To call the newly unveiled, NSFW redband trailer for Shame hot is an understatement, since it quickens the pulse in a delicious way that leads to much more than just sheer titillation. Watch as poor sex-addicted Michael Fassbender is wracked with torment as he rides the NYC subway, silently eye-fucking a gorgeous stranger on the train. However often they say men think about sex in a given day, this guy does multiplied by a thousand... and it's wearing on his weary, helpless soul.
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AFI Fest's "secret" screening of Steven Soderbergh's Haywire wasn't so much a showcase for the AFI darling as it was a coming out party for MMA bruiser-cum-action heroine Gina Carano, whom Soderbergh glimpsed fighting one night on TV and subsequently built a star-studded spy thriller pic around. But it's hard to say if first-time actor Carano will branch out in a film career beyond the often lo-fi action experiment. Is she a hybrid of Angelina Jolie and Steven Seagal, as Soderbergh suggested Sunday night? Or is there more of a Cynthia Rothrock quality to Carano's steely gaze and powerhouse physicality?
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Crank your man crush meters to 11: Brad Pitt is said to be set to produce and co-star with Michael Fassbender and Chiwetel Ejiofor in Twelve Years a Slave, according to a Playlist report (plucked from Screen Daily and verified by Pitt's production company, Plan B). The period drama is based on the life of Solomon Northup, an educated black man who was tricked into slavery in the 1850s and marks Fassbender's third collaboration with director Steve McQueen (Hunger, Shame). [The Playlist]
Kudos to AFI Fest for offering three important qualities next month, when the annual Los Angeles film festival runs November 3-10. For starters, in addition to fest opener J. Edgar, they're programming Shame, one of my fall awards season must-sees and the potentially life-changing opportunity to see Michael Fassbender bare it all. (I mean emotionally, of course. Ahem.). Secondly, it's held right here in Los Angeles -- no pesky traveling to distant, exotic, champagne-sipping lands like France and Italy! Because that must suck. But most importantly, the entire AFI Fest is free. Complimentary. Gratis. Hit the jump to see the recently-announced line-up of must see films you'll want to snag a ticket to.
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For the past few weeks, Movieline's own S.T. VanAirsdale has been listing Michael Fassbender as one of the top five front runners for next year's Best Actor Oscar for his work in Steve McQueen's* upcoming erotic drama Shame. Finally, a trailer for the acclaimed film has surfaced, giving evidence again for why Fassbender -- who played X-Men: First Class's Magneto -- is so worthy of your crushes, why he ran away with the Best Actor Award at this year's Venice Film Festival and why all of those early rave reviews for Shame were warranted.
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It's week three of the 2011-12 Oscar Index, and the latest measurements, readings and conclusions are in from Movieline's Institute for the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics. And aside from a few startling exceptions, they don't look that different than the ones disseminated here last week. But make no mistake: Like it or not, stuff is happening! Read on for the latest developments.
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Well, lookie who just officially entered the Oscar race! Fox Searchlight excitedly Tweeted today that they'll release filmmaker Steve McQueen's hot festival pickup Shame on December 2, 2011. That means two things: A) Rejigger those early Oscar charts to allow for stars Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan, and B) get ready for some erotic, angsty December sexytime. Just in time for the holidays! [@FoxSearchlight]
Following the success of his 2007 cop drama Elite Squad, Brazilian filmmaker Jose Padilha turned his lens back on Rio de Janeiro's corrupt system in a sequel, Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within. A critical and commercial smash that set box office records and was selected as Brazil's official Oscars entry, Elite Squad 2 played Sunday at Fantastic Fest where Movieline caught up with Padilha to discuss why his incisive films have resonated in Brazil and the philosophical questions raised in his remake of RoboCop, which he's currently writing. And what's up with those Michael Fassbender casting rumors?
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Child actors all grown up, Oscar-winning directors popping their collars, stars going silly for the camera -- anything goes when you stick actors and filmmakers in the studio for some good, old-fashioned family-style portraits. See who came to town for the 2011 Toronto Film Festival and gave good face for the camera, uberdramatic, super goofy, and otherwise, in Movieline's TIFF 2011 Photo Booth.
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January isn't exactly the time of year when you want your film to hit screens, but maybe Steven Soderbergh's Haywire will defy the "dumping grounds" curse! After all, in addition to starring MMA fighter Gina Carano as a double-crossed covert ops specialist, it's written by Lem Dobbs (The Limey) and has folks like Channing Tatum, Antonio Banderas, Michael Angarano, Ewan MacGregor, Michael Fassbender, and Michael Douglas filling out the cast. Mmm, Fassbender. Yup, we're in. Relativity will release the film January 20, 2012. [Press release]
How did Rose Byrne become the most unexpected comedic actress of her generation? After 15 years of acting, the Aussie native broke out of her dramatic shell with a fearless turn as Aldous Snow's pop star ex in Get Him to the Greek, and this week's Bridesmaids continues the streak: Byrne plays Helen, the rich and beautiful new BFF who tries to steal Maya Rudolph away from maid of honor Kristen Wiig. As director Paul Feig insisted to Movieline, "That woman should always be doing comedy."
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Everyone seems to love the retro '60s vibe of Matthew Vaughn's X-Men: First Class. But do we really want to see Professor Xavier, Magneto, and Co. slogging through the not-quite-as-fashionable 1970s and 1980s in potential sequel story lines? (Think hard about this. On the one hand: Magneto in bellbottoms doing lines with Emma Frost at Studio 54. On the other: Dazzler.)
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Following a stellar year in which she starred in two Oscar-nominated films (Alice in Wonderland, The Kids Are All Right), Australian actress Mia Wasikowska continues to impress in Jane Eyre, a moody and gorgeously haunting adaptation of the Charlotte Brontë classic helmed by director Cary Fukunaga (Sin Nombre). The 21-year-old commands the screen as the titular heroine, an unloved orphan-turned-headstrong young governess who falls for her employer (Michael Fassbender) as sordid secrets threaten to destroy her chance at happiness. Challenging material for most young actresses, but what did you expect from a girl who grew up watching Kieślowski?
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When Cary Fukunaga's moody adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre hits theaters this month, Mia Wasikowska's titular heroine might not be the only one seen onscreen making restrained-but-passionate googly eyes at everybody's favorite man-crush, Michael Fassbender. Even the equine species, it seems, is susceptible to Fassbender's dashing good looks and charm, as one enamored horse very ardently demonstrated on the set of Jane Eyre.
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