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

International Fury Trailer Unleashes War as Hell

It's so long and tanks for all the action in the breathtaking latest international trailer for David Ayer's World War 2 film Fury. Closing the 2014 BFI London Film Festival and starring one of the most exciting casts of the year with Brad Pitt, Michael Pena and Jon Bernthal all crammed in a tank together, Fury is definitely going to be a must see movie, even for those who can't stand Shia LaBeouf.

The official synopsis says it's 'April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theatre, a battle-hardened army sergeant named Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) commands a Sherman tank and her five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Outnumbered and outgunned, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany.'

Director David Ayer may have slipped into silliness with his previous film Sabotage, but his best work includes End of Watch and the casting here suggests something very special. The new trailer is more focussed than any previous ones with showing the relationship between Pitt's team leader and new boy Logan Lerman as he struggles to fit into a close-knit group of surviving soldiers as they roll into Germany nearing the end of the war.

For me, Lerman is the unproven one out of this cast but I hope that this is the moment where he is going to shine, even with the impressive cast that surround him. Pitt is usually good, Pena is frequently excellent and I think we have still yet to see LaBoeuf's best. While Bernthal depends on a few too many recognisable mannerisms, he was also the best actor for a long time in The Walking Dead. Ayer did a fantastic job with End of Watch and from this trailer, Fury has all the hallmarks of being a great war movie. It certainly looks like an explosive way to close the BFI London Film Festival.

Watch the trailer:



What do you think?

More on the BFI London Film Festival 2014

BFI London Film Festival to close with Fury

What could be more exciting than The Imitation Game opening the BFI London Film Festival? Well apart from the prospect of most of London coming to a standstill and getting all quivery at the knees over Benedict Cumberbatch, it is the closing night film that has really got my motor running. The European Premiere of Fury from director David Ayer is rolling into Leicester Square on Sunday 19 October and promises to close the LFF with a spectacular bang.

As far as I’m concerned, Ayer hit a pretty major stumbling block with his last film Sabotage but before that he had written and directed one of my top 3 films of 2012, End of Watch. That film had also been screened at the London Film Festival and was an intense ride around the badass streets of LA with two cops in the thick of cartels and drug dealers. Swapping the cop car for a tank, Fury takes us back to World War 2, a subject Ayer hasn’t written about since U-571. 

Starring one of the most exciting casts of the year, Fury sees Brad Pitt, (a post-meltdown) Shia LaBeouf, Michael Peña, Jon Bernthal and Logan Lerman rolling around in a Sherman tank behind enemy lines in 1945 as the war is drawing to a close. I can’t say much for little Logan Lerman yet but the rest of that cast promise big things for this film. If Ayer can capture the horror of fighting in World War 2 as well as he captured the danger of being a cop on the streets of LA, Fury will be a belting way to close this year’s BFI London Film Festival. 

No doubt Pitt, Ayer and hopefully more of the stars of the film will attend the premiere and get their snaps taken on the red carpet while delighting fans with their smiles and regaling journalists with tales of not washing and living like soldiers while working in English fields on the film. If you can’t get to the London premiere, there will be simultaneous screenings in various cinemas across the country. 

Here is a snippet about the film from the BFI LFF website:
 
‘In Fury, it is April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theatre, a battle-hardened army sergeant named Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) commands a Sherman tank and her five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Outnumbered and outgunned, and with a rookie soldier thrust into their platoon, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany.’

Festival Director Clare Stewart calls Fury a ‘resounding cinematic achievement. Rarely is a film so successful at balancing the human drama of war with such thrilling action sequences’. David Ayer says ‘It’s a true pleasure to be returning to England, where we shot the film – the fields of Oxfordshire and Bovingdon Airfield in Hertfordshire were our home for 12 weeks last year, so it’s something of a homecoming for us to present the movie at its European premiere’. 

Fury will be released across the UK on 24 October 2014. The 58th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express runs from Wednesday 8 October to Sunday 19 October. The full programme for the Festival will be announced on Wednesday 3 September and tickets for public booking will open on 18 September. 

Here is the trailer:

More on The BFI London Film Festival 2014.

FURY Trailer brings out the big guns

The new film from director David Ayer gets a fantastic looking new trailer featuring its impressive cast battling through World War 2 in a tank. Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Pena and Jon Bernthal will be packing that war machine with so much testosterone, you'll be able to smell the sweaty balls dripping off the screen.

This is the director of End of Watch, one of my top 3 films of 2012 as well as the guy who wrote Training Day. His last film, Sabotage, may have been a bit of a misstep but at least it gave Arnie a bit of a darker character for his post-Governor career.

World War 2 are often action packed and though The Monuments Men was a recent star packed disappointment, Fury looks like a gritter, dirtier and far more exciting ride that George Clooney's film. Logan Lerman is the only one of the major players who I'm not thrilled to see in this. No offence to Lerman who I'm sure is great but when he comes toe to toe with Pitt, Pena, Bernthal and LaBeouf, he's bound to struggle. What a cast and what a trailer! Can't wait for Fury to be unleashed in November.



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