More Michael - Better late than nevah!

*sigh* I don't know why in the hell I'm just now finding these beautiful pictures of Michael, taken at Cannes on May 20 during an Inglourious Basterds photocall. Photos are by Isabelle Vautier of http://www.commeaucinema.com. Everything about these particular photos, me like. The state of his hair, his seductive grin, that fantastic sky blue shirt, his gorgeous sun-kissed skin, the background color, even the wad of gum in his mouth in the second image. Just, damn.

Does anyone else think he could play Vincent Van Gogh in a much long overdue biography? Anyhoo, I really don't have much else to say. Do you?

Admin Stuff

Blogger has some new gadgets that I think are really cool and will allow not only myself to enjoy visiting FF during net surfing downtime, but especially for my readers. There are times when there ain't nothing to update FF on regarding Michael, but you still come here, just to check it out. Right? Well, these two new gadgets will hopefully spark your interest and prompt you to visit more often, especially during those damn dry spells. You will note along the sidebar the two new gadget additions. Just below the 'email Simone' section is the new 'Ask a Question about Michael'. As the admin of this blog, I have the ability to see how some visitors come upon Fassinating Fassbender based on the Google/Yahoo/Altavista query they used to research about Michael.

For instance, in the past two months, a lot of visitors find FF by Googling 'Michael Fassbender girlfriend'. If you do that, you will see that FF comes up second in the search queue. And you get a top FF search result when you specifically type in Michael Fassbender/Leasi Andrews. There are many other questions about Michael's career and private stuff that people use in the search results to find answers. There are some very cool questions people are curious about, but I'm just going to let them post those questions themselves and I will do my best to answer it, or perhaps someone else will answer it for them. I have posted one question so far that is a popular google search question and I answered it myself. However, if someone has more information, they can post their answer too. And there's also an option for people to click on 'vote for this answer' if they believe that a particular reply was the best of the answers. It's all really cool and interactive. So please play with it. People who don't post here, or don't want to email me either, may find this avenue intriguing to use if they have just one question about Michael that they want someone to answer. Let me know what you think about it. Also, I updated the Guestbook with a new image of Fassy and changed the background color to compliment the new image.

Further down the sidebar, the second gadget is more reflective of the musical taste of DJ Spamonie. The new 'iLike Playlist' allows me to add snipets of songs from my favorite artists for you to click on and listen to for a bit. Only the songs that have 'Featured' next to it is a full length song. The others are like 30 second teases. I didn't know that when I clicked them on. I'm still trying to figure this gadget out as I would prefer to delete some of the non-featured songs - but I can't find the delete/remove option just yet. Anyhoo, just go ahead and play around with it. Click on a song and you can continue to check out the rest of the blog. It's funny how I thought about using music in the background for FF. The news report about Michael being a host at the Galway Masterclass in a couple of weeks prompted me to have a half-second fantasy of him being my instructor in a class. I immediately thought of that song from The Police 'Don't Stand so Close to Me', about a girl lusting after her teacher, who was of course, Sting, duh! Who wouldn't lust after him? I'm just being silly, but you know what I mean. Enjoy!

POTW: First Look at Michael as a villain in Jonah Hex

Finally, here is photographic evidence of Michael Fassbender in his role as 'Burke' a villain in the Jonah Hex film, slated to open in 2010. We have seen, read, and heard loads about that girl who is starring in said film, but nothing about Michael until now. Hell, there's nothing on him at IMDB under Jonah Hex about his character, so I'm thankful to this guy at Get the Big Picture blog, whose brother Sean, the gentleman standing next to Michael, is also starring in this film. As per the date stamp on the photo, it was taken just a couple weeks ago, but I also learned just last week that filming wrapped up already. Either Michael works fast and hard and got his part done quickly, or his role is a fun small supporting character. That's cool with me because I'm trying to get into this Jonah Hex thing but I can't yet. I'll see it for sure because of Michael, but other than that, I'm a tad bit more interested in learning about his own headlining works if you catch my drift.

Here is what is posted at the blog where the photo has been found:

The next DC Comics movie adaptation won't be in theaters for a while. Jonah Hex arrives in August 2010, starring Josh Brolin, John Malkovich, and Megan Fox, who recently admitted she only worked on the film for about a week, so don't expect too much from her.
We've seen pictures of Fox and Brolin on set and in character, and now we're getting our first look at Michael Fassbender.

Probably best known for his work in Band of Brothers or as Stelios in 300, Fassbender has caught the attention of Tarantino (he's in Inglourious Basterds) and Neil Marshall of The Descent fame (Centurion). He's also great in Hunger, by the way. Fassbender plays the villainous Burke in the film, the main henchman for John Malkovich's character, Turnbull. The guy on the right is my brother, Sean, who plays The Preacher in Jonah Hex, so thanks to Sean for sending in the pic.

Great photo of Michael and his ink, and great information about his role in the film. Perfect for the usual Friday, POTW. I would have been more on top of this had I not removed myself from the internet last night due to the deaths of two people who had a profound impact on my childhood.

Yesterday marked the passing of Farrah Fawcett, a beautiful woman who is the same age as my mother, and someone whom I watched on TV and hoped I would grow up to become. She was more intelligent than people gave her credit for, and a very good actress in roles that challenged her, and just a beautiful woman. I was so intrigued about Farrah and her being married to the $ix Million Dollar Man, that as a wee 10 year-old girl, when I went to the grocery store with my mother, I would read the gossip magazines of the 70s that had her on the cover. I think by reading that cool crap, it planted the 'Blogger' seed in my young brain and that's why I'm addicted to celebrity gossip & lifestyles and love to write to this very day. It's because of Farrah Fawcett, the original FF, that FF exists!! LOL! She died of cancer, a disease that I have a personal vendetta against as it took my sister away just last summer. Rest in Peace Farrah.

But the surprising and sudden death of Michael Jackson yesterday blew me away. I did not see this coming. I grew up with Michael as he was just 8 years older than me. I may not have ever been a massive Michael Jackson fan, but I appreciated what he gave to the music world and I respected his awe inspiring talent. In the past decade, sagas of his private life made me look at him differently, and I even threw away some of his CDs I had in protest. But upon closer inspection, as brilliant an entertainer Michael was, he was a very sad and tragic human being. Someone I just felt sorry for more than I could ever dislike. I guess at the end of the day, my simple respect for how talented and creative he was made me overlook all his eccentricities and dramas. In Michael Jackson's passing, we the world over have seen the one human being who has lived on this planet, in our life times, die, and no matter what you thought about him, whether you loved him or hated him, you know he has died, and you are thinking about him at least for 5 seconds. I doubt any other human being will have that effect on mankind again. Michael, with all his flaws, was indeed, that special.

Finally, rest in peace Michael Jackson, you deserve it.

It's Official: Fish Tank at TIFF09 - Vanguard Programme

Just a quick Breaking News update:

I just found out from the #Tiff09 Twitter that some select films announced to be screened at this year's Toronto International Film Festival will include Andrea Arnold's 'Fish Tank', starring none other than our gorgeous boy, Michael Fassbender!!! The film will be part of the Vanguard Programme*.

Fish Tank Andrea Arnold, United Kingdom North American Premiere - Andrea Arnold's assured follow-up to Red Road is a taboo-breaking love story about a violent teenaged girl transformed by desire for her mother's new boyfriend.


http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/films/fishtank

*Vanguard spotlights bold filmmakers that run ahead of the pack. This programme is dedicated to irreverent, stylistically playful films that challenge the boundaries of social discourse. Aimed toward adventurous audiences who delight in movies that push the envelopes of technology, culture and sexuality, these edgy films have a distinct, youthful feel. {Yeap, I reckon this about sums up Andrea's work}

Michael will host the Masterclass at Galway

I had a great time in Memphis, Tennessee for the Eddie Vedder concert. So now I'm back and doing deep researching to update FF. I found more information about the Actors Masterclass at Galway Film Fleadh. It appears that yes indeed, Michael Fassbender will not only be there, but he will host the Masterclass. Only registered actors can attend this workshop, which is perfectly understandable. I just hope that there is a full report about the Masterclass posted somewhere so that we can know how well it went.

This must be such a great honor and a proud thing for Michael to be a part of. Here's more information about the event -

Fassbender to host Actors Masterclass at Galway Film Fleadh

The 21st Galway Film Fleadh and the Galway Film Centre, in association with Fás Screen Training Ireland, are delighted to announce that award winning actor Michael Fassbender is the subject of this year’s Actors Masterclass.The Master Class will take place on Saturday, July 11th and will be facilitated by leading casting agents, Ros Hubbard and Mary Maguire. The Class is open to all aspiring and budding actors and those interested should submit a CV to Mary Deely in the Galway Film Centre, Cluain Mhuire, Monivea Road, Galway. For further information please call 091 770748 or email

The Galway Film Fleadh will pay tribute to Michael Fassbender who is fast becoming a very respected Irish actor. He recently had main roles in two of the twenty films in competition in this year’s Cannes Film Festival. These were Inglourious Basterds, directed by Quentin Tarantino and Fish Tank, directed by Andrea Arnold. This in itself is quite an achievement. Michael played Lt. Archie Hicox in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds and there is an ironic twist to this as his first acting assignment, 15 years ago, was in a stage version of Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs.

Within that fifteen-year interim, Fassbender has established himself as a serious actor, learning his craft through Band Of Brothers, Colin Bateman’s Murphy’s Law and playing the part of Esmé in Francois Ozon’s wonderful Angel.Little prepared the uninitiated for Fassbender’s breakout, multi-award winning performance in Steve McQueen’s stunning Hunger. Fassbender only appears in the final two acts of the movie yet his portrayal of hunger striker, Bobby Sands is so complete, alive and dynamic that his performance possesses the movie. He lost 40 pounds for this role, as the latter half of the movie chronicles Sand’s physical disintegration. This is in contrast to his role as Stelios in Zack Synder’s 300, the previous year, where he played a Spartan warrior. As part of the Fleadh’s tribute to Michael Fassbender, Hunger will screen on Friday July 10th.

Source: Galway Film Centre

Shhhh, the sex scene in Fish Tank revealed

Just before I head off to Memphis, film critic Guy Lodge at In Contention viewed Fish Tank at the Edinburgh Film Festival today and he very much enjoyed the film. However, based on his comments about 'the scene' between Katie Jarvis and Michael Fassbender, it prompted me to email him to ask for details since I can't seem to find them anywhere else. I'm not one for spoilers, but because I'm so interested in how Andrea Arnold presented this moment, which we know happens, it's HOW it happens, and how in depth the scene is that appears to be of interest to many of us Fassy fans. While some of us are open to whatever is presented, respectfully, others may have serious issues with what goes down at the pivotal moment because of the girl's age, and, because Michael too is involved.

Because of what I will reveal below is spoiler in nature, you will need to highlight the area immediately after the arrow.

===> *** The film does have an extended scene of consenting, penetrative sexual intercourse between Fassbender's and Jarvis's characters. It depicts the act from beginning to end, but while it's atmospherically vivid, it's not graphically explicit. (Dim lighting, tasteful cutting, etc.) However, while not visually offensive, the fact that Jarvis's character is underage will be of concern to some viewers. ***

Okey-dokey now. Comments?

Thanks Guy!

Pondering

Life took precedence this week as I wind down my final week at my job, where I will soon become an official member of the unemployed in this country on Friday. But alas, I have a long planned trip this weekend to Memphis, Tennessee for the Eddie Vedder concert with some friends. I am going to have fun! Also, on top of not feeling well this week due some stress, I have been able to muster up the motivation to apply for jobs and solicit prospective employers. I’m confident that a little creative marketing plan I have for myself will pay off. Meanwhile, I will make the most of my upcoming time off and give myself a little R&R, look for a new exciting career, and spend more time at the gym.

In regards to Fassinating Fassbender, it was good to be away for a few days as there is nothing new about Michael this week. A new Inglourious Basterds Italian poster was unveiled yesterday and it left me completely unimpressed. No Michael = No good. Also this week, I was able to do something media related in promoting Fassinating Fassbender. I really don’t know how well it will be received, but, I had to give it a shot and see what will happen. It was one of my goals this year in taking this blog to the next level. Managing FF keeps me busy enough as it is, and at the end of the day, it is a hobby of mine that I absolutely enjoy, plain and simple. And short of Michael quitting the business or doing something unbelievably morally questionable, writing for FF and continuing to support Michael Fassbender will be something I aspire to do for a very long time.

So anyway, what I did this week, I hope it is received well and that it will place Fassinating Fassbender in a brighter light. That’s all I’ll say for now, I don’t want to hex anything.

POTW

Photo by Gilles Petipas

Beautiful eyes, lovely background, and those damn cigarettes. He's a Marlboro Man. Those are the least lung friendly cigarettes on the planet. Bad Fassy! ;)

Just when I thought I couldn't possibly find another photo of Michael from Cannes, the Fassy Gods guide me in the right direction, and just in time for Friday's Photo of the Week!

I bumped up the 'Hot Guys - Michael Fassbender' thread at Gossip Rocks today. The dizzy females there are still oblivious to Fassy, and I bumped up the thread at the Empire forums too, and it come days after someone dissed Michael's performance in 'Eden Lake'. Well, the film is not everyone's cup of tea.

Don't have much to report today, just enjoy the new photo I found, and click that baby open, it's HUGE!

TGIF!

Getting ready for Toronto

What's so funny Michael? A guy named Mario took this of Michael at Cannes.
He was so close.

A still from Hunger that I haven't seen captured before. I love Michael's chest. Very faint and fine chest hair, and just perfect formation. Very nice.


It's June now and the Toronto International Film Festival Preferred ticket packages have gone on sale just a week ago to its Patrons only. Luckily for moi, I have befriended a lovely lady over at Gold Derby (well, we've been exchanging pleasantries for about three years now) who is a Patron TIFF member (a person who donates lots of money), and she said that if Fish Tank is screened at TIFF, she will hook me up with a ticket! In fact, she has already set aside a few tickets for me. Praise da Lord! I don't have to have a seizure and migraine on single ticket sales day in an effort in trying to buy a ticket to see Fish Tank, IF it is screened there in September.

I was a hot mess on single ticket day last year when I tried to buy a 'Hunger' ticket. It's always like that year after year and this year won't be any different. If anything, it'll be more difficult. Regardless if it doesn't show there or not, I'm still going as I love TIFF and want to see other films there period. But with my employment situation being hijacked very soon, the money will be tight and it's comforting to know that someone has my back regarding TIFF. Life is stressful enough as it is, and I was already anticipating wringing my hands in how to be in top financial form when the packages go on sale for the regular folk on July 6th. The full film schedule won't be available until Aug 20th so only till then will I be uncertain about Fish Tank screening at TIFF. Are you going to TIFF, or are you waiting to see if Fish Tank will be there to assist in your decision making? TIFF is wonderful with or without Michael. It's our Cannes. :)

The pressure to cut 40 minutes from Basterds

In the final days of Cannes, there was talk about a scene in the film being added before the La Louisiane sequence for more context to the Michael Fassbender/Lt. Archie Hicox, and Diane Kruger arch. I was excited about this because more screen time for Michael is an excellent thing because as I stated before, if Michael weren't in IB, I wouldn't be interested in seeing this at the theater, it would be a DVD rental like 80% of the films that come out.

However, a few days ago, I was reading at one of the awards forums about the dire financial straits of the Weinstein Co., and low and behold, it has been announced today that Harvey is pressuring Quentin Tarantino to shave 40 minutes off this movie! Forty-minutes! At Cannes, the film clocked in at 2 hours and 40 minutes and was met with grumbling that it was a tad too long. So along with talk about adding the extra Fassbender scene, there were rumors that the film would be trimmed up a bit for its August 21st release, and that's perfectly understandable. But 40 minutes? Are they crazy?

The reason behind this desperate cut is that The Weinstein Company want to have a 2-hour film so that it can play more frequently at more theaters in the US. Bottom line, it's all about money because the Weinstein Company needs it badly. The more time IB has to play at a large quantity of theaters, the more people it will be able to lure in to see it, especially on opening weekend, an extremely important opportunity to recoup costs immediately. Apparently, Americans, don't want to see a nearly 3-hour film, and on top of that, a great portion of the film is subtitled for authenticity (which I greatly respect since I enjoy many foreign language films - but I'm an anomaly for an American). This is quite troubling. My fear is that if this report is accurate, and 40 minutes of the film is cut, Inglourious Basterds will be a mess of a movie because it will appear choppy in its story plot and context, the editing will be hard to follow, there will be huge plot gaps, and character development will be screwed up. My biggest fear is that such harsh cutting will have an adverse affect on Michael Fassbender's screen time, and with such a huge ensemble team, this will be devastating.

I learned from a brief Quentin interview, which I posted here on the sidebar a couple weeks ago, that there is a pivotal scene with Michael as Lt. Archie Hicox in which he speaks for like 30 minutes all in German. If this huge chop takes place... guess which scene we probably won't see at the theater? This is what is making me nervous. The primary reason for Weinstein to cut the film is to appeal to Americans, and Americans will not want to see an abbreviated film which still has a half hour scene with an unknown (to most Americans), German-Irish rising star speaking in German, with subtitles for them to read.

Man, this is so not cool! I went into Cannes really anxious about Fish Tank and so-so about Basterds, but when the fair reviews came out from Cannes about Basterds, I started to warm up to it. But now, I think that if this film is cut down to two hours, we'll be lucky to see Michael in all but 10 minutes of the film, and it will be the Brad Pitt movie that People and US Weekly magazines so dearly want to hype this summer. Another thing to take into consideration is that with money so tight for Weinstein Co., that means marketing for this film will focus on 'you know who', and red carpet events will be scaled back due to the recession and we may have just one opportunity to see Michael with the rest of the cast promoting Basterds. Hey, he may coincidentally be tied up with starting to film Birdsong in late July to even be a part of the marketing. I just don't know, but all this is not looking good.

No matter how this turns out, it will be good if you're a huge Brad Pitt fan, but very bad if you're a huge Michael Fassbender fan. Still plan on going to see Basterds in August, but definitely buy the DVD for your Fassy Fix.

Read more about this at - http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00024873.html