David Cronenberg is one of the greatest working directors, of that there is little question. But for those who’ve been following his work since the beginning, his career has taken a turn for the respectable. It’s easy to suggest that he’s holding back the weird for the sake of possible Oscar glory (which was denied him here) watching something like A Dangerous Method. But there’s enough perversity and intelligence in the film to mark it as a Cronenberg movie, even if it doesn’t go all out. Michael Fassbender stars as Carl Jung, who takes in Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley) under the suggestion of Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen). From there, things get weird. Our review of the Blu-ray of A Dangerous Method follows after the jump.

Another awards ceremony, another The Artist triumph. Michel Hazanavicius’ silent film continues its near sweep of awards season as it took home the Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor prize from the London Film Critics Circle Awards. Surprisingly, the other film to tie The Artist with three awards was the Iranian drama A Separation. The foreign film has been riding a wave of immense positive word of mouth, and the London Film Critics awarded the pic with Foreign Language Film of the Year, Best Screenwriter, and Best Actress.

Nearly shut out of the awards was Britain’s own Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. The espionage drama failed to pick up any major prizes and was sent home with a win for Best Production Design. Elsewhere, We Need to Talk About Kevin was named Best British Film, Anna Paquin shared the Best Actress prize with Meryl Streep for her work in Margaret (quickly becoming the little engine that could), and Michael Fassbender won British Actor of the Year for his stellar work in Shame and A Dangerous Method. Full list of winners after the jump, which includes the critics’ top 10 films of 2011.

Drawn from true-life events, A Dangerous Method – directed by David Cronenberg from a screenplay by Christopher Hampton – looks into the relationships between psychiatrist Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), his mentor Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), the troubled young woman who comes between them. When the unbalanced yet beautiful Sabina is sent to Burgholzli hospital, Dr. Jung tries Freud’s experimental treatment known as “the talking cure,” in order to help her hysteria. Although they enter into a sexual trust, violating the doctor/patient relationship, Sabina’s treatment is ultimately successful, and she, herself, goes on to pursue a career as a psychiatrist.

During a press conference to promote the film, actor Michael Fassbender talked about researching Dr. Carl Jung, whether he agrees with Jung’s theory that there is no real coincidence but only synchronicity, how Jung might have diagnosed and treated his sex addict character in Shame, and what it was like to work with Viggo Mortensen. He also talked about the possibility of signing on for Robocop and wearing the metal suit, and his desire to work with Brendan Gleeson for a film version of At Swim-Two Birds. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

[This is a reprint of my review from the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.  A Dangerous Method opens tomorrow in limited release.]

Psychoanalysis is a funny profession. Its doctors aren’t like cardiologists or gastroenterologists. Your heart is your heart, your intestines are your intestines, and so forth. Psychoanalysis, on the other hand, attempt to impose rationality on the irrationality of emotions. It works from a vague definition of “normal” and then tries to determine why a behavior deviates from that unspecified norm. Sigmund Freud believed it was not the place of psychoanalysts to simply point out the abnormality, while his protégé Carl Jung thought that the practice was worthless if it couldn’t be advanced to help those in need. These two figures illustrate the clash of the ego, id, and super-ego in David Cronenberg‘s A Dangerous Method, a film which brilliantly explores Freudian concepts and how we wish to indulge our base emotions but instead build a wall of reason and science to imprison our desires. However, in attempting to convey this blockade, A Dangerous Method inadvertently cuts off its emotional connection to the audience.

With A Dangerous Method hitting theaters on November 23^rd and the NC-17 rated Shame opening on December 2^nd, Michael Fassbender is busy promoting both films and his truly excellent performances in each. In A Dangerous Method, he plays Carl Jung, a doctor seduced by the challenge of an impossible case who tries the Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) method of treatment known as psychoanalysis on a patient (Keira Knightley) who has been diagnosed with hysteria. In Shame, he plays Brandon, a handsome and successful New Yorker who is consumed with his sexual obsession, on an inevitable path towards self-destruction. Although very different films, both explore themes of sex and sexuality, and what is culturally accepted behavior in the bedroom.

During our exclusive chat, Michael Fassbender talked about how lucky he feels to be working with the people he’s working with, that he spends a lot of his preparation time for a role just reading and absorbing the script over and over again, and how both Steve McQueen and David Cronenberg are great leaders that love what they do. He also talked about what he’d like to see in a possible sequel for X-Men: First Class, and then played it coy when it came to his next collaboration with McQueen – Twelve Years a Slave, co-starring Brad Pitt and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Watch the video or read the transcript after the jump:

Three new clips from David Cronenberg‘s A Dangerous Method have gone online. The movie focuses on the real-life relationship between doctors Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) and the complicated patient between them (Keira Knightley).  These clips show the growing relationships between the characters, but they also demonstrate the sterile conversations between the characters.  All emotions are house in clinical terms, which is the point, but I found it created too much distance between the audience and the characters.

Hit the jump to check out the clips.  A Dangerous Method opens in limited release on November 23rd.

Sony Pictures Classics has released 22 new images from David Cronenberg‘s A Dangerous Method.  Here’s the brief synopsis:

Seduced by the challenge of an impossible case, the driven Dr. Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) takes the unbalanced yet beautiful Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley) as his patient in A Dangerous Method. Jung’s weapon is the method of his master, the renowned Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen). Both men fall under Sabina’s spell.

I liked the film when I saw it at TIFF but found it a bit too sterile.  However, it’s Cronenberg which means it’s at least worth your time.  Hit the jump to check out the images.  A Dangerous Method also stars Vincent Cassel, and opens in limited release on November 23rd.

Psychoanalysis is a funny profession.  Its doctors aren’t like cardiologists or gastroenterologists.  Your heart is your heart, your intestines are your intestines, and so forth.  Psychoanalysis, on the other hand, attempt to impose rationality on the irrationality of emotions.  It works from a vague definition of “normal” and then tries to determine why a behavior deviates from that unspecified norm.  Sigmund Freud believed it was not the place of psychoanalysts to simply point out the abnormality, while his protégé Carl Jung thought that the practice was worthless if it couldn’t be advanced to help those in need.  These two figures illustrate the clash of the ego, id, and super-ego in David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method, a film which brilliantly explores Freudian concepts and how we wish to indulge our base emotions but instead build a wall of reason and science to imprison our desires.  However, in attempting to convey this blockade, A Dangerous Method inadvertently cuts off its emotional connection to the audience.

The prestige of the Telluride Film Festival continues to rise each year.  It’s the waypoint between the Venice Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival and it’s a great opportunity to see the hot fall films without travelling internationally.  Last year, Telluride showed off Best Picture winner The King’s Speech, Best Picture nominees Black Swan and 127 Hours, and a variety of other films that picked up Oscar nominations.  The line-up for this year’s festival has been announced and it looks like it will be equally exciting if not more so.  Movies playing at Telluride this year include Alexander Payne’s The Descendants, David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method, the critically acclaimed silent film The Artist, Steve McQueen’s Shame, Werner Herzog’s Into the Abyss, Martin Scorsese’s documentary Living in the Material World, Rodrigo Garcia’s Albert Nobbs, and Lynne Ramsay’s We Need to Talk about Kevin.  And keep in mind that these are only the films with pre-festival buzz.  No one was paying much attention to The King’s Speech until it kicked off at Telluride and landed at TIFF.  Plus there’s the TBA screenings to consider (Black Swan and 127 Hours were both TBA films).

Hit the jump for the line-up.  The 2011 Telluride Film Festival runs from September 2 – 5th.

We’ve got a few new posters to share with you today. The teaser poster for James McTeigue’s The Raven has been unveiled. The film revolves around a serial killer plotting his murders after the stories of Edgar Allen Poe. John Cusack stars as Poe himself alongside Luke Evans, Alice Eve and Brendan Gleeson, and the film hits theaters March 9, 2012. Additionally, the first poster for the Cannes favorite The Artist has been released. The black and white silent film tells the story of a silent film star coming to terms with the advent of Talkies. The early Oscar favorite flick stars Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo and John Goodman and opens November 23.

Finally, we’ve got the French poster for David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method. That film stars Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortensen and Keira Knightley and centers on the relationship between Carl Jung (Fassbender), his mentor Sigmund Freud (Mortenson), and the woman that came between them (Knightley). The flick opens November 23. Hit the jump to check out the posters.

This year’s festival season continues to take shape as the full line-up for the 2011 New York Film Festival has been revealed.  Roman Polanski’s Carnage will open the festival, Simon Curtis’ My Week with Marilyn will be the “Centerpiece Gala Section”, there will be special gala presentations of David Croneneberg’s A Dangerous Method and Pedro Almodovar’s The Skin I Live In, and Alexander Payne’s The Descendants will close out the festival.  Other noteworthy films playing are the Cannes’ sensations The Artist and Melancholia, the hit Sundance films Marcy Martha May Marlene, Martin Scorsese’s documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World, Abel Ferrara’s 4:44: Last Day on Earth, and Wim Wenders’ 3D film Pina.

Hit the jump for the full line up.  The New York Film Festival runs from September 30 – October 16th.

We’ve got a couple of release dates for you this evening, per Box Office Mojo. First up, two hotly anticipated films now have prime awards season release dates. David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method will open in limited release on November 23^rd, opposite two other Oscar bait limited release films: The Descendants and The Artist. The film stars Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortensen and Keira Knightley and centers on the relationship between Carl Jung (Fassbender), his mentor Sigmund Freud (Mortenson), and the woman that came between them (Knightley).

Additionally, Roman Polanski’s character drama Carnage has been slated for limited release on December 16^th, going up against the Meryl Streep-starred Margaret Thatcher drama The Iron Lady, also opening in limited release. The stellar Carnage cast includes Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly and centers on two couples who come together to settle a schoolyard fight between their kids. Finally, Paramount has moved My Mother’s Curse from March to November 2^nd, 2012. Starring Seth Rogen and Barbara Streisand, the film centers on an inventor who invites his mother along for a cross-country trip while he attempts to sell his new product and connect with a long lost love.

With the announcement of films playing at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, plenty of new images have been release.  After the jump you’ll find new images from 50/50 (starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen), A Dangerous Method (starring Michael Fassbender and Viggo Mortensen), Anonymous (starring Rhys Ifans and Vangessa Redgrave), The Ides of March (starring Ryan Gosling), and Rampart (starring Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster).  All of the films will be playing at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival and we’re going to have plenty of new images to show you throughout the morning.

Hit the jump to check out the images.  We’ve also provided the synopses.  The 2011 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 8th – 18th.  Expect coverage everyday from the Festival.  50/50 opens September 30th, Anonymous opens October 28th, The Ides of March opens October 7th.  A Dangerous Method and Rampart currently do not have US release dates.

In my article yesterday about the Venice Film Festival, I made some predictions on which films would make their world premiere at this year’s Toronto Film Festival and not Venice.  It turns out a few of my guesses were only the tip of the iceberg.  Moneyball, 50/50, and The Descendants are all going to premiere at TIFF.  But my lord, does Toronto have an incredible line-up this year.  I’m praying my application gets approved because when you hit the jump and check out this line-up, you’ll understand my agony if I’m stuck in Atlanta while these films are premiering.

Hit the jump for the line-up of Galas and Premieres for this year’s festival.  The 2011 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 8th – 18th.

At this point in my life, the possibility I could go to the Venice Film Festival is about the same as me going to Mars.  However, this fall I would much prefer to go to Venice because Mars doesn’t have an amazing selection of films lined up for their film festival (at least not that I know of).  We already knew that George Clooney’s The Ides of March would be opening the festival but Variety has now confirmed some must-see films will be premiering in Venice as well.  Among the high-profile movies playing in competition are Roman Polanski’s Carnage, Tomas Alfredson’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion, and David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method.

Hit the jump for the complete list of movies announced thus far for Venice and my speculation on what will be left to debut at Toronto.  The 2011 Venice Film Festival runs from August 31st through September 10th.