Keeley Hawes: There is life in TV for mature women

THE TELEGRAPH
By Patrick Sawer and Hannah Furness
8:00AM GMT 25 Jan 2015



Keeley Hawes is a woman whose time has come. Or to put it less dramatically, the actress who starred in Ashes to Ashes, Line of Duty and Upstairs Downstairs has come of age.

This might seem a strange thing to say, given that she has been on our screens since her mid-teens, when she appeared in the likes of Dennis Potter’s Karaoke. But as Hawes herself points out, there has never been a better time to be an actress of certain years.

Hawes, who turns 39 next month, said: “I think that you only have to look at our TV screens at the moment to see maybe there is a change happening, with Olivia Colman in Broadchurch, Maggie Gyllenhaal in The Honourable Woman and Gillian Anderson in The Fall. These aren’t 20-year-olds. These are women with a bit of life experience.”

Her success in roles more suited to mature women than flighty teenagers or sultry twentysomethings – such as the hard-bitten and explosively violent policewoman Detective Inspector Lindsay Denton in BBC2’s Line of Duty – means she is less minded to complain about the parts offered to older actresses.

In an interview in next week’s Stella magazine, she says: “It would be an odd thing for me to bitch about, to be honest. And if that makes me not very feminist…”

But, she adds quickly: “I am a feminist, but I can’t bitch about something that I haven’t directly experienced. Of course, there are a lot of window-dressing roles and you make the best of what you can out of that. You are not going to turn work down when you have a family, when you have bills to pay, and you have to work. It would be all well and good to say, 'I’m not going to work unless it’s some big meaty part,’ but you would sit there for ever. You would be down the dole office.”

Her ability to accept “window-dressing roles” with grace, while excelling in more demanding parts, has made her one of the industry’s most appreciated figures, with fellow actors, directors and producers describing her as friendly, professional and modest.

It also means Hawes has been happy to play parts that do not call for a waif-like physique yet require some dressing down on the part of a naturally striking woman, such as the frumpy DI Denton.

“I’m not a size eight. I never have been,” she says. “In my youth I was somebody who didn’t leave home without a bit of mascara. That’s all out the window now; I am not that person. I’ve got three children and I really don’t care.”

Her ability to immerse herself in the decidedly unglamorous aspect of her roles can take those behind the camera by surprise.

She said: “I was asked to do a role once where I would have had to have worn really bad false teeth. The director literally couldn’t believe that I wouldn’t get there on the day and say, 'No, actually, forget it.’ But I couldn’t wait to not have any make-up. My vanity left me a long time ago.”


READ MORE HERE: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11367885/Keeley-Hawes-There-is-life-in-TV-for-mature-women.html

Nominations Announced for the Moët British Independent Film Awards

INDIEWIRE
By Sydney Levine | Sydneys Buzz
November 10, 2014 at 4:04PM



The nominations for the 17th annual Moët British Independent Film Awards were announced recently, at St Martins Lane, London by actor Jared Harris .

Joint Directors, The Moët British Independent Film Awards’ Johanna von Fischer & Tessa Collinson said: "This has been a record year for MBIFA with over 250 films submitted giving our dedicated members their toughest challenge to date. Hugely impressed by the quality of films and performances across all categories the shortlist demonstrates how the standard of creativity in British independent filmmaking continues to flourish year on year. The decision of who will walk away with one of the iconic MBIFA trophies* is now in the hands of our distinguished independent jury announced today. We are looking forward to seeing as many of the nominees as possible at the Awards on 7th December, to celebrate their incredible achievements. It will be a very personal celebration for us also, as the last in a wonderful 9 Award Ceremonies as Joint Directors of BIFA.”

The highest number of nominations this year goes to "‘71" with nine nominations including Best British Independent Film; Best Director and Debut Director for Yann Demange; Best Screenplay for Gregory Burke; Best Actor for Jack O’Connell and Best Supporting Actor for Sean Harris. "Pride" picked up seven nominations and "Catch me Daddy,""Frank," and "Mr Turner" picked up five nominations each.

Nominations for Best Actress go to Alicia Vikander for "Testament of Youth;" Cheng Pei Pei for "Lilting;" Gugu Mbatha-Raw for "Belle;" Keira Knightley for "The Imitation Game" and Sameena Jabeen Ahmed for "Catch Me Daddy." Leading men hoping to take home the Best Actor award include Asa Butterfield for"X+Y;" Benedict Cumberbatch for "The Imitation Game"; Brendan Gleeson for "Calvary"; Jack O’Connell for "’71" and Timothy Spall for "Mr Turner."

Best Supporting Actor nominations go to Andrew Scott and Ben Schnetzer, both for "Pride;" Michael Fassbender for "Frank;" Rafe Spall for "X+Y" and Sean Harris for"’71."

Dorothy Atkinson for "Mr Turner;" Imelda Staunton for "Pride;" Maggie Gyllenhaal for "Frank;" Sally Hawkins for "X+Y"and Sienna Guillory for "The Goob" are all nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Award.

READ MORE HERE: http://blogs.indiewire.com/sydneylevine/nominations-announced-for-the-moet-british-independent-film-awards-20141110

Michael Fassbender: Frank Exposes the Gulf Between the Brilliant and the Rest of Us (movie review)

MIAMI NEW TIMES
By Amy Nicholson Thursday, Aug 28 2014



Frank never takes off the head. But how does he eat, brush his teeth, or shave, Jon asks? Replies Soronprfbs' manager (Scoot McNairy): "You're just going to have to go with this." So we do. Director Lenny Abrahamson frames the film as a millennial myth, sealing the band away in a remote cabin in Ireland to record its first album, which sounds like whale noises, acid freak-outs, and the B-52s. (Composer Stephen Rennicks may be a genius himself.) Isolated among the trees, Frank walks tall — all Fassbender has to act with is his spine — and unnerves Jon with his ability to compose a song as easily as breathing. An off-the-cuff ode to a strand of fabric becomes a ditty worthy of prime Paul McCartney. He's no gimmick — he just looks like one — and like Jon, we're torn between wanting to share his gifts with the world and the looming fear that the world has become so cynical that it will write him off as a joke.

Wrested from the forest and steered at Jon's request to the streets of Austin's South by Southwest festival, Frank looks smaller and stupider — no better than the twee ­ukulele starlets and a whole lot less accessible. The real-world detour is grating, as are Jon's frequent tweets about the band, but that they cheapen the alienness of the film's first half is kind of the point. As much as we might wish they weren't, our brains are aligned with the small-minded and corruptible Jon: Our culture has so merged music and commerce that we can't be in the thrall of splendor without wondering how to market it. Even Frank himself falls sway to fame, muttering about YouTube, which he calls "secret camera," as if it's a mystifying cargo cult. Only Gyllenhaal's angry art-rock girl is aware of the fragility of his mental health: Frank doesn't wear the head because he can; he wears the head because he must.

Look closely at Frank's mask and you'll spot two plaster bandages by his nose, a hint of a life that's taken some lumps. Study Fassbender's limbs and see one of the best physical performances of the decade. His face never changes, but he has visible soul. In small movements — the twitch of a hand, a wobble under a door frame, a beer, and straw held uselessly by his painted mouth — Fassbender gives us glimpses of what Frank's isolating genius has cost him. Would we, too, sacrifice normal pleasures for a chance at eternal greatness? Or would we rather suffer alongside Jon, cursed with the heart-melting torture of knowing that the gods of music will never love us in return?


READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE: http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2014-08-28/film/frank-movie-review/

Michael Fassbender's big head in 'Frank,' a counterpoint in TMZ era

LA TIMES
By STEVEN ZEITCHIK
August 21, 2014


(not from the movie)
http://rebloggy.com/post/shame-michael-fassbender-prometheus-frank-fassy-300-jane-eyre-a-dangerous-method/84566994075

Modern movie stardom is dependent on many things, but perhaps none more so than well-known, good-looking faces appearing in new films.

So what would make a high-profile actor decide to spend most of a movie wearing a cartoon face that renders him unrecognizable? And apart from a sense of masochistic mischief, what would prompt someone to make a movie with just that
conceit?

(nope, this isn't from the movie either)

It's a question that will be running through your head with Magnolia Films' release Friday of a new indie dramedy "Frank," directed by the Irish filmmaker Lenny Abrahamson and starring Michael Fassbender.

"Head" is a key word, since Fassbender — of course famous as Magneto in the "X-Men" series and in rigorous dramas such as "12 Years a Slave" — spends most of the film in a giant one, a fully concealing apparatus that looks like a cross between a Lego mini figure and one of those inflatable replicas of Edvard Munch's "The Scream."

(ok, now I'm just being silly)

If you see the movie, you may find yourself furtively checking your phone halfway through wondering if you misread Fassbender's billing — or, perhaps, calming a zealous spouse who wants to rush back to the ticket window asking for a refund. But it's indeed Fassbender under there, speaking in an American accent, as a character inspired by Frank Sidebottom, a real-life musician who, in the tradition of the Residents and Daft Punk, was almost never seen performing without the disguise.

"Frank" actually takes this character one step further, since the Daft Punk duo presumably takes its masks off in private. Fassbender's Frank keeps it on all the time--even, as another of his bandmates matter of factly notes, when showering and brushing his teeth.



Oh, and technically he's not Frank Sidebottom but a character named Frank who's inspired by him. In fact, Frank Sidebottom wasn't even Frank Sidebottom — he was a character played on-stage by the musician Chris Sievey in late-1980s England.(Sievey died in 2010.) The journalist Jon Ronson, at the time an aspiring rock keyboardist, was recruited rather spontaneously into Sievey's band, and he co-wrote this script in part based on that experience.

There are, then, layers of irony. Figuratively. But also literally.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-backstage-michael-fassbender-frank-20140821-story.html

Michael Fassbender ‘Frank’ Interview: ‘X-men’ Star Shares Discomfort While Inside The Mascot Head ; Indie Movie Set For August 15 Release

K POPSTARS
By Staff Writer | August 15, 2014 11:32 PM EDT

Michael Fassbender 'Frank' interview: The "X-men" star reveals in an interview on MTV that he has trouble seeing clearly while wearing the head mascot for the indie movie "Frank" set to be released on August 15.  Fans will miss Fassbender's emotive eyes that won him awards for "12 Years A Slave" and "Prometheus" as he is said to wear this big head in the entire movie runtime.

"Definitely can't see not that much at all, very peripheral vision. I can see nothing in front," he said. "For me, the hardest part with the head is singing inside the head and working on an accent and putting the head on. It's like speaking in a box because that's essentially what it is. The reverb inside there took a bit of getting used to."

"Frank" is a low-key, dark comedy film directed by Lenny Abrahamson and is about the life and career of Chris Sievey, widely known as Frank Sidebottom, who has his heyday in the 1990s. The fake head hides Sidebottom's face while he is said to tour film writer, John Burrough (Domhnall Gleeson), a musician wannabe, whom he hired as a keyboard player. However, Burrough'S role actually is not just focused on making song arrangements but also in embellishing and editing them.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/104207/20140815/mchael-frassbender-frank-interview.htm

SXSW Review: 'Frank,' Starring Michael Fassbender Wearing a Giant Fake Head, Totally Rocks

TOH
BY BETH HANNA
MARCH 11, 2014 12:53 PM

Michael Fassbender and Domhnall Gleeson in 'Frank'

In Lenny Abrahamson’s lovely film ‘Frank,’ Jon (Domhnall Gleeson) is a would-be musician who works an office job by day. It’s possible he doesn’t have a lot of talent.

He struggles with trite lyrics in his head and with equally trite tunes on his keyboard. One day he happens to be on the beach at the right moment (“right” being relative, mind you) when the keyboardist for an eccentric pop band is attempting to drown himself. Thus Jon is invited to become the new keyboardist. He heads up to a bucolic Irish cottage to help record a new album with the band, which includes Don (Scoot McNairy), Clara (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and the mysterious if affable Frank (Michael Fassbender), who wears a gigantic, smiley helmet-mask over his face and apparently never takes it off.

What seems like the opportunity of a lifetime turns out to be much different than that, as Jon discovers that one or more members in the band may have legitimate problems. This is where Abrahamson’s film pushes beyond the typical band-movie tropes and becomes a moving portrait of artistic passion on the verge of madness and complete dysfunctionality. It’s also very funny, sometimes in a light-hearted way, and often in a darker way.

As Jon slowly realizes his bandmates are bonkers, he’s also busily at work attempting to transition them from obscurity to internet fame. He tweets about their progress on the album (his Twitter followers slowing going up), he posts videos on YouTube, and eventually nabs an invite for them to play at -- dun da DUN -- the South by Southwest Festival.

What I found fascinating is the connection Abrahamson draws between our internet age of audience engagement and the means by which bands, films, whatever attempt to draw attention and a fanbase. We live in a highly distracted culture that often necessitates gimmicks and stunts to attract followers, page hits, video views, what have you. Frank’s gigantic helmet would indeed seem like a stunt, as do a number of other things that play out in the film. But is it? Or is it the elephant in the room suggesting something much more concerning going on?


READ MORE HERE: http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/frank-review-sxsw-michael-fassbender-lenny-abrahamson

Sundance Review: ‘Frank’ Starring Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson & Maggie Gyllenhaal

INDIEWIRE
BY RODRIGO PEREZ
JANUARY 18, 2014 11:06 AM



Are some diamonds in the rough so special they can only exist on the fringes? When a rare species enters the ecosystem of the mainstream, do its fragile, sensitive needs break down amongst the polluted elements around it? These are some of the ideas expressed in “Frank,” an off-the-wall and terrific paean to the misfits and freaks of the world, their dreams, visions and togetherness.

In a small, quaint English town, the naïve, ginger-haired dreamer Jon (Domhnall Gleeson) lives a placid, but utterly charmless life. A cubicle drone, he tweets out utterly banal thoughts (“Panini with cheese and ham #livingthedream”), but Jon’s waking life is but waiting moments in between the songs he’s constantly composing in his head. A wannabe musician, Jon has zero outlet for his little songs and quietly yearns for something more. Right on cue, as if the antenna of the world is finally listening, Jon’s universe is transformed when he accidentally meets a strange, dysfunctional psych-rock outsider band (think a Shaggs-y version of the Velvet Underground meets Captain Beefheart and Daniel Johnston), the unpronounceable and cult-like Soronprfbs, who have lost their keyboardist to madness (trying to drown himself on a frigid English beachfront no less). With the band in town for a gig, Jon offhandedly offers his keyboard skills (he can play F, C & A), and much to his surprise, the band’s unhinged and loony manager Doug (Scoot McNairy), gives the young lad an impromptu chance to fill in for the evening. It’s a bit of a disaster, but Jon is invited to join the band anyhow. And when the malfunctioning, ramshackle group retreats to a cabin in the woods in Ireland to record a new album, their adventure begins. Guileless and way out of his depth, the experience is initially transformative to Jon, but eventually begins to take on a much darker edge.

Always jamming with wild, feral abandon, Soronprfbs consists of: Frank (Michael Fassbender), the damaged, Syd Barrett-like musical genius of the group who suffers from an “above board” medical condition that maintains he must wear a papier-mâché visage over his head at all times; Clara (a scene-stealing Maggie Gyllenhaal), the belligerent and humorless synth/theremin/noisemaker; Baraque (Francoise Civil), the French-only speaking bassist/guitarist; and the aloof Nana (multi-instrumentalist Carla Azar of Autolux, collaborator with PJ Harvey, Jack White), the Moe Tucker-like thumping drummer.

while some will focus on the conceit of Michael Fassbender wearing a papier-mâché head for much of the film, and some of the odder elements of the movie, you'll likely be too caught up in the deeply inventive, playful and idiosyncratic film to give it much thought. And though some pundits may claim that “Frank” may just be too strange for the average moviegoer, those with at least a working sense of modern day music and the struggles of artists should easily relate and empathize. The bizarrely brilliant “Frank” demonstrates that quirkiness need not be a four-letter word in the language of movies. It certainly won’t be for everyone, but this terrific and sublime experience, and strikingly original film, is mandatory watching for the adventurous viewer.  [A]


READ MORE HERE: http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/sundance-review-frank-starring-michael-fassbender-domhnall-gleeson-maggie-gyllenhaal-20140118

Michael Fassbender’s a spectacular creature - set to star in “Twelve Years a Slave” with Brad Pitt Fassbender to work with A-Lister Brad Pitt on new project By Irish Voice Reporter,

One of the big end of 2013 film releases, Twelve Years a Slave, stars  Brad Pitt and Irish/German actor Michael Fassbender, who supposedly  speaks in a pretty cool U.S. Southern accent for the part. 

Fassbender, who recently finished shooting the indie flick Frank with Maggie Gyllenhaal in Ireland, received rave reviews from his other Slave co-star Sarah Paulson last week.  She told Vanity Fair magazine that the Co. Kerry-raised actor, who just turned 36, is a “spectacular creature,” something his many female fans have known since seeing him disrobe in Shame a couple of years ago! 

“I play Michael Fassbender’s wife in the movie,” she said.  “He’s really the most spectacular creature. That was a pretty amazing job. 

READ MORE OF THIS ARTICLE:http://www.irishcentral.com/ent/Michael-Fassbenders-a-spectacular-creature---set-to-star-in-Twelve-Years-a-Slave-with-Brad-Pitt-204502861.html

FILM HUNK MICHAEL FASSBENDER HEADS UP THE CAST (DAILY STAR)

13th January 2013 By Daily Star reporter

MOVIE hunk Michael Fassbender’s face will be hidden under a giant fibreglass head for every scene of his next film.

The Prometheus star, 35, will wear the disguise in Frank, inspired by the life of Frank Sidebottom – the alter-ego of Cheshire performer Chris Sievey who died from cancer in June 2010, aged 54.

Fassbender won an army of female fans with his naked scenes in sex addict flick Shame.

READ MORE: http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/292662/Film-hunk-Michael-Fassbender-heads-up-the-cast/

First Pic of Michael Fassbender as Frank Sidebottom Prometheus star dons a giant head to play cult TV character. by Chris Tilly JANUARY 10, 2013 (IGN)

Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Fassbender and Domhnall Gleeson in Frank.

The film – entitled Frank – commenced principal photography in New Mexico this week, with Lenny Abrahamson directing from a script by Jon Ronson (The Men Who Stare at Goats) and Peter Straughan (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy).

According to Film4, the plot – which is a fictional story loosely inspired by comedy character Frank Sidebottom – is as follows...

A young wannabe musician Jon discovers he’s bitten off more than he can chew when he joins a band of eccentric pop musicians led by the mysterious and enigmatic Frank and his terrifying sidekick Clara.


READ MORE: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/01/10/first-pic-of-michael-fassbender-as-frank-sidebottom

Maggie Gyllenhaal Joins Michael Fassbender In Music Comedy Frank published: 2012-12-30 19:19:47 Author: Sean O'Connell (CINEMA BLEND)

Neither Maggie Gyllenhaal nor Michael Fassbender are names that come to mind when casting for a comedy. So we’re already curious about the smaller-budgeted Frank before a sing;e frame of footage is shot.

The Film Stage posts the news – confirmed by the Albuquerque Business Journal – that Gyllenhaal has joined the still-developing ensemble for the musical comedy, which also stars Domhnall Gleeson (currently burning up the screen in Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina) and Scoot McNairy (currently burning up the screen in both Ben Affleck’s Argo and Andrew Dominik’s Killing Them Softly).

READ MORE: http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Maggie-Gyllenhaal-Joins-Michael-Fassbender-Music-Comedy-Frank-34836.html

Warner Bros. will be bringing The Dark Knight Rises to CinemaCon next month. (BATMAN NEWS)

CinemaCon (formerly ShowWest) is movie industry trade show that Warner Bros. has been a part of in the past. Back in 2008, Christopher Nolan, Christian Bale, and Maggie Gyllenhaal showed footage from The Dark Knight, including the prologue. This year the show runs from April 23rd – 26th, and Warner Bros. will be promoting their big summer blockbusters on April 24th.

READ MORE:  http://batman-news.com/2012/03/27/warner-bros-is-bringing-the-dark-knight-rises-to-cinemacon-on-april-24th/

Best of British cinema - The New British Film Festival showcases the latest quirky offerings from the U.K.’s film industry

By Yekaterina Kravtsova

The St. Petersburg Times

Published: November 23, 2011 (Issue # 1684)

FOR SPT Tanya Wexler’s ‘Hysteria,’ set in the Victorian era, tells the story of the invention of the vibrator.

British cinema has always stood out in world cinematography for its way of depicting the problems of an entire generation — and sometimes of all of mankind — through an individual story.

This is probably the main common characteristic of the films chosen for screening at the New British Film Festival that kicks off in the city Wednesday, as the majority of the stories to be screened go deep into history to show the reality of modern society.

The festival aims to show the latest achievements of British cinema in all its facets. Despite the fact that the festival program in St. Petersburg is a shortened version of that shown earlier this month in Moscow, the diversity of the themes touched by British directors has not suffered.

Opening with the drama “Perfect Sense” starring Ewan McGregor and Eva Green, the festival continues with the family drama “Archipelago,” the teenage drama “Neds,” the nonfiction film “The Bengali Detective,” and comedy drama based on real events “Made in Dagenham,” before winding up with the comedy “Hysteria” about the Victorian origins of the vibrator.

“The festival is basically a showcase of contemporary British cinema, and this concept requires us to show various genres,” said Alexei Laifurov, a representative of CoolConnections, one of the festival’s organizers.

FOR SPT A still from ‘Made in Dagenham,’ based on the true story of female plant workers’ struggle for equal rights.

The festival’s opening movie “Perfect Sense” is the latest offering from the critically acclaimed director David Mackenzie, who has previously been awarded several prizes by the British Film and Television Academy and Berlin Film Festival. “Perfect Sense” also won an award at the Edinburg International Film Festival. The film tells the love story of two very different people at a time when love threatens to disappear completely across the world due to an unknown virus. While Mackenzie has chosen a severe metaphor for the derogatory attitude of people to their feelings — an attitude that in the film leads to a worst-case scenario outcome — the director leaves a flash of hope that a magic solution can be found to preserve the feeling of love in people.

“Neds,” showing later in the week, is a film about a talented and intelligent teenager named John in 1970s Glasgow. John fails to realize his potential due to the circumstances of time and place and life itself. The film shows just how easily a spark of talent can be extinguished, and raises the problem of violence and unjustified aggression among young people — a problem that remains painfully relevant in both the U.K. and Russia — but stylistically, the film represents complete immersion into the unstable atmosphere of the 1970s.

Another film that takes the audience back in time is both amusing and yet a truthful, sombering story of women’s struggle for equal rights. The story takes place in 1968, less than half a century ago, when the idea of equal pay for women was not taken seriously, either by the government or by heads of enterprises, who were invariably men. But the female employees of the Ford factory in Dagenham thought differently, and decided to change history.

In some sense, a history-changing moment also forms the basis of another film represented at the festival, “Hysteria,” starring Hugh Dancy, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jonathan Pryce. Tanya Wexler, director of the film — which has caused a stir around the world — tells the story of the vibrator as a Victorian invention designed to cure female hysteria. While the intimate subject matter of the film has left a lot of people shocked, Wexler herself once said that she had to make this film, even if it was to be her last film ever.

The New British Film Festival runs from Nov. 23 to 27 at the Formula movie theater in Galeria shopping mall, 30A Ligovsky Prospekt. For a full schedule, visit www.ukfilms.ru.

St. Petersburg Times