'Carnage' & 'Shame' out this week

Two worthy films hit screens nationally yesterday: Roman Polanski’s critically acclaimed ‘Carnage‘ premiered at Venice in September, then went on to open the New York Film Festival the following month. Based on acclaimed French playwright Yasmina Reza’s play God of Carnage, it’s a bitterly amusing story of two families who become locked in a showdown after their children are involved in a playground squabble. Shot in real time, the film shines a spotlight on the risible contradictions and grotesque prejudices of four well-heeled American parents.

Also showing is UK artist Steve McQueen’s hotly anticipated second feature ‘Shame’, following his Cannes award winning début in 2008 ‘Hunger’. ‘Shame’ tells the story of Brandon (Michael Fassbender), a New Yorker who shuns intimacy with women but feeds his desires with a compulsive addiction to sex. When his wayward younger sister (Carey Mulligan) moves into his apartment stirring memories of their shared painful past, Brandon’s insular life spirals out of control.