End of Watch tops the charts, Jake Gyllenhaal in Atlanta and Mississippi Grind off to Berlin

This post must start with a disclaimer. I am writing it on an alien laptop, my own having decided to pull its own plug yesterday. Therefore, there is a high likelihood of a) typos; b) curses; c) violence. Actually, talking of curses and violence, this brings me on naturally to Jake Gyllenhaal's latest R-rated watch-from-behind-the-fingers movie, End of Watch, which is top of the US DVD sales chart. It is wonderful to see the film repeatting its box office success and this bodes well for the UK release in March. The film may have been rushed over in the theatres but it could come into its own on the smaller screen.

The other good news this week is the news from Deadline that Mississippi Grind, Jake's next film, is to start shooting in the spring. So straight on the heels of Prisoners, Jake will be back at work. Whether it's anywhere near the Mississippi is another matter. It's also good to hear that Mississippi Grind will be proffered at the Berlinale this year, just twelve months after we had the excitement of watching Jake notch up some jury service duty at the German festival.

Jake, meanwhile, continues to film Prisoners in Georgia mising it with visits to Whole Foods and NYC. We also hear that Jake is back doing his Spin classes, known in the gym where he's been seen in Atlanta as Fly Wheel Sports. 'He looked like he worked out hard'.It looks as if photos may be few and far between.

Some time ago we had a poll on WDW in which we put to the vote what type of film we would like to see Jake. The winner was a historical drama (possibly something to do with the white billowing shirts and tight trousers). With the UK gripped by Richard III following his discovery in a Leicester car park, more or less in one piece, the time is ripe for Jake to bring the past to life. I can just see him as a chivalrous knight fighting wrongs and blackguard lords. That or a pirate. What do you think? Any preference?

Thanks to IHJ for the pics.

Jake Gyllenhaal on Mike Leigh's Berlinale Jury: 'The British love to debate!'

Jake Gyllenhaal has left Berlin and it's quite likely he's going to need to put his feet up for quite a while. Approximately 30 awards are decided and handed out by the Berlinale Jury each year and the time taken for that doesn't even include the time taken to watch the films in the first place. Take a look at the list here. And read below to see just how difficult and time-consuming all this decision making was.

An account of Jake's last evening in Berlin - at the bear dinner (I'm assuming no bear was actually consumed) - has been published and I'm grateful to Mrs JG for taking the time to translate it for us all: 'After the gala award ceremony the jury, the filmmakers and Berlin's high society gather for an elegant and cheerful dinner, this time held in the "Mirrortent" at the Martin-Gropius-Bau.'

'I especially wanted to meet the actor Jake Gyllenhaal. To hopefully find out a bit about his ten days in Berlin, which he had spent watching and judging movies. Smoking in the smoking section, we started talking, although the man from Hollywood does not smoke. First question: "Was it hard?" Good humored and relaxed the young man (31, best known from the movies "Donnie Darko" and "Brokeback Mountain") replies: "We had an awful lot of discussion! Not because the Berlinale film festival is political, "he says," but because our jury president, Mike Leigh, is British. And the British love to debate!" Even in extreme forms. "Once we were seated twelve fucking hours around a table and debated." What he or others decided, criticized or discussed upon specifically, Mr. Gyllenhaal does not reveal, that's not what a Berlinale juror does. "But it definitely was always clear and interesting to see how different actors and directors analyze films." And: "We eight jurors were always very sure right away, what movies we found good or remarkable. We never had to argue whether a competition entry gave enough to wonder about it."

Before the smoking/non smoking-break ends and we move back into the mirror tent room - where guests such as BMW man Hans-Reiner Schroeder, tenor Jonas Kaufmann, model Franziska Knuppe, the arts-and-artists professors Peter Raue and Joachim Sartorius enjoy Zander with lentils and eggplant lasagna - I want to know something about Jake Gyllenhaal's "Brokeback Mountain", the Oscar-winning masterpiece from 2005. After all, thanks to this movie the gay world has, what the heterosexuals have with "Titanic": an irresistibly beautiful, tragic love story. How, Mr. Gyllenhaal, do I convince a non-gay friend to finally watch it? "Tell him it is a universal, although special love story. Told in a uniquely great film!"'

The British love to debate? Surely not... Do we? Can't believe that... Maybe just a little bit. 

Many thanks to Mrs JG and to IHJ for the wonderful pictures! I hope Jake has a good flight home (with good movies)

Berlinale Finale and a WDW Shakespearean Interlude

The Berlinale is over. Last night, the end of the Berlin Film Festival was marked by the closing awards ceremony. At the ceremony, Jake Gyllenhaal awarded the silver bear for best actress to the 15-year old star of Rebelle (Witch), Rachel Mwanza from Congo who was clearly thrilled. You can see the closing ceremony in its entirety here. The video of the last red carpet, which also featured Jake, is also there, just scroll through the videos.

I particularly liked the glasses, hooked over the waistcoat.

Jake also marked the end of the Berlinale with a haircut at the Jana Salon in Berlin's Potsdamer Platz. The beanie is hopefully more a result of the cold weather than a verdict on the cut...

Many thanks to IHJ for the photos from yesterday and last night. There are many more there. The Berlinale has been a wonderful event - certainly for us and hopefully for Jake. I hope it's the first of many events we can look forward to this year. If you enjoyed the Berlinale, you might want to vote for Jake here.

WDW Shakespearean Interlude

On the way back from travels up north today, we called in to Stratford upon Avon, the birthplace of Shakespeare. His actual birthplace is a bit of a tourist magnet to say the least.

Talking of magnets, if you want to buy one with Shakespeare's face on it, you could try the Shakespeare Giftshop next door.

This photo is of a part of the frontage of the Garrick, Startford's oldest pub - dating back to the 1400s and... haunted.

We also popped by the cottage of Anne Hathaway - not the one from Love and Other Drugs but the one who married Shakespeare.

Photos by WDW.

Jake Gyllenhaal causes a stir at the Berlinale - a catch up

While it is quite possible that Jake Gyllenhaal is not directly responsible for the fall of the German President Christian Wulff, despite the resignation following his reception for Jake and other members of the Berlinale jury, Jake is still causing somewhat of a stir. With thanks to a reader for a link, here is an account by a Hungarian blogger of her birthday treat with Jake, who was very definitely not to be confused with Robert Pattinson, the Pale One. Google will help you with a translation, except if your're Hungarian, in which case you may be able to help us with the translation.

After having seen off the President, Jake and the others went to a reception at the US Embassy in Berlin, as mentioned a couple of days ago. You can watch the video here. Thanks to IHJ for the new pictures from the event.

We also have a photo of Jake arriving back at his Berlin hotel on 15 April, the day after the Golden Bear ceremony with Meryl Streep.

Talking of Meryl Streep, there is a transcript now of the exchange between Jake and Meryl at the ceremony, thanks to Indiwire: "To be frank," he said. "Meryl Streep was not too fond of the 13-year-old version of me. Back in the early 1990s, Hank and I were going around in our baggy pants and listening to the rap artists of the day -- like Warren G and Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg -- pretending to be gangsters. In truth, and it may come as a great surprise to many of you, we were actually just wussies. But for some reason Meryl didn't take a liking to me and didn't really trust me with her son. As we all know from her work, Meryl Streep has a real capacity to be terrifying. We've all seen 'The Devil Wears Prada.'"

'"He was a bad influence on my son," she began. "I remember the first time I met him and he and my son were pretending to be bartenders at his big sister Maggie's birthday party -- which was a cabaret in the basement of their house. They were serving cokes and lemonade, they said. They had little red suits on and fake mustaches, and I'm so glad to see that Jake can grow his own now. But Jake Gyllenhaal is the son of the splendid screenwriter Naomi Fomer and director Stephen Gyllenhaal so he comes by his show business pedigree honestly.'

Jake's appearance at the Berlinale has certainly attracted some positive attention as well for his get up. There are a couple of days left - so much more could happen...

Thanks to IHJ for the pictures and to Mermon for help with some of the links!

Jake Gyllenhaal presents Berllin's Golden Bear to Meryl Streep - aka 'Hank's mom'

Last night, fresh from her shoe-shedding success at the BAFTAs, Meryl Streep received the Berlinale's highest honour, the Golden Bear. There to present the Bear for a lifetime's achievement to Meryl was Jake Gyllenhaal. We've heard before, during the Rendition days in which Jake and Meryl co-starred but never together, that Jake knew Meryl and her family as a child and more of this was revealed last night by 'Hank's mom'. It's been a while since we've seen Jake make such a long speech. Enjoy it!



Many thanks to IHJ for the wonderful photos! There are lots more there.

Jake Gyllenhaal's Berlinale duties and a Valentine kiss

While the attention of the Berlinale media flutters towards Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Jake Gyllenhaal continues his jury duty, sitting through umpteen movies a day whilst also sampling the culinary delights of the city. While Jake has not been spotted much outside the cinemas and galas of the festival, one has to think that Jake is doing all he can to experience the wonderful flavours of Berlin. We have reports that Jake has attended a reception at the American Embassy. He was also invited along with the rest of the jury to a weekend reception with the German president Christian Wulff.

I cannot help but be intrigued by the chairs. They look as if they bounce. Surely they don't really bounce?

There are also photos from a function at Berlin's China Club and at the Berlinale's launch party - many thanks to IHJ for all these pictures!

Let us hope that the Berlinale allows Jake out of the dark theatres soon so that we can see how he's getting on. Meanwhile, let's pucker up and wish Jake a very happy Valentine's!

My gift to you all is a reminder of what might well be my favourite Jake interview ever.

Jake Gyllenhaal in Berlin - videos, pictures and tweets - and helping Maggie out at her co-operative? Plus Maggie and Ewan McGregor

By this stage it is possible that Jake Gyllenhaal is not only square eyed, he may also have overdone the popcorn and have a cinema seat-shaped bottom. Yes, the Berlinale is well and truly underway and, judging by the tweets of friends over there watching the movies, the films are - to put it politely - varied in quality. With Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie probably on the way, Jake is continuing to cause a stir in the Berlin media and among lucky tweeters.

Many thanks to @Lisa_Glamkitty for sharing her experiences of the red carpet with Jake and Diane Kruger, not to mention some great photos! Lisa reported that: 'he said to some fans standing next to me that everyone looks so similiar with all these winter clothes because they had asked him if he remembers them because they met him before.. when he was right in front of me, signing stuff, some people asked for autographs including their names and he seemed a bit sorry but said he can't do this because he wants to sign as many photos as possible in the few minutes he's got and it's too loud to understand the different names, too. He was pretty lovely, honestly, and seemed so relaxed even though it's been busy like hell! ;)' Thanks also to Mermon for her investigations!

We also have a twitter exchange from SweetHomeBerlin about sharing a ciggie break with Jake. Of course this raises the inevitable question over whether Jake was participating in the puffing but it does sound like he's having a relaxed and friendly time in Berlin.






Many thanks to Monica for uploading the videos!

Maggie and Ewan McGregor

Maggie has been filming a HBO drama The Corrections with Ewan McGregor in NYC and I couldn't resist these pictures from JustJared. Also, the NYP has been talking about the co-operative at Maggie's neighbourhood in Brooklyn. It seems Maggie has been doing her shifts and has even been known to bring Jake along - although behind the scenes to 'avoid spills in the aisles'.

My review of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is now up at MovieBrit.

The Berlinale jury's love for Mike Leigh and WDW Interlude - Five years on!

You'll be delighted to hear that, according to president Mike Leigh, his Berlinale jury is 'very well-behaved'. That might well be because, according to The Hollywood Reporter, its members all want to work with him. As for Jake Gyllenhaal: 'I was incredibly excited to be asked because I am a big fan of Mike Leigh... I loved his films when I was a young boy. Being in a room with a number of artists and just talking about other work, I consider it a privilege and honor to be part of it.'

Thanks to IHJ for presenting these beautiful festival portraits. There's a lot to catch up on with the Berlinale and so watch this space!

WDW Interlude

I can't let 11 February pass by without mention, especially not this year. Today is five years since the most incredible adventure - the first time I saw Jake in person and met good friends who are a hugely important part of my life today. I can count my life-changing days on one hand and this is one of them. BAFTAs 2007. I've seen Jake quite a few times since over the years, as a fan and as press, for an instant or for an hour, and in all sorts of wonderful cities, but I doubt anything can compare with that freezing cold very long day in Covent Garden. It's not every day you ask Helen Mirren if she would budge so that you can get a better view of Jake Gyllenhaal... Thanks to Ruby, Anouska and Jake for such an amazing, unforgettable, perfect day!

Berlinale! Video and photo recap of Jake Gyllenhaal's first day of jury duty as day 2 gets underway

Good days indeed! Today the Berlinale jury gets down to its serious movie-watching work, which means that we can do some catching up. Firstly, many thanks to my lovely friend at Filmaluation for thinking of me when he was at the press conference yesterday as part of his coverage of the festival and took some pictures. He was so close! Thanks to him for letting me share them. Filmaluation is covering the Berlin Festival so do pop by and cheer him on as he sits through what might be kindly described as a mixed bag...

Highlights of the press conference can be seen here



There is another video of the conference here. Here is a brief video of Jake's arrival:



Yesterday evening the opening gala took place - Farewell, My Queen about Marie Antoinette starring Diane Kruger whom, as you might recall, appeared on TV with Jake during the Cannes Film Festival back in 2007. Jake walked the red carpet, posing for pictures and signing autographs and mingling with, among others, Max von Sydow. Thanks to IHJ for the pictures! So, so good to see Jake walking a red carpet again.

In the theatre, Jake and the rest of the jury were introduced and interviewed on stage. Jake's surname broke the ice and, as seems to be the case in 9 out of every 10 live interviews, gets some scrutiny. You can watch the interview here. If you can't see the video below, here is the link.



There are some other videos around. Here is one of Jake and the jury in Berlin (thanks to Monica for uploading):



All in all, a great start and so great to see Jake Movie Star Gyllenhaal back! Thanks again to IHJ for the photos - there are many more there.

As mentioned before, today the work proper starts and early this morning Jake was in his seat ready to go:

Thanks must also go to BBMISwear for the much appreciated help!