Bronson

"You don't want to be trapped inside with me sunshine. Inside, I'm somebody nobody wants to fuck with do you understand? I am Charlie Bronson, I am Britain's most violent prisoner."

Bronson is a biopic of Charles Bronson, real name Michael Peterson, Britain’s most famous prisoner. After being sent down for seven years in 1974 for armed robbery, Bronson got a name for himself by attacking guards, prisoners and holding hostages. This film starts Tom Hardy in the title role and takes place mostly during his incarcerated life (38 years and counting) but also briefly touches on his childhood and a brief stint of freedom. The narrative uses both a traditional plot account and a sort of talking head from Bronson in which he comments on various parts of his life from the present. There are also some quite superb and eccentric scenes in which Bronson is on stage, performing to an audience.

I’d seen this film upon its release in 2008 and had bought the blu-ray in about 2010 but hadn’t watched it again until last night when we had some friends visiting. I remember being blown away by the violence and Tom Hardy’s performances back in 2008 but don’t remember laughing so much. This film is funnier than the majority of mainstream Hollywood comedies.

Drive

"... I don't sit in while you're running it down. I don't carry a gun. I drive"

A Hollywood stunt driver / part time wheelman for L.A’s criminals (Ryan Gosling) gets embroiled in a crime that puts him on a collision course with the Mob after taking a job in order to protect perhaps the only two people in the world that he has any feelings for. The cool and unflappable Driver seeks out those who have wronged him and attempts to save his own and his love interest’s lives.

This was easily one of the top 10 best films of 2011 and possibly inside my top ten of the last several years. The film and its central character are effortlessly cool and both have become both instant classics and cult favourites. Although the film’s time period is never specified it seems to have a foot both in the present and in the 1980s. The style, design and music reminded me of the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City as it has that kind of 80s Miami almost art deco style-stucco style. The colour palette is beautiful and dominated by the colour gold, perhaps in a nod to its L.A setting and also the Driver’s nostalgic view of L.A with its strong silent movie stars and dames in need of rescue. The whole film has a very Noir feel to it. The gold is most noticeable in Gosling’s wardrobe as he sports golden shoes and a fantastic gold scorpion jacket. More subtlety though the sun kissed L.A streets also glisten gold.