Cannes Film Festival 2015 Day 1: Standing Tall and Tale of Tale Reviews

Just two films today. I saw Standing Tall and Tale of Tales. Click the titles for my reviews.

I also saw Jake Gyllenhaal and Sienna Miller who are on the jury.

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Nightcrawler Review

Don’t be fooled by its poster or its trailer; Nightcrawler, as its ghoulish title suggests, is definitely a straight up horror movie. Like all the best films in the genre, it has a terrible monster at its heart; one who is instantly recognisable, terrifyingly understandable and has the hollowed out face of a slimmed down and spooky Jake Gyllenhaal.

However, unlike most movie monsters, Gyllenhaal’s Lou Bloom doesn’t go around murdering people, slashing them up himself or hunting and stalking them through their houses. Instead, the entrepreneurial Bloom starts driving around at night, listening to a police scanner and waiting for a crime to be committed or for a car to be in a fatal collision. Like an anti-Batman, he prowls the shadows of the night, waiting for the villains to strike. Instead of saving the day like a superhero, Bloom rushes in on the worst night of your life, stabbing a camera in your face and makes sure you end up all bloodied on the morning news.

It’s nothing personal. Bloom is just an enterprising guy who wants to make a buck and isn’t afraid to work for it. When we first meet him, he is selling stolen copper and scrap metal, haggling over prices and hustling for a decent job. After seeing what these film crews can do at the scene of an auto accident, Bloom gets himself a camera and scanner, soon hires himself a navigator and assistant and hurtles around the city in the search for blood. 

Of course, Lou wouldn’t have a business if there wasn’t someone to pay him for his real-life video-nasties. Rene Russo is the vulture waiting to taste the bloody meat he brings in, depending on shocking images to grab ratings and keep her job. Lou knows exactly what it is the networks want and exactly how to get it. He is an infinitely determined individual; the perfect product of our individualistic, selfish, success driven sick society. Bloom provides a service that is in demand. No matter the ethics of filming the dead or dying; Bloom has the tools to capture what the people want. And Russo’s TV exec knows that fear sells. 

This might be the directorial debut of screenwriter Dan Gilroy but it is a film completely focused on Gyllenhaal’s character. It's a fantastic script but nothing can distract from Gylenhaal's sinister performance at the heart of the movie. Gifted with a wonderful character, Bloom is an oily creep, morally reprehensible but magnetic all the same. He is hard working, driven and knowledgeable; and every bit as ruthless as society requires him to be in order to get ahead in this world. Constantly crossing boundaries, both physical (police lines do not cross!) and metaphorical, Bloom is an opportunist and chameleon. 

Nightcrawler offers both thriller and biting social satire. When Bloom is shooting crime scenes, there is an element of the stalk and slash film. Bloom lurks through houses like a predator, ready to shoot his prey with his camera. Later, as he really starts to cross ethical lines, it becomes an action film as Bloom and his assistant follow car chases and shootouts. All the while, Bloom’s relentless attempts to expand his business and exploit anyone in his path become the real horror of the story. Driven to extreme measures by a simple demand and supply mentality, Bloom is a monster waiting to happen.

Gyllenhaal turns in the performance of a lifetime. While the city of Los Angeles sleeps, he plays the man willing to get his hands dirty for the good of our fear mongering media. Lou Bloom will probably be heralded a hero by many; a man whose confidence and business sense make him a success; no matter what the cost. Make no mistake; Nightcrawler is a monster movie; but he’s a monster we made, we implicitly endorse and arguably we need. 

Here is the trailer:

Top 5 Jake Gyllenhaal performances

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Why I Love Jake Gyllenhaal: Top 5 Films

Ahead of the double whammy of Nightcrawler and Enemy, I thought I'd have a quick peek back at the fine work of Jake Gyllenhaal in his previous films. From the sound of things, Nightcrawler might just be his best yet but it will take something impressive to top this lot. He's worked with the likes of David Fincher and Ang Lee, shaved his head and gone boldly gay for a town still terrified of homosexuality. Here's my favourite performances of his 23 year career so far:

Update:  Here is my review of Nightcrawler

5. Zodiac

From political cartoonist to obsessed detective and author, Jake Gyllenhaal's character in David Fincher's strange serial killer flick loses everything, including his wife and kid. His determination is painstakingly captured by Fincher who commanded up to 90 takes to get the performance he wanted from the stressed out star.

4. Prisoners

This time playing a real detective and up against a seriously unhinged Hugh Jackman, Gyllenhaal still more than holds his own in Prisoners. Some might consider his constant blinking a bit of an obvious trait, but it adds a brilliantly nervous tension to a character who is caught up in a hideously tense case.

3. Donnie Darko

Gyllenhaal finally got a decent break as disturbed teen Donnie Darko after the abominable likes of Bubble Boy. Moody, dark and funny, Donnie became an instant icon of teen angst.

2. Brokeback Mountain

In a way, the late Heath Ledger had the easier role here. He was a repressed ball of rage, ready to lock down his homosexuality into a dark hole within himself. Gyllenhaal had to be the believable gay cowboy; the guy that was open to his feelings and willing to take a chance with another man.

1. End of Watch

David Ayer's film is a blistering found footage cop thriller set on the mean streets of LA. Gyllenhaal is our guide; a cocksure cop hitting on Anna Kendrick while catching the bad guys on camera. His banter with Michael Pena is awesome, his swagger and bravado only brought down by the gut wrenching finale.

What are your favourite Jake Gyllenhaal performances?

My review of Nightcrawler
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Reviews at I Love That Film
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Please buy my book on The Blair Witch Project

PS Here is the trailer for Nightcrawler which looks like a whole bag of awesome:

End of Watch, The Hunt, Sightseers

Three of the best films of last year, David Ayers' End of Watch, Thomas Vinterberg's The Hunt and British Ben Wheatley's Sightseers are all either just out now on DVD and Blu-ray or are released this coming Monday for you to buy or rent.

I reviewed all three of these films for Static Mass Emporium when they were in cinemas last year and now that they are out for home release, my reviews are proudly sitting on the front page again today.

David Ayer’s End Of Watch is a blistering look at a pair of LAPD cops played by Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña and the bravery it takes to fight drug dealing cartels.

Mads Mikkelsen stars in Thomas Vinterberg’s powerful Danish drama The Hunt, a tense tale of a teacher accused of a crime against a child that he did not commit.

With Sightseers, director Ben Wheatley follows Kill List with a pitch black British serial killer comedy that lets loose psychotic lovers on a caravan driven killing spree through Yorkshire.

All three of these films made it in to my top 20 films of 2012 with End of Watch and The Hunt taking the 3rd and 2nd places respectively just behind The Dark Knight Rises at the number one spot. Sightseers came in just outside the top 10 at number 12.

I'm very proud of these three reviews and even more proud to be sharing positive reviews of three films that really deserve to be seen by as many people as possible. End of Watch you've no doubt heard of and if you are a British reader, you likely saw a poster or trailer for Sightseers but I'm sure not everyone heard of or even got a chance to see The Hunt. Now is the time to rectify that.

Please click all the above links and check out my reviews of End of Watch, The Hunt and Sightseers. I'm sure that at least one of these great films will take your fancy!

Let me know your thoughts!