MichaelFassbender Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Fall brings with it awards season, and among our first round of nominations are those of the British Independent Film Awards. According to Empire, Andrea Arnold's acclaimed Fish Tank took the lead with eight, while Duncan Jones' similarly lauded Moon came up with seven, including one for lead actor Sam Rockwell.

I'm personally happy to see the savage political satire In the Loop getting due notice, especially its expletive-laden screenplay, since it'll likely go overlooked when it comes to Yank laurels (sad but true, although I'll be happy if it's not). Meanwhile, the multiple nods for An Education and Bright Star only parallel their warm reception Stateside and their likely contention in next year's Oscar race.

And after being quietly blown away by it at Fantastic Fest a few weeks back, I'm also glad to see Down Terrace get some love under the Raindance Award category. Enough of these awards, and maybe that puppy'll earn some distribution in our neck of the woods. (You listening, IFC?)

In my neck of the woods, the Orlando Sentinel's Roger Moore seemed to spot it first. The Colonial Promenade, de facto destination for dollar movies (on Tuesdays anyway), appeared to be opening something called Blood Creek on Friday. The only title that IMDb had to spare was a 2006 Canadian horror flick that had already come out on DVD up there, although this map of showtimes would suggest that it's sweeping the nation regardless.

However, Lionsgate had opened Midnight Meat Train at this same theater and others like it last summer, and they did have distribution rights for Joel Schumacher's latest thriller, which had been alternating titles between Creek and Town Creek while sitting on the proverbial shelf for nearly two years. Without a Clive Barker to raise a fuss this time around, who was to know any better if it slipped into a couple of so-called 'dollar' theaters over the weekend?

Yesterday, Memphis' John Beifuss confirmed that said film was to quietly open in their market as well. He mentions Dallas as another location for the film. Bloody Disgusting readers name-checked Canton, OH; Manteca, CA; Las Cruces, NM; Wichita, KS; and Plano, TX; Shock-ers mentioned Willoughby, OH and Saginaw, MI.

We have our review up over on Horror Squad. In the meantime, if you happen to notice it playing in your neighborhood, help us out narrow things down by commenting below. We find "shame releases" all sorts of fascinating.

(Pardon the modest shot of the one-sheet, but until my cell phone looks to co-operate a bit better, that's the first glimpse of it that you can see online.)

I guess Olga Kurylenko has decided to make a career out of playing chicks with an ax to grind. I mean, is it just me or does she have a thing for revenge? In the world of action, women usually have two choices: damsel or butt-kicking femme fatale, and Kurylenko has seemingly found her niche as the ridiculously hot tough chick -- which is just fine by me because unlike some of her co-stars, at least Kurylenko looks like she could take you in a fight. But for those of you out there hoping she would be donning another skimpy outfit for Neil Marshall's ancient action flick Centurion, keep your pants on, because in Empire's first look the gal is all covered up wearing freaky makeup (if I know Kurylenko, however, it won't be for long before she reveals a little skin regardless of this whole Clan of the Cave Bear look she has going on).

Centurion centers on the famed 9th Legion fighting for their lives behind enemy lines after a devastating guerrilla attack, and joining Kurylenko for the hacking and slashing are Michael Fassbender (Inglorious Basterds), who plays the title character, Dominic West, and Noel Clarke. Marshall spoke with Empire during a set-visit and he described Kurylenko's character Etain thusly: "Her family were butchered by the Romans, she had her tongue cut out by the Romans, she's had a hell of a time and she's out for Roman blood." In reality, the 9th Legion were Cesar's most faithful soldiers who were believed to be lost during their stay in Britain while fighting the Scots -- a theory that while the inspiration for plenty of historical novels, has since been debunked. But, true or not, I won't hold it against Marshall, because it probably made for a much more interesting story than the truth.

Centurion is currently filming on location in Scotland, and is expected to arrive in theaters with Kurylenko in all her avenging glory later this year.

Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for Hunger, the intense drama from prize-winning British artist turned director Steve McQueen. Michael Fassbender stars as Bobby Sands, a controversial IRA member who was imprisoned in the infamous H-block of Belfast's Maze Prison. Sands made headlines worldwide in 1981 when he refused to eat until the British government acknowledged the IRA as a legitimate political organization. I can remember following the story day by day as it happened, so I'm quite interested in seeing Hunger, though it doesn't sound like an easy viewing experience.

The reviews have been very positive. When the film debuted at Cannes last year, Kim Voynar wrote: "It's a cinema verite approach to viewing human dignity in the face of unimaginable indignities, a grim statement about what happens when differences of opinion in social and political matters lead men to treat other men with horrific cruelty. ... It's a brilliant portrayal of a tragic moment in human history."

Hunger arrives in theaters on March 20. Click on the image below to view the poster in full, unflinching detail.

We've all seen the many ways that Jason Segel is a big dude, but now he's gearing up to see what life is like on the other side. The Hollywood Reporter posts that he's in talks to sign onto Jack Black's Gulliver's Travels along with Emily Blunt. Black's Gulliver washes up on the island of Lilliput, where people are only 6 inches tall, and befriends a wee one named Horatio (Segel). Horatio not only has the honor of having a friend who can squash him -- he's also the love interest of the island's princess (Blunt). Lucky girl.

In less lucky circles, Hilary Swank is no longer getting debonair love from Jeffrey Dean Morgan. After romancing it up in P.S. I Love You, THR posts that he's going to stalk her in The Resident. She'll play a young doc who nabs a loft in Brooklyn, only to find that her charming landlord (Morgan) is actually a psycho who pulls her into "a terrifying game of cat and mouse." They really lack the chemistry, so this should be an improvement.

Of all the showings, of all the movies, of all the days, of all the theaters, of all the towns in all the world -- she walks into mine. Maybe six years old, dragging a jacket and followed close by her probable brother (I'd say around twelve). They come in and sit beside who appears to be their oldest brother (eighteen perhaps?) and their mother, who continues to text and talk away through the movie they already missed nearly an hour of.

And they're all sitting a row away from me.

It's a lonely day in the neighborhood ....

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: I'm not sure whether Warner Bros. was prepared for the ridiculous fanboy (and girl) backlash that came with pushing the film's release date back several months to the middle of July, 2009, though it looks like they've re-grouped, dusted themselves off and are preparing to get that marketing machine up and running again. Following a statement from Warners chief Alan Horn (included after the jump) comes word from our friends at Bloghogwarts that Warner Bros. has sent in a new trailer (marked at a minute and a half) to the BBFC for approval. Could this be the studio's version of make-up sex? (PG rated make-up sex, of course.) Only time will tell ...

Inglorious Bastards: These days, when it comes to the cast of Quentin Tarantino's WWII flick Inglorious Bastards, nothing is set in stone (or badass, motherf**king stone, as QT would say). Thus, we want to be real careful about this latest news (via Variety) that Michael Fassbender is "in talks" to join the ensemble cast. Note that he's "in talks", as were a few other guys (Simon Pegg, David Krumholtz, though the latter is still mentioned by the trade) before they dropped out. Though they don't say who he'd be playing, the German-speaking actor would most likely take on the role of badass motherf**king Nazi in charge of total damage ... which sounds about right to me. Fassbender, of course, is best known for his role as Stelios in 300, and is still set to appear opposite Abbie Cornish in Wuthering Heights.

News bites for the last day of July, courtesy of Variety:

Now that he's faced Mean Girls and gotten brainwashed back into a rich jerk (after trying to reform into a hippy commune dude) on Veronica Mars, Jonathan Bennett has scored himself some new work. He's going to star in ... Van Wilder 3! Okay, it's not the sort of gig to elicit jittery anticipation, but it is following his stint with sequels -- The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning and Cheaper by the Dozen 2.

Meanwhile, Lorna Scott, who just played Janice in Wanted, is getting a starring gig ... of the telepic variety. She is joining Dyan Cannon on Kiss at Midnight. I'm sure we can imagine what that'll be like. We can also look for her in The Great Buck Howard, which should hit theaters in 2009.

Last, but not least, we've got Michael Fassbender, who you might remember from his time as Stelios in 300. He has scored a role in Andrea Arnold's second feature (after the excellent Red Road), called Fish Tank. Although it has already headed into production, not much is being said about it. However, my last search on the film yielded talk of girls and street dancing -- certainly a change from his 300 work.

IFC Films has acquired yet another hot Cannes title. British director Steve McQueen's Hunger has impressed a number of critics, including our own Kim Voynar, who called it "a brilliant portrayal of a tragic moment in human history." The short article on the acquisition by Anne Thompson in Variety does not reveal what distribution plans IFC may have in mind.

Michael Fassbender portrays Bobby Sands, an IRA volunteer who led a long hunger strike in 1981 while he was imprisoned on gun charges by British authorities. (More information is available at Wikipedia or the search engine of your choice.) The case stirred up a considerable amount of controversy; I remember visiting New York City at the time and being besieged by daily headlines in the Post and Daily News screaming about one side or the other.

Kim notes that the film doesn't "address the circumstances that led to these men being incarcerated" but commented in response to a reader: "I don't believe we achieve greater humanity by sinking to crass brutality in our treatment of others, regardless of how they might have wronged us ... Nonetheless, I tried to keep the focus of my review on its artistic merits, and in that respect, it's a brilliant film." I hope IFC makes Hunger as widely available as possible -- it sounds like an incredibly timely subject.