Almost There: Jake Gyllenhaal in "Nightcrawler"

by Cláudio Alves

For the past decade or so, Jake Gyllenhaal has been on the cusp of a second Oscar nomination. At least, that's what it seems like when one takes a look at his career. Instead of coasting by on his good looks and innate charisma, Gyllenhaal is always up for a challenge, be it a physical transformation or some unlikely feat of tonal somersaulting. Still, regardless of critical acclaim, that second nod remains elusive with 2014's Nightcrawler being the closest the actor ever came to reconquering the good graces of AMPAS...

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New Mutants and New Films. What did you see this past week?

Everyone is wondering when it will be safe to go back to movie theaters, or, in some markets (like here in NYC), when theaters will reopen at all? Vanity Fair sent Richard Larson to his home town of Boston for a wonderfully evocative piece about returning to the movie theater... for The New Mutants of all things. That Fox movie's long troubled voyage to cinemas has been well documented on the internet and Vulture recently tried to sum it all up, if you haven't been following along.

I was an avid reader of comic books when The New Mutants first emerged (September 1982) and I gobbled that book right up...

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Introducing the Smackdown Panel for '38

Are you ready for the seventh episode in this super-sized Supporting Actress Smackdown season? Up next in 15 days is 1938. [UPDATE 09/16 - THE SMACKDOWN IS NOW PUBLISHED] That was only the third year of the Supporting categories at the Oscars but you can already see some tropes forming. Here's where you can watch the nominated performances/films.  

Let's meet the panelists

PLEASE WELCOME...  

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August. It's a Wrap

The "Summer Movie Season Without...er... Movies" is officially over. Now we move on to Prestige Film Season... hopefully With Movies but you never know. The dog days of summer are over but here were a baker's dozen or so key posts from the month at TFE in case you missed any of them.

Some Highlights
• French Exit Nathaniel suggests reading the book before the movie!
• When Tilda Swinton Went Mainstream - Sean dons the furcoat and angel wings
• The Australian New Wave - Glenn takes Criterion's journey down under
• The New Classics: Moonlight -Michael goes to the diner with Black & Kevin
• A Patch of Blue - Nathaniel gasps at Shelley Winters (second) Oscar
• The Furniture: The Poseidon Adventure - Daniel boards the (sinking) ship
• Scott Pilgrim vs The World - Nick for the 10th anniversary
• Revisiting Spotlight - Juan Carlos asks how the Best Picture has aged

Most Discussed
• Smackdown of 2005 - A banner lineup gets raves from our panel
• "Won & Done" - Baby Clyde on the curse of finally winning an Oscar
• Diaz in Malkovich - Cláudio takes a frizzy-haired request
• Emmy Lead Actress Drama - Abe considers this tough all-star race
• Yes No Maybe So: Ammonite - We're all in for this lesbian romantic drama 

Coming in September
Mulan, Tenet, and other new movies. Plus a deep dive into 1938 cinema for the Smackdown and well beyond. Definitely more Emmy talk, too, and the (virtual) ceremony. We'll hit Mickey Rooney's centennial and celebrate anniversaries of To Wong Foo, Se7en, and Mildred Pierce. And yes, updates to the Oscar charts even though the year still feels like end days. 

Alan J. Pakula: The King of Paranoia

by Cláudio Alves

This summer, several of Warner Bros. classics have become available to stream on HBO Max. Among them are a good variety from the 1970s, including some of the best movies of New Hollywood's most underrated master of cinema. We're talking about Alan J. Pakula, a director whose pictures came to embody the mood of that decade, full of misanthropic discontentment and a sense that the world is diseased, people are out to get you and safety is unachievable. Alan J. Pakula was truly the king of cinematic paranoia…

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