Several years after his wife’s death, novelist Mike Noonan still suffers writer’s block. A dream inspires him to return to the couple’s summer retreat in western Maine, a lakeside house called Sara Laughs. Shortly after arriving, Noonan is caught in the middle of a custody battle involving the daughter of an attractive young widow and the child’s enormously wealthy grandfather. He also discovers that Sara Laughs is haunted and that his late wife, Joanna, still has something to tell him.

The Film:

If you missed it in the theaters, you will want to be sure to catch Roman Polanski’s latest oeuvre The Ghost Writer, a taunt political thriller. The memoirs of former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan) suffer from an inauspicious beginning: the first writer met with a quick demise, either accident or suicide. When the new, never-named Ghost (Ewan McGregor) arrives in the middle of winter to work on the book at a post-modern oceanfront house along the Atlantic, almost immediately the political landscape shifts as a former cabinet member indicts the PM of illegal terrorist seizure and torture. While closeted from the invading press outside, the writer must sail between the Scylla of Lang’s wife Ruth, who has the clever cunning and ambition of Lady McBeth (Olivia Williams), and the Charybdis of Lang’s controlling assistant and mistress Amelia (Kim Cattrall). When the writer stumbles upon a clue linking Lang to the CIA, the mystery accelerates as the protagonist encounters deception at every turn, treachery political, romantic and literary.

The story, based on the novel Robert Harris’ novel Ghost (who with Polanski authored the screenplay), carries the day. The acting is standout and against type. McGregor played a magical poet in Moulin Rouge; here is straightforward functionary, like an everyman in Hitchcock’s 1950′s Paramount world who finds himself battling larger, unknown forces. Neither Bond nor nutty ABBA crooner, Brosnan is believable, fighting for his political life. Kim Cattrall, Urcougar as Samantha Jones from Sex and the City, radiates intelligence and icy chill. The manuscript itself plays a central character as it is inspected, locked away and stolen. The film is one of Polanski’s best, the equal of Knife in Water and perhaps only second to Chinatown, one of my top five films of all time.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: The DVD version from Summit Entertainment, looks and sounds incredible. A very sharp copy indeed, which is important for many of the scenes occur in darkness or along the blustery beach.

Extras: The extras are three and run a little more than a half-hour:

Ghost Writer – Fiction or Reality: In the most interesting of the three segments, author Robert Harris narrates his involvement with the film. Originally Polanski was interested in another Harris novel “Pompeii,” only to fall for “The Ghost” while still in the galleys. Harris contends he and Polanski watched Sunset Boulevard in order to better understand narration for the tale. And no, the film is not about former PM Tony Blair, so quit asking. About fifteen worthy minutes.

Ghost Writer – The Cast: Here the principal players wax sonorous about working with each other and the acclaimed director. Nice shout out to some of the bit-part players here like Jim Belushi, Tim Hutton, Tom Wilkinson, and the 94 year-old acting legend Eli Wallach. About ten skipable minutes.

An Interview with Roman Polanski: Too bad R.P. Productions was not able to have Polanski sit down with the film for a scene-by scene critique (though one understands that his legal troubles probably put the kibosh on that). Instead, we learn in cursory fashion his feelings about the story, the cast, the setting and the ending–about a minute on each. The other four minutes are interspersed with photomontages from the film without dialogue. The poor sound quality from the interview can best be described as “tinny” or according to my daughter Claudia, “hollow.” Polanski deserves better.

The Film: Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

The DVD: Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Orphan

The comedic thriller, penned by Douglas Stone and George Ratliff, is set in the world of mega-churches in which a former Deadhead-turned-born again-Christian finds himself on the run from fundamentalist members of his mega-church who will do anything to protect their larger-than-life pastor (CS!). Salvation Boulevard is based off the novel written by Larry Beinhart.

Celine Rattray and Cathy Schulman are producing with Myriad and Mandalay Pictures attached to the production. No word yet on when filming will start but at the moment the feature is set for a 2011 release date.

The story tells the tale of recovered alcoholic Carl Van Wagener, a man torn between the comfort of belonging to his evangelical megachurch and his respect for the Constitution and the rule of law. He is an ordinary man, a cop turned private investigator, and he is ill-equipped to confront the logical, theological, and philosophical dilemmas that arise when he is asked to investigate the murder charge against a Muslim student arrested for killing a local professor who questioned the existence of God. But pressure from within his megachurch—and from his true-believing wife—to drop the case, force him to question faith, religion, marriage, and even the beneficent God who will welcome him into a Christian-only heaven.

Those already part of the cast is Pierce Brosnan, Ed Harris and Jim Gaffigan. Tomei is in the middle of talks to star in this thriller under Mandalay Vision.

The Greatest tells the story of Allen (Brosnan) and Grace Brewer (Sarandon), a grief-stricken couple whose family has been pushed to the breaking point by the death of their older son, Bennett (Johnson), in a car crash.  When a young woman, Rose (Mulligan), shows up a few months later announcing that she is pregnant with Bennett’s child, the Brewers are forced to take her in.  At first, Rose’s presence threatens to tear the family even further apart but, eventually, her interaction with each of the Brewers proves to be the very thing that brings them back together.

The Greatest comes out in theaters on April 2nd in New York and Los Angeles, so keep your eyes out for it if you live in either of those areas.:

The film, directed by Hollywoodland helmer Allen Coulter, also includes the talents of Pierce Brosnan and Chris Cooper. Collider presents to us several new clips and images to go and get all of you salivating for more on the inevitable March 12th release. Check them out below, and if you want to see even more production stills from the movie click here.:

One of the strongest things about the entire film is the script, written by both Polanski and Robert Harris. Though the picture is predictable to an extent, it still draws your attention a majority of the time with the solid dialogue and development. The pacing is a little off beat at times. At one point you could be in the smooth flow of the movie, and then suddenly an invisible speed bump will hit and then it drops to a snail’s pace. Despite that, most of the acting does save the day.

McGregor is easily the most enjoyable character to watch as The Ghost. Everyone else practically takes a back seat to McGregor, not because the script calls for it, but because his screen presence and likable character captures your attention. Brosnan is under used but strong whenever he appears. Unfortunately the most annoying of the bunch goes to Kim Cattrall with one of the worst accents heard on screen by these ears in awhile.

Polanski’s direction within the extent of the feature is subtle yet strong enough to carry the plot of the novel adaptation from start to finish. The famed director has not been behind the camera for a thriller of this caliber in decades, but it does not show. However, this is not one of Polanski’s strongest films, a majority of it purely riding of McGregor and the script.

Overall The Ghost Writer flows on as a satisfying thriller that sheds a bit more hope for the dull early months, that quality features can still flow out of the theaters no matter what time of the year it is.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) finds out that he’s a half breed child of the God Poseidon (Kevin McKidd) or demi-God if you’r one of those politically correct types, after Zeus (Sean Bean) accuses him of stealing his lightning bolt. The awesome weapon wielded by the God of Gods. Knowing that he didn’t steal the bolt and feeling a little cheated that his pops never hung around to play catch with him, Percy sets out on a quest to find the real lightning thief, and plead his case to Zeus himself.

I’m a sucker for Greek Mythology. I love all the different Gods with all their different personalities and character flaws. I find it interesting that these Gods got jealous, angry, and even horny. I also enjoy a good quest movie (when said movies doesn’t focus on walking the entire time). Percy Jackson has everything I mentioned above, and it doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Of course no one can embark on a quest alone, well you can embark alone, but sooner or later you must be joined by others that support your cause or just want in on some action (I’m pretty sure this is a rule in the quest handbook). So, because director Chris Columbus knows the rules he waved his director’s wand and added a few friends to help Percy achieve his goals. Grover (Brandon T. Jackson) a guy that’s half man and half goat and is also Percy’s protector (junior protector) goes along for the ride as does uber-hottie Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario).

I enjoyed the fun pacing, along with the new twists on old mythology. All of the actors are solid and Alexandra is yummy. There’s also a host of amazing actors that round out the cast including, Pierce Brosnan, Steve Coogan, Rosario Dawson, Joe Pantoliano, and Uma Thurman. In fact one of my only complaints is that many of these stellar actors were underutilized.

If you watched the trailer and you decided that you’d be cool and hate it because it isn’t artsy enough, or because it was based on a children’s book, then this flick isn’t for you. On the other hand if your open enough to just enjoy a flick for what it is and let your self have a great time at the movies, then this flick is definitely for you, because Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is positively a killer film.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Producing the picture is Celine Rattray under Mandalay Vision with Cathy Schulman under Mandalay Pictures. Initial filming is already set to commence in April. The newly opened Mandalay Vision already has a couple of other projects on their belt, those of them being The Kids Are All Right, The Whistleblower and Soul Surfer.

The Ghost (Ewan McGregor) 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, a former British cabinet minister accuses Lang (Pierce Brosnan) of authorizing the illegal seizure of suspected terrorists and handing them over for torture by the CIA—a war crime. The controversy brings reporters and protesters swarming to the island mansion where Lang is staying with his wife, Ruth (Olivia Williams), and his personal assistant (and mistress), Amelia (Kim Cattrall). As The Ghost works, he begins to uncover clues suggesting his predecessor may have stumbled on a dark secret linking Lang to the CIA—and that somehow this information is hidden in the manuscript he left behind. Was Lang in the service of the American intelligence agency while he was prime minister? And was The Ghost’s predecessor murdered because of the appalling truth he uncovered?

The Ghost Writer comes out in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on February 19th with an expanded release on February 26th.:

When a successful British ghost writer, 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 film stars the talents of Ewan McGregor along with Pierce Brosnan, Kim Cattrall, Olivia Williams and Timothy Hutton. The film comes out in theaters under Summit Entertainment on a limited release on February 19th.:

When a successful British ghost writer, The Ghost (Ewan McGregor), agrees to complete the memoirs of former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan), 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, a former British cabinet ministeraccuses Lang of authorizing the illegal seizure of suspected terrorists and handing them over for torture by the CIA—a war crime. The controversy brings reporters and protesters swarming to the island mansion where Lang is staying with his wife, Ruth (Olivia Williams), and his personal assistant (and mistress), Amelia (Kim Cattrall). As The Ghost works, he begins to uncover clues suggesting his predecessor may have stumbled on a dark secret linking Lang to the CIA—and that somehow this information is hidden in the manuscript he left behind. Was Lang in the service of the American intelligence agency while he was prime minister? And was The Ghost’s predecessor murdered because of the appalling truth he uncovered?

With a cast that also includes Timothy Hutton and Tom Wilkinson, this upcoming drama storms out into limited theaters on February 19th. Check out the official poster below from Summit Entertainment.:

The Ghost Writer stars Ewan McGregor as a successful British ghostwriter, THE GHOST, agrees to complete the memoirs of former British Prime Minister ADAM LANG (Pierce Brosnan), 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 feature is written and directed by Roman Polanski, based on a novel of the same name by Robert Harris. The Ghost Writer will be premiering at the Berlin International Film Festival and will be out in theaters on February 19th. Check out the international trailer below from Latino Review.:

New International Trailer for The Ghost Writer

The film stars Robert Pattinson, Emilie de Ravin and Pierce Brosnan. The Summit Entertainment and Underground Films and Management feature is directed by Allen Coulter, coming out in theaters everywhere on March 12th. Look at the pictures and poster right below.:

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 feature is based off of the novel of the same name written by Robert Harris.

Although it’s in a foreign language, here’s the first trailer to appear for the upcoming feature (thanks to /Film).: