TO Live and Glatz Concerts proudly present Casino Royale in Concert, the first installment in the James Bond Concert Series, produced in association with EON Productions and Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios (MGM) at Meridian Hall in Toronto on November 24 at 7 pm. Audiences will be able to experience Bond on the big screen accompanied by the power of a full symphony orchestra performing composer David Arnold’s thrilling musical score live and in sync to the picture!
With Casino Royale, EON Productions and MGM launched their wildly successful reboot of the Bond franchise, and at the time of its release in 2006, it became the highest grossing film in the series’ history.
It also marked Daniel Craig’s first appearance as the legendary MI6 operative, and he earned high marks with fans and critics alike.
Directed by Martin Campbell, Casino Royale brings us Bond at the start of his career, having just earned 00 status and his licence to kill, and pits him against the ruthless terrorist financier known as Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen). From the jungles of Madagascar to the white sand beaches of the Bahamas, Bond’s pursuit of Le Chiffre leads to a showdown in a high-stakes poker game at the luxurious Casino Royale in Montenegro, and ultimately to a jaw-dropping finale on the Grand Canal in Venice.
Along the way, Bond meets the beautiful British Treasury agent Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), assigned to keep a watchful eye on 007 as he risks it all to bring down Le Chiffre. Giancarlo Giannini stars as René Mathis, Bond’s mysterious MI6 contact in Montenegro, and Judi Dench returns as M.
This event features the TO Live Orchestra conducted by Evan Mitchell.
Richard Crouse hosts a special preshow event before the screening!
Conducted by Evan Mitchell Featuring the Motion Picture Symphony Orchestra
Plus, Behind The Curtain pre-show talk for Thursday, October 11 and Friday, October 12 with Richard Crouse
6:30-7:00PM – in the Lower Lobby
Wednesday, September 26, 2018 – Toronto, Ontario: Civic Theatres Toronto and Attila Glatz Concert Productions proudly present Casino Royale in Concert, the first installment in the James Bond Concert Series, produced by Film Concerts Live! in association with EON Productions and Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios (MGM). For the first time ever in Canada, audiences will be able to experience Bond on the big screen accompanied by the power of a full symphony orchestra performing composer David Arnold’s thrilling musical score live and in sync to the picture!
With Casino Royale, EON Productions and MGM launched their wildly successful reboot of the Bond franchise, and at the time of its release in 2006, it became the highest grossing film in the series’ history.
It also marked Daniel Craig’s first appearance as the legendary MI6 operative, and he earned high marks with fans and critics alike.
Directed by Martin Campbell, Casino Royale brings us Bond at the start of his career, having just earned 00 status and his license to kill, and pits him against the ruthless terrorist financier known as Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen). From the jungles of Madagascar to the white sand beaches of the Bahamas, Bond’s pursuit of Le Chiffre leads to a showdown in a high-stakes poker game at the luxurious Casino Royale in Montenegro, and ultimately to a jaw-dropping finale on the Grand Canal in Venice.
Along the way, Bond meets the beautiful British Treasury agent Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), assigned to keep a watchful eye on 007 as he risks it all to bring down Le Chiffre. Giancarlo Giannini stars as René Mathis, Bond’s mysterious MI6 contact in Montenegro, and Dame Judi Dench returns as M.
Join us before the show on Thursday, October 11 and Friday, October 12, for a conversation with Toronto Film Critic and TV Host Richard Crouse and special guests. Take a look at the impact that Casino Royale continues to have on pop culture, explore David Arnold’s memorable score and go behind-the-scenes to learn how the orchestra performs live and in sync with the film. Seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Behind The Curtain pre-show talk is open to all ticket-holders attending the performance.
Richard Crouse is the film critic for CTV’s News Channel and CP24. His syndicated radio show, The Richard Crouse Show, originates on News Talk 1010 in Toronto. He is the author of ten books including the bestselling Raising Hell: Ken Russell and the Unmaking of The Devils and Elvis is King: Costello’s My Aim is True. Pop Life, his television talk show, airs on CTV and across the Bell Media network.
Evan Mitchell is proving to be one of the most able and imaginative young conductors in Canada. Having recently finished successful residencies as Assistant Conductor of the Vancouver and Kitchener-Waterloo symphony orchestras, Mr. Mitchell has enjoyed four triumphant seasons as Music Director of the Kingston Symphony Association. During his various residencies, Mr. Mitchell conducted over 200 concerts, acted as a Canadian ambassador during a historic two-week tour of China, Korea, and Macau, and served as an official consultant to the Vancouver Olympic Committee and Assistant Producer for the recording of the medal ceremony national anthems. Mr. Mitchell is a champion of initiatives designed to enhance the live concert experience, such as insider videos, informational podcasts, pre-concert talks, and special concerts devoted to live, onstage insights into major orchestral works. He is a regular guest conductor with the Toronto Symphony and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. He has also led orchestral collaborations with the Barenaked Ladies, Judy Collins, and Pink Martini.
Casino Royale In Concert Oct 11, 2018 – Oct 12, 2018
Featuring the Motion Picture Symphony Orchestra
For the first time ever in Canada, audiences will be able to experience Bond on the big screen accompanied by the power of a full symphony orchestra performing composer David Arnold’s thrilling musical score live and in sync to the picture. Richard Crouse will do a pre-show talk at Sony Centre Lower Lobby on both nights.
Directed by Martin Campbell, Casino Royale brings us Bond at the start of his career, having just earned 00 status and his licence to kill. It also marked Daniel Craig’s first appearance as the legendary MI6 operative.
Casino Royale also features Mads Mikkelsen as “Le Chiffre,” Eva Green as “Vesper Lynd”, Judi Dench returning as “M” and locations for the film include the Bahamas, Montenegro, and a jaw-dropping finale on the Grand Canal in Venice.
Film Concerts Live! proudly presents Casino Royale in Concert, produced in association with EON Productions and Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios (MGM).
There are dozens of biographies on Johnny Depp and a surprising amount of them use the word “rebel” in the title. There’s the Passionate Rebel, the Modern Rebel and even Hollywood’s Best-Loved Rebel.
There can be no argument that Depp is a fearless actor, unafraid to tackle tough, challenging roles, but it’s hard to accept the rebel title these days. For 20 years, he wildly threw darts at the wall, making exciting movies with interesting directors.
With Tim Burton, he created the off-kilter Eds — Wood and Scissorhands. With John Waters, he produced Wade Walker, the greaser love interest in Cry-baby. And, with Lasse Hallström, he came up with Gilbert Grape, caregiver to his brother and morbidly obese mother.
Along the way, he was also Hunter S. Thompson in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the world’s most successful drug dealer in Blow, and the depraved poet at the dark heart of The Libertine.
Few actors could have pulled off Ed Wood and no one does debauched like Johnny, but the carefully cultivated hip outsider image was never truly accurate. Shrouded in a cloud of Gauloise smoke, he was one of Hollywood’s too-cool-for-school kids, emitting an outsider’s aura, while astutely playing the Hollywood game.
But any remaining traces of Depp’s bohemian status were wiped away with Captain Jack Sparrow’s colourful scarves in the tetralogy of Pirates of the Caribbean movies. They made him a superstar, and wealthy enough to buy Bahamian islands, but also ushered in the damaging wig and makeup era of his career.
The pale makeup of Dark Shadows, Alice in Wonderland’s crazy oversized hat, and the raven headdress of The Lone Ranger overshadowed Depp’s performances, obscuring his character work with props and flash.
This weekend, he hides behind a moustache in the comedy Mortdecai.
As the title character, he’s pompous, bumbling — imagine Inspector Clouseau with an English accent and an attitude — and on a worldwide hunt for a painting said to contain the code to a lost bank account.
Will people be attracted to Mortdecai? Hard to know. Depp’s showy performances have, by-and-large, garnered big box office but profitability, while important to the suits who green light projects like this, is exactly what’s killing Depp’s credibility as a serious actor.
He’s not in Nicolas Cage territory yet — there’s an actor whose Western Kabuki style of acting redefines idiosyncratic — but with Pirates of the Caribbean 5 coming soon, perhaps it’s time to put Depp’s rebel actor image or reliance on props to bed.
Beware The Quirk! The Killer of Careers! The fearful beast is known to inhabit Southern California and frequently seen lurking in the Hollywood Hills. Easily recognizable by its overuse of make-up, strange facial hair and flamboyant dress, The Quirk lives off schtick and frequently speaks in a funny voice, seducing its victims—usually actors—with a siren song of bad jokes and vocal tics.
Johnny Depp has been outrunning The Quirk for years, narrowly missing the beast’s bony grip. Until now. The Quirk has finally claimed Depp, leaving behind a mass of exaggerated accents, silly walks, gapped teeth and lurid lip hair known as “Mortdecai.”
Based on “The Great Mortdecai Moustache Mystery” by Kyril Bonfiglioli, the movie stars Depp in the title role as a wealthy art dealer with a taste for the finer things in life, an obsessive habit of grooming his facial hair and a nearly empty bank account. He’s pompous, bumbling—imagine a jet-setting Inspector Clouseau with an English accent and an attitude—and on a worldwide hunt for a rare Goya painting said to contain the code to a lost bank account filled with Nazi gold. Along for the ride are Mortdecai’s his trusty cockney manservant Jock Strapp (Paul Bettany), Gwyneth Paltrow as Lady Johanna Mortdecai, Ewan McGregor as an MI5 agent and Jeff Goldblum as a “thick-fingered vulgarian.”
“Mortdecai” breathes the same air as “The Pink Panther” movies, with an added nod to the 1967 “Casino Royale,” an all-star heist movie most notable for featuring both Woody Allen and Orson Welles on the same marquee, but gets lightheaded when it comes to replicating the easy-breezy tone of those films. Capers flicks of a bygone era had a swingin’, hip feel of controlled chaos not overplayed farce but Depp is pedal-to-the-metal, quirking-it-up in a display completely without charm and worse, without wit. He sets the mood for the film—daft, overly mannered, arch and unfunny—and his preening feeds The Quirk, but leaves the audience hungry for laughs.
The much anticipated rebooting of the James Bond franchise is finally in theatres after months of controversy. The unceremonious canning of Pierce Brosnan, who had played the role for the better part of a decade, and the hiring of Daniel Craig, a blonde largely unknown actor, generated hate amongst Bond die-hards. Websites like craignotbond.com—and others with names I can’t repeat here—sprung up all over the net and it seemed like the barrage of bad pre-release publicity might sink the new movie before it even opened in theatres. The Craig-bashing is likely to cease, not only because it is unwarranted, but also because after seeing the movie nay-sayers may fear for their safety.
Craig is an inspired choice to reinvent Bond for a new generation. He’s a good actor—check out his turns in Enduring Love and The Mother—and he’s good looking, but in a more dangerous way than Brosnan or Roger Moore, the slickest of the Bonds. Craig has the looks of a leading man, but is lean and mean, and seems like he could punch you in the mouth and not think too much of it. Not since Sean Connery has a Bond been so volatile.
Craig takes the formerly bloated Bond franchise in a new direction. Gone are the high tech gadgets, the lasers and the pens that contain nuclear bombs. This Bond, built like a muscular British bulldog dispatched bad guys the old-fashioned way—with his hands. In one scene when he is asked how one of his victims died he replies with a wink, “Not well.”
The story, based on the first Bond novel by Ian Flemming, is typical Bond. A series of missions in far-flung corners of the world leads Bond to a high-stakes poker game hosted by an international banker who launders money for terrorists. Bond’s goal is to bankrupt the banker at the poker table so the Secret Service can use financial leverage to get the banker to turn on his terrorist contacts. Along the way there are beautiful girls, exotic locations, a great bad guy who cries blood tears and lots of over-the-top action.
Casino Royale isn’t your father’s Bond. It may, however, be a little closer to your grandfather’s. Sean Connery officially hung up his Bond tuxedo in 1971 (we won’t count Never Say Never Again, the 1983 non-starter) and since then the franchise has drifted, becoming a cartoony, pun spewing vision of the Cold War spy. Craig (with the help of a script by {Paul Haggis) brings the franchise back to its roots. His Bond is a vicious anti-hero who happens to be on the side of right. He is at once the most contemporary of heroes and one of the most old-fashioned. He’s savvy enough to understand the intricacies of the international espionage but primitive enough to use force when necessary.
TO Live and Glatz Concerts proudly present Casino Royale in Concert, the first installment in the James Bond Concert Series, produced in association with EON Productions and Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios (MGM) at Meridian Hall in Toronto on November 24 at 7 pm. Audiences will be able to experience Bond on the big screen accompanied by the power of a full symphony orchestra performing composer David Arnold’s thrilling musical score live and in sync to the picture!
