14/04/2011

Jack The Giant Killer

Jack The Giant Killer
Adventure, Drama & Fantasy - 15-June-2012
A modern day fairy tale in which the long-standing peace between men and giants is threatened, as a young farmer leads an expedition into the giants' kingdom in hopes of rescuing a kidnapped princess.
Cast
Ewan McGregor
Ian McShane...King Brahmwell
Bill Nighy...Fallon
Nicholas Hoult...Jack
Stanley Tucci
Eleanor Tomlinson...Isabella
John Kassir...Fallon
Lee Boardman...Badger
Christopher Villiers
Russell Balogh...Upper Class Merchant
Caroline Hayes...Jack's Mum
Danny Stewart...Peasant 102
Richard Dixon...The King's Artist (uncredited)
Paul Warren...Peasant (uncredited)

06/04/2011

John McIndoe, was born in Chile in 1884

Ewan born in Crieff on 31st March 1971, in Perth Royal Infirmary. His family was however based in Crieff; Ewan being the younger of the two sons of James McGregor and Carol Lawson, both school teachers. The McGregor line can be traced in the area for several generations, going back to Duncan McGregor, Ewan's great-great-greatgrandfather, who was born in Fortingall in the early nineteenth century.

Ewan may sound as Scottish as they come - but he had a South American great grandad called Juan.

The revelation about my dear Ewan, was uncovered as census records from 100 years ago were released online yesterday.

McGregor’s great grandad, known as John McIndoe, was born in Chile in 1884 to a Scots father and was originally called Juan.

He worked as chancellor of the Chilean consulate in Glasgow in 1911 and his daughter married a grocer called James McGregor.

The couple had a son in 1942 also called James, who is Ewan’s father.

The archives show the personal records of 4.7million Scots taken on the April 2, 1911.

Relatives of celebrities including McGregor, Robert Carlyle and chef Gordon Ramsay are featured online.

Ramsay’s great grandparents James Watson Ramsay, a hoistman, and Jeanie Beaton Ramsay were living in Paisley in 1911 with their family.

And Robert Carlyle’s grandfather Peter Gordon was 15 and working as an apprentice in Glasgow.

Registrar general Duncan McNiven said: “We are releasing details we have kept secret for a century, just as we are promising to do with the 2011 census.

“The 1911 census gives us a snapshot of what Scotland was like before the Great War.

“Many thousands of the young people recorded here never returned from the battlefields of Europe.”

Famous Scots who appear on the 1911 census include St Trinian’s actor Alastair Sim and TV inventor John Logie Baird.

The 1911 census will be made available at scotlandspeople.gov.uk.

30/03/2011

Didn't want to play a gay stereotype.

Ewan McGregor Didn't Want To Play A Gay Stereotype In 'I Love You Phillip Morris'

BY ON TOP MAGAZINE STAFF PUBLISHED: MARCH 29, 2011

Ewan McGregor, who plays gay opposite Jim Carrey in I Love You Phillip Morris, says he didn't want to play a gay stereotype.

The film, which first premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, arrives on DVD and Blu-ray on April 5.

I Love You Phillip Morris is based on the true story of Steven Russell (played by Carrey, Liar Liar) and his improbable transformation from small-town businessman, father and former cop to gay white-collar criminal and ingenious jailbreaker. While in prison, Russell falls in love with his cellmate Phillip Morris (played by McGregor, Star Wars).

In a clip released on Tuesday, McGregor says he met with the real Phillip Morris to prepare for the role.

“I went and spent a couple of days with him in Arkansas and hung out with him a little bit,” McGregor said. “We talked a lot about his time in prison. And we talked a lot about his time before that. I just wanted to know as much about his life as I could.”

“I didn't want to look like a straight man playing gay,” McGregor added. “I didn't want to play kind of stereotype – what straight people think gay people are like. I wanted it to be honest and believable.”

21/03/2011

No to nudity!!!!

Ewan says no to nudity

London, Mar 21 ''Ghostwriter'' star Ewan , who will turn 40 this month, has decided not to do any nude scenes in future films. Ewan says he wants to avoid the embarrassment of doing such scenes with considerably younger women. Ewan says he doesn''t want to follow the example of other leading Hollywood men, who have continued to be seen romancing significantly younger women on film, despite advancing years, the Daily Express reported. "I''m getting older and the actresses stay younger. I don''t want to become Clint Eastwood, where his love interests seem 50 years younger than him. You never want female co-stars to feel like you''re taking advantage of the situation. Anyhow, sex scenes are terribly exposing and rarely of any use in learning about character," he said. Despite his new self-imposed nude ban Ewan, who is married with three children, does not regret stripping off in such films as ''Trainspotting'' and ''Velvet Goldmine''. "It''s all about life. We''re naked at the end of the day and we''re sometimes naked in the middle of the day if we''re lucky. It may seem like I''m obsessed with sex but it''s actually the opposite." The actor will be next seen in thriller ''Haywire'' alongside 28-year-old Gina Carano.

04/02/2011

Spotting planes not trains, Ewan tells the story of The Real Battle of Britain, March 5 on Discovery World HD

There are few occasions in history when it can be said that the actions of a few changed the destiny of not just a country but of the world.
The 1940 Battle of Britain is one of those defining moments. Actor Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting, Star Wars) joins his brother Colin in THE REAL BATTLE OF BRITAIN to mark the 70th Anniversary of this historic event.
Premiering on Discovery World HD on Saturday, March 5 at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT, this 90-minute special revisits this famous chapter in Britain’s history and reveals the story ofthe Royal Air Force (RAF) and Britain’s “finest hour.”
Colin is an RAF veteran of 20 years’ service; his brother Ewan is a hero of the big screen and fledgling pilothimself. Together they honour the heroes of 1940 both on the ground and in the air, bringing the story of the Battle of Britain to a new generation. During the special, Ewan is treated to a flying display by the only existing Hurricane in the world that actually flew during the Battle of Britain and is joined by RAF veteran Bob Foster who flew the Hurricane during the Battle 70 years ago. Then, Colin gives his brother the surprise of his life as Ewan gets to fly in a Spitfire over the White Cliffs of Dover. To learn to fly the iconic Spitfire, the men complete three days of training in aTiger Moth.
As they fly historic planes, meet the veterans and explore the tactics and technology, Colin and Ewan discover the importance of the Battle and the surviving legacy of the 1940s’ campaign for the modern RAF. Together, they honour what is arguably the most important event in modern British history and the only aerial war in world history.

31/01/2011

EWAN MCGREGOR’S PIPES DREAM

EWAN is teaching himself to play bagpipes after failing to get a note out of them live on US telly.

My Ewan, practising while filming in the Far East.

A source said: “He was left red faced when Ellen DeGeneres produced a set of bagpipes on her show and he couldn’t play them at all.”

ABOVE: Ewan McGregor is teaching himself to play bagpipes

30/01/2011

Controversy

Ewan, caused controversy for his interview!

Ewan is in hot water with his first boss - after claiming he worked in hell's kitchen.

Stewart Ross was aghast after the actor branded the chefs he worked with in his teens as "horrible b******s".

Ewan, who was a kitchen porter, made the claim as he prepared to play a Gordon Ramsay style cook in new movie Perfect Sense.

He said: "I knew how a kitchen worked and I knew, mainly through my experience, that chefs were complete b******s. "They're always horrible... I don't know why that is."

The Sunday Mail tracked down ex head chef Stewart, who now lives in Kirkwall, Orkney.

He denied giving the actor a hard time when they worked togther in the Murraypark hotel in Crieff in Perthshire in the late 80s.

Stewart, 50, said: "I would say he is giving us a bad write-up here.

"That statement is not strictly true. There was occasionally shouting in our kitchen if things weren't going to plan, there was a bit of frustration.

"The kitchen could get a bit tense when it was busy, and back then it was a very busy hotel - it was the top hotel in Crieff at the time.

"That didn't really have an impact on Ewan's job, but he might have had to catch the flying pots possibly.

"I was never a Gordon Ramsay type - that's not in my character. At least, I don't think it is."

Stewart, who lives with his wife Gina, 50, has not spoken to the star since he left the area in 1989 but remembers him well.

He said: "Ewan was my kitchen porter so he was mainly on the dishes, and cleaning, and sometimes a bit of a vegetable preperation.

"I haven't heard from him since I left the hotel, but I have followed his career and watched his films.

"That's my claim to fame - I'm always telling my colleagues that he used to be my KP."

Ewan, who grew up in Crieff, says his experiences of the kitchen in the Murraypark Hotel gave him the grounding for the character. He said: "I used to be a dishwasher, in Crieff, where I grew up.

"There's a hotel called the Murraypark and I used to work there from the age of 14.

"I was a dishwasher and then I became a waiter and a barman, but I was washing dishes for about two years."

Perfect Sense, which was filmed in the west end of Glasgow, premiered at the prestigious Sundance Festival in America last week.

Ewan's character, Michael, falls in love with Susan - played by former Bond girl Eva Green - just as the world is ending.

And the kitchen scenes were shot in some of Scotland's top restaurants.

Ewan admitted that he still needed some on-the-job training, despite his previous experience in kitchens.

He said: "I like good food but I'm not a gastronome.

"So I had to learn about cooking or at least to learn to look like I knew how to cook. That was my job, really.

"I haven't cooked since. I haven't become a great cook because of the film."

The film reunites Ewan with Ewen Bremner, who played Spud in Trainspotting, and his uncle Denis Lawson, who originally inspired him to take up acting.

Perfect Sense is directed by David Mackenzie, the Scot who made Young Adam with Ewan and Tilda Swinton, which was also set in Glasgow.

28/01/2011

A special screening of Trainspotting!

All aboard for a special screening of Trainspotting

Published Date: 27 January 2011
CHOOSE life! By introducing cinema audiences to Renton, Spud, Sick Boy, Tommy, Begbie and Diane, Trainspotting showcased the talents of Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Johnny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd, Robert Carlyle and Kelly Macdonald, making them international stars in the process.

That was 15 years ago, and on Wednesday that milestone will be celebrated with a special one-off screening of the cult Edinburgh-set movie at the Royal Scottish Academy, which features in the background of the unforgettable opening chase scene in which Renton, played by McGregor, runs down Princes Street. On the off chance that you have managed to avoid Trainspotting for the last decade and a half, the action centres around the exploits of heroin addict Mark Renton. Deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, he decides to clean up, kick his smack habit and get out, despite the allure of the drugs and influence of friends who are quite happy to just party. It's an escape that finds Renton mixed up in drug deals, armed robbery and prostitution as he battles to get straight. Directed by Danny Boyle, of Slumdog Millionaire fame, and based on the Irvine Welsh (pictured) novel of the same name, Trainspotting was ranked tenth by the British Film Institute in its list of Top 100 British films of all time. Exposing the underbelly of an 80s Edinburgh regarded by many as the 'heroin capital of Europe,' the film not only launched its young cast on the road to stardom but made Welsh a household name, thanks in no small part to the controversy that surrounded its release. Wednesday's screening is the third free event in Volkswagen's See Film Differently series. The event is free but ticketed, with tickets available through an on-line draw. For the chance to win you need to log on to www.seefilmdifferently.com now. Tickets will be available until midday tomorrow, after which winners will be informed. The event follows original location screenings of An American Werewolf In London, which was held inside London Zoo, and gangster classic Get Carter, shown at Newcastle Racecourse, both notable locations featured in the films. Turning the camera on the locations featured in Trainspotting offers movie fans an immersive cinema experience designed to provide a behind the scenes-style insight into the BAFTA award winning favourite. After the screening, viewers will be invited to follow Renton's route to Calton Road, where the opening chase ended with McGregor being hit by a car. There, the Ingleby Gallery will host an exclusive exhibition featuring rare Trainspotting stills, original promotional material and photography, along with a live DJ set featuring music from the movie. And just in case you are wondering why there are no references to train spotting in the movie, well, here's your answer. The title is taken from a scene from the novel in which Begbie and Renton meet a drunken dosser who turns out to be Begbie's estranged father, in the long-closed Leith Central railway station (now the site of Waterworld and Tesco), at the foot of Leith Walk – the drunk asks them if they are trainspotting. 15th Anniversary Screening of Trainspotting, Royal Scottish Academy, The Mound, free but ticketed - tickets courtesy of Volkswagen. For the chance to win visit www.seefilmdifferently.com before midday tomorrow, after which winners will be informed Tickets will be allocated randomly