino Royale and GoldenEye director briefly discussed 007 and gave his approval of Mendes.

‘Sam will do a splendid job,’ Campbell stated. ‘I felt Quantum of Solace completely lost its way. We were lucky on Casino Royale, it was the origin story of Bond. Bond had the one and only affair that meant anything to him, and affected him throughout the rest of the series. I had sympathy for the writers after that because clearly the guy can’t have another meaningful relationship, he’s been fucked over by the last one. But you’ve got to do something with the character, he’s got to go somewhere.’

He continued: ‘I’m sure Sam and Peter Morgan will come up with something. The secret to Bond is to remember it’s Bond. It’s been successful for 22 incarnations. There are a lot of elements that work, so don’t f–k with them.’

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