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Ewan News
All the Latest. 24/7
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News Archive
January - June 2001
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Nora playing in Montreal
"Nora" is playing at the AMC Forum this week in Montreal.
2313 St. Catherine Street West, Montréal
Every day: 2:00, 4:30, 7:00, 9:30
UPDATE (July 29th 2001): Nora is still playing at the AMC Forum at 7pm and 9:30pm (check
local listings) after four weeks.
Makes one wonder why this beautiful film was not released throughout North America. |
Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Saturday, June 30,
2001 // 11:10 p.m.
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October 16th is the day Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace will be released on DVD
(2-disc set).
Thank you Chris for the heads up!
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Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Thursday, June 28, 2001
// 06:50 p.m.
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 Ewan's
happy ending for cinema
by Indira Das-Gupta
Some big stars can claim to have rescued a film, but not many can say they helped save a cinema.
But Star Wars, Trainspotting and Moulin Rouge star Ewan McGregor went to Camden Town Hall, to make
a special plea for the independent Everyman cinema in Hampstead. As in all the best movies the good
guys won and Mr McGregor - with writer and director
Anthony Mingella - helped save the cinema.
The Everyman took on Camden Council after having an application for a public entertainment licence refused. Without it
the cinema would not be able to sell alcohol and would have had to restrict opening hours. After a campaign to allay fears
that
a licence would generate too much noise, the council finally gave the go-ahead.
Mr McGregor said: "I am absolutely delighted as I love the Everyman. My wife Eve helps out with the cinema's Kids Club
every Saturday."
Source: This is London |
Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Wednesday, June 27,
2001 // 07:51 a.m.
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Ewan to set his sights on somewhat more... "low profile" projects in
his native Scotland. His new film seems to be along the same vein as Ewan classics like Brassed
Off! and Little
Voice. Book those tickets for "holiday" to coincidentaly coincide with Ewan's filming! From Empire
Online:
Ewan’s Coming Home
19/06/2001
 After
from twirling his lightsaber in space for Episode II and coming under fire in Somalia for Black Hawk
Down, Ewan McGregor will be returning to his native Scotland
for a new British project. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Young Adam will see McGregor will play a drifter who
finds work on a barge travelling between Glasgow and Edinburgh, where he comes across the body of a woman floating in the
river.
The £4 million feature Marks something of a change in pace for McGregor, who has been building considerable momentum
recently with a string of big budget spectacle films like musical extravaganza Moulin Rouge. co-starring The Beach’s Tilda
Swinton, Young Adam is due to begin shooting in Glasgow at the end of August. |
Posted by bridgeny productions on Tuesday,
June 26, 2001 // 07:22 a.m.
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Ewan did appear on Regis and also made an appearance on the Today show. Ewan finally confirmed that
Eve is expecting. Their second child is due in about 4 months. Congrats to Ewan and Eve!
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Posted by ewanspotting.com on Friday, June 22, 2001 // 11:24 a.m.
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The Force.Net reports
that Ewan will also be appearing on Friday's (June 22nd) Live with Regis and Kelly.
That show airs in syndication throughout North America in the mornings, usually at 9am.
A note of caution: Ewan is not listed in the TV listings so it may be a false alarm. Still, program those VCRs just in case!
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Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Thursday, June 21,
2001 // 05:15 p.m.
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Ewan is finally going to do a US late night talk show! He will be appearing on the David Letterman
show this Thursday, June 21. Moby is also set to be on the show that night. Well, if Robert DeNiro
can go on Letterman, I guess it's about time Ewan did.
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Posted by ewanspotting.com on Tuesday, June 19, 2001 // 05:08 p.m.
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Fox Forcing "Star Wars" DVD bow in crowded fall
Tuesday June 19 2:19 AM ET
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Another big title is coming to DVD.
Fox will announce Tuesday plans for the Oct. 16 DVD release of "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom
Menace."
The 1999 picture is the first of George Lucas' "Star Wars" films to be distributed on the digital
format.
A confirmation of sorts, Oct. 16 has been bandied about on several unofficial "Star Wars"-related Web
sites as the projected
date of release.
"Phantom Menace" is the third-biggest theatrical release of all time, with $431 million in U.S. box office receipts. An additional
$176 million has been generated in consumer spending on the picture's video rental and purchase.
October is shaping up to be a major month for DVD fans and studio ledger sheets: "The Godfather" "Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs" and "The Mummy Returns" will also be released during the month.
Reuters/Variety REUTERS
Source: Yahoo News |
Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Tuesday, June 19, 2001
// 07:51 a.m.
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Ewan McGregor - Chieftain of the Highland Gathering
The various Highland Games around Scotland each summer usually appoint a celebrity to be their Chieftain
for the day. Often, they are minor TV or media personalities but the Highland Games at Crieff has scored
a spectacular coup by signing up Hollywood
star Ewan McGregor. The fact that Crieff is his home town may well have been a factor - he says he will visit his family
at the same time. McGregor's latest role was in the film Moulin Rouge, co-starring with Nicole Kidman. The film was
recently launched at the Cannes Film Festival.
Source: about.com
Thank you Mara Jade for the heads up! |
Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Saturday,
June 9, 2001 // 12:08 p.m.
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Ewan Mourns 'Moulin'
07/06/2001
 Ewan
McGregor has been bemoaning the tight schedules at Twentieth Century Fox's Australian studios
which forced the Moulin Rouge set to be destroyed to make way for Episode II. 'That was awful,' Ewan
tells this week's Entertainment Weekly. 'I resent [Star Wars] for that. [The set] could have
been put up somewhere else and used as a club or something. It was that fabulous.'
As members of the cast of Moulin Rouge do the junket circuit, plugging the musical - both Ewan and
his co-star Nicole Kidman
have been plagued with rumours of an on-set romance. 'We just got on,' says McGregor. 'We were singing to
each other from the moment we met. There's something beautiful about that.'
Source: Empire Online
Thank you Catherine from Empire Online for the heads up! |
Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Thursday, June
7, 2001 // 07:46 a.m.
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Baz Lurhmann in Montreal Thursday
According to Showbizz.net,
Baz Lurhmann (Moulin Rouge director), Catherine Martin (production and costume design), Anton
Monsted (music supervisor) and "other Moulin
Rouge artists" will attend a special screening at the Forum AMC theater.
The evening will begin at 9pm, where it will be possible to mingle with the special guests, followed by a screening of Moulin
Rouge at 10:30pm. The cost of admission is the same as a movie ticket.
Thank you akanoway for the heads up!
Update:
Wonderful evening, great crowd. Thank you to Baz Lurhmann who signed my book, Catherine Martin, Anton Monsted, the staff
of the AMC Forum and the very nice Fox rep who was there and gave out those great Moulin Rouge hardcover books! |
Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Wednesday, June
6, 2001 // 06:11 p.m.
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Ewan Rocks in 'Rouge'
By MEGAN TURNER and CAROLINE PEAL
May 31, 2001
It's a brave actor who's willing to expose his vocal cords to the world, but Ewan McGregor
emerges from "Moulin Rouge" looking like a newly minted rock star.
The surprisingly strong and versatile voice he shows off in Baz Luhrmann's unorthodox musical, which opens wide Friday,
has been winning generally glowing reviews.
And the 30-year-old Scottish actor is keen to follow in the footsteps of his childhood idol, Elvis.
"He said he'd love to record an album," says Andrew Ross, who coached McGregor and co-star Nicole Kidman in Sydney during
a six-week rehearsal prior to filming "Moulin Rouge." "He loves singing - it's as big a part of Ewan as acting is."
Ross, who taught Cate Blanchett and Toni Collette to sing at Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art, goes
so far as to say McGregor has what it takes to be "the next David Bowie."
"Ewan walked in the door, and it was like there was a sign above his head saying, 'Rock god! Rock god!'" Ross says. "And
as soon as he opened his mouth, he just blew me away."
"Moulin Rouge" director Luhrmann maintains his leading man "could be the Frank Sinatra of this new period."
He's even been given the seal of approval by Elton John, whose "Your Song" he covers in the film.
"Elton had to approve the song for Ewan," Luhrmann recalls. "He said, 'Oh, my God, he's a real singer!'"
Even Kidman can see the boyishly handsome Scot in the role of rock star.
"He'll end up with a Top 10 hit, believe me," she says. "I can actually see him giving up acting and becoming a rock
star. He's totally, completely suited to it, so don't be surprised if he does."
Growing up, McGregor played drums, guitar and the French horn, and was in the school's pipe band as well as a traditional
Scots ceilidh band and a rock group called Scarlet Pride.
"Elvis Presley was his idol. He fashioned himself on him," recalls McGregor's aunt, Isabel McWilliam. "He had teddy
boy shoes."
When his acting career took off with a role as a skinhead junkie in the hit British film "Trainspotting," his musical aspirations
were put on hold.
Like Kidman, McGregor knew he was taking a risk singing in "Moulin Rouge."
"They were all very nervous about the singing, but they all really wanted to do it," Luhrmann says, adding that he created
an environment where his actors could be "fearless" and "go to heights they've never been before."
McGregor, who plays a young poet who falls in love with Kidman's Satine, the star of Paris' famously decadent
Moulin Rouge, even sings a capella on a number of love ballads.
"He's capable of doing extraordinary things with his voice," says Ross, who was first struck by McGregor's vocals
in "Velvet Goldmine," in which he played a glam rocker.
"He has a beautiful, clear upper register - it's breathtakingly pure. And in the lower register, he can really get a
bit of growl in his voice."
And how about that first album? If McGregor makes one, expect the unexpected from this screen chameleon. His roles
have veered wildly, from a period-costumed fop ("Emma") to a bisexual translator ("The Pillow Book") to a Jedi knight ("Star
Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.")
He's currently shooting Ridley Scott's "Black Hawk Down" in Morocco, and will reprise his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi
in "Star Wars Episode II."
"He loves traditional Scottish folk music, but he could do anything - a rock album, a pop album," Ross says. "Knowing Ewan,
and his inventive persona, he could create a completely new breed of music."
Source: New York Post
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Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Thursday, May 31, 2001
// 08:02 a.m.
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Ewan’s top of the pops
SCOTS actor Ewan McGregor has taken the American music market by storm, entering the
pop charts ahead of U2 and Jennifer Lopez.
McGregor, 30, is the highest new entry into the official Billboard album chart with songs from his forthcoming film, Moulin
Rouge.
The film is set in the Montmartre era of artist Toulouse Lautrec in the 1890s, and features a number of songs performed
by McGregor and co-star Nicole Kidman.
Source: The Scotsman
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Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Friday, May 25, 2001
// 07:45 a.m.
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Hollywood.com has
a review of Moulin Rouge with some interesting passages:
Hunky Ewan McGregor as the heartbreakingly honest Christian is truly outstanding, with a radiant smile and surprisingly beautiful
singing voice to boot (who knew?).
[...]
A shiny, sparkling pinwheel of a production, Moulin Rouge might be the most gorgeous movie you'll ever lay eyes upon.
The costumes are fabulous (dolled up, Nicole Kidman makes them positively breathtaking), as are the fairy tale sets and Goya-esque
makeup.
Thank you Darth Mystique for the heads up!
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Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Wednesday, May 23,
2001 // 07:24 a.m.
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Two heads up:
First, the movie review show Ebert & Roeper and the Movies will review Moulin Rouge this weekend.
Second, Ewan is scheduled to be on the Today show on NBC on May 28th.
Check your local listings!
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Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Saturday, May 19, 2001
// 09:13 a.m.
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With the sheer quantity of reviews for Moulin Rouge being printed all around the world, it's
impossible and impractical to start posting all of them here. Of course I'll post the better ones
that I find or are brought to my attention but I'll only post parts of them (since many basically
repeat the same things) and as usual I'll post the link so you can read the complete review if
you so desire.
From: Salon.com
"Moulin Rouge"
Baz Luhrmann's messy musical will get you drunk on romance and whimsy. A few days later, you won't
even mind the hangover.
By Stephanie Zacharek
Some of the musical numbers blaze with unnecessary garishness. That would be less troublesome if it didn't detract from
the work of the movie's two leads, whose mere presence is enough to fill the screen sufficiently. McGregor underplays
his character's suffering -- he understands the distinction between melodrama and camp, in that the former can easily
encompass nobility while the latter can only caricature it. His charm enfolds everything from the way he stammers when he's
trying to open Satine to his love, to the suffering he holds like a noble vessel, chiefly in his eyes and in the roll of
his shoulders, when tragedy sinks down upon him. McGregor's profound inner dignity always keeps him grounded; it also
seems to be the underpinning to his appealing goofiness and humming sensuality.
He lavishes both of those things, with tenderness and generosity, on his costar Kidman as Satine. Kidman has rarely looked
so beautiful. Pale, luminous, cracklingly sexual and with a protective veneer that's both as hard and as delicate as
an eggshell -- she's a cross between Rita Hayworth and a John Singer Sargent painting. When she's playing the showgirl,
she cannily navigates the psychology of the biz with all its attendant bravado and feigned vulnerability: Her eyes look catlike
and calculating, peeking out from behind those devilish Titian waves. But when she's playing the lover, the girl who's
become enchanted by a handsome boy with no money, she's heartbreakingly girlish. Even her glamorous showgirl clothes
seem to sit differently on her body. She makes a satin gown look like a tailored shirtwaist, a repository of warmth and womanly
secrets.
Head on over to Salon.com to
read the full review.
Thank you Darth Mystique for the heads up!
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Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Friday, May 18, 2001
// 07:51 a.m.
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McGregor in Love - Moulin Rouge
By Ross Anthony
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vivacious conductor directs the familiar 20th Century Fox theme. A splendidly apropos addition to their
logo and a charming introduction to a film that lavishly mixes the old with the new, musically, lyrically,
visually, from film to tape, from the 1890's to 1990's.
1890-something, Paris, Ewan haps into a playwright/composer opportunity that cusps upon the approval
of Nicole Kidman, prize
prostitute at the indulgently adorned brothel "Moulin Rouge." Ah, but a rich unlikable duke holds the cash that can turn
the "Rouge" into a legitimate theater making Kidman's dreams come true - but at the cost of her future. At first sight
of her, Ewan falls in love.
Noisy, bumbling and dissonant, the picture opens sporting painfully quick cuts and an annoying band of thespians. I sigh
and brace myself for a rough ride ... and then Ewan sings. My God, the purity of his voice cuts through this clamor like
hot honey through ice. My worries melt, the foolish actors pause, jaws lowered too, then they reprise their fumbling, only
to be stopped again by Ewan's enchanting melodies. To add to the luscious oddity, Ewan's poetry is 20th century:
From Elton John, to the Beatles, to "The Sound of Music" selections. The cuts lengthen, the bumbling gives way to juicy drama
and eccentric humor. From which, this eclectic mix of time and tunes pulls its sparkles together like the shiny elements
in a kaleidoscope.
Constructing surreal Parisian cityscapes with cameras and computers instead of plasterboard and nails, director Baz Lurhmann
paints aggressively with blues and whites; accenting the mix with seductive red.
But it's the audio pallet that orchestrates all intentions. Jim Broadbent grunts out Madonna's "Like a Virgin," his
big baritone vaudevillian voice giving the piece a new sense. A bohemian fiddle cries, weaving in and out of a variation
to Sting's "Roxanne." And then, gorgeously directed, the visuals and scores climax beautifully at the end of a disciplined
second act.
Ewan's undying belief in love, "Love is like oxygen, it's a many splendored thing, it lifts us up where we belong,
all you need is love," and his magical mystery vocals power this abstract painting like Russell Crowe in Gladiator.
Though they lie impotent at the feet of so much artistic energy, this extravagant spectacle has but a few flaws. First, as
mentioned, the blotchy opening act and silly acting troupe distract (even if it may have been an aesthetic choice). John
Leguizamo, a fantastic dramatic actor, feels horribly miscast as the dwarf. An early scene inside the elephant (bedroom)
has McGregor hiding behind Kidman from the duke... these sitcom antics fall far below the might, resourcefulness, and whit
of this edgy-production. Lastly, though aptly chosen and perfectly sung, Elton John's "Your Song" reprises just one
two many times.
Again, these are mere weeds between the toes of a splendidly costumed Indian elephant of a film fit to carry royalty
(or theater-going audiences). Speaking of which, ours gave the picture a robust round of applause.
Grade..........................A-
The site also has a free tickets contest
Source: RossAnthony.com
Thank you kici for the heads up!
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Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Wednesday, May 16,
2001 // 06:37 p.m.
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Stars outshone in Baz's brilliant folly
 Right
chemistry ... Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor make a glamorous pair.
Metropolitan's film team saw Moulin Rouge yesterday. Two of the three were unmoved by all the movement.
Eighteen months after its filming started in Sydney, Moulin Rouge finally was screened in Australia
yesterday.
The much-anticipated musical from director Baz Luhrmann, centring on a love story between a gifted
poet (Ewan McGregor) and a famous French courtesan and singer (Nicole Kidman), had its only media preview
before next week's premiere.
When it opened the Cannes Film Festival, the $100 million film attracted diverse reviews. Many international critics were
glowing in their praise but others considered it a disappointing opening to the festival.
Yesterday was the first chance for the Herald's film team to see the musical. Here are the verdicts.
Critic Sandra Hall: Moulin Rouge is fast, clever and very busy. The sets alone are ornate enough to bring a new level
of meaning to the word "layering". And the same inventiveness goes into the way the songs are used. Lyrics are sung, recited,
worked into dialogue and parlayed into jokes. For a reasonably pop-literate audience, half the fun lies in getting the references
right.
And thanks to the chemistry between Kidman and McGregor, the love affair works. They make a glamorous pair, and he really
can sing. Not that it matters. There's so much intercutting going on that nobody ever gets to the end of a number,
which means Kidman does fine with her so-so voice and minimum of dance steps.
It's all very hip and yes, post-modern, but for all the colour and movement, it's not nearly as exhilarating as
it should be.
I was left longing for some genuine wit and for the cathartic effect of being able to watch one great song-and-dance number
filmed uninterrupted. Just one would have done. There are terrific dancers, but the pace of the editing is so frantic that,
in the end, they merge with the furniture.
Critic Paul Byrnes: Moulin Rouge is full of moments of brilliance but these moments lose most of their emotional power because
of an over-abundance of technique. The film is cut like an MTV video clip at a rate that is fine for three minutes but hard
to sustain for two hours. So in the first half of the film, where there is so much energy, you never get a chance to settle
into the characters. The technique is the star of the show rather than the stars themselves. This pays off in the second
half with reduced emotion. What's very much meant to be an emotional film left me unmoved at the end because I hadn't
been allowed to make a connection with the characters.
While the performances are good, the film isn't as successful as Romeo + Juliet at this level. Both Kidman and McGregor
are appealing inasmuch as their roles allow and both can sing, especially McGregor. But there are serious questions about
using popular songs in the way Luhrmann does if you want the film to be taken seriously.
On the whole, Moulin Rouge is way too kinetic and fast. It's like the world's most expensive video clip. It's
a cross between the over-the-top aesthetics of Strictly Ballroom and the tragedy of Romeo + Juliet but it's not an easy
combination. It's a brilliant folly.
Film writer Garry Maddox: You have to love ambition. And it's unlikely there's ever been an Australian film as
ambitious as Moulin Rouge.
Baz Luhrmann not only wanted to make a musical, he set out to reinvent the form. The result is a film full of clever,
knowing touches, with the dramatic scale of opera and the kinetic energy of a music video.
The good news? It not only looks as lavish as the trailers and posters have promised, but it works. That's
not to say Moulin Rouge is always a smooth journey for the viewer. There are times when the richness of songs, sets and performers
gets in the way. Especially in the rapid-fire opening, we want the constantly moving camera to dwell on the characters awhile
so we can get to know them better.
But the emotion of the story kicks in when the lovestruck Christian (McGregor) tenderly sings Elton John's Your
Song to the star attraction at the Moulin Rouge (Kidman). That moment sets up a relationship we know from the opening scene
will end like an opera rather than a conventional Hollywood-backed film. We care about their fate from then on.
The songs by the two lead actors are among the musical highlights. McGregor and Kidman singing Come What May and Kidman's
version of One Day I'll Fly Away are musical interludes with genuine emotional power.
I'm guessing not everyone will get Moulin Rouge but those who do will walk away feeling they've had a rich, vivid
and ultimately moving cinema experience.
If the question is "Can Luhrmann carry off such an ambitious film?", the answer is "Yes, he can-can."
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
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Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Tuesday, May
15, 2001 // 10:12 p.m.
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Moulin Rouge' star finds sense of self
by Stephen Schaefer
Sunday, May 13, 2001
CAP D'ANTIBES, France - Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor looked mischievously into each other's eyes and shared
a cigarette. It was all they had to do to set the British tabloids to talking of their "affair."
Ever since Kidman's divorce from Tom Cruise became known, it was perhaps inevitable that both of them would be assigned
lovers from the casts of their films. Cruise has already been mentioned with Penelope Cruz, who was his on-set leading
lady when the divorce was announced.
Same with McGregor and Kidman, who play the lovers Christian and Satine in "Moulin Rouge," which opened the Cannes Film Festival
this week. Here on a break from filming "Black Hawk Down" for Ridley Scott in Morocco, McGregor laughed it off.
"They're desperate," McGregor said of the entertainment media. "Nicole's problems are such big news and you want
Christian and Satine (their 'Moulin Rouge' lovers)
to be in love so much."
McGregor, who is already set as a star of the summer 2002 movie lineup with his ongoing role in the new "Star Wars" trilogy,
said even reports of his affair denial were exaggerated.
"All that happened was somebody asked me about it and I said, 'No, it has nothing to do with me,' and it turns
into: 'Ewan claims (the divorce) has nothing to do with him.'"
McGregor shrugged. He knows it's part of the fame game. At the Cannes opening night party, he and Kidman danced and
spun records together in the DJ's booth. But his wife is here in Cannes - actually sitting just a few yards away
as he spoke with the Herald on the terrace of the Hotel du Cap in this Riviera resort not far from Cannes.
Not too many Cannes ago, McGregor was here for the Festival on a yacht, drinking the night and day away. He was known
as a Scot with a fondness for beer and raucous company. And yet at this year's party, he was sticking to bottled
water.
At 30, he attributes it simply to "growing up. I find peace and comfort more and more in quiet places and I used to
find it more in loud, smoky places."
He grinned.
"We're talking about the very recent past. I don't know, it's not much satisfaction (in being in a crowd).
The hell raising was getting a bit boring I think and it's all to do with growing up. It just took me longer to realize
I had a beautiful wife and daughter. My daughter is 5 now. I find my freedom in more quiet places and being home. I spend
so much time away and now when I'm
there, I just want to be in it."
Source: The Boston Herald
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Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Sunday, May
13, 2001 // 10:44 a.m.
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There have been bad reviews, mixed reviews and glowing reviews for Moulin Rouge. Let's
not dwell on the negative, shall we?
Paris when it sizzles
THURSDAY MAY 10 2001
BY JAMES CHRISTOPHER
Cannes has opened — with a bright red windmill of a film called Moulin Rouge Cannes has just been stunned. The movie that
opened the 54th Film Festival yesterday, Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge, with the troubled Nicole Kidman in the lead role, had
critics bursting into spontaneous applause during the screening.
Luhrmann has pulled off the most unlikely coup. He has minted an old-fashioned musical out of the infamous Moulin Rouge,
the Parisian nightspot and one-time kingdom of illicit pleasures. Few seasoned hands, and there are many in Cannes, gave
the colourful premise a candle’s chance in hell. But Luhrmann has proved with past hits, such as Romeo + Juliet, just what
an inspired innovator he can be.
The story might be set at the turn of the century, but there is nothing old-fashioned about the film. Using a whooshing
camera shot to propel us into a mouldy-looking black-and-white stage painting of Paris, Luhrmann whisks us into the underworld
of
Montmartre. Here a struggling writer (Ewan McGregor) falls in love with nightclub sensation and courtesan Satine (Nicole
Kidman), in the debauched Moulin Rouge. But Jim Broadbent’s whiskery master of ceremonies has already sold this voluptuous
jewel to Richard Roxburgh’s dastardly duke.
The melodrama is simple enough. What makes the fairytale such a giddy experience is the fabulously gaudy setting, the
overcaked can-can girls, raucous crowds and wild dancing. But the real ear-opener is the music, a brilliantly worked
medley of some
of the best love songs of the past 25 years. The rights to the songs alone would have broken Luhrmann’s considerable budget
but, as he revealed at a press conference after the screening, everyone from Bono to Elton John waived their copyright. “The
only person who refused did so on religious grounds,” he said.
Modern music in a period setting is not a novelty, of course. What is novel is the way the director has refashioned some
of the cheesiest songs and lines into something bright and original. Some of the most famous names in music will blush
to see how their music has been hijacked. Madonna’s Like a Virgin provides the crunch dialogue to Roxburgh and Broadbent’s Machiavellian
plotting. Kidman and McGregor use the music to tell their story, duelling with Beatles and Madonna songs with voices you
hardly dare to call their own.
They are perfect casting as the doomed lovebirds. There are few better at playing wide-eyed romantic innocents than McGregor.
And Kidman is a sexual revelation as the courtesan dying of consumption, her porcelain-white flesh providing the starkest
of backgrounds for her scarlet mouth and striking red hair.
Her first romantic encounter with McGregor in her dressing room, complete with double bed and tarted up to look like a
maharanee’s
boudoir, is an hysterical riot of cross purposes. “Oh, no,” grunts Kidman after a long, bracing duet with songs such as Love
is Like Oxygen, Up Where We Belong and All You Need is Love. “Not another of Toulouse’s bohemian, tragically impoverished
protégées.” Roxburgh’s almost Monty Pythonesque duke and Broadbent’s mad nightclub owner provide formidable support. After
a glass of absinthe, Kylie Minogue floats across the screen as a green fairy out of a bad acid trip. And so it goes on, whipped
and prodded by Luhrmann well beyond the realms of reason. If there’s a serious point of sorts, it’s that the pop culture
of the 20th century was born in this unlikely sediment.
My only real complaint is that John Leguizamo’s sloppy, sentimental, dwarfish Toulouse Lautrec simply wasn’t small enough.
The real joy of watching this film resides in Luhrmann’s extraordinary arsenal of tricks, a medley of giddy tracking shots,
flare and slow-motion close-ups of Kidman’s face and azure eyes. As a phantasmagoria of the weird and wonderful, there isn’t
a film to touch it.
Source: The Times
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Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Thursday, May
10, 2001 // 12:15 p.m.
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The
Sunday Times has a rather lengthy article about Moulin Rouge but this bit caught my friend Chris' attention:
Moulin Rouge also led to the revelation (at least according to Elton John) that McGregor,
who performs a version of Your Song, boasts a formidable set of pipes. "Actually, both he and
Nicole are very good singers," Armstrong says. "It's for the critics to decide, I suppose, but
they have a lot of character in their voices. I was really surprised by how good they sounded, which
was lucky because I had a kind of quality control job when it came to the singing. At times, what
I wrote was affected by how they sang. Ewan has a deep, strong voice, so I could score the orchestra
higher for him. Nicole's is fragile and pure, so it was the other way round. A good composer
has to react to what he's working with."
Thank you Chris for the heads up!
There is also another article worth reading in The
Sunday Times called Let's face the music. Here's a sample:
McGregor was, if anything, an easier piece of casting, because he has a remarkably good singing voice - good
enough, the director believes, for him to be a pop star. "He sounds like a cross between Freddie Mercury and Elton
John."
So it was that, after three months of rehearsals with the dancers and other actors, Kidman and McGregor flew into
Sydney to spend two weeks at the House of Iona "workshopping" the film before production began, playing, singing,
dancing and, at night, getting sloshed on wine and absinthe.
The L.A. times has an interview with "Moulin Rouge" director Baz Luhrmann. It's
rather lenghty and contains spoilers. You can read it here. Thank you Chris for the heads up!
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Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Sunday, May
6, 2001 // 10:03 a.m.
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Nora to play in L.A. area
Nora will play at the AMC
Marina Pacifica 12 (Today: 2:05 (5:10) 7:40 10:20 Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu: 1:20 (4:45) 7:10 9:25
Sat: 2:05 5:10 7:40 10:20 Sun: 2:05 5:10 7:40 9:55) and the AMC
30 at the Block (Today: 1:25 (4:10) 7:10 9:50 Sat, Sun: 1:25 4:10 7:10 9:50)
Also at AMC Media Center 8 in Burbank - 2:05; 4:35; 7:15 - 9:55. At the Mann Exchange in Glendale
- 12:00; 2:35; 5:00; 7:45 and 9:50 the AMC Rolling Hills 20; AMC 30 at the Block in Orange; Edwards
University in Irvine and Edwards Rancho Niguel
in Laguna Niguel (Thank you Chris for the additional information)
1h46 mins, rated R.
Don't miss it! |
Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Friday, May 4, 2001
// 12:34 p.m.
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New documentary on official Star Wars website
Another behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of Star Wars Episode 2 has been posted on
the film's official
site.
The clip, titled Wedgie 'Em Out, shows the first new spaceship of Episode 2 - the Jedi starfighter.
It also reveals a new droid R4-P17, which is described as an R2-D2 painted red.
In the clip, director George Lucas is seen discussing how he wants the Jedi fighter.
He tells the designers: "I'm thinking of World War One battleships, German, cut them off half-way through and wedge
them off a bit."
The clip, which is only available on the official Star Wars website, features many shots of a new-look Obi-Wan Kenobi,
played by Ewan McGregor. He now has longer hair and more beard.
McGregor says he's very excited about the new Jedi fighter.
"I've always wanted to have my own ship and he gets one. And he gets to take off in it and has his own adventure in
this one, which is cool," he
said.
McGregor said of filming scenes in the fighter: "You're sitting in this wooden ship being rocked.
"To see it, because I haven't seen it yet, will be extraordinary."
Last updated: 08:52 Tuesday 1st May 2001
Source: Ananova
The video is fantastic. Check it out! |
Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Tuesday, May
1, 2001 // 07:27 a.m.
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 There
is an interview with Ewan in this month's Details magazine. Great article, don't miss
it!
Also, the May 2001 issue of Movieline magazine lists Moulin Rouge as one of "15 summer movies that pack heat" and
features a very nice photo of Ewan as Christian.
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Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Tuesday, April 24,
2001 // 08:28 p.m.
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Coming in June -- Moulin Rouge: The Splendid Illustrated Book (Newmarket Pictorial Moviebooks) by
Baz Luhrmann
$28US, 176 pages at amazon.com.
Thanks to mara_jade10 for the heads up!
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Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Wednesday, April
18, 2001 // 05:39 p.m.
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Red carpet treatment for a bravely smiling Kidman
Star shine ... Nicole Kidman arrives at the screening with director Baz Luhrmann. Photo: Lisa
Carpenter.
By Mark Riley, Herald Correspondent in New York
Nicole Kidman arrived in a vintage gown and a broad smile to celebrate her much-anticipated reappearance on the red carpet.
But the smile soon collapsed into a look of painful introspection as her companion, the director Baz
Luhrmann, described their new film, Moulin Rouge, as "a story about growing up and realising that there
are things in life beyond your control."
As the pair walked the media line prior to the film's private screening in New York on Tuesday night, Luhrmann said: "You
know, people die, relationships pass on - but it must make you stronger and help you grow."
He was talking about the film, but Kidman's expression said his soliloquy might have been about the past
several tumultuous months of her life.
After enduring the break-up with husband Tom Cruise, the emotional trauma of a miscarriage and a mauling at the
hands of the international media, Kidman was making her first tentative steps back on the star circuit. "I'm really excited
to be here doing this again - talking about my work, my movies," she said.
"I've got myself to talk about again, instead of all my family problems, and that's good."
But as much as Kidman did not like to talk about her family problems, she knew that almost everyone else in Hollywood and
beyond was talking about them.
The 33-year-old Kidman said she had enjoyed spending more time with her two children, Isabella, 8, and Connor, 6, as she
worked on completing her part of the movie soundtrack to be released next month.
Asked by a Hollywood TV reporter if there was anything she would like to say to her fans, "after the rough time you've
been through", Kidman briefly abandoned her smile once more and said: "No. Not really. Only that I'm fine and I've
got a lot of friends who are helping me through."
Joan Collins, who knows something about Hollywood scandal and who was one of 300 guests at the Vogue magazine charity premiere,
was gushing in her praise of Kidman.
"She is wonderful," Collins said. "I saw her in the Blue Room in London. She was fantastic. She is just a fabulous actress."
Kidman stars in the $A96 million musical as Satine, the star performer in the seamy Moulin Rouge of 1890s Paris, who falls
in love with a poet (Ewan McGregor), who wanders into the nightclub where painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec holds
court.
An array of movie and media luminaries attended the premiere. Rupert Murdoch and his wife, Wendi Deng, arrived
with Mr Murdoch's son, Lachlan, and his wife, the Australian model Sarah O'Hare. Also present were
designers Kenneth Cole, Oscar de la Renta and Tommy Hilfiger, Miramax boss Harvey Weinstein and Australian actor
Hugh Jackman.
There was, of course, no Tom Cruise.
Kidman said she had chosen to wear the vintage dress, by Cuban-born New York bridal designer Lazaro Perez, because she
did not want to choose between the many designers invited to the event.
The movie has created a fashion buzz, with its rich can-can dresses and Monolo Blahnik boots. Kidman is due to
open a new range of dresses inspired by the movie at New York's Bloomingdale's department store today.
Seven can-can gowns, including designs by de la Renta, John Galliano, Karl Lagerfeld and Donatella Versace, were auctioned
after the premiere to benefit AIDS charities.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
At least his name was mentioned... it doesn't look as though Ewan was even there... |
Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Wednesday, April
18, 2001 // 05:22 p.m.
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Actor Ewan McGregor spotted golf watching
Saturday April 14, 02:25 PM
By Norman Dabell
RABAT, Morocco, (Reuters) - Seen enjoying the Moroccan Open third round at the weekend was British
actor Ewan McGregor of "Trainspotting" fame,
taking a break from filming nearby.
McGregor, a keen golfer who often plays a round at the hosting Dar Es Salam course, was out on Saturday watching
fellow Scot Stephen Gallacher, who comes from McGregor's home-town Crieff, and the exciting English teenage
amateur Nick Dougherty.
The actor is starring in "Gladiator" director Ridley Scott's "Black Hawk Down", a film about an ill-fated
mission during the Somali troubles, and looked suitably lean, cropped and rugged.
"It's good for me to watch how it should be done on this course. I play it a lot and it normally murders me," joked
McGregor, whose career has precluded him from holding a handicap.
Source: Yahoo News
Thank you cac for the heads up! |
Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Monday, April
16, 2001 // 12:21 p.m.
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Nicole takes centre stage
14apr01
NICOLE Kidman will re-emerge into the spotlight next week with two high profile publicity events for
her new movie Moulin
Rouge.
One of the most sought after tickets in New York is to the movie's first showing at a charity event on Tuesday.
Kidman, co-star Ewan McGregor and about 900 invitation-only guests will be at the Paris Theatre for the preview.
The event is being hosted by Vogue magazine editor Anna Wintour. Afterwards the guests will move on to Brasserie 8
for an AIDS fundraiser that will include an auction of Moulin Rouge-inspired outfits by Dolce & Gabbana, John Galliano,
Nicolas Ghesquiere, Karl Lagerfeld, Helmut Lang, Oscar de la Renta and Donatella Versace.
Two days later Kidman will again be the star attraction when fashion store Bloomingdales unveils a special section
of the
store devoted to the movie.
Originally Bloomingdales had hoped to feature a six-storey cut-out of Kidman on the side of its store but workmen
had trouble
devising how it could be attached.
Instead, the store's street-level windows will be decked out with Christmas-style displays featuring clothes
inspired
by Moulin Rouge.
Inside the store will be everything from a $4 million necklace, top hats and outfits designed by Anna Sui, BCBG Maz
Azria,
Elie Tahari, ABS by Allen Schwartz, Swarovski and Kenneth Jay Lane. Christian Dior has even created a Moulin Rouge make-up
collection.
Kidman will appear on a small stage outside Bloomingdales surrounded by 50 can-can dancers.
Moulin Rouge's official premiere will be at the Cannes Film Festival on May 9.
Source: Sydney
Daily Telegraph
Thank you Noah's Dove for the heads up!
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Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Sunday, April
15, 2001 // 09:29 a.m.
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David Poland's The Hot Button
I have been anticipating one film ahead of many others for a long time. And though many readers have shaken their heads -
and keyboards - over my dreams of Moulin Rouge, preferring to focus on A.I. or Planet of the Apes or Pearl
Harbor as their summer object of obsession, I got confirmation of my excitement yesterday in the form of an 11 minute
piece of film that was edited by Baz Luhrmann just for people like me. So I trekked over to Fox and I watched the footage.
Twice.
Luhrmann has done something extraordinary. He has made the first true Hollywood musical in decades. And he
made it in Australia, with non-Americans in almost every role and with a mélange of pop music replacing any kind
of traditional scoring. (Actually, there is original music by Craig Armstrong, Marius DeVries and Steve Hitchcock,
but not much of it in the footage Fox has.)
At first, the two-hour-film-reduced-to-eleven-minutes package feels a little like a big music video. But as it rolls along, the
richness of Luhrmann’s vision becomes clear. He has taken what Vincente Minnelli did with color and imagery in The Pirate,
American in Paris and The Band Wagon and cross-bred it with Coppola’s electronic efforts on One From The Heart (which was
scored by Tom Waits and sung exclusively by Waits and Crystal Gayle, creating a kind of Greek chorus musical). The result
is quite spectacular. The reality of the moments and the emotions come right out of the actors, who inhabit the semi-real
world that Luhrmann has built around them, as dreams mix with reality in ways that only Luhrmann could imagine for us.
As for performance, Nicole Kidman is all there. This is a true movie star performance and it seems to me likely
that this will be the highlight of her career for a long time. The minimalist performance that Claire Danes gave
Luhrmann in Romeo + Juliet was just right for that film, as she drew attention to herself by being the one
quiet element. Here, Kidman plays the ultimate, unabashed seductress and then gets more than even she can handle,
on both the side of love and hate. Ewan McGregor has a pretty amazing singing voice. I was shocked. He has his
limitations, but like great singers of the past, he embraces his limits and makes them a part of his style to great
effect. John Leguizamo is not in much of the current footage, so it’s hard to get a read on his Toulouse Lautrec.
But he seems to be, at least in some part, a part of a four-man comedy team - Luhrmann’s Greek chorus, if you like
- that reminds me of The Brothers, Ritz or Marx. And Jim Broadbent, a great star of British cinema, looks to have
the "Joel Grey role," leading the team at the Moulin Rouge. But his earthy, tough, rich, fearless appearance
and singing voice seems, from this small view, put him right in the way of Grey territory -Best Supporting Actor
Oscar territory.
As coincidence would have it, I was also able to catch footage of two full length musical numbers while I was at the studio.
My only real concern watching the 11 minute package were the solo singing moments by Ewan McGregor, singing parts of Love
Lifts Us Up Where We Belong and In The Name of Love. But one of the two full length bits I got to see was the sequence
between McGregor and Kidman in which he sings lyrics from those songs. And it was amazing to me how well it worked. Luhrmann
and his team were clearly unabashed in their efforts to break up the songs and to use the subtext that is built into them, in
a fearless way that leaves you wondering how they pulled it off. But they did pull it off.
The second sequence was The Tango Sequence, in which the Moulin Rouge dancers come together in a massive tango that
reflects in the intensity and pain of The Police’s Roxanne, as sung by Jacek Koman a.k.a. The Argentinean. Luhrmann juxtaposes
this sequence, with the two lovers, McGregor and Kidman, separated by their roles in the world. Amazing stuff.
People say "breathtaking" all the time. What I have seen of Moulin Rouge so far is literally breathtaking.
As each scene ends, you need to take a deep, deep breath and try to reflect on what you’ve seen. Luhrmann has created
a thick, thick stew of passion here and it will be fascinating to see whether the complete film will allow the audience
to breathe at all. I’m bringing the oxygen tank.
Source: Voices of Hollywood
Thank you Nimue and stenuity for the heads up!
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Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Saturday, April
14, 2001 // 11:34 a.m.
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| The Sydney Morning Herald has launched it's very own Moulin Rouge Mini-Site. You can download
the song videos, get the lyrics, view stunning image galleries and keep up to date with all the news!
Click here to get there!
Thank you Noah's Dove for the heads up!
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Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Saturday, April
14, 2001 // 10:03 a.m.
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And the OSCAR goes to this soundtrack, maybe
Mike Gee gets to preview the majority of the Moulin Rouge soundtrack album and ends up wanting to
dance on a table.
Okay, so we'll put ourselves on the line here. After listening to 10 of the 16 tracks from the soundtrack Baz Luhrmann's
highly-anticipated Moulin Rouge and leafing through copious stills and press material, I'm thinking that if Nicole Kidman's
performance is anywhere near as good as the soundtrack and the astonishing, lavish, sumptuous appearance of the film, then
not only will she be nominated for an Academy Award but she'll win it.
And that's without even seeing more than a few 10 or 20-second bursts of this richly cast, beautifully wrought comic
tragedy. Silly. Maybe. It could be a total dud, as well. But, something, says it won't.
 You
see, it's all about gut instinct this business. You feel when you are in the presence of something special; you have
an inate sense from just listening to one track of an album that the rest of it is going to be a marvellous experience that's
going to leave you hitting the repeat button for days. Moulin Rouge feels special; you can taste it, sense its presence,
it' romance, its vibrance, its classicism. There is a dynamic; a force.
And that dominates the tracks I heard last week. Tucked away in a quiet room at FMR headquarters in Pyrmont - the
only place you can hear the record and then only one person at a time - it was remarkably easy to get caught up in
the feeling of something
you'd never seen, yet could easily imagine through the music and the exquisite promotional booklet that's currently
circulating promoting the film.
Here's a tip: come late May when the film hits the screen, this soundtrack will be #1 in Australia: before then the
first single, Lady Marmalade will have already been a #1 smash. The old classic for Labelle has been given a new life - and
sensuality - by Christine Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya and Pink. Four artists I normally wouldn't listen to twice, yet
alone once. Okay, it isn't better than the original. But this, my friends, is still staggeringly sexy stuff, particularly
when you're watching the video simultaneously. The girls - all done up in period lace and corsetry, bust and legs everywhere
- bumping and grinding their way through it like they were born to cabaret. It's hot, it's steamy, it's fabulous.
And that, really, is just the beginning.
Fatboy Slim arrives in a thunder of percussion and delivers a new millennium mega-bpm meltdown that's going to lift
the roof off more than a few clubs. Because We Can is actually the only track on initial listening that posed the question; "Does
it work?" On reflection, what seemed one of his more formless pieces, is actually a blast. A full-blooded stomp. A massacre
of the senses.
Nothing could contrast more than Sparkling Diamonds which ties together Marilyn Monroe's Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend
and Madonna's Material Girl. It's Kidman's first vocal on the album and I'm here to tell you that - with
the exception of a very small problem at the top end of the register - our Nic is a natural born singer. Bouncing off a chorus
featuring Jim Broadbent, Caroline O'Connor, Lara Goodridge, Natalie Mendoza and Lara Mulcahy, Kidman swings gloriously
in what is the album's showtime/big band number.
Surprise, surprise. Ewan McGregor, Kidman's co-star and love interest in Moulin Rouge, can sing. Really sing. He, Placido
Domingo and Alessandro Safina, do ripe justice to Elton John's early '70s classic, Your Song. Always a beautiful
number with an unforgettable melody, it gets a massive treatment here with full orchestra, choir and Domingo's marvellous
operatic voice hitting a couple of emotional highs. Exquisite. As it should be. It would have been a tragedy in itself to
ruin one of Elton's finest moments.
Contrast again: Bono, Gavin Friday and Maurice Seezer smack their way through a full-blooded pedal to the metal version
of
Marc Bolan's all-time great Children Of The Revolution. Chunky and spunky with a hip swagger to match, Children Of The
Revolution is half-sleaze, half-metal, always glam. Stomp, baby, stomp. A natural born killer.
Kidman's solo, One Day I'll Fly Away, is natural born chiller: the female lead's big ballad in classic soundtrack
format, accompanied by orchestra and choir in the cinematic tradition. Epic, atmospheric. Very big. It could easily have
died. She pulls it off. Tom, you're ex-wife is just so much more talented than you ever were or will be. But, then again,
I reckon you already know that.
About face. That's right. A full 180 degrees, because ladies and gentlemen, it's time for some Diamond Dogs ...
with Beck. Love it. A percussive, minimalist version that almost tastes metallic, Bowie's classic has a bar-room trash
out feel. You could get very messy with a few beers, a hot partner and this spinning the sound fantastic.
Honestly, I was having a blast listening to this. If there weren't so many people walking past the glass door, I'd
have been dancing on the table from the first minute of Lady Marmalade. As for Diamond Dogs - air guitar and a robot strut
here, I think. Best single track Beck has done in a while - and it isn't his own.
Oh boy. Elephant Love Medley is aptly named. Combining All You Need Is Love, I Was Made For Lovin' You, One More Night,
Pride In The Name Of Love, Don't Leave Me This Way, Up Where We Belong and ... ... Heroes, it's as good a track
as any on this wonderful record. And I'm not going to spoil it for you by telling you how it goes and what happens between
Ewan and Nicole as the song builds to an impossible climax. It's just genius. Chilling. Really.
And just when you thought love couldn't get any more heartfelt and luscious. Warning: approach Come What May With a
full box of tissues. This is the big one. The killer, smoocherama, love-at-all-cost, duet between Nic and Ewan. The one where
they stare into each other's eyes, aware that their love is probably fated but swear undying love. It's bloody
gorgeous. If anybody had walked in, I would have asked them to marry me. Aaah, romance. How sweet is love. Treasure it. For
as long as it lasts. If you're lucky, forever.
Hindi Sad Diamonds is another dancefloor spectacular as Nicole gets all Middle Eastern with Alka Yagnik and flicks
those hips, dances that belly, in a fierce attack of all those basic instincts. Natacha Atlas would be proud of her:
so would Trans-Global
Underground. Sweeping and splendidly primal.
And I still haven't heard David Bowie's opening Nature Boy or his re-version with Massive Attack, Valeria's
Rhythm Of the Night, El Tango De Roxanne featuring McGregor, Jose Feliciano and Jacek Kolam, Rufus Wainwright doing Complainte
de la Butte - what a delicious title, and Josh G. Abrahams' remix of Come What May.
Look, if Nic doesn't win the Academy Award, then I'm having money right now that this takes out the best song gong
for Lady Marmalade or Come What May.
Hell, Moulin Rouge may even win best film. Now that would be something else. Let's hope the film is as good as the soundtrack,
because this is as good as soundtracks get. A masterpiece of conception and execution with devastating performances and epic
emotion. Like Bogey says, "Play it again, Sam." And again. And again. And again. And you don't even need to have seen
the film. Voulez-vous avec moi ce soir.
Source: Syndey Morning Herald
Thank you Noah's Dove for the heads up! |
Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Saturday, April
14, 2001 // 09:47 a.m.
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Baz Lurhmann's Romeo + Juliet on ABC (US) Saturday night
William Shakespeare's `Romeo + Juliet' 113 min. Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes deliver impassioned performances
as the lovers in this contemporary adaptation.
While the language remains the Bard's, spectacular set designs and stylish costumes transform the setting from “fair
Verona” to the fictional, not-so-fair Verona Beach. Here, the long-standing animosity between the Capulets and Montagues
plays out like a grungy grudge match, replete with bloody battles, street thugs and drugs. An ultrahip score with music by
various '90s artists adds a slick touch to the 1996 production. Tybalt: John Leguizamo.
Cast: Vondie Curtis-Hall, Christina Pickles, M. Emmet Walsh, Jesse Bradford, Dash Mihok, Miriam Margolyes, Diane
Venora, Harold Perrineau, Paul Rudd, John Leguizamo, Pete Postlethwaite, Paul Sorvino, Leonardo DiCaprio,
Claire Danes, Brian Dennehy
Rating: PG-13
Content: Violence, Sexual Situations
Category: Movie, Drama
Director: Baz Luhrmann
Release Year: 1996
Baz Luhrmann directed Ewan in Moulin Rouge. John Leguizamo co-stars with Ewan in Moulin Rouge (as
Toulouse Lautrec) and Pete Postlethwaite co-starred with Ewan in both Brassed Off! and Serpent's Kiss.
Nicole Kidman (Satine in Moulin Rouge) is supposed to host the broadcast of Romeo
+ Juliet and they should air some "rare" footage from Moulin Rouge.
Thank you Judy and ScarlettPride for the information. |
Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Friday, April
13, 2001 // 09:47 p.m.
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The official Star Wars site has completely
updated its site. There are some very nice pictures of Ewan as Obi-Wan to be found.
Go check it out!
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Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Wednesday, April
11, 2001 // 09:02 p.m.
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Just some random bits about the Moulin Rouge soundtrack from NME.com:
The film's stars Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor also pop up from time to time.
www.sonicnet.com reports that McGregor can be heard on a version of The Police's 'Roxanne',
while he duets with Placido Domingo on a cover of Elton John's 'Your Song'.
Check out
the full article for more details on who will be featured on the soundtrack.
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Posted by bridgeny productions on Tuesday, April 10, 2001
// 09:10 p.m.
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Moulin musical gets thumbs up
AAP Tuesday 10 April 2001, 02:22 PM
Nicole Kidman's Moulin Rouge is getting the thumbs up from test audiences that are cheering
the film's star-studded
soundtrack and easing studio concerns about whether the modern day musical can work at the box office.
Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor star in the $US52 million ($A106.38-million) love story set in 1890s Paris but shot at the
Fox studios in Sydney.
The film features music from diverse artists including Madonna, Beck, Lil' Kim and Placido Domingo.
In New York finishing work on the sound track, director Baz Luhrmann said the reaction to the music of Moulin Rouge from
test audiences surprised studio executives at Fox.
"Their big fear is that audiences will be turned off by the music," Luhrmann told the US entertainment channel, E.
"But the big surprise is the music is what test audiences have been responding to. We screened it on video for Cannes, and
they asked to enter it into competition because, obviously, it's a solid film, too."
Moulin Rouge will open the Cannes Film Festival on May 9 and will be launched in Australia on May 31.
Luhrmann said audiences should be prepared to see a courageous and funny Nicole Kidman.
"You will see Nicole like never before. She's funnier than ever, and Ewan's going to be a bit like Elvis. And not
only that, they both sing. They're blowing people away," Luhrmann said.
Source: The Age
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Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Tuesday, April
10, 2001 // 07:42 a.m.
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Two articles about Ewan's upcoming Black Hawk Down, from Cinemayhem:
The Black Hawks Will Arrive...
I reported last week that the production was having difficulty getting Army Blackhawks for the movie. It would seem that
the King of Morocco needed to give the producers, and US military permission to enter his country. This was apparently done
at the last minute, but then there were troubles with getting the Black Hawks from a base in Germany.
The end result is that the Black Hawks are due to arrive from the US in Sale, Morocco on Thursday this week. My source also
informed me that filming is proceeding on schedule and next week will see the commencement of filming on the battle and mob
scenes.
Script Touch Ups?
The IMDB has posted that in addition to Ken Nolan writing the screenplay, Academy Award winning writers Stephen Gaghan (Traffic)
and Steven Zaillian (Schindler's List) have been involved in the script as well.
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Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Saturday, April
7, 2001 // 08:54 a.m.
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"Moulin Rouge" gets a boost from Cannes
By Globe Staff & Wires, 3/30/2001
Director Baz Luhrmann is stoked. Only a few months ago, his movie "Moulin Rouge" was rumored
to be a dog - mainly because of last-minute delays in its December release.
But as it turns out, "Moulin Rouge" has been selected to open the Cannes Film Festival in May, and it'll screen
in the official competition - a sign that Cannes programmer Gilles Jacob thinks it's a winner.
"I'm obviously very happy," Luhrmann says. "For us, Cannes was the beginning of our journey. 'Strictly Ballroom' [the
Australian director's 1992 film] was first shown at Cannes, and in a way, Cannes discovered us."
So, if "Moulin Rouge" isn't a dog, why was its release delayed?
"The film has a story line that the show must go on, and in a way, that's what it took to make this movie," he says. "I
lost my father on the first day of shooting. Then Nicole broke her rib," he adds, referring to Nicole Kidman, who plays a
can-can girl. "Sadly, Nicole then fell and smashed her knee during one of the dance numbers."
Luhrmann says that Nicole is planning to show up in Cannes for the premiere, despite the recent personal travails with soon-to-be-ex-hubby
Tom Cruise.
Oddly enough, Kidman's decision to attend Cannes coincides with Jodie Foster's decision to skip it. When Kidman
decided not to proceed with the upcoming "The Panic Room" because of her knee injury, Foster took her place. And that
meant that Foster had to decline Jacob's offer to be the president of the Cannes jury because of scheduling.
So, after all this trouble, how did the movie turn out? And what's it all about?
The director's breathless answer goes something like this: "A young poet goes into the Parisian underworld in 1899 and
he meets Toulouse-Lautrec and they're putting on a show. It's sort of like at Studio 54. He falls for the star,
a courtesan. He tries to rescue her, but there's another man. It's meticulously Victorian, but with modern music.
We're doing the can-can to Fatboy Slim. It's very Bowie, Bono, and Beck."
"Moulin Rouge," which also stars Ewan McGregor, is scheduled to open in the United States on June 1.
This story ran on page 13 of the Boston Globe on 3/30/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.
Source: The
Boston Globe |
Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Friday, March
30, 2001 // 12:28 p.m.
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Ewan in Cannes for Moulin Rouge
According to Ani Skylover from sithclan.qc.ca:
"For the big promo of Lords of the Rings, Peter Jackson, Christopher Lee and other
casts members will be at the Cannes Festival, and Ewan McGregor too, for Moulin Rouge."
This is in no way confirmed but it would make sense since Moulin Rouge opens the Cannes Film
Festival on May 9th and it's quite possible Ewan will be
finished shooting Black Hawk Down.
Source: The Force.Net
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Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Thursday, March
29, 2001 // 10:52 p.m.
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Friday's San Francisco Chronicle had an article by Ruthe Stein which was rather lenghty and most
had nothing to do with Ewan except for this short paragraph at the end:
That other spring film festival, the one in Cannes, announced this week that it will open
with "Moulin Rouge." Director Baz Luhrmann called to say how astonished he was by the news. "The
French are not renowned for their love of musicals, and though I'm not supposed to talk about
it because it scares the studio, I have made a musical. Even worse, it's part opera." He also
thought the French might feel proprietary toward the film's subject, Toulouse-Lautrec, and not
care about an Australian filmmaker's vision of the painter. Ah, but the French are partial to
erotic love stories, and from the clips we've seen of Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor intertwined,
it looks as if Luhrmann's film will raise the temperature at Cannes.
Source: SF
Gate
There are 69 days until June 1st, when Moulin Rouge opens in wide release in North America. |
Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Saturday, March 24,
2001 // 08:41 a.m.
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An article in today's Times about the strong presence of women in this year's upcoming films. They mention Sandra
Bullock and Nicole Kidman.
Here's the best bit:
Even more excitedly awaited is Kidman’s role as the deliciously named Satine, a courtesan
in fin-de-siècle Paris in Moulin Rouge, the Baz Luhrmann movie that has been described as The
Rocky Horror Picture Show meets Titanic. Now there’s a thought.
A cult classic and the highest-grossing film of all time (so far!). Not bad!!!
Source: The Times |
Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Thursday, March 22,
2001 // 07:45 a.m.
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Ewan on BBC Scotland this Friday
You can catch Ewan McGregor on The Kirsty Wark Show on Friday 23 March, 21:25 - 22:00.
Ewan will be interviewed about his current film, Black Hawk Down on BBC Scotland. In a special
edition of her topical show, Kirsty travels to Morocco to interview the top Scottish actor. Between
takes on his latest film, she catches up with
him by the pool.
Thanks to cac and Josie of Mad About Ewan for
the heads up.
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Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Wednesday, March
21, 2001 // 06:28 p.m.
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Star Wars cast head for UK
George Lucas and the cast of Star Wars Episode 2 will be in the UK from Saturday to film new scenes.
Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor, Christopher Lee and Samuel L. Jackson are
all involved in the
extra filming.
It will take place at Ealing Studios from March 24 to April 8.
Lucas has spent the past few months assembling a rough cut of the film.
He has decided on some revisions and additions which he wants to shoot with the principal actors.
The film's producer Rick McCallum told the official Star Wars website: "The England shoots will be mostly in front of
blue screen.
"Though we've been really busy since we wrapped in September, it's always exciting to get back in front of the
cameras."
Star Wars Epsiode 2 is due to be released in 2002.
Last updated: 10:13 Wednesday 21st March 2001
Source: Ananova |
Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Wednesday, March 21,
2001 // 06:15 p.m.
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 Fox's "Moulin
Rouge" to Open Cannes Film Festival, Followed by June 1 National Release
Updated 2:45 PM ET March 20, 2001
LOS ANGELES (ENTERTAINMENT WIRE) - The Cannes Film Festival has selected Baz Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge" as the festival's
opening-night film on May 9, 2001.
The film will be screened in competition.
The Cannes response to "Moulin Rouge," as well as reactions to early test screenings and showings of a special promotional
reel, have led Fox to move the film's release date to place it squarely into the prime summer release period. Twentieth
Century Fox will release the film nationally on June 1.
Fox will also platform "Moulin Rouge" in a single run each in New York and Los Angeles on May 18. Commented Gilles Jacob,
president of the Cannes International Film Festival: "I am particularly happy to welcome 'Moulin Rouge,' a major
studio film that renews the best tradition of spectacle, as the opening-night film of this year's festival, and also,
of course, to reconnect with director Baz Luhrmann, whom we know very well from having discovered his first film in 1992."
Commented Luhrmann: "I still have wonderful memories from when Cannes launched my first film, 'Strictly Ballroom,' so
this is indeed an exciting announcement for me. I am particularly gratified that an American-financed film almost completely
created in Australia, and specific to French culture and history, has been embraced this way by Cannes."
Added Robert Harper, vice chairman, Twentieth Century Fox: "We always knew Baz was creating something very special with 'Moulin
Rouge.' But after seeing the film this month, we were completely blown away by what he's done -- and we're
thrilled that the Cannes Film Festival agrees. `Moulin Rouge' is a film for everyone, and we wanted to give audiences
their best opportunity to experience it for themselves by releasing the picture on these prime summer dates."
"Moulin Rouge" is a celebration of love and creative inspiration set in the infamous, gaudy and glamorous Parisian nightclub,
at the cusp of the 20th century. Luhrmann ("William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet") brings together gorgeous period design
and modern-era pop tunes to create a unique motion picture experience. Nicole Kidman plays the club's most notorious
star, forced to choose between a young writer's inspiration and another man's obsession. Ewan McGregor is the
writer who finds himself plunged into this decadent world where anything goes -- except falling in love.
The film also stars John Leguizamo as Toulouse-Lautrec, Jim Broadbent and Richard Roxburgh. It was written by Baz Luhrmann & Craig
Pearce, and the producers are Martin Brown, Baz Luhrmann and Fred Baron.
Twentieth Century Fox is a unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment, a unit of Fox Entertainment Group.
There are links to photos at the site.
Source: Excite news |
Posted by Best of Ewan McGregor on Tuesday, March 20,
2001 // 07:47 p.m.
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