Ewan Mcgregor

Kids 6 and older The Lorax (94 min., PG) This animated version of the Dr. Seuss children's classic has two goons who loom large and might scare kids under 6. An encounter with a foreboding wasteland is, well, foreboding. But nothing is really too scary here, even in 3-D. The middle ground John Carter (132 min., PG-13) A Confederate veteran ends up on Mars in this live-action telling of Edgar Rice Burroughs's sci-fi saga. The film includes battle scenes and other mayhem, but most involve Martian creatures that bleed in royal blue, which doesn't seem gory.

The most startling sight in "Men in Black 3" isn't any extraterrestrial. It's seeing Josh Brolin being Tommy Lee Jones. Both men play the same character, Agent K, with Brolin as a younger version. It's two sets of squints and snarls for the price of one. A pair of actors playing the same character (sometimes in the same movie, sometimes in different ones) isn't all that common. But it does happen, and sometimes memorably. Both Marlon Brando, in "The Godfather," and Robert De Niro, in "The Godfather: Part II" won Oscars for playing Vito Corleone.

NEW YORK - It would be easy for Ewan McGregor to settle into romantic leading man roles. After all, his magnetic blue eyes, winning smile, and easy manner kind of scream "love interest. " But the 40-year-old Scottish actor is not looking to be typecast. Instead, he says, he loves challenging his acting skills with diverse and surprising work. "I would never want to find a niche where I would just repeat myself," says McGregor on a recent morning at a midtown hotel. "The joy of acting is that you get to play other people - I don't just want to play a version of myself.

You can see where Woody Harrelson would be keen to collaborate with filmmaker Oren Moverman, who cast the actor as a casualty-notification officer in the military drama "The Messenger," and as a similarly complicated LA cop in "Rampart" (2012). Harrelson hasn't had a double shot of roles this richly provocative since the days of "Natural Born Killers" and "The People vs. Larry Flynt. " Harrelson plays Dave Brown, an LAPD vet who's been abusing his authority for years. The film's personification of corruption and racism is familiar – see "Colors," "Southland," and on and on – but...

LOS ANGELES -- Matthew McGrory, the deep-voiced, 7-foot-plus actor who moved from stints on Howard Stern's radio show to a high-profile role as a gentle giant in the movie "Big Fish," has died. He was 32. Mr. McGrory died Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles, said director Drew Sky, who was working with him on his current movie, a biopic of wrestler-turned-actor Andre the Giant. Paramedics determined that he died of apparent natural causes, police said. Mr. McGrory, who had size 29 1/2 shoes, appeared on Stern's show in the 1990s and received other attention from the...

Mallory Kane (Gina Carano), the covert operative at the center of Steven Soderbergh's "Haywire," is a heartbreaker. If your heart belongs to one of the movie's male stars - Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, Michael Fassbender, Ewan McGregor, Channing Tatum - the haste with which some of them are dispatched will cause it to break. Carano is an unconventional choice to build a movie around, but Soderbergh has always been as attracted to recessive personalities (like his own) as he has been to dominant ones.

DOWN WITH LOVE *** (Max on Comcast) Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor in a fond but rather wobbly parody of old Doris Day/Rock Hudson comedies. Director Peyton Reed dresses the film in the swanky colors of the lounge era, and the script is clever when it's not being naughty. David Hyde Pierce steals the film in what used to be the old Tony Randall role. (PG-13; runs through Sept. 15) TY BURR SCHOOL TIES *** (Showtime on Comcast) This film travels first class to its story of anti-Semitism boiling away beneath the blazers and wood paneling at a luxuriantly austere boarding school in...

THE GHOST WRITER (Comcast Movies: All Movies) A minor treat from a major filmmaker. Roman Polanski directs this political thriller about a ghost writer (Ewan McGregor) uncovering ugly secrets about his subject, a recently ousted British prime minister (Pierce Brosnan), and it’s a dark entertainment put together with sly, elegant gamesmanship. Costarring Kim Cattrall and Olivia Williams, the latter unnervingly good. (PG-13; runs through Jan. 31) TY BURR EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES (Comcast Movies: All Movies)

A straight-up action picture may sound unusual coming from Steven Soderbergh, but as he's repeatedly demonstrated throughout his career, he's keen to experiment with every genre imaginable. And if you look closely at his latest, "Haywire," you'll find it reveals glimmers of some of his greatest hits. It's a revenge thriller like "The Limey" (and comes from the same screenwriter, Lem Dobbs). It features a color-coded palette scheme to correspond with each new location in this globe-trotting tale, like "Traffic.

VELVET GOLDMINE (1998) Todd Haynes's fascination with the Ziggy Stardust glam rock glitterscape is both a strength and limitation of this always atmospheric, sometimes inaccessible drama, new to Blu-ray. With Jonathan Rhys Meyers as a fictionalized Bowie, Ewan McGregor as a fictionalized Iggy Pop, Christian Bale, and Toni Collette. Extras: Haynes ("I'm Not There") elaborates in a new commentary. (Lionsgate, $19.99) THE ROCKETEER (1991) Director Joe Johnston ("Captain America")

Kids 6 and older The Lorax (94 min., PG) This animated version of the Dr. Seuss children's classic has two goons who loom large and might scare kids under 6. An encounter with a foreboding wasteland is, well, foreboding. But nothing is really too scary here, even in 3-D. The middle ground The Hunger Games (142 min., PG-13) Jennifer Lawrence stars as Katniss Everdeen, in this adaptation of the first volume of Suzanne Collins's dystopian trilogy. The violence is quite understated, but we do see bloody, painful-looking wounds.

ON WGBH Greater Boston 7 p.m. WGBH (Channel 2) ON CHRONICLE Centennials 7:30 p.m. WCVB-TV (Channel 5) In 1912, Fenway Park opened, an innovative hunting shoe launched L.L. Bean, the Copley Plaza Hotel welcomed its first guests, and the Girl Scouts expanded horizons for youngsters. RADIO HIGHLIGHTS Tent Show Radio 5 a.m. WUMB-FM (91.9) Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua. The Emily Rooney Show noon WGBH-FM (89.7) Steve Almond guest hosts.

ON WGBH Greater Boston 7 p.m. WGBH (Channel 2) Bob Hildreth of Foundation for an Open America, which assists immigrants in civic, educational, and financial goals. Oregon Republican Presidential Debate 9 p.m. WGBH (Channel 44) Moderators: Ray Suarez ("PBS NewsHour") and Ralph Z. Hallow (Washington Times). ON CHRONICLE What Are You? 7:30 p.m. WCVB-TV (Channel 5) Shayna Seymour looks at how multiracial Americans are changing perceptions about race and class.

New releases ★★Being Flynn Filmmaker Paul Weitz relocates Nick Flynn's 2004 memoir from Boston to New York, but that isn't the reason the film feels directionless. Paul Dano is wanly reactive as Nick, a struggling writer working at a homeless shelter and confronting his father there. As the latter character, Robert De Niro gives a real performance in a movie that isn't equipped to deal with it. (102 min., R) (Ty Burr) ★★★A Drummer's Dream Apparently, playing percussion requires great smiles as well as great muscles and coordination.

New releases ★★ Being Flynn Filmmaker Paul Weitz relocates Nick Flynn's 2004 memoir from Boston to New York, but that isn't the reason the film feels directionless. Paul Dano is wanly reactive as Nick, a struggling writer working at a homeless shelter and confronting his father there. As the latter, Robert De Niro gives a real performance in a movie that isn't equipped to deal with it. (102 min., R) (Ty Burr) ★★★ A Drummer's Dream Apparently, playing percussion requires great smiles as well as great muscles and coordination.