Most amazing casting ever? Possibly!

So I haven’t been posting in a while because I decided that posting the 5th “The Amazing Spiderman” trailer of the 10th “Prometheus” teaser isn’t really newsworthy. I also haven’t found the time going to the movies recently (apart from a second time watching “The Avengers”) but I’ve written a glorious review already. Of course there was Cannes with its winners but I have a feeling that I might not become a big fan of Hanekes winning Drama “Amour” nor will I ever join the love for Wes Anderson (just not my kind of humor). But finally, after dismissing it as just another entry in the ever-growing list of “Cumberbatch-Love” (which is old hats for me having been in love with his Sherlock for ages ;)) I realized I might just be missing out on talking about the best casting ever, in the history of movies?

This really is down to my bad habit of dismissing anything that gets a hype. Happened to me when Mr. Michael Fassbender first entered the universal film scene with “Inglorious Basterds” which simply stemmed from my dislike of Quentin Tarantino. Though I had to admit that Basterds actually wasn’t that bad…ok it was rather good and Christoph Waltz was amazing I still wasn’t sold on Mr. Fassbender. Then I watched “X-Men: First Class” and he blew me away. His screen presence, his talent and yes, of course his good looks.

So when on a trip to NYC over the winter I made sure to catch his most acclaimed movie “Shame” and boy was I glad I did! This movie in all its cruel reality still is one of my favourites of last years Oscar season and not giving him an Oscar nomination is still one of the biggest upsets for me (right after NOT giving the Oscar to Gary Oldman). But hey, that’s life. So I was very glad to read, that Mr. Fassbender will indeed make another movie with his favourite director Steve McQueen (no, not the dead one…the other guy). Their latest project is called “Twelve years a slave”.

In recent weeks there were more and more casting announcements for this movie but as I said before I become a bit ignorant once a movie gets too much publicity for nothing (excluding Super Hero movies). People like Paul Dano, Brad Pitt and Chiwetel Ejiofor joined in but as exciting as I find Paul Dano – Brad Pitt usually dampens any excitement I might have for a movie. Then I read that Mr. Sherlock Holmes – Benedict Cumerbatch will be joining the movie as well and boom – you have the most exciting casting call…at least for this year!

Yes I admit Mr. Cumerbatch is extremely handsome but what is even more compelling about him (apart from his mesmerizing voice) is his acting. Watch anything with him (believe me I did) and you find that he excels in nearly every role. So having him join Michael Fassbender and Paul Dano not only evens out the dislike I have for Mr. Pitt but also propels this movie onto my “to-be-watched-list”.

Sorry, had to add those pictures for pure indulgence reasons 🙂

 

Review: Shame

“Shame” has probably been the most talked about movie since it’s premiered at the Venice Film Festival this year. It was partially due to its explicit content (full front nudity by both lead actors) but possibly also to the underlying story which I won’t get into here in full detail.  But “Shame” really is a portrayal of a broken man who has to decide how he wants to lead his life. At Venice the lead Michael Fassbender won the award for best actor and rightfully so – he is simply amazing! Fearless in his portrait as sex addictive Brandon who has to face his life choices once his sister moves in with him. She is played by Carey Mulligan – equally up and coming like Michael Fassbender.

The story revolves around Brandon’s sex addiction and how it dictates his life – porn at the work and home computer, masturbating in local restrooms, casual encounters and prostitutes – it is actually a portrait of a broken man. Brandon is unable to show emotions towards other people other than his sister where he mainly shows anger. Even if he meets a nice girl and tries to change things he simply is not capable of doing so.

But it really just shows a broken man – without going too much into how he got to where we meet him. It simply shows what an addiction (and it really could be any addiction) can do to a person. Fassbender shows an impressive range of charm, anger, hate, love, fear….pretty much any feeling one can have, he shows in this movie! But equally good is Carey Mulligan as his sister Sissy. A singer who moves from town to town but really looks to her brother for help and guidance. The two share a bond that might or might not go beyond but it is up to the viewer to make up their own minds. Nevertheless they play extremely well with each other.

The movie got quite a controversy because of its racy scenes but I didn’t really find the scenes raunchy. Yes you see both leads naked – big deal – nothing you haven’t seen before. But judging by the nervous laughs I heard in the cinema in NYC I assume that US viewers might be a bit more well unused to such views? I still don’t understand why a movie showing some hints at sex and a little bit more skin gets a harsher rating than movies like “Saw” or “Hostel” where people get cut up but this might be a longer decision.

I really hope people don’t get discouraged by the NC-17 rating because it really is a masterpiece in acting and story-telling! The two leads hopefully get rewards for their fearless work and so deserves the director Steven McQueen for a wonderful film. Let’s hope the Academy gets over that little bit of skin and acknowledges great acting when it sees it!

Topnews: Shame receives NC-17 ratings

One of this years most talked about but also most critically accllaimed movies “Shame” by Steve McQueen (not the actor!) starring Michael Fassbender finally received it’s MPAA rating: NC-17.

Anybody who has seen the movie (or in my case just read loads about it) doesn’t find this surprising at all. After all it contains a whole lot of sex and full frontal nudity by both its stars Carey Mulligan and Fassbender. When Fox Searchlight bought the movie earlier this year for distribution they promised to not cut anything in order to please the folks at MPAA but stick to the finished movie that won Fassbender a best actor award at this years Venice Film Festivals.

What surprised me was the uproar it caused around the web in various movie blogs. It is a movie about a sex addict with various explicit sex scenes – ok so the average age of teenagers having sex dropped in recent years but I get how they should be still protected to some extend. But when digging a bit deeper I was surprised to find that other movies I would have thought to receive the highest MPAA ratings as well did not. apparently it is ok for teenagers to watch a movie like “Hostel” or “Saw” (both received only Rated R) but NOT to see 2 people doing the most natural thing in the world? For me a clear case of double standards.

Movie-critics fear that the rating will lead to fewer cinemas showing the film (which will happen) and fewer people being able to watch it. But as someone puts it quite rightly: It is an adult movie made by adults for adults – no kid should watch it! Not that a strong rating is an indicator of chances if the quality is good: One of the best films ever “Midnight cowboy” received an even harsher rating (X) and still managed to win tremendous amount of awards. I would rather see gore movies like “Hostel”, “Saw” and all its siblings receive harsher ratings then they currently do.

So let’s see if all this MPAA-Rating talk will influence academy voters. I am just looking forward watching a seemingly very good movie with some of the best actors currently around!

 

Trailerwatch: Shame

Finally we have the first trailer for one of the most talked about movies this award season: Steve McQueens “Shame”.

Michael Fassbender is playing a sex addict whose life slowly falls apart. It already won a Michael Fassbender a best actor award at this years Venice Film Festival. It will get a limited “Oscar-Release” with limited showings in LA and NYC in December  in order to be eligible for the Academy Awards. It is still unclear what kind of rating it will receive but since McQueen is refusing to cut anything it will most probably will be a NC-17.