Sunday, November 1

• Jeff Bridges Had "No Choice" But to Star in The Men Who Stare at Goats

  

  The premise behind The Men Who Stare at Goats -- that the U.S. military employed "psychic spies" during the Cold War -- may seem pretty bizarre, but it's apparently based on an actual program. In fact, actor Jeff Bridges contacted Lt. Col. Jim Channon, the real-life "psychic warrior" that his character in the movie, Bill Django, is based upon for tips when preparing for the role. Bridges told the L.A. Times:

  Jim Channon is alive and well in Hawaii, and he answered all my questions. He's very gung-ho, and he's really dedicated to changing the human direction. A lot of the stuff is far-fetched and easy to laugh at but in my own personal view, it's headed in the right direction. We have to find some way besides killing each other. This stuff is bizarre, but I bet whatever is really going on in the universe is a lot weirder."

  In addition to getting tips from Channon, Bridges said that he used his own strange experiences to help him formulate the character of Django.

  I found myself remembering my own experiences in the 1970s when I hung out with John Lilly, the man who invented the isolation tank and did experiments with trying to communicate with dolphins. I was a test subject in the isolation tank; it was a box with about 2 feet of water and 1,000 pounds of salt so you would float. John was a guy who would shoot acid -- he'd inject LSD straight into his veins -- and go in there for 24 hours.

  

  When it comes to choosing acting roles, Bridges said that he really tries "not to do anything at all."

  I only take projects that come to the point where I have no choice. Whatever sucks me in, whatever beats my resistance, those are the ones I did.

  The Men Who Stare at Goats was written, directed, and produced by Grant Heslov and also stars George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, and Kevin Spacey.

  
  
  Next Showing: The Men Who Stare at Goats opens November 6
  

  The Men Who Stare At Goats - Clip

  Interview: Jeff Bridges on the movie

  Posted 11/01/2009 by BrentJS

  Related: Ewan McGregor | George Clooney | Jeff Bridges | Kevin Spacey | Grant Heslov | The Men Who Stare at Goats

Monday, October 19

• More Jedi Tricks from George Clooney in Second Trailer for The Men Who Stare at Goats

  The Men Who Stare at Goats purports to tell the true story of the U.S. military's flirtation with psychic warfare. And Ewan McGregor, who plays the reporter hot on the trail of this surreal story, insists that's where the weirdest parts of the story come from.

  Most of it's true! In fact, the most unbelievable parts of the film are the true ones. The mundane bits are the bits we made up. The journalist in Iraq — my story, the character I play — is an invention. But there was a rumor that the Russian psychics were bombarding the U.S. president with negative energy, and there was a group within the military trying to combat it. It's crazy, but war is crazy.

  Still, in the second trailer for the movie, we see that those "mundane bits" aren't lacking in comic potential. Not only does George Clooney continue to celebrate his skills as a self-professed "Jedi warrior," he introduces us to his "sparkly-eyes technique" and provides McGregor with a neat lesson in irony. It's all in a day's work for a member of the First Earth Battalion out to put his psychic powers at the service of his country.

  
  

  Posted 10/19/2009 by Bill

  Related: Ewan McGregor | George Clooney | The Men Who Stare at Goats

Thursday, October 15

• Roman Polanski Finishing His Latest Movie from Jail

  

  Ever since his arrest last month, Roman Polanski has been locked away in a Swiss jail awaiting his fate. But that hasn't stopped him from working. Aceshowbiz reports that he is continuing work on his latest movie, an adaptation of the Robert Harris novel The Ghost, while incarcerated.

  Harris spoke with the press and said that Polanski was supplying instructions to composer Alexandre Desplat regarding the score. He also said Polanski is trying to have the movie completed in time for the Berlin Film Festival in February.

  He can make his wishes known from his cell. I don't think he can make phone calls, but he can communicate ... It is a nightmare looming that the director might be in jail at the time [of the film's release] but we will just have to cope with this as the situation develops ... I'm sure he would want the film to go ahead, having worked on it for two years.

  The Ghost tells the story of a ghostwriter who is hired to complete the memoirs of a former British prime minister and eventually uncovers secrets that put his life at risk. Polanski has a writing credit alongside Harris'. No date has been specified for a US release.

  The cast includes Pierce Brosnan, Ewan McGregor, Olivia Williams, Kim Cattrall, Tom Wilkinson, Jim Belushi, and Timothy Hutton.

  
  

  Posted 10/15/2009 by Rich Z

  Related: Ewan McGregor | Olivia Williams | Pierce Brosnan | Timothy Hutton | Kim Cattrall | Roman Polanski | Tom Wilkinson | Jim Belushi | Alexandre Desplat | The Ghost

Thursday, September 10

• The Men Who Stare at Goats: Early Review, a Clooney Stalker, and a Clip

  

  At its first public screning during the Venice Film Festival, The Men Who Stare at Goats scored a big hit. With George Clooney heading up an all-star cast, the weird tale of the United States military gone psychic is drawing comparisons to Dr. Strangelove, Three Kings, and, of course, Catch 22. A review in Variety is particularly effusive in its praise:

  A serendipitous marriage of talent in which all hearts seem to beat as one, The Men Who Stare at Goats takes Jon Ronson's book about "the apparent madness at the heart of U.S. military intelligence" and fashions a superbly written loony-tunes satire, played by a tony cast at the top of its game ... this is upscale liberal movie-making with a populist touch, in Coen brothers style.

  During the festival press conference, Clooney himself was the big draw for fans — and also for a stalker, whose public attempt to proposition the star fell a bit flat. The man, apparently convinced that Clooney is a closeted homosexual whom only he can bring out, stripped down to his boxers, on which he had written "George, pick me."

  For those who'd like to see a bit more of the movie, there's a new clip available in which Special Forces agent Lyn Cassady (Clooney) shows a reporter tagging along with him (Ewan McGregor) some of the many painful uses of an innocuous-looking multi-tool he calls the predator.

  
  

  Posted 09/10/2009 by Bill

  Related: Ewan McGregor | George Clooney | The Men Who Stare at Goats

Friday, August 28

• George Clooney Goes Psychic for The Men Who Stare at Goats

  A new trailer is out for one of the most oddly titled movies of the year. But The Men Who Stare at Goats turns out to be quite a fitting header for this darkly comic tale from the shadowlands of psychic warfare.

  Front and center is U.S. Army First Earth Battalion unit member Lyn Cassady (George Clooney), who purports to be a soldier from the military's super-secret psychic warfare division reactivated for a new mission in the War on Terror. Although you might call him a psychic spy, he explains to a reporter (Ewan McGregor) chasing down the rumors of weird goings-on at the Pentagon that the title he prefers is "Jedi warrior." That pretty much sets the tone for the misadventures that follow.

  The title refers to the power to kill goats just by looking at them. To his credit, Clooney's character does appear to get one poor goat to keel over, although the walking through walls thing definitely needs more work.

  In addition to Clooney and McGregor, the all-star cast features Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey. It is set to premiere at the Toronto film festival next month and opens in theaters November 6.

  
  

  Posted 08/28/2009 by Bill

  Related: Ewan McGregor | George Clooney | Jeff Bridges | Kevin Spacey | The Men Who Stare at Goats

Wednesday, May 13

• Hanks Tells Sensitive People to "'Stay Away" from Angels & Demons

  The Da Vinci Code sequel, Angels & Demons, hits theaters this week and, despite Vatican approval, star Tom Hanks is warning sensitive viewers to skip the film. Hanks told Parade.com:

  If anyone feels that the film is going to be offensive to them, don't see it. I'm here to say do not see the film. Stay away, please, please. I beg of you.

  Both films are adapted from the equally controversial novels by Dan Brown, though the books were published in reverse order, with Angels & Demons taking place prior to The Da Vinci Code. Hanks said of the controversy surrounding the films:

  Every movie is exploited by the marketing people, but it's not like they created the controversy. The first movie had an equal amount of controversy, but nothing was destroyed. The world didn't come to an end, and people still went to church on Sundays. I predict it will be the same after Angels and Demons comes out. People will still go to church and life will go on.

  Directed by Ron Howard, Angels & Demons also stars Ewan McGregor as Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca and Stellan Skarsgård as Commander Rocher.

  
  
  

  Angels & Demons - Trailer

  Tom Hanks Stars - Releasing May 15, 2009

  Posted 05/13/2009 by BrentJS

  Related: Ewan McGregor | Tom Hanks | Ron Howard | The Da Vinci Code

Tuesday, May 12

• Scientists Using Angels & Demons to Spark Interest in Particle Physics

  Angels & Demons, the sequel to the The Da Vinci Code, debuts this week and early reviews describe the film as a lighter, quicker-paced film than its predecessor. Based on the novel by controversial author Dan Brown, the plot of the film centers around a plan to use anti-matter created at the Large Hadron Collider and stolen from the European particle physics laboratory CERN to destroy St. Peter's Basilica.

  Hoping to cash in on what is certain to be another blockbuster hit for director Ron Howard and star Tom Hanks, the scientific community is hosting a series of lectures around the country to coincide with the release of the film. Scientists hope to use dramatic elements of the movie to raise interest in, and awareness of, the real science of anti-matter, the Large Hadron Collider (where anti-matter is created in Angels & Demons and in real life), and particle physics research. Angels & Demons Lecture Nights are presented with the assistance of CERN, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, the Department of Energy, and the National Science Foundation. CERN, headquartered in Geneva, is the world's leading laboratory for particle physics research.

  Hanks plays Robert Langdon, a Harvard University symbologist who is called on to help stop the attack on St. Peter's. He's assisted by Italian scientist Vittoria Vetra, played by Ayelet Zurer. The two travel the world searching for ancient symbols that may contain the key to saving the Vatican from destruction.

  Angels & Demons also stars Ewan McGregor as Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca and Stellan Skarsgård as Commander Rocher.

  
  
  Next Showing: Angels & Demons debuts May 15
  

  Angels & Demons - Trailer

  Tom Hanks Stars - Releasing May 15, 2009

  Posted 05/12/2009 by BrentJS

  Related: Ewan McGregor | Tom Hanks | Ron Howard | The Da Vinci Code

Monday, January 26

• Jim Carrey Questioning Ewen McGregor's Masculinity?

  In his new movie, I Love You, Phillip Morris, Jim Carrey spends substantial screentime kissing his co-star Ewen McGregor. And when he's not kissing him, he's telling him how much he loves him. And yet at a Sundance press conference, the actor exclaimed, "I don't think it's a gay movie. It really is about the lengths we go to for acceptance and love."

  In the movie, which is based on a true story, Carrey plays a married Christian family man who, in the wake of brain trauma sustained in a car accident, metamorphizes into a con artist who likes men. Or at least Ewen McGregor. Who, while not being quite as butch as, say, Keira Knightley, is, as far as we know, a dude. Of course, one must consider marketability, and so apparently Carrey thinks it best to describe his flick in terms of romance novel abstractions rather than physical particulars. This approach certainly worked for Brokeback Mountain's horny cowboys, so who knows, maybe it will work again.

  Here's the trailer.

  
  

  Posted 01/26/2009 by reelz

  Related: Ewan McGregor | Jim Carrey