Tag: Jake Gyllenhaal

Life

Ever since the 1979 box office hit “Alien”, there has been attempted replications and duplication’s. Some have come close, but most have failed.

“Life” is nothing more than an attempted replication with A-List Actors and far more stupidity and nonsense.

We as humans on earth continue to be fascinated with the possibility of life on Mars. A team of astronauts and scientists operate a space station near Mars. Exploration is done and what appears to be a life form is found. Our curiosity gets the best of us as we poke, prod and attempt chemical modifications to the form we have found.

Too much poking and prodding with the wrong instruments leads to growth stimulation of the life form. We then try to kill what we have tampered with, but to no avail. The life form sustains its life by feeding on us. The story unfolds from there…

The outcome of “Life” is pretty obvious. Is there ever a good ending to a Sci-Fi Thriller that has any sort of Alien being?

After the first 70 minutes I was bored and actually considered leaving. I did go and stand near the exit because the movie was getting on my nerves. I had seen it all before. There is nothing really new except several A-List Actors in the movie. There was no real suspense, some action, a lot of stupidity and nonsense.

The paid critics believe “Life” is fresh. I think it’s as stale as 2 week old bread.

This is a 2 Star Movie!

Nocturnal Animals

I fully understand why “Nocturnal Animals” opened in limited release a couple of weeks ago. This movie is very graphic in nature. It’s also very well acted.

From the opening credits through the first 35 minutes of the movie was very disturbing in nature. I seriously considered leaving…but there was a turning point which captured my attention, the movie picked up steam and became very intriguing.

“Nocturnal Animals” is a haunting romantic thriller filled with shocking and graphic nudity. It’s not rated X, but probably should be. The nudity is not sexual in nature, it’s just raw.

The movie illustrates revenge, deceit, redemption and the thin lines between love and hate. A divorced couple (Jake Gyllenhaal and Amy Adams) head down a path of rediscovering one another, but also learning some dark truths about each other.

If you need something to compare “Nocturnal Animals” to, think of the 2014 hit “Gone Girl”.

See “Nocturnal Animals” if you dare!

This is a 3 ½ Star Movie!

Southpaw

“Rocky” this is not!! But it does have its own identity.

“Southpaw” tells a riveting story about Billy “The Great” Hope a reigning Junior Middle Weight Boxing Champion of the World.

It appears that Billy has a great life and successful Boxing career, a loving wife and an adorable daughter. When tragedy strikes, Billy’s entire world is turned on its axis. His long-time friend and manager Curtis (50 Cent) up and leaves him. Billy hits rock bottom. Now in dire despair Billy turns to an old ally who owns and operates a run-down gym from Billy’s early boxing days. The story unfolds from there…

“Southpaw” is “Bloody”. The movie is physically brutal during the boxing action. It’s a bit tough to watch. The action scenes are very surreal. I felt that Jake Gyllenhaal did an excellent job portraying Bill Hope. The movie ends a bit abruptly leaving the family dynamic part of the story unfinished.

This is a 3 Star Movie!

Into The Woods

“Into The Woods” is quite delightful and entertaining, although toward the end its dark roots that have hovered just below the surface throughout rise up.

“Into The Woods” is a modern play on several Grimm Fairy Tales, “Jack and the Beanstalk”, “Rapunzel”, “Cinderella” and “Little Red Riding Hood”. These Tales are all intertwined and tied nicely together. The stories explore the consequences of the characters wishes, quests and actions.

The movie is a nice mix of Broadway Musical and Big Screen Motion Picture. Meryl Streep is Awesome!!

“Into The Woods” is an appropriate Holiday movie.

This is a 3 1/2 Star Movie!

Prisoners

On the edge of your seat suspense” is what “Prisoners” brings to the party. The movie will hold your attention!

“What would you do if your child went missing? How far would you go to get your child back? A Parent’s worst nightmare is what two sets of parents face in “Prisoners”.
On Thanksgiving Day Anna and her friend Joy go missing. As minutes turn into hours which turn into days and weeks everyone associated with the situation starts to panic. The only lead is a dilapidated RV and Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) arrests it’s driver, but his intense questioning for hours and days of the suspect yields nothing so when the suspect is released by the police department Keller Dover(Hugh Jackman) takes matters into his own hands. The story unfolds from there…

“Prisoners” is an extremely well executed movie. It’s very realistic in its emotions and events that occur. There is plenty of edge of your seat suspense and intrigue. The movie will definitely hold your attention. While I did not like the subject matter, that doesn’t mean the movie was good. It’s a definite must see if you can handle the subject matter. The movie is long in its execution at 2 hours 33 minutes, but worth every minute. There are a few surprise twists that bring everything together toward the end.

As an additional foot note Mark Wahlberg is an executive producer on this movie.