Last night’s episode of Doctor Who might not have been as much of a crowd-pleaser as last week’s shock-fest, but season 12’s sixth outing, “Praxeus,” still managed to draw a lot of praise for its Lgbt representation. Because, guess what, two gay characters were in love and they both survived to the end of their story. This (tragically and infuriatingly) hardly ever happens.
The episode saw the Tardis team befriend ex-cop Jake Willis (Warren Brown) and astronaut Adam Lang (Matthew McNulty), whose marriage is on the rocks due to Jake’s feelings of insecurity over his husband’s successful life. In the end, Jake was able to prove his own worth when he piloted a spaceship into the atmosphere to release a cure for the Praxeus alien virus across the world. It looked like he was going to have to sacrifice his life, but at the last minute,...
The episode saw the Tardis team befriend ex-cop Jake Willis (Warren Brown) and astronaut Adam Lang (Matthew McNulty), whose marriage is on the rocks due to Jake’s feelings of insecurity over his husband’s successful life. In the end, Jake was able to prove his own worth when he piloted a spaceship into the atmosphere to release a cure for the Praxeus alien virus across the world. It looked like he was going to have to sacrifice his life, but at the last minute,...
- 2/3/2020
- by Christian Bone
- We Got This Covered
Few things are more important when it comes to building expectations for a movie than the title itself. While every aspect of a production – from the actors, to the director, or even a costume designer – can pique our particular interest in an upcoming movie, often it’s the title which will first form part of our decision over whether or not a film appeals to us.
Most of us realise that film titles don’t have to be as gratuitously up front as say Snakes On A Plane or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but it’s still often a surprise when something with such a seemingly literal title can often give us the completely wrong idea. When we walk into a video store with the urge to watch something new, it’s the title – or cover art – which will form our initial idea of what the film could be like.
Most of us realise that film titles don’t have to be as gratuitously up front as say Snakes On A Plane or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but it’s still often a surprise when something with such a seemingly literal title can often give us the completely wrong idea. When we walk into a video store with the urge to watch something new, it’s the title – or cover art – which will form our initial idea of what the film could be like.
- 1/22/2012
- by Stephen Leigh
- Obsessed with Film
Kaboom
Opens: 2011
Cast: Thomas Dekker, Haley Bennett, Juno Temple, Kelly Lynch, James Duval
Director: Gregg Araki
Summary: Smith's everyday life in the dorm - hanging out with his arty, sarcastic best friend Stella, hooking up with a beautiful free spirit named London, lusting for his gorgeous but dim surfer roommate Thor - all gets turned upside-down after one fateful, terrifying night.
Analysis: A year after "Thelma and Louise" came "The Living End", an independent film which had a similar premise but made the protagonists two gay HIV+ men. It was raw, intense and signalled the arrival of a new talent in the form of filmmaker Gregg Araki. In the subsequent two decades, he's delivered several trippy films involving young, good-looking omnisexual people having lots of graphic sex and dealing with some wacky cobbled together plot shenanigans.
The tone has ranged the light-hearted "Splendor" and "Nowhere" to the darker "Mysterious Skin...
Opens: 2011
Cast: Thomas Dekker, Haley Bennett, Juno Temple, Kelly Lynch, James Duval
Director: Gregg Araki
Summary: Smith's everyday life in the dorm - hanging out with his arty, sarcastic best friend Stella, hooking up with a beautiful free spirit named London, lusting for his gorgeous but dim surfer roommate Thor - all gets turned upside-down after one fateful, terrifying night.
Analysis: A year after "Thelma and Louise" came "The Living End", an independent film which had a similar premise but made the protagonists two gay HIV+ men. It was raw, intense and signalled the arrival of a new talent in the form of filmmaker Gregg Araki. In the subsequent two decades, he's delivered several trippy films involving young, good-looking omnisexual people having lots of graphic sex and dealing with some wacky cobbled together plot shenanigans.
The tone has ranged the light-hearted "Splendor" and "Nowhere" to the darker "Mysterious Skin...
- 1/12/2011
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
The Ghost Writer
Now on DVD, Roman Polanski's clever adaptation of Robert Harris' thiller bows down to Alfred Hitchcock, especially with its superb Bernard Herrmann-like score by Alexandre Desplat (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Fantastic Mr. Fox).
The plot starts off simply enough. A nameless writer (Ewan McGregor), unambiguously known as "The Ghost" in the production notes, is hired to rewrite the memoirs of Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan), a former British Prime Minister (based upon Tony Blair). The previous ghost who had penned the rather boring first draft had recently fallen off a local ferry dead drunk and drowned. Or did he? Could it have been murder and if so, why?
read more...
Now on DVD, Roman Polanski's clever adaptation of Robert Harris' thiller bows down to Alfred Hitchcock, especially with its superb Bernard Herrmann-like score by Alexandre Desplat (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Fantastic Mr. Fox).
The plot starts off simply enough. A nameless writer (Ewan McGregor), unambiguously known as "The Ghost" in the production notes, is hired to rewrite the memoirs of Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan), a former British Prime Minister (based upon Tony Blair). The previous ghost who had penned the rather boring first draft had recently fallen off a local ferry dead drunk and drowned. Or did he? Could it have been murder and if so, why?
read more...
- 10/5/2010
- by Brandon Judell
- www.culturecatch.com
Director: Roman Polanski Writer: Robert Harris, Roman Polanski Release Date: September 20 2010 Studio: Optimum Home Entertainment No of discs: 1 Region: 2 Price: From £9.99-£15.93 Running Time: 123/8 mins Certificate: 15 Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Ewan McGregor, Kim Cattrall, James Belushi, Olivia Williams, Tom Wilkinson, Timothy Hutton, Jon Bernthal The multi-talented and highly controversial, Roman Polanski, is back all singing and all dancing in an adaptation of a Robert Harris novel, The Ghost Writer, affectionately called The Ghost. The story focuses on an unremarkable showbiz ghost writer with little political interest, from the winning of a contract bid to complete and sex-up the memoirs of the former UK Prime Minister to the publication and release of the book. After dominating British politics for years, ex-pm, Adam Lang, has retired with his wife to the Us. The ghost’s predecessor died in mysterious circumstances, supposedly from suicide or accidental drowning. When the ghost is mugged immediately after...
- 9/20/2010
- by Salty Or Sweet
- t5m.com
Eyes Wide Open; The Special Relationship; The Ghost; Rapt; Robin Hood: Extended Cut; Cop Out
There may well be precedents, but I honestly can't remember the last time I saw a movie about a passionate gay relationship played out amid Jerusalem's orthodox Hasidic community. It says a lot about Eyes Wide Open (2009, 12, Peccadillo), however, that the apparent novelty of its subject matter (which has provoked the inevitable moniker "a Jewish Brokeback Mountain") never overshadows the haunting power of the film. Zohar Strauss stars as Aaron, the married butcher who invites enigmatic student Ezri (Ran Danker) into his home and business with emotionally and socially disruptive results. Religion and dawning sexuality clash as the two men embark upon a furtive, forbidden relationship under the mournful eye of Aaron's increasingly estranged wife, to the mounting hostility of the strictly demarcated community.
Demonstrating an unfussy empathy for his subjects, director Haim Tabakman...
There may well be precedents, but I honestly can't remember the last time I saw a movie about a passionate gay relationship played out amid Jerusalem's orthodox Hasidic community. It says a lot about Eyes Wide Open (2009, 12, Peccadillo), however, that the apparent novelty of its subject matter (which has provoked the inevitable moniker "a Jewish Brokeback Mountain") never overshadows the haunting power of the film. Zohar Strauss stars as Aaron, the married butcher who invites enigmatic student Ezri (Ran Danker) into his home and business with emotionally and socially disruptive results. Religion and dawning sexuality clash as the two men embark upon a furtive, forbidden relationship under the mournful eye of Aaron's increasingly estranged wife, to the mounting hostility of the strictly demarcated community.
Demonstrating an unfussy empathy for his subjects, director Haim Tabakman...
- 9/18/2010
- by Mark Kermode
- The Guardian - Film News
HeyUGuys are giving you the chance to win a Blu-ray copy of Roman Polanski’s latest thriller, The Ghost.
Starring Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Olivia Williams and Kim Cattrall, The Ghost garnered excellent reviews on its release earlier in the year and now the film is out to own on DVD and Blu-ray on the 20th of September.
Roman Polanski’s critically acclaimed political thriller tracks the tale of a British Ghost writer (McGregor) who is commissioned to re-write the memoirs of former British Prime Minister, Adam Lang (Brosnan), after his predecessor mysteriously dies. The closely guarded memoirs are kept under lock and key at Lang’s family retreat in America by his protective assistant and mistress (Cattrall), surrounded by a desolate and barren landscape, across which the ghost re-traces his predecessors steps and uncovers startling truths.
The plot thickens further as Lang is accused of war crimes, and the...
Starring Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Olivia Williams and Kim Cattrall, The Ghost garnered excellent reviews on its release earlier in the year and now the film is out to own on DVD and Blu-ray on the 20th of September.
Roman Polanski’s critically acclaimed political thriller tracks the tale of a British Ghost writer (McGregor) who is commissioned to re-write the memoirs of former British Prime Minister, Adam Lang (Brosnan), after his predecessor mysteriously dies. The closely guarded memoirs are kept under lock and key at Lang’s family retreat in America by his protective assistant and mistress (Cattrall), surrounded by a desolate and barren landscape, across which the ghost re-traces his predecessors steps and uncovers startling truths.
The plot thickens further as Lang is accused of war crimes, and the...
- 9/16/2010
- by Jon Lyus
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Former prime minister wrote memoirs himself, disproving central theme of Robert Harris novel
Tony Blair no doubt hopes that his memoirs will silence one foe.
The former prime minister let it be known that Robert Harris was a "cheeky fuck" for portraying him as a lightweight in his novel, The Ghost.
Now Blair has disproved the main element in the Harris novel: that he is so superficial he needs a ghostwriter to draft his memoirs.
It is apparent from reading A Journey that Blair is telling the truth when he says he penned the book in longhand by himself. There are clunky phrases which bear the hallmarks of a law, rather than an English, graduate.
Take this sentence on Gordon Brown:
Just as during the time when Gordon sheltered beneath my umbrella as prime minister the benign view of him was misguided in his favour, so now it is...
Tony Blair no doubt hopes that his memoirs will silence one foe.
The former prime minister let it be known that Robert Harris was a "cheeky fuck" for portraying him as a lightweight in his novel, The Ghost.
Now Blair has disproved the main element in the Harris novel: that he is so superficial he needs a ghostwriter to draft his memoirs.
It is apparent from reading A Journey that Blair is telling the truth when he says he penned the book in longhand by himself. There are clunky phrases which bear the hallmarks of a law, rather than an English, graduate.
Take this sentence on Gordon Brown:
Just as during the time when Gordon sheltered beneath my umbrella as prime minister the benign view of him was misguided in his favour, so now it is...
- 9/1/2010
- by Nicholas Watt
- The Guardian - Film News
The Ghost Writer
The Film
Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer reconfigures his magnum opus, Chinatown, for the modern era. Like Jake Gittes, the unnamed protagonist (Ewan McGregor) is an acerbic, indifferent middle class working man who finds himself wading into a conspiracy that dwarfs him until he cannot hope to get the truth out. The difference is scale: made in the ’70s and set in the ’30s, Chinatown was about the total corruption of city government, collusion between business and authority until the aristocracy could do as it damn well pleased. But The Ghost Writer takes place in the present, in a time when everything is multinational and conspiracies can be worldwide.
Ostensibly about a titular ghost writer hired to edit the memoirs of Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan), former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, following the death of his first ghost, Polanski’s thriller quickly exposes its hilariously...
The Film
Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer reconfigures his magnum opus, Chinatown, for the modern era. Like Jake Gittes, the unnamed protagonist (Ewan McGregor) is an acerbic, indifferent middle class working man who finds himself wading into a conspiracy that dwarfs him until he cannot hope to get the truth out. The difference is scale: made in the ’70s and set in the ’30s, Chinatown was about the total corruption of city government, collusion between business and authority until the aristocracy could do as it damn well pleased. But The Ghost Writer takes place in the present, in a time when everything is multinational and conspiracies can be worldwide.
Ostensibly about a titular ghost writer hired to edit the memoirs of Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan), former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, following the death of his first ghost, Polanski’s thriller quickly exposes its hilariously...
- 8/12/2010
- by Aaron
Courtesy of Hoyts Distribution, we have season passes for Roman Polanski’s latest film, The Ghost Writer, starring Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Kim Catrall and Olivia Williams.
When a successful British ghost writer 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…
The Ghost Writer will be released on August 12.
To win, email miguel@focalattractions.com.au and tell us, what author should write your memories?...
When a successful British ghost writer 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…
The Ghost Writer will be released on August 12.
To win, email miguel@focalattractions.com.au and tell us, what author should write your memories?...
- 8/10/2010
- by Miguel Gonzalez
- Encore Magazine
Chicago – Roman Polanski’s name has drawn a lot of media attention in 2010 due to his continued international legal problems but the controversy regarding his real life has overshadowed the fact that he recently made one of the best films of his career, the tragically underrated and straight-up brilliant “The Ghost Writer,” a must-see now that it’s on Blu-ray and DVD.
Blu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0
Ewan McGregor stars (and gives his best performance since falling prey to curse of George Lucas) as the titular character, a writer-for-hire tapped to help a controversial U.K. Prime Minister named Adam Lang (a perfectly-cast Pierce Brosnan) put the finishing touches on his memoirs. It should be an easy enough assignment — spend a month in a beautiful cottage on an island and give the story of a political figure a personal touch. Of course, they say something about the best laid plans…
The Ghost Writer...
Blu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0
Ewan McGregor stars (and gives his best performance since falling prey to curse of George Lucas) as the titular character, a writer-for-hire tapped to help a controversial U.K. Prime Minister named Adam Lang (a perfectly-cast Pierce Brosnan) put the finishing touches on his memoirs. It should be an easy enough assignment — spend a month in a beautiful cottage on an island and give the story of a political figure a personal touch. Of course, they say something about the best laid plans…
The Ghost Writer...
- 8/9/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
The Ghost Writer Directed by: Roman Polanski Written by: Robert Harris (novel), Roman Polanski (screenplay) Starring: Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Kim Cattrall, Olivia Williams, Tom Wilkinson, James Belushi, Jon Bernthal It is rare for a major motion picture to be released while the director remains in custody; this custody may have added to the political strife that is featured in The Ghost Writer. Based on the original novel, The Ghost by Robert Harris, this 2010 political thriller is a first for the troubled director Roman Polanski, yet features many of the traditional signatures that have made him a major figure in cinema for six decades. An unnamed protagonist (who will be referred to as Ghost) (Ewan McGregor) is hired to pick up where the previous ghost writer left of on former British Prime Minister Adam Lang's (Pierce Brosnan) memoirs. The previous ghost writer was found dead and washed ashore. Ghost...
- 8/5/2010
- by Aaron Weiss
- FilmJunk
Hey everyone! I hope everyone is having a great week. There's a ton of movies releasing today onto DVD! So here are the one's I decided to highlight and then I will give ya a link to the rest cause there's literally 32 of them. I hope you all like the one's I did choose to highlight however!
Kick-Ass
Inspired by his love of comic books, high school student Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) decides to transform himself into a masked crime fighter -- a decision that eventually thrusts the teenager into Internet stardom. Soon, Dave's antics inspire a wave of would-be heroes to don costumes and live out their superhero fantasies. Nicolas Cage, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Chloe Moretz also star in this comic book adaptation from director Matthew Vaughn.
Starring: Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Loved it! Hit-Girl is the best part!
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Middle school...
Kick-Ass
Inspired by his love of comic books, high school student Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) decides to transform himself into a masked crime fighter -- a decision that eventually thrusts the teenager into Internet stardom. Soon, Dave's antics inspire a wave of would-be heroes to don costumes and live out their superhero fantasies. Nicolas Cage, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Chloe Moretz also star in this comic book adaptation from director Matthew Vaughn.
Starring: Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Loved it! Hit-Girl is the best part!
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Middle school...
- 8/3/2010
- by Mars
- GeekTyrant
Movies on DVD The Ghost Writer is Director Roman Polanski’s drama surrounding a writer (Ewan McGregor) who is hired to complete the memoirs of former UK Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan). It doesn’t take long for the writer to realize that info he’s uncovering are secrets that put his life in jeopardy. Special Features: An interview [...]...
- 8/3/2010
- by Hollywood Outbreak
- HollywoodOutbreak.com
I recently had the pleasure of seeing a Polanski film in utter innocence. As the result of a rare set of circumstances, I found myself in the wrong cinema in front of a film which had a very restricted title sequence, so that I knew the title of the film from the beginning, but didn’t learn the director’s name until the end. I had of course heard that Polanski had a new film out, but not feeling particularly interested in the film’s political theme, I had forgotten about it. After the shock of realising that I was in the wrong cinema, I assumed that the film I was about to see was most likely a product of Hollywood: I was sitting in a multiplex with a relatively large audience, after all. The film’s European title, “The Ghost,” gives much less away than the American title, “The Ghost Writer,...
- 5/10/2010
- by Alison Frank
- The Moving Arts Journal
Roman Polanski has never been one to avoid the spotlight, both in his private life and in his work with cinema. The Ghost Writer is no exception. Based on the novel by Robert Harris (one which I admittedly am yet to read), The Ghost Writer tells the story of an anonymous journalist (McGregor) sent to interview disgraced former Prime Minister Adam Lang (Brosnan) after his predecessor mysteriously drowns. This is a sophisticated political thriller which takes its time unravelling (at 2 hours and 30 minutes, it is long yet never dull) and rightly treats its audience like adults. The narrative is relatively traditional with familiar story-telling techniques however they are all done with great efficiency and confidence. Polanski is clearly a man with a proven track record. Brilliantly filmed with frequent echoes of Alfred Hitchcock (the low-key yet effective score at times reminiscent of Bernard Herman), the vast, and constantly overcast Island...
- 5/5/2010
- by Uprising
- t5m.com
Plenty of controversy surrounded the release of Roman Polanski’s film, with the director Roman Polanski being carted off in handcuffs on 30 year old sex charges before the picture had even been completed. He edited the movie while under house arrest and from the claustrophobia on show, The Ghost seems to mirror his surroundings. It may be based on Robert Harris bestseller but the tone is vintage Polanski. Putting characters through the ringer to the point of combustion. A ghost writer (Ewan McGregor) is hired to complete the memoirs of disgraced British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan) after the original wordsmith is found mysteriously dead. With Lang locked away on an island retreat after being accused of war crimes, the ghost begins to uncover some startling information about his predecessor. First let's get the obvious out of the way. Lang's character has similarities with Tony Blair but takes the...
- 4/26/2010
- by Michael Shelton
- t5m.com
Plenty of controversy surrounded the release of Roman Polanski’s film, with the director Roman Polanski being carted off in handcuffs on 30 year old sex charges before the picture had even been completed. He edited the movie while under house arrest and from the claustrophobia on show, The Ghost seems to mirror his surroundings. It may be based on Robert Harris bestseller but the tone is vintage Polanski. Putting characters through the ringer to the point of combustion. A ghost writer (Ewan McGregor) is hired to complete the memoirs of disgraced British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan) after the original wordsmith is found mysteriously dead. With Lang locked away on an island retreat after being accused of war crimes, the ghost begins to uncover some startling information about his predecessor. First let's get the obvious out of the way. Lang's character has similarities with Tony Blair but takes the...
- 4/26/2010
- by Michael Shelton
- t5m.com
Did you find political thriller The Ghost one of Roman Polanski's best films in years? Or do you think it's difficult to separate an appreciation of his work from his chequered personal history?
The critics say Roman Polanski's latest is a confident, suspenseful thriller with a touch of Hitchcock. According to some, The Ghost is also the director's best film for a number of years.
Despite its gentle – some might say ponderous – pace, this politically charged tale of a Blair-like former prime minister and the man brought in to help write his memoirs proves the film-maker's ability to create gripping cinema without succumbing to the action-movie tropes that have infiltrated the thriller genre in recent years. Polanski delivers an air of intrigue as chilling as the wintry Martha's Vineyard estate where much of it is set, and the classy cast, including Ewan McGregor as the ghost writer, Pierce...
The critics say Roman Polanski's latest is a confident, suspenseful thriller with a touch of Hitchcock. According to some, The Ghost is also the director's best film for a number of years.
Despite its gentle – some might say ponderous – pace, this politically charged tale of a Blair-like former prime minister and the man brought in to help write his memoirs proves the film-maker's ability to create gripping cinema without succumbing to the action-movie tropes that have infiltrated the thriller genre in recent years. Polanski delivers an air of intrigue as chilling as the wintry Martha's Vineyard estate where much of it is set, and the classy cast, including Ewan McGregor as the ghost writer, Pierce...
- 4/19/2010
- by Ben Child
- The Guardian - Film News
Polanski drops his standards
In his mainly impeccable thriller The Ghost (reviewed left) Roman Polanski commits two rubbish errors, the sort that even the finest directors make for some reason when trying to reflect "the media" in their film. First, Ewan McGregor demands a copy of the Evening Standard for his inflight reading pleasure and the mock up of the London freesheet is woefully unrealistic. Second, in mock Sky News footage playing on a plasma screen and announcing that Pierce Brosnan's Pm Adam Lang will face war crimes trials in The Hague, my eye was distracted by a scrolling news item, written in lower case: "england fans held ahead of european cup match". The European Cup is played for by individual football clubs, a competition now referred to mainly as the Champions League. Nations compete in the European Championship, so any rioting England fans could only be following this,...
In his mainly impeccable thriller The Ghost (reviewed left) Roman Polanski commits two rubbish errors, the sort that even the finest directors make for some reason when trying to reflect "the media" in their film. First, Ewan McGregor demands a copy of the Evening Standard for his inflight reading pleasure and the mock up of the London freesheet is woefully unrealistic. Second, in mock Sky News footage playing on a plasma screen and announcing that Pierce Brosnan's Pm Adam Lang will face war crimes trials in The Hague, my eye was distracted by a scrolling news item, written in lower case: "england fans held ahead of european cup match". The European Cup is played for by individual football clubs, a competition now referred to mainly as the Champions League. Nations compete in the European Championship, so any rioting England fans could only be following this,...
- 4/17/2010
- by Jason Solomons
- The Guardian - Film News
Roman Polanski's The Ghost is the latest in a very long line of fictionalised Tonys. What does this obsession say about us?
The Ghost's Adam Lang is at least the 20th version of Tony Blair to hit the big and small screen. The stage has also given life to a troupe of Tonys – many fathered by David Hare – and there's a legion of literary equivalents, most memorably Sue Townsend's transvestite Tony. He must be the most fictionalised prime minister in British history. I don't know what the collective noun for Tony Blairs might be – an Iraq? a grin? – but we clearly need one.
Some of these screen versions are Actual Tonys and appear in the kind of dramas that claim to be based on fact but admit that some things have been made up. They are often played by Michael Sheen, who is set to do his...
The Ghost's Adam Lang is at least the 20th version of Tony Blair to hit the big and small screen. The stage has also given life to a troupe of Tonys – many fathered by David Hare – and there's a legion of literary equivalents, most memorably Sue Townsend's transvestite Tony. He must be the most fictionalised prime minister in British history. I don't know what the collective noun for Tony Blairs might be – an Iraq? a grin? – but we clearly need one.
Some of these screen versions are Actual Tonys and appear in the kind of dramas that claim to be based on fact but admit that some things have been made up. They are often played by Michael Sheen, who is set to do his...
- 4/16/2010
- by Steven Fielding
- The Guardian - Film News
Polanski's political satire is also a terrific conspiracy thriller, says Peter Bradshaw
When Roman Polanski won the Silver Bear at the Berlin film festival in February for this movie, based on Robert Harris's bestseller, the news was icily received in many quarters. The Hollywood Reporter pointedly remarked: "Whatever the reasons for the jury's decision, the Silver Bear for Polanski will likely be seen as a signal of solidarity with the director." He is of course currently awaiting extradition to the Us on the notorious child-sex charge for which he had been finally rearrested in Switzerland after 32 years. For some, any praise for his new film is a sort of effective collusion, because of the likelihood that Polanski's lawyers will ask for their client's importance as a global artist to be weighed in the balance.
In an era when disgraced celebrities use spin and quasi-contrition to absorb their crime into...
When Roman Polanski won the Silver Bear at the Berlin film festival in February for this movie, based on Robert Harris's bestseller, the news was icily received in many quarters. The Hollywood Reporter pointedly remarked: "Whatever the reasons for the jury's decision, the Silver Bear for Polanski will likely be seen as a signal of solidarity with the director." He is of course currently awaiting extradition to the Us on the notorious child-sex charge for which he had been finally rearrested in Switzerland after 32 years. For some, any praise for his new film is a sort of effective collusion, because of the likelihood that Polanski's lawyers will ask for their client's importance as a global artist to be weighed in the balance.
In an era when disgraced celebrities use spin and quasi-contrition to absorb their crime into...
- 4/15/2010
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Roman Polanski directs Pierce Brosnan and Ewan McGregor in The Ghost. But is the film of Robert Harris' novel worth your time?
You have to wonder what drew Roman Polanski, a man exiled from America with the spectre of arrest hanging over him, to The Ghost, a film about a former Prime Minister seeking refuge in America while facing the prospect of a war crimes trial. Or, maybe not.
Based on Robert Harris' 2007 novel, The Ghost can be read several ways: a fascinating mirror to its director's life since his arrest late last year; a straight borrowing of Harris' thinly-disguised account of Tony Blair since stepping down as Prime Minister with a fictional whodunnit spliced in; a Hitchcockian thriller to savour, and Polanski's most overt homage to the Master since 1965's Repulsion; or a chance to see James Belushi back on screen again with an alarmingly shaved head.
You have to wonder what drew Roman Polanski, a man exiled from America with the spectre of arrest hanging over him, to The Ghost, a film about a former Prime Minister seeking refuge in America while facing the prospect of a war crimes trial. Or, maybe not.
Based on Robert Harris' 2007 novel, The Ghost can be read several ways: a fascinating mirror to its director's life since his arrest late last year; a straight borrowing of Harris' thinly-disguised account of Tony Blair since stepping down as Prime Minister with a fictional whodunnit spliced in; a Hitchcockian thriller to savour, and Polanski's most overt homage to the Master since 1965's Repulsion; or a chance to see James Belushi back on screen again with an alarmingly shaved head.
- 4/15/2010
- Den of Geek
Olivia Williams got her big break as Bruce Willis's wife in The Sixth Sense. Now, in Roman Polanski's The Ghost, she steals the show as the bruised, though vulnerable wife of a disgraced former prime minister holed up with his ghost-writer in Martha's Vineyard, writes Euan Ferguson
Nice, wouldn't it be, to have your life begin at 41? You'd have gone through the whole cliched begins-at-40 thing, wondering when, exactly, it was going to start, justifiably hating cliches, and then, suddenly, in it kicks at 41. Hurrah. Olivia Williams, smart and vaguely leftie child of Camden barristers, wasn't in any hurry: she just wanted to be a terribly good actress. She managed that, although too few of us noticed, and quietly managed along the way to marry American actor/playwright Rhashan Stone, have a couple of happy daughters, cherry-pick her parts… and now, suddenly, at that glorious age, will find herself this year feted,...
Nice, wouldn't it be, to have your life begin at 41? You'd have gone through the whole cliched begins-at-40 thing, wondering when, exactly, it was going to start, justifiably hating cliches, and then, suddenly, in it kicks at 41. Hurrah. Olivia Williams, smart and vaguely leftie child of Camden barristers, wasn't in any hurry: she just wanted to be a terribly good actress. She managed that, although too few of us noticed, and quietly managed along the way to marry American actor/playwright Rhashan Stone, have a couple of happy daughters, cherry-pick her parts… and now, suddenly, at that glorious age, will find herself this year feted,...
- 4/12/2010
- by Euan Ferguson
- The Guardian - Film News
The Ghost is the latest film from Roman Polanski, the director of such great films as Repulsion, Knife in the Water, Chinatown and Rosemary’s Baby. It is based on the novel of the same name by Robert Harris and stars Ewan McGregor as the unnamed ‘The Ghost’. He is a ghost writer hired to work on the memoirs of former UK prime minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan) who has clearly had a turbulent time in office and is attempting to safeguard his legacy with a memoir that paints him in a good light.
Following the death of the first ghost writer hired to work on the project, McGregor’s character, somewhat reluctantly, takes the job after a hasty interview and is asked to turn the rough manuscript into a decent book in just four weeks. He travels to the island where he meets Lang, his wife Ruth played by Olivia Williams,...
Following the death of the first ghost writer hired to work on the project, McGregor’s character, somewhat reluctantly, takes the job after a hasty interview and is asked to turn the rough manuscript into a decent book in just four weeks. He travels to the island where he meets Lang, his wife Ruth played by Olivia Williams,...
- 4/12/2010
- by Craig Skinner
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
If The Ghost turns out to be Roman Polanski’s last film then he’s gone out on a high. Based on a novel by British author Robert Harris, the director crafts a brilliant absurdist thriller with cracking dialogue and duplicitous characters. As with pretty much all of Polanski’s movies, nothing is ever what it seems and appearances not only deceive – they can turn out to be deadly, too.
Caught in a myriad of political intrigue and murky history is Ewan McGregor’s hapless ghost writer hired to pen the memoirs of former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan). He’s whisked off to a barren island off the east coast of America to go through Lang’s manuscript and shape it into something readable. Oh, and Lang’s last ghost writer was found dead, possibly murdered.
The entire second act, in which the ghost writer (we never...
Caught in a myriad of political intrigue and murky history is Ewan McGregor’s hapless ghost writer hired to pen the memoirs of former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan). He’s whisked off to a barren island off the east coast of America to go through Lang’s manuscript and shape it into something readable. Oh, and Lang’s last ghost writer was found dead, possibly murdered.
The entire second act, in which the ghost writer (we never...
- 4/11/2010
- by Martyn Conterio
- FilmShaft.com
Olivia Williams has revealed that she cherished working under the direction of Roman Polanski on The Ghost. The 41-year-old actress said that she wanted to be involved in the film from day one because it would enable her to work for "one of the greatest and most interesting directors alive today". Her interest in taking the role of the wife of former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan) was coupled with a slight trepidation at the expected parallels drawn between the character and Tony Blair. In the film, Lang is haunted by recriminations over war crimes and is holed up on an island with his wife, his memories and a ghost-writer (Ewan McGregor). "If you attempt for the moment to clear your mind of the modern parallels," Williams told The Observer, "the character on the page is just a f**king gift. They just don't (more)...
- 4/11/2010
- by By Sarah Rollo
- Digital Spy
It seems you can’t switch the television on in the UK at the moment without the powers that be battling it out to be the first democratically-elected leader in Britain for five years, on every channel it’s only a matter of time before we’re shown clips and soundbites of the likes of Gordon Brown and David Cameron tearing shreds off of each other in what could be the tightest general election in living memory.
So to celebrate we figured what you needed was a good dose of Pierce Brosnan and Ewan McGregor in the Roman Polanski-directed political thriller, The Ghost (known as The Ghost Writer in the Us). Check out both clips below and try not to worry too much about the imminent general election – we’re fucked whoever wins!
The Ghost hits spins it’s way into UK theatres on 16th April.
A ghostwriter stumbles...
So to celebrate we figured what you needed was a good dose of Pierce Brosnan and Ewan McGregor in the Roman Polanski-directed political thriller, The Ghost (known as The Ghost Writer in the Us). Check out both clips below and try not to worry too much about the imminent general election – we’re fucked whoever wins!
The Ghost hits spins it’s way into UK theatres on 16th April.
A ghostwriter stumbles...
- 4/8/2010
- by Craig Sharp
- FilmShaft.com
To celebrate the imminent release of Roman Polanski’s latest (and possibly last) film, The Ghost, I’ve put together a top ten list of political figures who have been portrayed in cinema by some of our finest actors. Whether they are contemporary, historical or in some cases, made up, politicians have run the whole gamut of film genres. They have been cast as heroes, villains, clowns and tragic figures with Shakespearean-like downfalls.
The corridors of power echo with intrigue, corruption and calamity. The list presents both real and imagined political characters to highlight their dexterity as cinematic figures and also to stop it from being completely boring.
Please feel free to comment and add your own suggestions.
Bruno Ganz as Adolph Hitler (Downfall)
There have been quite a few depictions of the 20th century’s greatest monster, but nobody nailed it quite like Bruno Ganz in Der Untergang (Downfall...
The corridors of power echo with intrigue, corruption and calamity. The list presents both real and imagined political characters to highlight their dexterity as cinematic figures and also to stop it from being completely boring.
Please feel free to comment and add your own suggestions.
Bruno Ganz as Adolph Hitler (Downfall)
There have been quite a few depictions of the 20th century’s greatest monster, but nobody nailed it quite like Bruno Ganz in Der Untergang (Downfall...
- 4/7/2010
- by Martyn Conterio
- FilmShaft.com
Pierce Brosnan's character in 'The Ghost Writer' is not based on Tony Blair. Despite parallels between Blair and fictional Prime Minister Adam Lang - a Labour politician accused of war crimes and of being close to the Us in the War on Terror - Brosnan insists the director Roman Polanski did not want him to be a caricature of Blair. He said: ''Well, I read it as Tony Blair. All the emblems were there, but when I met with Roman the first thing I asked him was, 'Do you want me to play Tony Blair?' And he said, 'No, it's not ..
- 4/7/2010
- Virgin Media - Movies
Having spent the morning with the former Pm in Sedgefield, I came back to London to watch a screening of Roman Polanski's The Ghost
By way of exhilarating coincidence I experienced a surreal double take yesterday. Having spent the morning following Tony Blair on the campaign trail in County Durham, I came back to London to see Pierce Brosnan playing a thinly-disguised version of the former prime minister on the big screen.
Compare and contrast, eh? The real Blair is sleek and polished, much more so than the Milky Bar Kid – his own description – who first fought Sedgefield in 1983. How much more so was the former James Bond who plays Adam Lang in Roman Polanski's gripping new film of Robert Harris's thriller The Ghost?
At one level the comparison is silly, of course. As Harris routinely tells interviewers – and did again at last night's pre-premiere screening in...
By way of exhilarating coincidence I experienced a surreal double take yesterday. Having spent the morning following Tony Blair on the campaign trail in County Durham, I came back to London to see Pierce Brosnan playing a thinly-disguised version of the former prime minister on the big screen.
Compare and contrast, eh? The real Blair is sleek and polished, much more so than the Milky Bar Kid – his own description – who first fought Sedgefield in 1983. How much more so was the former James Bond who plays Adam Lang in Roman Polanski's gripping new film of Robert Harris's thriller The Ghost?
At one level the comparison is silly, of course. As Harris routinely tells interviewers – and did again at last night's pre-premiere screening in...
- 3/31/2010
- by Michael White
- The Guardian - Film News
It’s a shame the media circus Roman Polanski’s messy personal life almost overshadowed the release of the actual movie. Granted the director having to edit the film from prison because of a statutory rape charge made terrific copy, especially with it being someone with such a storied career as Polanski. But it takes focus away from the present truth, that “Ghost Writer” is a amazingly crafted thriller, expertly acted and stealthily unleashed. An unnamed writer is hired to help a British Prime Minister, recently resigned; to craft his memoirs from a top secret manuscript. The fact that the writer is never named is not unusual, an author hired to anonymously shape a subject’s autobiography is rarely, if ever acknowledged (aka “ghost writer”). But the Prime Minister is Adam Lang, a staunch ally of the United States and an unwavering supporter of the War on Terror. Despite having...
- 3/28/2010
- by Joseph Savitski
- Beyond Hollywood
Roman Polanski's latest is an interesting film containing fascinating performances - the problem is that it's not a particularly good thriller.
After the ghost writer of his memoirs washes up on the beach in an apparent suicide, former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan) finds himself in need of a replacement. Enter Ewan Macgregor's unnamed Ghost, who is hired with some trepidation by the publisher, but who has a reputation for objectivity and most importantly, working fast - which is good, because the way things are looking for Lang, the Pm may soon be sitting in a cell for war crimes.
Of course, being a Ghost, the writer attempts to remain outside of the increasingly messy events of Lang's life - above and beyond the story.But his very presence near the Pm sweeps the Ghost up unwillingly into the mysterious death of the latter's predecessor and a...
After the ghost writer of his memoirs washes up on the beach in an apparent suicide, former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan) finds himself in need of a replacement. Enter Ewan Macgregor's unnamed Ghost, who is hired with some trepidation by the publisher, but who has a reputation for objectivity and most importantly, working fast - which is good, because the way things are looking for Lang, the Pm may soon be sitting in a cell for war crimes.
Of course, being a Ghost, the writer attempts to remain outside of the increasingly messy events of Lang's life - above and beyond the story.But his very presence near the Pm sweeps the Ghost up unwillingly into the mysterious death of the latter's predecessor and a...
- 3/20/2010
- Screen Anarchy
MoviesOnline sat down with award-winning Scottish actor Ewan McGregor to talk about his new movie, The Ghost Writer, a taut, suspenseful thriller from the Oscar-winning director of The Pianist. The film also stars Pierce Brosnan, Olivia Williams and Kim Catrall.
A gifted author hired to ghostwrite the memoirs of a controversial former British Prime Minister becomes a hunted man when he uncovers explosive secrets about the past. The Ghost (McGregor) senses something’s not right from the minute he gets the lucrative assignment to complete Adam Lang’s (Brosnan) autobiography. For starters, the previous ghostwriter, a longtime aide to the ex-Prime Minister, is dead – an apparent suicide victim. As Lang becomes engulfed in a scandal over his administration’s harsh counterterrorism tactics, The Ghost digs into the charismatic politician’s past, discovering clues that he may be hiding something far more shocking than the current allegations against him.
Ewan McGregor...
A gifted author hired to ghostwrite the memoirs of a controversial former British Prime Minister becomes a hunted man when he uncovers explosive secrets about the past. The Ghost (McGregor) senses something’s not right from the minute he gets the lucrative assignment to complete Adam Lang’s (Brosnan) autobiography. For starters, the previous ghostwriter, a longtime aide to the ex-Prime Minister, is dead – an apparent suicide victim. As Lang becomes engulfed in a scandal over his administration’s harsh counterterrorism tactics, The Ghost digs into the charismatic politician’s past, discovering clues that he may be hiding something far more shocking than the current allegations against him.
Ewan McGregor...
- 3/6/2010
- MoviesOnline.ca
The political noir The Ghost Writer is reminiscent of the great dramas of the 1970s, a time when movies contained complex storylines, social commentary, and characters that were allowed to be flawed and ambiguous instead of being purely good or purely evil. It.s directed by Roman Polanski, who.s been making great films for five decades now, and his latest is a solid nail-biter that, thanks to the strong performances and deft storytelling, plays extremely well whether or not you like politics or care much about foreign policy. Though Polanksi has been in the headlines lately for less fortunate reasons, The Ghost Writer shows that he has not lost his artistic touch at all and at age 76 has made a film with an energy and vitality that.s in short supply in today.s Hollywood product.
Based on the Robert Harris novel “The Ghost” (the film was probably retitled...
Based on the Robert Harris novel “The Ghost” (the film was probably retitled...
- 3/5/2010
- by Tom
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
What I got out of The Ghost Writer, the latest film from immensely talented writer/director Roman Polanski and plausibly his last, wasn’t what I was expected. For all of the gravity and somberness of his news headlines and trials as of late, his film is surprisingly humorous, often light-hearted, a well-composed and classically structured mystery that harkens back to his work in Chinatown.
While I don’t know that this film has the resonance or the fixings to attain Chinatown’s classic status — my gut feeling tells me it doesn’t — it resembles that film in multiple ways, bookending his career quite nicely. Like Jack Nicholson’s detective Gittes, Ewan McGregor’s nameless Ghost is a man of wit and humor that is in over his head, piecing together a puzzle revolving around his client Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan), a former Prime Minister convicted of war crimes. Like Chinatown,...
While I don’t know that this film has the resonance or the fixings to attain Chinatown’s classic status — my gut feeling tells me it doesn’t — it resembles that film in multiple ways, bookending his career quite nicely. Like Jack Nicholson’s detective Gittes, Ewan McGregor’s nameless Ghost is a man of wit and humor that is in over his head, piecing together a puzzle revolving around his client Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan), a former Prime Minister convicted of war crimes. Like Chinatown,...
- 3/5/2010
- by John Cooper
- ReelLoop.com
First of all, I enjoyed "The Ghost Writer." Roman Polanski is a brilliant director, one of the best working today, and the script co-written by Polanski with author Robert Harris is palpable, alive! (Check out my review of "The Ghost Writer" right here)
So go watch this Summit Entertainment film right now! Trust me, you'll love this unpredictable movie.
So, I met both Pierce Brosnan (Adam Lang) and Olivia Williams (Ruth Lang) at a press junket last weekend in NYC. They're both lovely! I interviewed Brosnan for "The Ghost Writer" and "Remember Me" with Robert Pattinson. I'll post that interview very soon, so keep tight!
Williams deserves an Oscar nomination for her performance as the long-suffering wife in "The Ghost Writer."
So without further adieu, here are my interviews with both Brosnan and Williams for "The Ghost Writer."
Olivia Williams
Pierce Brosnan...
So go watch this Summit Entertainment film right now! Trust me, you'll love this unpredictable movie.
So, I met both Pierce Brosnan (Adam Lang) and Olivia Williams (Ruth Lang) at a press junket last weekend in NYC. They're both lovely! I interviewed Brosnan for "The Ghost Writer" and "Remember Me" with Robert Pattinson. I'll post that interview very soon, so keep tight!
Williams deserves an Oscar nomination for her performance as the long-suffering wife in "The Ghost Writer."
So without further adieu, here are my interviews with both Brosnan and Williams for "The Ghost Writer."
Olivia Williams
Pierce Brosnan...
- 3/4/2010
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
London, Mar 4 – Actress Kim Cattrall has revealed she spoke to “someone” in British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s administration to help understand her role in new film ‘The Ghost’.
The film is based on Robert Harris’s book that gives an unflattering account of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The story revolves around an unsuspecting writer who ghosts the autobiography of a former prime minister called Adam Lang.
Miss Cattrall plays an aide to Lang.
The film is based on Robert Harris’s book that gives an unflattering account of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The story revolves around an unsuspecting writer who ghosts the autobiography of a former prime minister called Adam Lang.
Miss Cattrall plays an aide to Lang.
- 3/4/2010
- by News
- RealBollywood.com
'The Ghost Writer,' Roman Polanski's new thriller, expands to more theaters this weekend and in case you haven't had a chance to see it yet here's an exclusive clip. Ewan McGregor stars as a ghost writer hired to pen the autobiography of former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan). He soon uncovers secrets that endanger his own life and puts him in the middle of an international war crimes controversy. In the clip below Ewan meets with a delightfully evasive old associate of Lang's, played by Tom Wilkinson. You can watch Ewan talk about the controversy surrounding Polanski here. Watch: ...
- 3/2/2010
- by Katy Hall
- Huffington Post
Courtesy of Summit Entertainment
Roman Polanski found the time to direct The Ghost Writer, based off the novel written by Robert Harris. Polanski and Harris then tweaked the novel into a screenplay which turned into a 128 minute flick. As a movie, it works fairly well. Having never read the book, this critic can't say if that is a good thing or not. As a book, one may not want to finish reading the pages. Luckily, one won't mind finishing the movie just to see how things play out in this tale of mystery. Thank the cast for that.
Ewan McGregor plays a ghost writer (he has no name) hired to finish an autobiography of Britain's former Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Bronson). The key word is finish, for the last ghost writer suddenly washed-up on a shore in nearby New England. As McGregor's character goes through the motions of getting...
Roman Polanski found the time to direct The Ghost Writer, based off the novel written by Robert Harris. Polanski and Harris then tweaked the novel into a screenplay which turned into a 128 minute flick. As a movie, it works fairly well. Having never read the book, this critic can't say if that is a good thing or not. As a book, one may not want to finish reading the pages. Luckily, one won't mind finishing the movie just to see how things play out in this tale of mystery. Thank the cast for that.
Ewan McGregor plays a ghost writer (he has no name) hired to finish an autobiography of Britain's former Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Bronson). The key word is finish, for the last ghost writer suddenly washed-up on a shore in nearby New England. As McGregor's character goes through the motions of getting...
- 3/2/2010
- Tampa Film Examiner
Courtesy of Summit Entertainment
Roman Polanski found the time to direct The Ghost Writer, based off the novel written by Robert Harris. Polanski and Harris then tweaked the novel into a screenplay which turned into a 128 minute flick. As a movie, it works fairly well. Having never read the book, this critic can't say if that is a good thing or not. As a book, one may not want to finish reading the pages. Luckily, one won't mind finishing the movie just to see how things play out in this tale of mystery. Thank the cast for that.
Ewan McGregor plays a ghost writer (he has no name) hired to finish an autobiography of Britain's former Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Bronson). The key word is finish, for the last ghost writer suddenly washed-up on a shore in nearby New England. As McGregor's character goes through the motions of getting...
Roman Polanski found the time to direct The Ghost Writer, based off the novel written by Robert Harris. Polanski and Harris then tweaked the novel into a screenplay which turned into a 128 minute flick. As a movie, it works fairly well. Having never read the book, this critic can't say if that is a good thing or not. As a book, one may not want to finish reading the pages. Luckily, one won't mind finishing the movie just to see how things play out in this tale of mystery. Thank the cast for that.
Ewan McGregor plays a ghost writer (he has no name) hired to finish an autobiography of Britain's former Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Bronson). The key word is finish, for the last ghost writer suddenly washed-up on a shore in nearby New England. As McGregor's character goes through the motions of getting...
- 3/2/2010
- Tampa Film Examiner
Courtesy of Summit Entertainment
Roman Polanski found the time to direct The Ghost Writer, based off the novel written by Robert Harris. Polanski and Harris then tweaked the novel into a screenplay which turned into a 128 minute flick. As a movie, it works fairly well. Having never read the book, this critic can't say if that is a good thing or not. As a book, one may not want to finish reading the pages. Luckily, one won't mind finishing the movie just to see how things play out in this tale of mystery. Thank the cast for that.
Ewan McGregor plays a ghost writer (he has no name) hired to finish an autobiography of Britain's former Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Bronson). The key word is finish, for the last ghost writer suddenly washed-up on a shore in nearby New England. As McGregor's character goes through the motions of getting...
Roman Polanski found the time to direct The Ghost Writer, based off the novel written by Robert Harris. Polanski and Harris then tweaked the novel into a screenplay which turned into a 128 minute flick. As a movie, it works fairly well. Having never read the book, this critic can't say if that is a good thing or not. As a book, one may not want to finish reading the pages. Luckily, one won't mind finishing the movie just to see how things play out in this tale of mystery. Thank the cast for that.
Ewan McGregor plays a ghost writer (he has no name) hired to finish an autobiography of Britain's former Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Bronson). The key word is finish, for the last ghost writer suddenly washed-up on a shore in nearby New England. As McGregor's character goes through the motions of getting...
- 3/2/2010
- Tampa Film Examiner
Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer has its own haunt to contend with. The Oscar-winning director is under house arrest in a Swiss chateau nearly 33 years after pleading guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old. The legal controversy over his crimes, potential extradition, and the ensuing public debate has cast a stigma over the movie, but his case dissipates as the ominous opening scene unfolds.
Like Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island, the protagonist becomes isolated on an island, trapped in chaotic rainstorms, and left to the thrilling devices of a legendary filmmaker. Beguiling circumstances brought them both to the typically disposable movie month of February, but they make for a satisfying mystery double feature with reverent Hitchcockian stylings and taut, purposeful editing.
Ewan McGregor is gripping as an unnamed professional ghostwriter contracted to assist former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan) in finishing his memoirs. “All the words are there,...
Like Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island, the protagonist becomes isolated on an island, trapped in chaotic rainstorms, and left to the thrilling devices of a legendary filmmaker. Beguiling circumstances brought them both to the typically disposable movie month of February, but they make for a satisfying mystery double feature with reverent Hitchcockian stylings and taut, purposeful editing.
Ewan McGregor is gripping as an unnamed professional ghostwriter contracted to assist former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan) in finishing his memoirs. “All the words are there,...
- 2/27/2010
- by Jeff Leins
- newsinfilm.com
Atomic Popcorn has an awesome opportunity for 40 of you (along with a guest) to attend a screening for Summit Entertainment’s latest political thriller. The Ghost Writer stars Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, and Kim Cattrall, opens in Baltimore, MD on Friday, March 5, 2010.
For those of you not watching Atomic Popcorn or living under a rock, here is a short synopsis of the movie.
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,...
For those of you not watching Atomic Popcorn or living under a rock, here is a short synopsis of the movie.
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,...
- 2/26/2010
- by Matthew
- Atomic Popcorn
The Ghost Writer
Directed by: Roman Polanski
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan
Running Time: 2 hrs
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: February 26, 2010 (limited)
Plot: An author (McGregor) who is hired to write the memoirs of a controversial politician (Brosnan) finds himself in the middle of the chaos when investigating the prime minister’s true motivations for being in politics.
Who’S It For?: This might be another PG-13 film from Summit Entertainment, distributors of New Moon, but The Ghost Writer is for the thinking men and women, not boys and girls.
Expectations: I knew more about Polanski’s scandal than I did his new film before going in. I was also skeptical as to what meaning this story would give to the term “ghost writer.”
Scorecard (0-10)
Actors:
Pierce Brosnan as Adam Lang: Simply judging by his face, Brosnan is a great choice to play a Tony Blair-like politician.
Directed by: Roman Polanski
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan
Running Time: 2 hrs
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: February 26, 2010 (limited)
Plot: An author (McGregor) who is hired to write the memoirs of a controversial politician (Brosnan) finds himself in the middle of the chaos when investigating the prime minister’s true motivations for being in politics.
Who’S It For?: This might be another PG-13 film from Summit Entertainment, distributors of New Moon, but The Ghost Writer is for the thinking men and women, not boys and girls.
Expectations: I knew more about Polanski’s scandal than I did his new film before going in. I was also skeptical as to what meaning this story would give to the term “ghost writer.”
Scorecard (0-10)
Actors:
Pierce Brosnan as Adam Lang: Simply judging by his face, Brosnan is a great choice to play a Tony Blair-like politician.
- 2/26/2010
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
Director: Roman Polanski Writer: Robert Harris (Novel & Adaptation) Starring: Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Kim Cattrall, Olivia Williams, Tom Wilkinson There’s a dead guy on the beach which leaves former British Prime Minster, Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan) sans a ghost writer for his memoirs. The hunt is on for a warm body to fill his shoes, and The Ghost (Ewan McGregor) becomes the beneficiary of Lang’s life story. But nothing is ever as it seems, and The Ghost seems to sense that this assignment is going to be a strange one from the beginning. But before he has a chance to opt-out, he is quickly whisked away to Lang’s ocean-side hideaway. What he finds is an Adam Lang that is different from what he expected: a man whose past political mistakes have caught up with him, and who is seemingly not who he appears to be. As The...
- 2/26/2010
- by Dirk Sonniksen
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
It makes sense that Roman Polanski's new film "The Ghost Writer" is being compared to the tense, taut political thrillers of the 70s. It comes out of a time where right wing politics has taken the planet somewhere unsavory, in exactly the same way Nixon and his cronies did during the Vietnam War. Essentially, it's about political corruption, and how the system will grind down any individual who gets in its way, especially when said individual is little more than an unnamed book writer brought into the halls of power. Said writer is The Ghost, played by Ewan McGregor, who gives him the flirtatious edge of a consummate scoundrel. He's hired to freshen up the memoirs of former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan), whose original writer drunkenly toppled off of a Massachusetts ferry, nearby the property Lang is staying at during a lecture series. It should be good,...
- 2/25/2010
- Upcoming-Movies.com
The Alamo Guide
for February 26th, 2010
I’ve got to stop bitching about the weather. Last week I praised February, and then yesterday it snowed. Snowed. Whatevs. I’m over it.We were surprised earlier this week when we found out we’d be getting Roman Polanski’s newest thriller early than expected! The Ghost Writer opens Friday at S. Lamar and has Ewan McGregor’s dreamy face all over it, with Pierce Brosnan trying to kill that dreamy face. I think. I haven’t seen it yet! Cop Out also opens this weekend, and if you love 30 Rock as much as I do, you’ll probably go see it just for Tracy Morgan! Also, the red band trailer makes me giggle A Lot. Speaking of giggling inappropriately, it’s time for the return of Spike And Mike’S Sick And Twisted Festival Of Animation! Longest title ever! Grossest cartoons ever!
for February 26th, 2010
I’ve got to stop bitching about the weather. Last week I praised February, and then yesterday it snowed. Snowed. Whatevs. I’m over it.We were surprised earlier this week when we found out we’d be getting Roman Polanski’s newest thriller early than expected! The Ghost Writer opens Friday at S. Lamar and has Ewan McGregor’s dreamy face all over it, with Pierce Brosnan trying to kill that dreamy face. I think. I haven’t seen it yet! Cop Out also opens this weekend, and if you love 30 Rock as much as I do, you’ll probably go see it just for Tracy Morgan! Also, the red band trailer makes me giggle A Lot. Speaking of giggling inappropriately, it’s time for the return of Spike And Mike’S Sick And Twisted Festival Of Animation! Longest title ever! Grossest cartoons ever!
- 2/25/2010
- by caitlin
- OriginalAlamo.com
Roman Polanski has been called many names. In just the last few months since his arrest, the Academy Award-winning director has been labeled .escaped convict,. .rapist,. and .child molester.. But let me remind you Polanski is also one of the greatest directors working today. The proof is displayed in his new tragicomic political intrigue film .The Ghost Writer..
Ewan McGregor stars as a gifted author hired to ghostwrite the memoirs of a controversial former British Prime Minister, Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan). Billed simply as The Ghost, McGregor is perfect for this Hitchcockian role of a man who knows too much.
From the very beginning, The Ghost senses that not everything is copasetic with this lucrative assignment. He.s getting paid $10 million to rewrite the manuscript a previous ghostwriter has finished. That ghostwriter seemed to have died of an apparent suicide, or did he?
In the middle of winter, The Ghost...
Ewan McGregor stars as a gifted author hired to ghostwrite the memoirs of a controversial former British Prime Minister, Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan). Billed simply as The Ghost, McGregor is perfect for this Hitchcockian role of a man who knows too much.
From the very beginning, The Ghost senses that not everything is copasetic with this lucrative assignment. He.s getting paid $10 million to rewrite the manuscript a previous ghostwriter has finished. That ghostwriter seemed to have died of an apparent suicide, or did he?
In the middle of winter, The Ghost...
- 2/23/2010
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
Shutter Island got all the ink last weekend. So I'm here to remind you not to forget about The Ghost Writer, which opened in limited release around the country on February 19. In my review I called it a "well-made, sleekly retaliatory, pleasurably paranoid tale" -- which goes along with my old colleague Peter Travers' declaration that the movie "ties you up in knots of tension." Much of that tension has to do with the fraught intersection of political power, covert agendas and operations, and capitalism: Ewan McGregor plays a journalist hired to ghostwrite the memoirs of Pierce Brosnan as a former British Prime Minister.
- 2/23/2010
- by Lisa Schwarzbaum
- EW.com - The Movie Critics
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