“Brave” Scottish film saves the day?

In recent years the Edinburgh International Film Festival has been struggling slightly with securing finance, and last year in 2011 it was described as a “flop” despite its long and prestigious history. But fortunately for the festival the new animated Disney-Pixar film “Brave” could save the day! Set in the Scottish Highlands and due to be released later this year, the film festival has managed to secure the European premier of the movie for their finale. And the film’s world premier is expected to go to Hollywood. Staring the (voices of) Scottish actor Billy Connolly with Kelly Macdonald playing the lead role of Merida.

Trailer:

Alex Salmond, Scotland’s First Minister, was lucky enough to experience an exclusive screening of clips from the film, which is expected to boost Scotland’s tourism, and he seemed suitably impressed. The plot revolves around the character of Princess Merida who is determined to take control of her own life and gain independence from her parents; a slightly more modest ambition than Salmond’s aim for an independent Scotland.

A word on the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2012:

Running from the 20^th of June till the 1^st of July there’s still plenty of time to get involved or even work at this year’s festival with a link to their website.

Kelly Macdonald:

The Scottish actress is known for playing Diane in the independent film “Trainspotting” (1996) as well as her more recent mainstream roles including Evangeline in “Nanny McPhee” (2005) and Helena Ravenclaw also known as “The Grey Lady” in the finally Harry Potter movie (2011).

Macdonald was also mentioned in one of the previous blog posts as she stars in “The Decoy Bride” with David Tennant.

As Billy Connolly also features in "Brave" playing the role of King Fergus, here is a link to the blog about his part in movie adaptation of "The Hobbit."

Butler to star in “Brilliant”

Paisley born, Gerard Butler has managed to land his first film role since leaving rehab for his drug addiction. 

Butler recently emerged after his three-week stint in rehab but before then had successfully managed to keep his dependency on drugs private. Unlike other celebrities in the public eye, such as: Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears, whose issues were plastered all over the fronts of tabloids and magazines. He was described as “looking fresh and happy,” by perezhilton.com after the treatment for his abuse of prescription painkillers came to a conclusion. He was also reported to be back to business just one day after his departure from the clinic.

Butler will play a minor criminal working with a female thief and the pair are to attempt the largest ever diamond robbery in history. He will play the lead in “Brilliant” taking over from Eric Bana, who bailed out of the project. The film, which isn’t to be released until 2013, will be directed by Robert Luketic, with Gillian Gorfil as the screenplay writer. But is it wise to hire Butler so soon after his emergence from rehab, with the possibility of a relapse which could threaten to derail the whole project? It's certainly a risk, which the producers will be praying pays off!

Scotland’s Gerard Butler is known worldwide and here are just a few projects he has been involved with:

• Butler was recognised for his portrayal of the character: King Leonidas in 300 (2006), where he and a 300 strong army fought the Persians at Thermopylae in 480 B.C.
• In “P.S. I Love You” (2007) he played a charming Irish man: Gerry, who left his wife (played by Hilary Swank) 10 messages to help her through the grieving process and ease her pain after his premature death.
• In 2010 he starred alongside Jennifer Aniston in “The Bounty Hunter.” When doing his job hunting down criminals he discovers that his ex-wife is the next target in the action filled romantic comedy.

“You’ve Been Trumped”

Few people would believe that a “multi-award-winning Scottish film” would bring humiliation to Scotland, but that’s what’s been suggested by Brian Wilson in an article on the “The Scotsman” newspaper website.

The documentary film in question, which has been named “You’ve Been Trumped”, is about American tycoon Donald Trump and his determination to create his multi-million pound golf course. Recently Trump boasted about building “The greatest golf course in the world.” This was despite protests by conservationists in Aberdeen trying to protect the environment and the angry locals who Trump was trying to force out of their homes with compulsory purchase orders.

The writer of the article says that the Scottish Government and Grampian Police should be ashamed of themselves. This also includes regular Scottish people who were aware of the issues but took little interest and didn’t take action against the golf course extravaganza. 

The director, Anthony Baxter, saw an opportunity to make the movie when he heard about the troubles, and had an inkling that the news wasn’t reporting the full story. Therefore Baxter took it upon himself to investigate, and speak to those involved: discovering that the local residents who campaigned against Trump’s golf plans were hounded by him.

Trailer:

Something to celebrate:

On a more positive note, the film, which was released in 2011, has been a massive success for the director, despite the Trump Organisation branding it as “a failure.” “You’ve Been Trumped” has won a magnitude of awards including “Best Documentary Award” at one of America’s largest film festivals and a “Social Justice Award” at Hamptons International Film Festival.

There is the possibility that a number of Scots are wondering why they were unaware of this achievement, and it is probably due to the fact that the “Scottish outlets [screening the film] to date have been minuscule.” Meaning that, ironically, very few people know about the documentary in Scotland.

Scottish Actor Shoots with Brad Pitt!

Raised in Edinburgh Ruari Cannon is a rising star and after appearing in Brad Pitt’s “World War Z” his future acting career looks promising. The movie, which was directed by Marc Forester, is about a U.N. employee racing around the world to save the population from a potentially deadly Zombie pandemic. The 20-year-old plays a zombie named Meth and has said this about the role:

“It was tough because my character is a zombie and is dead behind the eyes. He is supposed to have given up on life itself but he turns a corner.”

Shooting face-to-face with Brad Pitt himself the young actor learned a lot and received some specialist advice on his first ever film role. At just 17 it seems his talent was clear and Ruari won a Scholarship to study at the American Academy for Dramatic Arts in New York. Previously Cannon was heavily involved in stage productions such as “Oliver!”, “The Merchant of Venice” and “A Streetcar Named Desire.”

The city of Glasgow was lucky enough to play host to the film set of “World War Z” and last August part of the town was transformed into Philadelphia. Glasgow was home to around 1200 cast and crew and as a result of this the city has been said to have made around 2 million pounds in profit. Unfortunately the eagerly anticipated apocalyptic movie isn’t to be released in the UK until January 2013.

Here is a link to a newspaper article about the “World War Z” filming in Glasgow last year.

The Wee Yin?

Scottish comedian Billy Connolly, affectionately known by fans as The Big Yin, is set to play a dwarf in Peter Jackson’s movie adaption of the hit novel by J.R.R. Tolkien.

“The Hobbit”, which was first published in 1937, is a prelude to Tolkien’s popular “The Lord of the Rings” series and will be split into two films. The first movie: “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” is scheduled to be released in December of this year (2012) with the second movie: “The Hobbit: There and Back Again” to come out late the following year. 

Trailer:

Jackson, the director, was quoted saying:

"We could not think of a more fitting actor to play Dain Ironfoot, the staunchest and toughest of the dwarves, than Billy Connolly, the Big Yin himself," 

Filming has already begun in New Zealand where The Shire, home to the hobbits, and other sets have been built.

Recently, after being voted the “most influential comedian of all time” by the public in a poll organised by TV channel Dave, Connolly has suffered heckles from some of his UK audience members. This has resulted in two of his shows being prematurely ended, leaving both the 69-year-old funny man and his fans unimpressed.

Here is a link to Connolly’s official website including his blog and information on other projects.

Our Favourite Scottish Time Lord becomes a Groom.

Scottish born actor David Tennant, best known for his five year stint on “Doctor Who” as the Tenth Doctor, is starring in soon-to-be released “The Decoy Bride.” Set on a Scottish Island the comedy is about the marriage of a famous actress (Alice Eve) and James, her fiancé, (Tennant) trying to escape the paparazzi on their special day. When the photographers turn up, however, they are forced to hire Katie, a local girl, (Kelly MacDonald) to be the decoy for the press. But when Katie meets James sparks fly. The film is planned to be released the 9^th of March and available on DVD from the 12^th.


Trailer:

CinemaBlend.com has described “The Decoy Bride” by saying:

“The trailer is actually funny, though the story looks like it could tread into familiar waters, with a woman falling for a spoken-for man, who may just full for her back, and the odd-man(bride)-out possibly being unlikeable enough to root firmly against. That aside, it looks like a fun comedy, and I can easily see being charmed by the cast (particularly Tennant and MacDonald).”

So if your up for a laugh and don’t mind a bit of cliché then this movie might be the one for you! Here is a link to the full article!

“The Decoy Bride” was filmed on the Isle of Man but set in Scotland! Here are some other Scottish location doubles.

If you want to check out any more of Tennant’s work then here are a few of the other projects he’s been involved in:

•       A remake of the 1985 cult film “Fright Night” (2011).
•       The 2009 TV film “Hamlet” for the BBC with David Tennant in the title role.
•       Barty Crouch Junior in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” (2005).
•       And of course the Tenth Doctor in the long running TV series “Doctor Who”.

 

Silver Tongues

Up and coming Scottish filmmaker, Simon Arthur had his debut at the Glasgow Film Festival, which returned to the city once again last week. The feature film “Silver Tongues” is about a couple travelling through America. The pair devise different identities to play pranks on everyone they meet, gradually growing darker as the movie progresses. Starring Lee Tergesen and Enid Graham, the deceit filled movie was screened over the weekend of the 18^th and 19^th of February, and appears to be a success for the young director. 

Interview with the Director:

Glasgow Film Festival 2012:

This year’s annual festival, like the ones before it, aimed at bringing a film festival to people not involved in the industry with attractions such as “European Cinema”, “Best of British” and also some free events. Don’t worry if you’ve missed out though! Glasgow film festival continues to run until Sunday the 26^th of February with the closing gala of “Le Harve”, by Finnish director and screenwriter Aki Kaurismäki.

Tickets are still available at the Glasgow Film Festival website.