BRONSON (named for the main character) is a fascinating study of a man's descent into madness. Tom Hardy, who plays Michael Peterson aka Charley Bronson, does an absolutely amazing job of acting as this brutal, masochistic lunatic who spent 34 years in the British prison system, 30 of them in solitary confinement. Whenever his life starts to move even a little bit toward normalcy within prison, Charley Bronson reacts almost involuntarily by exploding into bloody ultra-violence. The more guards they send to subdue him the better he likes it! Reminiscent of Fight Club and A Clockwork Orange, you'll enjoy this character study as long as you're not bothered by the violence.
Reviews
3 Reviews
The Ape
(1940)
Karloff makes this B-movie fun to watch!
31 July 2006
Watched this 1940 movie last night and had fun watching Karloff. His scenes as the caring Doctor trying to find a cure for the paralyzed girl (played by Maris Wrixon) were touching and well done. His mad obsession to cure her seemed very believable to me. Though it looks like Wrixon played mostly bit parts during her career, she did a good job in this larger role and she is beautiful. Gene O'Donnell as her protective and jealous boyfriend seemed unrealistic as he took an immediate and illogical dislike to Karloff, the man trying to help his girlfriend walk again. Maybe he thought he resembled some kind of mad scientist, remembering Dr.Janos Rukh in 'The Invisible Ray' or Dr.Ernest Sovac in 'Black Friday.' Of course, this Monogram film is lacking in production values and the supporting cast is for the most part forgettable. And, Karloff has certainly been more fun to watch in some of his other films. The killer ape was a little goofy, as were the never-ending posses hunting him. However, with all that being said, it was still fun to see an old Karloff film, if only for old time's sake.
Desperate Hours
(1990)
Mickey Rourke and Anthony Hopkins - winning combination!
30 July 2006
I am a big Mickey Rourke fan from his string of hits in the 80's. I kind of fell off the bandwagon during the 90's, finding his choice of films to be somewhat uninspiring. Still a great actor, just seemed to be having some trouble picking quality projects. Seeing 'Sin City' brought me back (great role, great acting, great film!), so I picked up 'Desperate Hours' and watched it last night. While the supporting characters could have been better written (Kelly Lynch & Mimi Rogers' characters fell flat), the scenes between Rourke & Anthony Hopkins were wonderful! Elias Koteas as Rourke's brother was forgettable, but David Morse's character of Albert was very interesting. Somewhat like a big dumb 'Lenny' to Rourke's 'George'. Like another reviewer I was reminded of Humphrey Bogart's 'Duke Mantee' in the 1936 film 'Petrified Forest', but Rourke's 'Michael Bosworth' was a little more homicidal and more of a loose cannon. If you like Rourke & Hopkins, you will enjoy watching 'Desperate Hours.'
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