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Michael Fassbender Talks Criterion in GQ

in his short career, Michael Fassbender already has two films in The Criterion Collection. Centurion isn’t one of them. unfortunately for Neil Marshall, Criterion is apparently (and appropriately) the benchmark by which Fassbender judges all of his work.

to be fair, no movie in which Olga Kurylenko plays a silent, bloodthirsty, and seriously eye-shadowed Brigante assassin deserves to be called “disastrous.” 

A Banned Hungarian Poster for SHAME yeeeaahh… i’m just gonna go ahead and say that this may have crossed a line or two. not lines that go anywhere by me, for the record but… ya know. putting this next to the ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: CHIPWRECKED stand-in might cause some trouble.  but yes, i’d tend to agree that by the time you’re ejaculating fully formed words that articulate your precise brand of inner pain… it’s probably time to seek help.

A Banned Hungarian Poster for SHAME

yeeeaahh… i’m just gonna go ahead and say that this may have crossed a line or two. not lines that go anywhere by me, for the record but… ya know. putting this next to the ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: CHIPWRECKED stand-in might cause some trouble. 

but yes, i’d tend to agree that by the time you’re ejaculating fully formed words that articulate your precise brand of inner pain… it’s probably time to seek help.

(via salesonfilm)

Michael Fassbender Gets His Ass Kicked In HAYWIRE

so steven soderbergh has a new flick coming our way this friday, and i’m happy to say that despite Michael Fassbender’s presence, Haywire looks absolutely nothing like Full Frontal. har har. seriously, this is a very good thing, cause when Soderbergh isn’t working with David Duchovny’s prop erection, dude pretty much only makes good films (and that includes Bubble and Ocean’s Twelve, for those of you keeping score). i’ve seen this sequence in its entirety, and it’s a doozy, an instant highlight of a filmography that’s comprised of nothing but. Gina Carano’s experience allowed Soderbergh to stage fight scenes in a way that has proven impossible for most western films, and this clip here is a bruising hint at what’s in store. 

i’d love to see more Criterion filmmakers branch out and try their hand at action films… maybe Todd Solondz can helm the next Die Hard, or something. 

(clip comes via Total Film)

THE 25 BEST FILMS OF 2011: A VIDEO COUNTDOWN

there are gonna be lots of “best of” lists floating around during the next few weeks — this one is mine.

please enjoy. and please watch it LOUD (and in 480p… bummer that a lot of these clips were only available in standard-def).

p.s. some of these films i included on the countdown have yet to receive a domestic release here in the U.S, but i’d rather help get people excited for something now than chide them for not seeing it a year from now. also — as with a certain film towards the very top of my list — some stories simply can’t afford to wait for us to catch up.

p.p.s. CERTIFIED COPY was ineligible, as it topped my list last year. a good thing, too, as otherwise i would never have been able to settle on a #1.

p.p.p.s. yes, there is no “22” and there are 2 “19s.” accept the mystery.

SHAME RED-BAND NSFW TRAILER.

remember when i posted that Shame trailer last week and was all “this is totally gonna be the last post about Shame for a little while, you guys.” well… surprise! i was either kidding or flagrantly lying, you can decide which for yourself, but here’s another post about Shame! yes, it’s just another trailer, but in fairness it’s also another *beautifully cut* trailer (poor choice of words?), and it’s a rare red-bander, meaning that there are nipples and other insidious hints that sex is a thing that happens in the world.

but for reals this time, this is my last post about Shame… trailers. 

- here’s my mini-review / reaction from October.

- here’s that amazing SFW trailer i posted a little while ago.

SHAME will finally enjoy a limited theatrical release this friday.

(h/t Movieline)

Amazing New SHAME Trailer is Amazing

i’ve already posted plenty (too much?) about Steve McQueen’s latest (here’s my mini-review / instant reaction to the film), but this trailer is waaaayyyy too savvy to deny. this clip is tonally spot-on, using Carey Mulligan’s severely slow rendition of “New York, New York” to brilliant effect.

also, that “NC-17” graphic up front makes me sorta nostalgic, as ridiculous as the rating is. 

SHAME is finally slated to enjoy a limited theatrical release on December 3rd.

Watch a New Clip From SHAME (dir. Steve McQueen) 2011

(sorry about the ad)

so apparently lots of folks are jazzed for SHAME. that might have something to do with the fact that it’s magnificent, or it might have something to do with the fact that penis penis penis. whatever it takes. 

anyway, i’m not usually much for promo campaigns teasing audiences with complete scenes… kinda guts the immediacy of the eventual experience, but this is a lovely little one-shot sequence that does a good job of conveying the film’s palette and its ferocious undercurrents… how Michael Fassbender renders Brandon’s sex addiction so tortured and feral and seductive, all at once. 

SHAME opens on december 2nd with an NC-17 rating (oooooo)

Trailer: SHAME (dir. Steve McQueen) 2011

and finally Steve McQueen’s new film has a trailer! and it’s a good one. lots of running and thrusting and adjectives… the three crown jewels of any memorable trailer, really. this clip really does an effective job of capturing the film’s vibe and tortured energy, and on December 2nd i’d strongly encourage you to see what i mean.

(via The Guardian)

MICHAEL FASSBENDER & STEVE McQUEEN ARE OBVIOUSLY MAKING A THIRD FILM TOGETHER McQueen’s masterpiece HUNGER is directly responsible for Fassbender’s rise to fame and glory, and the actor seems well aware that his collaboration with the filmaker offers the potential for something rare and special. Fassbender has repeatedly stated that he hopes what he has with McQueen will become something of a Scorsese / De Niro sorta thing, and so the fact that the duo has a third film in the pipes following the difficult but brilliant SHAME isn’t much of a surprise.  my guess is that Chiwetel Ejiofor’s penis will be on full display by festival season, 2014. here be the details, verbatim via Justin Kroll of Variety: “Call it a three-peat for Michael Fassbender and Steve McQueen, as the thesp and multi-hyphenate are reteaming again on McQueen’s next pic “12 Years a Slave.” Mcqueen will direct from a script he co-wrote with John Ridley. Pic also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and tells the true story of Solomon Northrup, a New York citizen who was kidnapped in Washington in 1841 and rescued from a cotton plantation in Louisiana in 1853. Plan B’s Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner are set to produce the film, which is expected to start production early next year. CAA is arranging financing for the pic and representing U.S. rights. Besides “12 Years a Slave,” Fassbender has also worked with McQueen on “Hunger” and Fox Searchlight’s “Shame,” which has already received festival-circuit buzz for Fassbender’s strong perf.”

MICHAEL FASSBENDER & STEVE McQUEEN ARE OBVIOUSLY MAKING A THIRD FILM TOGETHER

McQueen’s masterpiece HUNGER is directly responsible for Fassbender’s rise to fame and glory, and the actor seems well aware that his collaboration with the filmaker offers the potential for something rare and special. Fassbender has repeatedly stated that he hopes what he has with McQueen will become something of a Scorsese / De Niro sorta thing, and so the fact that the duo has a third film in the pipes following the difficult but brilliant SHAME isn’t much of a surprise. 

my guess is that Chiwetel Ejiofor’s penis will be on full display by festival season, 2014.

here be the details, verbatim via Justin Kroll of Variety:

“Call it a three-peat for Michael Fassbender and Steve McQueen, as the thesp and multi-hyphenate are reteaming again on McQueen’s next pic “12 Years a Slave.”

Mcqueen will direct from a script he co-wrote with John Ridley.

Pic also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and tells the true story of Solomon Northrup, a New York citizen who was kidnapped in Washington in 1841 and rescued from a cotton plantation in Louisiana in 1853.

Plan B’s Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner are set to produce the film, which is expected to start production early next year. CAA is arranging financing for the pic and representing U.S. rights.

Besides “12 Years a Slave,” Fassbender has also worked with McQueen on “Hunger” and Fox Searchlight’s “Shame,” which has already received festival-circuit buzz for Fassbender’s strong perf.”

Poster & Mini-Review: SHAME (dir. Steve McQueen) 2011 so Fox Searchlight is finally getting things in gear for Steve McQueen’s follow-up to HUNGER, announcing a 12/2 release date yesterday and then launching the campaign’s first poster this afternoon (give the folks a trailer, guys). i had the pleasure of catching the film at its NYFF P&I screening this morning, and… well, the poster is certainly spot-on. SHAME tells the somewhat impenetrable story of an Irish ex-pat named Brandon (Michael Fassbender, obviously) forced to confront the residual damage of his raging sex addiction when his sister (Carey Mulligan, less obviously) drops by for an unsolicited stay. the image of rumpled sheets in the poster above is a vertical rotation of the film’s opening / title shot, a vacant shot that speaks to the consequences of his affliction, appropriately undercutting the value of the sex, itself. i’m assuming Fox Searchlight’s next poster will just feature a life-size photo of Fassbender’s penis… ya know, for bus stops, and stuff.  anyway, McQueen’s exceptional eye for compositions warps NYC against Brandon, forcing his inner and outer lives into a merciless war of attrition… McQueen runs with the city as a grid, his precise geometry isolating and exposing Brandon in equal measure. the filmmaking is remarkable, as is Fassbender’s wrenching lead performance, but McQueen thrives with the non-linear, his voracious aesthetics not jiving with the narrative’s more organic moments as perfectly as they did in the more boldly audacious HUNGER (and James Badge Dale’s performance as Brandon’s wired hound dog of a boss grates to the hilt). it’s a brilliant study of addiction, context, and the refuge of privacy in a public world, eventually embracing melodrama in a way that almost mocks the form.  but yeah… this one’s gonna be divisive, more so than ya might think. the legions of ladies who flock to the theater to indulge in some fassen-bulge (rhyming!) are gonna get what they came for (hey-o!) right off the bat (???), but the rest of the ride is going to prove mighty hard to take (…). DO NOT — I REPEAT: DO NOT — SEE THIS ON A DATE. or with your sister. …although it might be a good choice if you’re on a date with your sister.

Poster & Mini-Review: SHAME (dir. Steve McQueen) 2011

so Fox Searchlight is finally getting things in gear for Steve McQueen’s follow-up to HUNGER, announcing a 12/2 release date yesterday and then launching the campaign’s first poster this afternoon (give the folks a trailer, guys).

i had the pleasure of catching the film at its NYFF P&I screening this morning, and… well, the poster is certainly spot-on. SHAME tells the somewhat impenetrable story of an Irish ex-pat named Brandon (Michael Fassbender, obviously) forced to confront the residual damage of his raging sex addiction when his sister (Carey Mulligan, less obviously) drops by for an unsolicited stay. the image of rumpled sheets in the poster above is a vertical rotation of the film’s opening / title shot, a vacant shot that speaks to the consequences of his affliction, appropriately undercutting the value of the sex, itself. i’m assuming Fox Searchlight’s next poster will just feature a life-size photo of Fassbender’s penis… ya know, for bus stops, and stuff. 

anyway, McQueen’s exceptional eye for compositions warps NYC against Brandon, forcing his inner and outer lives into a merciless war of attrition… McQueen runs with the city as a grid, his precise geometry isolating and exposing Brandon in equal measure. the filmmaking is remarkable, as is Fassbender’s wrenching lead performance, but McQueen thrives with the non-linear, his voracious aesthetics not jiving with the narrative’s more organic moments as perfectly as they did in the more boldly audacious HUNGER (and James Badge Dale’s performance as Brandon’s wired hound dog of a boss grates to the hilt). it’s a brilliant study of addiction, context, and the refuge of privacy in a public world, eventually embracing melodrama in a way that almost mocks the form. 

but yeah… this one’s gonna be divisive, more so than ya might think. the legions of ladies who flock to the theater to indulge in some fassen-bulge (rhyming!) are gonna get what they came for (hey-o!) right off the bat (???), but the rest of the ride is going to prove mighty hard to take (…). DO NOT — I REPEAT: DO NOT — SEE THIS ON A DATE. or with your sister. …although it might be a good choice if you’re on a date with your sister.