Michael Fassbender | the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: Shame

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Darren

Shame is a masterpiece, a master class in cinema, and the perfect example of a director and lead actor working synchronously and seamlessly. The movie wouldn’t work without director Steve McQueen willing to push it as far as possible, knowing when to pull back and when to dive in, matched by Michael Fassbender’s fearlessness, throwing himself into a naked performance. (This is where I make a cheap joke about it being “in more ways than one.”) Shame is pretty much the perfect note on which to start 2012.

Stands out from the crowd...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Carey Mulligan, Fassbender, film, McQueen, Michael Fassbender, Motion Picture Association of America film rating system, Movie, new york, New York City, non-review review, review, Sexual addiction, steve mcqueen, subway, youtube | 10 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Jane Eyre

Posted on September 10, 2011 by Darren

This latest in the long line of Jane Eyre adaptations stands quite well among them. My better half, whom I readily defer to in matters of culture (if not, sadly, also taste), assures my that it represents a relatively faithful and incredibly thorough exploration of the classic gothic romance, condensed down into a relatively short two-hour-and-ten-minute film. It really is a well-made film, produced with genuine skill and class from everybody on board, and I’d go so far as to suggest that the few problems I had with it stemmed directly from its source material.

Love is in the Eyre...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: bbc, Brontë family, Charlotte Brontë, colin firth, films, frankenstein, Jane Eyre, Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Movies, non-review review, reviews, Wuthering Heights | 6 Comments »

Non-Review Review: X-Men – First Class

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Darren

X-Men: First Class is easily the best thing to emerge from Bryan Singer’s X-Men movie franchise since X-Men II, all those years ago. Jane Goldman’s smart script and Matthew Vaughn’s confident direction help inject life back into the franchise that stirred up this current superhero blockbuster fad, providing one of the finest examples of the subgenre. Although the movie does occasionally veer a little bit too close to (and, once or twice, right into) camp, it’s also a clever, brave, bold and exciting action adventure, which provides the best characterisation of the series to date.

We've got it covered...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: aleternate history, Beast (comics), blockbuster, bryan singer, charles xavier, civil rights, Cuban Missile Crisis, film, first class, hellfire club, history, ian mckellen, james mcavoy, Jane Goldman, Jean Grey, kennedy, kevin bacon, kick-ass, magneto, marvel, matthew vaughn, Michael Fassbender, Movie, non-review review, prequel, president kennedy, Professor X, review, sequels, sixties, trilogy, x-men, X-Men (film), X-Men: First Class | 15 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Centurion

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Darren

I have to admit, I’m a bit disappointed with Neil Marshall. I’ll concede that I genuinely enjoyed Dog Soldiers and The Descent, while acknowledging their flaws. His movies have a tendency to start in the absurd and just keep amping things up until they get unbelievably ridiculous. Even the over-the-top and quite-crap-actually Doomsday still had a lot of energy to carry it through as it gleefully veered through camp straight out into uncharted realms of gratuitous nonsense. On the other hand, Marshall’s latest, Centurion, seems relatively tame. It’s fairly mediocre throughout, which perhaps seems less entertaining because it never has the energy to go too far. And that’s a bit of shame.

The last Fassbender?

Continue reading →

Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: action, Dog Soldiers, Dominic West, films, historical, Imogen Poots, Legio IX Hispana, Marshalls, Michael Fassbender, Movies, Neil Marshall, ninth legion, non-review review, Pict, picts, review, Roman Empire, Scotland, scottish | 2 Comments »

A Good Poster for X-Men…

Posted on March 10, 2011 by Darren

If you were on the inter-webs yesterday, you might have had the grave misfortune to stumble across Michael Fassbender’s face superimposed over Sir Ian McKellen’s crotch and James McAvoy’s eyebrows being cut short by Patrick Stewart’s wheelchair arm in a vain attempt to promote X-Men: First Class, which must have the worst marketing campaign in the history of cinema. However, in order to help you forget those images (I never will), Last Exit to Nowhere tweeted the below epic X-Men posted from Eric Tan. It has nothing to do with actual movie, but it still manages to fit the whole “nostalgic” thing the movie’s going for (albeit fifties instead of sixties).

Superb.

On the other hand, I do quite like the (relatively) more subtle European posters which don’t feature Michael Fassbender’s face superimposed over Sir Ian McKellen’s crotch and nor James McAvoy’s eyebrows being cut short by Patrick Stewart’s wheelchair arm.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: ian mckellen, james mcavoy, matthew vaughn, Michael Fassbender, patrick stewart, Professor X, x-men, x-men:first class | Leave a comment »

Post-Modern Prometheus: Ridley Scott’s Alien “Prequel” and Shared Universes…

Posted on February 1, 2011 by Darren

So, what exactly is Ridley Scott’s upcoming Prometheus? The director was all set to make an Alien prequel a few months ago, but all the rumours coming out of the production seem to be throwing me for a loop – I’m not quite sure what to make of them. To quote Scott himself:

While Alien was indeed the jumping off point for this project, out of the creative process evolved a new, grand mythology and universe in which this original story takes place. The keen fan will recognize strands of Alien’s DNA, so to speak, but the ideas tackled in this film are unique, large and provocative. I couldn’t be more pleased to have found the singular tale I’d been searching for, and finally return to this genre that’s so close to my heart.

We’ll spot “strands of Alien’s DNA”, but it’s a “new, grand mythology”? I’m not quite sure what to expect of it. And that, to be honest, excites me quite a bit.