Independently spirited - Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal

Last night, Maggie Gyllenhaal was among those toasting made-on-a-budget-movies at the Independent Spirit Awards in LA.


This not only meant that Avatar was out of the running by at least $5 billion, it also meant that Maggie could try out some dress options ahead of The Big Day on Sunday. A tweeter mentioned that they had saved the day by lending Maggie a safety pin for her dress. I would suggest that possibly one safety pin was not enough for the job.


Peter Sarsgaard was there to support Maggie and also to celebrate the success of An Education which won the Best Foreign Movie award.



Maggie presented Crazy Heart co-star Jeff Bridges with his Best Actor award. I hope Jeff has mammoth mantelpieces.


Brother Jake Gyllenhaal wasn't about at the ISAs although he has been spotted back in LA, where he is, no doubt as we speak, ironing his shirt in preparation for Sunday's Oscars. But Jake was a regular feature at the Independent Spirit Awards back in the mid Noughties, as befitting an actor who knows the definition of an Indie Movie.


The ISAs have seen Jake hobnob with an array of stars and co-stars. Here are a few of my personal favourites from these visits to the shining white marquis of Santa Monica. These pictures also demonstrate how Jake's hair length and his body language are directly related. And that he smells good.










Includes pictures from IHJ, here, here and a WDW scan.

[Updated] Photo of Jake in NYC for GQ shoot? Jake Gyllenhaal helps Maggie to celebrate at Crazy Heart LA bash

[Update] Jake Gyllenhaal has been spotted I did think from the look of him that this was from the set of Source Code so thanks very much for the info that this is in NYC and that he's shooting a GQ spread. Good stuff! Thanks to a reader for the heads up and to the poster!


You must be able to smell it - it's the smell of Oscar Fever. I saw a feature on the UK news today for Crazy Heart, which included an interview with Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jeff Bridges. It's hard to imagine just how they feel at the moment, but it's great to see that brother Jake Gyllenhaal has been caught up in the celebrations and is getting to do more than just provide pancake support. Thanks to a friend for sending in this scan from People of Jake, Maggie and Peter at a Crazy Heart party in LA on 15 February. I do believe Jake is enjoying a Proper Drink. (Unfortunately, People's editor didn't realise it's not the done thing to cut people in half.)


As part of the run up to the Oscars, Entertainment Weekly has been profiling the event. Thanks to regular WDW correspondent Elmo for my copy.


It seems impossible, but Jake looked just as hot rehearsing for the Oscars as he did walking the red carpet or presenting. In the scan below we see Jake with Bruce Vilanch, head writer for the Academy Awards, who, during rehearsals did fool the audience for a quite considerable amount of time... 'Head writer Bruce Vilanch -- known for his shaggy yellow hair, clever T-shirts and orb-like form --stood and said, "I'm Jake Gyllenhaal. That picture really changed my life.'' The room roared.'




Talking of celebrating, it never hurts to remind ourselves of a pre-Oscar party that Jake went to but can't actually remember. Uma Thurman can. Ang can too.




Includes pictures from IHJ. Thanks to BBMISwear for getting the EW off Elmo :-)

[Updated] New behind the scenes PoP feature! Time to warm up with Prince Dastan - and Jake Gyllenhaal's NYC birthday

Updated the post to add a new Behind the Scenes featurette for Prince of Persia. We get additional new scenes, more information about the dagger ('nice knife') and a lot more Jake Gyllenhaal, complete with accent. Many thanks to Stephanie for the heads up!



Some little details...





On with the post!

You might have noticed, but it's cold out there. Of course, if it's not cold where you are and it's actually hot, then you wouldn't have noticed. In which case, don't rub it in. But as it is extremely cold here, and there's not much chance of going anywhere by train, plane or car (a horse might be an option, or a sled), it's good to swap snow for sand, if only in our heads. Take a look at these two new pictures of Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton from the Prince of Persia and you'll feel the cockles of your heart warming in no time at all.


No North Face extra quilted jacket here, no industrial strength Uggs, not even mittens. Instead we have leather straps, flimsy capes, tight armour, biceps, veins on biceps, belts, studs, furtive sexy glances - and a snood. Thanks to Jake for transporting us to the Oasis of PoP. With all those straps and accessories, I'm wondering how long it takes Prince Dastan to get up in the morning.


In the real and chillier world of The Big Freeze, Jake spent at least a chuck of his birthday evening at a charity bash for Gods Love We Deliver at the Smyth Hotel in Tribeca, NYC. It is always good to see Jake associated with a good cause and this one came equipped with a Mark Ronson set. '"No one wanted to leave because of the snow, so DJ Mark Ronson just kept playing music." Also snowbound were Jake Gyllenhaal, Matt Dillon, Gina Gershon and Philip Seymour Hoffman.' The fact that the event was sponsored (rather appropriately) by 42Below Vodka may have helped.


Maggie Gyllenhaal venture out into The Great Blizzard on Monday night when she appeared on the David Letterman Show and revealed that Ramona is a great dancer, probably about to get a flamenco dress for Christmas. Here's a brief snippet in which Maggie describes her tactic for accosting famous actors at the Globes.



Maggie's other half, Peter Sarsgaard, has just finished filming Knight and Day in Boston with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. Even though the filming finished only days ago and the release is not until July 2010, it already has a trailer. Take a look because, although the film seems a little odd, in the words of the NYPost, 'any Peter Sarsgaard is good Peter Sarsgaard'.



Pictures from IHJ, here and JJ.

Maggie in the spotlight, an actors' roundtable, an octopus and WDW Interlude continues...

In all the excitement over the release of Brothers in the US this week, it's been easy to overlook that Jake Gyllenhaal's sister Maggie had the premiere for her new movie Crazy Heart this week and it too is getting a very loud Oscar Buzz. Jake didn't walk the red carpet, leaving Maggie in silver in the spotlight, but he did go to the screening.


You can read a full report of the premiere and see pics here (but alas none of Jake but I bet he looked dapper).


Talking of Oscar Buzz, another family member is also getting some - Peter Sarsgaard. And he is part of a fascinating cross-discussion about the art of acting hosted by The Hollywood Reporter.


'Nicolas Cage ("Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call -- New Orleans"); Colin Firth ("A Single Man"); Morgan Freeman ("Invictus"); Peter Sarsgaard ("An Education"); Stanley Tucci ("Julie & Julia," "The Lovely Bones"); and Christoph Waltz ("Inglourious Basterds") -- whose work has been lauded as among the year's best.' I hope you enjoy the videos as much as I did.





This Saturday, Jake will be presenting the most prestigious award of best game at the VGA in LA for Spike. Geoff Keighley, a host on Spike TV, tweeted 'Besides the Prince of Persia game reveal at #VGAs, we will show you an exclusive new clip of the film introduced by Jake Gyllenhaal.' I'm wondering what kind of clip - and I can't wait.

Tomorrow is Sesame Street day at long last and here's hoping we get more than a two minute clip of Jake simply pulling a happy octopus of his head to explain 'separate'. Talking of octopuses...


WDW at Sea World Interlude

Yesterday was Sea World day, hence the Pacific Octopus. This means a day of walking around smelling of fish - I fed fish to the stingrays (and a bird), I fed fish to the dolphins (no bird this time) and I fed fish to the sealions (and a bird). I was informed that the sealion fish was called Smelt, at which I delivered a joke that I'm sure the fish provider had never heard before - or, at least, not in the preceding two minutes.


I stroked an alligator, deciding not to feed that critter. I was fearless - however it was only about a week old. A big guy refused to go near it as he said it would have his hand off. Bear in mind that the baby alligator's mouth was the size of this guy's finger. Could have had a fingernail off, I suppose. But the dolphin moment was the best.


I saw the most boring animal on the planet - the manatee - and one of the most exciting - the killer whale or Shamu.


Here's a ride I didn't go on. Not even Jake would go on this ride...


Includes pictures from IHJ, WDW and links.