Director: Jon Watts Stars: Tom Holland, Jake Gyllenhaal, Zendaya Let's talk for a little bit about eyewear. In the DC universe, spectacles serve a very powerful function, and one might argue that without them Superman would be nothing. They are - incredulously - the key to his disguise. Without his specs, he would not be … Continue reading Review: Spider-Man – Far From Home
Director: Jacques Audiard Stars: John C Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix, Jake Gyllenhaal Charlie (Joaquin Phoenix) and Eli (John C Reilly) are hired hands. The year is 1851. These brothers - the Sisters brothers - are in the employ of The Commodore (Rutger Hauer), and do his bidding for tidy reward. At the beginning of the picture … Continue reading Review: The Sisters Brothers
Director: Dan Gilroy Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Zawe Ashton, Natalie Dyer There's so much content these days. Dan Gilroy's latest film, Velvet Buzzsaw, has arrived on Netflix as unceremoniously as anything else. In fact, in light of the arrival of yet another of their ten-a-penny original shows stealing its thunder when you log in, you'll probably have … Continue reading Review: Velvet Buzzsaw
Director: Paul Dano Stars: Carey Mulligan, Ed Oxenbould, Jake Gyllenhaal In the third act of Paul Dano's exceptional directorial debut Wildlife, the headlights of the Brinson family car illuminate a worn down fascia of an old building. It looks as though it might've once said 'Davidson' on it. Perhaps Harley? Clarity is gone. Lost in the … Continue reading Review: Wildlife
Director: Daniel Espinosa Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson If there's an unnecessary element of modern pop cinema that has started to get my goat, it's the post-credits sting. Marvel movies use these most often, demanding that an already bum-numbed audience shuffle uncomfortably for anything up to a further ten minutes as every single … Continue reading Review: Life
Director: Tom Ford Stars: Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon Have you ever found yourself at 8 in the evening on a Sunday, feeling like you want to watch a movie before calling it quits on the weekend, but finding yourself torn between the pulpy Texan noir of Cold In July and the weepy melodrama of, … Continue reading Review: Nocturnal Animals
Imagine someone told you that there was a new album by Coldplay, Adele or Ed Sheeran and that it was really 'edgy'. Would you believe them? Would it turn out to be that way? Or would it be the coffee shop consumerist version of 'edgy'? Something that sounds different to their prior somnambulist form, but is … Continue reading Review: Demolition
Watching Everest, director Baltasar Kormákur's all-star throwback disaster movie, I was reminded of something simple I'd forgotten about myself; I hate heights. I'm terrible at them. That dizzying sense of imminent danger, combined with the occasionally fleeting sensation that I might irrationally hurl myself down, down to oblivion. Because of this I tend to keep away … Continue reading Review: Everest
Like that bit in Akira where the long-frozen pod cracks and Tetsuo gets to discover the truth about the government's secret project, Denis Villeneuve's Enemy finally gets a UK cinema release - two years after production and 11 months after it's US run. Whether it was shelved due to thematic similarities to Richard Aoyade's The Double or whether … Continue reading Review: Enemy
When we first meet Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) it's tough to size up exactly what kind of man he is. We initially encounter him caught by a security guard, pilfering chain-link fencing to sell to a scrapper's yard. That he is next seen successfully having navigated this obstacle intrigues as much as it alarms. What of the … Continue reading Review: Nightcrawler
Year: 2001 Director: Richard Kelly Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko), Jena Malone (Gretchen Ross), Mary McDonnell (Rose Darko), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Elizabeth Darko), Patrick Swayze (Jim Cunningham), Drew Barrymore (Karen Pomeroy), Noah Wyle (Prof. Monnitoff), Holmes Osborne (Eddie Darko), Beth Grant (Kitty Farmer), Katharine Ross (Dr. Lilian Thurman) Genre: Drama / Science Fiction I'm going to … Continue reading Why I Love… #51: Donnie Darko
Year: 2007 Director: David Fincher Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal (Robert Greysmith), Mark Ruffalo (Inspector David Toschi), Robert Downey Jr. (Paul Avery), Anthony Edwards (Inspector William Armstrong), Chloe Sevigny (Melanie), John Carroll Lynch (Arthur Leigh Allen), Brian Cox (Melvin Belli) Genre: Crime Drama David Fincher makes beautiful looking films, but beautiful in a way different from most other A-list … Continue reading Why I Love… #24: Zodiac
