Snark, Critic and Pop!

Going to the midnight showing of the Dark Knight Rises tonight.  My summer long mission of not watching any of the tv spots or trailers (after allowing myself one viewing of the first full trailer) or reading anything about the films. 

As much as I dig trailers, I’ve decided that when I know I want to watch a movie, why spoil the treat?  And Christopher Nolan doing the finale to a truly epic Batman trilogy with Anne Hathaway as Catwoman & Tom Hardy as Bane?  I can’t wait!

Sorry, Harry Potter & Cowboys & Aliens. The next movie I must see, an adaptation of John le Carre’s great spy novel, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. The cast features a number of great actors, such as Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong, John Hurt, Colin Firth, Ciaran Hinds, and Toby Jones. Watch the trailer, if you will:

Tom Hardy is a favorite here at SNP – and not just because Daniel has a fondness of Christopher Nolan’s directing ability bordering on “obsessed Twilight fan” levels.  He is a great actor and a great villain.  He will be bringing both to Nolan’s new Batman film The Dark Knight Rises where he will portray Bane.  A shot of Bane has hit the web, and as you can see Hardy has bulked up Bronson style.  Calm down Daniel, it’s not out until NEXT year!

Editor’s Note: This is a re-post from out old site Film Is Pwn covering the 2009 Charlotte Film Festival, as we look forward to the 2010 CFF later this month:

Bronson is the story of a man. A man completely detached from the realities of the world and what it means to be human. He’s not nice, good or really evil in the typical sense of the word. What he does is evil but to him it appears that it’s nothing more than a game, a foray into the woods rather than being the very real actions with tangible consequences that they are.

I don’t believe I’ve enjoyed watching a movie more in a very long time. It seems clear to me that Director Nicolas Winding Refn had a clear vision when he chose to venture into this film. He was determined and he pulled together an outstanding cast and crew to see it into fruition. Tom Hardy as “England’s most violent criminal” is spot-on. His performance is dark and menacing, without remorse and completely insane. Exactly the type of man I rather imagine Bronson to be. There is no sanity to this film. No character to stabilize you. You feel constantly at odds against the main character, much, I imagine, like the prison guards must have felt these thirty years. (continue reading…)

Editor’s Note: This is a re-post from out old site Film Is Pwn covering the 2009 Charlotte Film Festival, as we look forward to the 2010 CFF later this month:
Bronson. It’s an independent movie skillfully and artfully made. Tom Hardy, looking like a true Haberdasher, plays the titular Bronson — based on the real life story of Britain’s most notorious and expensive — and is brilliant. If someone were to talk Best Actor for Mr. Hardy, I couldn’t disagree; it’s a brave, bold, menacing performance.

The director makes some stylistic choices with Bronson, in his mind, putting on a campy stage show to an enraptured audience where he gets to explain his sick, perverse outlook on life. There are other more serious moments where Bronson speaks to the camera directly as if in a confessional, where the nutjob is about as lucid about his madness as possible. I thought they worked and were interesting.

And I utterly detested the movie. I can’t fathom why a talented group of men and women would willingly conspire to write, produce, cast, direct, and perform the material. I derived no entertainment value from the experience and I would strongly encourage any caring human being to keep clear of theaters screening Bronson with a 30 mile radius, just to make sure they don’t accidentally wander into one of the showings by mistake. If there is a scientist who intends to show Bronson to criminally, clinically insane lab rats to gauge their reaction, I would gladly stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those loons from PETA to protest cruelty to animals.
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Be forewarned, very mild spoilers are included about the content and story of Inception.  I’m not going to reveal that Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker’s father, but I heartily recommend you see Inception without reading too many key details.  Trust me.  It’s better that way, and Inception is a must see film.  On with the show:

There are a lot of ways to look at Inception.  It is a Rorschach for the audience; you are able to impart your own prejudices and preferences on how you interpret it.  For example, the conclusion can be seen as a concrete happy ending or part of someone else’s illusion.  The answer is beautifully unclear, and I for one hope it’s never definitely revealed in some director’s commentary down the line (knowing Nolan, this won’t happen anyway). (continue reading…)

Starring: Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Thandie Newton, Tom Hardy

Directed By: Guy Ritchie

With SnarkCriticPop’s Daniel Roos afraid of foreign language films (in which the language is English spoken with an accent) it was up to me to review Guy Ritchie’s 2008 film “RocknRolla”.  I can’t say that I was unhappy at the prospect.  Outside of his terrible remake of Swept Away (the only film I have ever paid for and walked out of) I am a big fan, and this movie while not quite on par with Snatch is nonetheless a quite entertaining film.

As with his all of his best films it revolves around different sets of thugs, thieves, addicts, mobsters and other assorted miscreants who become involved with each other either directly or indirectly through various loosely connected schemes in which they are involved.  This type of plot works well for Ritchie as (continue reading…)