
Acclaimed visual artist (and tough guy namesake) Steve McQueen made an astonishing feature film debut with 2008′s
uncompromising prison piece “Hunger” a movie that also drew attention to a daring performance from its emerging star, Michael Fassbender. The pair reunite for their second collaboration, “Shame” in which Fassbender plays
Brandon Sullivan, a New York yuppie trapped in an emotionally crippling labyrinth of sex addiction. The movie, which co-stars Carey Mulligan as Brandon’s wayward sister Sissy, finds McQueen trading one form of incarceration for another. Carey Mulligan drew an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress and many critics feel Michael Fassbender should have received one for Best Actor. trailer

Made as a 1920s-style silent movie, this hugely enjoyable film is already a classic. And while it’s far from mainstream, it’s also packed with more wit, passion and invention than all of the films in any given multiplex combined.
In 1927, George is Hollywood’s top star, swashbuckling through adventure blockbusters with his faithful sidekick dog Uggy. At one of his premieres he meets Peppy, a mystery girl who gets her own shot at stardom as a dancing extra in one of George’s films. His grumpy wife isn’t happy about this. And there’s more trouble when the studio boss decides to switch to talkies. So George walks out to make his own silent film, while Peppy becomes a sound-movie star. But she doesn’t forget that he gave her a break.
Filmmaker Hazanavicius tells the story in pristine black and white with an expressive musical score and title cards to convey the dialog. trailer
Opens Friday, January 6
Based on John Le Carre’s classic novel of the same name, the international thriller is set at the height of the Cold War years of the mid-20th Century. George Smiley (Gary Oldman), a disgraced British spy, is rehired in secret by his government – which fears that the British Secret Intelligence Service, a.k.a. MI-6, has been compromised by a double agent working for the Soviets. “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” is a dense puzzle of anxiety, paranoia, and espionage that director Tomas Alfredson pieces together with utmost skill. The top notch cast also includes Colin Firth, John Hurt and Tom Hardy. trailer