I'm very glad to be back! Those dentists might think they can torture me to within an inch of my senses and leave me with little but rice pudding and soup to live on for a month but they can think again! (Although they would be right.) Having got through that, one returns to Blogger to find it's had quite an overhaul. If this post appears upside down, back to front, or in Sanskrit, I will not be surprised.
This post is, therefore, not only experimental, it's also a catch up of some of the DVD and Blu Ray goodness that has happened over the last month. This is because 2011 has been the year of the Jake Gyllenhaal DVD/Blu ray. This is what happens when you make key, landmark films - people want to mark their release with new discs and, I'm sure somewhere, cake and flowers. But first, the newest film that's out there: Source Code. Source Code is now out in the UK and has received a top notch review in Total Film (as well as many other places). Here is their review of the DVD and blu ray from the September issue, courtesy of IHJ.
Source Code is still making pictures in magazines across the pond and so, with thanks to BBMISwear, here is a scan from Entertainment Weekly listing Source Code as among its essential viewing as well as an ad from Blockbuster for its digital release.
2011 is the 10th anniversary of that classic Donnie Darko. I am so proud of Jake's association with this groundbreaking and, despite being fixed in the 80s, timeless piece. I've been wondering what the extras are in the commemorative Blu ray release and thanks to Flix66 we have a good idea. As you'll read, most of the extras (commentaries especially) were on the original or Director's Cut releases, including the oddity of the Richard Kelly and Kevin Smith commentary.
City Slickers is celebrating it's 20th anniversary this year and with it there was a special blu ray release. I'm grateful to BBMISwear for listening to the commentary with Billy Crystal and director Ron Underwood and extracting all things Jake from their banter:
Bill: He had great instincts.He was a family friend.His parents were good friends of ours – Naomi
and Steve – and we would always be around him at parties and things and he was
always performing.He loved musicals –
he would come out with a… a Phantom of the Opera mask and sing with that little high
pitched voice {laughter} and he would sing from South Pacific and we’d all go
‘he’s gay, he’s gotta be gay’! {laughter} So I brought him into Ron and Ron had
a great meeting with him and came out and said ‘this kids loaded, he’s like
amazing’.And that’s how Jake Gyllenhaal
ended up being in the movie.
Ron:His parents did – they wanted to really craft his career – or not just
his career but his life too.
Billy:He also was a great athlete, still is I’m sure.
Jake popping his shoulder (I just can't look...).
Billy:Look at him!
Ron: He would do this! {laughter}
Ron:I got all these toys and things for him to use in the scene and he said ‘I
can…look at…this is what I can do’!It
was amazing what he could just do with his body!
Of course, I shouldn't forget the other Jake DVD and blu ray that came out in 2011 - Love and Other Drugs. IHJ has posted some new old stills from Jake's movies including this cracker from Love and Other Drugs of Jake and Oliver Platt.
It's time to crack open the bubbly, serve up the trifle and put on a party hat - today (7 June) marks a very special day in the GyllenCalendar. Twenty years ago today, City Slickers was released in the US and a whole new career was launched. Jake Gyllenhaal was born! Well, sort of... To celebrate the fact, a blu ray of the film has been released, which for reasons that defy human knowledge, doesn't have Jake on the cover. Nevertheless, this could be one for the collection.
To make up for the lack of Jake in that picture, this video is always worth a relook. Except for the shoulder bit... I hate the shoulder bit...
Here's a clip.
Who'd have thought it? Twenty years and so many, many more to go.
LAPD Medal of Honor Ceremony
On 26 May, the LAPD Medal of Honor ceremony took place during which ten officers were awarded the highest honour for bravery given by the LAPD. Jake and others from the End of Watch crew attended the ceremony, no doubt receiving immense inspiration as the film takes shape. '“In a town where our studios turn out fictionalized accounts of hero cops, it’s amazing to see in the very same town that real guys exist,” Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti, 13th District, said.' The photo is from the LA Police Foundation.
Winter wonderland
We have yet to see the Bear Grylls and Jake Iceland Survivor experience, but there are some details in this fun piece of the hotel (Hotel Ranga) in which they stayed. Apparently, there is a stuffed polar bear in the lobby. I'm confused by the penguins and intimidated by the bearskins on the wall. Quite an experience and I must say that my ambition to go there is large. The photo below is from a previous suitably cool experience by Jake for Earth Day back in 2005.
One of the delights of Prince of Persia is that it's introduced a whole bunch of potential Gyllenhaalics-in-the-making to Jake Gyllenhaal. It's hard to see how anyone can resist but, nevertheless, it should be pointed out, that once one has dived into the cool nectar pool of Gyllenism, you won't want to pull the plug out. So, as a big welcome to all the new readers and commentors here at WDW, many of whom are now discovering Jake's earlier films for the first time, here is Part I of the WDW crib sheet to Jake Gyllenhaal's movies. Do feel free to disagree with my comments in the comment section )which may now actually be working...).
Title: City Slickers Date: 1991 Role: Danny Robbins
Hotness: NA Mascara-proof? Yes, unless you're really broody Chemistry: NA Hair: 5/10 Bonus features: Shoulder-popping
As a mere nipper, Jake Gyllenhaal semi-starred in the very successful film City Slickers as the attention-seeking, cute son of Billy Crystal, who left his father in no doubt that the only way he could ever be seen in public with him again is if he became a cowboy. As John Stewart once said, this was Jake's first cowboy movie, although, for me, this film will always be known to me as Blazing Saddles. I always get them muddled up. Billy Crystal has since said that Jake entertained the cast and crew with Show Tunes, heralding the beginning of Jake's side-career as set comic.
WDW rating: 8/10 (although that could be due to Blazing Saddles)
Title: October Sky Date: 1999 Role: Homer Hickam
Hotness: Developing Mascara-proof? Semi-waterproof mascara required Chemistry: NA (although Laura Dern looked keen) Sex scenes: NA (but Laura Dern looked keen) Hair: 7/10 Bonus features: Good science and plenty of dirt
October Sky gave Jake his first lead role. Still at college and reading literary classics between scenes, Jake starred as a coal miner's lad who looked to the stars to avoid his fate beneath the ground. In this role, Jake made an astronaut who'd been to the moon cry. Without doubt, this is one of Jake's finest roles and I defy you to stay dry-eyed when the young Homer faces up to his fate and gets into that coal lift. This was the first effective use in a movie of Jake's blue eyes - a heart throb in the making and a fine actor to boot. One of my favourites.
WDW rating: 8/10
Title: Donnie Darko Date: 2001 Role: Donnie Darko
Hotness: 5/10 Mascara-proof? No (although you may not understand why you're crying and it may be at the wrong bit) Chemistry: 6/10 (Jenna Malone) Hair: 7/10 Sex scenes: Donnie was too stressed Bonus features: rabbits, smurfs, Halloween
The film that Jake is asked about more than any other, Donnie Darko is the most confusing film ever made and no one has a clue what it's about, including Richard Kelly, from whose mind it sprang, and Jake. It is quite possible that the only person who knows what's going on is an IT officer that I worked with in 2004. When prompted Jake can deliver some great transcendental background but the delight of Donnie Darko is that it doesn't really matter. The end is painful, heightened by Donnie's sister being played by Jake's sister, and Maggie has said that when filming the final scenes she and Jake kept apart to keep the emotion raw. The soundtrack is excellent - never has Duran Duran been used to such great effect. This film was not a 'commercial success' (it opened in the US just days after 9/11) but it continues to win over new fans and in the UK especially has been a big success. I can't think of any other film that can be argued over quite like this one or treasured quite like it. First of the great Jake commentaries.
WDW rating: 10/10
Title: Bubble Boy Date: 2001 Role: Jimmy Livingston
Hotness: 2/10 Mascara-proof? No (father and son scenes are very moving) Chemistry: 4/10 (Marley Shelton) Jake had a thing for Ever Carradine Sex scenes: No sex before marriage Hair: 0/10 Bonus features: underpants, Bubble Guinea Pig, dinosaurs
Nothing divides the modern world quite like Bubble Boy. At times Jake has defended it, at other times he's brushed over it. But, without doubt, no Jake film has the power to make my sides hurt with laughter like this one. The script is fantastic, Jake's delivery of those lines is spot on, the supporting actors - notably Swoosie Kurtz and John Carroll Fynch (who arguably appears in every Jake film ever made) - are fabulous. Other elements to relish include the Bright and Shiney people, Jimmy trying to buy a bus ticket and the stealing the beer scene. And the cow. 'And then Pinocchio came out of his plastic bubble and touched the filthy little whore next door and died. The End!' 'Supper time was the best! Nothing could beat Mom's homemade, vitamin-rich, soy-based, germ-free, fat-free fiber cookies.' Last but not least, Bubble Boy features my favourite Jake Gyllenhaal commentary: Jake and director Blair Hayes were made to be a double act. Some people think this film is rubbish - they are, of course, wrong.
WDW rating: 9/10
Title: Lovely & Amazing Date: 2001 Role: Jordan
Hotness: 5/10 Mascara-proof? Yes Chemistry: 5/10 (Catherine Keener) Sex scenes: kiss in a car Hair: 5/10 Bonus features: bad shirts, photography tips
Lovely & Amazing was the first in a stretch of films when Jake appeared as an older woman's lovetoy, plaything and sex object. The downside of this arrangement was that Jake did not appear in these films enough, with much of the attention focusing on the inner turmoil of the older woman in question. Meanwhile, Jake's character was left in the dark(room) quite a lot of the time. Catherine Keener was a great match for Jake here and, of course, they were later to team up again (although not romantically) in the film that may never be but one hopes it will be, Nailed. Not a bad film by any means, this film is, however, penalised as Jake wasn't in it very much.
WDW rating: 5/10
Title: The Good Girl Date: 2002 Role: Possibly Holden
Hotness: 5/10 Mascara-proof? No Chemistry: 9/10 (Jennifer Aniston) Sex scenes: Yes (Jen's first) Hair: 5/10 Bonus features: swimming, accents, car interiors
This is a film that grows on me whenever I see it, which, admittedly, isn't very much as I've only seen it twice. Again we have a film where Jake is taken under the wing of an older woman - although as the woman is Jen Aniston, this can hardly be seen as detrimental. This film isn't particularly light and should not be watched sober. It also had the peculiar side-effect of putting me off American shops for a while. Other people rave about this film. Other people also rave about Jake's hair in this film. This film does, though, have the potential of being a great tragedy (depending on how sober one is).
How to describe Highway....? I can't, despite having seen it on a number of occasions, and therefore I called on the world's leading expert on Highway, Ruby, known throughout Jakedom for her 'Pilot thing'. And I quote: 'Jake's character is called Pilot! And he's the major old-school happener :D Pilot is adorable. John C McGinley plays a long-haired middle-aged stoner called Johnny the Fox. Piii-lot. He's adorable and sexually confused. Jake has a spider painted on his face. He's searching for the "once in a lifetime girl of my dreams and reason to believe" Pilot is adorable. It has an alligator boy. um.....Pilot is adorable.' And there you have it. I have to add that the eyes have it in Highway.
WDW rating: 6/10; Ruby rating: 10/10
Title: Moonlight Mile Date: 2002 Role: Joe Nast
Hotness: 8/10 Mascara-proof: No. Don't wear it! Chemistry: 10/10 (Ellen Pompeo) Sex scenes: Hot Hair: 5/10 Bonus features: New England scenery, post office, dog
Moonlight Mile marked a change in Jake's career. Still the young man, at the beck and call of his elders and betters, he nevertheless showed that he could hold a film tightly together and the camera loved him. Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon and Holly Hunter - fine actors - and yet the camera loved Jake. This was Ellen Pompeo's break and the chemistry was bound to sizzle - her casting followed her encounter with Jake in an LA carpark when he told her that she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. The power and emotion of Joe Nast's scenes are matched every step by the power and emotion of Bertie's. This film contains the most emotional of all Jake's lines for me - 'I lost my friend' - and I could wrap myself up in the big, comfy brown blanket that is Moonlight Mile and I would wallow in it. There's a strange mix here of suffocating brown earth and big blue sky - perfect.
Another great soundtrack (Rolling Stone's Moonlight Mile will tear your heart out) and another great commentary.
WDW Rating: 10+/10
End of Part 1: After Moonlight Mile, there could be little doubt that Jake Gyllenhaal was a name to watch (even if one couldn't spell it). No longer would he be the distraction in a story of women facing crises in their lives - Jake had a couple more steps to take and then he would be in the lead. I have no doubt that there are many who would disagree with some of my views above - so I would love to hear what you think.
Note: The films above are presented in IMDb order of release.
Includes pictures from IHJ. Thanks to Ruby for the Pilot input!
