85 minutes of Tom Hardy driving in a car. That's literally all this movie is. And it's absolutely riveting.

If it came out in the fall, Hardy would no doubt be in the Oscar discussion. Depending on the field, I don't know if he'd get nominated, but his performance is phenomenal. There's no point in trying to do the plot justice, so I'll just say that Hardy plays a really unique, interesting character, needing to make the hour-and-a-half drive from Birmingham, England to London, as he deals with a series of compounding personal and professional crises via speaker phone. I know how incredibly lame that sounds, but it works so, so well. It's super simple, straightforward, and just a flat-out solid movie.

I've linked to the trailer below, and it gives a better impression of what to expect, but Locke is totally worth seeing cold, even if eventually at home. It released in NY and LA only this weekend, but expands to Dallas next weekend. Hopefully it'll continue to go wider after that. Definitely check it out if you can...

http://youtu.be/TsBDYAYnQb0




[This message has been edited by TCTTS (edited 4/26/2014 2:44a).]

Also, as a side note, because some of you guys like hearing about this stuff, I actually had two celebrity encounters before the movie, one of which was pretty hilarious.

I was peeing in the urinal next to Common, when the guy on the other side of him - who was mid-piss as well - looks over to him and says, word-for-word, "Hey man, I'm a huge fan. Three years ago my first kid was conceived after your concert." I don't know what I was expecting in return, but Common just kind of laughed and said, "That's great to hear." Was a super weird exchange, in a super awkward setting, but Common was surprisingly extremely cool about the whole thing.

I then met my friend in the concession line and Alessandra Ambrosio was in line right behind us with a guy who looked to be her husband, I'm assuming. She was hot, no doubt, but shorter than I expected. Definitely seemed more "approachable hot" than supermodel hot, which was also a surprise. No one else really even seemed to notice her.

[This message has been edited by TCTTS (edited 4/26/2014 3:09a).]

omg

also, have you had any clearly "supermodel hot" sightings in the wild at a relatively casual event (like a Kings game)?

Looks interesting. Saw the "First Look" on this movie a couple of days ago. I thought it was cool that they just shot the entire movie a couple of times a night.

Saying one of the best movies of the year in April isn't saying much.

From the trailer I saw a while back, I got a vibe very similar to Ryan Reynolds' Buried. Having seen it, would you call that a valid comparison?

Hardy >> Reynolds, so I expect it to be really well done.

Also, is that you?

So this is a smarter version of HER

Does he have a volleyball in the car to talk to? Maybe strapped in a carseat in the back?

That Common story is awesome. And I'm really intrigued and like Hardy, may have to check this one out.

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Saying one of the best movies of the year in April isn't saying much.

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I'm OBVIOUSLY referring to the year so far.

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Does he have a volleyball in the car to talk to? Maybe strapped in a carseat in the back?

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You're actually not far off. They have a little gimmick that works surprisingly well.

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also, have you had any clearly "supermodel hot" sightings in the wild at a relatively casual event (like a Kings game)?

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Yeah, quite a few, actually. I've worked with a lot of them.

To this day, the hottest one I've ever seen in person, though, is Cindy Crawford. This was maybe five years ago, and even at her age, it was like time stopped when she walked by. Was at a friend's art show in Santa Monica, and the entire gallery just gawked at her and her husband as they walked through.

Next to her, I spent a day with Rebecca Romijn on a photo shoot downtown once, back in '06 or '07. Stood five feet from her in her underwear for one shot, and that's when I realized I'd have absolutely no idea how to handle a woman like that in the flesh. Was like an amazon goddess or something. She was super cool and down to earth, though.

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Looks interesting. Saw the "First Look" on this movie a couple of days ago. I thought it was cool that they just shot the entire movie a couple of times a night.

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Yeah, apparently they shot it 16 times? I don't know if it was all the way through, in sequential order each time, but it couldn't have taken more than a week to shoot the whole thing.

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From the trailer I saw a while back, I got a vibe very similar to Ryan Reynolds' Buried. Having seen it, would you call that a valid comparison?

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Never saw Buried, but I imagine they're somewhat similar. I'd say 90% of the movie is inside the car with him, 9% is exterior shots of the highway/car, and there's like a quick 1% of something else at the beginning before we meet Hardy's character.

Ha, and no, that's not me, but I've definitely tried to crash a few paparazzi pics before. One of these days I'll make the cut.

Buried is actually a pretty good little film and proof that Ryan Reynolds does actually have some acting chops.

^ Nice. It's on my Netflix queue and I've been meaning to check it out for years.

TCTTS, you do realize my post was sarcasm right?

It's super short and very intense. Definitely give it a shot.

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TCTTS, you do realize my post was sarcasm right?

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Ha, just now noticing the emoticon.

[This message has been edited by TCTTS (edited 4/26/2014 1:43p).]

TC how was Brooklyn Decker? She seems pretty cool.

Also sounds like Phone Booth.

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It's super short and very intense. Definitely give it a shot.

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Will do.

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TC how was Brooklyn Decker? She seems pretty cool.

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Have actually never worked with her. Are you referring to that Instagram pic? That was my cousin commenting and I guess he thought that was her for some reason. My sister kind of sort of knows her, though, or has at least met her a few times in Austin, and she says she super cool/nice. My sister's opening a women's clothing boutique in Austin in August, and is trying to book Brooklyn for the grand opening. If I meet her there, I'll let you know

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Also sounds like Phone Booth.

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Yeah, but not as tense/crazy. The trailer for Locke kind of makes it seem more conspiratorial than it really is. It's basically just a "normal" guy dealing with work and family/personal problems, all coming to a head because of why he had to leave to town for the night.

Oh gotcha. And yeah that's what I was referring to.

I know some girls who are pretty tied into the fashion scenes of Austin and Dallas. I'll talk to you more off TA and once she gets it open maybe get them to write about it if she's interested.

That would be awesome. She's got a marketing firm, but I have no idea if they handle write-ups or anything like that. We can definitely talk later in the summer.

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She was super cool and down to earth, though.

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she was on NTSF and is married to Jerry O'Connell

she's awesome

^ Jerry was on set that day as well. Dropped Rebecca off, played a round a golf, then came back to pick her up late that afternoon. He was seriously one of the nicest celebrities I've ever met. We were on the last shot of the day, shooting in an office building downtown, with maybe 15 minutes left before we wrapped. So I started breaking down some of the set, like hair and makeup and what not, tables, chairs, etc. Jerry was chilling against a wall and saw me just casually packing stuff up, and came over to help. I can't emphasize how insanely rare that is for someone like that to actually help with the grunt work. I told him to sit back down, but he insisted. I'll never forget, he picked up a director's chair - one of those folding chairs you've all seen a hundred times - and I asked him if he knew how to fold it properly (there's a strategy). He scoffed and said, "Four years of films school." I kind of laughed and said alright, and for the next 15 minutes, he helped me pack up every table, chair, cord, and accessory on set. It was so surreal, having Kush hand me equipment, like in an assembly line, as we broke down the entire set. While Rebecca danced for the final shot, to a playlist I had put together at 5 AM that morning, last minute. I know it sounds dumb, but it was just a cool little moment, having Jerry help me out while his wife, one of the hottest women in the world, was dancing to a playlist I has assembled. Out of all the people I worked with, they've always stuck out as being two of the absolute nicest.

[This message has been edited by TCTTS (edited 4/27/2014 4:10a).]

I enjoyed this movie a lot. Pretty riveting considering that it's just Tom Hardy in a car talking on the phone. Also, I'm pretty sure he was auditioning to be the most timid Bond villain in history with this.

I saw this movie and Spider Man 2 this week. It's pretty amazing to see such stark contrasts in film making. And ultimately I think I preferred the one that cost $2 mil to the $200 million blockbuster.

Great to hear. And yeah, I'd pick this in heartbeat over Spidey.

I follow a guy on Twitter who just got out of a Q&A with the director, and they did, in fact, shoot the movie in real time from start to finish 16 times. Said they put Locke's BMW on a low flatbed with three cameras, used the bluetooth, and had actors call in when he signaled them. Makes it even more impressive.

[This message has been edited by TCTTS (edited 5/4/2014 1:36a).]

The film looks great, but I'm sure it's not as riveting as the movie Zombeaver in the suggestions.

watched it and agree it was very well done. I don't know that I have seen Hardy in anything and not loved him. Always great.

I am a sucker for original ideas and they really pulled this off well. Biggest shock was see the credits and finding out that the dude at the site he was talking to wasn't Chris O'Dowd. It sounded EXACTLY like him to me.

TCTTS, I also watched the Lego Movie this weekend so I am catching up with your Top 10 list. So far I've seen 6 of them. Still getting to "The Immigrant", "22 Jump Street", "Edge of Tomorrow" and "Chef" .

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Biggest shock was see the credits and finding out that the dude at the site he was talking to wasn't Chris O'Dowd. It sounded EXACTLY like him to me.

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This. So this. I was convinced it was O'Dowd 'til the credits.

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TCTTS, I also watched the Lego Movie this weekend so I am catching up with your Top 10 list. So far I've seen 6 of them. Still getting to "The Immigrant", "22 Jump Street", "Edge of Tomorrow" and "Chef" .

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That's so awesome. I'm really curious to hear what anyone else outside of professional movie critics think of The Immigrant (currently streaming on Netflix). I haven't talked to a single other person who's seen it, but I absolutely loved it. It's not going to win any awards, but I love the way James Gray shoots his movies, and it was a unique, well-told story with some really great performances.

[This message has been edited by TCTTS (edited 8/21/2014 1:12a).]

Where can I find the entire top 10 list

At the Halfway Point: My Top Ten of 2014