SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME Review

Jon Watts' second Spider-Man film, Spider-Man: Far From Home, has a lot of things going on, but just as Thanos preached in Avengers: Infinity War, what keeps everything intact and moving at a sustainable pace in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a post-Mad Titan world is, somewhat ironically I guess, the fact Watts and the screenwriters are able to keep everything "perfectly balanced". What is most interesting in slating the sequel to Watts' 2017 film as the immediate successor to Avengers: Endgame though, is that it immediately signaled the type of tone Marvel Studios and "showrunner" Kevin Feige would be addressing the fallout of the monumental events that any average viewer of the MCU knew were coming. The fact remaining that while Endgame concludes on something of an uplifting note for Steve Rogers the ramifications for many other characters were nowhere near as...complete. There were countless questions that required the attention of the creators behind the curtain: what is the state of organized religion in a post-snap world? How did those who'd gotten re-married in the five years since the snap and weren't polygamists deal with the fact their husband and/or wife just showed back up one day? If kids not snapped away aged five years and presumably continued their schooling, why would they still be in the same grade as their counterparts that did "blip" away? As Betty Brant (Angourie Rice) puts it at the beginning of Far From Home, "it's been a long, dramatic, somewhat confusing road," and while the subject of our review today might be intended to bridge the gap and help audiences, "move on...to a new phase in our lives," the fact remains that this "bridging of the gap" could have been handled in a multitude of ways, but for one reason or another Feige and co. decided to place this responsibility on the back of their friendly neighborhood Spider-Man and thus the question remains the same: why? Why is Tom Holland's sixteen year-old Peter Parker, the youngest avenger, the one to bear this responsibility? It all comes back to that aspect of tone and knowing what consequences to take seriously and place weight in while knowing which to laugh off; Watts' high school comedies dressed up as super hero flicks make an ideal vehicle to blend the heart and the humor and it doesn't hurt that the film becomes a pretty good "Spider-Man" movie along the way as well.

Official Trailer for SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME

It's been quite the last couple of weeks for Marvel Studios with Avengers: Endgame opening to shatter every kind of box office record imaginable and becoming a cultural phenomenon in the process only to now, two weekends into that film's release, deliver a new, full trailer for what was previously thought to be a nice little palette cleanser after Endgame, but looks to be much more than originally anticipated: Spider-Man: Far From Home. Far From Home was carrying this facade of being only what Ant-Man and the Wasp was last summer post-Infinity War, meaning it was more a stand-alone adventure than anything that necessarily integrated the character into the bigger world, but given this spoilerific Endgame trailer Sony just spilled all over Marvel, it looks like Tom Holland's Peter Parker is about to step-up to become the next Tony Stark. Not only this though, but the fact the trailer explicitly states there will still be repercussions from "the decimation" and that all wasn't tied up with a pretty bow given the events of Endgame thus giving birth to the idea of a "multiverse" is truly insane and opens up all kinds of possibilities about what could happen in the future and how the MCU will be changing as it moves into this new era. Given the events of Endgame and the fact we haven't known until this trailer whether or not Far From Home would take place after or before the events of Infinity War, this is all a pretty big shock to the system. It was always going to be a tricky task to market a film featuring a character that supposedly "died" three movies prior, but we are now living in a post-Endgame world where the rules have changed, but more importantly-the characters are changing with it and while we knew Samuel L. Jackson would be back as Nick Fury it's good to see him still thriving and with just as much gusto as he had when he showed up in the post-credits of that first Iron Man movie eleven years ago. Jon Watts returns to direct this sequel that will see Peter Parker and his friends, including Zendaya's MJ and Jacob Batalon's Ned, going on a summer vacation to Europe where Peter and co. find themselves in a plot with Jake Gyllenhaal's Mysterio. Spider-Man: Far From Home also stars Cobie Smulders, Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau, Michael Keaton, Angourie Rice, Martin Starr, Tony Revolori, J.B. Smoove, and opens on July 2nd, 2019.

Teaser Trailer for SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME

It's been quite the a month or so for Marvel Studios-kicking things off with what feels like the ramp-up for their first film of 2019 with the much anticipated, first female-led Captain Marvel and of course following that up with the glorious teaser that finally revealed the title and our first real look at what we now know is Avengers: Endgame. And now, today brings us the first look at what will be Marvel's (in association with Sony, of course) third film of 2019 in the official sequel to 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home. Far From Home only just wrapped shooting in October, but while filmmakers and digital effects artists are now able to work almost simultaneously with one another, building sequences that require large amounts of CGI as dailies are being sent to them from set, this did leave one curious as to just how much has been accomplished in the three months of post-production as rumors began to swirl as early as the same week the Endgame trailer dropped that we'd be getting a Far From Home trailer. Sony no doubt wanted to give their animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse movie time to breathe before reminding people there would be another movie featuring the web-slinger hitting theaters in less than a year and good on them for it as Spider-Verse certainly deserves all the acclaim and accolades it is receiving, but no lie-this looks great and the effects look better than expected meaning we get more money shots here than I thought we might. Given the events of Infinity War and the fact we don't yet know what happens in Endgame it was always going to be a tricky task to market a film featuring a character that supposedly "died" in that movie, but this teaser makes no reference to that seminal work in regards to superhero films, but instead goes one further and confirms Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury is also back from being dusted. Jon Watts returns to direct this sequel that will see Peter Parker and his friends, including Zendaya's MJ and Jacob Batalon's Ned, going on a summer vacation to Europe where Peter and co. find themselves in a plot with Jake Gyllenhaal's Mysterio. Spider-Man: Far From Home also stars Cobie Smulders, Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau, Michael Keaton, Angourie Rice, Martin Starr, Tony Revolori, J.B. Smoove, and opens on July 5th, 2019.

Movies I Wanna See Most: Fall 2018

The fall/winter movie season is always one of those times of the year where it seems there's so much to do and so little time. I've always attempted to find a balance between big-budget and indie fare rather than dismiss the blockbusters and only adore the smaller, more intimate movies and vice versa. That doesn't mean I'm necessarily more excited for Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 than I am something like Suspiria, but rather that I'm interested in both for very different reasons. While neither of those titles will be on my list I would place each of them just outside my top fifteen along with the likes of the sure-to-be juggernaut of this holiday season, Marry Poppins Returns, and the likely to be overlooked The Hate U Give from director George Tillman Jr. Elsewhere, there is your typical festival fodder like Beautiful Boy, The Favourite, Boy Erased, and Mary Queen of Scots that I'm certainly interested in seeing, but not necessarily overly excited for as I feel as if I kind of know what I'll be getting myself into with each of these (except for maybe the Yorgos Lanthimos experience), but am more than happy to take a chance and spend some time with them as any given movie could come out of nowhere and blow you away; if attempting to watch as many new releases as I do each year has taught me anything it is this.

There are two movies in particular that I had a difficult time grappling with whether they should go on my list and furthermore, where they should go on my list if I were to include them, but ultimately they didn't make it and I'm still not sure if that was the right choice or not. First is Jonah Hill's directorial debut, mid90s, which tells the story of a thirteen-year-old in 90s-era LA who spends his summer navigating between his troubled home life and a group of new friends that he meets at a Motor Avenue skate shop. I think Hill will probably have a rather distinct voice and good handle on conveying his own screenplay given the sheer amount and vast variety of creative people he's worked with, but the subject matter isn't something so near and dear to my heart that I find myself aching to see it. And then there is the first film from writer/director Alfonso Cuarón since Gravity earned him a Best Director Oscar five years ago. Cuarón's two hour and fifteen-minute opus that chronicles a year in the life of a middle-class family in Mexico City in the early 1970s wuill have its festival run, but is set to largely premiere to a wide audience on Netflix in mid-December. This may be the smarter route financially, but the anticipation of such an event and/or return can't help but to feel a little undercut by the knowledge that in my region of the country it's unlikely I'll be able to experience Roma on the big screen. All of that said, you won't find the likes of Bumblebee, The Mortal Engines, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, or that new Robin Hood movie on my list, but like I said, I'm by no means opposed to unabashed blockbusters as is evidenced in my number ten pick...

STRONGER Review

On the surface, Stronger is a movie that looks as if it is trying desperately to be little more than an awards-contender. True Story? Check. Tragedy? Check. Severe disability? Check. Indie darling director? Check. Jake Gyllenhaal being intense? Check. So yeah, taking the main factors into consideration it's not hard to see why this would seemingly be anything more than an attempt at scoring Gyllenhaal an Oscar and maybe, to some degree, the hope is that might work out in the end, but it's not Stronger's main objective and it certainly isn't where the intent of the film lies as Stronger is easily one of the most genuine movies I've seen all year. Genuine in that it never cops to sensationalizing anything that would be an easy target given the subject matter. No, Stronger is a human story, a story about a relationship more than it is the Boston Marathon bombing and within that the film goes to places where it is able to cut deeper emotionally than it would had the film simply resorted to recreating the horror of that day. Director David Gordon Green, who came to prominence on the back of indies such as George Washington and All the Real Girls only to go on to helm big budget comedies like Pineapple Express and Your Highness, has, in recent years, found a kind of middle ground between these two wide-ranging genres where mid-budgeted, character driven stories featuring big names have become something of the filmmaker's forte. Green only continues to hone this kind of movie-making in Stronger. Combining his knack for naturalistic and improvised moments with that of his major studio experience in staging a recreation of the bombing as well as shooting at both Boston hockey and baseball games Green has, in many ways, culminated all of his past experiences with Stronger and the result is a film that is deceptively simple, deceptively easy to misread and/or label as one thing, but is so much more than it initially appears to be. Stronger is a movie that delves into one man coming to terms with a new way of life, a new status among his peers, and a relationship he isn't sure is destined to work out all while recovering from the most traumatic day of his life. Stronger doesn't resonate due to big, dramatic moments, but more for the ones that aren't; the quite moments where one can't verbalize why they're significant, but feel that they are. Stronger is somehow able to tap into these unspoken moments and is all the more authentic because of that.

LIFE Review

First impressions undoubtedly set a tone that will forever tinge the perception one has of another person or thing-such as a piece of entertainment. The first impression given by Life is that of an old fashioned horror movie. Sure, the comparisons to Alien are easy and to obvious extents, valid, but Life gives such an immediate indication of being inherently old fashioned in its approach to what would still be new frontiers that one can't help but to allow those tendencies to carry on throughout the entirety of the film even as it becomes slightly silly and a little long in the tooth. Life accomplishes such vibes by taking pride in showing the audience things we've become conditioned to by the movies that truly are spectacular were we to actually step back and appreciate them once in a while. Whether it be something as simple as the view of earth from space or the way in which director Daniel Espinosa's (Safe House) camera flies as effortlessly through the spacecraft in zero gravity as the characters do-these actions and spectacle are more appreciated due to the sense of sincerity the tone and score from Jon Ekstrand give off. Espinosa's film, which was written by the guys who wrote Deadpool and Zombieland (Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick), places itself squarely into the horror mold while utilizing the always compromising environment that is outer space to heighten the tensions and push the suspense up to eleven. In short, Life doesn't take so many notes from space movies as it does scary ones. Life is a thriller that means to make you claustrophobic despite the fact escaping said confined space would result in a slow, likely agonizing death. There are no good options except to stay and fight and so, as our six man crew is picked off one by one, we are exposed to the dangers of curiosity outweighing fear. We are exposed to how being blinded by what such discoveries promise can distract from the potential trouble at hand, but Life never becomes too heavy handed or ham fisted in these explorations of our psychologies or mentalities. Rather, the film finds a large entertainment factor in coming up with different types of situations to find that tension and suspense in-leaving the larger ideas to fill in the gaps in between; almost as if the residuals of the more striking moments are intentionally left to linger and for viewers to comprehend once the shock wears off. It's an idea that's easy to propose, but Life actually pulls it off rather well and is all the more fulfilling for it.

NOCTURNAL ANIMALS Review

Editing. Editing is key in director Tom Ford's follow-up to his 2009 debut A Single Man titled Nocturnal Animals as the narrative begins by introducing Susan Morrow (Amy Adams) as a woman who seemingly has it all together, but whose world it tears to shreds in less than two hours. It accomplishes such a visceral effect on the viewer due largely to the skill in which it is cut. To unravel the neatly wrapped facade of Morrow's life is to cut back and forth between her present timeline, her past detailing how she reunited and fell in love with first husband, Edward Sheffield (Jake Gyllenhaal), as well as the story in which she is reading. The key factor being the story that she is reading comes to her from Sheffield as a novel he wrote that will soon be published, but as it was inspired by Morrow he thought she deserved to read it first. The book, also titled "Nocturnal Animals", is the story of a family on a road trip whose car is hijacked by a band of troublemakers that includes a nearly unrecognizable Aaron Taylor-Johnson where terrible things happen. The representation of this novel as put to screen is what will come to garner the most attention from the viewer as it is high-tension drama filled with moving and effective plot points as well as performances. What makes Nocturnal Animals, the film, more than just a stirring adaptation of the work within the work though, is the foresight it utilizes in the outside stories and how they will influence our reactions to the actions taking place within that most engaging storyline. How is this accomplished though? How are these two outlying narratives so effective in both supporting and drawing from the narrative that undoubtedly holds the weight of the film on its shoulders? Through the editing. The film is cut in such an extraordinarily unpredictable fashion that, as an audience member, when it cuts we are never allowed to know what it might be cutting to. There are even long pauses that fill the screen with darkness designed to make the audience think a certain segment is over only to drop us back into the same story moments later. This unpredictability not only ups the tension in terms of seeing where certain plot strands might go, but in ultimately structuring the story in such a way that when the payoff for everything each of the three individual storylines has been building to finally arrives it hits you. And I mean really hits you. Nocturnal Animals is an exercise in sheer audacity and nearly every one of its risks pays off.

First Trailer for LIFE Starring Jake Gyllenhaal

It was a little odd to open up the browser this morning and see news of a trailer for a movie I hadn't yet heard about that has some pretty major credentials going for it. Though I hadn't yet heard of Life the fact both Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds showed up in the five-second tease that appeared on my Facebook home page made me take notice. What exactly was this unknown major property that would apparently be blessing us with its presence Memorial Day weekend next year? I wasn't sure, but given the notable actors seemed to be floating around in zero gravity it seemed as if we might be in for an action/adventure in space. Turns out, Life may serve to be a little more interesting than that as it seems director Daniel Espiniosa (Safe House, Child 44) and writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (Zombieland, Deadpool) don't exactly have a run of the mill action/adventure in store for the summer movie season, but rather something more in line with the action/horror vibes of Alien. As the just over two-minute trailer shows us the film is about the six-member crew of the U.S. Space Station as they come in contact with the first proof of life beyond earth in the form of a small, single-celled organism. The trailer does well to set an eery tone by overlaying a speech from John F. Kennedy that was made in regards to the space race in the early sixties while simultaneously showing just how far we've come and establishing the crew members that consist of Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation's Rebecca Ferguson, Hiroyuki Sanada, Olga Dihovichnaya, and Ariyon Bakare. By then diving slightly into the plot and showing just enough of the crux of the situation that will provide much of the tension and inevitably much of the action the trailer then hooks us indefinitely. As if the star power and intrigue of space weren't enough the idea of something along the lines of a big-budget horror/sci-fi coming out next summer only makes this project all the more appealing. Now the interesting scenario to watch play out will be just how well Alien: Covenant will do when it opens just over two months after Life's May 26th, 2017 release date.

First Trailer for NOCTURNAL ANIMALS Starring Jake Gyllenhaal

The second directorial effort from fashion designer Tom Ford (A Single Man) was undoubtedly one of my most anticipated of the year and after the largely glowing reviews it received out of both the Venice and Toronto film festivals I am only all the more excited to finally see the follow-up to Ford's striking 2009 debut. With the likes of such top tier talent as Jake Gyllenhaal and Amy Adams in your film it is hard to imagine how one could go completely the wrong way, but given the short teaser for today's full trailer that I saw yesterday and the fact it immediately called to mind Ridley Scott's curiously questionable The Counselor (which had a beyond amazing line-up of stars) I can only be reassured by the positive reviews in that Nocturnal Animals will not share the same fate as that 2013 misfire. With this film, Ford has adapted the Austin Wright novel Tony and Susan with the film actually taking its name from a story within that story. In the film, Adams plays Los Angeles-based art dealer, Susan Morrow, who receives a novel called "Nocturnal Animals" that was written by her ex (Gyllenhaal) after her husband (Armie Hammer) leaves on a business trip. From here, the narrative is described as, "weaving in and out of this book that can be interpreted as a veiled threat." The idea of seeking revenge or vindication from an ex-lover is nothing new, but doing it through such symbolic ways as mailing her a copy of your book that intentionally elicits many an interpretations is certainly an intriguing way to go about framing such a tale. The full trailer certainly makes such intrigue all the more inviting as its clear Ford has again brought his impeccable sense of style to the medium of film and each of the high profile performers seem to be giving invested performances. Here's to hoping the positive reviews can be trusted on this one. Nocturnal Animals also stars Michael Shannon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Laura Linney, Isla Fisher, Ellie Bamber, Karl Glusman, Andrew Riseborough, Michael Sheen, Imogen Waterhouse, and opens on December 9th, 2016.

DEMOLITION Review

Note: This is a reprint of my review for Demolition, which originally ran on September 11, 2015 after seeing it at the Toronto Film Festival. I am publishing it again today as it hits theaters this weekend.

Demolition is more about deconstruction than it is about necessarily destroying anything. I mean, things are destroyed, obviously, but not for the sake of getting rid of them. Instead, our main character Davis (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a person who finds liberation in his soul-searching through methods of destruction. In the latest from director Jean-Marc Vallée (Dallas Buyers Club, Wild) we dive into the deep end right off the bat as we are witness to a man losing his wife in a horrific car accident and not feeling a thing afterward. This kind of wake-up call to the fact he’s been living a meaningless life for the past however many years gives our protagonist the need to demolish everything that constructed that prior existence. This realization is of course tipped off by what is typically a heartbreaking event and yet Davis shows no signs of distress or loss thus giving the film something of an edge while still being able to explore the mundane aspects of life that it seems to find so interesting. If the film is anything it is a showcase for Gyllenhaal to display what has made him one of the more credible leading men in a saturated market and for this Demolition thrives the majority of the time. The rest of the time you can feel screenwriter Bryan Sipe (with his first major screenplay) searching for an ending or a way to bring all of Davis' destruction around to some kind of meaningful epiphany, but it never gels. Unfortunately, this trips up a rather promising beginning that has all the momentum in the world in its first hour.

EVEREST Review

Like it's titular mountain, Everest the film is a vast beast of an adventure. More than anything, director Baltasar Kormákur (Contraband, 2 Guns) gives the film a strong foundation on which to stand and a sense of adventure going forward that is more than enough to make up for what can sometimes feel like a slim narrative. That is, of course, until the film reaches it's last half hour in which it feels like it has to rush to resolve every plot strand it has set up for it's large ensemble cast. That said, the film is more than a solid venture into one of the most dangerous places on earth that people dare to go which brings us to the real heart of the film. Without the crux of why each of these individuals wanted or were willing to risk their lives for a reward that, for some, could be viewed as senseless is what provides the anchor of the audiences investment. There are plenty of ways in which Kormákur could have chosen to approach this set-up that was primed perfectly for little more than a tense, action spectacle, but at it's heart this is a human story. And so, the fact Kormákur and writers William Nicholson and Simon Beaufoy have essentially made both a rousing testament to the human spirit and a devastatingly brutal film that delivers the man versus nature psychology to an unflinching degree is admirable. In many ways, Everest doesn't purport to be anything more than a straightforward documentation of this true story that occurred in 1996 when a team of thrill-seekers attempted to scale Mt. Everest, but it can't help but to be about more given the grand themes that life naturally brings down upon us when we're stranded in desperate situations and have nothing else to turn to but our thoughts and memories. Kormákur largely tackles the positive aspects of this kind of adventure and way of thinking in the first half of the film before everything goes south and the darker side of these risks are exposed.

TIFF 2015: DEMOLITION Review

Demolition is more about deconstruction than it is about necessarily destroying anything. I mean, things are destroyed, obviously, but not for the sake of getting rid of them. Instead, our main character Davis (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a person who finds liberation in his soul-searching through methods of destruction. In the latest from director Jean-Marc Vallée (Dallas Buyers Club, Wild) we dive into the deep end right off the bat as we are witness to a man losing his wife in a horrific car accident and not feeling a thing afterward. This kind of wake-up call to the fact he’s been living a meaningless life for the past however many years gives our protagonist the need to demolish everything that constructed that prior existence. This realization is of course tipped off by what is typically a heartbreaking event and yet Davis shows no signs of distress or loss thus giving the film something of an edge while still being able to explore the mundane aspects of life that it seems to find so interesting. If the film is anything it is a showcase for Gyllenhaal to display what has made him one of the more credible leading men in a saturated market and for this Demolition thrives the majority of the time. The rest of the time you can feel screenwriter Bryan Sipe (with his first major screenplay) searching for an ending or a way to bring all of Davis' destruction around to some kind of meaningful epiphany, but it never gels. Unfortunately, this trips up a rather promising beginning that has all the momentum in the world in it's first hour.

First Trailer for DEMOLITION Starring Jake Gyllenhaal

While last years The Judge was a more commercial choice for the opening night film at TIFF this year the festival has chosen something a little less broad given the film doesn't actually open until next April and there is little known of the project. That all changed yesterday when Fox Searchlight decided to go ahead and drop the first trailer for Demolition starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts. As this years opening night film and despite the fact it will be absent from the awards race, Demolition is still a highly anticipated picture for it's credentials alone. The honor of being the opening night film certainly gives the movie status as one of the "bigger" films of the festival, but those credentials are the real reason to get excited. The most striking credential is of course that it stars Gyllenhaal, who has been on more than a hot streak lately. Sure, Southpaw didn't go over as well as his previous efforts, but the guy is clearly hitting a stride and I can only anticipate his collaboration with director Jean-Marc Vallée (Dallas Buyers Club, Wild) will continue that streak. The film tells the story of Davis (Gyllenhaal), a successful investment banker who struggles after losing his wife in a tragic car crash. Demolition also stars Chris Cooper, Naomi Watts, Judah Lewis, Heather Lind, Wass Stevens, Polly Draper, Brendan Dooling and opens on April 8, 2016.

SOUTHPAW Review

We are what we choose to be or so goes the saying someone said once upon a time and has been repeated countless different ways a billion times since. In the case of Billy Hope (Jake Gyllenhaal) though, one seriously begins to wonder what kinds of choices dictate a meteoric rise and then a literal loss of everything precious in his life. Is it simply defending his wife? Getting angry over a fellow boxer challenging his strength and insulting his woman in the process? Would we have done something different than Billy or was he destined for this path of loss and eventual redemption? That seems the simple answer, yes. You strip away the key stone and the rest of the rocks come tumbling down. Why does such an insignificant seeming choice dictate the remainder of your life? It is an impossible question to answer and one that would make anyone want to end their own life were they to contemplate it for too long. Yes, life is about choices-some that we are proud of, others that we will regret and then there are the ones that will haunt us forever. When we meet Billy Hope he is on the top of the world. He is the undefeated lightweight champion of the world at 43-0, he loves his wife Maureen (Rachel McAdams) more than anything and they have a young daughter, Leila (Oona Laurence), who Billy adores. He seems to make more money in one fight than most pro athletes do in a season as he, Maureen and Leila reside in a mansion outside of New York City while his boys (who came up with him through an orphanage in Hell's Kitchen as did Maureen) hang out and collect benefits. His manager, Jordan (50 Cent), seems more than a little sleazy, but his only real point of stress in the opening moments come from fellow boxer Miguel Escobar (Miguel Gomez). After the opening fight in which Billy takes a beating before finding the fuel to light his fire to deliver a knock-out punch, Escobar shows up to taunt the still undefeated champ into fighting him next. Proclaiming Billy's afraid to go against a real fighter, Escobar knows just how to get to Hope. It is in the split second decision to react to Escobar's taunts rather than think it through that Billy makes the choice that will alter his life and his career in unbelievably depressing ways, setting Southpaw up as little more than a familiar story that is carried by great performances.

First Trailer for EVEREST

I originally put Southpaw near the top of my most anticipated list of the year simply because of the work Jake Gyllenhaal has been putting out lately and I have more of a trust in director Antoine Fuqua than that of Baltasar Kormakur‘s (Contraband, 2 Guns). Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Kormakur's last feature, but more for the chemistry between the two leads than anything else. Everest seemed to be a movie of ensemble rather than a leading turn from Gyllenhaal thus indicating Southpaw as the better pick, but after this trailer I'm simply excited to see this film regardless of rankings or how much screen time each actor is given. Speaking of actors and ensembles Kormakur has put together quite a cast here as alongside Gyllenhall we have the like of Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Michael Kelly, Sam Worthington, Robin Wright, Emily Watson and Keira Knightley. Telling the true story of two different expeditions challenged beyond their limits by one of the fiercest snowstorms ever encountered this looks to be a rather rousing drama that seems to be both beautifully shot and incredibly tense. The group of actors provided with a screenplay by Mark Medoff (Children of a Lesser God) and Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire) can hopefully only indicate Kormakur is also pushing himself to new limits with this one as it might actually have some awards potential should it be as good as its credentials promise.Universal Pictures has released an official and international teaser trailer that you can view after the jump. Everest opens in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D on September 18th.

Movies I Wanna See Most: Summer 2015

It's that time of year again, the summer movie season is upon us. As always, this annual commencement of super hero blockbusters and action films galore with high budget comedies and low budget horrors both looking to break out in their respective genres begins with the first weekend in May. As you likely already know with the present media blitz attacking every screen you look at it will be the latest Avengers adventure that will be kicking off summer this year, but there is a whole lot more to talk about and a whole lot you might not have heard of yet. It was actually pretty difficult to break down the release schedule this year into just ten films that I'm genuinely excited to see. There are several indie comedies including D Train, The End of the Tour and The Bronze that I'd have loved to include as well as some other musical/dance themed flicks like the sequel to Magic Mike or the Meryl Streep starrer Ricki and the Flash that in a weaker year might have made the cut. There are also plenty of horror flicks coming out this summer between two sequels (Insidious Chapter III and Sinister 2) a re-make of Poltergeist and the interesting indie that is Maggie. Speaking of Maggie, which stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, don't expect to see anything in the way of Terminator Genisys or other franchise revivals like Jurassic World on here because I'm just not feeling them too much. Don't get me wrong, I'll still see them and I especially hope World proves my expectations wrong, but I can't say I'm overly excited for either. The summer also carries a barrage of promising comedies that I always look forward to and while one sticks out above the rest there are plenty of others (Spy, Ted 2, Masterminds, Hot Pursuit, Vacation) that could turn out to be better or even a break-out hit. Anyone who's read this site before knows I have a soft spot for comedies, but what hurt to cut even more was some of the strikingly dramatic material this summer has to offer.

First Trailer for SOUTHPAW

One of my most anticipated films of the year is director Antoine Fuqua's Southpaw. Not necessarily for Fuqua's involvement (though I do generally enjoy his work and truly appreciate his passion), but for the involvement of one Jake Gyllenhaal. As of late, Gylenhaal has been on something of a hot streak re-defining his place in the public eye and universe of film as one of the most reliable actors working. Whether it be in small-scale pictures such as Source Code and Enemy or in sweeping dramas such as End of Watch and Prisoners, not to mention last years career-defining performance in Nightcrawler, the guy has consistently been hitting it out of the park for almost half a decade now. I can only imagine that way of thinking concerning his career will continue into the projects he's chosen next which are highlighted by Fuqua's latest as well as the Baltasar Kormákur-directed Everest due out in September. While Southpaw doesn't look to necessarily be an Oscar-contender with its late summer release date I still have nothing but high hopes for the project and the first look at the film via the trailer only amps up the anticipation. While I do hate that much of the broad strokes of the story are given away to the point any casual movie-goer can likely tell where things are headed I'm also hoping whoever cut this trailer as well as Fuqua himself (who I assume had some say over the final cut) know better than what they've seemingly done here and are giving us the main points to hook us while hiding much of what is in store for the actual experience. Regardless, I'm putting the trust in Gyllenhaal and Fuqua to hopefully deliver one of my favorite films of the year. Southpaw also stars Forest Whitaker, 50 Cent, Rachel McAdams and opens July 31st.

Movies I Wanna See Most: 2015

I can't help but feel I don't know enough to be making such a list as this anymore. Every year I go through the upcoming years slate of planned movie releases and come up, pretty easily, with ten or so films I'm genuinely excited to see and again, this year, that has been no problem. My issue with a list such as this is there is no way to go through each possible release or even know about every release in the way that a movie might come to light during the course of the year and becomes something you wish you might have highlighted way back when, that you knew about and held expectations for simply because it's nice to be "in the know". That sounds a little crazy and a little ridiculous, I realize, but it is easy to go through and say what blockbusters you are most excited to see in any given year, but you only wish you knew that there might be a Birdman or a Whiplash sneak up on you and blow you away. Then again, I'll just convince myself I actually enjoy the element of surprise and wait to see what gems 2015 currently has tucked away. To both points, I've attempted to go through and double check with some of my favorite directors and actors to see what, if anything, they might have on their slate for this year so as to hopefully surprise a few people with this list and not just satisfy/underwhelm folks who see another list where The Avengers and Star Wars take the cake. From my most anticipated list of 2014 three films made my year-end top ten. From my most anticipated list of 2013 one film made it, so I guess that could be taken as a good sign if there is any correlation to be found at all. Furthermore, 2014 seemed like a really solid year when looking back despite it feeling easier than ever to craft a top ten. There were a few exceptional films, but there seemed an abundance of more than solid features that are just as worthy for someone else's favorite films of the year. If 2015 is anything like it, we'll be in for a great crop of flicks (the best of which I likely don't even know about yet).

TOP 10 OF 2014

For me, 2014 has been something of a transitional year. A year where my tastes have shifted and my ideas of what makes a lasting film have changed. I wouldn't say I'm necessarily more cynical, but obviously the fact I continue to see more and more films and build a larger pool of knowledge makes it tougher for each individual film to impress me more. That being said, I actually found it easier to craft a top ten list this year than ever before. I've pretty much seen everything I imagine might have a shot at making my list except for maybe Selma (which I won't see until January 7th), but at this point the only year-end awards bait films I'd even consider including in a top fifteen are the likes of Foxcatcher and American Sniper. After repeat viewings one of them might even crack the top ten, but as of right now I feel strongly about the films I've selected. What I've done differently this year is to begin to leverage expectations; I thought this might help the films be more impressive if I didn't go in expecting too much, but even with that state of mind many of them simply met expectations or felt more insignificant than substantial. I don't believe this has made me a snob or prude in any sense as I would still boldly place The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in my top fifteen of the year when it is clearly nothing more than a pure popcorn flick and on top of that, one most critics absolutely hated. For me, Marc Webb's super hero sequel was one of the most entertaining experiences I had at the movies this past year and one I can watch at any time without fearing boredom. My final top ten will likely come off a little more pedigreed given that introduction, but while me liking something such as Spider-Man may make you question my taste just know that I went into every film this year really wanting to like it and the ones that follow are the ones that surprised me with their quality or surpassed every expectation I held for it. Enjoy!

NIGHTCRAWLER Review

Ladies and gentleman, Jake Gyllenhaal has more than arrived and he is here to stay. The actor, who first entered our field of vision at the age of nineteen in October Sky has been doing solid work for years now with only a few misguided aspirations derailing what is just now beginning to shape a truly credible reputation. While Bubble Boy and The Day After Tomorrow stick out as truly awful and something of a guilty pleasure, the diamonds in the rough that are Jarhead, Brokeback Mountain and Zodiac give us more proof than necessary that we are messing with a force to be reckoned with. After making one more misstep with the understandable but overly calculated Prince of Persia Gyllenhaal turned his career around and hasn't looked back. Taking roles based purely on how much they interest him and what he could possibly do with the character rather than for any bigger reasons having to do with career direction or popularity (he dropped out of the guaranteed holiday musical hit, Into the Woods, for this film) Gyllenhaal has made Source Code, End of Watch, Prisoners and Enemy. Each of these films vary in genre and personality from both an acting perspective and what they bring to the table as far as entertainment value is concerned, but in Nightcrawler Gyllenhaal takes everything a little further, he amps everything up a notch higher and delivers a performance that makes every other performance seem like a prelude to this master class of ambition and insanity. Going through the actors filmography will allow you the realization that despite the fact we recognize Gyllenhaal as a reliable face, an old friend and an actor that typically delivers the goods-it is this film and this performance that will make him stand above the rest as exceptional. Gyllenhaal is clearly not just a one-off in the department of stirring performances with the nervous ticks and loner act that his Prisoners character clung to so strongly. Instead, he is an actor that knows how to disappear into a role by understanding not only the motivations that drive a character, but the importance of the art that composes them literally and figuratively. As Louis Bloom, a man with drive and passion to spare, Gyllenhaal is a beast of unforgiving endeavors that see him go from a driven young man to a man driven purely by the need to feel he belongs. Nightcrawler is a shocker of a ride, but in the scenes that make it all work it is Gyllenhaal doing the heavy lifting.