Netflix Suggestion of the Week: Bronson

I didn't see a SIFF movie today, because I'm stuck at work, but I decided to launch a weekly segment highlighting one of my favorite movies currently streaming on netflix.  Netflix streaming movies aren't *technically* free, but they feel free, so I think they should count.  And I'll mostly stick to indies, in keeping with the general theme of the blog.  Why not?

And yes, I work on Saturdays.  Not only do I work, but I'm the ONLY one at my office who works on Saturdays.  I get really, really bored.  So, Saturday feels like the best day to sit around thinking about movies I like.

And today, I'm thinking about Tom Hardy. 

Have you noticed that Bane is the new Daniel Plainfield?

Tom Hardy is beautiful and terrifying.  He's blutifying (word fail). If it wasn't for the movie Bronson (2008), I would think of him merely as an oily boy-hunk with the most womanly mouth of all time.  However, sometime last year, I was listening to The Film Vault (one of my favorite podcasts), and Bronson ended up on my queue. 

Bronson is the story of Michael Peterson, England's most notorious prisoner.  Being imprisoned for some fairly inocuous crimes, he becomes widely known for his bizarre and violent actions in prison.  Peterson changes his name to Charles Bronson, and basically starts shit with everyone he comes in contact with.

I watched Bronson twice in one day, because when it was over, I didn't want it to be over, so I started it at the beginning again. WHY is it so awesome?  Let's break it down:

(1) Tom Hardy is in it.  Did I mention that?
(2) You get to see Tom Hardy's penis no less than one billion times. 
(3) You get to see Tom Hardy strip himself nude, rub butter all over his body, and attack people.

Have I said enough already?

(4) This movie has a really cool circus-theater style to it that I find mesmerizing.  They intersect monologues and scenes highlighting Bronson's gradiosity with stark, realistic scenes showing Bronson's fairly sad life.  The pacing is great and the story rolls out in a really compelling way.
(5) The acting is superb.  Seriously.  Tom Hardy has what I like to call "the crazy eye."  I think there are only a few people out there who can really, sincerely make you think that they are out of their minds, while making eye contact with the camera.  And T-bags is one of them. 

That's actually what was so disappointing about his performance as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises.  His face is so interesting!  And they covered most of it up with that awful mask.  Then they made his voice hilarious.  It was kind of a waste.  Oh well.  He gets to play Mad Max in 2013.  That will make up for it. 

I highly recommend that you watch Bronson right away.  5 out of 5 stars!

Then, immediately afterwards, watch Tom Hardy in The TV Version of Wuthering Heights from the same year.  Because that shit is HILARIOUS.