Well, who'd have thought it?! After all this time and talk, the news is in that the distributors Arrow have bought Nailed - now renamed as Politics of Love - for a UK release during 2015! Personally, I don't care what they call it just so long as it sees the light of day in one form or another. And even if it's a strictly limited release this at least might mean a DVD that all fans can enjoy. More details ehre from Playlist, with thanks to Sasha for the heads up!
And there's more - Jake has a New Project! Hollywood Reporter tells us that Jake will team up with 'The Equalizer director Antoine Fuqua for The Man Who Made It Snow, a 1980s crime movie that IM Global is launching at AFM. Gyllenhaal will star as the man in the title, Max Mermelstein, purported to be the only American who was in the inner circle of the Colombian cartels in the go-go 1980s. Snow is a biopic of the man and is based on his autobiography.Brett Tabor wrote the script. Gyllenhaal will produce with Fuqua, Tabor and IM Global's Matt Jackson. Mermelstein was the point man in America for the Medellin cartel, helping smuggle tons of cocaine in the 1980s. He was eventually arrested and became a key informant and witness for the U.S. government, and spent his last years living in the Witness Protection Program. He died in 2008 and his eulogy was given by Tabor, who became interested in the man as potential movie material and tracked the man down.
Phew! Deep breaths! After that excitement, here's some more - Jake Gyllenhaal on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart as part of the Nightcrawler release. Thanks to IHJ, you can watch it all here.
Bits and pieces
There is a full 30-minute interview here with Jake and Nightcrawler director Dan Gilroy for AOL Build.
There is a great new interview with Jake over at Buzzfeed here. “I think acting is an incredibly immature, incredibly selfish profession,” he said, cringing just a bit. “But at the same time, at the opposite end of the spectrum — or maybe not, but I think it is — [there is] the opportunity to practice great empathy.”
In this interview, we hear about how the car chase scene in Nightcrawler was filmed:
Here, Jake talks about what Brokeback Mountain means to him as well as its political legacy:
There's no denying that it's with a heavy heart that I pick up WDW and Jake again after the last few sad days. But it was Jake who brought Mermon into our lives and I am sure she would want the community to continue to enjoy his work. I hope so. So here's a post recapping a little of what Jake Gyllenhaal has been up to.
Jake made a little video to praise PoP co-star Ben Kingsley for the BAFTA Britannia awards in LA and you can watch that here, if the embedded link below won't work for you. You can read a full report of the rather salubrious event here.
Jake has been hard at work (and being thin) for Nightcrawler. There's an audio interview on the NPR site that you can listen to and download. Among other things, Jake discusses the schedule of Nightcrawler. It sounds punishing and (quite probably) soon to be over:
'Well, this movie in particular ... it's a smaller-budget film. And we're shooting this movie in 28 days, which is a short amount of time to make a film. The only shorter film I've made is 22 days, which was this film called End of Watch ... [where] we spent most of our waking and non-waking time making the movie. You know, it was sort of like a bender the whole time. This movie's very similar. So we push as the week goes on. We start at 6 a.m. on Monday. [Now it's] a Thursday night, and we'll probably go until 3 or 4 a.m. to finish it off.'
This week we've had the rather surprising news that the MPAA have given Nailed a certificate - an even more surprising PG13. Reports that this film might be revived have been as regular as buses over the last few years and I greet each one with a curious mix of a smile and grimace. But the evidence is building that the project might be released in some form at some time, even if it won't be quite the end result we were expecting. If it's a PG13 then it certainly won't be what I was expecting. But, as I have said repeatedly, time will tell.
This post contains photos of Jake Watching the LA Lakers take on the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Staples Center in LA on Sunday night. Thanks so much to IHJ for these lovely smiley pictures.
I hate to say it, but I'll say it anyway.... are we actually going to see Nailed after all?! I wish I had a pound for every time we've discussed over the years the possibility or otherwise of this doomed project ever seeing the light of day. I'd be rich enough to buy a cow. But Jessica Biel.com has alerted us to the fact that IMDb has given Nailed a 2013 release date with Universal Studios at the helm. This is a vast improvement on the previous infinite 'unknown' date and is also a huge surprise! They also report that there are rumours that Jessica has finally shot those missing scenes (they're the scenes with the nail so are really rather crucial). David O'Russell famously washed his hands of the project but this does sound the most hopeful 'news' we've had yet.
To add the icing on the cake - actually, not just icing but meringues and candles - IHJ has published the first promo shots from Nailed and, well, they contain their own surprises. I've read the script and I'm still surprised!
Thanks to Amanda for the link!
Prisoners
You know a movie's release is getting nearer when ET visit the set. Now is the time for Prisoners. You can watch it here:
There is set footage here:
We also have, thanks again to IHJ, a cast and crew picture.
Enemy Within
Finally, An Enemy is An Enemy no more. It is now 'Enemy Within' - better, I think.
Typically, as soon as I mentioned that all was quite on the Jake Gyllenhaal front this week, he starts getting photographed in what may well be every other subway station in New York City. To vary it a bit, he has also been photographed in the trains rather than just waiting for them. The picture below was taken by CUruchima who didn't just see Jake once this week, but twice! And who knows, by now, we could be talking three times at least!
Here is a link to Jake waiting for a train (there is a lovely account - to do with bumping in to Jake - that goes with this picture here) and another of him on a train. When Jake's not with a train - no doubt a habit left over from Source Code - Jake has also been seen in other places and here with Naomi. Many thanks to BBMISwear, Mermon and Sasha for links and to Twitter!
Edward Douglas from ComingSoon has been reminiscing about chatting with Jake at a recent social occasion in NYC - the premiere for Take Shelter on 1 November. 'You just never who you might run into at these things. At a party for Take Shelter star Michael Shannon, I chatted with Jake Gyllenhaal. Jake wasn't out and about gladhanding or looking for a gig but was between movies relaxing and wanted to check out what he may have heard was a cool movie. We got to chat with him about some of the movies we've both seen and liked this year, including our diverging opinions on Almodovar's The Skin I Live In. (Gyllenhaal's admiration for the film was enough to convince us to watch it again and give it another chance.)'
Nailed
There is more Nailed gloom from Jessica Biel, unfortunately. She has told Elle magazine (here via OK!) that she's not hopeful: 'I honestly don't know (if it will ever be released). It's frustrating. It was a major heartbreak. But you know, I got a chance to work with David, and I've been heartbroken about it for long enough... I'd do anything to work for him again.' Do feel free to play Spot the Jake photo below. We have to get some fun from Nailed...
We have another report of Jake Gyllenhaal in Iceland at the weekend. A 'hot guy' was spotted in a restaurant who turned out to be none other than our Jake, wisely filling himself up with calories ahead of his intrepid trip with Bear Grylls. Jake 'sat there for like an hour and we were chatting to him, he’s on some Adventure trip here in Iceland with his Friend, and he is going on a glazier trip tomorrow'. Jake didn't mention however that he would be living off glacier flora and fauna (but more likely fauna) during this trip. The 'tomorrow' referred to there was Sunday and so who knows where Jake might be right now. One thing's for sure, though, this is not a good time to be an Auk or porpoise.
Back to this second catchup post. The photo above was taken by Mrs JG and as you can see it features Jake Gyllenhaal. What may be less obvious to you is that it also features my head. This picture shows the moment after I thought I had better let go of Jake's hands and he walked off, laughing. I like to think with me, rather than at me (I may have mentioned something about doing a blog for him...). Thanks very much to Mrs JG for capturing a perfect moment. I would also like to congratulate her on the presence of mind to take a photograph of Jake's footwear. The Famous Boots.
Here are some more of Mrs JG's wonderful pics from Berlin on 7 April.
There was another talented photographer with us that night, Christina. And here are some of her fantastic pictures. Christina also sat on the front row but at the left hand side (Mrs JG and I were slightly to the right) and so this gives us a chance to see Jake from a different angle. Not that there are any bad angles...
Christina also took some great pictures of Duncan Jones and Rodene. I really like these.
Madrid Photocall!
We have another treat from Madrid! Carlota captured some video from the Source Code photocall and I'm delighted to present it below. Great stuff!
It was wonderful to meet so many Jake fans in Berlin, including friends from Elijah Meets Jake and Gyllenhaal.de. I can't thank them enough for their kind and generous welcome to Germany.
This is by no means not all from Source Code's week on the continent. And so the catch up will continue.
Nailed gets (another) composer!
Playlist are reporting tonight that Nailed has a new composer! John Swihart has apparently been hired in place of original composer Squeak E. Clean in what may be an effort to finish this film off for once and all. The saga continues...
And finally...
A little bit of a WDW Berlin Interlude courtesy of the comfortable hippos of Berlin Zoo and some nesting cormorants and fishing herons.
I arrived back in Oxford to be soaked in very warm spring sunshine.
Many thanks to Christina and Mrs JG for the use of their magnificent pictures! We did good, yes?!
Source Code may have left SXSW but there's still plenty to catch up with. First off, nothing makes me smile quite like seeing Jake Gyllenhaal on a red carpet - he's so good at it.
There are also a couple more video interviews with Jake, including one from a journalist from Wales, Cat, who wins brownie points from me because she wanted to get the word 'stonking' into her interview. If you head over to ManMadeMovies, they have Cat's interview with Duncan.
So far so good, but this video below is so spoilery it's got spoilers bursting out of the spoilers. It's the first five minutes of Source Code from Yahoo. I have no intention of watching it til I've seen the film so please don't discuss it unless I've got my fingers in my ears.
Duncan and Rodene have been blogging about their weekend and have included the picture from my post yesterday that they were laughing about on Twitter last night! I think you can tell which one. Duncan mentions his and Jake's funny moments with Paul Ruebens - aka Pee-wee Herman - and Reubens has been talking to The Playlist about Nailed. He has some lovely things to say about Jake and Jessica Biel:
'I would go home every single night in awe of both leads in the movie, I just could not believe what they were doing. As an actor, what they’re doing is very, very complicated and complex. It’s really hard to pull off what they did. You have to be effortless, but it’s really hard to do,” Reubens said. “And I’ve never seen anybody be so successful with something that complicated [as Gyllenhaal was]. And Jessica Biel is literally—I hate this word, but I can’t think of another word to use—is like a revelation. She’s so incredibly good in the movie, and again, no one’s ever seen her do anything like this… This is like an ingenue. It’s almost like Dorothy in ‘The Wizard Of Oz.’”'
There is a new interview in Toro magazine and, interestingly, Jake reveals that they spent two years looking for a director for Source Code before they knew that Duncan was the one. Jake talks about working on big and small movies and compares working with Duncan to working with Ang Lee:
'And then patience, which is, to me, one of the most amazing qualities I saw from all of the people I’ve worked with. I find a lot of similarities between Ang Lee and Duncan Jones. In personality, in interpretation of scenes, in the ability to let actors really encompass a world and feel empowered but at the same time have total control over the story that they’re telling. It’s almost like a magician. You feel like you’re creating the thing that’s happening, and in some ways you’re helping it be created, but ultimately there is a true wizard there. Personality-wise, Duncan is very quiet and sort of soft spoken, very introverted, very similar to Ang. When I met him, it was strange, my instinct connected to a similar thing when I met Ang.'
'In terms of bigger and smaller films, it’s a testament to the fact that any movie can be any size. They can grow, they can shrink…they become what they become when they are put out into the world. What matters to me is that there’s a human connection to the situation that any character is in. Something real that they’re struggling with. Ultimately, what are they really trying to find? Or, as an actor, why do the movie? Sometimes, when a film gets too large you lose perspective on the sort of smaller aspects of a character, or to a human connection. With Brokeback, Jarhead and Zodiac, these movies always had a human undertone to them. With Source Code, it’s in a similar vein. You go back to the human story even when you’re entertained; you go back to the “why” every time.'
And finally...
There's a chance that I may be having a little adventure tomorrow, so watch this space!
Source Code stills from Yahoo (thanks to Eureka for the heads up!).
Hot on the heels of the news that Jake Gyllenhaal may be helping Bear Grylls to construct shelters out of lemur dung and baobab twigs while devouring wriggling snakes on Man vs Wild, comes pictures of Jake taking Atticus for a run today (4 March). Several things to note here - a) Jake is not afraid to stand out (in fact I've seen duller lights on airport runways); b) Atticus needs to do a few more circuits. Please note how I'm not mentioning how scary the sunglasses are.
Nailed
As we mentioned here a few days ago, Nailed had a test screening this week. While this is indeed good news for the hope it brings that there is an initiative to finish and release this film at last, the screening has been getting some negative press. This is largely because the film was unfinished and there was a rough and ready quality to some of the scenes. The fact that some people sound surprised by this has come as a surprise to me.
The lucky audience had to sign the official secrets act but some things have reached us. Quite a full account has been given to the Playlist but again this stresses the unfinished state of the film. Not surprisingly, this means the film is not polished. However, I have also heard from other sources that I can't reveal that the film was hilarious, Jake was great in it and that the audience was told that the film will be finished and it will be released this year. Little steps.
Last week we saw the new still from Source Code, now we get some information to go with it, thanks to Entertainment Weekly. There is this from director Duncan Jones: 'I am a big fan of Christopher Nolan's and would love to be put in the same category as him someday.' And, despite the train-exploding-theme of Source Code, 'The tone of the film is quite light... We get to see Jake play an action-man leading role but still have that little sense of humour to him - almost like an Indiana Jones'. Thanks to BBMISwear for sending over the scan.
Another of Jake Gyllenhaal's directors, David O'Russell, has been talking a little about Nailed in a new interview about 'Fighter', and it sounds like Russell has had it with the film, 'I have had the memory erasure procedure done at Cedars Sinai. I don't know what you're talking about. [Seriously] It was kind of like a Madoffish experience. Wait -- don't say that. The financing was very weird. Basically, I moved on. You've got to keep creating and writing. It just gets in your rearview mirror and you lose your juju for it.'
Jake Gyllenhaal is all over the Mail On Sundday's Live magazine today with the interview that you can read in the previous post or here. The pages are too large to scan but I thought it was worth a couple of photos.
And finally...
Anne Hathaway is in Oslo for the Nobel Peace Prize celebrations along with Denzel Washington. More details at Just Jared.
Jake Gyllenhaal is interviewed (in a metaphysical career corridor) in the newly-published January 2011 issue of Total Film. It was conducted during Jake's 'man-mountain fuzz' period. You can read the interview below - just click on the scans and they shall be embiggened - but it's worth pulling out a couple of moments from the interview. Not least a perfect piece of GyllenSpeak about what it's like to live your life in the public eye.
'I don't think ignoring it is a bad thing!... You've got to plug your ears up and tie yourself to the mast and beg the people you love not to untie you. But I don't think anyone is immune to the oddities of those type of things.'
Nailed gets a mention and it's not good. 'It's been a really frustrating process with people who have somewhat dishonest in the process of creativity... It's just frozen. Right now, it's in the hands of people who are not letting it be seen.'
On the similarity and contrast between Donnie Darko and Source Code: 'I think Darko posed more questions than it answered. And this poses questions and answers them'.
On where Jake is in his career: 'But I am accumulating experience... I'm starting to turn green into some other colour... a little less green! Before I was searching and not I'm becoming clear about what I want to be involved in and who I want to be involved with.'
Jake, Anne Hathaway and Ed Zwick appeared on the rather formal and, at least on the surface, intimidating Charlie Rose last night. You can watch it in full here.
More interviews have been released to coincide with the film. Here are a few below. The first is from E-Block.
Of course for some today is Thanksgiving (for many of the rest of us it's just a bloody cold Thursday that brought the first snow of the winter). At the end of this link is a CBS video in which Jake and Anne talk about their holiday plans and how 'super excited' Jake is about today. I hope he and all of you who celebrate are having a lovely day. I hope the rest of us aren't having it too bad either.
