Filmonic » Ewan McGregor

REVIEW: Amelia Is Skippable

Dave — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:15:37 +0000

If I were to give you a quiz on Amelia Earhart right now, how well would you do? Probably not so well, unless you are a female pilot or someone interested in the pop culture of the early 20th Century. Everyone knows Earhart disappears during her attempt to circumnavigate the globe, probably ending up dead, possibly getting sucked into a time vortex, considering no remains were ever found.

If director Mira Nair and writers Anna Hamilton Phelan and Ron Bass decided to take the “sucked into the sixth season of Lost” crazy theory about Amelia’s death, this movie might have ended on a high note. It would have left me confused, but highly entertained instead of the reality: me, left bored and hungry after a boring film.

Amelia is beautifully shot and features a fantastic, possibly Oscar-worthy performance from Hilary Swank as the titular Earhart. The production used a real, polished, reflective Lockheed Electra while filming and re-created Amelia’s circumnavigation from African locations. The whole thing has a National Geographic gloss to it, and when the film’s score starts swelling every other scene, the gloss reveals itself to be sugary sweet and sticky.

There’s something about Amelia that doesn’t work.

Conflict, my screenwriting teachers told me, is the seed that sprouts all drama. One character is in a situation with another character and they both want something from each other. That sounds a lot like drama, and it might fit some loose definitions, but the sparkle of interesting interaction can be added to this scene by making both characters withholding of the other’s desire. Amelia fails to establish this basic level of conflict.

I’ve been describing it to people as a film made like a bad Disney sports movie. Swank as Amelia is an eyebrow-less but bright-eyed female pilot in 1928, when the film introduces her. She’s meeting with George Putnam (Richard Gere), a book publisher who hires her to command the first female-commanded flight across the Atlantic. Amelia isn’t psyched about not being able to fly, she’ll just be “commanding,” but the success of the flight will bring her fame enough to do what she wants, so she goes and successfully flies over the Atlantic. After that, there is no more conflict in the story.

Disney Sports films like The Mighty Ducks or Iron Will always take our heroes and put them in impossible situations. Even when the going gets tough and everyone laughs at a Jamaican bobsled team, the main characters hold on to their dreams of being great and won’t let anyone stop them. They work harder, train more and display more will power than the opposing team, so when they win, we’re ready. Amelia is like a Disney Sports movie character in the sense that she just wants to fly because it makes her feel free. Amelia, the movie, is not like Disney Sports because after Amelia crosses the Atlantic no one is interested in stopping her from doing anything.

The Men Who Stare at Goats poster (with added goat)

Liam — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:58:36 +0000

Yahoo! got themselves a new poster for The Men Who Stare at Goats. The film stars George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey, J.K. Simmons and goat (who’s real name cannot be revealed due to an ongoing legal dispute between the Goat Actors Guild and the Association of Hoofed Beings).

The film is ‘inspired by a real story’ and follows reporter Bob Wilton (McGregor) who is in search of his next big story when he encounters Lyn Cassady (Clooney), a shadowy figure who claims to be part of an experimental U.S. military unit. According to Cassady, the New Earth Army is changing the way wars are fought. A legion of “Warrior Monks” with unparalleled psychic powers can read the enemy’s thoughts, pass through solid walls and even kill a goat simply by staring at it. When the programme’s founder, Bill Django (Bridges), goes missing, Cassady’s mission is to find him.

Click here to watch the trailer!

The Men Who Stare At Goats trailer

Liam — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 14:17:06 +0000

George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey, and J.K. Simmons are in a movie together. It’s called The Men Who Stare At Goats, and it looks quite good. The film is ‘inspired by a real story’ and follows reporter Bob Wilton (McGregor) who is in search of his next big story when he encounters Lyn Cassady (Clooney), a shadowy figure who claims to be part of an experimental U.S. military unit. According to Cassady, the New Earth Army is changing the way wars are fought. A legion of “Warrior Monks” with unparalleled psychic powers can read the enemy’s thoughts, pass through solid walls and even kill a goat simply by staring at it. When the programme’s founder, Bill Django (Bridges), goes missing, Cassady’s mission is to find him.”

If you look closely you will see Stephen Lang, who plays Col. Quaritch in Avatar, and Glenn Morshower who played General Morshower in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Nice bit of military typecasting there.

The Men Who Stare At Goats will be released on November 6th in the US and January 22nd in the UK.

Angels & Demons Super Bowl TV spot

Liam — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 14:48:35 +0000

Explosions aren’t just limited to movies such as Transformers 2 or G.I. Joe, Angels & Demons can get in on the action too! There aren’t too many explosions mind, most of it is religious woffle troffle and Ewan McGregor in a dress, but it still looks good. Check out the Super Bowl spot below!

Directed by Ron Howard, with Tom Hanks, Ayelet Zurer, and Ewan McGregor. Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon works to solve a murder and prevent a terrorist act against the Vatican.

Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor kissing

Liam — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 00:30:53 +0000

Technically this image is new, however it looks like it occurs a second or two after this image here, which we got back in August. In this new image from JimCarreyOnline Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor are actually going all ‘Brokeback Mountain‘ on us. The image is from the upcoming movie I Love You Phillip Morris, and while finding out what the movie was about I came across a French trailer which was released last week. Watch it below!

“I Love You Phillip Morris” tells the story of Steven Russell (Jim Carrey), a married conman who found himself in a Texan prison where he fell in love with Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor). Steven Russell tried to escape from prison four times, coming up with more and more elaborate plans, including once faking his own death. Morris was eventually released but Russell landed over a hundred years behind bars because of his escape attempts.

Thanks to Jan for the tip.

I Love You Phillip Morris Pic

Liam — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:12:17 +0000

The first official image from Jim Carrey’s upcoming comedy I Love You Phillip Morris, has been revealed over at JimCarreyOnline.

Yes, that is Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor on the verge of swapping saliva, and yes this movie is about man love.

“I Love You Phillip Morris” tells the story of Steven Russell (Jim Carrey), a married conman who found himself in a Texan prison where he fell in love with Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor). Steven Russell tried to escape from prison four times, coming up with more and more elaborate plans, including once faking his own death. Morris was eventually released but Russell landed over a hundred years behind bars because of his escape attempts.

A release date has not been set although it is expected to be in early 2009.

George Lucas Explains Why Actors Didn’t Return For Clone Wars

Liam — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:58:31 +0000

The Star Wars franchise returns this week as Star Wars: The Clone Wars is released on most parts of the planet. However, there will be no Hayden Christensen or Ewan McGregor. No Natalie Portman or Frank Oz. In fact, the only actors returning to voice their characters are Samuel L. Jackson (Mace Windu), Christopher Lee (Count Dooku), and Anthony Daniels (C-3P0).

Why is this?

MTV asked George Lucas that very question:

“When we decided to do the feature, we went back to the actors and said, ‘Look, we’re doing a feature. Would you like to do the voice? Could you come in a month?’ Some of them were all over the world. It was hard to get all the actors that would be off on set,” Lucas told reporters at a press conference last week. “You need people available every week. [Also] you can’t really afford multi-million dollar actors to do a television series. Those guys make more during their coffee break.”
But the bottom line for why most of the actors aren’t returning to voice the characters they made famous? Because George Lucas doesn’t need them, Lucas himself said to reporters.
“It used to be in animation you just had [unknown] actors do the parts. The idea of hiring a really good actor – Tom Hanks [for instance] – was a really revolutionary idea,” Lucas said. “Partly they did it because they were great actors, partly they did it cause they wanted to use them for publicity. To be very honest with you, I don’t really think I need to hire a big movie star to publicize my movie. I don’t need Angelina Jolie here. That’s what it comes down to in the end. They have two days in the studio and then they have like two weeks doing press. They are mainly paid for the press stuff.”

He has a point. Although it would have been great to have everyone back to voice an animated version of their characters, it is not how the world works. In Hollywood anyway.

Jim Carrey + Ewan McGregor = Prison Love?

Liam — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 04:11:08 +0000

Jim and Ewan were recently seen hanging out at a gay bar! No, they’re not trying to tell us something… they’re doing research. For a new movie. Seriously!

The movie is called I Love You Phillip Morris, and it follows a married father (Carrey) who is sent to prison and falls in love with a cellmate named Phillip Morris (McGregor). His love leads him to make several escape attempts.

IMDb is listing it as a Comedy/Drama. A dromedy about a gay prison affair? I’m SO there! It has no set release date yet, but is currently filming for release sometime in 2009…!