Shame

After the year “Shame” star Michael Fassbender has had, the GQ Breakout Man for 2011 should be in a good mood. Still, anyone who has seen Fassbender (“X-Men: First Class,” “Jane Eyre”) in British director Steve McQueen's harrowing 2008 film “Hunger” or sees him in the excellent, intense, NC-17-rated sex addiction tale “Shame” opening Dec. 2 would be surprised, as I was, to walk into an Elysian hotel room to find Fassbender and McQueen dancing. “Let's do the interview dancing, all three of us,” Fassbender tells me,...

It's a whole different kind of shame for goalies who get penalized in hockey. Even when they commit a penalty, somebody else gets sent to the box while he stays on the ice to face a power play. To get the goalie's take on the "sin bin," RedEye caught up with the Blackhawks' Corey Crawford.   Have you ever been put in the penalty box? Corey Crawford: I started as a forward and then I was a [defenseman] before I became a goalie. So, yeah, I've been in the box. Do you feel guilty about another player serving your penalty?

**** (out of four) Obviously the sex-addiction drama “Shame” has been rated NC-17 because of its nudity (something everyone experiences every day) and sex (something many people wish they experienced every day). Much has been written about the pro-violence, anti-sex rating system's foolishness, so we'll leave that alone. What deserves more conversation is star Michael Fassbender (Rochester in "Jane Eyre," Magneto in "X-Men: First Class"), who's fantastic in everything; in the riveting "Shame," he delivers the year's best male...

SLUT. It is an ugly little word we've seen pop up with increasing viciousness in the past year. Whether it is being spat through radio airwaves at college students on birth control, tweeted at tweens' favorite cheating celebrities or sneered in high school hallways everywhere, the word is quickly becoming synonymous with a girl we don't like or a woman we don't want heard. But at 11 a.m. Saturday, Chicagoans are gathering at the Thompson Center to say "enough with the name-calling already!"

It's a whole different kind of shame for goalies who get penalized in hockey. Even when they commit a penalty, somebody else gets sent to the box while he stays on the ice to face a power play. To get the goalie's take on the "sin bin," RedEye caught up with the Blackhawks' Corey Crawford.   Have you ever been put in the penalty box? Corey Crawford: I started as a forward and then I was a [defenseman] before I became a goalie. So, yeah, I've been in the box. Do you feel guilty about another player serving your penalty?

SLUT. It is an ugly little word we've seen pop up with increasing viciousness in the past year. Whether it is being spat through radio airwaves at college students on birth control, tweeted at tweens' favorite cheating celebrities or sneered in high school hallways everywhere, the word is quickly becoming synonymous with a girl we don't like or a woman we don't want heard. But at 11 a.m. Saturday, Chicagoans are gathering at the Thompson Center to say "enough with the name-calling already!"

When you're being considered for your first major role and it's to play a sex-addicted teen, you might have to do embarrassing things while auditioning. Laura Slade Wiggins, who plays Karen Jackson on Showtime's "Shameless," learned that first hand. "I had to do two blowjob scenes and I'm Southern Baptist," Wiggins told me Nov. 9 while on the Chicago location shoot for the series, which debuted its second season Jan. 8. "Instead of like pantomiming the blowjob I just kind of put my head in my hands and was shameful.

Ryan Brankin calls himself a "lonely loner. " But on Saturday nights, surrounded by people in an old church basement, he feels completely comfortable--even though he's about to get onstage and perform a five-minute song he's just written for the piano. Every weekend, Brankin drives to the Wicker Park Art Center, 2215 W. North Avenue, from his home in Desplaines to perform in No Shame Theatre , a performance series hosted by Chicago's Agency Theater Collective. It's essentially an open mic with just a few rules: the work must be original and no longer than five minutes in...

International Space Station Commander Chris Hadfield is putting all of Chicago's skyline Instagrams to shame. The Canadian astronaut - who frequently posts his view of Earth from space via his @cmdr_hatfield Twitter handle - recently captured two high up views of the city. Hatfield is the commander of ISS Expedition 35, hovering above the earth at about 230-miles. “Chicago, a bright spot on the tip of Lake Michigan, glowing through the clouds. pic.twitter.com/ozMHff9OZb ,” he posted in a tweet Saturday, which was shared...

The setup: "Magic Mike" was released Friday, and the movie - which is about male strippers ... not that we need to remind you - is full of sexy scenes and ridiculous laughs, but it doesn't include any true frontal male nudity. It got us wondering ... is male nudity sexy or funny? SEXY Let's be clear about something: Yes, male nudity, as it is currently portrayed in mainstream film, is totally giggle-worthy. Jason Segel didn't flap his junk from side to side in"Forgetting Sarah Marshall" for the added drama - he did it for the nervous laughter.

When you're being considered for your first major role and it's to play a sex-addicted teen, you might have to do embarrassing things while auditioning. Laura Slade Wiggins, who plays Karen Jackson on Showtime's "Shameless," learned that first hand. "I had to do two blowjob scenes and I'm Southern Baptist," Wiggins told me Nov. 9 while on the Chicago location shoot for the series, which debuted its second season Jan. 8. "Instead of like pantomiming the blowjob I just kind of put my head in my hands and was shameful.

**** (out of four) Obviously the sex-addiction drama “Shame” has been rated NC-17 because of its nudity (something everyone experiences every day) and sex (something many people wish they experienced every day). Much has been written about the pro-violence, anti-sex rating system's foolishness, so we'll leave that alone. What deserves more conversation is star Michael Fassbender (Rochester in "Jane Eyre," Magneto in "X-Men: First Class"), who's fantastic in everything; in the riveting "Shame," he delivers the...

After the year “Shame” star Michael Fassbender has had, the GQ Breakout Man for 2011 should be in a good mood. Still, anyone who has seen Fassbender (“X-Men: First Class,” “Jane Eyre”) in British director Steve McQueen's harrowing 2008 film “Hunger” or sees him in the excellent, intense, NC-17-rated sex addiction tale “Shame” opening Dec. 2 would be surprised, as I was, to walk into an Elysian hotel room to find Fassbender and McQueen dancing. “Let's do the interview dancing, all three of...

Twitter is kind of like a best friend who - the first time I met him - I figured for a weird little pervert who wouldn't shut up. Following a shameless and total reversal, I now think Twitter has sliced bread dead to rights. It was like how I came to enjoy Leonardo DiCaprio movies even though when I was 14 I hated Leo because all the girls I liked in the seventh and eighth grades preferred his turn in "Titanic" to my incisive commentary about the Macarena. ("Hey, this sure makes middle school dances weird, huh?"