Sunday, November 15, 2009

The Boondock Saints

... is pretty much the most fun action movie I've seen since John Rambo. Mindless violence, Italian and Russian gangsters, Irish vigilantes, Billy Connolly as a complete psycho and Willem Dafoe in drag.


Sunday, November 08, 2009

Weekends, The Wire and Bronson

You're sitting in a car.
Your phone starts to ring.
You look.
The call's coming from the back seat.
Do you answer or do you turn around?

A very dull and quiet weekend of hanging out and being peaceful after a particularly crazy friday.

I finished The Wire a while back. It is the best serious TV show I have ever seen. Terrific.

I'm filling you up right now mostly because I have nothing else to do. Seems like a good idea. Do you agree? I'll take your silence for consent shall I? Yes.

Thorns has to be one of the most dissonant black metal bands ever. Damn. Some days it's perfect. Tonight it's not.

So I've been seeing a whole bunch of movies lately. Mostly to make up for the giant gaping hole that the conclusion of The Wire left in me. Most have been crappy or boring. 2 exceptions though.

Bronson, directed by the guy who made the Pusher movies and starring Tom Brady as the titular Charlie Bronson is a pitch black prison comedy based on the real life Michael Peterson. A man who robbed a post office sometime in the 70s and was sentenced to 7 years in prison. As of date he's spent a total of 36 years in jail with 30 of them in solitary. The movie about this mad man is entertaining and funny and held together by an absolutely terrific turn from Tom Brady. He spends a large portion of the film talking directly to the audience and holding forth on his life through voice overs and the whole thing is interspersed with scenes of him in jail fighting with prison guards, getting his ass kicked again and again and going back for more.

The movie isn't perfect. It's not as lean as the Pusher films and has a bloated middle section that drags the movie down. Still, Brady is magnetic in his portrayal and below is a terrific little scene with him and his RocknRolla costar Matt King.



Bronson which became Michael Peterson's street name on the outside seems like a man who has no limits. He wants to be famous and with his constant violence he is soon recognized as Britains most violent man and gets press and coverage in newspapers and tabloids alike. He's happy about this and wants more. There are no apologies or even explanations. A normal childhood, loving parents and just an irrational itch to be famous any way he can.

I loved it.



I also really liked Homicide and King of New York but I'm way too lazy right now.

I think I'll go reward myself.