Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Warrior (2011) - O'Connor's superbly acted MMA drama packs emotional fireworks

11/06/2016

Warrior (2011) - O'Connor's superbly acted MMA drama packs emotional fireworks

♥♥♥♥♥

4 Time Film Excess Nominee:

Best Actor: Joel Edgerton (lost to Jack Black for Bernie)
Best Supporting Actor: Tom Hardy (lost to Michael Shannon for Boardwalk Empire S2)
Best Supporting Actor: Nick Nolte (lost to Michael Shannon for Boardwalk Empire S2)
Best Practical Effects (lost to Haywire)

+ Best Boxing Movie of the Year

Stars Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton flash commendable physiques on this poster for Gavin O'Connor's Warrior

Two alienated brothers, who are both estranged from their newly sober alcoholic father enter for each their own reasons into heavy training for a coming, big MMA tournament.

Joel Edgerton (Black Mass (2015))) is excellent as the physics teacher, who fights to keep his family's home, - with a very different strength than Tom Hardy (Child 44 (2015)), who fights on pure hate and gives a very strong and frightening performance in Warrior. In the middle is Nick Nolte (The Good Thief (2002)), who is heartbreaking as their improved father that returns to them hat-in-hand, wishing for a relationship with his now adult sons.

If you are an MMA enthusiast or like martial arts generally, the fights towards the end of Warrior are fantastic in themselves. As such, however, this is a powerfully and soberly staged film that lives on its story of brothers at odds, which reaches mythical heights. It is written by Anthony Tambakis (Jane Got a Gun (2016)), Cliff Dorfman (Entourage (2005), TV-series) and great New-Yorker co-writer-director Gavin O'Connor (The Accountant (2016)), whose 5th feature it is.

2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Listen to the song by The National About Today here, which is featured in the film

Cost: 25 mil. $

Box office: 23.3 mil. $

= Huge flop

[Warrior was released September 9 and runs 140 minutes. Hardy went into heavy training for the part, gaining 28 pounds (13 kg), which he retained for his performance in The Dark Knight Rises. Filming took place in and around April 2009 in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and California. The film opened #3, behind newcomer Contagion and holdover hit The Help, to a 5.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 the following week and grossed 13.6 mil. $ (58.4 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 2.8 mil. $ (12 %) and 2.1 mil. $ (9%). Roger Ebert gave the film 3/4 stars, equal to a notch harder than this review. The film was nominated for 1 Oscar: Best Supporting Actor (Nolte), which it lost to Christopher Plummer in Beginners. It has won more popularity over time and now rests at #149 (between Sunrise/Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)) on IMDb's user-generated Top 250. Warrior is certified fresh at 82 % with a 7.3 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Warrior?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

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Wolfgang Petersen has died

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Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (5-24)