Movie: Shame with Michael Fassbender
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I'm starting to get really psyched about seeing this film. Here is a link to the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62nelnMXW3M
I've chosen the showtime: 605 PM. I'm going to schedule a meal afterward if you'd like to come to that as well but I'll list them separately so you'll know it OPTIONAL! And you won't need to see the movie again if you've already seen it.
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https://www.meetup.com/The-Filmscapaders/events/43965362/ >>
Depending on the crowds we'll probably head upstairs by 540. They stick the artier films in the tiny theaters and the seats fill quickly and holding seats is impossible without a butt to stick in it.
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We'll be seeing it at the AMC Empire which is conveniently located west of Time Square (I make sure that I don't surface until I'm by the Port Authority bus terminal since walking on 42nd from Bway to 8th ave could take 15 minutes). I've listed two times so if someone has a preference please let me know or I'll pick one. The meetup deadline will be about 30 minutes prior to showtime listed (whichever is chosen).
As an option, if anyone would like to meet for dinner before the film then the 720 would be better. If after, then the 605 would be better. There is an Ollies nearby which is nice and reasonable. (h (http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/ollies/menu))ttp://www.menupages.com/restaurants/ollies/menu
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Hey, by the way, Filmscapader Pamela Martin is a working actress and she'll be starring in a show this weekend.
Love Creek Presents: The Ladies of the Night Before Christmas
By Le Wilhelm with Steven Barrett Musical Direction by Kristin CarterAn evening of music, Christmas Cheer and WhoresStaring Kristin Carter, Cynthia Granville,* Pamela Martin,* Sara Ann Parker,* Christina Peters, Maureen Toomey, Angel Vail, with Le Wilhelm as Homer
December 10th at 811th at 615th at 816th at 817th at 818th at 7At the Producers' Club 358 W. 44th New York, NYtickets are $18 Call 212 769-7973 for reservations buy online at theatermania.com (http://theatermania.com/)
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We'll be seeing our movie at:
AMC Theatres Empire 25 (http://www.moviefone.com/theater/amc-theatres-empire-25/628/showtimes)
234 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036 | (888)262-4386
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I don't have the exact times or locations for this yet. I'll get those on Wednesday. This looks to be a powerful, thought-provoking movie starring Michael Fassbender (aka: Magneto). It also stars Carey Mulligan in, what seems like, her tenth film this year. It takes place in Manhattan so, after having viewed the trailer, it could inspire future ideas of how to relate to people on the subway. I'll update the times and location as we get closer.
http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/a/a/b/6/event_76603702.jpeg
BY ROGER EBERT / November 30, 2011
Cast & Credits
Brandon Michael Fassbender (http://rogerebert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=search1&SearchType=1&q=Michael%20Fassbender&Class=%25&FromDate=19150101&ToDate=20111231)
Sissy Carey Mulligan (http://rogerebert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=search1&SearchType=1&q=Carey%20Mulligan&Class=%25&FromDate=19150101&ToDate=20111231)
Fox Searchlight Pictures presents a film directed by Steve McQueen (http://rogerebert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=search1&SearchType=1&q=Steve%20McQueen&Class=%25&FromDate=19150101&ToDate=20111231). Written by McQueen and Abi Morgan. Running time: 99 minutes. Rated
NC-17 (for some explicit sexual content).
There's a close-up in "Shame" of Michael Fassbender (http://rogerebert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=search1&SearchType=1&q=Michael%20Fassbender&Class=%25&FromDate=19150101&ToDate=20111231)'s face showing pain, grief and anger. His character, Brandon, is having an orgasm. For the movie's writer-director, Steve McQueen (http://rogerebert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=search1&SearchType=1&q=Steve%20McQueen&Class=%25&FromDate=19150101&ToDate=20111231), that could be the film's master shot. There is no concern about the movement of Brandon's lower body. No concern about his partner. The close-up limits our view to his suffering. He is enduring a sexual function that has long since stopped giving him any pleasure and is self-abuse in the most profound way.
Brandon is a good-looking, fit man in his early 30s, who lives alone in a sterile condo in Manhattan. He works in a cubicle with a computer. Never mind what his company does. It makes no difference to him. Sometimes in the evening, he and his boss, David (James Badge), go out to drink in singles bars. David is a little hyper with his pick-up lines. Brandon just sits there, his face impassive, and has better luck. He doesn't hope to get lucky. He doesn't think of it as luck. Sex is his cross to bear.
I remember when the notion of sexual addiction was first being mentioned. People treated it as a joke. It was referred to in late-night monologues. The American Psychiatric Association in 1987 defined it as a mental disorder involving "distress about a pattern of repeated sexual conquests … involving a succession of people who exist only as things to be used."
The APA is no longer certain it is a disorder. Whatever it is, Brandon suffers from it. In "Shame," however, he himself is the only thing being used. One or two of his sexual partners may be attracted to him in the sense that some men are attracted to nymphomaniacs. There is such a sadness involved.
"Shame" makes into a lie the universal assumption in movies that orgasms provide a pleasure to be pursued. The film's opening shot shows Brandon awake in the morning, staring immobile into space. He could be a man prepared to commit suicide. He gets out of bed, goes into the shower and masturbates. It will be the first of his many orgasms, solitary and with company, that day. He never reveals emotion. He lives like a man compelled to follow an inevitable course.
He is cold to people. To prostitutes, to co-workers, to strangers. On the subway, he trades eye contact with a woman who may be flirting. Is he flirting? To boldly maintain eye contact is a form of flirting and an aggressive challenge. But he doesn't smile. His is a dreadful life.
One day he comes home and someone is there. We think it may be an intruder. It is Sissy (Carey Mulligan (http://rogerebert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=search1&SearchType=1&q=Carey%20Mulligan&Class=%25&FromDate=19150101&ToDate=20111231)), his sister, although for a time, we don't know that. He flies at her in a rage, telling her to get out. She has nowhere to go. He doesn't care.
His shame is masked in privacy. He wants no witnesses to his hookers, his pornography, his masturbation. Does he think he is incapable of ordinary human contact? In time, we will suspect that Brandon and Sissy shared childhood experiences that damaged them. McQueen wisely is not specific about the incidents.
Brandon lives in a cold, forlorn Manhattan. When he is in a group, he is alone. The sidewalks seem unusually empty. He knows where to go in order to have sex.
The introduction of Sissy allows the film some spontaneity and life. She is as passionate and uninhibited as he is the opposite. She needs him desperately. He fears need. They rage at each other. She works sometimes as a cabaret singer, and in one scene, she performs a song heartbreakingly in close-up. This close-up also shows pain and grief, but no anger.
Not many actors would have the courage it took Michael Fassbender (http://rogerebert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=search1&SearchType=1&q=Michael%20Fassbender&Class=%25&FromDate=19150101&ToDate=20111231) to play this role. He showed similar courage in McQueen's "Hunger" (2009), about the IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands. The actor and director seem to have found a common resolve in these films to show the thing itself, unalloyed by audience-pleasing techniques. Brandon can't even be said to visibly suffer. He is compelled to repeat the same behavior over and over, and all he gets from it is self-loathing. "Shame" is the correct title.
"Shame" contains unblinking truth. I have no doubt it depicts behavior that can be accurately called "sex addiction." The film suggests no help for Brandon, although toward the end, he moves somewhat in the direction of being able to care for another human being. For him, that involves being able to care for himself, despite the truth that he feels unworthy to be known. This is a great act of filmmaking and acting. I don't believe I would be able to see it twice.