What a triumphant win for Steve McQueen, last night, for his “12 Years a Slave.” Let us hope that more black filmmakers will advance in their craft and career and reach their place in the sun some day, too (Lee Daniels and Ryan Coogler of “Fruitvale Station” have been leading the charge). The international film industry is rather too homogeneous, color-wise, so last night’s mega-win for the ... more >
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12 YEARS A SLAVE CROWNED AT ACADEMY AWARDS
It's the first time a black filmmaker gets the top nod
Full list of the winners included below
12 Years a slave
The story that needs to be retold
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong’o and Michael Fassbender
Directed by Steve McQueen
Among movies about race in America, how many great films have been made about slavery? We’ve seen gentle drivers ("Driving Miss Daisy"), sisterhoods of maids ("The Help") and pizza places going up in smoke for our sins ("Do the Right Thing"). Most of these films focus on the sixties or the modern day. Even Lincoln barely touches on slavery as more than legal theory. This enormous, shocking gap ... more >
BRAVO TIFF
A bite-size take on the Toronto Fest that was
Film excellence at the Toronto International Film Festival which ended Sunday was on full display, reminding us why cinema is also called the seventh art, a qualifier a critic can’t always use nowadays. British director Steve McQueen’s superb “12 Years a Slave” which won the prestigious audience award is already a front-runner contender for an Academy Award. Other great films were Geoffrey ... more >
Steve McQueen’s “Shame”
Another critic hails McQueen's sophomoric effort
Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan and James Badge Dale
Directed by Steve McQueen
A man. A woman. An underground train. Traded looks. Traded fantasies. No one looking. No one aware. The train stops. The lick of her lips. The ring on her finger. Will they? Won’t they? The crowd in the station. The man is Brandon. We soon meet the rest of him. His job. His coldness. His naked body wrapped in blue sheets. His overpowering sexual impulse. Alleys. Back doors, Luxury hotels. ... more >
Shame
My life as a sex addict
Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan and James Badge Dale
Directed by Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen's second feature reprises his collaboration with Hunger star Michael Fassbender and the effect is no less spellbinding. This time, instead of starving for a cause, Fassbender plays a man at the mercy of his urges rather than in control of them: a sex addict. In the frenetic world of New York City it's easy for Fassbender's Brandon to keep his private life a secret. When a vat of ... more >
[2011] VENICE BIENNALE | Shame & Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Sokurov, Alfredson and McQueen
The surprise winner of the 68th Venice Film Festival was Russian master Alexander Sokurov’s hallucinogenic take on the Goethe’s “Faust” (pictured). But before the International Jury, chaired by Darren Aronofsky and featuring David Byrne, Todd Haynes and André Téchiné handed out their statues, much award buzz was being devoted to Steve McQueen’s “Shame” and Tomas Alfredson’s “Tinker, Tailor, ... more >
Hunger
Celluloid shock treatment
Michael Fassbender and Stuart Graham
Directed by Steve McQueen
"Hunger" recounts the real events of the blanket strikes in Belfast. In 1981 during the conflict in Ireland a deadly battle was being waged inside the walls of Belfast’s infamous Maze prison. Republican inmates refused to bathe and wear uniforms in protest of Britain's rejection of their plea to be recognized as political prisoners. When their strike fails, Bobby Sands (Michael Fassbender) went on ... more >