Michael Shannon Talks About ‘The Iceman,’ the Oscars, and Just a Bit About General Zod

Michael Shannon stars in the upcoming gangster saga “The Iceman,” which premiered this week at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film recounts the rise and swift fall of Richard Kuklinski, a Mob enforcer who by some counts murdered more than 100 people. As the body count rises, Kuklinski manages to buy himself a piece of the American dream: a nice house in the suburbs, daughters in private school, and a collection of snazzy suits.

Anyone familiar with his work in “Take Shelter” or, more recently, “Premium Rush” knows that Shannon is intense. On the screen, there seems to be a deep, untapped reservoir of rage beneath his seemingly calm exterior. Every eye twitch and grimace hints at possible eruption. And when that fury does bubble to the screen, like during the climax of “Take Shelter,” it is positively electric.

Indie Roundup TIFF: The Wachowski’s ambitious epic ‘Cloud Atlas’ plus ‘The Iceman,’ ‘Byzantium’ and ‘Barbara’

The Toronto International Film Festival always gives me a stomachache. Though I’ve watched so many movies a day that my brain feels like it’s dribbling out my ear, it’s never enough. There are so many that I missed, like Miguel Gomes’s “Tabu,” Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Penance,” James Ponsoldt’s “Smashed,” Michael Haneke’s “Amour.” Anyway, here’s my latest, and last, dispatch from TIFF 2012: