Jake Gyllenhaal briefly talks about working with Heath and a video catchup

End of Watch has its UK premiere tomorrow at the London International Film Festival. The premiere is likely to be Jakeless and the film doesn't open in the UK until 23 November but it's good to see the film cross the pond. This might also mean the beginning of publicity over here. This is also a catch up time. Here is a taster of an interview with Jake Gyllenhaal for Sunrise in Australia in which Jake talks about how his friendship with Heath Ledger affected his performance in Brokeback Mountain for the better. It's always good to hear Jake talk about Heath and the Mountain. Always.



There is another interview here with Jake and Michael Pena by Ben Lyons, which I think I missed. There have been so many! Just watch what you say about Jake's mum....



There are another couple of videos showing the scene outside the If There Is  Haven't Found It Yet theatre. Jake does seem more relaxed with the big theatre crowd now as he makes memories for an awful lot of people and fans.





Thanks to IHJ there are more photos from the production. Here is just one...

And finally

It's been announced that Paul Dano - one of the Loopers - is to join Jake, Hugh Jackman and Melissa Yeo in Prisoners, possibly as the kidnapper. There are more details here.

Talking of Looper, my review is up on MovieBrit. This weekend I'll be reviewing End of Watch as I'm fortunate to have a ticket for its Saturday screening at the LFF!

Thanks to BBMISwear for the Lyons video link.

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.

[Updated] Jake Gyllenhaal works off the Golden Globes Gold Dust Dessert and Michelle Williams in GQ

Never mind the winners of the Golden Globes, what about the Golden Globes Dessert? According to GossipCop it was a 'chocolate almond terrine, garnished with acacia honey, caramel and fresh berries, on a lemon hazelnut crunch base and finished with the edible gold.. “There is gold dust on there for the Golden Globes.”' Nothing quite like gold dust to add pounds to you, so not surprisingly Jake Gyllenhaal spent the day after the awards in the gym working it off.

Meanwhile, Michelle Williams, who may also have consumed gold dust on Sunday night, covers February's issue of GQ. There is a simply wonderful interview with Michelle inside, honest and extremely moving, and it includes mention of Heath Ledger. You can read it all here and I recommend you do.

Many thanks to IHJ for the new pictures! There are more there.

And talking of the Globes... Thanks to Mrs JG for the picture!

On Ang Lee's birthday, Brokeback thanks

Today is Ang Lee's birthday and Focus Features took the chance to wish their director happy returns by reminding their followers on Twitter of what is arguably Ang's finest film - it's certainly the one I love the most - Brokeback Mountain. Take a look at their Brokeback site and let it wash over you. Their Vice President of Global Operations, Gordon Ampel, picked his favourite scene from the film, which you can see here:

'This sequence in BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN comes very late in the movie. After learning that the love of his life, Jack Twist, has died, Ennis Del Mar (so beautifully incarnated by Heath Ledger) has come to pay his respects at the family homestead. The emotional crux of the movie has been Ennis’ internalizing his feelings, and not really expressing them – even with Jack, he would make only so much of an exception. Visiting Jack’s childhood room, gut-wrenching emotions come to the fore for Ennis – but, wordlessly, and without flashbacks to their time together or even audio echoes. It all plays out on Ennis’ heretofore stoic face, and when we see tears gathering, it is heartbreaking. The sequence builds powerfully with the nearly-silhouetted staging of the scene in the room’s closet where the full force of the love lost hits Ennis. The postscript to the sequence does include dialogue, but it’s what’s not being said that moves Ennis – and me, every time.' 

Thanks Ang and happy birthday.

My review of Contagion is now up at MovieBrit.

Ang Lee - bridging the cultural divide. WDW Interlude Part 2

There's little doubt that Ang Lee is an extraordinary film maker. He might not communicate that much verbally with his cast, as noted by both Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger about their lonely experience of filming Brokeback Mountain, but his frames of film are each perfectly conceived. Lee manages to appear always in touch with his independent and auteur roots, while yet appealing to mainstream audiences when he chooses. For me, Lee has the ability to combine emotion with distance in the same shot. It's a very clever way to tell a story - no wonder, then, that Ang's Sense and Sensibility is a masterpiece. Ang Lee was made for Jane Austen, even with the great cultural divide.

This article from Film International reviews a new book about Ang Lee by Whitney Grothers Dilley. Both the book and the feature examine Lee's adaptation into, and of, western cinema. They also consider Ang's relationship with collaborator James Schamus, his unique bearing and how Ang the outsider is able to teach the west about itself through the medium of film.

Many thanks to BBMISwear for the scans and to IHJ for the picture.

Interlude - Festival of History Part 2

On Sunday, not being one to let a little thing like a torrential downpour put me off, I was back in Northamptonshire and Kelmarsh Hall for a second day of big explosions, charging knights and real ale tents. It was Day 2 of English Heritage's Festival of History. You can see some photos from Day 1 on the previous post, here are some highlights from Day 2 and I'm delighted to say that the sun did come out! In fact, I received a very sunburnt nose.

Do check out my report of the wonderful Festival of Historical Writing, which took place at the same event.

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.

Brokeback Mountain gets LoveFilm's vote, Zodiac premieres on UK TV and Region 2 LAOD DVD out tomorrow

It may be over six years since Brokeback Mountain first stunned, broke and then put back together many of the people who saw it in the theatres (including myself), but the passing years mean nothing to a film that it is timeless. This week, followers of the the UK film rental company LoveFilm voted Ennis and Jack as the 'top on-screen love affair'. Fatal Attraction, Pretty Women, Lolita and even Romeo and Juliet completed the top five. I'm not at all surprised, but it's great to see the love continues for Ennis and Jack.


Another of Jake Gyllenhaal's classic movies, which for me is right up there with Brokeback, is Zodiac. Zodiac tonight has its premiere on British terrestrial TV - 9pm on BBC2. And you know what that means... no adverts! It is Radio Times' Film of the Week, with an award of four stars. The reviewer Andrew Collins concludes: 'The film - talky but intelligent and shot partly on digital stock - is very long and nothing like standard serial-killer thrillers. And that's why I love it'. This film grabs from the very first scene. If you've not seen it and you're in the UK watch it tonight. If you have seen it, watch it anyway. And if you're outside the UK, watch the DVD.


Talking of DVDs, the DVD and Blu-ray for Love and Other Drugs has been out a while in the US. But for all those who can't play Region 1 discs, tomorrow is the release date for the Region 2 discs in the UK. The extras are the same.


WDW Interlude

I was back in London today continuing my X-Men: First Class coverage for Blogomatic3000. On the way to the junket, I walked through Hyde Park and past the Italian gardens. I thought it looked beautiful in the May sunshine. Back to London tomorrow and more reports will be posted in the middle of next week.

Jake Gyllenhaal talks to Germany's 'In' about families, dating and minefields and out and about in WH

While we've been celebrating the announcement of the release date for the Region 1 DVD and Blu-ray Source Code on 26 July, one shouldn't forget that across much of central and northern Europe, the theatrical version hasn't even arrived yet. Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark will finally see the film in June while Sweden has to wait until the middle of August. To soften the blow of delay, Jake Gyllenhaal is interviewed in the next issue of the German magazine 'In', which is published today.


We only have a snippet from the interview so let's just hope we see more, because there be goodies here. 'Sometimes my mother and my sister get a little bit on my nerves... We're just a family. That's enough'. And there's a little about finding that right person: 'It's just important for me that I can immediately feel comfortable with a woman... If you ask a woman out on a date, you often feel as if you're running through a minefield'. I'd just like to point out that there isn't a minefield in sight round Oxford, Jake. It's a selling point.


While we're talking German interviews and with my Pirates experience fresh on my mind, in this interview from a year ago, Jake was talking about another film: Prince of Persia. When it's suggested that some scenes are reminiscent of Jack Sparrow: 'Oh, really? That wasn't intentional. But I'm glad to hear. I take that as a compliment.'

In this interview, Jake is also asked about Heath Ledger: 'It sounds kind of funny: but that which I'd thought was important, became more important in my life. I refer to my work. It was even more important because I felt that what Heath had done, was so extraordinary and inspiring. Therefore, I want to be an actor who's getting better. On the other hand, as a person, I realise that it's just my job. I think that - there are people who think they'll never age, never die - especially in the film industry. Heath has gone far too soon. I now have to distinguish between work and life.'


And finally...

Jake was out and about again yesterday, this time he was in West Hollywood taking away some drinks from that fine establishment, Urth Cafe, in fact the very one where I saw someone with a little white rabbit on a lead. I also remember the porridge. Excellent.


Includes pictures from WDW and IHJ.

Jake Gyllenhaal undercover in NYC, Maggie and Peter shine at the MET and new pics from New Eyes

Jake Gyllenhaal is back in NYC and not only that he's posing with shrubbery. There is a reason for this. Clearly Jake is trying to distract us from TrouserGate by attempting to blend in with the local flora. While this ploy nearly succeeded, it is nevertheless clear that, if these are the same trousers that have been put through the wars during the Mumford and Jake Train Tour, they have now been put to the needle. Either that or, as some suspected, Jake is one of those men who buys countless versions of the same matching outfit, not realising that one or two will do thanks to the invention of other people to do the laundry for you.


So, enough of the trousers, what about that bag?! It reminds me of the bottomless pit of a bag that Hermione lugged around during HP 7.1. With a bag of that size and depth, I would like to pass on to Jake one of my biggest tips - colour code your possessions. Don't have a black cover for phone, iPod, Kindle, iPad, camera. You'll never find them. Here is the link to the lucky tweeter who took this picture.


Before Jake headed off to NYC, he paid a last minute visit to the Pinkberry in New Orleans with Marcus Mumford. Fortunately, we have a picture. It may not contribute to TrouserGate but any association of Jake with ice cream is fine by me. The picture originated here.


Le Smoking

While Jake was blending in in NYC yesterday, Maggie and Peter attended the MET Costume Institute Gala Benefit and both looked stunning. Maggie is wearing a Stella McCartney dress here while Peter is smoking in a 'Le Smoking' by Yves Saint Laurent. Good job Jake was back in time to babysit.


Moulin Rouge

During the publicity for Brokeback Mountain, we grew accustomed to hearing Jake talk about how he and Heath Ledger had met during the auditions for Moulin Rouge - although most of the time each had been hidden away behind locked doors. The role of Christian, as we know, went to Ewan McGregegor and it is very likely, as Jake has suggested, that Heath and Jake were too young then for the role. Today, director Baz Luhrmann has been talking about those auditions:


'Dear Heath Ledger, (he had) incredible scenes with Nicole. Because at one stage, Christian was very young, he was a younger guy, and then I was aware of Ewan but I didn't know if he could sing. Jake should do a musical. He's a wonderful actor, but (he has a) great voice, tremendous voice. He sang some (Stephen) Sondheim for me, complicated singing, great voice. When is he going to guest on Glee?' Now there's a thought...


And finally...

New Eyes for the Needy has posted pictures from its Silent Auction at the end of March this year. These pictures herald from the time when there was a little bit more hair on Jake's head than there might be now.




Includes pictures from IHJ and links. Many thanks to BBMISwear for help with bits of the post :-)