[Upated] Jake Gyllenhaal: A Garden Revolutionary and 'hanging with Bear'

With special congratulations to the French contingent to LA that will leave the US with extremely heavy suitcases, it is a shame to say that Jake Gyllenhaal was notable in his absence from last night's Oscars. But even though we don't get new pictures of Jake in a tux, we have the next best thing - Jake with a spade. Yes, Jake appears with his his fellow Garden Revolutionary Alice Waters in the March issue of Bon Appetit. 'He genuinely believes... he has his hands in the ground', says Alice of Jake. Click and it shall be embiggened. Many thanks to BBMISwear for the scan!

Updated to add another picture. Source.

Speaking of earthy matters and the great outdoors, enthusiastic Brit Bear Grylls has been talking about his spirit of adventure. It's good to see that Jake was not deterred by his Icelandic experiences. We know that Jake and Bear had dinner together during his recent visit to the UK but it seems that this is very much not a one off.

'Then there was the time he and Jake Gyllenhaal, a friend since the actor appeared on “Man vs. Wild” last season, decided to go for a leisurely boat ride in the Santa Monica Bay. “We pull out of Marina del Rey and, I’m not joking, it’s like standing waves, 30 feet high. Absolute monsters,” Mr. Grylls said. “We just got smashed to bits.” “Hanging with Bear is not for the faint of heart,” Mr. Gyllenhaal wrote in an e-mail. “He is always pushing the limit, and it is infectious to be around.”'

I have it on excellent made up authority that sleeping inside a camel carcass is still on Jake's todo list.

End of Watch screening is such a success, distributor Open Road snaps it up. Jake Gyllenhaal is executive producer

While sightings of Jake Gyllenhaal on trains and in restaurants suggest that Jake is back in the Big Smoke, no doubt trying to work off the apfelstrudel and croissant, End of Watch has taken a big leap forward on the road to release. On Wednesday a buyers screening of End of Watch took place at the Arclight in LA which clearly had the desired effect because by Thursday Open Road had snapped up the distribution rights. It sounds like Open Road will be investing a lot of resources behind End of Watch and putting it on a lot of screens. And in 2012 too.

Source for the picture

Of course, this deal wouldn't have happened if End of Watch hadn't wowed the Wednesday audience. People who were there have been posting their responses on the IMb boards. Here's the first:

It was a GREAT movie, it reminds me of the tv show Southland but on steroids. It had its funny, sad, happy, and oh crap moments. What the film is about is the life of two cops who decide to film/document their experiences while on the job, they encounter some pretty rough stuff while working in South Central. The movie had me on the edge of my seat literally from beginning to end. The ending was unexpected, i can hear alot of people around me gasping like "whoa" and "wtf". All in all, it was the best movie i have seen in months.

I also liked that the director of the movie David Ayer opened up the movie by saying the film isnt a finished product, he mentioned that a few minor deatil were gonna be cleaned up and that there would be more blood invloved, in my opinion the movie was perfect as is. i definitly recommend this movie to anyone wanting to watch an action movie that has its fair share of laughs and sad moments.

 And the second:

Hey I went to that screening too...film was great I loved it. The relationship between the cops was grreat really felt natural. And the slang words where spot on. Plus I live in south central and they passed by my house so it was fun seein familiar places. Got to speak to david ayers, michael pena who was a nice guy btw and anna kendrick......fun night hopefully I get to see the finished product in theaters....oh and.btw sum of the pov shots were awesome.

Deadline has more details from the screening and about the film itself:

“David [Ayer] has a unique voice as a filmmaker, he writes with authenticity and portrays real characters from the streets where he grew up,” said John Lesher, who produced through his Le Grisbi banner. “He moves you, but the film is very accessible and with these small cameras fabricated and fitted on characters and other places, it creates a 360-degree environment, like it was shot by the cops themselves and has changed the grammar of filmmaking somewhat. Jake and Mike trained five months to be police officers and it shows.”

Lesher said they decided to re-create a festival environment by showing the film in a recruited screening, which happened last night at the Arclight. They had several distribution options but were wowed by Open Road’s aggressiveness and distribution plans. “We wanted distributors to see it with an audience and it was standing-room only,” he said. “The film is gripping but there is also a lot of humor. It is better than a screening in an empty room with four executives; I’ve been through those. It’s a different experience watching with real moviegoers and buyers responded.”

Also, how good to read confirmation that Jake is Executive Producer!

Thanks to IHJ for the pictures and to BBMISwear for the big help with the links!

Jake Gyllenhaal en vacances and Source Code goes Nebula

Jake Gyllenhaal's Jury Duty may be done but his European Vacances continues with a visit to Paris, barely a hop, skip and a splash from these shores. Jake has been spotted in the company of tasty pastries and Midnight in Paris actress Léa Seydoux. The photo below was taken yesterday by a lucky tweeter at Nanashi, a healthy Japanese eatery. Today, Jake was spotted with Léa in an area of Paris called le Xème. If you're a foodie like Jake, then Paris is a dream (albeit a bit of a pricey one...).

Source Code

Source Code may be one of the most overlooked films of the year - by critics that is, audiences loved it - but The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America recognise a good film when they see it. Source Code has been nominated in the SFWA Nebula Awards, specifically for the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation. Man Made Movies has all the details!

My review of Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is up on MovieBrit.

Jake Gyllenhaal on Mike Leigh's Berlinale Jury: 'The British love to debate!'

Jake Gyllenhaal has left Berlin and it's quite likely he's going to need to put his feet up for quite a while. Approximately 30 awards are decided and handed out by the Berlinale Jury each year and the time taken for that doesn't even include the time taken to watch the films in the first place. Take a look at the list here. And read below to see just how difficult and time-consuming all this decision making was.

An account of Jake's last evening in Berlin - at the bear dinner (I'm assuming no bear was actually consumed) - has been published and I'm grateful to Mrs JG for taking the time to translate it for us all: 'After the gala award ceremony the jury, the filmmakers and Berlin's high society gather for an elegant and cheerful dinner, this time held in the "Mirrortent" at the Martin-Gropius-Bau.'

'I especially wanted to meet the actor Jake Gyllenhaal. To hopefully find out a bit about his ten days in Berlin, which he had spent watching and judging movies. Smoking in the smoking section, we started talking, although the man from Hollywood does not smoke. First question: "Was it hard?" Good humored and relaxed the young man (31, best known from the movies "Donnie Darko" and "Brokeback Mountain") replies: "We had an awful lot of discussion! Not because the Berlinale film festival is political, "he says," but because our jury president, Mike Leigh, is British. And the British love to debate!" Even in extreme forms. "Once we were seated twelve fucking hours around a table and debated." What he or others decided, criticized or discussed upon specifically, Mr. Gyllenhaal does not reveal, that's not what a Berlinale juror does. "But it definitely was always clear and interesting to see how different actors and directors analyze films." And: "We eight jurors were always very sure right away, what movies we found good or remarkable. We never had to argue whether a competition entry gave enough to wonder about it."

Before the smoking/non smoking-break ends and we move back into the mirror tent room - where guests such as BMW man Hans-Reiner Schroeder, tenor Jonas Kaufmann, model Franziska Knuppe, the arts-and-artists professors Peter Raue and Joachim Sartorius enjoy Zander with lentils and eggplant lasagna - I want to know something about Jake Gyllenhaal's "Brokeback Mountain", the Oscar-winning masterpiece from 2005. After all, thanks to this movie the gay world has, what the heterosexuals have with "Titanic": an irresistibly beautiful, tragic love story. How, Mr. Gyllenhaal, do I convince a non-gay friend to finally watch it? "Tell him it is a universal, although special love story. Told in a uniquely great film!"'

The British love to debate? Surely not... Do we? Can't believe that... Maybe just a little bit. 

Many thanks to Mrs JG and to IHJ for the wonderful pictures! I hope Jake has a good flight home (with good movies)

Berlinale Finale and a WDW Shakespearean Interlude

The Berlinale is over. Last night, the end of the Berlin Film Festival was marked by the closing awards ceremony. At the ceremony, Jake Gyllenhaal awarded the silver bear for best actress to the 15-year old star of Rebelle (Witch), Rachel Mwanza from Congo who was clearly thrilled. You can see the closing ceremony in its entirety here. The video of the last red carpet, which also featured Jake, is also there, just scroll through the videos.

I particularly liked the glasses, hooked over the waistcoat.

Jake also marked the end of the Berlinale with a haircut at the Jana Salon in Berlin's Potsdamer Platz. The beanie is hopefully more a result of the cold weather than a verdict on the cut...

Many thanks to IHJ for the photos from yesterday and last night. There are many more there. The Berlinale has been a wonderful event - certainly for us and hopefully for Jake. I hope it's the first of many events we can look forward to this year. If you enjoyed the Berlinale, you might want to vote for Jake here.

WDW Shakespearean Interlude

On the way back from travels up north today, we called in to Stratford upon Avon, the birthplace of Shakespeare. His actual birthplace is a bit of a tourist magnet to say the least.

Talking of magnets, if you want to buy one with Shakespeare's face on it, you could try the Shakespeare Giftshop next door.

This photo is of a part of the frontage of the Garrick, Startford's oldest pub - dating back to the 1400s and... haunted.

We also popped by the cottage of Anne Hathaway - not the one from Love and Other Drugs but the one who married Shakespeare.

Photos by WDW.

Jake Gyllenhaal causes a stir at the Berlinale - a catch up

While it is quite possible that Jake Gyllenhaal is not directly responsible for the fall of the German President Christian Wulff, despite the resignation following his reception for Jake and other members of the Berlinale jury, Jake is still causing somewhat of a stir. With thanks to a reader for a link, here is an account by a Hungarian blogger of her birthday treat with Jake, who was very definitely not to be confused with Robert Pattinson, the Pale One. Google will help you with a translation, except if your're Hungarian, in which case you may be able to help us with the translation.

After having seen off the President, Jake and the others went to a reception at the US Embassy in Berlin, as mentioned a couple of days ago. You can watch the video here. Thanks to IHJ for the new pictures from the event.

We also have a photo of Jake arriving back at his Berlin hotel on 15 April, the day after the Golden Bear ceremony with Meryl Streep.

Talking of Meryl Streep, there is a transcript now of the exchange between Jake and Meryl at the ceremony, thanks to Indiwire: "To be frank," he said. "Meryl Streep was not too fond of the 13-year-old version of me. Back in the early 1990s, Hank and I were going around in our baggy pants and listening to the rap artists of the day -- like Warren G and Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg -- pretending to be gangsters. In truth, and it may come as a great surprise to many of you, we were actually just wussies. But for some reason Meryl didn't take a liking to me and didn't really trust me with her son. As we all know from her work, Meryl Streep has a real capacity to be terrifying. We've all seen 'The Devil Wears Prada.'"

'"He was a bad influence on my son," she began. "I remember the first time I met him and he and my son were pretending to be bartenders at his big sister Maggie's birthday party -- which was a cabaret in the basement of their house. They were serving cokes and lemonade, they said. They had little red suits on and fake mustaches, and I'm so glad to see that Jake can grow his own now. But Jake Gyllenhaal is the son of the splendid screenwriter Naomi Fomer and director Stephen Gyllenhaal so he comes by his show business pedigree honestly.'

Jake's appearance at the Berlinale has certainly attracted some positive attention as well for his get up. There are a couple of days left - so much more could happen...

Thanks to IHJ for the pictures and to Mermon for help with some of the links!

Jake Gyllenhaal presents Berllin's Golden Bear to Meryl Streep - aka 'Hank's mom'

Last night, fresh from her shoe-shedding success at the BAFTAs, Meryl Streep received the Berlinale's highest honour, the Golden Bear. There to present the Bear for a lifetime's achievement to Meryl was Jake Gyllenhaal. We've heard before, during the Rendition days in which Jake and Meryl co-starred but never together, that Jake knew Meryl and her family as a child and more of this was revealed last night by 'Hank's mom'. It's been a while since we've seen Jake make such a long speech. Enjoy it!



Many thanks to IHJ for the wonderful photos! There are lots more there.