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The Island is a 2005 American science fiction/thriller film directed by Michael Bay and starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson. It was released on July 22, 2005 in the United States, and was nominated for three awards including the Teen Choice Award.

It is described as a pastiche of "escape-from-dystopia" science fiction films of the 1960s and 1970s such as Fahrenheit 451, THX 1138, Parts: The Clonus Horror, and Logan's Run. The film's plot revolves around the struggle of Ewan McGregor's character to fit into the highly structured world he lives in, and the series of events that unfolds when he questions how truthful that world really is.

The film, which cost $126 million to produce, earned only $36 million at the United States box office, but earned $127 million overseas, for a $162 million worldwide total. The original score for the film was composed by Steve Jablonsky. It was also the first film directed by Michael Bay that was not produced by Jerry Bruckheimer.

Plot[link]

Lincoln Six Echo (Ewan McGregor) lives in an isolated compound which strictly regulates its inhabitants' lives. The inhabitants hope to win a lottery, the reward of which is a relocation to "The Island", the only place on Earth not contaminated by a deadly pathogen. Lincoln tells Dr. Merrick (Sean Bean) of his discontent with the plain white clothes everyone is given and the strict social controls. Concerned about strange dreams Lincoln experiences that involve a speedboat and other unfamiliar items, Merrick inserts probes into Lincoln's body to monitor his cerebral activities.

While illicitly visiting a power-plant basement where his friend, the technician James McCord (Steve Buscemi), works, Lincoln discovers a live moth in a ventilation shaft, leading him to deduce that the outside world is not contaminated. Lincoln captures and releases the moth and follows it to another section, where he witnesses two recent lottery winners being killed: one immediately after childbirth (for her baby), and the other (Michael Clarke Duncan) in the process of having his liver harvested. Security discovers that Lincoln has wandered into unauthorized areas, and start searching for him. As Lincoln rescues Jordan Two Delta (Scarlett Johansson), a friend who has just won the lottery, Dr. Merrick realizes that Lincoln is beginning to learn the truth.

While eluding security and escaping from the facility, Lincoln and Jordan learn that both the contamination of the outside world and the Island are myths, and that the residents are clones of wealthy sponsors, who intend to use them for organ harvesting or surrogate motherhood. Merrick's technology allows clones to incubate directly into adulthood. He tells sponsors and the government that the clones do not gain consciousness, but when Merrick hires French mercenary Albert Laurent (Djimon Hounsou) to kill or capture the escapees, he admits that the organs of unconscious clones inevitably fail, making them useless. Thus, he needs the clones conscious in the compound.

Lincoln and Jordan escape the compound and find themselves in the Arizona desert. They find McCord, who gives them the name of Lincoln's sponsor in Los Angeles, and helps them to the Yucca railway station. After Laurent's mercenaries find and kill McCord, Lincoln and Jordan ride the train in hopes of finding help in Los Angeles. (Jordan Two's sponsor, model Sarah Jordan, cannot help as she is in a coma following a car accident.) Lincoln Six's sponsor, Tom Lincoln—the owner of the speedboat in Lincoln's dreams—agrees to help expose the truth about the organ harvesting, but secretly turns against his clone by informing Merrick about the situation. Merrick sends the mercenaries to the location, but Lincoln Six tricks Laurent into killing Tom, allowing him to assume Tom's identity.

The cerebral probes reveal that Lincoln Six Echo inherited some memories from his sponsor Tom Lincoln (which had been thought impossible). Merrick becomes afraid that the same will happen with the other clones and decides to kill them all. Lincoln and Jordan plan to liberate their fellow clones. Now posing as Tom Lincoln, Lincoln Six returns to the compound in order to destroy the holographic projectors that hide the outside world from the clones. With help from Laurent—who has moral qualms with treating the clones as if they are not human—Merrick is killed and the clones are freed. The film ends with the clones seeing the outside world for the first time.

Cast[link]

• Ewan McGregor as Lincoln Six Echo, a clone of experimental designer Tom Lincoln.
  • Tom Lincoln, automotive experimental designer from Scotland, sponsored his clone for a new liver since his viral hepatitis is destroying his liver. Although both characters were played by the same actor, Echo is portrayed as kind, gentle, and generous, while Lincoln is arrogant, selfish, and greedy. Echo spoke with a Canadian accent, while Lincoln spoke with a Scottish accent, which is Ewan McGregor's actual accent.
• Scarlett Johansson as Jordan Two Delta, clone of model Sarah Jordan. About to be harvested for organs as her sponsor was severely injured in a car accident, but escapes with Lincoln, with whom she has taken up a friendship.
  • Sarah Jordan, a supermodel for Calvin Klein (among other brands), who also has a preschool-age son. Jordan is never seen on-screen, only in adverts.
• Sean Bean as Dr. Merrick, antagonist, owner of Merrick Biotech and creator of the cloning technology.
• Djimon Hounsou as Albert Laurent, French private military contractor hired to bring back Lincoln Six Echo and Jordan Two Delta.
• Steve Buscemi as James McCord, employee of Merrick Biotech.
• Michael Clarke Duncan as Starkweather Two Delta, cloned from a football player.
• Ethan Phillips as Jones Three Echo, a short, nervous clone.
• Brian Stepanek as Gandu Three Echo, an easily frustrated clone repeatedly disciplined.
• Noa Tishby as Community Announcer.
• Siobhan Flynn as Lima One Alpha.
• Kim Coates as Charles Whitman, director of Public Relations for Merrick Biotech.
• Tom Everett as President of the United States, appears on television.
• J.P. Manoux as Foxtrot.
• Shawnee Smith as the girlfriend of the Steve Buscemi character. Buscemi and Smith were also paired together in a short bar scene in "Armageddon".

Filming[link]

Ruins in Rhyolite, Nevada

The computer in Merrick's office at the Institute, which features a large, tabletop touchscreen display capable of detecting several forms of input, was rumored to be a large version of Microsoft Surface. The design was actually proposed by a technology adviser at MIT, who aimed for producing a believable vision of futuristic technology.^[2]

The boat featured at the end of the film is the 118 WallyPower, built by Monte Carlo-based Wally Yachts. The car that Tom Lincoln owns is a 2002 concept car, the Cadillac Cien.

The Calvin Klein advertising Jordan sees in the street, in which she recognizes her sponsor Sarah Jordan, is the actual advertising for the Eternity Moment fragrance by Calvin Klein, for which Johansson was the model in real life.

Filming locations[link]

The ruined buildings where Jordan and Lincoln sleep after leaving the subterranean compound are in Rhyolite, Nevada. The city parts of the movie were filmed in Detroit, Michigan, most notable the Michigan Central Station and the Michigan Theater.^{[citation needed]}

Release[link]

Box office[link]

The Island grossed a weak $12,409,070 in over 3,100 theaters its opening weekend. The film went on to gross $35,818,913 domestically and $127,130,251 in foreign markets, for a worldwide total of $162,949,164.

Ultimately, the film was considered a box office bomb, which Edward Jay Epstein of Slate Magazine blamed on poor publicity.^[3] Epstein notes that research polls showed little awareness of The Island's impending release amongst its target audience and that trailers bore little relation to the film's plot. He writes, "What really failed here was not the directing, acting, or story (which were all acceptable for a summer movie) but the marketing campaign."

Critical reception[link]

The Island received mixed reviews from critics. It has a 40% "Rotten" rating (based on 185 reviews) at Rotten Tomatoes,^[4] and scored 50/100 (based on 38 reviews) at Metacritic.^[5] Critical consensus was that the film was well acted and had impressive special effects but didn't deal with the ethical issues it raised as well as it could have. Many reviewers noted that the The Island seemed like two separate films.

Roger Ebert said, "[the first half] is a spare, creepy science fiction parable, and then it shifts into a high-tech action picture. Both halves work. Whether they work together is a good question."^[6] He gave the film three out of four stars and praised the performances of the actors, in particular Michael Clarke Duncan: "[He] has only three or four scenes, but they're of central importance, and he brings true horror to them." On the critical side, he says the film "never satisfactorily comes full circle" and missed the opportunity "to do what the best science fiction does, and use the future as a way to critique the present."

Variety's Justin Change called the film an "exercise in sensory overkill" and said that Bay took on "the weighty moral conundrums of human cloning, resolving them in a storm of bullets, car chases and more explosions than you can shake a syringe at."^[7] He noted McGregor and Buscemi as highlights of the film, along with Nigel Phelps' production design. However, he felt the story lacked in surprises and blamed "attention-deficit editing by Paul Rubell and Christian Wagner" for actions sequences that he felt lacked tension and were "joltingly repetitive".

Salon's Stephanie Zacharek also praised the actors but felt that when the film "[gets] really interesting, Bay thinks he needs to throw in a car crash or a round of gunfire to keep our attention." She felt the film had enough surprises "to make you wish it were better."^[8] Similarly, The New York Times reviewer, A.O. Scott, said "[the] film is smarter than you might expect, and at the same time dumber than it could be."^[9]

Reviewers objected to the prominent use of product placement for several brands in the film. In an Entertainment Weekly cover story, Bay stated that the extensive product placement was the result of trying to offset production costs - "Bay called on friends at major corporations .. and offered product placement in exchange for cash. 'We made about $850,000 on that,' he says. 'And we needed that money to get this movie made.'"^[10] Bay began his directorial career in commercials and music videos, which is why these relationships were already in place.

Copyright infringement controversy[link]

The creators of the 1979 film Parts: The Clonus Horror, which was also about a colony that breeds clones to harvest organs for the elite, filed a copyright infringement suit.^[11][12] According to a 2007 interview with Clonus screenwriter Bob Sullivan, DreamWorks and Clonus Associates reached a settlement, the specific terms of which are sealed.^[13]

The controversy surrounding the lawsuit opened the floodgates to more criticism and accusations. Michael Marshall Smith's 1996 novel Spares, in which the hero liberates intelligent clones from a "spare farm", whose clients are told they are not conscious, was optioned by DreamWorks in the late 1990s but never made. It remains unclear if the story inspired The Island, and so Marshall Smith did not consider it worthwhile^[14] to pursue legal action over the similarities. Paramount (once sister studio to DreamWorks after its parent Viacom purchased DreamWorks in late 2005, then spinning it off again in 2008) was in talks to option the novel after DreamWorks' rights expired, but declined after The Island was released. Marshall Smith considers it unlikely a Spares film will ever be made.^[15]

Tessa Dick, former wife of the late science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, accused the filmmakers of plagiarizing his 1964 novel The Penultimate Truth, as well as several other works of fiction.

I'm watching this film, and I realize that everything in it is derivative of someone else's work. ... The basic premise is outright stolen from ... The Penultimate Truth. Everybody lives in an underground shelter because, they are told, the Earth is contaminated. ... They do throw in some action scenes from Blade Runner, which rips off Ridley Scott more than it does Phil. [Blade Runner is based on Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?."]^[16]

Defective Canadian DVD release[link]

The Canadian DVD release of The Island was advertised to include both English and French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround audio tracks, however it only contained English Dolby Digital 2.0 and French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. The packaging was later revised to indicate that the English audio on the disc was only 2-channel. Beginning in March 2006, new copies of the DVD were distributed with 5.1 Surround audio for both English and French.

References[link]

Notes

Bibliography

• Breznican, Anthony (March 18, 2005). "Car-wreck 'Island' keeps director smash-happy". USA Today, p. E1.
• Fierman, Daniel (July 22, 2005). "Attack of the Clones". Entertainment Weekly, issue #830. Retrieved from http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,,00.html on June 19, 2006.

External links[link]

• Official website
• The Island at the Internet Movie Database
• The Island at AllRovi
• The Island at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Island at Metacritic
• The Island at Box Office Mojo

Bruce Gilden (born 1946) is a noted street photographer, known for his work in New York City.

Career[link]

While studying sociology at Penn State, he saw Michelangelo Antonioni's film Blowup in 1968. Influenced by the film, he purchased his first camera and began taking night classes in photography at the School of Visual Arts of New York. Fascinated with normal people on the street and the idea of visual spontaneity, Gilden turned to a career in photography.^[1] He routinely uses a flash, alerting his subjects to his presence, unlike most street photographers. His first major project was documenting the sensuality of the bodies of the people at Coney Island.^[2]

A member of Magnum Photos since 1998, he shot images of Japan's Yakuza mobsters, the homeless, prostitutes, and members of bike gangs between 1995 and 2000. According to Gilden, he was fascinated by the duality and double lives of the individuals he photographed.^[3] Gilden is also the subject of Misery Loves Company: The Life and Death of Bruce Gilden, a documentary produced in 2007.^[4] He has also photographed rural Ireland and horseracing there, as well as voodoo rituals in Haiti.

Awards[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2011)

• 1979: New York Foundation for the Arts (Artist’s Fellowship), New York, USA; New York Foundation for the Arts (Artist’s Fellowship), New York, USA
• 1980: National Endowment for the Arts Photographer’s Fellowship
• 1984: National Endowment for the Arts Photographer’s Fellowship; New York Foundation for the Arts (Artist’s Fellowship), New York, USA
• 1992: National Endowment for the Arts Photographer’s Fellowship; New York Foundation for the Arts (Artist’s Fellowship), New York, USA
• 1994: New York Foundation for the Arts (Artist’s Fellowship), New York, USA
• 1996: European Publishers’ Award for Photography; Villa Medicis Hors les Murs Artist’s Fellowship
• 1999: The Japan Foundation Artist’s Fellowship
• 2000: New York Foundation for the Arts (Artist’s Fellowship), New York, USA

Bibliography[link]

• The Small Haiti Portfolio (Limited Edition), Helsinki, Finland (1990)
• Facing New York, Cornerhouse Publications, UK (1992) ISBN 978-0-948797-07-1
• CRP Nord Pas-de-Calais, France (1994)
• Bleus, Cahier#13, Mission Photographique Transmanche (1994)
• Haïti, Dreams and Nightmares, Dewi Lewis Publishing and Editions Marval, UK & France (1997)
• After the Off, Dewi Lewis Publishing, UK (1999) ISBN 978-1-899235-17-9
• Ciganos, Centro Portuguès de Fotografia, Lisbon, Portugal (1999)
• Haiti, Dewi Lewis Publishing and Editions Marval, UK & France (1999) ISBN 978-1-899235-55-1
• Go, Trebruk-Magnum, USA (2000)
• Coney Island, Trebruk, UK (2002) ISBN 978-0-9538901-2-5
• New York City (2004)
• A Beautiful Catastrophe, Powerhouse, USA (2005) ISBN 978-1-57687-238-3
• Magnum Stories (2005)
• Fashion Magazine, Magnum Photos, France (2006) ISBN 978-1-933045-43-6

References[link]

External links[link]

• Bruce Gilden's blog
• Bruce Gilden at the Internet Movie Database
• Magnum Photos Gilden profile
• WNYC Street Shots: Bruce Gilden on Video
• National Public Radio interview with Gilden
• Bruce Silverstein Gallery, New York, NY

Steven Jablonsky (born October 9, 1970) is an American composer for film, television and video games. He has been the music director for all the Michael Bay movies produced and directed since The Island. He has composed the soundtracks to the movies The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), Steamboy (2004), The Island (2005), Transformers (2007), D-War (2007), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) and Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011). He was also a contributor on Team America: World Police (2004) among many others. In addition, he helped compose some of the music to the video game Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and composed the theme music in 2003 for the BBC's Seven Wonders of the Industrial World. He continues to write music for the television show Desperate Housewives (2004-2012) since the fourth episode. His track "Trailblazing" served as the opening theme for WrestleMania X8 and WrestleMania XIX.

Steve also wrote the music for Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, taking the place of the former Command & Conquer music composer Frank Klepacki, who was unable to write the game's score due to his involvement with Universe at War: Earth Assault.

Jablonsky studied composition at the University of California, Berkeley, and worked for seven years for Harry Gregson-Williams at Remote Control Productions, the music production company headed by Hans Zimmer. Jablonsky's most recent projects include the scores for the Michael Bay live action feature film Transformers, the South Korean film D-War, Gears of War 3 for the Xbox 360 gaming console, and music for The Sims 3. He works in Hans Zimmer's studio Remote Control Productions. He was mentored by current Remote Control members Hans Zimmer, Harry Gregson-Williams, and Nick Glennie-Smith and former member Klaus Badelt.

Discography[link]

Filmography[link]

Video games[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Steve Jablonsky at the Internet Movie Database
• Steve Jablonsky at SoundtrackNet
• Steve Jablonsky on MySpace.com
• Interview with Steve Jablonsky, SoundtrackNet
• The Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency, Inc. - [1]

Ewan McGregor
McGregor at the Venice Film Festival in 2009
Born	Ewan Gordon McGregor (1971-03-31) 31 March 1971 (age 41) Perth, Scotland
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1993–present
Spouse	Eve Mavrakis (1995–present)
Children	4

Ewan Gordon McGregor (born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor who has had success in mainstream, indie, and art house films. He is perhaps best known for his roles as heroin addict Mark Renton in the drama Trainspotting (1996), Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy (1999–2005), poet Christian in the musical film Moulin Rouge! (2001), and storyteller Edward Bloom in Tim Burton's Big Fish (2003). He has also received critical acclaim for his starring roles in theatre productions of Guys and Dolls (2005–07) and Othello (2007–08). McGregor was ranked No. 36 on Empire magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list in 1997.^[1]

Early life[link]

Born in the Royal Infirmary in Perth, Scotland, McGregor was brought up in the nearby small town of Crieff, where he attended the independent Morrison's Academy. His mother, Carole Diane (née Lawson), is a teacher and school administrator, and his father, James Charles Stewart "Jim" McGregor, is a physical education teacher.^[2][3] He has an older brother, Colin, who is a former Tornado GR4 pilot in the Royal Air Force.^[4][5] He is the nephew of actor Denis Lawson and the late actress Sheila Gish, and the step-cousin of the late actress Lou Gish.^[6] McGregor studied drama at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.^[6]

Career[link]

Film and television[link]

In 1993, six months prior to his graduation from Guildhall, McGregor won a leading role in Dennis Potter's six-part Channel 4 series Lipstick on Your Collar.^[6] That same year, he starred in the BBC adaptation of Scarlet and Black with a young Rachel Weisz, and made his film debut in Bill Forsyth's Being Human.^[7] In 1994, McGregor earned critical praise for his performance in the thriller Shallow Grave, for which he won an Empire Award,^[8] and which marked his first collaboration with director Danny Boyle.^[6] His international breakthrough followed in 1996 with the role of heroin addict Mark Renton in Boyle's Trainspotting, an adaptation of Irvine Welsh's novel of the same name.^[6][7] The film was the first of several times that McGregor would appear nude on screen; he told The Scotsman in 2003 that audiences in the United States are "a bit worried about seeing my old chap", referring to his foreskin and the cultural influence of infant circumcision in the U.S.

McGregor at the premiere of The Men Who Stare at Goats at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2009

McGregor played the male romantic lead in the 1998 British film Little Voice. In 1999, McGregor starred in the blockbuster Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace as the young Obi-Wan Kenobi, a role originally made famous by Sir Alec Guinness in the original Star Wars trilogy.^[6] By appearing in Star Wars, he continued a family tradition of sorts: his uncle, Denis Lawson, had played Wedge Antilles in the original trilogy.^[9] In 2001, he starred in Moulin Rouge! as the young poet Christian, who falls in love with the terminally-ill courtesan Satine, played by Nicole Kidman. McGregor reprised his role of Obi-Wan Kenobi for the subsequent prequel Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones in 2002. In 2003, he starred alongside Renée Zellweger in Down With Love,^[6][10]. He also portrayed the younger Edward Bloom in the critically acclaimed film Big Fish alongside Albert Finney, Jessica Lange, Alison Lohman and Billy Crudup. During that year, he also received critical acclaim for his portrayal of an amoral drifter mixed up with murder in the drama Young Adam, which co-starred Tilda Swinton.^[11][12]

In 2005, McGregor appeared for the final time as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. He took very special care—especially in Revenge of the Sith—to ensure that his portrayal of Obi-Wan's mannerisms, speech timings, and accents closely resembled Alec Guinness' version.^[13] That same year, McGregor lent his voice to two successful animated features; he played the robot Rodney Copperbottom in Robots, which also featured the voices of Halle Berry and Robin Williams,^[14] and he voiced the lead character in Gary Chapman's Valiant, alongside Jim Broadbent, John Cleese and Ricky Gervais.^[15] Also in 2005, McGregor played two roles—one a clone of the other—opposite Scarlett Johansson in Michael Bay's The Island, and he appeared in Marc Forster's Stay, a psychological thriller co-starring Naomi Watts and Ryan Gosling.^[16][17]

McGregor was offered the role of James Bond in the 2006 reboot Casino Royale, but he turned it down because he feared becoming typecast.^[18] In 2006, he narrated the Fulldome production Astronaut, created for the National Space Centre.^{[citation needed]} That same year, he also narrated the STV show JetSet, a six-part series following the lives of student pilots and navigators at RAF Lossiemouth as they undergo a gruelling six-month course learning to fly the Tornado GR4, the RAF's primary attack aircraft.^[19] In 2007, McGregor starred opposite Colin Farrell in the Woody Allen film Cassandra's Dream.^[7][20] In 2009, he co-starred with Jim Carrey in I Love You Phillip Morris and appeared in Amelia alongside Hilary Swank. Also in 2009, he portrayed Camerlengo Patrick McKenna in Angels & Demons, the film adaptation of Dan Brown's novel of the same name. McGregor is scheduled to co-star with Daniel Craig in Dan Harris' upcoming film adaptation of Glen Duncan's novel I, Lucifer.^[21]

In 2012, he was named as a member of the Jury for the Main Competition at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.^[22]

Theatre[link]

From November 1998 to March 1999, McGregor starred as Malcolm Scrawdyke in a production of David Halliwell's Little Malcolm and His Struggles Against the Eunuchs, directed by his uncle, Denis Lawson. The play was first staged at the Hampstead Theatre before transferring to the Comedy Theatre in London's West End.^[23] In November 2001, McGregor made a cameo appearance in The Play What I Wrote.^[24]

From June 2005 to April 2007, McGregor starred alongside Jane Krakowski, Douglas Hodge, and Jenna Russell in the original Donmar Warehouse production of Guys and Dolls at the Piccadilly Theatre in London.^[25] He played the leading role of Sky Masterson, made famous by Marlon Brando in the film of the same name. McGregor received the LastMinute.com award for Best Actor for his performance in 2005,^[26] and he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 2007.^[27]

From December 2007 to February 2008, McGregor starred as Iago in Othello at the Donmar Warehouse alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor as Othello and Kelly Reilly as Desdemona.^[28][29] He reprised the role on BBC Radio 3 in May 2008.^[28]

Motorcycle journeys[link]

A keen motorcyclist since his youth, McGregor undertook a marathon international motorcycle trip with his best friend Charley Boorman and cameraman Claudio von Planta in 2004. From mid-April to the end of July, they travelled from London to New York via central Europe, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Siberian Russia, and Canada on BMW R1150GS Adventure motorcycles, for a cumulative distance of 22,345 miles (35,960 km).^[30] The trip formed the basis of a television series and a best-selling book, both called Long Way Round.^[31]

The Long Way Round team reunited in 2007 for another motorcycle trip from John o' Groats in Scotland to Cape Town in South Africa.^[31] The journey, entitled Long Way Down, lasted from 12 May until 5 August 2007.^[31] McGregor's brother Colin joined the motorcycle team during the early stages of the Long Way Down journey,^[4][31] and his father Jim also rode on sections of both Long Way Round and Long Way Down.^[32][33]

In September 2010, Charley Boorman stated that a third installment of the Long Way series was planned for 2011, riding from Tierra del Fuego to Alaska; this has not taken place, however.

McGregor appeared in a two-part BBC documentary in April 2012 entitled Ewan McGregor: Cold Chain Mission in which he travels by motorbike, boat, plane and foot to deliver vaccines to children in remote parts of India, Nepal and the Republic of Congo. The trip was part of his work as a UNICEF Ambassador.

Personal life[link]

McGregor is married to Eve Mavrakis, a French production designer.^[6] They have four daughters, Clara Mathilde McGregor (born February 1996), Esther Rose McGregor (born 7 November 2001), Jamiyan McGregor (born June 2001 in Mongolia; adopted April 2006),^[34] and Anouk McGregor (born January 2011).^[35][36][37] McGregor has a heart and dagger tattoo of the names of his wife and daughters on his right arm.^[10][38] The family currently resides in Los Angeles, California, after moving from London.^[39]

McGregor is involved in charity work, including with UNICEF and GO Campaign. During the Long Way Round journey in 2004, McGregor and his travelling companions took time out to see some of UNICEF's work in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia,^[31] and during the Long Way Down trip in 2007, he and Charley Boorman did work for UNICEF in Africa. McGregor hosted the annual Hollywood gala for GO Campaign in 2009 and 2010. He has also worked with the Children's Hospice Association Scotland, as featured in Long Way Down. In 2012 McGregor travelled with UNICEF immunisation workers to remote parts of India, Nepal and the Republic of Congo for a BBC2 documentary entitled Ewan McGregor: Cold Chain Mission.

In 2007, on an episode of Parkinson, McGregor stated that he had given up alcohol after a period where he was arguably a functioning alcoholic, and that he had not had a drink in seven years.^[40] In 2008, he had a cancerous mole removed from underneath his right eye.^[41]

Filmography[link]

Discography[link]

• "Choose Life" with PF Project, Trainspotting#2: Music from the Motion Picture, Vol. #2, 1997.
• "TV Eye" with Wylde Ratttz, Velvet Goldmine: Music from the Original Motion Picture, 1999.
• "Come What May" with Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge! Music from Baz Luhrmann's Film, 2001.
• "Elephant Love Medley" with Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge! Music from Baz Luhrmann's Film, 2001.
• "Your Song" with Alessandro Safina, Moulin Rouge! Music from Baz Luhrmann's Film, 2001.
• "Here's To Love" with Renée Zellweger, Down With Love: Music from and Included in the Motion Picture, 2003.
• "The Sweetest Gift", Unexpected Dreams – Songs From the Stars, 2006.
• "El Tango de Roxanne" with Jose Feliciano, Moulin Rouge! Music from Baz Luhrmann's Film, 2001.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Adams, Billy. Ewan McGregor: The Unauthorized Biography. Overlooks Press, 1999. ISBN 0-87951-704-2
• Bassom, David. Ewan McGregor: An Illustrated Story. Hamlyn, 1999. ISBN 0-600-59653-2
• Jones, Veda Boyd. Ewan McGregor. Facts On File Inc., 1999. ISBN 0-7910-5501-9
• Nickson, Chris. Ewan McGregor: An Unauthorized Biography. Macmillan, 1999. ISBN 0-312-96910-4
• Pendreigh, Brian. Ewan McGregor. Thunder's Mouth Press, 1999. ISBN 1-56025-239-1
• Robb, Brian J. Ewan McGregor: From Junkie to Jedi. Plexus, 1999. ISBN 0-85965-276-9

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ewan McGregor

• Ewan McGregor at the Internet Movie Database
• Ewan McGregor at Yahoo! Movies

The Young Gunz is an American rap duo from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania composed of Young Chris (born Chris Ries in 1983) and Neef Buck (born Hanif Muhammad in 1985). The group is part of Beanie Sigel's State Property collective and was signed to Roc-A-Fella Records. Young Gunz' debut single, "Can't Stop, Won't Stop", made the top 20 on the Billboard charts in 2003.They are currently signed to G-Unit Philly as State Property and Young Gunz but only Young Chris is also signed as a solo-artist.

History[link]

State Property[link]

Ries and Muhammad had been friends since they were young boys on the block(C-Ave).^[1] On "Takeover", a track from his 2001 album The Blueprint, Jay-Z announced the duo as "Chris & Neef".^[2]

In 2001, the duo performed on the State Property soundtrack album.^[2] Chris and Neef starred in the titular movie. Also during this period of their career, Young Chris appeared throughout Dame Dash's Dream Team compilation, and Beanie Sigel's The Reason. The duo performed together on guest appearances for albums like Jay-Z's The Blueprint 2, Freeway's Philadelphia Freeway, State Property's The Chain Gang Vol. 2, and Memphis Bleek's M.A.D.E.; all while recording their album.

The Young Gunz scored their first hit with "Can't Stop, Won't Stop", the lead-off single from the Chain Gang, Vol. 2 album. Its song and video received major airplay on hip-hop radio, MTV2, and BET^[3] and reached #14 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and #6 on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart.

As a group[link]

After the success of their single, "Can't Stop, Won't Stop", the label jumped and was ready to release their debut album, Tough Luv. It included the remix to "Can't Stop, Won't Stop", which featured St. Louis rapper Chingy. Singles included "No Better Love" featuring former Roc-A-Fella Records crooner Rell and the Just Blaze-produced "Friday Night". Tough Luv debuted on the Billboard 200 at #3 after selling 128,000 copies in its first week. That week, the album at #2 was labelmate Kanye West's debut album The College Dropout, which was released just two weeks earlier.^[4]

After a brief hiatus, the duo returned with Swizz Beatz produced "Set It Off" from their second album, Brothers from Another. This albums, which was released May, 24th 2005, sales were somewhat of a disappointment compared to the first, despite the decent exposure of the lead single, promotion from Jay-Z himself, TV, radio & magazine appearances. It was the second release from the "new" Roc-A-Fella Records, referencing when Jay-Z became president of Def Jam Records, the first being Memphis Bleek's 534. The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at #15, and included guest features from Kanye West, Swizz Beatz, Slim of 112 (Marvin Scandrick III) and John Legend.^[5]

Disputes with other rap artists[link]

The Young Gunz were part of a public beef and a war of words with West Coast rapper, The Game. The feud stems from The Game's beef with Memphis Bleek, which escalated into a beef with the entire Roc-A-Fella camp with the exception of Kanye West, Jay-Z and Just Blaze. The Game dissed Bleek and The Young Gunz on his 15-minute freestyle track "300 Bars and Runnin'".^[6] The Young Gunz, along with Pooda Brown, responded with a freestyle of their own. Surprisingly, Chris & Neef also beefed with actor, comedian and now rapper, Katt "Money Mike" Wiliams. This beef stemmed from "Set It Off" by the Young Gunz, in which they called a character from a movie that Katt Williams played as, a "fake ass pimp." This beef was encouraged by The Game as he and Katt dissed the two on a Freestyle over their own "Set It Off" beat.^[7]

Young Chris solo work[link]

As early as March 2006, Young Chris thought about recording a solo album. He initially titled it Now or Never.^[8] He stated to XXL magazine that he wanted to release a solo album by the end of 2008 and had been "95 percent done" by June 2008. In this article, Chris also states that he feels himself up there with Lil' Wayne and Juelz Santana.^[9] Since this time, Chris has taken to the internet to solidify himself as a top solo artist, with his YoungChris.com Social Network, hitting the remix circuit, and his much anticipated "The Network" Mixtape series, hosted by DJ Don Cannon. Later in 2010 signed with Division 1, a label started by Rico Love, under the Universal/Motown umbrella. Rico considers Young Chris his flagship artist, working closely with Chris on his debut album and pre-album/mixtape. The mixtape, called "The Re-Introduction", was released on November 20, 2010. The aptly titled mixtape gives the spotlight to a newly signed Young Chris, as a solo artist, and also, re-introduces the combination of DJ Drama and Don Cannon, the former "Affiliates" partners, hosting their first mixtape together, in several years.^[10]

On January 28, a song called "Philly Shit (Mega Mix)" featuring Eve, Black Thought, Money Malc, Fat Joe, Fred The Godson, Diggy Simmons, Jermaine Dupri & Game was leaked.^[11]

Discography[link]

Solo albums[link]

• Tough Luv (2004)
• Brothers from Another (2005)

Collaboration albums[link]

• State Property (with State Property) (2002)
• The Chain Gang Vol. 2 (with State Property) (2003)
• The Chain Gang Vol. 3 (with State Property) (TBA)

Filmography[link]

• State Property 2 (2005)
• Fade to Black (2004)
• State Property (2002)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Chris & Neef Website
• MTV.com Young Gunz profile