News

Casting is an arduous process to ensure the right actor gets the right role, but sometimes, things don’t work out. The chemistry is off with the rest of the cast, the studio needs a bigger name, the director decided the character should have a shaved head but a bald cap killed his parents, etc. Sometimes, however, the reason is truly ridiculous.

[subtitle]5Mark Wahlberg Decided Donnie Darko Should Have a Lisp [/subtitle]

Wahlberg was initially cast as the lead in 2001’s Donnie Darko, but once director Richard Kelly found out his vision for the character included a pronounced lisp, he was out. It’s probably just as well, as Wahlberg was already straining credulity as a teenager in Boogie Nights four years earlier and Jake Gyllenhaal hadn’t yet become Taylor Swift’s most hated ex.

4 Ryan Gosling Changed Too Much for ‘The Lovely Bones’

Wahlberg later benefited from another actor-director misalignment.

While Jason Statham may owe his acting career to Guy Ritchie for giving him his start, critics felt differently after panning their third cinematic collaboration, Revolver. Torpedoed by ungodly expectations caused by Snatch and Lock,Stock and Two Smoking Barrels before it, Revolver is a much better movie than credited for, requiring repeat viewings to see through the style-over-substance charge the movie has been leveled with.

As Revolver celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2025, giving the film another spin is recommended for Statham and Ritchie fans. With a screenplay co-written by venerated French filmmaker Luc Besson, Revolver was unfairly dismissed during its initial release and deserves another shot. It may not be the best work by the talent involved, but there's no way Revolver should hold a lowly 13% Rotten Tomatoes score.

Jason Statham and Guy Ritchie's Collaboration, Explained

Rising to fame together in the late '90s, Guy Ritchie and Jason...

Pirates of the Caribbean star Keira Knightley’s panned action thriller has free streaming in its cross hairs. Loosely based on an incredible true story, 2005’s Domino finds Knightley taking the lead as a former model, who decides to ditch the catwalk in favor of bounty hunting.

Directed by the late, great Tony Scott, Domino is based partly on the life of Domino Harvey, the daughter of stage and screen actor Laurence Harvey, who did indeed leave fashion modeling behind to become a Los Angeles bounty hunter. Featuring an all-star cast that includes Mickey Rourke, Édgar Ramírez, Delroy Lindo, Mena Suvari, Mo'Nique, Lucy Liu, and Christopher Walken alongside Knightley, Domino is set to land on the free streaming platform Tubi from March 1, and you can check out the official synopsis below.

RelatedNetflix Reveals First Look at Keira Knightley & Guy Pearce in New Thriller

During a busy day for Netflix, the...

Now updated for February 2025, here’s our pick of 35 genre films – horror, action, sci-fi and more – you can watch for free on Tubi UK.

Like any streaming service, particularly of the ad-supported variety, there’s a lot of filler on Tubi, the subscription-free platform which recently made its debut in the UK.

On there you’ll find an array of low-budget documentaries of spurious quality, landfill reality TV and how-did-this-get-made TV movies (Amish Abduction).

Look beyond those films, though, and Tubi is positively stuffed with genre and cult offerings – sci-fi, horror, comedy, martial arts, thrillers and more besides. Finding these can take a bit of hunting around, however, so to save you a bit of time, we’ve done some hunting for you. We’re nice like that.

Here’s our pick of 35 genre and cult films currently available to watch for free on Tubi in the UK. We’ll...

Los Angeles-based film and television studio Happy Accidents has partnered with Australian production companies Total Fiction and Screen Invaders on the genre-bending drama-comedy series “Gnomes” (6×30′).

The studio, which specializes in high-end content across multiple genres including films, scripted and unscripted series, documentaries and formats, has come aboard as co-producer and international distributor for the series. The project has been commissioned by Stan Australia and picked up by German broadcaster ZDFneo via Network Movie.

Described as “Gremlins meets Hot Fuzz,” the series follows two local police officers in a small town who must battle an army of murderous garden gnomes that come to life during the town’s inaugural Gnome-a-Palooza festival. The show will utilize a combination of practical effects and VFX to bring the miniature menaces to life.

Award-winning filmmaker Joel Kohn, who heads Screen Invaders, created the series and will produce alongside Total Fiction executive producers John Molloy and Richard Kelly.

Exclusive: Lydia West, Abbie Cornish and Brooke Satchwell are among high-profile acting talent leading Stan’s tenth anniversary slate, we can reveal.

The Australian streamer is today unveiling its latest TV series, films and acquisitions at a splashy showcase event held at Linseed House at the Grounds of Alexandria in Sydney. In total, it unveiled 14 originals — three scripted series, six features and five docs — along with a host of acquisitions.

On the originals front, Stan’s Chief Content Officer Cailah Scobie and Head of Originals Amanda Duthie are announcing the likes of He Had It Coming, Love Divided By Eleven and Whale Shark Jack, and a horror-comedy series, Gnomes.

He Had it Coming stars Lydia West (It’s a Sin), Natasha Liu Bordizzo (Ahsoka: Star Wars) and Liv Hewson (Yellowjackets). It follows Elise (West), an awkward English scholarship student who forms an unlikely alliance with fashion influencer Barbara (Liu Bordizzo) after...

Megalopolis, Francis Ford Coppola's decades-long passion project, was one of 2024's most divisive movies. It was either the greatest embodiment of the acclaimed director's artistic vision and refusal to compromise, or his searing, self-made indictment of those same things and his unchecked ego. Moviegoers either loved or hated it; there was no middle ground. That said, what most didn't realize was that Megalopolis isn't exactly new and that it's been done better by a movie that starred Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson roughly two decades ago.

19 years ago, Southland Tales hit cinemas and baffled everyone who saw it. Directed by Richard Kelly of Donnie Darko fame and much like Megalopolis, Southland Tales was a surreal satire of American culture, politics and life during its release. However, Southland Tales succeeded where Megalopolis failed by being even stranger than Coppola's latest work. It says a lot that casting The Rock as a...

Donnie Darko is an unforgettable 2000s cult classic, and it's hard to imagine the film as anything other than it is. But Jason Schwartzman (best known for playing Gideon in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) actually almost played Jake Gyllenhaal’s most iconic role. Donnie Darko is a 25-year-old independent production and writer-director Richard Kelly's debut feature. This, combined with how unconventional the story is, made it hard to finance the film initially. But igniting the interest of actors like Jason Schwartzman and Drew Barrymore (who plays Ms. Pomeroy) attracted investors.

The movie had financing and were ready to start production when Jason Schwartzman dropped out and Jake Gyllenhaal stepped in. Other than Schwartzman as Donnie Darko, another surprising casting possibility was David Hasselhoff as Jim Cunningham instead of Patrick Swayze. Ultimately, the final cast chosen for Donnie Darko was perfect for it. Although it still needed a push...

For the first 10 years of his movie acting career, Dwayne Johnson was hungry to earn his bonafides as a serious performer. Oh sure, he was more than willing to play to the cheap seats by starring in stuff like "The Scorpion King" and "Doom." But this was also the era in which the wrestling legend worked with "Donnie Darko" director Richard Kelly on his gonzo cult curiosity "Southland Tales" and gleefully preened in front of a mirror as an out-and-proud gay bodyguard in F. Gary Gray's "Get Shorty" sequel "Be Cool." Having yet to establish a clean-cut brand for himself, the 2000s saw The Rock taking the kind of risks he would shirk for a decade after finally making it big in the movies.

That extended to Johnson's action films as well. When The Rock showed up as Luke Hobbs in 2011's "Fast Five" (only one of the...

The ending is the most important part of a movie. It is what creates the effects and emotions the audience is left with. Some endings imprint themselves on viewers’ minds and some continue to amaze audiences no matter how much time has passed.

Movies with cliffhangers and shocking endings that keep the audience on the edge of their seats are hard to come by. With their twisted narratives and layered plotlines, these movies make the viewers question what they think they know. They progress subtly, until the final jaw-dropping scene changes everything and has one thinking about it for days.

The ultimate element of surprise can truly make or break a film. Sometimes, a movie’s performance can be judged on how impactfully it leaves one stunned. Hence, here is a list of movies that can potentially leave one scratching their heads; ranked from better to best.

10. Gone Girl (2014) Rosamund Pike...

When filmmaker Richard Kelly made his feature directorial debut "Donnie Darko" in 2001, it caused a stir in the arthouse world. "Donnie Darko" quickly accumulated a passionate cult who fell in love with its unbalanced hero (Jake Gyllenhaal) and its twisted time-travel plot. It was a combination psychological horror film and bizarro indie coming-of-age-in-the-1980s tale. Unsurprisingly, it only took a few additional years for "Donnie Darko" to become a regular staple on the midnight movie circuit, with fans dressing up as the film's enigmatic Frank the Bunny on Halloween.

The cult success of "Donnie Darko," however, seemingly went to Kelly's head as he appeared to become very, very convinced of his own importance as a new artistic voice in the indie film world. It took five years, but he eventually returned to theaters with the utterly gonzo "Southland Tales," an epic and ambitious film about the horrors of the George W. Bush administration.

While the thriller genre shares plenty of elements with similar varieties of movies like horror and drama, thrillers have the unique ability to draw audiences in and make them unsure who to trust. These films use unreliable narrators, multiple realities, and differing perspectives. Often, movies like this have an unforgettable twist that throws the very nature of the story into question. The line between life and death is also a theme frequently touched upon in the most mind-bending psychological thrillers that purposefully throw the audience off course to disorient and surprise them.

Some of the most disturbing psychological thriller movies blend different genres into the script to draw audiences in and make them question their realities. It becomes clear through subtle hints and foreshadowing that what the characters believe and what the audience sees isn't the full story and that something is going on behind the scenes. While it's typical...

Rue the Christmas blues no more — the Criterion Channel has you covered with plenty of great films to stream this holiday season thanks to the platform’s December lineup.

As announced on Wednesday, Criterion Channel starting December 1 will host a greatest-hits collection of “Pope of Trash” John Waters’ most iconic movies. Divine-starring classics such as “Multiple Maniacs” (1970), “Female Trouble” (1974), “Hairspray” (1988), and “Polyester” (1981) fit the bill, while you shouldn’t miss a camped-up Kathleen Turner as a murderous suburban matriarch in “Serial Mom,” a role her agents told her would ruin her career. Well, the rest is history. For a bonus, John Waters also provides interview commentary on a selection of some of his own favorite movies, including Ingmar Bergman’s 1958 “Brink of Life,” Samuel Fuller’s 1964 “The Naked Kiss,” and Barbara Loden’s influential 1970 classic “Wanda.”

Elsewhere, Criterion Channel celebrates five decades of Alfred Hitchcock’s career with a murderer’s row of all-timers,...

Now that they’ve set the year’s best film for a December 10 debut, the Criterion Channel have unveiled the rest of next month’s selection. John Waters’ films are inseparable from John Waters’ presence, making fitting Criterion’s decision to pair an eight-film retrospective (Multiple Maniacs to Cecil B. Demented) with his own “Adventures in Moviegoing” wherein the director extols virtues of Bergman, Chabrol, Barbara Loden, and Samuel Fuller. His own Polyester will have a Criterion Edition alongside the Bob Dylan doc Don’t Look Back, an iconic film in its own right and, I think, fitting companion to The Unknown with Lon Chaney, also streaming on Criterion. No Country for Old Men and Election receive likewise treatment; the latter appears in “MTV Productions,” a series featuring Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, The Original Kings of Comedy, and (coming close to Freddy Got Fingered for least-expected 2024 addition) Jackass: the Movie.

Robert Eggers puts another woman (Lily-Rose Depp) under assault in his sexy and frightening take on “Nosferatu.” The “Northman” and “The Witch” director first saw F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent vampire film when he was nine years old on a scratchy old VHS tape off a 16mm print, as he told moderator Guillermo del Toro at a DGA screening packed with Academy members and critics on Thursday night. Directors John Landis, Richard Kelly, and J.C. Chandor were among the attendees chatting up Eggers afterward.

“It had a magical quality,” said Eggers of the tape. “It stayed with me.” He went on to play Count Orlok in his own high school play of “Nosferatu,” and his background as a stage and production designer before becoming a feature director is on full display here.

Focus Features is releasing the gothic horror film wide as Christmas counterprogramming on December 25, which explains why “Nosferatu” was not presented at festivals,...

While many works of Richard Matheson ended up on the small screen, the author was a giant when it came to genre. From post-apocalyptic monsters to gremlins on a plane, Matheson fathered a treasure trove of speculative stories that have since inspired countless other writers, including Stephen King. King said of the late Matheson: “[He] fired my imagination by placing his horrors not in European castles and Lovecraftian universes, but in American scenes I knew and could relate to.” And of all his homegrown writings, Matheson’s short story “Button, Button” may very well be his most approachable. For everyone can understand the allure of immediate wealth, even if that windfall comes with strings attached. Matheson, however, wove this universal desire into a unique and uncanny moral quandary — one where the offer is not only too good to be true, it also has fatal consequences.

Matheson’s unsettling tale has led to a few adaptations,...

Having Donnie Darko explained involves unknotting the movies complex timeline and doing so reveals the hidden meaning of the film. Released in 2001, Donnie Darko was a lot of different things to different viewers. The film is simultaneously an early vehicle for future superstar Jake Gyllenhaal, the directorial debut of mercurial genius Richard Kelly, and a hybrid of teen drama, science fiction, small-town mystery, and fantasy. The meaning of Donnie Darko combines difficult-to-explain alternate universes with time travel and some truly surreal symbolism.

It's a very surreal and strange movie, and this is epitomized by its finale, but that doesn't mean there's no meaning behind Donnie Darko. The film uses a lot of 80s' pop culture detritus, which creates a foggy, nostalgic atmosphere, making the ending all the more confusing for first-time viewers. Add in vortexes and mysterious talking rabbits and viewers are left with many questions. Over two decades since its release,...

Pop sensation and actor Lady Gaga is no stranger to the macabre. With her fierce love for all things gothic and horror-inspired, she’s brought dark and edgy elements to both her music and on-screen performances, like Lady Gaga’s unforgettable role in American Horror Story. Whether it’s her iconic meat dress or a performance with fake blood at the 2009 VMAs, Gaga has always embraced her love for the eerie. But which horror and thriller films rank as her personal favorites?

Gaga’s admiration for legendary director Alfred Hitchcock is no secret. In her hit song Bad Romance, she famously references three Hitchcock masterpieces: Psycho, Vertigo, and Rear Window. Her love for these films is deeply ingrained in her artistic identity.

In a 2015 interview on The Tonight Show, she even described thrillers and horror as calming for her, elaborating on her affection for the genre. This appreciation for Hitchcock extends to her music,...

Pop singer and actor Lady Gaga is no stranger to the horror genre, having starred in two seasons of Ryan Murphy's "American Horror Story," and she's always been a fan of the creepier side of entertainment. After all, this is a woman who calls her fans her "Little Monsters," wore a dress made of actual meat, and had the world's coolest live performance at the VMAs in 2009 when she started pouring fake blood from her abdomen mid-song. Even her turn as a very different take on Harley Quinn in "Joker: Folie à Deux" is horror-tinged, and she has a fabulously fierce, fearsome sense of style that's clearly inspired by gothic and horror aesthetics, too. It's clear that Gaga loves horror, but which horror movies rank among her favorites? 

Over the years, Gaga has hinted at which horror films have influenced her the most, either by revealing on social media...

In 2012, filmmaker Andrew Dominik released the follow-up to his critically acclaimed film, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford; its name, Killing Them Softly. Unfolding during the 2008 Presidential election, this film tells the story of a hitman hired to tie up loose ends following the robbery of a high-stakes Mafia poker game.

Related 10 Underrated Gangster Movies That Are Flawless From Beginning to End

There are plenty of underrated gangster films that are just as good as many of the iconic staples in the genre.

At the time of its release, Killing Them Softly became a misunderstood failure in nearly every sense of the word, one that earned the rarest of cinematic audience scores and almost burnt down all the goodwill its relatively novice filmmaker had made for himself. If Killing Them Softly is remembered for anything today, it's for being one of the final movies to feature...

Donnie Darko is a cult classic that jumps from one genre to the next at every turn of the film. At times, it feels like a coming-of-age story, while at other times, it operates as a comedy. However, the deeper-rooted story focuses on science fiction, drama, and horror. The narrative of the film Donnie Darko had audiences baffled and intrigued, keeping potential theories going to this day. Due to the peculiar tale and relatable angst, Donnie Darko spread like wildfire and invoked multiple watches. It even caused many fans to pass on their physical copies to their friends with the hopes of fresh eyes explaining or acknowledging theories about the film. Scored to stellar 80s music, the film will have you sucked in and dissecting the end over and over again.

28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, 12 seconds. That is when the world will end.

The film Donnie Darko follows a young boy...

This article contains references to violence and self harm.

Many filmmakers deliberately include last-minute twists to challenge viewers' imaginations and break traditional narrative structures. Media literacy skills and understanding typical narrative formats are essential for interpreting complex and confusing movies effectively. Directors like Christopher Nolan and David Lynch create films that require multiple viewings to fully absorb due to nonlinear storytelling and ambiguous endings.

Plenty of movies take winding story routes to ultimately click by the film's conclusion, but some throw in a last-minute twist that changes everything. This is rarely, if ever, an accident, as many filmmakers have made their names by making surrealist and nonlinear stories that push people to the brink of their imaginations. I enjoy movies like this and seek them out much of the time because they break the formula and mold of traditional narrative structure. However, it's important that the writers and directors of...

Harvey is the pièce de résistance of films featuring massive human-like bunnies

How does one go about choosing their favourite James Stewart movie? The great actor’s oeuvre spans a wide variety of genres and moods. For good ol’ fashioned Christmas cheer, it’s hard to go past It’s a Wonderful Life. For political drama, Mr Smith Goes to Washington. For repartee-filled romantic comedy, The Shop Around the Corner. For thrillers, there’s not one but three great Hitchcock productions: Vertigo, Rear Window and Rope.

These are all fine films (and we haven’t even mentioned his westerns yet), but I have a soft spot for a less well-known production, starring Stewart as a lovely drunkard whose best friend and constant companion is a giant invisible rabbit. If you’ve never heard of Harvey (the title of the film and the name of the rabbit) you may wonder whether you read that sentence correctly.

This post contains spoilers for "Donnie Darko."

Richard Kelly's "Donnie Darko" opens with a nightmarish conversation in the dark. An ominous-looking rabbit named Frank (James Duval) warns a young Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) about the world's imminent end — in 28 days, six hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds, to be precise. Although Frank looks more like a man in a rabbit costume than a tall bipedal rabbit, there is something eerily otherworldly about his presence, with the suit's soulless eyes adding a touch of the macabre. Since this fateful meeting, Donnie is guided by Frank towards a particular end, and the volatile, melancholy teen undergoes several rites of passage over the span of 28 days. Frank's mysterious influence over Donnie is just one baffling aspect of the film, as the mind-boggling nature of the events invites varied interpretations, often blurring the lines between reality and dreams, and ones where the two overlap.

It might...

Gyllenhaal shines in dark thrillers like Zodiac and Nightcrawler, proving his versatility in Hollywood. "Presumed Innocent" marks Gyllenhaal's TV debut, adding to his streak of acclaimed performances. Gyllenhaal's portrayal of complex characters like Louis Bloom in Nightcrawler showcases his brilliance as an actor.

Jake Gyllenhaal's latest project Presumed Innocent is yet another great thriller in the celebrated actor's filmography. Gyllenhaal has become one of the most recognizable movie stars on the planet who has surprisingly yet to win an Academy Award or an Emmy for his efforts. Presumed Innocent marks Gyllenhaal's television and streaming debut, which is shocking in and of itself considering the actor earned his first professional acting credit with 1991's City Slickers. Presumed Innocent's positive Rotten Tomatoes score continues Gyllenhaal's recent streak of starring in critically acclaimed movies, and now, television series.

I can still remember the first time watching Donnie Darko and being captivated...

Scott Turow wrote his first novel, Presumed Innocent, in 1987. Three years later, it was adapted into a movie starring Harrison Ford. Fast-forward over thirty years, and David E. Kelley, known for hit shows like The Practice, Alley McBeal, and Big Little Lies, is adapting the novel to the small screen for Apple TV+. This crime thriller features magnificent twists and turns and two powerful performances by Academy Award nominees Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Negga.

Presumed Innocent Plot

Presumed Innocent follows the story of a Chicago Prosecutor who finds himself a suspect in the middle of a horrific murder. The series explores sex, politics, and obsession as Rusty Sabich fights to keep his family and marriage together.

Jake Gyllenhaal and Bill Camp in “Presumed Innocent,” premiering June 12, 2024 on Apple TV+.

The Critique

David E. Kelley, a master of the thriller genre, takes on the challenge of breathing new life into a story we thought we knew.

Hollywood is bursting with "what if" scenarios -- "Sliding Doors" moments where actors, writers, directors, and craftspeople almost made a certain project, or almost walked away from a job that would become huge for their careers. With the benefit of hindsight, these situations are often fun to think about -- especially if, as in the case in today's example, A) the two people competing for a part were vying for a memorable role in a well-known movie, and B) they both went on to have great careers, so the thought exercise doesn't feel mean-spirited or just plain sad.

In an oral history of "Zoolander" published by Vanity Fair in 2021, "Zoolander" writer, producer, director, and star Ben Stiller explained how Owen Wilson nearly didn't end up playing Hansel, Derek Zoolander's rival-male-model-turned-friend, and identified the surprising actor who almost took the role instead:

"We wrote Hansel for Owen Wilson. But at a certain point,...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. To keep up with our latest features, sign up for the Weekly Edit newsletter and follow us @mubinotebook on Twitter and Instagram.NEWSThe Little Mermaid.A generative AI start-up has been accused of stealing the voices of actors for its subscription service.IATSE expects to schedule additional days of bargaining with AMPTP in June, but has vowed not to extend its contract past July 31.With Incaa defunded by Argentine president Javier Milei, Ventana Sur is in talks to relocate from Buenos Aires to Uruguay for its sixteenth edition.As the Italian film industry continues to wait on a divided government to make production tax credits available, anticipating modest cuts, a new law in the Czech Parliament would more than double the existing cap on their incentives. Meanwhile, industry insiders in Poland urge a newly elected government to increase their rebate...

When it was released in January of 2001, Richard Kelly's bleak time-travel psychological drama "Donnie Darko" caused a notable stir. The title character, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, is a teen struggling with schizophrenia in 1988, a time when Reagan's great Conservative revolution was drawing to a close and adults clung to suburban conformity as it crumbled under them. Donnie is obsessed with time-travel and regularly hallucinates a vicious, strange anthropomorphic rabbit monster named Frank (all while attempting to socialize at school and foster a romance with a classmate played by Jena Malone). Patrick Swayze appears as a cheesy self-self guru, Drew Barrymore plays one of Donnie's teachers, and Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Donnie's sister.

By turns psychedelic and weirdly moving (in a Goth sort of way), "Donnie Darko" quickly became a cult hit and rotated directly into the local midnight movie circuit, attracting a wide swath of misfits and night people.

Jake Gyllenhaal is arguably one of the bravest actors of his generation, venturing into different genres and attempting risky projects throughout his career. As a child actor, he gained prominence in the role of Homer Hickam in 1999’s October Sky. The young actor would go on to star in one of the most influential films of the 2000s Donnie Darko.

Jake Gyllenhaal as Homer Hickam in 1999’s October Sky

The complex psychological thriller was directed by Richard Kelly with Gyllenhaal playing the titular role. Most people were blown away by the film’s ambition and were left thinking about the complicated narrative and the ambiguous nature of its ending. Gyllenhaal considers this the biggest achievement of the film which has led to its resonance to this day.

Jake Gyllenhaal is a Big Advocate for The Confusingly Ambiguous Donnie Darko Ending

Jake Gyllenhaal’s Donnie Darko was one of the most...

Jake Gyllenhaal's tattoos in Road House are meaningful, with some serving as Easter eggs honoring late star Patrick Swayze. Gyllenhaal's character has a "P.S." tattoo, a clear homage to Swayze. A dragon tattoo could also reference two of Swayze's films. Other tattoos highlight Dalton's backstory and fighter mindset, adding depth to the film.

In 2024's Road House, Jake Gyllenhaal's character Elwood Dalton has several tattoos with different meanings. During press for the film, Gyllenhaal teased that there are Easter eggs and references in Road House, including the ink on Dalton's body. Specifically, the actor shared that at least a couple of the tattoos he wears in the movie are a tribute to late star Patrick Swayze, who led the original 1989 Road House film.

Gyllenhaal and Swayze met on the set of the 2001 psychological thriller Donnie Darko. Richard Kelly's film features Swayze and Gyllenhaal's characters as nemesis of sorts,...

Jake Gyllenhaal is one of Hollywood’s most versatile actors, and he has pushed his creative limits since he broke into the industry. It was apparent in spades in the psychological thriller, Donnie Darko, with Richard Kelly at its helm, with the role winning him accolades.

Since its release in 2001, the film has become quite popular among film buffs, and it has gained a bit of a cult following. The plot takes the viewers on a ride right off the bat. However, there was one scene, so gruesome, that even the director could not add to the director’s cut.

One scene from the film ended up on the cutting floor (Source: Donnie Darko)

What is Jake Gyllenhaal’s Donnie Darko about?

The film follows the story of Donald ‘Donnie’ Darko, a troubled teenager. His world is turned upside down when his sleepwalking habit helps him to escape a bizarre accident,...

The late, great, Patrick Swayze was taken from us far too soon, but left behind a legacy of phenomenal films, performances, and characters to hold near and dear. Before pivoting into a full-time acting career, Swayze was trained in ballet, ice skating, martial arts, and football. Pairing this with his dazzling good looks and acting prowess allowed him to thrive in a variety of film genres, playing fast-dancing heartthrobs and action hunks in equal measure. He had his professional breakthrough as a dancer with the Disney Theatrical Group before taking on the replacement role of Danny Zuko in a Broadway production of "Grease." This put him on the radar of Hollywood, and he made his film debut as Ace in the 1979 film "Skatetown, U.S.A."

But when the 1980s came calling, Swayze exploded in popularity and became a household name. While he certainly hit his peak when I was just a child,...

Nolan's rumored remake of The Prisoner may challenge his usual style of neatly tying up loose ends in his films. The success of Nolan's movies is often attributed to his ability to explain complex themes, unlike the intentionally ambiguous Prisoner series. Some critics believe Nolan's upcoming project, influenced by The Prisoner, may signal a shift towards embracing ambiguity over clarity.

Although Christopher Nolan’s movies often offer answers to their many mysteries, his next project could challenge this longstanding tradition. Almost all of Christopher Nolan’s movies have an array of instantly identifiable trademarks. Most of Nolan’s work features non-linear storytelling, an approach that facilitates a lot of unexpected twists and turns. A lot of Nolan’s movies feature colder color palettes defined by blue and grey tones, and many of his projects utilize practical effects over CGI where possible. However, Nolan’s rumored next movie could upend some...

Extended cuts of movies can be hit or miss, with some improving the original film while others damage it. In some cases, the theatrical release of a movie is already the best version, and tinkering with it can be unnecessary. Adding extra footage to a film can affect pacing and detract from the overall viewing experience.

Directors making extended cuts of a movie after a theatrical release has become a popular solution to fixing a poorly received film, though there are examples where it hasn't worked out as the filmmaker intended. Zack Snyder's Justice League popularized the idea of the director's cut, with an unprecedented movement forming to see the filmmaker's initially intended version of the 2017 superhero movie. His final cut was lengthy but a clear improvement over the theatrical release, which has prompted an outcry for director's cuts of movies like Suicide Squad and Rebel Moon.

Aside from...

Sci-fi allows filmmakers to explore mind-bending concepts and twist reality, resulting in unforgettable and surreal viewing experiences. Not all sci-fi movies take advantage of the genre's potential for bizarre storytelling, but there are plenty of trippy sci-fi films that engage with the genre's furthest reaches. These movies range from psychedelic masterpieces that challenge the audience's perception of reality to nightmares that delve into the depths of human existence.

While there are plenty of accessible sci-fi blockbusters, the genre is also home to some of the trippiest movies in cinema history. As a genre, sci-fi grants creators a unique level of freedom to get weird. The impossibly vast expanses of space, the endless possibilities of the future, and the tricky, reality-bending speculation involved in imagined scientific innovations all mean that the sci-fi genre is perfectly suited to stories that mess with the audience’s minds. Even though the genre has offered...

As we continue to explore the best in 2023, today we’re taking a look at the articles that you, our dear readers, enjoyed the most throughout the past twelve months. Spanning reviews, interviews, features, podcasts, news, and trailers, check out the highlights below and return for more year-end coverage as well as a glimpse into 2024.

Most-Read Reviews

1. Body Parts

2. The Exorcist: Believer

3. Barbie

4. Beau Is Afraid

5. Priscilla

6. Suzume

7. Hypnotic

8. No Hard Feelings

9. The Zone of Interest

10. The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Most-Read Interviews

1. Claire Simon on Capturing the Female Body and What Sets Her Apart From Frederick Wiseman

2. “I Don’t Think Directors Should Be Amenable”: Erik Messerschmidt on Shooting The Killer and David Fincher’s Simple Process

3. Richard Kelly on Creative Heartbreak, Political Cinema, and Future Projects

4. Christopher Blauvelt on May December, Formatting for Netflix and 35mm, and Life Lessons from Harris Savides

5. Brandon Cronenberg on Infinity Pool,...

Between 1959 and 1964, there wasn't a more consistently brilliant show on television than Rod Serling's "The Twilight Zone" — an accomplishment that's all the more amazing given its anthology concept. Every episode offered a completely new story, often in a completely different genre, from an occasionally different writer. Sure, the rotating staff was a murderer's row of scribes that included Serling, Richard Matheson, and Charles Beaumont, but, good as they were, they didn't have the safety net of writing for the same characters every time out. All they had was their imagination.

Considering Hollywood's risk-averse nature, it's a little surprising that more "Twilight Zone" episodes haven't been turned into full-blown features — at least, not as official remakes. Obviously, "Poltergeist" owes a massive creative debt to "Little Girl Lost" and it's hard to imagine "Child's Play" without the arsenic-laced genius of "Living Doll," but for straight-up adaptations there's Richard Kelly's "The Box...

Normally, to reach the level of cult status, a film has to gain an underground popularity that breathes new life into a project that may have been otherwise overlooked. But when it comes to "Five Nights at Freddy's," the smash hit gateway horror movie had already become a cult film before it was even released. Thanks to the game's immense popularity, viral reaction videos, and numerous spinoffs, books, and toys, there was already a rabid fan base built in to ensure the "FNaF" phenomenon would translate to box office success on the big screen. 

On the other hand, Richard Kelly's mind-bending masterwork "Donnie Darko" became a cult sensation that slowly gained momentum due to its complex plot that combined a teen drama with head-scratching surrealism, time travel, and alternate dimensions. There was also a giant bunny named Frank that would have blended right in among the creepy animatronics located inside Freddy Fazbear's Pizza.

Michele Civetta is the director of feature films “Agony” and “The Gateway” and music videos for Lou Reed, Sean Lennon, and Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros.

We came from a generation…

With aspirations of what cinema is as an art form, what it can do to provoke change, illuminate dreams of individual stories, and propel cultural narratives. Inspired by the American New Wave of Cinema, living under the banner of the Cahiers du Cinema auteur theory, a world where writers, directors, and producers created stories in the emerging screen revolution colliding between world cinema and the 90s independent film boom. Looking inside the cinematic kaleidoscope, imagining how to penetrate the dream factory, Kevin Turen was born to be a maverick as he surmounted this unpaved road for our generation of friends and filmmaking talent. As New York City Kids, we crossed the threshold into our professional years. Kevin helped out...

Despite what Hollywood wants us to believe, not every movie ever made needs a sequel. This did not stop the studios from trying their hardest to churn them out, leaving movie fans with only one solution: forget the sequel exists. It’s a useful technique, but, ironically, it doesn’t work on the worst films. We can say to each other, for example, that Highlander II: The Quickening never happened all we want. In our broken, battered souls though, we know it exists. And it sucks so much. The memory endures, like a cinematic kidney stone.

Trying to forget works best on sequels so middling, or cynically shoveled out that there’s not much for our memories to grab on to. If we do remember them, it’s with a befuddled “how the hell did that happen?” or a “they got A-list actors for that?” kind of awe. And then we forget about them again.

Throughout the history of film, several directors have made names for themselves thanks primarily to their work with thrillers. Fritz Lang, Brian De Palma, and David Fincher — these are just a few examples of the greatest directors the genre's ever seen. But above all, one director stood out for being the master of suspense, and of course, that was Alfred Hitchcock. He became synonymous with the thriller genre thanks to films like Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), and North by Northwest (1959).

And in that vein, many actors since the dawn of film have been consistently showing up in projects that fall under the same umbrella. Though they aren't often considered as often as their more speculative counterparts, thriller actors have been putting in great work for decades.

With nearly a dozen thrillers under his belt, one example is American actor Jake Gyllenhaal, perhaps the greatest performer the genre's ever seen. But he's...

Donnie Darko is about the human experience and how decisions can have profound effects on others, with quotes that are funny, ironic, and profound. The movie explores Donnie's fear and struggle to find his place in the world, acting out as a way to cope with his fear of growing up. The characters in Donnie Darko, like Gretchen and Karen, provide wisdom beyond their years, understanding Donnie's darkness and offering hope and compassion.

Donnie Darko quotes are a big reason that the movie remains such a beloved cult classic and still delivers an emotional punch for viewers to this day. Released in 2001, Donnie Darko is a sci-fi thriller about a high school student named Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) who is a sleepwalker. This saves his life one night when he sleepwalks far from his home on the night that a part of an airplane falls from the sky and crashes into his home.

Friends, it’s that time of year. The weather is getting colder, the nights are getting spookier, and my watchlist is getting weirder. Among the classics for Halloween movie nights is Richard Kelly’s directorial debut that both shocked attendees of Sundance in 2001, as well as risen to the ranks of the coveted title “Cult Classic” in the more than 20 years since it was made. It’s a movie that resonates with teenagers on a level that few movies have in the past couple of decades and on its own it stands as a crowd-pleasing adventure that is sure to intrigue you as much as it confuses you. I’m talking, of course, about the time traveling, water bending, and deliciously disturbing story of Donnie Darko

Ah, Donnie Darko.

When I was 13 or 14, my English teacher on this movie on for our class on the last day of school, and...

Gore Verbinski's blue-soaked, melancholic "The Ring" incited a wave of J-horror stateside upon its release in 2002. A new century always brings new horror rules, and for the early part of this century, those rules mandated imported ghosties with tragic, complex backstories. Unlike most horror remakes, especially J-horror remakes, Verbinski's "The Ring" is arguably stronger than Hideo Nakata's original, no small feat given Nakata's status as one of this generation's premier Japanese horror auteurs. Post-millennium anxiety, digital unease, and swelling domestic discontent coalesced into more than hospitable conditions for "The Ring" to not just succeed, but succeed remarkably. $249 million worldwide isn't bad by any metric.

Beyond Verbinski's assured control of the material, the cast of new and familiar faces helped augment "The Ring's" most enduring scares. While Naomi Watts might be front and center, Daveigh Chase's contributions as chief baddie Samara Morgan cannot be overstated. With a dense,...

Few American filmmakers of the last 40 years await a major rediscovery like Hal Hartley, whose traces in modern movies are either too-minor or entirely unknown. Thus it’s cause for celebration that the Criterion Channel are soon launching a major retrospective: 13 features (which constitutes all but My America) and 17 shorts, a sui generis style and persistent vision running across 30 years. Expect your Halloween party to be aswim in Henry Fool costumes.

Speaking of: there’s a one-month headstart on seasonal programming with the 13-film “High School Horror”––most notable perhaps being a streaming premiere for the uncut version of Suspiria, plus the rare opportunity to see a Robert Rodriguez movie on the Criterion Channel––and a retrospective of Hong Kong vampire movies. A retrospective of ’70s car movies offer chills and thrills of a different sort

Six films by Allan Dwan and 12 “gaslight noirs” round out the main September series; The Eight Mountains,...

Hollywood has a mixed track record when it comes to their movies and how certain ideas would have worked better in a different genre. One of the most common mismatches is between serious films that had concepts better suited to comedy, while others took themselves so seriously they became a meme. In either case, these movies would have worked much better had they been played up for jokes.

For some movies, they do so poorly or come out so generic and mediocre that adding some laughs could have taken them from obscurity to notoriety. Comedy itself has a wide range, and could take the form of anything from a dark satirical comedy to a laugh out loud romp. Sometimes, all a movie needs is to feel like it doesn't take itself too seriously and let audiences actually enjoy the story.

Related: Least Obvious Links In The MCU

One Good Cop...

Is there anything scarier than being a teenager? Bd has learned that the Criterion Channel will be launching their 13-film High School Horror collection on September 1!

The streaming service previews, “Relive your high school nightmares with these tales of terror unleashed in classrooms, gyms, locker-lined halls, and cafeterias, where psychotic slashers and supernatural monsters pursue jocks, nerds, and prom queens alike.

“The everyday fears of adolescence—social anxiety! changing bodies!—have inspired some of horror cinema’s most giddily bloodthirsty visions, from VHS-era exploitation shockers like Massacre at Central High and Slumber Party Massacre to ’90s teen-movie touchstones like I Know What You Did Last Summer and The Faculty and cult favorites like Donnie Darko and Battle Royale.”

Of particular note, Dario Argento’s Suspiria will be included in the collection, marking the worldwide streaming premiere of the restored uncut version from Synapse Films!

The full “High School Horror” lineup includes…...

The following contains spoilers for Talk to Me, now playing in theaters. The article also has a mention of suicide.

In A24's Talk to Me, it's tricky to decipher what's happening as a group of Australian teens keep using a demonic relic. This embalmed ceramic hand results in them becoming temporarily possessed, giving the kids a high unlike any other. However, as the horror unravels, it becomes clear something's manipulating them.

In time, Sophie Wilde's Mia finds the line between fiction and reality blurred. It results in Talk to Me taking wild, unpredictable twists and turns. By the time the film wraps, it's evident it draws significant influence from Hereditary, especially from one key angle.

Related: Director Richard Kelly Is 'Revisiting' the World of Donnie Darko

Talk to Me Anchors Itself on Grief

Ari Aster's Hereditary in 2018 leaned hard into grief. Annie's family didn't know they were...

Director Richard Kelly hints at the possibility of a third Donnie Darko movie. Kelly expresses regret over surrendering the rights to the first Donnie Darko but hopes to make a third film. This is not the first time Kelly has teased the development of Donnie Darko 3, hinting that a lot of work has already been done on the project.

The director behind 2001’s cult hit Donnie Darko, Richard Kelly, has revealed plans to revisit the world of Jake Gyllenhaal’s warped hero, and perhaps even making a third movie. Speaking with The Film Stage, Kelly played things coy when discussing the potential for further works set in the world of Donnie Darko, suggesting that he has already begun work on something...

“Well, yes, but I think there’s kind of, maybe, a lot I’m not allowed to say yet because I’ve been… revisiting that world substantially. So I...