End of Watch - Dating and working together

The premiere of End of Watch is looming. On 8 September it opens in a Special Presentation at TIFF. We can therefore expect more clips and chats as this and the US release approach. Jake Gyllenhaal is slightly tied up with a certain play and so Michael Pena, his co-star, is on duty. Today we have a new clip and an interview with Michael that includes a discussion of his working relationship with his partner. Unfortunately, the clip doesn't work in the UK but you may have more luck:

 

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

'MTV: How did you and Jake build a strong relationship on set?
Michael Peña: David Ayer was really adamant about us spending time together and talking about the characters and what we want to do and plan it out. He has an older sister, and I have an older brother. We just remembered how they'd fight and bicker. I was like, "I remember that totally," and he says, "But you still love the person." In a way, we just kept talking about it and designing how we were with our siblings. We were getting to know each other, but at the same time designing the friendship and the brotherhood. At the end of the day, you have to believe these guys are real partners, and they spend a lot of time together and they have each other's backs. Instead of saying that, showing that is what's really exciting about the script. When you have the action sequences, it really pays off. You're like, "I really don't want these guys to get hurt. I don't want one of them to get hurt."'



'MTV: Did that relationship make shooting action scenes more intense?
Michael Peña: It [was], in a way, because we put in a lot of work. Every time I was rehearsing a scene that was a shootout or whatever, I wanted to make sure that my partner went home safe and alive. Secondly, I wanted to make sure that my wife and my newborn baby weren't left fatherless. Every time we rehearsed a scene, we would talk about, "Dude, we have to do this for the family." It felt kind of like a sport, where you have these mantras that you keep talking and talking it through so you remember the motivation, why we're playing this thing.'

And finally...

Wouldn't mind a pair of these!

Keeping up to date with Jake Gyllenhaal and a WDW Peaceful Interlude

All is quiet on the Jake Gyllenhaal front, with filming on An Enemy in Toronto steaming ahead. This week, it's tweeted that the filming has moved to a local school for a few days. Although, Jake's largely managed to avoid being photographed by anything other than the film camera, a shot did emerge of Jake working out, possibly not the best of places for sneaking a pic. Jake is certainly keeping the local media busy with the sightings.

Early last year, Jake hitched a ride on the Mumford and Sons Railroad Revival Tour. We've mentioned the documentary about the tour before - Big Easy Express - but now we have some dates. You'll be able to JakeSpot on iTunes on 26 June. It will be released on blu ray and DVD on 24 July. Thanks to BBMISwear for the dates!

Several of Jake's films have the most amazing and memorable soundtracks - Brokeback Mountain, Zodiac, Moonlight Mile and Donnie Darko to name but four and in no particular order. On 1 August a special re-mastered blue vinyl edition of those most incredible Donnie Darko sounds is to be issued.

WDW Peaceful Interlude

This weekend, we grabbed a gap in the rainy clouds to venture out to Peace in the Park, an open day at the Global Retreat Centre a few miles south of Oxford. They have the most beautiful gardens and as well as enjoying those we were able to listen to music, eat cake and drink tea, with the most marvellous views over the countryside. Lots of red kites about too. We had lunch in a pub with a red kite nest in the tree above us, visited constantly by the calling parent birds. Lunchtime entertainment.

Donnie Darko is IMDb's second top movie of the last decade

I think this is worthy of a special emergency post.... IMDb is celebrating its ten years of existence by looking back over its most popular and searched for movies and stars over that decade. With thanks to Deadline, just take a look at the list of the Top 10 Films of the Last Ten Years (judged from the IMDbPro MOVIEmeter ratings).

1. The Dark Knight

2. Donnie Darko
3. Pulp Fiction
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
5. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
6. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
8. Twilight
9. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
10. The Godfather

So, Donnie Darko, one of Jake Gyllenhaal's lowest budgeted of movies, filmed over what is quite possibly the shortest amount of time (under a month), is there at number two on the list. I think Richard Kelly, Jake and Drew Barrymore deserve a congratulatory champagne shower for that. And how good it is to see a Heath Ledger film at the top.

Donnie Darko - not just for Halloween

It is possible that many of you are suffering from that post Halloween Sugar Rush that is known to afflict a large proportion of the earth's seven billion inhabitants on 1 November. If so, relax, put your feet up, extract those vampire fangs, wash off the tomato ketchup, unwind the mummy bandages and appreciate the archetypal Halloween Hero, Donnie Darko.

In this article, Moviefone presents the top 25 things you may not know about Donnie Darko. Admittedly, we may know more than your usual Donnie Darko observer, but even so, there is much to learn from here. It also goes to show that DD is not just a superb movie because of its acting, script and execution, but also because of all those little circumstances that, through some fate and destiny, conspired together to bring about one of the most memorable and debated about movies of the last 50 years. Or longer.

Ten years on, it's still being discussed and puzzled over.

Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut - Production Diary: Last Words and Dance From Jake Gyllenhaal
Get More: Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut - Production Diary: Last Words and Dance From Jake Gyllenhaal

Of course, some people (naming no names but here's a link) don't get it at all.

Talking of Halloween, there's a rather spooky sounding tweet from today:

'Jake Gyllenhaal was in my soul cycle class!'

I don't know about you, but my mind is boggled.

And finally...

I wanted to post this new old video from the European premiere of The Dark Night in London because this event brings back some memories and I was there with other WDW readers. It is quite possible that one or more of us may be spotted!

Beth Grant remembers Jake 'Phantom of the Opera' Gyllenhaal and Donnie Darko

Jake Gyllenhaal was spotted walking around NYC yesterday (23 October) with actress America Ferrera, his co-star from End of Watch. Jake took The Bag with him. The pictures provide the perfect accompaniment to this new interview with Beth Grant, who appeared in Donnie Darko and has already spoken about how little boy Jake swam naked with her two nieces. With many thanks to Conojito for the link, we can hear a smidgen more about what a joy it was for Beth to work with Jake. As well as talking about how wonderful it was to work on Donnie Darko, and with old friend Patrick Swayze, Beth has this to say about Jake:

'It was not just that Jake Gyllenhaal was doing the part, whom I'd been in love with since he was three years old. The first time I saw Jake he was running across my in-laws' back lawn to the pool, because he was best friends with my twin nieces, and I remember turning to my sister in law and asking, "Who is that beautiful child?" He just was magical, always, so generous and open. I remember the sixth grade show they had at the end of the year. There he was, this sixth grade boy, and he stood up and sang "The Music of the Night" fromPhantom of the Opera. What a song for an eleven year old! I thought, this kid is a star. Whether or not he's going to be a movie star, who knows, but he's a star in the world, because he's luminous.'

 'We do have it on video! My in-laws have it. It's just crazy, we looked at it one Thanksgiving, still before he became a star, and I thought it all over again. So, for me to be acting with him — and also with Buddy [Swayze], who in many ways was a hero of mine, because he'd been the first person from our acting class who'd really made it, and who'd been a big influence in teaching me to love and accept myself as a character actress — the role became kind of true to life. It was a magical experience doing that film, it really was.'

 Many thanks to IHJ for the new and old pictures!

As the satellite draws closer, some new stills from October Sky - plus Maggie's milk tache

Update: I think it missed us...

One would have thought that the chances of being hit by a satellite falling from space to earth are rather slight - in fact, it is 14,000 times more likely that you'll be struck by lightning. However, this is tempered somewhat by the 1 in 3,200 likelihood that the satellite will hit some unlucky soul (odds here). But, having seen Donnie Darko, I wouldn't be surprised if I woke up in the morning to find a big bit of space jetsam sitting on my doormat, winking at me. And so, as the satellite hurtles towards us, with impeccable and hopefully not portentous timing, IHJ has posted some new old publicity stills from Jake Gyllenhaal's most spacey adventure to date, October Sky. Here are just a few of the many.

Of course, it doesn't hurt to reflect that Jake has starred in another film about the end of life as we know it - The Day After Tomorrow - while in Source Code there was the very real possibility of oblivion for another American city and for Jake's character Colter.

This probably isn't a good night to rewatch Donnie Darko with its foretelling of the end of the world.

So, with eyes upwards, I wish you all a safe good night.

But first...

Maggie Gyllenhaal has added her name and picture to the milk campaign although, as one likes with the Gyllenhaals, there is a twist. Maggie advertises the more sophisticated latte rather than just milk. Although, looking at the picture, I think she's shoved a carton of ice cream in her face. Recompense for making the young Jake lap milk from a saucer at dinner parties?



I'm delighted to inform Maggie that I too have milk in my fridge, at least I think it's milk. It's not easy to tell due to the big lumps in it.

My review of Drive.

Jake Gyllenhaal on disc 2011 - Source Code, Donnie Darko and City Slickers to name but three...

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.

Jake Gyllenhaal burns to emulate his heroes, over the moon at working with Duncan Jones and Donnie Darko 10 years on

A couple of goodies this evening, including another interview with Jake Gyllenhaal from Germany and it's a corker. There's much more to it than just yet more questions about what Jake would do if he could pick eight minutes to relive. You can find the whole interview here and below I've included some snippets. Anything dodgy is the fault of my translation - Jake is not to blame (unless he really did say something strange and the translation is spot on...).


'I am proud to do blockbusters. "The Day After Tomorrow" for example, focuses on an environmental disaster. And "Jarhead" tells us of the madness of the Gulf War, "Brokeback Mountain" is about the taboo love between men, and "Love and Other Drugs" is also about the hubris of the American pharmaceutical industry.'


Choice of roles as Jake becomes better known: 'Sure, the danger is great. When celebrity status reaches a certain height it can become complacent and hollow. I readily admit it. But I've not fallen into this trap. I'm still burning! I still want to know. I still wear each of my films literally like my skin. I've been working without a safety net.'

'I hope that I will never back down. I would rather be like my big idols Paul Newman, Anthony Quinn, Steve McQueen and Marlon Brando. They never sold out. And when I look at how well my sister Maggie is doing in the movie business, it suggests to me that there is also great hope.'


'I love acting, especially because of the storytelling. I'm happiest when I can be part of telling a great story. This is my drive as an artist.'

'Seeing myself on a movie poster is a limited thrill for me (laughter). But the thrill of being able to work with fantastic actors like Heath Ledger is indescribable. Or with such a visionary young director like Duncan Jones. I was totally over the moon that he wanted to do "Source Code". I found his debut film "Moon" quite extraordinary.'


'... And daring, sometimes risking taking a wrong step creatively, yes. It's very liberating. Because it's the only way you develop further. This does not mean that I valued "Source Code" as a creative misstep - the opposite is the case. The film was a step in the right direction. I will continue to make more films like this, rather than the one that is expected of me. I'm personally and professionally in a state of transformation when almost anything can happen. This is exciting.'

Public interest in Jake as a person: 'This whole celebrity nonsense? Sometimes I call out to people "Get a life!" But mostly I just shrug my shoulders. If you really want, you can escape a bit from all the hype - even in Los Angeles.'


Ending a relationship in public: 'True, it's not easy when a relationship ends under the magnifying glass of the media. It's bad enough even without the pictures and malicious comments. But even so I did not let them bend me. That would be really bad.'

'I have a great ambition, that everything I do looks light and loose. Just as, for example, Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart made it look. That to me is the greatest art: to make what is heavy appear light.'


Many thanks to Mrs JG for letting me know about this great interview and also for the heads up that Donnie Darko appears in the July issue of SFX as the magazine takes a look at the scifi and fantasy of 2001. (If you're a Torchwood fan, you might well want to get this magazine.) Here are some scans I've done. Click on them and they shall be embiggened.





And finally...

If you're interested, you can read my take on the taster of Transformers: Dark of the Moon that we were teased with earlier in the week over at Bleeding Cool.

Includes scans from WDW and pictures from IHJ.

Jake Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard listen to Tom Hanks at Yale and 2001 ten years on...

Jake Gyllenhaal has been busy. Over the last couple of days he's been seen out and about in Brooklyn and in Yale. First, there's Brooklyn and Saturday night. Jake was seen (possibly with Mila Kunis - spectacular of Black Swan fame) at Henry Public. Looking at the website it amazes me that there are mouths ginormous enough that they can wrap around a mega burger of that size. Obviously, I am a veggie and my burger experience is limited.*


Yesterday, Jake with Peter Sarsgaard and Ramona attended Tom Hanks' opening address at Yale University's Class Day (New Haven, Connecticut). You can see the video of the address here. There are a couple of photos of Jake and Peter in the crowd, thanks to @likeburney and @tomlynam


2001

July's edition of Empire has arrived and within it are memories from 2001, including the early years of the careers of Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger. 2001 was, of course, the year when Donnie Darko was made. Click and the articles shall be embiggened.







*Jake, when you next visit Oxford, please let us take you to the famous Atomic Burger. There's only one thing better than their burgers and that's their margaritas.

Many thanks to BBMISwear for helping me with this post when I'm up to my eyeballs in X-men: First Class. The press conference was today.

My review of X-Men: First Class is now published at Blogomatic3000.

Jake Gyllenhaal karates in LA, Donnie Darko's 10th birthday and Peter Sarsgaard's Hector Hammond

As everyone will tell you, Tuesday night is Karate Night and it's no different for Jake Gyllenhaal. Just because he's a star that's no reason for him to get out of it. And so yesterday Jake was seen arriving for and leaving from his lesson, which appears to have taken place within a cage. I'm assuming that some photos are from Jake's arrival judging by the fact that Jake is carrying a big box (which, as all regulars of WDW will know is not that common for Jake*). I'm afraid that this post features feet - multiple feet.





*Jake and Box Lady:


Never one to let karate take over his entire day, Jake was also about in LA yesterday looking - how do I put this? - perfect.




2001

One thing I did in 2001 was sing along to Destiny's Child 'Survivor'. The other thing I did was to go and see Donnie Darko. Yes, Donnie Darko - or DD or 'The film with the rabbit' or 'What on earth was going on in that film with the rabbit?' or 'What sort of a name is Frank for a rabbit?' as it is sometimes known - is a decade old this year. To mark the event there is an all singing all dancing Blu-ray/DVD edition coming out to give you another excuse to have yet another version of this classic movie. At the last count I had three versions. Therefore, I may as well have four. Especially if it helps me understand what on earth is going on. Some details here.


Peter's Hector

To mark the release of Green Lantern next month, another poster has been released. And this one's a goodie because it features Peter Sarsgaard as baddie Hector Hammond. I am really looking forward to seeing Peter on the big screen again. This poster is via Flicks and Bits.


And finally...

Tomorrow may well turn out to be a day that I will never forget. A real adventure. I'll be at the Pirates of the Caribbean press conference and then attending the premiere at Westfield in London as press. It seems serendipitous indeed that this should occur almost a year to the day that I was at Westfield for the Prince of Persia premiere. I am really looking forward to seeing Jerry Bruckheimer again. There is a good chance that I'll be able to ask the stars of Pirates a question or two. If you have a suggestion for a question do add it to the comments. Many thanks to Blogomatic3000 and Disney. Excited? Me?


Includes pictures from links and IHJ.