Locke was one of the best almost singularly acted movies I have watched barring Castaway off course, Thomas Hardy is a very under-rated actor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Hardy and this was literally to be extremely clichéd a tour de force performance.
The movie has Tom Hardy's character Ivan Locke driving from Birmingham to London, and provides a snapshot of how we navigate various occurrences in our lives while attempting to remain functional. At least that's my most recent take on it.
Ivan (Tom's character) attempts to assuage a moral wrong by doing the right thing, Bethan a colleague Ivan had a one night stand with has gone into labour. On the day of the baby's delivery, Ivan's company is also scheduled to have one of it's largest cement pours, the coordination of the pour has been left to the supervision of Ivan.
Ivan's composure draws us into it's depths, it floats through the various sequence of events rattles at the skin and bones of the metal contraption that tenants his distress, his humanity and in my own clichéd nuance his soul.
He is expected back home that evening, to watch a football game with his wife Katrina and sons, Bethan seeks the comfort of his presence for child birth, he breaks the news off his affair to his wife and still dismisses his affair to his wife as something that was done because Bethan was all alone and he felt sorry for her. This is also the reason for Ivan's drive to London, his guilt arises from being in a similar relationship with his parents, his father's voice counters his confidence,
During the course of his drive, Ivan is in constant dialogue with Donal, urging him to accept responsibility and ensure that the pour is completed in a proper manner. His constant rebuttal, coordination, emphasis and encouragement on Donal to perform his duties are a pungent truth that unsettles us as it shivers a mirage cloistered in the confines of the car - we watch his imperfections unfold, his indiscretions and fears are static voices that waver in the night has but his one stoic response flickers throughout 'we can fix it' until it does not.
Watch and like it, it is definitely a revelation of Tom Hardy's acting prowess, and a well directed movie by Steven Knight.
Tracks
For some reason this year I was drawn to movies about journeys, I love traveling that could be one of the reasons, but these movies that I loved were more so associated with the unwinding of the soul, an unwrapping of a destination and the enigma of chaos and pathos distilled to perfection.
The movie is based on the epic journey of Robyn Davidson wonderfully played by Mia Wasikowska, I really loved her performance in the highly under-rated T.V Show In Treatment.
She really slips into the physicality and grit that this movie's performance calls out for, the journey being portrayed was over 1700 miles of Australian Outback from Alice Springs to the Indian Ocean and involved at most times the company of four camels Dookie, Bub, Zeleika and Goliath and her dog Diggity, She was documented and photographed on sections of her journey by Rick Smolan played well by Adam Driver it is a movie filled with the exhilaration of the journey, the solace of solitude, the pathos of loneliness, the deliverance of a shoulder to lean on, the turmoil at the loss of a friend, and the victory of a journey completed.
The movie is well directed by John Curran and the cinematography is by Mandy Walker
Robyn Davidson's details in her own words of the actual journey
Grand Budapest Hotel
Wes Anderson is not one of those directors whose movies I would watch based on his having directed them well not till I watched Grand Budapest Hotel. What a wonderful journey of a movie there again that magical word journey, a quirky, fictional, humorous mystery movie.
Excellent casting with Ralph Fiennes as the very capable concierge Monsieur Gustave H of the Grand Budapest Hotel, he was
The movie is a series of stories told, stories capsuled within stories the movie begins with a young woman reading the Grand Budapest Hotel written by the Older version of the author played by Tom Wilkinson, after a brief introduction he reverts to a flashback in which the Young Author (Jude Law) stays in the hotel now sadly, in a state of sad disrepair. He coaxes or is coaxed into telling the story by the discreet owner of the Hotel, Zero Moustafa (Fthe older version is played by Murray Abraham)
And then the flashback occurs during in 1932 set during the opulent years of the Hotel at which time the younger version of Zero a novice bell-boy, excellently portrayed by Tony Revolori he is taken under the highly efficient wing of Gustave. who besides being a professional concierge courts and pleasures the older clientele, including one Madame D.
The story unfolds with the death of Madame D, and Gustave and Zero attend the reading of the will.
This in itself would have been a simple journey but every nook in this movie has just that additional bit of mystery in it and I for on will not divulge.
A painting, a theft, suspicion of murder, murders, a cold hearted murderer, camaraderie,
love, and lots of lots of quirky fun.
Wonderful cameos by Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Adrien Brody, Jeff Goldblum, Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson and off course the wonderful Willem Dafoe, Saoirse Ronan.
Other Wes Anderson movies that I have watched and enjoyed Rushmore and The Darjeeling Limited
Those are the movies I enjoyed.
I would like honor the passing of some wonderful and talented human beings and artists.
The only way I know how is to remember them.
I wanted to add a note on the last year, and provide a synopsis on how this year is forecasted to be better, but I really don't need to human tenacity and the compassion of each and everyone of us I believe will get a little stronger, I believe we will educate ourselves to others a lot more remove our fears, enable our understanding and hopefully, hopefully germinate the seed to financial, economic, physical and mental well being.
Here's to a good year all.
