Peter speaks out on Rendition, and Jake's all smiles

When I was in Toronto I picked up the local free newspaper, the Metro, and was delighted to see an interview with Peter Sarsgaard. Rendition seemed to receive little coverage in the press, other than the occasional picture from the gala, I suppose not surprisingly considering George, Brad and Angelina were all in town at the time en force, to put it mildly. So any attention was good and, as Peter has one of the loveliest voices I've ever heard, I could imagine it as I read his discussion of the practice of rendition. It's no surprise to read that Peter's views are conflicted, just like our own, and just as Jake's have seemed to be. It's that kind of subject, it's that kind of film.


This is what Peter said. 'I feel that anything my government does in secrecy that compromises my personal liberty is not why I elected them and it makes me furious... I do also feel that in extraordinary times you have to do extraordinary things and it is a balancing act between personal freedoms and public safety that the government needs to deal with.' Peter is well aware that his film will have no impact on government policy concerning rendition but 'he believes it may help boost public awareness of the issue.' 'I think that public sentiment is changed or people are made aware in tides of things... It's not one film or one thing they read in the newspaper or one person they know that's had something happen to them... so I think we've reached a point where the public's mind is fertile, people are in a place where they can think about it because we haven't had another terrorist attack in the United States on (a September 11, 2001) scale.'


While we're on the subject, I thought I'd have a look at my Entertainment Weekly from the other week and see what Reese Witherspoon said about the film and what it portrays. 'It doesn't smash people over the head with a message - you're not even sure if the husband is innocent or guilty - which is one of the reasons I wanted to do it.' And that is all she says on the subject. The reporter comments 'But as for her own ideological opinions, even on the subject of extraordinary rendition, not even the most brutal celebrity-interview interrogation techniques can make her talk'.


I can see Reese's point of view, when considering the treatment Jake received in places on the internet after the publication of his own comments. However, it also makes me want to stand up and applaud Jake and Peter for daring to speak up with an opinion, not just on this but on many matters making it very worthwhile to listen to them.


Gyllenbits

It turns out that it wasn't only renowned journalist Diane Sawyer who was dazzled by Jake's outstanding and truly memorable performance on Saturday Night Live. SNL's Musical Director Katreese Barnes is featured in the Dream Job section of the New York Post. It's no surprise to hear that Jake's appearance on SNL is one of the very reasons why it is a dream job - I need no convincing. 'Saturday night, when the sketches come together, can be really magical. Like when Jake Gyllenhaal performed his version of the “Dreamgirls” song - that was a really rewarding moment for me. It was a Thursday night when he had the idea to sing the song, and they called me down to rehearse with him. On Friday, we brought in some backup singers, and he started gaining more confidence, and then by Saturday night he blew me away.' It's also good to hear it was all Jake's idea and his confidence grew and he probably exceeded even his own expectations. Amazing.


It seems that when Jake was in the Monster seats at Fenway Park on Friday night, he was seen wearing a Red Sox cap. Hmmmmm. He was also spotted chatting to Tom Werner, chairman of the Red Sox. I do wish we had some more photos of this event - thank heavens tennis spectators have better phone cameras.

And finally...

...there are new pictures of Jake out in wonderfully windy NYC with Noah Baumach on Saturday. I love the expressions in these photos as Jake clearly had a good time, listening and talking in an extremely animated way about what wouldn't we love to know. I particularly enjoy this first photo - Jake's supreme confidence side-by-side with Noah's shock. Call it a foible, or the consumer in me, but I can't help feeling interested in Jake's make of phone in the final shot.





Includes pictures from IHJ and JustJared.