Trailer for Hunger

This is Michael Fassbender's amazing film Hunger, which has gotten raves on the festival circuit and will finally get released in the U.S. in March. It opens limited on March 20th, and should have a wider release on March 27th. Michael plays Bobby Sands, and lost an incredible amount of weight to show the hunger strike.

In Bruges and Hunger lead British Independent Film Awards

Reuters UK reports:

IRA prison drama "Hunger" and crime comedy "In Bruges" will go head to head at the British Independent Film Awards with seven nominations apiece, more than any other 2008 picture.

"Hunger," starring Michael Fassbender as IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands and directed by British artist Steve McQueen in his film-making debut, has been shortlisted in the best British independent film category along with "In Bruges."

Both "Hunger" and "In Bruges" have also been nominated for best debut director, best screenplay, best actor, best supporting actor and best technical achievement.

McQueen is also on the shortlist for best director, while "In Bruges" actors Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson are up against each other in the best actor category.

Ralph Fiennes was nominated twice in the best supporting actor category -- once for "The Duchess" and one for "In Bruges."

I hope this will get more attention to In Bruges, which was my favorite film from Sundance last January. It didn't get much attention in the States, but hopefully, this will jog people to get it from Netflix and see it! Also, great to see Hunger and Michael Fassbender continue to get kudos from what appears to be an amazing film. Read my review of In Bruges and view the trailer here.

Hunger Trailer

Michael Fassbender's movie Hunger, in which he plays Bobby Sands during his hunger strike in prison, has received good reviews and raves for Michael's searing performance. It appeared at Cannes, and will also be shown at the Toronto Film Festival next month. Looks like it will be a hard one to watch, but a career performance. The scene in this trailer where he touches his emaciated rib really made me gasp. Michael lost tons of weight for this film.

Michael Fassbender News

The folks at MFO, a fan site for Michael Fassbender of 300 and Band of Brothers fame, have been busy bees. Tons of new Fassy news. The trailer for Eden Lake has been released.

A romantic break turns into a nightmare when a nursery teacher and her boyfriend are targeted by a group of violent teenagers. Steve (Michael Fassbender) finds an idyllic spot for a break with girlfriend Jenny (Kelly Reilly) and plans to propose. But when he challenges a rowdy group of youngsters they turn on the couple, stealing their belongings, vandalising their car and launching a violent attack on Steve.

The thriller has a UK release date of Sept. 12 but doesn't seem to have a US distributor yet.



Also, news that Michael will have a prominent role in "The Devil's Whore", a joint HBO BBC British civil war mini-series production with Dominic West starring as Oliver Cromwell. It releases later this year in the UK. And later this year, he’s set to star in Joel Schumacher’s thriller Creek, as a Nazi who seeks asylum in America in order to perfect a Satanic experiment. Michael is currently filming British movie Fish Tank where he plays a mysterious stranger who promises to bring love and happiness to a single mum and her troubled daughter. Hmmm. Sounds a bit Dear Frankie-like. And that's a good thing! Michael got raves at Cannes for playing Bobby Sands in Hunger. No US release date for that movie either, darn it! This year could really be Michael's break out, crossed fingers!

Hunger with Michael Fassbender

In Cannes news, IFC Films aquired Hunger, which recounts the 1981 IRA hunger strike led by Bobby Sands, played by Michael Fassbender. Hopefully, now that it's been picked up by a distributer, we'll get a US release date for the film. 300 fans will remember Michael Fassbender as Stelios.

Variety recently reviewed the film, which premiered at the festival:

The last months in the life of Irish Republican Bobby Sands, who starved himself to death in 1981 as a protest against the British government's intransigence over recognizing convicted IRA members as political prisoners, is harrowingly recounted in "Hunger." Pic reps a powerful, pertinent but not entirely perfect debut for British visual-artist-turned-feature-helmer Steve McQueen, who demonstrates a painterly touch with composition and real cinematic flair, but who stumbles in film's last furlough with trite symbolism. Pic's slow pace and uncompromising physicality may choke off some auds, but "Hunger" should pull in arthouse auds in moderate numbers domestically and travel offshore.