Jake Night

What is a Gyllenhaalic to do? Tonight, as if to rub salt in our wounds brought on by missing Jake, British TV is showing Brokeback Mountain and The Day After Tomorrow at exactly the same time (9pm). While it would be clearly unreasonable to compare these two very different movies, it's also true to say that the temptation to flick between the two will be insurmountable, at the cost of both. The invention of the DVD device has made such clashes easier to bear but, nevertheless, a Jake movie evening on the TV is a rare thing and one might prefer such treats spread out. While watching Jake, one will not be able to watch Jake.


As a warmer for Jake Night on the television, here is a video of Jake at the Hollywood premiere of Brokeback Mountain. Three things to note here (in addition to Jake's extraordinary beauty here): Firstly, that is the most puzzling pronunciation of'Gyllenhaal' I've heard in a while - it makes Jake sound like he is from the outer rings of Saturn; Secondly, Jake needs to watch Brokeback more often in order to get more plot details right (25 years?); Thirdly, the video editor seems to have a problem with Jake's delectable chin.



And thinking of The Day After Tomorrow, and my special regard for Wet Sam, this is a golden opportunity to repeat one of my favourite TDAT quotes from Jake - as featured in Newsweek: 'But he still gets all wet and tousled in the movie, so the real disaster he'll endure is an attack of 12-year-old girls. "Well," he says with a laugh, "I only wish I were 12 again so I could actually have fun with that."' I hope Jake is readier to deal with the 'attack' of 30- and 40-somethings... However, Jake seems to be watching such films from a certain, less-than-serious angle (from the Evening Gazette in England): 'I'm a huge fan of Independence Day... It has a great sense of humour. I found myself laughing at the secondary characters getting squashed.'


Talking of red carpets, which I wasn't really, thanks to IHJ for the new old pics of Jake at the Independent Spirit Awards back in 2003, during which Jake presented an award with the splendid British actress Minnie Driver.


Whenever I hear the name Minnie Driver, I always remember the scurrilous and completely dubious piece of gossip from that time that said that Jake had a crush on Minnie and she, realising that, was trying to fit a date with him into her busy schedule (a problem I pray we all - well, me - may face at some point). The Scottish Daily Record 'reported' back in January 2004: 'Minnie's over here touring and promoting her album at the moment and hasn't had a minute to spare but she is very flattered by Jake's attention and is currently trying to find a window in her diary to go out with him.' I think there is little doubt, however, that Minnie has long been a supporter of both Jake and good causes because, on September 24, 2002, Minnie attended a special Beverly Hills screening of Moonlight Mile to benefit the Westside Children's Center.


Other new old pics from the ISA 2003 feature Jake's mother Naomi and also Maggie wearing something... curious.



Another old favourite also made an appearance and got a hug for her trouble.


At the Moonlight Mile Hollywood screening, other guests included Naomi and a very young looking Maggie and Peter.



As to tonight's TV dilemma, maybe I'll watch Jarhead.


Includes pictures from IHJ and here.