Wildlife (2018)

I really like Paul Dano as an actor and Zoe Kazan is really growing on me, so the two of them co-writing a script and Dano directing the movie is definitely something I cannot overlook. If you have Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal, you get a movie one an idiot can pass. So yeah, I had huge expectations for Dano's directorial debut, Wildlife. 

Set in 1960, the story follows the Brinson family, Jeanette (Carey Mulligan), Jerry (Jake Gyllenhaal) and their teenage son, Joe (Ed Oxenbould), as they move to Great Falls, Montana. When Jerry loses his job and refuses to take it back out of pride, he decides to join a group of volunteers to fight fires. As soon as Jerry leaves, something awakens in Jeanette and Joe is suddenly forced into the role of an adult. 

Based on Richard Ford's novel of the same name, Dano's Wildlife has a simple and yet gripping story that is both a coming-of-age drama as Joe is forced to grow up way before his time and a portrayal of a woman's existential crisis as Jeanette realises she doesn't know who she is outside of the perfect 1950s housewife. 

As you probably guessed, it's not a plot-heavy film. On the contrary, it's one of those movies that entirely relies on the characters and that's the film's greatest strength as the characters are complex and quite fascinating. Joe isn't just a kid witnessing his parents' marriage falling apart, as the film is described on any major movie website; he is a 14-year-old boy who is forced to step up and be the man of the house when his father leaves, forced to get a job and leave education and teen experiences —like having a girlfriend— behind; he is a boy who helplessly watches his mother fall apart. Jeaninne is the typical loving, seemingly happy but actually bitter, unhappy (house)wife subservient to her husband. She feels trapped in her life and when her husband leaves, she sees her opportunity to reinvent herself. At first, she comes off as a self-absorbed, selfish, cold bitch —pardon my langauge— but, as the film moves forward, we learn who she really is, a lost woman who is so used to being lost, unhappy that she doesn't recognize herself nor happiness when it's right in front of her. Jerry loves his wife and son; he is a good-natured man but he just doesn't seem to be able to keep a job and he is too proud to take low-paying, humiliating —according to him— jobs such as bag boy. 

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As for the performances, they are very compelling. Carey Mulligan truly conveys her character's psychological breakdown and delivers a performance filled with genuine emotions. Jake Gyllenhaal is great as usual as the hard-working father. Bill Camp provides solid support as the man Jeanette has an affair with. It's Ed Oxenbould that steals the show though with a subtle and yet intense performance as Joe.

In addition, Wildlife features a stunning cinematography and a score that fits the story incredibly well. As for Dano's direction, I think he did pretty well. While at times the film is a bit melodramatic, the characters' actions don't always make sense —Jerry's behaviour towards the end—, the film is overall gripping and telling the story from the boy's perspective is a winning choice as it allows you to experience the story as Joe does. 

Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)

I loved Dan Gilroy's Nightcrawler and specifically adored Jack Gyllenhaal's performance in it so I was really looking forward to seeing them team up again. And it finally happened with Velvet Buzzsaw, a horror film about the art world.

The story mainly follows Morf Vanderwalt (Jake Gyllenhaal), a pompous and feared art critic who can make or break an artist with a single review and is connected with artists and other people in the art business, including Josephina (Zawe Ashton), the young assistant of Rhodora Haze (Rene Russo), a big name art dealer. When Josephina steals the paintings left behind by her deceased neighbour to show Morf and Rhodora and eventually sell them, Morf becomes obsessed with finding out more about the painter. Meanwhile, the people who are profiting from the dead artist's art are targeted by a supernatural entity.

Velvet Buzzsaw doesn't have much of a plot with its threads that go nowhere as they are picked up only to be discarded pretty soon. Despite this, it is genuinely interesting and gripping as it does a good job at critiquing modern art world, a world driven by greed and hypocrisy, a world in which money is more important and art itself and the artist. It also shows how the work of a critic can affect an artist, not only professionally.

The dialogue is pretty empty but it sounds so sophisticated it ends up being quite charming. And the over-the-top and pretentious characters, although some of them could have used more dimension and development, are interesting and somewhat likeable, and invested me right from the beginning.

As for the performances, most of them are great. Jake Gyllenhaal does a wonderful job as Morf and yet again proves himself to be one of the most skilled actors alive. He embodies Morf completely, to the point that it doesn't feel like watching Gyllenhaal but the actual over-the-top, silly character he plays here. The other standout is Toni Collette who plays an art adviser and steals most of the scenes she is in —when she shares the screen with Gyllenhaal, the eyes are on him. The other actors too give fascinating performances, Zawe Ashton being the only exception —I didn't like her at all, specifically because of the weird way she delivers her lines.

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The cinematography is gorgeous, as it should be in a film about art, and the score is effective at making some scenes more intense, suspenseful and thrilling, especially when it comes to the artistic deaths, which I really enjoyed. That said, I feel like Gilroy should have stuck just to the satire about the art world and avoided the horror genre as it doesn't add much to the film other than a bit of entertainment factor.

Watch: Edgy New Trailer For EVEREST !

Definitely a movie made for 3D! Some of these shots are simply spectacular.

We see some angles that would make Sir Edmund Hillary himself shudder I'm sure! I'm intrigued with the casting as well; looks like a wonderful performance from Jason Clarke. You can feel the obsession in them all.

Here's the movie's storyline:
Inspired by the incredible events surrounding an attempt to reach the summit of the world’s highest mountain, Everest documents the awe-inspiring journey of two different expeditions challenged beyond their limits by one of the fiercest snowstorms ever encountered by mankind. Their mettle tested by the harshest elements found on the planet, the climbers will face nearly impossible obstacles as a lifelong obsession becomes a breathtaking struggle for survival. The epic adventure stars Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Robin Wright, Michael Kelly, Sam Worthington, Keira Knightley, Emily Watson and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Everest is directed by Baltasar Kormákur (2 Guns, Contraband) and produced by Working Title Films’ Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, Cross Creek Pictures’ Brian Oliver and Tyler Thompson, as well as Nicky Kentish Barnes and Kormákur.

Universal Pictures presentation of Everest is adapted for the screen by William Nicholson (Gladiator) and Oscar winner Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire).

The film was shot on location in Nepal on the foothills of Everest, the Italian Alps and at Cinecittà Studios in Rome and Pinewood Studios in the U.K.

EVEREST opens in RealD 3D, IMAX 3D and flat on September 18.