John Barrowman was such a horrible baby his big sister Carole wanted to sell him.
Good job she didn't - the fantasy books for children they've co-written are now earning them both a fortune Eight years separate John and Carole Barrowman, but they’re uncannily alike. They
have the same hair colour, cheekbones, smile, eyes, accent and
infectious sense of fun. They finish each other’s sentences and often
speak in stereo. They’re
both sarcastic and stubborn and share passions such as sci-fi and art.
‘She’s me with a skirt,’ jokes John. Except, he says, his sister’s the
intellectual.
Carole and John Barrowman may be eight years
apart but they have the same hair colour, cheekbones, smile, eyes,
accent and infectious sense of fun
The 53-year-old mum of two
grown-up children is Professor of English/Director of Creative Studies
in Writing at Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A
far cry from her brother’s world of television, West End musicals and
Hollywood films. Together, though, they’ve made the perfect writing
team. The first time
they worked together was on John’s memoirs five years ago, and they had
so much fun they wanted to repeat the experience. During
a long car journey back in 2011 they invented Hollow Earth – a magical
children’s fantasy about Matt and Emily Calder. The 12-year-old twins
live on a remote island and are part of an ancient order of artists with
imaginations so powerful they can bring their drawings to life, enter
famous painters’ artworks and, in the new sequel Bone Quill, travel
through time.
Blink and you’ll miss John Barrowman in this trailer for All Stars
Ben Gregor is graduating from goofy-nostalgic comedy shorts and TV’s No Heroics, Ideal and Todd Margaret to feature films with the 3D family film All Stars.
As well as the cast of acting kids there’s some British tele favourites… and John Barrowman. But if you blink at the wrong time you’ll miss Barrowman’s appearance in this trailer.
All Stars is released in the UK on May 3rd.
Read more at Bleeding Cool
A review of James McAvoy's Macbeth has been published by The Express
Neverwhere
From Radio Times:
James McAvoy in Neverwhere teaser trailer: "I'm not going mad. Am I?"
Listen to a snippet of the upcoming Radio 4 drama starring McAvoy, Benedict Cumberbatch and Christopher Lee James McAvoy introduces us to his Neverwhere character Richard Mayhew in this brand new clip from the BBC Radio 4 drama.
Adapted from award-winning author Neil Gaiman’s novel, Neverwhere sees Mayhew catapulted from his ordinary life into a subterranean world beneath London following an act of kindness.
“I helped a girl called Door, now something strange has happened and
it's like I'm falling through gaps,” laments McAvoy in the clip. “I need
to get back…my life. I’m not going mad. Am I?!”
As well as McAvoy, Neverwhere features an all-star cast including Benedict Cumberbatch, Anthony Head, Bernard Cribbins and Christopher Lee.
Read more and listen to the trailer at Radio Times
Welcome To The Punch Official trailer
Source: YouTube Photos - FanCarpet has some new photos from Welcome To The Punchhere.
The Crow
From Digital Spy:
James McAvoy dismisses 'The Crow' rumours James McAvoy has dismissed rumours linking him with the lead role in the proposed remake of The Crow.
The X-Men: First Class star described the reports as "rumour mill" but did not rule out appearing in the film should he be approached.
Douglas Henshall, Steven Robertson and Gemma Chan in BBC1's Shetland - see a trailer and photos
Crime drama Shetland, starring Douglas Henshall, Steven Roberston and Alison O'Donnell, is based on the bestselling novel Red Bones by Ann Cleeves.Starting on Sunday 9 March on BBC1, the two-part story follows police
detective Jimmy Perez as he investigates a murder on his native Shetland islands.
Douglas Henshall stars as Perez alongside a host of recognisable faces including Being Human's Steven Roberson and Doctor Who/Sherlock actress Gemma Chan – plus Monarch of the Glen alumni Lewis Howden, Lindy Whiteford and Alexander Morton.
The atmospheric drama kicks off when an archaeologist discovers a
mysterious set of human remains – and continues as an elderly woman is
shot dead at her home.
The thriller has been likened to popular Scandinavian dramas.
Executive producer Elaine Collins said: "Influenced by both mainland
Scotland and Scandinavia, but with very much its own identity, Shetland is a location like no other. The uniqueness and sense of place make it an ideal setting for traditional British crime drama with a unique twist."
Christopher Aird, Head of Drama at BBC Scotland added: "A truly atmospheric murder mystery, Shetland has a unique tone and will be a real treat for fans of crime drama on BBC1. The Shetland
Isles are a very special place, they are extremely remote – further
away from Glasgow than London. And an island setting is perfect for a
murder mystery; it is like a pressure cooker – you know one of the
characters must be the murderer..."
Shetland is like a cross between McWallander and Midsomer Murdurrs
A moss-faced local glares at DI Jimmy Perez (Douglas Henshall)
over a pint of Old Exposition. "We're all connected on Shetland, in one
way or another," she says. She's no' wrong. Shetland, or at least the
Shetland of Shetland (Sunday, 9pm, BBC1), is a
rum old place, a wind-blasted wilderness seething with ancient family
feuds, sheep, buried secrets, accents, overly eyebrowed yokels and,
inevitably, murdurr most foul.
A two-part procedural based, as the
opening credits whisper, "ON THE BOOK RED BONES BY ANN CLEEVES",
Shetland starts with an old woman getting shot in the gilet. While Perez
(a knob) investigates, islanders with complexions like dead bread stand
glumly at kitchen sinks in knitwear that speaks of long nights and
minor livestock displacement. There are spats over land rights,
inheritances and empty crofts, but most of the grumbles appear to centre
on the islands' atrocious mobile coverage, which invariably plays up at
times of mild peril. "Nae signal," grumps Perez in his minging
roll-neck as witnesses trudge around holding their phones like kites and
saying things like "… grandmother … dinnae understand … dead … " and "…
umph … ib … urgent … LANDLINE".
The tone lumbers between brooding
glum-swept noir (McWallander) and rural teatime potboiler (Midsomer
Murdurrs). There are extras from The Hoots Mon's Guide To Scotland and a
soundtrack composed of depressed pipes and sporran runoff. And yet!
Beneath the kilt twitches a rudimentary nub of wit. Henshall gives good
roll-neck ("I can still roll over the bonnet of a car if I need to").
Sidekick Tosh wears braces because she "disnae want Scottish teeth". But
then somebody says, "People say Shetlanders discovered the double agent
and meted out their own brutal form of justice," and all hope crumbles
like a bombed cliff.
Influenced by both mainland Scotland and Scandinavia, the Shetland
Islands is a location like no other. For award-winning writer Anne
Cleeves, the uniqueness and sense of place made it an ideal setting for
her novel Red Bones, a traditional British crime drama with a unique
twist.
Cleeves' work has been adapted into this two-part drama being
shown on consecutive nights, with Douglas Henshall assuming the role of
detective Jimmy Perez, a native Shetlander and widower who has decided
to return home with his step-daughter so she can be near her biological
father.
Needless to say, it's not too long before his professional skills are
called upon when a young archaeologist discovers a set of human remains
that could be more recent than may be considered appropriate.
Suspicions are reinforced when a local woman is shot dead on the same site.
Henshall's Scottish accent is, of course, entirely genuine, though he
was born in urban Glasgow rather than the rural splendours of Shetland.
"Sometimes I wonder if people really know where it is or what it's like,
what the people are like and what goes on there. It's worth taking a
look at Shetland and you'll discover it's a truly beautiful place."
THE Shetland Islands are as far north as you get within the United Kingdom. They are actually closer to Norway than to Scotland.
"Shetland
is so far of the coast of Scotland that during national weather
forecasts on TV, they have put it in its own separate box because the
map does not stretch far enough north!" says Douglas Henshall, the
Scotish star of Shetland, a new two–part detective drama set on the
wild, isolated archipelago.
Shetland's extreme remoteness helps to create a wonderfully atmospheric setting.
Adapted
by David Kane (The Field Of Blood, Taggart) from the best–selling books
by Ann Cleeves, this murder mystery is set against the breathtaking
backdrop of the rugged islands.
The central character is Detective
Jimmy Perez (played by Douglas), a native Shetlander who has come back
home after many years away. Recently widowed and looking after his young
stepdaughter, Jimmy boasts a wry sense of humour and the idealistic aim
of preserving his adored island as he remembers it from his youth.
When
an archaeologist uncovers a set of human remains and an old woman is
shot dead soon afterwards, Jimmy's investigation unearths a feud between
two families whose long–running and biter enmity has split the
tight–knit island community.
Elaine Collins, the executive
producer of Shetland, explains just why this isolated, windswept
location works so well as a setting for drama.
"It's the same as
shows like The Killing or Wallander. I love to watch dramas like that.
They are set in places that do not feel like here," she says.
"It's
very appealing to us as viewers to be taken out of our own world. It's
like listening to great music or looking at a painting. We want to
escape from what we are dealing with on a daily basis and lose ourselves
in this diferent realm."
Douglas, 47, who has also starred in
Primeval, Doors Open and The Silence, underscores that crime on such a
sparsely populated island has deeper resonance than it would in a big
city.
"In a small community, murder takes on even greater
signifcance because you know everyone – one half of the island is
related to the other," he explains.
"This crime totally shocks the
community. Everyone is suspicious of everyone else because people are
so intertwined and families' histories with each other become more
important.
In a small community, murder takes on even greater signifcance because you know everyone
Douglas Henshall
"It's one of those places where,
regardless of how self–conscious or shy or reclusive you are, you just
have to mix in and put in the efort to be part of the community. You
have to communicate with other people. Community really maters."
Joanna Vanderham in What Maisie Knew - trailer
From Radio Times:
Steve Coogan, Julianne Moore, Joanna Vanderham and Alexander Skarsgård star in What Maisie Knew - see the new trailer for the film below.
Directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, What Maisie Knew is based on the book of the same name by Victorian author Henry James.
The film follows the story of Maisie, an intelligent six-year-old (newcomer Onata Aprile) who observes as her parent's relationships disintegrate around her. When her parents - Coogan playing an art dealer and Moore as an ageing rock star - divorce, Maisie becomes a pawn caught in the middle. Soon both her parents remarry, but as those ties start to break apart too, Maisie finds herself drawn closer and closer to her stepmother and stepfather...
Joanna Vanderham stars as Margot, Maisie's nanny. Rising star Vanderham has recently appeared as the lead role in BBC1's The Paradise and played upper-class socialite Pamela in Stephen Poliakoff's Dancing on the Edge.
True Blood star Alexander Skarsgård plays Maisie's step-dad.
What Maisie Knew is yet to receive a confirmed UK release date
Welcome to the Punch + Q&A with James McAvoy 3 March, 2013 at 5:45 pm BFI, London
Eran Creevy’s second feature brings together a superb British cast for this high-octane thriller.
With James McAvoy, Mark Strong, Andrea Riseborough, David Morrissey, Peter Mullan
Courtesy of eOne Momentum
After his highly acclaimed, micro-funded debut, Shifty (2008),
writer-director Eran Creevy’s second feature brings together a superb
British cast for this high-octane thriller. Jacob Sternwood (Strong) is
forced out of hiding when his son is hospitalised, presenting detective
Max Lewinsky (McAvoy) with one last chance to put this notorious
criminal behind bars. However, as Lewinsky draws in on his target, both
he and Sternwood find themselves entwined in a conspiracy that runs much
deeper than their own conflict.
Source: BFI
Danny Boyle's 'Trance': James McAvoy Blows Minds, Literally...and Gorily — NSFW Trailer
From Hollywood.com:
And now for something completely crazy: the trailer for Danny Boyle’s upcoming hypnotism/art-world thriller, Trance (in limited release April 5). The Slumdog Millionaire director seems to be creating a psychotic hybrid of Inception and The Thomas Crown Affair in which James McAvoy plays a sap who undergoes hypnosis by a scheming Rosario Dawson.
He’s either hypnotized into unwittingly helping Dawson and her fellow baddies steal a painting or he’s undergoing a second
round of hypnosis to unpack and recover memories from a heist he’s
already had purged from his consciousness. If you ask us, McAvoy’s
cryptic response to whether he’s ever submitted to hypnosis before—“Uh,
no, at least not that I can remember”—favors the latter interpretation.
Either way, Boyle is abandoning his Slumdog and 127 Hours Oscar-bat schmaltz and heading back into nasty, gnarly Shallow Grave and Trainspotting
territory. Blood spurts. Fingernails are ripped out. Nubile bodies are
on display. And people can still talk even after having half their
noggin blown off. (Be forewarned, that list image, occurring at the 1:12
is really grisly.)
Thought that Boyle couldn’t get any crazier than when he had a Mary
Poppins army battle a giant, inflatable Voldemort at the Olympics
Opening Ceremony last summer? Looks like he’s topped himself.
Check out
this slightly NSFW (courtesy of the bloody mayhem) clip:
The trailer, and a selection of photos, can be seen at Huffington Post
Gamer set for 3D release on
Blu-Ray
See
the world in a whole new dimension when Gamer3D arrives on 3D Blu-ray
Disc, Digital Download and Video on Demand May 7 from Lionsgate Home Entertainment.
Highlighted by eye-popping 3D effects and a "making of"
featurette, Gamer 3D co-stars Michael C. Hall (Showtime's "Dexter"), Chris "Ludacris" Bridges (Crash) and Golden Globe winner Kyra Sedgwick (TV's "The Closer").
Gamer 3D will be available on 3D Blu-ray for the suggested retail price of $19.99.
Butler stars as Kable, condemned criminal and globally famous
super-soldier in the ultimate multi-player game, "Slayers." Human
controllers direct each thought and move of real-life prison inmates
battling in hyper-intense environments - where the goal is freedom and
the penalty is death. But when Kable suddenly decides he wants out, his
rebellion threatens the twisted plans of game creator Ken Castle (Hall),
who will stop at nothing to crush the renegade commando in this taut,
adrenaline-packed action-thriller.
BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES - "Inside the Game: Controlling Gamer" featurette
Alan Cumming fights for the child in 'Any Day Now' Trailer
The trailer opens with a gender-bending Alan Cumming meeting a guy at a
cabaret, but the frivolity appears to end there. After the pair get
together with his closeted lawyer partner, Cumming's Rudy befriends a
developmentally disabled adolescent who is being neglected by his
mother. The story goes from there in what turns out to be a fight for
civil rights and the welfare of a child.
Director Travis Fine's Any Day Now won Audience Awards at the Chicago,
Provincetown, Tribeca and Woodstock film festivals in addition to other
wins in Seattle and Outfest.
Official Log-line:
Inspired by a true story and touching on legal and social issues
that are more relevant now than ever, Any Day Now tells a story of love,
acceptance, and creating your own family. In the late 1970s, when Marco
(Isaac Leyva), a teenager with down syndrome who’s been abandoned by
his mother, is taken in by committed couple Rudy (Alan Cumming) and Paul
(Garret Dillahunt), he finds in them the family he's never had.
However, when their unconventional living arrangement is discovered by
the authorities, Rudy and Paul must fight a biased legal system to adopt
the child they have come to love as their own.
Music Box Films will release Any Day Now in theatres December 14th.
See
the world in a whole new dimension when Gamer 3D arrives on 3D Blu-ray
Disc, Digital Download and Video on Demand May 7 from Lionsgate Home Entertainment.
