Never Mind Pop Film

It happens like clockwork every year. A film comes out of a festival sitting on a cloud boosted by the word of critics that are left speechless post screenings. The filmmakers receive standing ovations, Oscar pundits run off to their hotel rooms to write their four star reviews, and the film itself is placed front and center in movie discussions for weeks. Things look very good for that film, but then a few months later the knives come out.

Glowing reviews from August and September turn into vitriolic pissing contests where anything nice said is redacted or erased. Discussions like this just don’t make sense on an objective level, movies are an art form and deserve to be measured on their own strengths and weaknesses. Oscar backlash is hardly a new trend, yet it seems to have gotten more publicized and nastier in recent years.

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The first trailer for 12 Years a Slave was released today and it offers the first look at the footage of Steve McQueen's capturing of Solomon Northup's harrowing true story of living in captivity for twelve years before obtaining his freedom.
McQueen's last two films haven't fared well during Oscar season, but given the cast and the prestigious material, this should be the film that catches the Academy's eye for McQueen.

Fox Searchlight announces that Steve McQueen's follow-up to Hunger and Shame will debut as a limited platform release on December 27th, 2013 and will increase theatres into the new year.

"Twelve Years a Slave is based on an incredible true story of one man's fight for survival and freedom.  In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.  Facing cruelty (personified by a malevolent slave owner, portrayed by Michael Fassbender), as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity.  In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist (Brad Pitt) will forever alter his life."

2012 saw a great deal of filmmakers tackle slavery, most famously Steven Spielberg and Quentin Tarantino, but McQueen's more nuanced approach to the subject has promise and the excellent cast head…

Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Michael K. Williams, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Giamatti and Paul Dano. If that cast doesn't sell you on this movie, I don't know what will. Heroin?

Given that Shame has played in maybe 40 theatres across the entire world, the only real look at Steve McQueen's divisive film has been at posters and trailers. Fortunately, these posters have been great. And here is the latest one coming to you all the way from Hungary.

If you met Brandon (Michael Fassbender) on the sidewalk, you may be taken in by him. He is well-dressed, impeccably groomed, and confident. Women are attracted to him and men find him impossible to compete with. He is in complete control of himself, or so we are lead to believe. Underneath the veneer finish lies a secret: Brandon is an addict.

The random encounter at a bar, "the look" on the train, the smooth compliment at just the right time. He is an operator, nothing is out of reach for his sexual conquests. Yet, Brandon's troubles are beginning. The game is insufficient now. The chase is easy, the payoff is in the climax. Like every addict the stakes may be hiked in order to get the thrill anymore. And every time Brandon aims to raise them he sets himself further away from others. There's no connection with these women, just another way to wring pleasure from his existence.

That's the danger of chasing a high, it is never sated and the morning after deals a …

I will be ignoring all trailers and t.v. spots for this until after I see Shame in theatres.

Shame was purchased today by Fox Searchlight. Whether the film would be bought or not was in question because Steve McQueen refuses to cut the film in any way. According to producer Iain Canning the film will not be edited in any fashion and a NC-17 release is likely:

I would hope that pushing the boundaries and pushing the level of performance as an actor would be recognized. Everybody that’s talking to us now about U.S. distribution understands that this film is in its final form.

(Courtesy: Deadline)

Steve McQueen's (no, not that one) latest smash from the Venice Film Festival has been receiving critical applause as of late. With no distributor as of yet, a relatively unknown lead actor (though Michael Fassbender apparently gives a haunting turn), no rating and strong subject matter you would think the bidding would be low. Not the case:
This year’s festival hasn’t started and already there are fireworks. Deadline broke news yesterday that Harvey Weinstein would start a VOD business, making the acquisitions market for fringe films more competitive; and last night, I heard that a bidding battle had already broken out for the Steve McQueen-directed Shame, which should be sold by the time it screens Sunday. Fox Searchlight is the favorite, Sony Pictures Classics is in the mix and I’ve heard that The Weinstein Company is hovering.
(Courtesy: THR)

Yes, it’s The Blob, another one of those B grade, underfunded, science fiction movies that came out during the Cold War Era. Cheesy? Incredibly. But when you watch it, you’re getting exactly what you asked for; cherry-pie filling monster and all.

Steve Andrews (played by Steve McQueen, billed for the only time as “Steven McQueen”) is out watching the night sky with his girlfriend Jane (Aneta Corsaut) when they see what they think is either a meteor or a shooting star, the latter being the more romantic of the two. Thinking that whatever it is may be close, Steve and Jane jump in the car to investigate.

Flash to a different scene: An old man living in his rural mountain shack hears a loud noise from outside. He goes to check it out, and finds a circular object. After poking it most wisely with a stick, the circular meteor object opens, revealing a clear, sticky, jello-like substance. The old man accidentally touches the blob, and… well, guess.

Flash back to Steve and Jane: They’re drivi…

Steve McQueen's Hunger resides in the solely physical realm. Feelings don't matter in this prison where Bobby Sands is held, bruises matter. Interactions with guards are entirely non-verbal. Beatings and forced baths take the place of negotiations and conditions.
Little background about the prisoners is offered as we enter the film: a guard bathes his bruised knuckles and proceeds to check under his car for a bomb every morning, a newly imprisoned man refuses to wear prison garb and enters his cell with little more than a blanket. Here, he enters his confined surroundings to find context smeared all over the walls.
The world's smallest war is being fought in the corridors of this prison. Chaos versus order. Food is made into mush to channel urine into the halls. Resistance is then swept away with the flick of a wrist. The innocence of a babe swaddled in cloth is instantly corrupted by the transfer of messages by any means possible. These men are fighting this war not over…