Review: Fassbender & Mulligan in Shame

Hollywood Reporter

Shame, the NC-17, sex-heavy film from director Steve McQueen stars Michael Fassbender as a New Yorker driven only by his addiction to emotionless sex. His unstable sister (Carey Mulligan) moves in and proceeds to disrupt his sequestered and unraveling world.

Fassbender gives an unnerving and agonizing performance, putting a disturbing face on sexual addiction, from his piercing stares at random conquests to the façade he barely manages to maintain in his professional life. Mulligan was phenomenal as his sister, completely fragile and unhinged, and we get to see her vulnerability and brokenness in one of the most emotionally-charged scenes of the film - Mulligan’s haunting rendition of 'New York, New York'. Hinting but never fully acknowledging an unusual childhood relationship between the two, she says, “We’re not bad people, Brandon. We just come from a bad place”.

Shame was unapologetically explicit, hard, and definitely unsettling. But beautiful. Exquisitely beautiful.

Review: Drive (TIFF 2011)

Tiff.net

A poetically violent and dark, homage to 1980s pop cinema, Drive was filled-to-the-brim with intensely maniacal action and high-speed car chases. Playing a Hollywood stunt driver, moonlighting as a getaway car wheelman, Driver (Ryan Gosling, no, we never find out his character’s real name) manages to stay calm, excruciatingly quiet and completely professional, under the most violent of circumstances. His character is instantly drawn to his neighbour, Irene (Carey Mulligan), and her young son, and he spends the rest of the film possessed with protecting them. The mutual attraction is obvious, and their courtship is innocent and sweet, until we find out she has a convict hubby who's about to be released from prison.

During the Q&A following the screening, Director Nicolas Winding Refn, explained that he wanted to make the first half of Drive like a John Hughes movie and make the second half take a more dark, psychotic turn. So what starts out as a cutesy love story, with a killer Top Gun-reminiscent soundtrack, downward spirals into a crime bender with enough blood and gore to make any horror enthusiast giddy with glee.

The only downside is that we don’t get a chance to go beneath the surface of the characters we’re instantly attracted to. Who is Driver? Where did he come from and what’s he doing in L.A.? I vote for a prequel.

On a side note, the soundtrack was ridiculously amazing. Rehn mentioned that the musical style for Drive evolved while he and Ryan were riding around L.A. one night and REO Speedwagon’s, ‘Can’t Fight This Feeling’, came on the radio. Inspired by euro pop of the early 80s, he managed to add a dash of femininity to a very masculine and bloody film.



With an exceptional cast, including Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks and Christina Hendricks, Drive is a fun and unexpected thrill-ride. I came out feeling a little beat-up, but thoroughly satisfied. In theatres September 16th.

Red Band Trailer: Ryan Gosling's 'Drive'

What can I say? I love a good crime film (...not sure what that says about me). It's no secret that I'd much rather kick back and watch Goodfellas or The Departed for the umpteenth time, than give any attention to some of the derivative action flicks that've been released lately. And, as a proud Canadian (and former fan of The Mickey Mouse Club and Breaker High!), I love me some Ryan Gosling (minus his ridiculously-fake Brooklyn accent. Like seriously, buddy, you're from Canada, not New York. Life doesn't have to imitate art ALL the time), and I truly believe Carey Mulligan is pretty much close to perfection. She has a subtle, yet distinct, on-screen presence that the world fell in love with after her breakout (and might I mention, Oscar-nominated) role in An Education. Also must mention the stellar supporting cast that includes Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) and the gorgeous Christina Hendricks (Mad Men).

Ryan plays a Hollywood stunt driver who also moonlights as a getaway-car wheelman. Drive looks gritty, excellently violent, and pretty damn sexy, with heads bashing and guns waving. Seriously, what's wrong with me?

'I hope she'll be a fool - that's the best thing a girl can be in this world' - Baz Luhrmann takes on The Great Gatsby!

Profilekiss.com

It's official! Carey Mulligan has signed on to play spoiled little rich girl Daisy Buchanan in Baz Luhrmann's rendition of the classic American novel, The Great Gatsby. Since the rumors started, I've been hoping they'd pick her for this role, craving to see more of her since her phenomenal performances in An Education and Never Let Me Go.

Now before you start recalling the torture of reading this book in high school, let me add that the role of Jay Gatsby is being filled by Leo Dicaprio. Swoon. And Nick Carraway (although who really cares after you have Leo) will be played by Tobey Maguire. Although it may have been a bit much to grasp in high school, this novel had all the elements of a great drama: love, betrayal, jealousy, misconception... Ok, now it sounds more like an everyday episode of General Hospital.

Perfect timing for this film adaptation, with Boardwalk Empire getting us all warm and fuzzy over the 1920s and prohibition era (as some of you may already know, Gatsby is a bootlegger!). The clothes, the music, all of it is so intriguing and addictive to watch, to be completely drawn into. Plus, Baz Luhrmann (with the exception of the torturous mistake that was Australia) is a genius, having made two of my favorite movies, Moulin Rouge, and the only rendition of Romeo + Juliet that I can actually sit through. He's already proven to be capable of staying true to the themes of classic literature, but we'll definitely be in for some of his signature flash and pizazz. And of course his great taste in music - both Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge have two of the best soundtracks of any film.

Review: Never Let Me Go (TIFF 2010)

I was unknowingly taken into a hauntingly-beautiful world, somewhere on the shores of England, between fantasy and reality. Essentially, this was a story about the relationship between three individuals, Cathy, Tommy, and Ruth, from childhood at a boarding school (or so we thought), to their short-lived adulthood. 

Throughout the entire film, I was left with a knot in my stomach and a lump in my throat, spending almost half the movie on the verge of tears. Let’s just say it was a depressing concept: love unspoken, without enough time to make up for it.

At the heart of it all was this love story, unconditional, unrelenting and sadly, unfinished. Casting for the film couldn’t have been better, with very moving performances all around.  Andrew Garfield, who played Tommy, really left a lasting impression on me (not just because he was adorable, both on-screen and on stage!), but he really embodied the character of a cowardly and weak boy, unable to act on his feelings. The true hero of the film, Cathy (Carey Mulligan, who I loved-loved-loved in An Education), innocently and subtly captivated us. With no way her life could end well, she lived through a ‘lifetime’ of loss, and somehow, managed to stay graceful and at peace, even when facing her ultimate fate.

Carey Mulligan 'educates' on Life, Learning, and falling in Love with hot older men!

I just finished watching An Education, part of my must-see movie list that I just hadn’t gotten around to watching after Carey Mulligan’s Oscar nomination sparked my interest. And oh, how I loved it so! Carey Mulligan plays Jenny, this fresh-faced and naive, teenage school-girl growing up in early 1960s London. I heard a rumour that they were planning on remaking the classic My Fair Lady and Carey Mulligan was favoured to get the role, and I remember saying What? Why and how could they give such an important role to someone like her – but, now I know why. I so wanted to be her, going to all the jazz clubs and dog races, frolicking around Paris and Oxford with her beau. Every girl wants to be swept off her feet like a fairy tale but as we are educated in the film, life’s not a fairy tale, and the harsh reality of her childish choices eventually set in. Of course, the fashions were delightful, but most of all, it was the writing and story that kept me involved in Jenny’s life. Carey Mulligan’s monologues were compelling and wonderfully delivered- especially where she questions her headmistress, very unlike the ladies of her time, about why it’s so important for her to get a degree when she will end up a married housewife or schoolteacher anyway. I just read too, that Nick Hornby wrote the screenplay, the same guy who wrote High Fidelity - no wonder I fell into it so easily. At one point, Jenny says, "Action is character. If we never did anything, we wouldn't be anybody." I loved that - it made me want to jump on a plane and get out of the boundaries of my existence. You can’t go wrong with a BBC-backed film, (just like Pride and Prejudice!) and, unfortunately for those of you I talk to on a regular basis, I’ll probably be speaking in a British accent now for about a week.