🍿21: The Guilty
This week's best new trailers, the latest movie news and a whole lot of Jake Gylenhaal.
"Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."
~ To Kill a Mockingbird, 1962
Let the games begin…
There’s a lot to cover this week so let’s get to it.
Firstly, the guys at Mugs Games reached out to Salty Popcorn to announce the launch of a Kickstart campaign for their latest creation, The Grand Guess Hotel, which has managed to raise £2,500 so far!
The beautifully designed board game takes inspiration from Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti record sleeve, Guess Who? and a love of film shared by creators Paul and Stanley. Click here to learn more and support the Kickstarter.
Salty Popcorn Pub Quiz
In other game-related news, the SP-hosted pub quiz at Margate Film Festival is official and you can now book tickets. Here are the details:
When: 13:00 | Sunday 31st October
Where: The Cinque Ports, Margate
Cost: £3.83* per person, premium SP subs go free.
*This has been adjusted to include EventBrite’s booking fee.
Now for the headlines:
Speaking to NME, Robert Carlyle said a Trainspotting spinoff is in the works that will focus on Begbie, played by Carlyle in the films. This spinoff will be a TV miniseries and is likely to take inspiration from Irvan Welsh’s book The Blade Artist. Read more.
A treat for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory fans as Olivia Coleman, Sally Hawkins and Rowan Atkinson are added to the lineup for the musical prequel Wonka. Read more.
Despite having a career spanning five decades and being 83 years old, Ridley Scott has said a sequel to Gladiator will be ready to go once his current Napolean project, Kitbag, is wrapped up. Read more.
Netflix and Howard University announced a $5.4m scholarship honouring the late Chadwick Boseman. Read more.
Salty Popcorn is 100% free but you can support this independent publication by paying just £5 per month. In return, you’ll be the first to access upcoming premium features.
Upcoming Releases
Red Rocket
UK: 3 December* // USA: 3 December
*I’ve struggled to find a definitive UK release date and while A24 says 3 December, my gut tells me it’ll be later.
This upcoming comedy-drama from director by Sean Baker (Tangerine), follows Mikey Saber (Simon Rex), a washed-up porn star who returns to his hometown in Texas… despite nobody wanting him back.
Ignore the odd cover choice for the trailer, it gives a very different impression of the film than the trailer itself.
Operation Mincemeat
UK: 7 January // USA: TBC*
*Similar to Red Rocket, this film has no confirmed USA release but it was reported in March that Netflix bought the North America rights.
Despite the peculiar title, Operation Mincemeat is based on the true story of one of MI5’s strangest ploys to deceive the enemy, which ultimately led to the organisation’s establishment. As the Allies prepare to launch an all-out assault on ‘Fortress Europe’ they face the impossible challenge of protecting the invading forces from entrenched German firepower to avert a potential massacre.
Interestingly, MI5 posted about this when it first got on Instagram… (click here).
Fact of the week
In an interview with Empire Magazine, George Lucas said that his imagination and intrigue was caught by the “Zodiac Killer” mystery when he was in high school. He felt that David Toschi—the investigating detective played by Mark Ruffalo in Zodiac—was harshly judged for how the investigation was handled.
As a result, Lucas named Tosche Station (a space station on the Star Wars planet of Tatooine), in his honour.
*Coincidentally, I wrote this issue of SP before last night’s news that volunteer investigators had identified a new suspect as the most likely person to be the Zodiac Killer.
Review: The Guilty
Star rating:
3.5 (out of 5)
Worth a watch?
Yes
Where to watch:
USA: Netflix
UK: Netflix
Runtime:
1hr 30m
Director:
Antoine Fuqua (Training Day)
Blurb:
A troubled police detective (Jake Gyllenhaal) demoted to 911 operator duty scrambles to save a distressed caller during a harrowing day of revelations.
The review (NO spoilers):
The Guilty is a mountain ascent of suspense that will keep you on the edge of your seat. This is a feat in itself considering there are very few on-screen characters and the film takes place almost exclusively in one location.
I find that when a film is stripped to its bare bones, the pressure mounts for its cast to deliver a strong performance all around and Jake Gyllenhaal doesn’t let us down. The character he plays, Joe, is as troubled as he is unstable it’s clear that through his frustration, impatience and angry outbursts there is more going on under the surface.
While the emotions in play could easily be grouped as general angst, Gyllenhaal has no difficulty in portraying the more complex subtleties of each one. This makes for a surprisingly rounded performance as he taps into the inner conflict of his character.
Having watched the trailer for the original film, I’ve deduced that the new version of The Guilty is more of a remake than a reimagining. Some shots in the trailer are near-identical to the new version and while I’m generally against English-speaking remakes—I’m still upset that Leo has agreed to remake Another Round—I enjoyed this.
All that said, something did bother me which made me deduct half a star from the rating (more in the Critic’s Cut) but at just 90 minutes long, it’s worth watching just for Gyllenhaal - though purists might prefer the original film.
Scroll down for the critic’s cut and what’s coming in the next issue.
If you liked The Guilty…
Zodiac
2007 | UK: Netflix // US: Netflix
Here we’ve got another crime thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal—alongside Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo—as he tries to hunt down the infamous “Zodiac Killer”. Based on a horrifying true story, this is one of David Fincher’s best films.
*Honourable mention for Reservoir Dogs: Rising tensions, great acting and a single location make it similar to The Guilty - but you’ve probably already seen it.
In the next issue:
The Last Duel
UK: 15 October // USA: 15 October | Watch the Trailer
The Critic’s Cut 🚨SPOILER ALERT🚨:
I have to say that I was a little disappointed with the ending of The Guilty. It all came to an impossibly neat conclusion that is just oh-so American, it’s hard to swallow. As the film came to a close, my disbelief started to creep in and with each glimmer of a happy resolution I couldn’t help myself thinking: Really?
For example, when Emily (Riley Keough) realises what she’s done to her son, she’s ready to jump off an overpass and her phone call with Joe (Gyllenhaal) comes to an abrupt end…
But it turns out the Highway Patrol Officers got her down safely. Then, we find out that her son, Oliver, is in a stable condition in the ICU… a baby that was severely wounded and wasn’t breathing earlier in the film, presumably for hours, is suddenly recovering? Really?
I’d be interested to watch the original just to see it shares the happy ending, or if the original script was deemed too unhappy for an American audience.