Casino Royale (2006)
Starring Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Mads Mikkelsen, Eva Green
Rated PG13 for situational nudity (not blatant), torture, sexual situations, violence
There haven't been too many interesting movies this year, and I didn't bother to move my old website's reviews over to this new page, so you know this movie has to merit a review to appear here. I wasn't sure how I would react to the new actor carrying the Walther PPK, but Daniel Craig was an exciting change from the regular Bond ideals, and I had no problem seeing him as Bond.
Be ready for surprises throughout this production, including the change in the opening credits: since Bond begins in this movie as not having earned his "00" status, the action takes us right to the point when he is discussing his new job requirements and preparing to "sign off" on them. Then we're treated to a new, stylized sequence and theme song before launching into a cardio workout of chases, shootings, spy games and mayhem. This is not the Bond you and I grew up with, but once you've seen him in this setting you realize how the old franchise may have cheated us just a bit with scripts posing as Playboy backdrops for Moore, Dalton and company. Craig is not hunky or studly, but he sure is manly, and for this production that is perfect.
After earning his license to kill, Bond goes to Madagascar to deal with a terrorist, but after a lengthy chase through a construction site, he gets himself into trouble with MI6 and "M" (Dench) for overdoing it a bit fulfilling his mission. "M" thinks he was promoted too early, so Bond tells her he will lay low, but instead he follows a lead on a terrorist financial kingpin named Le Chiffre (Mikkelsen) into the Bahamas, and decides to nip the terror network in their pockets by winning a very exclusive (read expensive) poker game against him and a table full of internationally well funded card sharps. Along the way Bond meets two beautiful women, including Vesper Lynd (Green), who is funding his participation in the card game. Bond has skills and brains, but he lets his ego get in the way, and as a result, people get hurt or killed, and he finds himself at one point sitting naked in a seatless chair while Le Chiffre subjects Bond (or rather his "three amigos") to a painful torture session. As Bond recovers from his injuries, he learns who to trust and what his role really entails as a secret agent.
I was surprised to find this film rated PG-13 in light of the torture scene (though nothing compromising is shown, the idea is well communicated, and the language is salty), but the gunplay and action are not extremely graphic or bloody, so well rounded teens over 13 will be okay with it. There isn't a big push for gadgets or other commercialism in the film (Bond drives into the Bahamas club in a Ford, for goodness sake), but when he does go for an accessory, it's a spy fan's dream to watch what he does with a glovebox full of gear (including a high tech first aid kit). The story and script don't cop out on fans or first-time viewers, and it is the first time in years that a Bond film really held my attention for over two hours.
Overall, fans of Bond will be happy to see this rendition (I sure was), so it gets a Shining Star
A Tribute Review:
Lestat: The Musical
(Editor's Note: The show closed on May 28 but, in my opinion, it didn't deserve such a short and unceremonious send-off. This positive review will stand here out of the high regard and respect I have for everybody involved in the production).
Here are the most important words about Lestat, the new musical featuring the works of Elton John and Bernie Taupin: go see this show!
The accepted bible of what is good and bad on Broadway, The New York Times, didn't do this show justice in their review. This doesn't mean that, generally speaking, the critics' ongoing business of telling readers what to see on Broadway isn't accurate some of the time. However, with a limited number of employees to send into the field, even the New York Times occasionally sends the wrong person to do the job. The print and online market allows regular people with (or without) some knowledge of a particular medium the option of putting in their opinions, and this time I am adding my two cents. I have been involved with writing about entertainment for over 20 years: when the first big effort to put singing vampires on Broadway--Dance of the Vampires--opened awhile ago with the talented Michael Crawford in the lead, I knew after ten minutes in my seat that I was witnessing a good performer in a bad show (then there was Dracula: The Musical, which got staked too fast to matter). If my words have any weight at all, I would encourage people to decide for themselves if they would like to see Anne Rice's characters put onstage. If you want to see a good show, you won't be disappointed.
Millions of readers have enjoyed Rice's most beloved vampire, and Lestat is the worthy theatrical treatment that fans have been waiting for. Director Robert Jess Roth, the Tony Award winner for Beauty and the Beast, has worked well with writer Linda Woolverton to make this production the best ever. The music and lyrics by John and Taupin have meaning and power, and the sets and costumes are perfect: apparently everybody involved with this production took the time to understand what vampires and their . . . undeathstyle? . . . are all about. Considering the challenge of not only bringing to stage a story that has been made into two movies (one with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, no less), but making an attempt to give musical voice to beings for whom just writing dialogue is a problem, this project could not have been easy. Fortunately, the third time is the charm for efforts to finally put vampires in their rightful place onstage since Frank Langella took off his Broadway cape over 20 years ago.
The story traces Lestat's history, from his defining moment of bravery when he singlehandedly kills a pack of wolves, to his coming full circle as a vampire, to understanding what his existence will teach him, as well as how he affects others. Every individual who becomes a vampire in this story undergoes a profound change within a part of themselves, and this is an important part of the tale that isn't missed in the telling in the theatre.
The cast is a magnificently tuned ensemble that understands the story and works with every song as if they were at the piano when they were written. The most amazing singer is the show's star, Hugh Panaro, who astounds audiences with a voice that has strength, clarity and emotion. Coming from Phantom of the Opera, he gives Lestat the perfect persona. As a singer, every syllable is given one hundred percent clear, perfect intonation, and performers with his level of skill are rare indeed. He has the audience's attention from the moment the curtain goes up, he draws you into the story from your ears up in ten seconds flat and keeps you hooked (and yes, he is very pleasant visually).
Allison Fischer, who is making her Broadway debut as the eternal child vampire Claudia, made the walls of the theatre vibrate with her song "I Want More," and she sobered the audience into understanding the true curse of her existence in "I'll Never Have That Chance." Michael Genet as the ancient Marius has taken an interesting interpretation and is a unique vampire sage, providing a voice of reason among the undead that hasn't been done before. As Lestat's mother Gabrielle, Carolee Carmello is totally transformed, from an ill parent doomed to die too young, to a vibrant companion for her son when she becomes a vampire. Roderick Hill portrays the melancholy musician Nicholas, and Jim Stanek makes a fantastic Louis.
There isn't a dull vampiric moment in this show, and that alone is an achievement that should be witnessed and appreciated. I raised an eyebrow at only one line of dialogue, when normally sitting through any undead utterance is often a less than pleasant chore. Whether the concept of vampires is a turn-on or a source for a scare, there is real emotional involvement for the audience in this production, which brought people to their feet.
Not everybody knows or cares about vampires, but everybody is familiar with a story about how unforeseen events can change lives and our inner selves. The story of Lestat is one such, and you shouldn't miss out on seeing this show.
(Viewed 05/06/06)
