Roger Ebert: Eat pray love

Elizabeth Gilbert's book "Eat, Pray, Love," unread by me, spent 150 weeks on the New York Times best seller list and is by some accounts a good one. It is also movie material, concerning as it does a tall blond (Gilbert) who ditches a failing marriage and a disastrous love affair to spend a year living in Italy, India and Bali seeking to find the balance of body, mind and spirit.

During this journey, great-looking men are platooned at her, and a wise man, who has to be reminded who she is, remembers instantly, although what he remembers is only what she's just told him.

Shekhar Kapur is Climbing Everest

Shekhar Kapur is Climbing Everest - With a George Mallory biopic

Shekhar Kapur has had more success when making films about iconic British figures (Elizabeth) than attempting to remake dramas (The Four Feathers). So he’s sticking with his strength for a biopic about famed explorer George Mallory.

Vanity Fair’s Mark Skeet and Matthew Faulk have worked on the script with producer Kevin Townsend, and the plot will follow Mallory’s growing obsession with conquering Everest and the strain it places on his marriage.

His quest had a tragic ending – in 1924 he and his climbing partner disappeared 800 feet from the summit of the mighty mountain, and his body was discovered years later, in 1999. Oh, and… er… spoiler alert! Sorry, probably too late on that one.

The movie has an unexpected other partner – Julia Roberts is producing with her Red Om company, though we don’t think she’s taking a role. Mallory is also the subject of an upcoming Imax documentary, The Wildest Dream, which boasts Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and the late Natasha Richardson among its voice cast.

James White

Shekhar Kapur is Climbing Everest

Shekhar Kapur is Climbing Everest - With a George Mallory biopic

Shekhar Kapur has had more success when making films about iconic British figures (Elizabeth) than attempting to remake dramas (The Four Feathers). So he’s sticking with his strength for a biopic about famed explorer George Mallory.

Vanity Fair’s Mark Skeet and Matthew Faulk have worked on the script with producer Kevin Townsend, and the plot will follow Mallory’s growing obsession with conquering Everest and the strain it places on his marriage.

His quest had a tragic ending – in 1924 he and his climbing partner disappeared 800 feet from the summit of the mighty mountain, and his body was discovered years later, in 1999. Oh, and… er… spoiler alert! Sorry, probably too late on that one.

The movie has an unexpected other partner – Julia Roberts is producing with her Red Om company, though we don’t think she’s taking a role. Mallory is also the subject of an upcoming Imax documentary, The Wildest Dream, which boasts Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and the late Natasha Richardson among its voice cast.

James White