We knew this was likely to happen, and now the MPAA has spoken: Steve McQueen‘s Shame, starring Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan, has earned the film industry’s most dubious badge of honor, the NC-17. The rating was delivered for “some explicit sexual content,” designating that no one under 17 is to be admitted under any circumstances. In years past this might have doomed the film as a commercial failure or led to recuts, but things are a bit different with Shame. Read More »
Posted on Friday, October 21st, 2011 by Germain Lussier
When a film gets branded with an NC-17 rating, most studios do one of four things. They re-cut it hoping to get an R-rating, release it unrated, doom it direct-to-DVD or suck it up and go for it.
That last option is a rarity because embracing the NC-17 rating means fighting an unfair, almost pornographic, connotation. The MPAA website itself explicitly states “NC-17 does not mean ‘obscene’ or ‘pornographic’ in the common or legal meaning of those words, and should not be construed as a negative judgment in any sense. The rating simply signals that the content is appropriate only for an adult audience.” But that doesn’t stop major theater chains from not playing the movies, major video distributors from not stocking the movies or TV channels from not advertising the movies. It’s a huge mountain to climb.
Fox Searchlight’s new film Shame, directed by Steve McQueen and starring Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan, is so filled with sex and nudity, it’s all but guaranteed to receive an NC-17. And that’s okay. Not only will Fox Searchlight embrace this, they’re going to push the film for awards. They’re making a stand against the negative stigma. Read more about their marketing strategy after the jump. Read More »
Posted on Friday, October 21st, 2011 by Angie Han
An Education wasn’t Carey Mulligan‘s first film, but it’s the one that launched her to the top of every director’s wishlist. Since that coming-of-age tale opened in 2009, she’s been picking up one juicy role after another. This year saw her starring opposite Ryan Gosling in Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive and earning praise for her bold performance in Steve McQueen’s Shame, and she’s currently at work playing the ultimate girl who got away in Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby.
Now she’s lining up her next two jobs, and they sound every bit as promising as her previous gigs: the Coen Brothers‘ Inside Llewyn Davis, and an untitled Spike Jonze picture. More details after the jump.
Posted on Friday, October 14th, 2011 by Angie Han
We’ve been hearing so much about Steve McQueen‘s Shame over the past year — we’ve seen clips, posters, and stills; we’ve heard all about the film’s very graphic nature and the searing performances by leads Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan — that I almost forgot we had yet to see an actual trailer.
The first one has finally dropped today, and while it’s obviously impossible to tell whether a movie is good just by seeing a two-minute video, the trailer, at least, looks utterly compelling. Watch the video (which, unlike the movie, is SFW) after the jump.
Posted on Tuesday, October 4th, 2011 by Angie Han
Briefly: If you’ve been dying to see some full-frontal Fassbender, mark your calendar. Fox Searchlight has just tweeted a U.S. release date of December 2, 2011 for Steve McQueen‘s NC-17 drama Shame, which stars Michael Fassbender as a sex addict who finds his orderly life disrupted by the arrival of his troubled sister (Carey Mulligan, who also gets naked in case you were wondering). The distributor picked up the rights last month in Toronto.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, among the NSFW highlights we can expect from the film are “male and female full-frontal nudity, graphic depictions of straight/gay/threeway sex, masturbation, urination,” and something really gruesome that we’re not going to reveal here so as to avoid spoilers. Aside from its explicit nature, the film has also drawn lots of attention for powerful performances by leads Fassbender and Mulligan — no surprise considering how much praise both actors have earned for their talents in the past. Shame marks the second collaboration between McQueen and Fassbender, who previously worked together on the critically acclaimed Hunger.
Posted on Friday, September 9th, 2011 by Russ Fischer
One of the biggest critical hits at the Venice Film Festival was Shame, in which Hunger director Steve McQueen once again works with actor Michael Fassbender to tell a story of a man who doesn’t quite have control over his sexual urges. I’ve edged away from full reviews, but reports peg it as both gruesome (for one scene) and quite sexually explcit, with full frontal displays from Fassbender and co-star Carey Mulligan.
(THR mentioned “male and female full-frontal nudity, graphic depictions of straight/gay/threeway sex, masturbation, urination and a gruesome [redacted to avoid spoilers].”)
Scanning reviews paints Shame as a venue for a very effective performance from Michael Fassbender, if nothing else. And as McQueen has refused to cut the film, it is also one which will go out as an NC-17. So it has been the subject of debate for the past week — who’ll pick this one up? As it turns out, the distributor with the balls (or the willingness to show them) is Fox Searchlight, which bought distribution rights to Shame today in Toronto. Read More »
Posted on Wednesday, August 31st, 2011 by Russ Fischer
Briefly: Baz Luhrmann has added two more to his 3D film version of The Great Gatsby. (Why is this 3D, again?)
His take on the ‘great American novel’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald already features Leonardo DiCaprio as the wealthy Jay Gatsby; Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan, the object of Gatsby’s unrequited love; Tobey Maguire as narrator Nick Carraway; Joel Edgerton as Daisy’s husband, old-money dillweed Tom Buchanan; Isla Fisher as Myrtle, with whom Tom is having an affair; and Jason Clarke as George Wilson, Myrtle’s husband.
Now Gemma Ward, who was recently seen as a mermaid in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, will play an undisclosed role, and Callan McAuliffe has signed on to play the young Jay Gatsby in a few scenes. Along with young Australian actress Elizabeth Debicki, who also recently signed on to play Nick Carraway’s love interest, Jordan Baker, that makes a nice complement of Australian actors for this Long Island-set story. Not that I’m complaining; I’ve really warmed up to the idea of Edgerton playing Tom Buchanan. The 3D part on the other hand… well, not so much. [EW and Variety]
Posted on Wednesday, August 24th, 2011 by Russ Fischer
I think Nicolas Winding Refn‘s film Drive, starring Ryan Gosling as a stuntman/getaway driver who is pulled into a difficult situation through his attraction to his next-door neighbor (Carey Mulligan), is pretty great. (Bryan Cranston, pictured above, plays a supporting role; I wanted to give him some header image attention.) I’d love to have a trailer to show you that is the great key to selling audiences on the movie without showing too much.
We don’t have that trailer yet. This new one is French, and it’s a lot like the previous US trailer until the end, when some new footage crops up, along with a few quick shots of naked people. But because the plot of Drive is relatively… let’s say ‘contained’… there’s only so much a trailer can build on without showing quite a bit of that plot. So, NSFW warning and possible spoiler warnings taken into account, check out this new trailer if you’re ready. Read More »
