Hunger

With the release of Shame on DVD, I thought it would be best to catch up on the last film made by Steve McQueen, as I am really looking forward to watching his latest. His last film was Hunger which stars the brilliant Michael Fassbender. The film is set in 1981 and follows the event of the IRA hunger strike led by prisoner Bobby Sands.

Fassbender plays Bobby Sands and it doesn't look as if he took to the role likely. I'm not sure how much of Bobby Sands body was actually a skinny Fassbender or how much was make up effects but I'm pretty sure it was a bit of both.

The acting though is superb from all the cast, even the ones which don't get any dialogue to say, which was most of them. Hunger was like that though, more style than acting, it could have been a silent film if it wasn't for a 17 minute long scene of a conversation between Bobby Sands and a priest. I applaud the director in the choice of putting that scene in though, most films would not be able to pull this off, and neither would this one if it wasn't for the great dialogue and Fassbender's acting skills.

I was unsure throughout most of this film who the main character was though. It is Fassbender's film after the first half but before that we dip in and out of other characters lives, I am assuming this was to get all the different sides of the story but because we only get short stints of each person it feels kind of short changed.

Though what this does do is allows us as the audience not to sympathise with any of the characters. As many of the audience will not be able to feel for the IRA prisoner beforehand and side with the guards but here you get to see that everyone was in the wrong.

This film is not for everyone though, it is more art house than mainstream and many critics have called it an 'artistic masterpiece'. The film is very gruesome and is not for the faint hearted, the guards and prisoners are violent and some do some pretty disgusting things.

I however did like this film, although slow in places the style and acting was very good. When the dialogue did set in some great stories were told. This was a good a film and I can't wait to see what the McQueen and Fassbender team up have done with Shame. The pair certainly have a love for hard hitting subject matters with this film being about hunger strikes and Shame being about sex addiction. This film is not for everyone but if you want to see some great film making in progress then this is the film for you.

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Gangster Squad Trailer

So the new trailer for Gangster Squad was released yesterday, a film that was on my 'Most Anticipated Films Of 2012' blog post. I am a big fan of period gangster films, especially Scorsese ones, and it feels a long time since we have gotten a decent one. This film looks to change this. The film is directed by Ruben Fleischer, the guy who dirceted the brilliant Zombieland. The film also stars some of the best talent around including Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Nick Nolte and Antony Mackie. Take a look at the trailer bellow:

The trailer itself is brilliant, setting up enough plot and action to get you excited but not enough to give everything away (I think). The first line said is 'I am not an educated man.' It took me a few viewings to understand this.

Apart from that first mumble Sean Penn is the perfect man to play the big time gangster Mickey Cohen, he looks and feels the part. His lines are great and really set up the evil character he is playing.

Unlike Scorsese's films, we see the narrative follow the LAPD and their fight against the criminals. Almost looks like they have gone 'Inglorious Basterds' style for their strategy. The action also looks like it was directed by Tarantino, with lots of guns shredding the hell out of things, including a cinema, so the likeness is there. You could almost believe that this is what Tarantino would do if he was to direct period gangster flick.

All the actors fit into their roles perfectly. I believe that this could be Ryan Goslings best role, as I can just see him as a mysterious and dangerous cop. Whether he stays the 'good guy' in the film is questionable though. He is also back with recent co star Emma Stone. They recently worked on Crazy, Stupid, Love together in which they had one of the best onscreen romances in years. Weird as it is seeing them ignite the flame in another film, I believe, because they are such good actors we will fall for their relationship once again.

The only criticism I have about this trailer would be that we don't get to see enough of some of the supporting actors in the gangster squad, such as Antony Mackie who really is a class actor.

Apart from that though I really cannot wait until this film is released in November. I hope that this will be just as good as Goodfellas or The Godfather. Although the director has previously directed comedies I have no fear that this will be the excellent gangster film we have been waiting for!

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P.S - For some reason my laptop is not fan of YouTube but the video blog for Sundance London is finished and will hopefully be online ASAP.