Locke

Ivan Locke’s life is about to change. On the night before a career-defining project, he is not on his way home to be with his family. He is heading towards parts uncertain, and is not returning home. Well, not that we know of, anyway. The trailer does this whole mysterious-intensity-thing better than I ever could have –

The whole film takes place in that lovely car. It’s kind of like Buried, but good.

Personally, I could never get tired of looking at Tom Hardy. Never ever. Is this adoration necessary for viewing Locke? No, but it certainly helps. I mean, if you can’t stand Tom Hardy and were somehow cajoled into viewing this movie, you’re going to have a bad time.

Come for the performance, stay for the beard.

The great thing about having Hardy carry a film is that, as history proves, he is damn good at it. His performance calls you to his attention and you cannot look away – because if you did, you know you’d miss something. This is also why I’m leaving out so many details, the film is pure performance.

Locke is a story of sacrifice, guilt, honesty, psychosis and hope – an emotional Pandora’s Box wrapped up in a BMW. I definitely believe it’s worth the ride.

Final Grade: A

 

Netfix: I Know That Voice

Voice acting could easily be one of the most over-looked arts in the TV/film industry. It’s one thing for a well-known actor to provide a voice for a character – they’re mostly playing themselves. But for a person to hide themselves completely and be utterly unrecognizable amongst us common-folk, that takes talent.

I Know That Voice exposes and pays tribute to such talent as June Foray, Jeff Bennett, Daran Norris, Pamela Segall Aldon, Billy West, and many, many more. (Did you have to google some of those? I don’t blame you in the least.)

As far as documentaries go, you really can’t get any more cut-and-dry than this one. I Know That Voice goes into a brief history of the establishment of voice acting, talks about some industry pioneers, and carries on about recent happenings and new kinds of media. Plus it’s chocked full of all sorts of talent and trivia.

The Good
Now, I’m a total dork about this kind of stuff, so I really enjoyed learning about the history of voice acting as well as methods of the craft. I’d recommend this to anyone who loves learning about filmmaking – or loves cartoons.

The Bad
Nothing dates a documentary like bouncy, animated text. I’m not going to hold that against it, though.

The Just Plain Neat
Corey Burton illustrates his process for performing as Porky Pig – it’s pretty impressive.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.