What is it? An account of the real-life 1996 Mount Everest disaster, where two teams of climbers - led by Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) - were besieged by the elements. Why is it a major player? Jake Gyllenhaal, it would seem, is back in force this year to bag himself at least a nomination (as well as this and Southpaw, he's also starring in current Oscar favourite Jean-Marc Vallee's follow-up to Wild and Dallas Buyers Club, Demolition, about a banker coping with the death of his wife), though in Everest it seems more likely he'll be looking at Supporting noms alongside the likes of Keira Knightley, Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin and Robin Wright. Frankly, the film has an ensemble to die for, and while director Baltasar Kormakur hasn't had the best of luck with his English-language films as yet (2 Guns and Contraband were his two last Hollywood contributions), he's had more critical success with films made in his Icelandic homeland. Everest, at least on paper (it's a true story adapted for the screen by Oscar winner Simon Beaufoy and produced by big hitters Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner), looks like the film to break him into the American big time.
Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the dashing young princes. Follow Brogan on twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion: @BroganMorris1
