Angry Web

I came across this from Spookshow Pinups’ Facebook account and loved it so much that I had to share it. Do yourself a favor and check out more of their work at SpookshowPinups.com and maybe even invest in a poster.

This past Labor Day weekend, select theaters gave an advance screening of the latest sports drama, “Warrior”, and I can say that this actually has the potential of being the “Rocky” for a new generation.  If you thought “The Fighter” was brilliant, wait until you see this epic masterpiece.

Directed by Gavin O’ Connor, the film stars Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton as two estranged brothers, Tommy Rearden and Brendan Conlon, learning to deal with a warring family history as they become reunited in a vicious Mixed Martial Arts tournament.  Tommy Rearden, a former Marine, returns to his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to live with his formerly-alcoholic father, Paddy Conlon, played with an astounding Oscar-worthy performance by Nick Nolte.  Entering a boxing gym and literally beating the pulp out of a championship MMA fighter, Rearden decides to become a professional MMA fighter himself, enlisting his father, a former boxer, to train him.  Meanwhile, Brendan Conlon, who has established a healthy family and career as a high school physics teacher, finds himself in debt and his house soon to be under foreclosure.  Once a mixed martial arts competitor, Conlon returns to the ring, starting out with low-paid amateur fights by a strip joint, and eventually requesting the help of a former trainer who offers him a job as a sparring partner at his gym.  After hearing about an upcoming championship tournament called SPARTA, consisting of the top 16 MMA fighters in the world, Conlon realizes this is the opportunity of a lifetime and the one chance he has to save his family out of bankruptcy.  What he doesn’t know is that his hateful, revenge-filled brother, Tommy, has also registered for the tournament which forces the two of them to come to terms with their broken family past.

Despite the violence and brutality of the sport depicted in the film, “Warrior” is a beautifully executed drama about the inner battles of two troubled individuals, struggling to overcome their differences, while learning to acknowledge the ones they love.  With a cast that offers superb acting, I must not go without mentioning the stellar performance that Nick Nolte gives as Paddy Conlon.  In the story, Paddy is a former alcoholic who apparently tore his family apart, leading his sons Tommy and Brendan to be raised by his now-deceased wife.  While details about their history are not fully explored, it can be inferred that Brendan deserted the two of them with his former girlfriend which he has now started a family with.  After three years of being clean, Paddy has become a bumbling, old hermit who therapeutically listens to audio tapes of “Moby Dick” to get by with his day.  He attempts to make amends with Brendan and Tommy only to realize they have completely lost all affection for him and trashed him out of their lives.  It’s the heart-wrenching, vulnerable performance by Nolte that ultimately gives the film the depth and sincerity it needs to deliver its compelling story.

With all sappiness aside, let’s go on to talk about Tom Hardy’s performance as I’m sure many are wondering if the actor’s really cut out to take on the role as Bane in “The Dark Knight Rises”.  Let me say this – After watching “Warrior”, I am honestly worried to hell about Batman as I think Hardy is literally going to rip him to shreds in the film and make fanboys crap their pants when they hear that spine CRACK under his gargantuan knee.  While I cannot confirm this, Tom Hardy had already gained 28 lbs of muscle for “Warrior”, raising his weight to 205 lbs.  In addition, he apparently gained another 30 lbs for TDKR, which would make him a monstrous 235 lbs – or perhaps there is some overlap there?  In “Warrior”, Hardy is as enormously threatening as ever and when he jabs and bodyslams his opponents, you can’t help but cringe and feel the immense pain that is inflicted.  While Joel Edgerton actually has more lengthy, choreographed fight scenes, Hardy is less tactical and simply charges at the fighters and annihilates them.  Sure, one can say that it’s done with the effect of portraying how rage-ridden and beastly the character of Tommy Rearden is, but Hardy pulls it off and it is frightening!

So if you’re deciding whether to watch a chunked-up Matt Damon freaking out over a morbidly diseased Gwyneth Pultrow…or everything described above…well, I hope this review has helped

AW Movies Rating: A+

Hey, Trekkies, did you want to boldly go where no man has gone before, but got put off by the fees for playing Star Trek Online? Fresh intelligence from Starfleet has informed us that by the end of 2011, STO will be switched to the free-to-play model.

Cryptic Studios, the developer of STO, was purchased earlier this year by Perfect World, a games company based in China. They bought it from Atari for a cool $50.3 million, and according to CFO Kelvin Lau, they are currently at work on the free-to-play model with the intention of launching before 2012.

“I think with the free-to-play model, we have bigger potential in the U.S. market and also in the Chinese market,” said Lau.

The announcement of this plan for the online MMO was made during Perfect World’s Q2 2011 earnings conference call on September 1st. Currently, the game is available for a subscription rate of $14.95 per month, with price breaks offered for multiple month payments.

Full details of what will be offered as part of the switch, along with a FAQ and other information, will be available at StarTrekOnline.com sometime next week. Set phasers to stun.

“BloodRayne: Betrayal” is set to release next week on the PSN Store and XBOX Live. Here are some screens that show the sexy vampire hunter in her cell-shaded new 2D side scrolling adventure!