Zodiac impresses and Jake keeps cool

I was very pleased to hear today that the excellent magazine Sight and Sound has placed Zodiac in its Top 10 films for the year, no mean achievement indeed. Here is the full list: 1. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu); 2 Inland Empire (David Lynch); 3 Zodiac (David Fincher); = 4 I’m Not There (Todd Haynes) & The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck); 6 Silent Light (Carlos Reygadas); = 7 The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik) & Syndromes and a Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul) & No Country for Old Men (Ethan and Joel Coen) & Eastern Promises (David Cronenberg).


MTV 2004

Thanks to I Heart Jake for posting more New Old pictures of Jake to help us get through this wintry drought. These pictures were taken at the MTV awards in 2004.




Jake and Salma dress up in Iqaluit

Fittingly for the time of year, IHJ also posted recently pictures from the Earth Day that Jake attended with Salma Hayek in Iqaluit, in the Canadian Arctic, back in the 'spring' of 2005. We heard recently from Jake himself how much he loves the snow, and you can read more about this adventure here in The Washington Post.


'So when the yellow all-terrain vehicle carrying Hollywood celebrities lumbered down the snowy hill onto Frobisher Bay's sea ice (you can't really do a red carpet here) Friday, the crowd of several hundred well-bundled Inuit were eager to see who was inside. "Is Brad Pitt there?" one shouted. But Hayek and Gyllenhaal (say: JILL-in-hall) emerged from the truck to riotous applause, apparently ready to brave sub-zero temperatures to make an artistic statement about how global warming is harming a traditional hunting and fishing culture that has thrived here for centuries.'


'That's where Hayek and Gyllenhaal, who pass all the litmus tests, come in. Hayek gave up her car for a year and a half in protest of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, then bought a Ford hybrid sport utility vehicle. Gyllenhaal, 24, starred in the environmental-apocalyptic "Day After Tomorrow." While they dressed down for the occasion -- Hayek sported a long underwear-like slate-colored hoodie and gray wide-legged pants, and Gyllenhaal weathered the cold in jeans and a blue button-down shirt -- they radiated a serious level of glamour compared with the earnest environmentalists surrounding them. Sans posse, the two stars exuded a sense of playfulness throughout the weekend, breaking into song at points (Inuit throat-singing and Spanish-language Christmas carols). The Frobisher Inn's suites were booked, so each star stayed in a modest single room. And at one point, when it looked like the event's organizers couldn't secure a private jet, Hayek offered to fly coach and stay overnight in Ottawa in order to make it. (Her handler also told organizers that schlepping to the Arctic meant Hayek turned down a chance to be a judge at the Cannes Film Festival, a post that apparently includes a $100,000 gift bag as compensation.)' [Now that's what I call compensation...]


'The environmentalists found another plane provider -- the stars arrived on a Millionaire Airlines Learjet -- and Hayek and Gyllenhaal did a full tour of Inuit country. The actress, who shares a manager with Gyllenhaal, called to invite him a day before the plane took off: At first, he recalled, "I was like, what?" but he quickly concluded, "You don't pass that up."'

'"This is, unfortunately, an opportunity for the world to see the face of global warming," Gyllenhaal said during an interview over dinner after an afternoon dogsledding on the sea ice. "In helping these people, we help the world."... Gyllenhaal said he welcomed a chance "to be inside the culture" of the Arctic, "which is full of darkness and full of perversity, too. . . . I'm interested in a people who have a lot of pain underneath but still offer hope."'


I did a brief feature on this event and the cause some months ago, but I don't think it would hurt to relink to this video, which gives some idea of how Jake looks all bundled up against the cold.

Newsmax has another quote from Jake from that day, and it contains a classic example of Gyllenspeak: '"Global warming is an abstract concept to most people; we know it's happening, but we can't really visualize its effect," Gyllenhaal told the press. "Unfortunately, the Inuit people put a human face on global warming, they are literally melting away. They are the canary in the coal mine."'


Brothers in Las Vegas, NM

Filming continues apace on Brothers, with some shooting at least going on in Las Vegas, New Mexico. A resident reported on IMDb that 'Roughly 30 minutes ago, I think they were filming in front of the Spic 'n' Span because cops had the whole block barricaded. Pretty exciting. You wouldn't think such big names would hit little ol' Vegas.'

The cast now includes Mare Winningham, who has been spotted shopping in Santa Fe for boots - vital at this time of the year, I would have thought. 'Multiple Emmy-award and Oscar winner (Best Supporting Actress for Georgia) Mare Winningham) and producer Zach Schiff-Abrams stopped by Back At The Ranch last week to check out the boots. The two visited the store at separate times, but both are in town working on Brothers with Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman. According to IMDB, Winningham also worked on the recently completed Kevin Costner film, Swing Vote. She's the mother of five and even went to high school in Los Angeles with Pecos-area resident Val Kilmer. Small world.'


Includes pictures from IHJ.