My 5 Favourite Tom Hardy Roles

I love making lists so much that I have a list of lists in my blogging notebook! Sadly I haven’t got around to actually turning any into posts for a while, so I started a to-do list, and the top item was ‘make a list’. Heard the word list enough yet? 

In honour of Tom Hardy’s birthday today, I thought I’d share with you a list of my 5 favourite performances of his. I’d love to make it a Top 10, but my Letterboxd is telling me that I’ve embarrassingly only seen 9 movies that he’s been in. Yikes! He’s an outstanding actor, so I need to raise that number as soon as possible. Can anyone recommend somewhere for me to start? 

Before I start I want to throw in an honourable mention for his character Tuck in This Means War (2012), because that movie is such a guilty pleasure of mine, no matter how absurd it is. Petition for another rom com starring Mr Hardy?

#5 John Fitzgerald, The Revenant (2015)

The Revenant is a movie that I never want to see every again, and I honestly mean that in the best way possible. It was brutal from start to finish, and as much as Leo was great and deserved his Oscar, there wasn’t nearly enough love for Tom Hardy.

#4 Max, Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Mel Gibson himself gave Tom Hardy his blessing to play Max, and if that isn’t enough of a reason for being in my list, I don’t know what is. I think I could have counted the number of lines Max spoke during the entire movie on my fingers, but of course that’s all part of the persona.

#3 Stuart Shorter, Stuart: A Life Backwards (2007)

This might be one of Tom Hardy’s lesser known roles, but Stuart: A Life Backwards is a fascinating little made-for-TV movie. Hardy plays Stuart, a homeless alcoholic with some terrible issues. It’s certainly not a light hearted movie, but it’s certainly worth a watch!

#2 Ivan Locke, Locke (2013)

I swear, I’ll still be talking about Locke when I’m on my death bed. It’s such an underrated movie. It’s essentially a 90 minute movie in which Ivan Locke drives home from his workplace in Birmingham, having several conversations through his hands-free kit in his phone. That’s literally the entire movie, but it’s gripping.

#1 Reggie & Ron Kray, Legend (2015)

Boy, 2015 was Tom Hardy’s year for sure! It feels odd putting Legend at the top spot, because I didn’t really love the movie. That said, I’m ranking Tom Hardy’s roles rather than the movies themselves, and really, there wasn’t anything else that could take this spot. Hardy manages to play a set of twins with very different personalities and mannerisms, and he does it so well that it’s easy to forget that these twins are in fact the same person. Legend is worth the watch for those performances alone!

So please, let me know what other movies I need to see. Are there any I’ve missed that you would have put in your own Top 5?

Review: The Revenant (2016)

Managed to get an advanced screening for this so I was dead excited thinking I was going to see a big Oscar movie way before everyone else, until I realised my big preview was the day before the general release date.  I gained a whole day.....

Whereas I convinced myself that an Odeon Secret Screening was something else, and missed a chance to see it 2 whole weeks before release date! Doh!

The Revenant is based on the true events of Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) who, while out with a group of hunters, is mauled by a bear and left for dead by his own team.  Amazingly, Glass manages to fight for survival to find the men who deserted him and take is revenge.

I have no idea how to explain my thoughts on this film, I really did enjoy it and the first 40 minutes I was so engrossed I let my ice cream melt while sat with my jaw dropped.  It was all pretty graphic and there were a few moments where I actually covered my eyes to avoid my ice cream going in reverse.  Before I even saw the film I was willing for DiCaprio to get his Oscar because I felt like he deserved it for all his amazing roles but no I've seen this he needs to win in solely for this movie.  He barely says a word in the whole movie but he completely owns it.

Seeing this at the cinema reminded me just how much fun the cinema experience is. During the opening scene when the main group is attacked by the natives, there were gasps and cries left right and centre as the slaughter happened on screen. I heard one woman utter a pained 'I felt that one' and even grown men cringe! The bear attack got an even bigger reaction. That was a really tough scene to watch, actually, and major kudos to the technical teams for all their work on that.

Tom Hardy is at his best as Hugh's main target for revenge, John Fitzgerald and his scenes with Will Poulter were amazing.  Although, as good as Poulter was, I couldn't get his character from We're the Millers out of my head which kind of ruined some of the scenes for me. You're so mean! I loved him in this, I thought it showed how he can do so much more than comedy, but I have got Chasing Waterfalls stuck in my head, so thanks for that. This just highlights for me how good DiCaprio, Hardy and Domhnall Gleeson are because I've seen them in countless films over the years but I never relate one to the next.  I even forgot both brothers were Hardy in Legend. 

How do you even pronounce Domhnall Gleeson's name?! He was on Radio 1 with Will Poulter the other day promoting this movie and I swear they were pronouncing it 'Dome-hull'. I thought it was more 'Dom-nall' with a silent 'h'? This is what I tend to think about late at night while I try to sleep. Can we just call him General Hux? Anyway! Hasn't he had an amazing year in 2015?! Seriously, it's like Ex-Machina all over again....

Edit: I've done more resarch into this than one would consider healthy, but it hasn't helped, it's just added a third pronounciation to the ring, 'Doh-nall'! Argh!

I don't think anyone can argue with how beautiful The Revenant is. In fact, last year during the Oscars season I tried to learn what Cinematography actually meant with very little luck, but whilst watching this, I realised. This is Cinematography! At it's finest, too. It's something I don't normally notice, but there were so many seemingly small technical bits (sorry for the lame terminology here) that really stood out. Things like character's breath fogging up the screen during close ups, I noticed and appreciated it all.  I need to watch it again to see these bits, I spent a lot of the film with my hands over my eyes for fear something was going to jump out!

Which brings me on to my only real complaint about The Revenant. It has a decent runtime anyway, but the middle section moves by so slowly, it felt at least an hour longer than it was. Also, whilst watching Glass' struggle for survival was a harrowing affair, there's only so much despair I can take until it all becomes too much, and turns sadistically funny instead. The moment Glass and his horse ride straight off the cliff face? Hilarious! I felt awful for laughing, but my heart had frozen about half an hour prior to that scene.  Oh dear god, in the cinema I was in, that made everyone gasp, I think I even let out a little yelp and you laughed?! That poor horse...

There were a few moments in the middle where I got a little bit bored but I was still interested to see where the film went so it didn't ruin anything for me.

This is firmly in the list of amazing movies I never want to see again. I wish it was shorter, but there are a good few categories in the Oscars I'll be wanting to see The Revenant win in. Technically, it's a 10/10, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to.

Looking Forward to Seeing in the Cinema this Month...January 2016

You don’t understand how hard it is to pick just one movie for this post, guys. Here in the UK we’re normally at least a week behind the US, meaning a lot of the big winter releases fall into 2016 for us. I’m somehow meant to pick from Joy, The Revenant, The Hateful Eight...the list goes on.

I haven’t yet had the chance to look into all of the January releases, but there’s one that’s been on my mind for a while now, The Big Short. I know little about the plot or the housing market collapse that it focuses on, but I’m a sucker for a big cast, and well, this one sounds promising.

Starring Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt (and Schmidt from New Girl!) I’m not sure where this movie can go wrong. Don’t let me down, guys! Here’s the trailer if you haven’t seen it yet. In fact, I’m watching it myself right now because it’s been at least a month since I saw it!

The Big Short will be released in UK cinemas on 22nd January, 2016.

I have been away from the blog for a short while over Christmas but I have been well into my movies, between DVD's, TV and the Cinema I have watched countless movies over the festive period and watched a lot of trailers...

Of all the trailers I have seen for movies this is the one that really got my attention, the one that may finally get Leo his well deserved Oscar nod!!

The Revenant is inspired by the true events of Hugh Glass and his story of survival and revenge and although it looks pretty dark in places I am really eager to see how it plays out. In case you haven't seen it, here is the dark trailer...

The Revenant will be released in UK cinemas on 7th January, 2016.