The Timothy Dalton Chat Group
Presents Our September 2010 - Newsletter.

Timothy

 

Hi Timothy Fans!

I would like to give you a big, warm, welcome to this months newsletter and as you know there is some exciting and fantastic news regarding Timothy for us to celebrate because he has signed to be in Chuck - Season 4!! This project is an action-comedy-drama television program from the United States created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. More wonderful news is that Timothy will be guest-starring in a multi episode arc of it. Chuck returns to NBC in the States every Monday beginning on September 20 (8-9 p.m. ET) and each episode is an hour long. The first time you will see Timothy though this season will be in Episode 7 which is called Chuck vs. The First Fight and Timothy will be playing a mysterious stranger who has a history with Chuck's (series star Zachary Levi) mom, played by Linda Hamilton.

Don't worry if you do not live in the States then you can go to the NBC website and watch episodes of it and they do release each season of Chuck on DVD. Here is the link to the NBC website for you:

I have had a lot of feedback from many of Timothy's fans since Timothy being in Chuck was announced and the excitement is a joy to see! I think it is safe to say that a many of Timothy's fans are dancing around with happy feet at the moment! :-) It is just amazing how many of you have wanted Timothy to be in a show like Chuck and now your dream has come true which is just awesome!

Special Toy Story 3 News!

There is even more marvelous news about Toy Story 3 and here is the Press release about it:

BURBANK, Calif. - August 27, 2010 - Two weeks after becoming the highest-grossing animated film of all time, Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 3 will cross the $1 billion mark at the global box office today, joining 'Alice in Wonderland' as the second $1 billion film this year from The Walt Disney Studios - the first studio in history to accomplish this feat. Disney first crossed the $1 billion threshold with 'Pirates of the Caribbean:' 'Dead Man's Chest' in 2006. Toy Story 3 becomes the only animated film to reach this milestone and the seventh title in industry history.

>P>"It's been an incredible year as we saw the Pixar team bring Buzz and Woody back to the big screen and watched Tim Burton's vision for 'Alice in Wonderland' take the world by storm," said Rich Ross, Chairman, The Walt Disney Studios. "These box office triumphs prove that creative storytelling brought to life by imaginative, inspired and talented professionals is something audiences respond to the world over."

As of Thursday (8/26/10), Toy Story 3 tallied more than $592.9 million internationally, Disney's largest international animated release. Latin American audiences have contributed $138 million making Toy Story 3 the highest grossing Disney film ever released in the region. Toy Story 3 is the most successful UK release in Disney history and currently stands as the fourth biggest title in territory history with $102.4 million in box office receipts so far. In Japan, the film has taken in $111.2 million and spent five consecutive weeks as the #1 movie. Toy Story 3 currently ranks as the #7 film in global box office history and domestically ranks #9 with $404.6 million in receipts to date.

Toy Story 3 Press Release © Copyright Disney/Pixar - August 27, 2010. All Rights Reserved.

This is something I would like to say, if it was not for all of you, plus fans of the Toy Story movies, going out and seeing it, then this project would never have crossed the $1 billion dollar mark so many congratulations to you all for helping to make Timothy's project such an amazing success! :-)

For those of you who cannot wait to see Toy Story 3 on DVD or Blue-Ray then the release date in the States is November 2, 2010.

Critic's Corner.

Another really special thing this month is that our Critic's Corner review this month is written once again by Dennise and she has in fact written her review about Toy Story 3. Next month Sheila whose idea this was, has written another review and this time it is Timothy's project of Naked in New York for us all to enjoy!

Here then is the list of contents, in full, for the September Newsletter:

  • The Latest Information In Regards To Timothy's Professional Engagements - September 2010.

  • The Making Of Red Eagle aka Lie Down With Lions Featuring Timothy - From 1994.

  • Shaking Off The Bonds Of 007 - by Margaret Paton. Interview with Timothy. From The London Daily Telegraph 24th April 2006.

  • Hot Fuzz: It Takes a Village To Write a Script Also Featuring Timothy - From Moviesonline April 2007.

  • Critic's Corner - Timothy Project Review Written by Dennise who lives in Clinton, WA, USA. - September 2010.

  • Timothy's Project Question Of The Month For September 2010.

  • Timothy Dalton Chat Group Birthdays For September 2010.

I would like to say grateful and special thanks to the following who helped with this months newsletter:

Dennise, Louay, Inge, James, Margaret and Aleksandra. I would like to say a very special thank you to ICM LA for confirming Timothy signing for Chuck for me also!

Here then is everything Timothy for you to enjoy! Love Deb.


The Latest Information In Regards to Timothy's Professional Engagements - September 2010.

Timothy Guest-Starring On Chuck!

This is wonderful news! Here is the NBC Press Release about it:

TIMOTHY DALTON ('LICENCE TO KILL') TO GUEST-STAR IN A MULTIPLE-EPISODE ARC ON NBC'S 'CHUCK'

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. - August 26, 2010 - Timothy Dalton (Licence to Kill, The Tourist) will guest-star in a multi-episode arc on the network's action-comedy Chuck (Mondays, 8-9 p.m. ET).

Dalton will be playing a mysterious stranger who has a history with Chuck's (series star Zachary Levi) mom, played by Linda Hamilton ("Terminator," "Terminator II: Judgment Day"). This marks Dalton's first series appearance on American television since he guest-starred on Charlie's Angels in 1979.

Dalton is perhaps best known for his portrayal of James Bond in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill. He can next be seen in the feature film The Tourist opposite Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. His other film credits include Hot Fuzz, The Beautician and the Beast, The Rocketeer, Flash Gordon, Wuthering Heights, Cromwell and The Lion in Winter. Dalton recently added his voice to the animated hit film Toy Story 3.

In addition, Dalton starred as Rhett Butler in the miniseries Scarlett and the TV movie Cleopatra.

Chuck returns for its fourth season on Monday, September 20 (8-9 p.m. ET).

From Fake Empire, Wonderland Sound and Vision in association with Warner Bros. Television, Chuck was created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak and is executive produced by Schwartz, Fedak, Robert Duncan McNeill, Nicholas Wootton and McG.

Press Release for Timothy in Chuck © Copyright NBC - August 26, 2010. All Rights Reserved.

The Latest information on The Tourist!

Timothy

The picture above is Timothy in Venice, Italy while filming The Tourist © Copyright Getty Images - March 2010.

Timothy is in the Motion Picture The Tourist which also stars Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. This project will be released in the States on December 10, 2010 and is produced by GK Films and Canal +. This movie is a remake of the 2005 French thriller called 'Anthony Zimmer.'

Here is the synopsis for you:

A wanted international money launderer changes his face and voice, eluding the police and the mob. But both parties realize that Zimmer will go to any lengths to see his girlfriend, so Zimmer cooks up a scheme where his beloved fingers another man as him.

The Release on DVD of Timothy's Dr Who - The End of Time Part One and Two.

Timothy

The above Timothy picture designed by Cindy who lives in Texas and who is a member of the group. © Copyright December 2009.

The BBC has now released, on January 11, a DVD Box Set with all the Dr Who Specials of 2009 and you can order it from their online BBC Shop, and you can also pre-order 'The Complete Dr Who Specials' which includes Timothy's The End of Time Part One and Two at Amazon.com, it is released on February 2, 2010 and here are both website links for it:

Timothy Has Narrated A New Audio Book.

I have had an e-mail from Inge who is a member of the group and she has been to Amazon.com and found that Timothy has narrated another of Benjamin Black's books, the third one in the series, and this one is called Elegy for April and it will be released at Amazon.com on April 13th 2010 and here is a taste of what it is about:

Quirke-the hard-drinking, insatiably curious Dublin pathologist is back, and he's determined to find his daughter's best friend, a well-connected young doctor April Latimer has vanished. A junior doctor at a local hospital, she is something of a scandal in the conservative and highly patriarchal society of 1950s Dublin. Though her family is one of the most respected in the city, she is known for being independent-minded; her taste in men, for instance, is decidedly unconventional.

Now April has disappeared, and her friend Phoebe Griffin suspects the worst. Frantic, Phoebe seeks out Quirke, her brilliant but erratic father, and asks him for help. Sober again after intensive treatment for alcoholism, Quirke enlists his old sparring partner, Detective Inspector Hackett, in the search for the missing young woman. In their separate ways the two men follow April's trail through some of the darker byways of the city to uncover crucial information on her whereabouts. And as Quirke becomes deeply involved in April's murky story, he encounters complicated and ugly truths about family savagery, Catholic ruthlessness, and race hatred.

Both an absorbing crime novel and a brilliant portrait of the difficult and relentless love between a father and his daughter, this is Benjamin Black at his sparkling best.

Here is the link to Amazon for it:

With a special thank you to Inge for the above information.

Some Very Exciting News About Our Excerpts of Timothy's Audio Book Narrations Page!

Timothy

Timothy enjoying having a read.

Many of you have written to me during times when Timothy is looking for his next project and you have said that you would be happy just hearing him read from a phone book, :-) well that dream of hearing Timothy narrate has now come true!! We have something even more special then Timothy reading from the Los Angeles phone book, and this is really exciting! I received an e-mail from Stephanie who is the Associate Publicist at Macmillan Audio and she very kindly offered me a five minute MP3 audio clip of Timothy reading the latest release from Benjamin Black called Elegy For April, which has just come out. I have my audio copy here that I purchased from Amazon.com and I can say that this title definitely does not disappoint especially with Timothy's excellent and passionate narration which brings each character wonderfully to life that you feel you are in Dublin, Ireland with them, and I must say that I'm thoroughly enjoying listening to my copy. :-)

That is not all though Stephanie has also sent to me two more MP3's both five minutes in length each of Timothy narrating The Silver Swan and Christine Falls which are Benjamin Black's other titles in the series of course, so to celebrate having Timothy's wonderful narrations I have set up a new page for them called Excerpts of Timothy's Audio Book Narrations which I am sure you will enjoy, and you can find it by clicking on the link below:

Excerpts of Timothy's Audio Book Narrations Page.

Just a quick note I found I needed Apple's Quicktime to play the MP3's with but once I had downloaded it I had no problems. I would like to once again say a very special thank you to Stephanie for getting in touch and sharing Timothy's narrations of Benjamin's Black's superb books with us, which make a really wonderful addition to our website!

If you would like to purchase Timothy narrating Benjamin Black's latest title Elegy for April or find out further information about it you will find this information on the following websites:

Timothy and Tinker Bell: A Winter Story!

Timothy has voiced the character of Lord Milori in Tinker Bell: A Winter Story. The cycle of seasons draws to a close in this winter adventure featuring everyone's favorite fairy, Tinker Bell.

Tinker Bell: A Winter Story will be released on DVD in 2011.


The Making Of Red Eagle aka Lie Down With Lions.

My Introduction.

The Making of Red Eagle aka Lie Down With Lions. I have on video here so I have transcribed it for you all. In this piece the project is referred to as Red Eagle. One of the things I really liked about this Making of Red Eagle aka Lie Down With Lions is how the Producer Geoffrey Reeve praises Timothy, which I thought was really nice, and contained within this piece is a short interview with Timothy also. Here then is:-

The Synopsis And Official Introduction of Red Eagle aka Lie Down With Lions.

Lie Down With Lions

The year is 1991, the cold war ends and the world witnesses the downfall of a once mighty empire, but in a desolate corner of the former Soviet Union a new conflict has erupted, a country now gripped in a terrifying civil war.

From best selling author Ken Follett, comes a gripping adaptation of his novel Lie Down With Lions a turbulent story of international espionage and political intrigue. A land rich in oil, is a land divided by conflict where treachery seeks its prey. A deadly fight for survival on the war torn frontiers of a now collapsing nation. Old wounds reopened, desire's fulfilled and opposing loyalties spark a violent betrayal that would stab at the very heart of a nations liberty. Timothy Dalton, Nigel Havers, Marg Helgenberger, Omar Sharif, Kabir Bedi and Jurgen Prochnow, Red Eagle (aka Lie Down With Lions).

The Story of The Making of Red Eagle aka Lie Down With Lions With Nigel Havers.

Cast

From left in picture above: Nigel Havers, Marg Helgenberger, and Timothy Dalton.

Nigel Havers: "This is the last day of filming Red Eagle, a series commissioned by Sky Television and its the biggest European co-production, ever mounted. Now I'm going to tell you the story about how it all happened."

"The mini series was the brain child of Producer Geoffrey Reeve who collaborated with best selling author Ken Follett. Together they adapted Follett's hugely successful novel into a more up to date story, the book already loved by millions was now to become the epic television drama Red Eagle."

Nigel Havers: "What attracted you to umm Red Eagle in the first place?"

Producer Geoffrey Reeve: "Red Eagle had the right pedigree. It had the right book, from which the story was err evolved. The right pedigree because Ken Follett was the author. Ken Follett possibly the most successful author in that genre today."

Author Ken Follett: "Suspense is really my specialty. A classic Ken Follett story in that its action, adventure and romance and in particular it has a very strong female character in the lead role."

Nigel Havers: "And is this your first direct involvement with Sky?"

Author Ken Follett: "Yes this is the first time I have been involved with a UK Production Company I have sold a lot of stuff to Hollywood but err this is my first local effort."

Nigel Havers: "Casting for the mini series was also down to Producer Geoffrey Reeve. Your choice of cast?"

Timothy

Timothy as Jack Carver in Lie Down With Lions.

Geoffrey Reeve: "Right from the beginning I went for the top, I knew that to make it work as a high profile programme I had to get the best possible actors, in the world, and I think I achieved that. I got, I went to Hollywood to get Timothy Dalton, to play the leading man. His record speaks for itself. Marg Helgenberger comes from a tremendous string of highly successful television programmes in the United States, she is a star, and you Nigel, a British star that has made it in an international way, you've been in big movies, you have been in tremendously successful television and above all, you are a popular person and a star. We have Omar Sharif, as you would agree a legend in his lifetime, and besides Omar, Jurgen Prochnow a big star in Germany and Kahbir Bedi an Indian actor, who in terms of India is the star, they may not know about these other names, but in India, Kahbir is the star."

Nigel Havers: "The story of Red Eagle is set in the mountainous country-side of Azerbaijan, an area wracked by war and territorial unrest. The filming here would prove far too dangerous and so an alternative would have to be found."

Geoffery Reeve: "Isolation is the key elemant in any of these Follett type stories, and so we elected to go to an area which is familiar with me, which is France. When you say the South of France to most people they think of Cannes and Niece and the Mediterranean but what I am talking about is 50 kilometers north of Niece, in an area which is wild, savage remote, isolated, perfect for the story and the first location Nigel, as you know, we had to find a village where it would seem to be a war wracked village in Azerbaijan, and we found this in a place called Aramon, but this particular location was in ruins for fifty years from the first World War, and perfect for us for Azerbaijan. We had one problem, on the day we were supposed to be filming I was informed by the local authorities that half of the square was going to be demolished, because they had been waiting for permission to do this for twenty-five years, and they elected to do it on the first day of shooting, so I managed to make contact with the Mayor and over a few glasses of pastiche, put it right and we began on the day September the 15th."

Nigel Havers: "With story, cast and location now finalised, the all important job of Director was eventually given to top Director Jim Goddard. Tell me how long did you have to prepare for the film of Red Eagle?"

Director Jim Goddard: "Err four weeks basically because that was when we first decided to start shooting. In fact there was an extra two weeks but it wasn't any use to me because I had already prepared to start two weeks before that."

Nigel Havers: "We are not obviously shooting where the film is set for various reasons."

Jim Goddard: "No."

Nigel Havers: "Did you find that the locations were authentic enough for this picture?"

Jim Goddard: "Well luckily I spent some time there two years ago, in the area of Azerbaijan approximately so I knew what I was looking for, I knew the sort of err unforgiving sort of countryside, with very low, very few tree's err very low foliage, and in fact it is not far off being on the same latitude as the South of France, strangely enough."

Nigel Havers: "The film is about two stream's, one is a political stream, the other one is a love story isn't it?"

Jim Goddard "Yea it has a very, it is like a modern Hemingway, in a way, its umm its war, there is a very severe gorilla war going on, and err a passionate triange, being lived through, and discovered and resolved, so it is quite a good combination I think."

Nigel Havers: "Filming on Red Eagle began on September the 15th 1993, in the streets of Aramon, a small town in the South of France, which proved perfect to represent a war ravaged village in Azerbaijan. Even the local extra's hired to portray Azeri villagers had the right ethnic look, most were from a community of Kurdish refugees, and the remainder were selected from a group of urban gypsies in the Provence area. For some the link proved far too much. Indeed filming in the town square was intense as the area was to be demolished within the week. The second week of filming saw the cast and crew move to the mountainous region behind Narbo. Some of the technique's involved in filming scenes in this region, proved quite daunting to the local inhabitant's. In Red Eagle the attention to detail was of paramount importance both to the animals involved, and of course the many extra's. The use of armourments and explosives was also of prime concern and carefully controlled. The weather is always a relevant factor in location filming and had been ideal for some time, however, conditions changed and although the crew battled hard to continue, eventually the element's made it difficult, if not impossible at times. The next move took the crew even higher, in fact to a height of seven thousand feet above sea level, being so isolated from the luxury of studio facilities, the resourceful crew were forced to improvise greatly, some were forced to improvise more then others. Filming of the spectacular air shots was also completed during this period.

Luxembourg

The picture above is of the streets of Luxembourg.

From Sunday October the 10th, the entire crew moved to Luxembourg three days later the filming continued with interior scenes being shot, followed by a number of sequences filmed in the streets of the Duché d. The scenes filmed in Luxembourg were to be used mainly in the early part of the mini-series, to introduce the characters and formulate the story. However, filming of one important scene, although set in Luxembourg, proved impossible to accomplish there, so the entire crew moved back to France to recreate the scene in the street's of Niece."

Nigel is now on the street's of Niece, where he is on location there, and he now describes the filming of Red Eagle

Nigel Havers: "What is happening is umm we are meant to be in umm Luxembourg, but as a matter of fact we are in the South of France. I am part of a very peaceful demonstration, which is over there behind you, and then suddenly we get attacked by a mob of umm skinheads, and they come running down and they beat the hell out of us, fortunately I am not actually in that group at the moment but I will no doubt be inserted into it later on, and someone will beat the hell out of me. It is meant to be Luxembourg as I said, but in fact we are in the South of France. The reason for that is because they were not keen to let us do it in Luxembourg, because they don't have riots there, so they thought we might create one, which they were not mad on doing so, so we are doing it in the South of France and obviously they are very happy to have a riot here. It is an action packed sequence, as you can see, and err a couple of cars get blown up and err all hell lets lose, at the moment I am just enjoying watching them do it."

Nigel Havers Interviews Timothy Dalton About Red Eagle.

Timothy

Nigel Havers: "Timothy Dalton plays the lead role in Red Eagle that of CIA Agent Jack Carver. Tell me Tim what attracted you to the project?"

Timothy: "I had read the original book, which is called Lie Down With Lions some time ago and when I read the first version of the script that I saw umm it would seem to me that there was something out of the ordinary, about this err mainstream adventure story, and that was that err it seemed to centre on a rather interesting love story umm about a woman and two men both of whom betray her. One of whom attempts anyway to redeem himself, and that seemed to me to be quite an interesting heart to a fairly popular story."

Nigel: "Can you describe the type of character you play?"

Timothy: "He works for American intelligence, he is not a particularly err, I guess at heart he is a good man he is just in a pretty shitty job umm and I think he has got pretty disgusted with himself and the way he is behaving umm and he does make an attempt to redeem himself, so there is some, you know its err, there is something worth playing there."

Nigel: "Have you enjoyed the work?"

Timothy: "I have enjoyed working with a lot of people and err certainly a lot of the works been good umm there is some really good people, and I think there has been some good work done."

"Nigel: Well that is it, finished, last shot, last day it is all over. I just hope you enjoy watching it, as much as we enjoyed making it, bye."

The Making of Red Eagle aka Lie Down With Lions © Copyright Sky Television 1994. All Rights Reserved.


Shaking Off The Bonds Of 007 - by Margaret Paton, London Daily Telegraph 24th April 2006.

Timothy

The picture above is of Timothy as Lord Asriel in His Dark Materials with his daemon Stelmaria. Photograph © Ivan Kyncl.

Former Bond star Timothy Dalton can afford never to work again - so why is he returning to TV and growing a moustache to play a supermarket manager? He talks to Maureen Paton.

Timothy Dalton is in basking pussycat mood. He's the kind of saturnine-looking performer who suits amoral characters, most notably in recent years the Miltonesque Satan figure of Lord Asriel in the National Theatre's adaptation of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials.

Yet, despite the wildcat eyes that made Dalton a ruthlessly unblinking James Bond, there's not a whiff of danger about this well-preserved 62-year-old as he peers over avuncular spectacles in an achingly trendy London restaurant and leans chummily forward to make a point in the rolling Welsh vowels of his Colwyn Bay birthplace.

Until, that is, I make the mistake of asking if his only child, eight-year-old Alexander, wants to follow him into a business that Dalton, the grandson of vaudevillians, describes in his blokey way as "much better than working in the bloody pickle factory". The feral green eyes glower. "I've no idea. Please do not talk about that," he snaps. "I've never liked talking about my personal life, ever. Ever since I was 20, I've lived in a kind of public arena; and there have been stalkers, blackmailers, death threats, physical violence and threats to friends of mine, colleagues of mine, to myself. Real malicious mischief has been threatened on not just family but to people I work with. There are a lot of weirdos out there, so I'm not giving anybody anything to hang on to. Everybody gets this if they're relatively famous."

Yet he insists that he tries not to take his fame too seriously. "Don't ask me about my career - I've forgotten most of it," he jokes. True, much of it has been characterised by a bewildering, revolving-door variety. Dalton's devotion to the theatre and such idols as Olivier meant that his film career lacked focus until 007 came along in his forties with The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill. If Dalton had not immortalized himself as the fourth - and, at 6ft 2in, the tallest - Bond, credited with saving 007 from the self-parody of the Roger Moore years, an alternative career in charming villainy could have been carved out by the 20-year-old who played opposite Katharine Hepburn in his first ever film role as the crafty young King of France in The Lion In Winter.

He has been lucky with his leading ladies ever since: Hepburn was followed by Mae West (who was all of 86 when Dalton played her husband in Sextette), Ava Gardner, Joan Collins, Glenda Jackson and, most notably, Vanessa Redgrave, who became his partner in real life for 14 tempest-tossed years.

His current project, Geraldine McEwan's latest Marple mystery, marks Dalton's return to British television after 14 years and reunites him not only with Patricia Hodge, his co-star in His Dark Materials, but also with McEwan for the first time since they did a television play together 35 years ago.

"No one asks me to come over here and do things," complains Dalton, who is based in West Hollywood still keeps a house in Chiswick, West London. "My last project here was Lynda La Plante's television thriller Framed in 1992, and she called me up personally instead of the producers because they thought I only did movies and would be bound to say no. But Marple is the kind of show I normally never get a chance to be part of. If you're a boy, you always want to be in a western; and any actor I know would like to be in a horror. This mystery whodunnit sort of fits into those genres."

At one time there was speculation among his circle that Dalton might give up the vagaries of the business for his beloved fishing, but he insists that was never true. "Occasionally the business gives you up, but I don't think you ever give it up; I love it. On one level, I would prefer never to hear the words James Bond again, but on another level, it is part of my blood and my life. And it's the only movie in the world that offers a British actor the chance of international recognition. Without question it coloured my career for the next 12-15 years and hugely enhanced my earnings. Now I could afford never to work again, but I need the excitement of challenge. The idea of doing nothing is total anathema to me."

Which is why Dalton, an avid 'Little Britain' and 'Man Stroke Woman' fan, has grown a moustache to play a shady supermarket manager in the forthcoming horror comedy Hot Fuzz, the follow-up to Simon Pegg's acclaimed zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead. "Comedies don't come along every day and this is completely off the wall," Dalton says. And there's certainly more than a hint of parody, too, about the rictus grin he wears as the two-faced politician Sir Clive Trevelyan in the Marple drama, The Sittaford Mystery. As Dalton observes, "If you are playing a politician, people assume you are playing the villain."

Yet for years his cleft-chinned good looks worked against him. It would have been a real act of imagination to cast him as a baddie in Bond, the dark angel, instead of the hero who has to fulfill so many impossible movie-going expectations after the template had been set by Sean Connery.

"Roger (Moore) was brilliant, but the movies had gone a long way from their roots; they drifted in a way that was chalk and cheese to Sean," says Dalton diplomatically. It was he, as the fourth Bond, who played it straight and re-rooted them. "And I think Daniel Craig will as well," he says. "I think he's going to be terrific, he's got danger and vulnerability."

But it was also Dalton's peculiar misfortune to play Bond at a time when the wildcat was almost neutered by the Aids scare in the late '80s. That meant screen sex was off the menu, for a start, which frankly defeated the point of James Bond. "I think most people thought it was a pity that I wasn't allowed to grapple so much with the ladies," Dalton concedes with a purr. "And he wasn't allowed to smoke; I think I managed to get a few puffs in, which they then cut out."

But now, with the freedom of his advancing years, he's back doing what he does best: a star turn as a mesmerisingly shifty cove. "No one would force me into a leading young man role at my age, and amoral characters are always more interesting and easier to play," he says. "Those characters are much more like real life. Nobody's pure, we're all a mixture. That tension between good and bad is what defines us; it's what we call morality."

Shaking Of The Bonds Of 007© CopyrightMargaret Paton, London Daily Telegraph 24th April 2006.. All Rights Reserved.


Hot Fuzz: It Takes a Village To Write a Script.

Timothy

Timothy as he appeared on the This Morning programme in the UK to promote Hot Fuzz back in February.

The script for Hot Fuzz ultimately called for some 50 speaking - and several non-speaking - roles to be cast. But for the buddy-cop duo of Nicholas Angel and Danny Butterman, there was never any doubt who would fill those shoes – Simon Pegg and his real-life best friend (and best man) Nick Frost, together again after Shaun of the Dead. And why not? "They’re just a brilliant pair on screen," marvels Wright. "Their chemistry is at the center of Hot Fuzz, even more so than in Shaun. In cop movie tradition, they're not buddies all the way through; Nick's character likes Simon's from the beginning, but it isn't initially reciprocated.." Frost notes, "You know, now that Simon is married, I don’t get to see him as often. So when someone says, 'Do you want to spend four months with your best mate,' it's always going to be a 'yes." Pegg enthuses, "Nick was always a part of the equation, always always. He's our secret weapon. It's very easy to write for Nick. I always thought he was the funniest guy I knew.

He's a very natural talent, and we have a really good on screen relationship in that we are best friends and can bounce off each other so well." Although Frost wasn't directly involved in the scriptwriting process, he was kept in the loop by Pegg and Wright throughout, and was able to make key contributions. "Simon and Edgar are quite happy for me to come in with suggestions. I came up with the name Danny Butterman," reveals Frost. "I said I would only do the movie if I could call him Danny Butterman. It was a name I'd been thinking of; I wrote it down a while ago. It has a nice Hobbit feel to it." The son of genial Sandford police chief Inspector Frank Butterman (played by Academy Award winner Jim Broadbent), Danny is a likable but naive young officer, a huge action movie buff who has never seen real-life action but would like to. "Jim Broadbent said that he’d never seen a more enthusiastic man than Danny; he's enthusiastic about being alive," laughs Frost. "He loves his dad and his village, and there's no crime so he doesn't have to work hard, and he gets to wear a uniform." When Nicholas Angel comes to Sandford, Danny sees in Angel everything he always wanted to be. Other actors from Shaun of the Dead were invited to join up for the new movie; there are also surprises in the roll call of the cast, and not all of them are credited – including an Oscar-winning filmmaker.

Timothy

Most gratifyingly, the filmmakers realized their dreams to cast venerable U.K. actors as prominent Sandford villagers. Happily, their first choices for each role were up for the project. And what first choices they were; "icons we adore," as Wright says. "I'm proud of our ensemble in this movie." Timothy Dalton, whose Prince Barin portrayal in Flash Gordon is a personal favorite of Wright's, remarks, "When I read the script, I realized that I'd never read anything like it before; I jumped at it. I said to Edgar during filming of this one sequence, 'This is more fun than anything I ever did on a Bond movie.'" Accordingly, the actor, who plays supermarket manager Simon Skinner in Hot Fuzz, performed his own stunts for that sequence, a car chase which Wright calls "the most fun part of the shoot by far; I'm lying in the back of a police car with its door off, watching a tiny TV monitor of what was being filmed, going down a road at eighty miles an hour, with grit and mud going all over my face because the door is open!"

Dalton adds, "Making this movie was also a thrill because of the people I was working with; even if we’d not worked together before, we are all part of our British industry." Paul Freeman, cast as Sandford's reverend, says, "It grew more amazing every time anyone was added to the cast list. Edgar and Simon could quote lines from everything we'd all done. "Weeks into the shoot, Edgar sidled up to me and said, 'Paul, I want to ask you a question about Raiders of the Lost Ark...' I said, It's [about] the fly, isn't it?' He said, 'Yes, how did you know?' And I said, 'Because everybody always asks about the fly (crawling into his mouth, while he remained in-character, on-screen).'" Pegg marvels, "I remember one day in the green room just looking around and going, 'There’s Mrs. Baylock from The Omen (actress Billie Whitelaw), Belloq from Raiders of the Lost Ark (Freeman), and The Equalizer (Edward Woodward)' – I was in geek heaven!" Frost adds, "With Jim Broadbent in particular, I kind of behaved around him how you would behave around an attractive girl that you fancy; I couldn't really look at or talk to him at first. But the rehearsal period did let us see these people as other actors; you'd see them looking over their sides (i.e., script pages) and think, 'oh I do that too.'" Billie Whitelaw, whose Hot Fuzz character of Joyce Cooper works at the local inn, confides, "I've never found acting an easygoing profession to be in, and yet I've been doing it since I was eleven. I find it rather scary, and actually I had retired and hadn’t worked for about four years.

But I'm a great admirer of Nick and Simon, and Edgar was brilliant and very very patient. And every actor in this movie was what I call an actor's actor. It was lovely." Pegg reveals, "The idea was that in Sandford, alongside the police, you also have the busybody Neighbourhood Watch Alliance, made up of the village elders. We gave many of them names that relate to outdated country professions; Hatcher, Shooter, Skinner, Reaper, Weaver, etc. We wanted to build up a sense that it was a village that people never left, that their ancestors had lived there for generations and been those original artisans. The two detectives played by Paddy Considine and Rafe Spall are just as much a part of this tradition, however much they seek to distance themselves from it. We wanted to reinforce the sense that Angel had entered a place steeped in incestuous tradition." In the latter regard, Edward Woodward (who plays Neighbourhood Watch Alliance head Tom Weaver), while reading what he termed the "perfectly written” Hot Fuzz script, was reminded of another film he had done. He recalls, "The attitude that the Watch Alliance members have towards Sandford is the attitude a number of residents of any village have.

When I walked in to meet with Edgar, I said, ‘You know, this script isn't a copy in any way, but it has echoes of – ' and he said, before I could say it, 'The Wicker Man.' When you're coming up on your seventy-sixth birthday, and somebody is a fan of a movie you did over thirty years ago and asks you to be in their movie...that's rather flattering." Broadbent notes, "I was hugely impressed with Simon and Edgar; they don’t leave anything to chance, these chaps. They're not only very funny and clever, but they care about everything down to the smallest detail. Any question you come up with, they've considered it and thought it through. Yet they were also open to suggestions. "I was in a great position on Hot Fuzz because my character – who's very 'hailfellow- well-met' – is in the police force, so I got to work with the talented younger actors playing the policemen. Then there were also the villagers, who were played by older actors of my age whom I've known for a long time.

Timothy

The picture above is Timothy at the Premiere of Hot Fuzz.

I had my foot in both camps, which was a real treat for me." A real treat for the director was that, although Hot Fuzz started filming in London in March 2006, the bulk of the shoot (mirroring the trajectory of the movie) took place in a beautiful West Country location – Wells, where he grew up. Wright claims that this hadn’t been his intention...well, "subconsciously, maybe, when Simon and I were writing the movie there the geography started to make sense. Wells is a city and the fictional Sandford is a village, so we were making it look smaller than it really is. But it was ideal for us, being there." Indeed, with its cathedral, twice-weekly market, and cobbled streets, Wells was the perfect choice to stand in for the initially tranquil Sandford, but Wright initially feared that it wouldn't be a viable choice. "I thought it would be too expensive," he confides. "It's quite a tourist destination and so I thought it would be too difficult. We went on a location scout in 2005, looking for places. But, happily, Wells was the one that was the most receptive." Things also came full circle for the director in that Dead Right, the hour long cop movie he had made as a teenager, had been lensed "in some of the same locations as Hot Fuzz." Production designer Marcus Rowland and his team set about trying to "make Wells look more idyllic and fanciful than it already is. Everything is done up in very muted brown and green, traditional English countryside colors. The London police scenes have a colder, very blue feel."

Once filming moved to Wells, the production crew – many of whom, like Rowland, have worked with the team since Spaced and/or Shaun of the Dead, strengthening a familial feeling on-set – frequently had to shut down portions of the town square (often for as little as ten minutes at a time) and surrounding streets to shoot major set pieces. These ranged from a pivotal church fair scene requiring masses of extras, to action sequences and shootouts galore to Pegg on horseback. "We never ever had the entire town square locked off, although we tried," says Wright. "I'm really pleased with how the scenes cut together and I believe that when the spectators who were there see the movie, they will go, 'Wow, when did they shoot that? They must have done that on a Sunday morning when we weren't there.'" An unusually wet spring pushed filming back by several days. "That's the real reason why they don't make action movies in Britain," grumbles Wright. "I may make my next film totally indoors, or in Arizona." Still, Park offers, "Wells was incredibly welcoming. There was also the occasional tourist who would go up to Simon or Nick, because they were in costume, and ask about parking restrictions.

Nick would just stay in character, saying, 'Well, you can park there between midday and 2 P.M.' "We had a big open casting session in the town hall to find our 50 villagers, who would be in all village scenes. Separately, members of the local am-dram (i.e., amateur drama) society were used as well." During filming, Wright encountered old friends, former classmates and teachers, and visiting parents. He says, "Some of them are in the movie, and we did an open audition at my old school, which was really nice. My old drama teacher appears in a shot with Simon's mum and my mum, which at one point was going to get cut out. Simon said, 'You can't do that, it's my mum's cameo.'

I said, 'It's doubly worse for me than it is for you.' Thankfully, the shot stayed in, and there were no tears at Christmas." Wright reflects, "I did get to see parts of Wells I'd never seen before. And one day, when we were filming atop St. Cuthbert's Church, we were doing all these amazing crane shots. I'd never been up 200 feet on the church tower; from up there, I could see the house I lived in as a kid. "On the first shooting day there, we were doing a night shoot right in the middle of the town square. At 11 P.M., people were still watching the filming. But by midnight, it was completely deserted. Not only no people but also no cars. It was so weird being back in your hometown with it feeling like a massive set because there was nobody there!"

Hot Fuzz: It Takes a Village To Write a Script © Copyright Moviesonline April 2007. All Rights Reserved.

Photograph above Timothy on This Morning being interviewed by Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford on the 14th of February, 2007. © Copyright This Morning. All Rights Reserved.

With a very special thank you to Inge for sending me the above Hot Fuzz article and a big thank you also to James for the This Morning photograph of Timothy.


Critic's Corner.

Welcome to Critic's Corner, Sheila who is a member of the group gave me this idea and I think it is great! This is a part of the page where you can add your own review of Timothy's movies and have it posted here, and this month I am pleased to welcome Dennise back to this segment for the second time with her review of Toy Story 3 so here it is for you to enjoy!

My Thoughts on Toy Story 3 - By Dennise D Cox

Timothy

Above is Timothy's Toy Story 3 character Mr Pricklepants. The character of Mr Pricklepants is © Copyright Disney and Pixar 2009 - 2010.

When news broke last year that a third installment of Toy Story was in production, I couldn't help but reminisce about the first and second movie with my kids. There were lots of memorable scenes and characters to laugh about.

Now that the third movie has arrived, I can cheerfully say it does not disappoint. For the veteran Toy Story watcher, there is trivia sprinkled throughout the movie to nudge your memory and keep the nostalgia alive. My two boys had fun pointing out which toy showed up from which movie, as did I.

Don't worry, though. There is still plenty of fresh story and new toys to entertain the Toy Story rookie. As a matter of fact, I'd like to recognize one of those new toys. His name is Mr. Pricklepants and he is a cute little stuffed hedgehog, voiced by the talented Timothy Dalton. His warm and jovial voice lends an adorable addition to our lovable cast of Woody, Buzz Light-year, Jessie, Hamm, and the Potato Heads.

So, for all those people who would have liked to have seen this movie at the cinema but didn't, this is for you...

Major Spoiler Alert

In the opening, we are treated to an old western movie reel, with Woody as the hero. Mr. Potato head pops up as the villain and they're having a showdown on top of a speeding train. When Woody gets knocked off, his beloved horse, Bulls Eye, catches him in his saddle and they ride after the train. As this scene progresses, more and more characters show up as toys we recognize from Andy's room. Of course, a plastic green dinosaur doesn't normally show up in a western, either, so we get the gist something is different.

Soon it becomes clear that this movie clip is like looking inside Andy's head while he's playing. It's a delight to see his imagination unfold.

The story then moves from Andy playing in his room, to it being a home movie. The edited clip chronicles different events, like birthdays, showing how much Andy has grown over the years (and his sister Molly). Those charming toys are always close by.

As the story moves away from the home movie to actual time, we realize the toys sit in their toy box waiting to be played with. Andy doesn't pay attention to them anymore. He also has to decide what goes to college with him or to the attic; what goes in the trash or to Sunnyside daycare center.

Woody is the only toy chosen to go to college. Even Buzz Light-year is placed inside the large black trash bag with the others. What Andy intended for the attic, however, ends up in mom's curbside trash pickup. The toys, thinking they've been thrown away, are very distressed. Woody is the only one who saw the truth.

Woody rushes to the curb to save his friends. Just when we think Woody was too late, we see their legs running underneath a plastic bin headed for the garage. Feeling rejected and abandoned, they jump into the box marked for Sunnyside, sitting in the open back of mom's car. As Woody tries to convince his friends of Andy's intent (attic), everyone, including Woody, gets caught in the box. Being at the mercy of the humans the toys miss the opportunity to change their mind.

At first their introduction to Sunnyside is like a dream come true. Barbie meets Ken and sparks fly. Then our friends witness these older children hugging, caring and nurturing the toys they're playing with. Andy's dejected toys feel like they've entered paradise. They believe they will always be played with and loved at this new place, and will never feel rejection again (and the writing grabs our emotions about this, too).

Of course, the movie trailer tells us that there are more sinister things going on, but we discover that later. At this point, Woody must make his exit. His goal is to get back to Andy who leaves in three days. Once again, there is the time deadline to create the tension (like the house-move in the first movie, or the plane to Japan in the second).

Woody makes a fantastic exit, but manages to get caught in a tree, hanging by the pull cord that's attached to his back. When Woody is caught in the tree, he re-enacts the recognizable pose made famous by Tom Cruise when he dangled from a cord in the movie Mission Impossible. Genius.

A cute, shy little girl name Bonnie finds Woody. She hides him in her backpack until she gets home, where he is then introduced to her toys. This is when everyone gets to meet Mr. Pricklepants, Buttercup (the unicorn), Dolly, and three peas (in a pod).

Timothy

The picture above is Timothy, dressed as Woody of course, and Mr Pricklepants sending an E-Mail together. Picture designed by Cindy © CindysDigitalArtWork - 2010. The Character of Mr Pricklepants is © Copyright Disney and Pixar 2009 - 2010.

Mr. P. had this 'shushing' line where he continued to 'shush' the other toys whenever they spoke. He said he needed quiet because he was trying to stay in character. He was labeled "shushmeister" by Buttercup. He also had a few other lines with Woody, later on.

Though Bonnie's toys don't play a huge role in this movie, they get a chance to leave their mark (in our hearts). We also see that Bonnie is a girl very much like Andy, with his imagination for play.

Meanwhile, back at Sunnyside, our friends are labeled the new 'recruits'. They're put in the younger aged room by Lotso (the bear who smells like strawberries). These kids are loud and abusive, sticky, put their mouths on everything, hit, bang, and leave pieces of them everywhere. When a toy is finally broken, the parts are put down the garbage shoot (which is seen as death row). Jessie, Buzz and company are left in shock and wonder if they would survive another day.

After closing time, Buzz manages to get out of the room, only to get caught spying on these other toys led by Lotso. It becomes clear that Lotso runs the toy rooms like a P.O.W. camp, complete with guards, secret police, escape alarms, cameras, and a wire fence. When Buzz discovers this, he is reset to his original 'demo' condition. With no memory of his friends or Andy's room, he also takes orders from Lotso, who makes Buzz his friends' enemy and warden.

Meanwhile, Woody gains help from Bonnie's toys to get back to Andy. However, after listening to a harrowing tale by a former Sunnyside toy (and revealing Lotso's nasty nature) Woody plans a rescue, instead. The plot thickens as he must execute his plan and still get back before Andy leaves.

Everything seems to go right, but then it goes wrong. What's terrific about the writing is that the plan may seem perfect, or clever, but anything can happen to spoil it. For every part of the rescue that works, there's at least one thing that goes wrong. It's a balancing act so that the audience doesn't get frustrated. And let's not forget the wonderful humor that's built in as an added bonus.

When we reach the climax of the movie, we find the beloved toys fighting for their lives at a garbage dump facility where refuse is chopped up and incinerated. Will they be destroyed and lost forever or will someone rescue them? Though we hope they are not destroyed, and believe that they can't be destroyed, the way it is built up makes us think it could actually happen. It is the 'what if' that keeps the audience invested.

In the end, the toys do escape their peril and look forward to a quiet life in the attic. However, with another interesting twist, Woody writes this secret note to Andy. When Andy drives away from his house, he ends up making a stop.

Andy stops at a house where we see a familiar face and toys. Bonnie is playing out in the yard. Andy brings his cardboard box full of his (actually, our) favorite toys. He was heart-wrenched to find Woody in there, too, but was proud to leave them all in such good hands. It is a very tender ending as we see all of Andy's toys, whom we’ve come to love, join Bonnie's family of toys. We get another glimpse of Mr. P, Buttercup and the rest.

Did anyone say the word 'sequel?' Well Pixar has certainly left the door open for a number four, though in interviews they have made no promises. With Bonnie being so young and taking over where Andy left off (before he grew up), Mr. Pricklepants, Buttercup, Dolly and three peas have a chance to star in a new adventure with Woody, Buzz, Jessie and company. Barbie and Ken remain at Sunnyside. Lotso gets overthrown (and removed) so the dolls head up the newly organized toy rooms.

As for Buzz, there's a fun little twist to his character. During the rescue they try to reset Buzz back to being Andy's toy. They end up setting him to Spanish mode. This is an extremely funny and clever outcome, because he also falls in love with Jessie, spouting Spanish sonnets and forgetting the rescue plan. When he gets a swift knock on the head, he switches back to Buzz, Andy's toy, but with a glitch. Back to his old self, he is shy when it comes to Jessie. The 'glitch' kicks in when Spanish music plays. Buzz cannot stop himself from wriggling his limbs to the music, grabbing Jessie as his dance partner. Buzz and Jessie tango their way through the credits.

Mr. Pricklepants is simply adorable in the way he moves and speaks. As the end credits role, and Jessie and Buzz tango around Bonnie’s bedroom, we get to see Mr. P. playing with another toy from Andy’s box. He's in a Romeo costume spouting Shakespeare while one of the green aliens (from Pizza Planet) plays Juliet in the balcony. What a hoot.

There are so many aspects to the movie; I couldn't possibly cover them all. It's simple, but not easy. The toys really have to work to stay together and they also earn their happy ending. If given a vote about a number four, I would vote yes, hoping the same creative team would remain involved. They have certainly set the bar and shown us how fun it is to return to the toy box.

My Thoughts on Toy Story 3. © Copyright By Dennise D Cox - July 17 2010. All Rights Reserved.

Toy Story 3 Poster © Copyright Disney and Pixar 2009 - 2010.


Timothy's Project Question of the Month for September 2010.

Each month we have a Timothy question of the month, just for a bit of fun. It could be a quote from one of Timothy's films or projects, a picture, or some other information to test you on. I do of course understand that not all of you have seen everything that Timothy has done, so I will be going through all his work, to make it fair, but it is fun to guess though. I will give you the answer on this page at the beginning of each month, and set the next question at that time too.

The question and answer to the August Timothy question was:-

Question: In the picture above what project is Timothy in and what was his character's name?

Answer: The project was Scarlett and Timothy played Rhett Butler of course.

Many congratulations Louay who yes, once again got the Timothy question of the month correct :-) along with Pat, Sheila, and everyone else that got it correct!

Here is the Timothy Question of the Month for September 2010:-

Timothy

Timothy Dalton.

Question: Timothy looks very nice in his uniform doesn't he? :-) The thing is what project is he in here and what is his character name?

Here is your clue: This is a true story of a women who defied society's rules to become an international legend. :-)


Timothy Dalton Chat Group Birthdays for September 2010.

Happy Birthday

  • Carlos who lives in Oklahoma has a birthday on September 7th.

  • Petra who lives in Germany has a birthday on September 16th.

  • Tony who lives in Los Angeles has a birthday on September 19th.

  • Lyn who lives in Western Australia has a birthday on September 21st.

  • Zohara who lives in Israel has a birthday on September 22nd.

  • Alina who lives in New York has a birthday on September 25th.

All of us in The Timothy Dalton Chat Group send you lots of love and hope you all have a wonderful birthday!

With very warm wishes,

Deb
Coordinator, The Timothy Dalton Chat Group.