Bring Me the Rakes

Contunuing the sometimes-successful trend of late of movies made from books getting now stretched out to multi-episode prestige miniseries' length -- think Dead Ringers, Presumed Innocent, Ripley et cetera -- we now have a third filmed version of John D. MacDonald's 1957 novel The Executioners coming our way... which we all know better by its adapted title of Cape Fear. Previously there's been the 1962 movie with Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum, and then of course there is Martin Scorsese's 1992 remake with Nick Nolte and Robert De Niro -- and now, landing on June 5th, we have Patrick Wilson and Javier Bardem tackling the roles of the good family man lawyer and the evil criminal who comes back to torment him. Plot twist, though -- in 2026 it's not just one but two prosecutors in the family, and so the wife character (previously played by Polly Bergen and Jessica Lange) is now co-responsible for the bad dude's imprisonment. All the better to give Amy Adams something to do in the role. Here, just watch the trailer:

The excellent news about this series is it's coming to us -- well yes it was executive produced by both Scorsese and one Steven Spielberg. That's sort of a big deal. But the actual person running this show is Nick Antosca, and we LOVE Nick Antosca thanks to a couple of series he ran several years back -- specifically the horror anthology Channel Zero as well as the too-too-short-lived series Brand New Cherry Flavor on Netflix. Channel Zero in particular is my beloved, and cemented Antosca as a person I will follow forever. That said -- hypocrisy alert -- I still haven't gotten around to watching his last project A Friend of the Family starring Jake Lacy. I kept forgetting it existed -- repeat with me my favorite refrain, "There are too many damn shows." 

Anyway. I'm a really over-the-top fan of Scorsese's film Cape Fear -- it's for real a Top 5 Scorsese movie for me, even while he himself isn't really a fan of it. It barely figured into his recent career-retrospective documentary, which irritated me. I adore how operatic and purple it goes -- I find it riveting, with Lange fluttering her hands in every direction madly and De Niro literally chomping chunks out of the scenery. This 2026 version seems to be aping a lot of that film visually -- there are shots taken straight from it in this trailer. I guess we'll see. I know I'll be watching. And I have to say I wouldn't be angry if Bardem's terrifying flirtations landed on Patrick Wilson this time. Just a thought!

Good Morning, World

I wrote a post once about how often Jake does "being sad in the shower" scenes (and yes it was stuffed with images, of course it was, so click on that link) and I kept thinking about that watching Presumed Innocent, his Apple+ series that just had its finale this week. Because there was a scene of him showering in nearly every episode -- either running on his treadmill or showering after said run or both, or one one wonderful ocassion dropping his grays weatpants after his run and giving us a great show. 

Anyway my point is I will miss the Weekly Jake Gyllenhaal Shower Program -- it was great while it lasted. (I have a feeling the already announced "second season" will center on different characters, but I guess we'll see.) But was it though? Great, I mean? The showering was - the show itself was really just fine. Sometimes riveting and well-acted (no I am not talking to you, O-T Fagbenle -- you are in prison for that voice) but mostly just kinda there. (And I agree with my pal Dustin at Pajiba on the ending they picked.) But the show did give us lots of fleeting shots of Jake vigorously humping, and for that we cannot, we will not, totally dismiss it.

Good Morning, World

You know -- I have mixed feelings about Presumed Innocent, Jake Gyllenhaal's ongoing Apple+ series about a lawyer who might have murdered his mistress... or I did have mixed feelings, anyway. Then they showed Jake's butt on this week's episode and all has just... vanished? I don't mean just my critical thoughts. I mean all of my thoughts. I don't know what's going on or where I am. Jake could murder me right now and I wouldn't even notice. Total vegetable town over here. Just drool and widening eyes. Now that's entertainment! Five stars, no regrets! (In all seriousness I am an episode behind so don't spoil anything for me. I just had to share these gifs before the week was through, for obvious reasons.)

Jake Takes Tribeca

Remember that scene in Pretty Woman where Richard Gere bangs Julia Roberts on the piano in the hotel bar? I hadn't thought of that scene in eons but looking at that photo of Jake Gyllenhaal brought it all flooding right back for some reason. Huh, wonder why? Aaanyway that photo is one I missed from his THR shoot last week -- see the rest here. I come bearing (and baring!) a few other Jake-flavored things, too -- most importantly the word that... 

Yeah so #PresumedInnocent is now streaming on Apple+ https://t.co/E6RZaeDTpG pic.twitter.com/dvCJojRflO

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) June 13, 2024

... yes, his Apple+ series Presumed Innocent is now streaming on Apple+. I think it's just the first two episodes? I don't know, I haven't checked, but I do believe this series is a weekly thing not a binge-it-all-at-once thing. I got to see the first two episodes at Tribeca this past week, which you might already know if you saw me shrieking on Twitter about stumbling into Jake in person -- in the flesh, as they say -- right before the screening. I posted a couple of photos on Twitter but why would I not share more if I have more? Indeed -- there is no coherent reason why I would not do that. So let's hit the jump for Jake's flesh in the vicinity of my flesh (including a video from the Q&A following the screening!)...

Tom Mercier Takes Tribeca (Me Too)

The 2024 edition of the Tribeca Film Festival kicked off last night and runs through next Sunday the 16th -- you can check out the entire line-up and such right here. One of my most anticipated movies at the festival is called Darkest Miriam and yes, it stars our boy Tom Mercier (of Synonyms and We Are Who We Are fame) as a cab driver who romances a librarian in Toronto -- Tom would be enough to get me to watch the movie but the big reveal is this was produced by no less than Charlie Kaufman! Now we're talking. I really have no idea what to expect from it since they use words like "unclassifiable" to describe it, but I can't wait.

Anyway I've been steeped deep in Tribeca screeners for the past couple of weeks and have actually already watched over twenty films! You can as always keep track of what I am watching via my Letterboxd, although I tend to just log movies without writing anything out on them, especially when they're movies not out yet. My "Tribeca 2024" specific list can be found right here. 

Tis that time of year again! #tribeca pic.twitter.com/oT9nCwZnDC

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) June 6, 2024

But to get to my point over the next couple of weeks I'll be pounding out reviews of some of these movies and I'll be going to lots of in-person screenings, so it might be a lot of very little other than that until the fest is over. I'm a busy busy bee, yo. I will try to update you with posts on each thing as it happens, but there will probably be some lag -- as always it's best to stay tuned to my socials for more immediate updating. Especially Twitter. Elon be damned I still never shut up on Twitter. In summation -- right now I am gonna go work on some of those reviews, so don't expect much else today. Here's one more exciting thing though -- I will be attending the premiere of Jake Gyllenhaal's Presumed Innocent series on Sunday night! Jake will be there for a Q&A! So keep an eye on my Instagram since I'll obviously post pictures from that if possible. 

Presumed Sexy

It's only a wee minute long but the first teaser trailer for Jake Gyllenhaal's Apple+ limited series adaptation of Presumed Innocent has arrived and 1) I had forgotten it co-stars both Ruth Negga and Renate Reinsve, and 2) there are some shots in here so steamy my glasses are all fogged up, and I don't wear glasses! The moment when Renate chokes Jake...

... I am gonna need a minute or two of recovery y'all. Anyway the series will premiere on June 12th -- also before that the first episode will be screening at the Tribeca Film Festival and obviously I'm hoping to be there for that. Also on the show is Peter Sarsgaard, Lily Rabe, Elizabeth Marvel. Watch:

So what do we think? I am, unsurprisingly, a fuck yeah.

Jake Gyllenhaal Five Times

Although I certainly got pleasure from Jake's whole shredded Road House schtick I'm happy to post some photos of him looking like the dorky adorable boy we came to know and love back in the day -- these photos are ringing a bell that they might be from a shoot that's a couple of years old (I vaguely remember similar ones) but they are actually being used in a new edition of a magazine (via) so fine by me. They also give me the opportunity to share today's news that Jake's Presumed Innocent series for Apple+ will be premiering at the Tribeca fest in June! Which i will be covering, per usual, so stay tuned for more. I'll have more to say about Tribeca soon -- they started announcing their line-up while I was out sick earlier this week -- but I don't have all that in me today. Taking it slow. Hit the jump for the nice maybe-new maybe-old photos...

Presumed Miserable

A second photo of Jake Gyllenhaal in his forthcoming Apple+ series adaptation of Presumed Innocent has been floating around -- here is the first one which I shared a week ago. And now there's a second. Perhaps one day we will have a third, and then a fourth, and then we can create a flipbook and watch the entire show that way. Anyway the somberness of this photo appeals to my mood right now which is why I'm sharing it -- I'm in one hell of a shitty mood-spiral today and just willing the day to end. Lead me away, officers, I need a small cell and silence please.

Pics of the Day

It's been over a year since I last posted about Jake Gyllenhaal's first foray into television, a re-do of the Harrison Ford legal thriller Presumed Innocent (based on Scott Turow's book) for Apple and they just dropped the first official image -- Jake dapper in three-piece suits, I am here for it. The series is spearheaded by JJ Abrams and David E. Kelley so no slouch in the showrunner department -- also it co-stars Ruth Negga and Renate Reinsve and Lily Rabe and Jake's bro-in-law Peter Sarsgaard (sidenote: is there any modern actor more built for legal thriller than Pete? He just seems perfect for them) so it's got a lot going for it. No word on a release date yet, this was just a glimpse of Apple's 2024 slate. And it also included our first official look at Colin Farrell in Sugar (below), about which we know next-to-nothing exscept he plays a private detective, which is kinda obvious from the photo. Men in suits!

Jake Gyllenhaal Should Be In This Hole

The person who did the subtitles on Instagram for the trailer for Guy Ritchie's new film The Covenant starring Jake Gyllenhaal deserves an Oscar for making the above gif possible -- it's all I ever wanted, all I ever dreamed of, that gif. From now on that gif is my reaction to everything, literally everything. Anyway yes the trailer for The Covenant is here and...

... you wouldn't know it from the gifs I am posting here but it's not just a movie about bearded Jake laying in bed in varying states of undress talking about being in holes -- it's a military thriller where he goes back to Afghanistan to rescue the interpreter who'd saved his life. But then we already knew that, since I have talked about that twice over now. What I will add, since I have only expressed skepticism with regards to this minefield of a project before, is this is a solid trailer and maybe it won't be as fraught as I worried. Watch yourself and see:

This movie is out on April 21st. But wait...

... that's not the only Jake Movie News today! Which marks this as a blessed one -- some days, some weeks, pass without any Jake news. Also news today is Jake is currently filming his Apple+ series re-do of Presumed Innocent in Los Angeles, and he's been spotted a couple of times on the set! There are more photos at Just Jared right here (thx Mac) and also some photos here at IHJM too. He looks all appropriately lawyery above but the jeans below are kindy doofy, aren't they? Is this a period-piece, or are jeans like that coming back into style? Oh god no.

Presumed Negga

Looks like the next project happening for Jake Gyllenhaal (after the esteemed Road House remake, of course) will definitely be his Apple+ series adaptation of Presumed Innocent, which was announced last month and which is quick getting a cast -- namely his co-star, one queen of screens big and small a certain Ruth Negga! We're massive fans of Ruth here at MNPP and have been since her acidic-sweet turn as Tulip on Preacher or thereabouts? That was 2016, the same year as Loving, showcasing her range -- cut to her astonishing turn in Rebecca Hall's Passing in 2021 and we'll follow her anywhere, any time. I mean clearly we were watching The Jake Gyllenhaal Show, but this adds a million plusses. Negga is playing Jake's wife, whose life gets upended when he's accused of murdering his mistress -- I haven't seen the Harrison Ford movie in decades. I guess I should revisit? I mean it's not like asking me to stare at 1990 Harrison is a big ask. 

Presumed Gyllenhaal

I suppose it was only a matter of time before the hungry hungry content machine got its teeth hooked into Jake Gyllenhaal's hide, and here we are -- Deadline's reported (thx Mac) that he's signed up to star in an Apple series adaptation of Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow's 1987 legal thriller book that was turned into a Harrison Ford movie back in 1990. Because a two hour movie is not enough anymore -- now the same story must be six hour-long episodes! Anyway the people adapting this time are big, as is only fitting to bring our beloved Jack Twist and Donnie Darko down to the small screen --  JJ Abrams and David E. Kelley, specifically. I never read the book and I probably saw the movie back in the 90s on video but I remember nothing about it, so here's how they describe the plot:

"It tells the story of a horrific murder that upends the Chicago Prosecuting Attorneys’ office when one of its own is suspected of the crime... Gyllenhaal will play Rusty Sabich, the fervent prosecutor suspected of killing a close colleague when the evidence begins to point to him... As reimagined by Kelley, who is an attorney by trade, Presumed Innocent the TV series will be exploring obsession, sex, politics, and the power and limits of love, as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together."

Well sex sounds good, at least. Let's get Jake into some Skinemax shit. Anyway I don't mean to sound skeptical, I look forward to this and hope it's good, and six hour-long episodes of Jake doing anything is fine by me.