Shame

Shame (2011)

Directed by Steve McQueen

Written by Steve McQueen and Abi Morgan

Stars: Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, Nicole Beharie and James Badge Dale

Well, let's get this out on the table. Everybody knows that this movie has been criticized for having lead actor Michael Fassbender swing the wind. People think that the movie is about the sexual nature of the film. It's not. It is the destructive consequences of sex. That is intriguing. Now, that is out of the way, let's get into the review. Shall we?

The re-teaming of director Steve McQueen and Fassbender has made another thought provoking film will stay with you after the credits. This film chronicles the life of ad agent, Brandon Sullivan (Fassbender) living and loving in New York City. On the surface, you think that this man is a stud with a healthy sex life, but when you chip away at his suave demeanor lies a man with a sexual compulsion. He is having anonymous sex with multiple women, constantly watching porn on his computer either at work or at home, hiring hookers or masturbating in the toilet. He thinks that his life is perfect when his littler sister, Sissy (Mulligan) comes and stays with him. This throws Brandon's life into a tailspin that he has to comfort the past.

Everybody was talking about Fassbender's raw, emotional performance not getting nominated for an Oscar. It is a shame. No, pun intended. He conveyed a broken man trying to keep his feelings away from the physical act of sex. Mulligan was haunting in this movie. There were some revelations that were a little clichéd, but I don't the actors elevated the movie. If different actors were in the roles, it would be a movie trying to be artsy.

My Rating

Final Impressions - 12/2/2011

Hmm. There is no major releases this week. We have a bunch of Oscar movies starting their limited runs. Let's get started, shall we?

Directed by Steve McQueen

Shame

This is the third collaboration between director Steve McQueen and lead actor Michael Fassbender.

I covered the latest trailer a couple of weeks back. I love that a movie would be released with a "NC-17" and they don't give a fuck about appealing to the MPAA. Usually, the rating will be the death of box office potential. Possibly the awards buzz with it could help it stay afloat.

Directed by Takeshi Kitano

Autoreiji

I don't know anything about this movie.

Here is the synopsis of the movie from IMDb: "The boss of a major crime syndicate orders his lieutenant to bring a rogue gang of drug traffickers in line, a job that gets passed on to his long-suffering subordinate."

It seems like another gangster story. Next.

Directed by Julia Leigh

Sleeping Beauty

This is not fairy tale story about the narcoleptic woman that has to wait for a guy to wake her ass up. This movie is about Lucy (Emily Browning), a young university student drawn into a mysterious hidden world of unspoken desires. Okay.

Directed by Michael F. Sears

A Warrior's Heart

This movie was supposed to come out last year, but it didn't. I wonder why. Because it's shitty. It has a shirtless Kellan Lutz, Chord Overstreet and some other chicks. Blah, bah, blah.

Disposable movie.

Directed by Matthew Leutwyler

Answers to Nothing

I saw the trailer for this movie. My reaction was meh. It stars Dane Cook--wait, hold up--he is the lead of this movie. Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Am I being punked right now?

Trailer Tuesday - 11/8/2011

I  wanted to create a new ongoing series about the latest trailers that have been released over the past weekend and give my impressions of them. There is a mixed bag this week.



Here is the "fourth" installment of the American Pie series of films. I guess those shitty straight-to-DVD movies don't count. Shame. Everybody from the original movie are reprising their roles. Some have grown up and some have stayed the adolescent that they were.

The premise is that the graduating class of 1999 are coming together for a blowout party together. I just wonder how they are gonna reunite at year thirteen. Whatever.

It's slated for release in April 2012.



Michael Fassbender reunited with the director that made him a star, Steve McQueen with their latest collaboration, Shame.

Fassbender plays Brandon, a NYC man that is living with sexual compulsion disorder. His life is thrown for a loop when his younger sister, Sissy (Carey Mulligan) moves into his apartment.

The movie opens on December 2nd.



The House of the Devil director, Ti West, delivers another suspenseful movie about a New England hotel called The Yankee Pedlar Inn is on the verge of closing its doors. The last employees there, Clarie and Luke (Sara Paxton, Pat Healy) want to investigate at the supposed haunting taking place in the inn. When a medium Leanne Rease-Jones (Kelly McGinnis) comes to invoke the spirits. Things get really strange.

The movie opens February 3, 2012



Project X is the movie that is produced by the Hangover director, Todd Phillips. It is the high school party to end high school parties. This is pretty much the premise.

The movie opens March 2012.



I saw the red band trailer of the big screen adaptation of the 1980s television show, "21 Jump Street".  My first thought was "What the fuck is this shit?" This is not the 'Jump Street' I know. It's like "Observe and Report meets "Paul Blart". Where the diversity in the cast? It's just a bunch of assholes who are elderly trying to integrate into a high school setting.

Jonah Hill looks gaunt that he lost his bloat. Channing Tatum is being a wooden actor as always.

The movie opens March 16, 2012.



This trailer has blown up on the Internet when it was released. The movie is about Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington), a CIA operative that went rogue and went eluded capture until he was apprehended. He is taken to a safe house in South Africa where a rookie operative, Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) has to babysit him. The safe house is comprised and they have to go on the run.

The movie opens February 10, 2012.



Paul Rudd re-teams with "Wet Hot American Summer" director, David Wain for "Wanderlust" with his "Object of Affection" co-star, Jennifer Aniston. I loved "Summer", but this trailer was limp. I didn't laugh at any of the jokes or gags or the R. Kelly references.

The movie opens February 24, 2012.