Beauty vs Beast: And Then There Was Fassbender
Monday, November 12, 2018 at 1:45PM Jason Adams from MNPP here for a new week's round of our "Beauty vs Beast" poll, wherein we ask you to choose between a "good" guy and a "bad" guy and roll and around and muck up the in between what that means. One of our modern masters in mucking up that in between has a new movie out this weekend - Steve McQueen returns with Widows, out on Friday. If you'd like my long-form thoughts on it here's my review from last week, but if you just want short-form, here: it's great! Go see it!
I will say there's one thing I was disappointed by with Widows though, and that's the absence of McQueen's lucky charm Michael Fassbender, who'd starred in every one of his movies before now. And that's where we turn for this week's contest. (I'm worried about Fassbender in general, who's all but disappeared from acting since The Snowman soiled our cinemas last year - come back, Fassy!)
PREVIOUSLY Although we should be celebrating Parker Posey every day we really celebrated the heck out of her last week for her 50th birthday - for our poll it was her incest-minded Bouvier twist who took top honors, swallowing up 64% of the vote along with all that scenery. Said James From Ames:
"Jackie O left me awestruck. It’s such a star-making role and performance that it’s almost painful to think on, given that Hollywood never capitalized on this huge talent. My cousin, 10 years younger than me, was obsessed with the real Jackie O and wore that pink suit for Halloween. She didn’t like my suggestion to add brains to the look, and I found out she had never heard of this great film!"
Reader Comments (21)
Fassbender is too damn talented not to make a comeback. He just needs a better agent.
Although, even then, if you look at his resume...all of his choices are pretty understandable given the filmmakers involved. He's simply been unlucky to work with great filmmakers on some of their worst films. Ridley Scott's Counselor, Tomas Alfredson's Snowman, etc.
I was sad McQueen didn't cast Fassy in Widows, too. His career could use the boost.
And poor Bobby Sands. I know Shame is popular, but I couldn't vote against a political prisoner who starved himself to death.
Brandon - I still think it's his best performance.
He and Alicia Vikander remind me of the line in Sex and the City about how you're always looking for a job, a boyfriend or an apartment. They got married and have a nice home somewhere in Europe, but both their careers just flunked. At least she got an Oscar.
TR - this is commonly known as Scarlett-Johansson-Syndrome...
Though she did get Jonathan Glazer and Spike Jonze on peak-form, so everybody gets lucky sometimes...
I have fond memories of that incredible run...
Eden Lake-Hunger-Fish Tank-Inglourious Basterds-Shame-Jane Eyre-Prometheus-12 Years A Slave
"Hunger" is actually a good film, so Bobby all the way.
I feel bad for choosing Brandon over Bobby (surely the "nobler" choice), but that's how I feel. Two excellent performances in movies I found hard to shake, even if the faults of Shame have become more apparent as time goes by.
What a great actor! Taking a long break was the smartest thing to do. Going back to European cinema wouldn't hurt.
I think he's absolutely brilliant in both movies. He should have three Oscars by now.
I'm voting for Bobby Sands as a sign of respect. I hope you rot in hell, Maggie.
@Kermit
i would add Frank, X-men Days of Future Past, Slow West, and Steve Jobs to that list. An incredible run that culminated with his best performance I think as Jobs.
Then it was X-men Apocalypse, the mediocre Light Between Oceans and eventually the dreadful Assassin's Creed.
@Peggy Sue
Yes! He should have been nominated/won for Shame and he definitely should have won for Steve Jobs.
I read somewhere that he has an upcoming movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger (for those questioning if his career's dead).
Both of these performances are great but his Brandon is one of the bravest male performances in recent memory, so I'll go with that.
I love both of these performances but I went with Hunger in the poll mostly because of the "foal" speech he gives which I love but Shame is a real powerhouse performance. It's a shame (heh) how people were so preoccupied with the full frontal that they don't give the performance (and the film and Mulligan) the credit it deserves.
Fassy had such an incredible run of films with the McQueen trilogy, Frank, Steve Jobs (which of the five nominated performances that year he easily was the best but Leo was cold and ate liver so whatever), the underrated Macbeth, and the underseen Slow West, and whatever you may think of the Alien films his David is one of the best movie villains I've seen in a long while, he could call it quits and still have one of the best resumes of his peers even though his last few films were absolute clunkers. Although I hope he comes back even though he's expressed that he's kind of over it all.
He's a handsome and supremely talented actor. A comeback is his if he wants it. He'll need to be selective. I'm sorry, but films based off of video games are almost never a good idea--he made some bad choices.
Ryan Gosling had several rough years after his string of noteworthy roles in 2011, and his career bounced back.
Lukas Haas got the Fassbender "role" in Widows. I can't see him in the Colin Farell part which is the other one he could've theoritically played.
@Murtada
That Haas role feels too insignificant for Fassbender. I can't see him taking it or it even being offered to him. Why can't you see him in Farrell's part?
He could've gotten the Nelson role too. No reason Viola can't be with a younger man.
Nah, I never feel bad for multi millionaires with the prestige to come back to high profile roles whenever they choose.
What films are these characters from? Or did I skim past that in the post?
Mya - now that you've said I can imagine him in Liam's part, would've been great to see him with Viola.
I'm team Bobby all the way I guess and I totally regret not nominating him for Hunger. (I only had him as a semi-finalist?) What was I thinking?
Everyone -- Lukas Haas did tell me he replaced someone who dropped out at the last minute... so maybe that actually was the Fassbender part?
He's terribly awful in "Shame" and "12 Years a Slave". Was I supposed to laugh at those performances? I'm seriously very unimpressed by the rest of his most prominent roles (Fish Tank, A Dangerous Method, the X-Men/Alien films) considering the amount of hype he gets from time to time when he's "rediscovered". Being honest, I don't think he's a good actor but he's really great in "Hunger" so there goes my vote.
I just love the fact that Nathaniel slags off Trump and then votes for an IRA terrorist. That's how damn stupid some Liberals gays can be.