Jake Gyllenhaal and a Molina PoPfest (I got to 'speak' to Alfred today!) - and no TIFFin for LAOD

This morning local time, the organisers of the Toronto International Film Festival announced a lineup of 51 galas, premieres and special screenings. Despite expectations, which were quite raised, there wasn't a sign of Love and Other Drugs in the lineup. While it is possible that additions may be made to the list through August, it's now not looking likely that we'll have a repeat of 2007. However, there are other film festivals to come, notably Venice and London. At the risk of sounding just like myself when we were waiting for Brothers, there is still a chance of some Festival Jake Gyllenhaal. A full list can be seen here.



On a brighter note, I had some fun today when I joined in a LoveFilm live chat with Alfred Molina and was able to tell him - laptop to laptop - that I enjoyed Prince of Persia and An Education. I asked him if he preferred to play fantasy or real life figures, to which he replied: 'Oooh... They're both interesting to do... Fantasy character are much freer'. I did make a brief mention of ostriches. It was a real thrill to be able to engage with a much-admired actor (I did the same with Maggie years ago) and it certainly added a touch of flavour to my porridge and water lunch. This is LoveFilm's picture of the occasion:


Therefore, it's only fitting that this post is a bit of a Fred Molina post, or a Fred Molina and Jake Gyllenhaal post, with some Peter Sarsgaard happily added to the mix. There's a bit of a PoP lovefest going on too...

Alfred on Jake: ''"Jake brings all the qualities the part needs: he’s goodlooking and talented, has a very attractive personality and is very bright," said Molina. "I’m also really impressed by his willingness to just jump in. It can be very easy for an actor in his position to sit back a little bit and play the star and let someone else carry the weight. He has never done that."'


'Molina’s own role is that of a vicious villain, who controls huge parts of the deadly desert. "(Sheik Amar), he's a lovable rogue I’d say! Or at least he’s a baddie who ends up as a reluctant ally of the hero," said Molina. "He starts off and he’s venal and self-centred and he describes himself as an entrepreneur and businessman, but he’s really a con-man and a small-time gangster with a capacity for violence. So he’s not sweet and cuddly, but he’s cheeky and a good talker and has a bit of an edge and some charm to him, and there’s also a part of him that deep down wants to do the right thing."'



Mike Newell: 'What I do think is, I think that most people don't know how to talk and certainly most people don't know how to talk to actors. There may be a slight difference. Above everything else, people don't listen. They don't listen to you. So you get a sense of an actor's potential, what he can do and what he can't do, and sometimes what you want to do is to nudge him into what he can do. Other times you want to say, "You know what? You do that really, really well. Let's do that again, but slightly differently." Fred Molina who played Sheik Amar whom I'd worked with before. He played a very straight-laced London lawyer for me, but very very funny. Now he's playing this loose disreputable stinky desert... We were talking about it and he said, "What do you think he's like?" I said, "Well, I think he's like Arthur Daley." Arthur Daley is a very famous character in this country. He comes from a TV series. He's a guy who sells dodgy cars, and I said, "I think Sheik Amar sells dodgy cars." So you start to have fun talking to them. I don't know why it is. I've always like them. I just like them. I wanted to be one. I was desperate to be one, but I was so bad. I was hopeless.'



'Just like I don't get the chance to make movies like this every day, because they just don't make 'em anymore, these guys don't get to act in them because they don't make them anymore. The opportunities in it are absolutely great. I mean, again, it's a story about Fred Molina, but when do you ever get the opportunity to raise your arms to the heavens and shout at the top of your voice, "Behold the mighty ostrich!" which is a God-given comedy line. It's wonderful. When do you get to actually kiss an ostrich?'



Jake in USA Today: '"The scariest scene in the movie is when Alfred Molina kisses an ostrich," he says. "They are terrifying animals. Anything with a brain the size of a pea and claws that can tear your face apart is really scary." The ostriches left a big impression on the animal-loving Gyllenhaal. "I've worked with wolves in movies (on The Day After Tomorrow), and on this set they treated ostriches like wolves," he says. "They literally told us they've been known to rip off people's faces. So when Fred kisses the ostrich, to me that performance is braver than Robert De Niro in Raging Bull."'



Jake spoke to Cineplex of his fear of speaking in an English accent to the English: 'When I finally got it, which was, uh a few months down the line, which I had done a lot of work to get to - it felt great. I mean, I remember sitting there with the actors for the first day I really felt like I nailed it, because at the beginning of the rehearsal period, Mike Newell, who was our director, would say to me: [adopts grandiose British accent] 'Don't worry my boy, just say the accent. Be confident!' So I'd walk in and be like you know, doing this horrible accent...I think the first time I did it, Ben Kingsley like puked into a trash can... Alfred Molina [who plays Sheik Amar in the film] was like calling his agent, 'Can, uh...is there any way you can get me out of this?' [laughs]'



In this interview with Aint it Cool, Jake and interviewer Quint admit to a shared appreciation of Alfred and regret that he doesn't feature in the footage showed at WonderCon.

Molina also, of course, played Jenny's increasingly sympathetic father Jack in An Education, giving him a chance to play opposite Peter Sarsgaard in some of the most satisfying and enjoyable scenes in the film. There's a report from the set here. 'I don’t think the Brits have got a monopoly on dysfunctionality', Alfred says - that's a relief.



To finish with Prince of Persia, Alfred Molina told the writers of the Destiny book: 'I think it's rather presumptuous of us to imagine that audiences are going to come out of watching Prince of Persua and be better people for it... If an audience walks out thinking that their ten bucks have been really well spent, then we've done our job. If they come out entertained and uplifted in some way... if it makes them curious about wanting to find out more about history... that's even better.'


Alfred: 'I don't think we've seen a member of the human species being quite so emotionally linked with an ostrich... I think we're breaking new ground here.' Alfred had thought that the ostrich he kissed was an Anita but it turned out to be an Alan. 'So I think we did the first sort of gay, interspecies kiss on film. Hopefully, they'll create an MTC Award for that category.'

Jake: 'There's not a single person on this movie who can find a bad thing to say about Fred Molina... He's just great, an actor's actor who adds light and life to the movie. Fred raised the bar, and he's just a lovely man.'



I know that a couple of these clips don't feature Alfred, but they're amongst my favourite PoP clips and I can't resist them! Pictures from Disney (via IHJ) and LoveFilm.

Just posted my enthusiastic thoughts on Toy Story 3 at MovieBrit.

Full circle - Prince of Persia 'has everything' and Maggie Gyllenhaal talks about life, family, Jake

There's a mini pause this evening in my WDW Guide to Jake's movies for two reasons. Firstly, tonight, Prince of Persia finished its seven-week run in my hometown. This meant a mad dash across town to catch it. I bought my ticket and the girl behind the counter said 'You'll love it! This isn't normally my sort of film but it had everything - so much action'. 'Really?! I'm glad I made the effort to see it on its last day, then', I replied. But she was right. It was great. Jake Gyllenhaal was great.


And, on this final cinematic viewing for me, I appreciated the epic scale of the film more than ever - the royal grandeur of a family destroyed by one conniving sinister man - the beautiful holy cities attacked and religious sites desecrated - the blind honour of Garsiv and the blind piety of Tus - Dastan's loss and Tamina's isolation. Oh yes, and the fighting spirit of those ostriches. I hummed along to the score and hummed along to it even louder as the soundtrack played in the car on my drive back.


For over two years we have followed the creation and delivery of Prince of Persia here - from the announcement of Jake's association with it, through the filming in Morocco and then at Pinewood. We endured the news of the delay of a full year in its release (at the same time that we heard that Brothers had suffered the exact same fate while still disappointed about the obstructions in the path of Nailed). Then PoP arrived and we had two months the like of which we have not had with Jake before! Quite a few of us here managed to see Jake in person again or for the first time (for me, after more than two years since the time before in Rome) and we had the unusual treat of finding Jake spread large and magnificent across our newspapers, magazines and televisions.


Now, Prince of Persia has left many of our countries' screens and so the wait begins for the DVD in the Autumn (probably) and the release of Love and Other Drugs late in the year. Today feels like the end of a cycle to me and so I want to remember briefly the beginning of this spectacular time. This was the special screening of Prince of Persia in Leicester Square on 7 May that I was fortunate to attend (with so many thanks to Disney UK) with Ruby, Anouska and Winterbird. We sat on the front row and enjoyed the excitement of seeing Jerry Bruckheimer and Mike Newell interviewed a few feet from us. Here are pictures of the ticket from the event and the card that we were given as a souvenir.




The other reason for the pause in posts is this interview from Good Housekeeping with Maggie Gyllenhaal and Emma Thompson. There is little mention of Jake, except for this: 'I used to cook the way my parents cooked: They'd have a dinner party, and they'd still be cooking when their friends came over. When I cook that way, I have a terrible time. I can manage making salad when I have people over — anything else, I just can't manage it. My brother [actor Jake Gyllenhaal] is an incredible chef, a really gifted chef, and he can cook that way. I can't do all those things at once!' Nevertheless, it is well worth posting in its own right.


It contains wonderful images of Maggie's life with her husband and daughter, her relationship with mother Naomi and her friends. You can read it all here, where there is also a video interview. Nanny McPhee is out on DVD in the UK on 19 July



And finally...

In a new interview with Prince of Persia special effects supervisor Ben Morris, Ben had this to say about Jake during the final sandglass scene: 'Dastan is a mixture of real Jake Gyllenhaal and the odd digi-double. Jake really threw himself into the challenge and worked very hard to do most of the stunts himself. It really paid off in post, as we only had to do one face replacement in the entire sequence.' It's an interesting interview, showing what went on during that year-long delay to enhance the effects of this film I'm already missing.



Pictures from links and WDW.

[Updated update] Jake Gyllenhaal presents and walks the red carpet! Happy Birthday Peter! Duncan Jones tweets about SC and more...

Update (again!) Jake Gyllenhaal and Rachel McAdmas presented Best Adapted Screenplay to Precious. Upon presenting the award and walking off camera, Jake and the winner shared a huge grin!






Many many thanks to IHJ for fabulous pictures of Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal on the red carpet!






And from Just Jared:


At last! Jake Gyllenhaal walks the red carpet. In this interview, with AP, Jake Gyllenhaal told the interviewer, who'd just spoken to Maggie and Peter, that she was caught in a Gyllenhaal Sandwich. Maggie had just mentioned 'he's caught up!'. Tribute was paid to Peter wearing his wedding tux while Jake said he was wearing Burberry and rooting for his sister. Jake was also interviewed for E! so hopefully we'll be able to see that later.






Thanks to Get Real for the heads up!

Updated - Maggie Gyllenhaal at the Oscars in a beautiful dress...


... and the birthday boy!


As Hollywood wakes up to Oscar Day - if indeed it went to bed - we still have time to bake a cake, defrost a trifle and tie some ribbons because today is Peter Sarsgaard's birthday! Further excuse, if any were needed, for Peter and Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal to float down that red carpet tonight and shine with happiness, irrespective of the result for Maggie and for An Education. So happy birthday Peter from WDW!


Before we look at what's going on in LA, we've had our first 140-word reports from the Source Code set in Montreal thanks to director Duncan Jones and a certain social networking site. Over to Duncan: 'So! 1st week on Source Code: built a train, and it's a beauty, but a bugger to shoot on. JG & MM are such a good laugh! Love em to bits.'

'SC has more humour in it than we saw on the page, & that's been great fun! Shot some of our effects tests & they're wonderfully horrible!'


So what do we learn from this? 1) Duncan loves Jake Gyllenhaal to bits - this is hardly surprising because Love Him To Bits is actually Jake's middle name. It can't hurt that Duncan loves Michelle Monaghan to bits as well. 2) 'wonderfully horrible' effects - love it! 3) Duncan built a train which shows that not only is he a talented director he's also handy wth a spot of glue, sticky tape, corrugated cardboard and paint. 4) Source Code might be gruesome (I'm thinking it's gruesome) but it's also funny. 5) I can't wait to see this film.


The Oscars... despite Peter's advice to Carey Mulligan that she shouldn't drink a lot before the Oscars because she's going to drink a lot after the Oscars, there is every chance that there are some pre-Oscar fluffy heads this morning thanks to a night of parties. The main bash Jake attended was the Montblanc Charity Cocktail at Soho House in LA, hosted By The Weinstein Company. 'Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Gosling, Gwen Stefani also partied loud and well into the early hours of Sunday morning.' According to tweeting Jared 'Jake G [was] chatting up Emile Hirsch and his BFF Jamis Foxx.'


Earlier yesterday, Jake was among the many stars rehearsing for the Oscars and this was followed by the first big party of Saturday: The Night Before party at the Beverly Hills Hotel. This event demonstrates very well the big gap between being a star and not being one, because while star after star swans in for sushi, wine and erudite conversation, the likes of me ends up hiding in the coat rack. Admittedly, I hadn't paid $25,000... This still ranks as one of my most fun experiences during my Gyllenhaalic years and I recommend to anyone hanging out in the Polo Lounge on the night before the Oscars. My story is here for anyone who's interested.

Good luck to everyone tonight, kudos to Sandra Bullock for her Razzle acceptance speech and happy birthday Peter! It's been a while but Jake will be back at the Oscars.


It's going to be a long night. I can almost smell the hairspray and shoe polish from here.

Oscar livestreaming here

Includes pictures from IHJ.l M

[Update] Maggie describes her amazing morning - Many congratulations to Maggie Gyllenhaal!

[Update] Maggie's reaction to the news: '"Because I didn't get any other nominations, I was so surprised," she says. "I was completely shocked and so excited. I love the movie and I feel so proud of it. I'm excited about celebrating it and getting dressed up. I haven't done work I'm more proud of." One of the first calls this morning came from her on-screen love and best actor favorite, Jeff Bridges. "Jeff called me this morning. He was barely even making words. He was kind of singing and moaning. He was so excited. I feel thrilled," says Gyllenhaal.'


'Her day, thus far, has been all about family. There's a sense of excitement at home, because her husband Peter Sarsgaard's film, An Education, is also up for best picture. "We woke up at 5:30," says Gyllenhaal. "I've been up forever already. I just got up really early and had coffee with my brother (Jake Gyllenhaal) and my daughter woke up. I haven't had a second to breathe." She might have a mimosa to celebrate, but her night is wide open. "I don't know what I'm going to do," says the actress. Source.


It's so good to hear that Jake is very much a part of Maggie's day as they celebrate.

On with the post...

In the wee hours of a Los Angeles morning, Maggie matched brother Jake Gyllenhaal with her Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Crazy Heart. Jeff Bridges has had enormous success for his role as Bad and so it is good to see that Maggie too has received recognition. No doubt there'll be some celebrating tonight among the Gyllenhaal-Sarsgaards. I'm happy to get a round in.


Not a dickie bird for Brothers unfortunately, but that's probably not a surprise. More glory, though, comes the way of An Education. It gets a nomination for Best Picture and Carey Mulligan receives a nomination for Best Actress. It also received a nod for best Adapted Screenplay. But with the good comes the surprises and it was a shame to see no mention of Peter Sarsgaard or for Duncan Jones's Moon. Congratulations though must go to Colin Firth! Doctor Parnassus has received nominations for Best Art Direction and Costume Design.


No doubt this post will be updated! A full list can be seen here. Includes picture from IHJ.

'What do you mean by that?' - Jake Gyllenhaal's 'challenging' and 'difficult' interview

A Jake Gyllenhaal interview dating from the Brothers LA Press Conference at the start of the month has been released in the Herald and it has a curious theme: 'Jake Gyllenhaal has a reputation for being difficult'. You only have to hover your cursor over the image in the interview and that's what it tells you. And it begins with a proclamation: 'The 28-year-old star who plays a lowlife in Jim Sheridan's latest movie Brothers has, in fact, no interest whatsoever in playing down his reputation which, even in Hollywood, is euphemistically described as "challenging".'


They go on... 'By all accounts, there was palpable tension on the set between Gyllenhaal, and, not only the director, but also his co-star Tobey Maguire, perhaps in part because both of them grew up in the Hollywood fishbowl.' I'm wondering where all these accounts can be found, because all I've heard from Jim Sheridan is that he had a little trouble getting used to Jake's freeform acting style and that Jake had some difficulty showing aggression (as did Natalie Portman), and that is it.


Having read the vast majority of articles about Jake Gyllenhaal, throughout his career, I'm also not too sure where this charge of 'challenging' and 'difficult' comes from. From the David Fincher days? Just look at the respect there. If the fact that Jake has picked his films for their directors, to learn his craft from a breadth of angles and sometimes finding the task difficult and yet still pulling positives from the experience is being 'challenging', then maybe that's what it takes to make an actor who has the range and depth and courage of Jake Gyllenhaal.


Judging from Jake's words rather than the journalist's preconceptions, it would appear that Jim Sheridan could be perceived as a challenge - not that Jake levels such a criticism at him. It would also appear that there was tension between Jake and his onscreen brother Tobey Maguire but that was on both sides and it sounds intentional and fostered for the film.


'"Working with Jim was a beautiful mess," he kicks off, laughing. "I am not sure what happened or how it came together, but it was a really interesting mess. One day there's a PA who he's brought over who brought coffee, and there she is sitting behind the monitor and he's asking her what she thinks of the scene! Then we're changing the dialogue according to what she thinks of the scene!" He shakes his head as though still incredulous at Sheridan's style. "The next day, some guy he met on a plane he invites to the set and rewrites the dialogue for him! It's a whole real interesting mess with Jim, but it turns out to be a good result in the end, so... "'

'"There's nothing that I do that doesn't relate to my family," he says, somewhat less abrasively. "I think this is why with Jim ultimately, although I may have been a complicated person to work with at times, I think we share a lot in common in that way. My father and I definitely have an interesting and complex relationship."'


While happy to make fun of Sheridan's modus operandi, Gyllenhaal is reluctant to talk about the almost incestuous fishbowl syndrome of Hollywood, in which he and Tobey Maguire grew up, going to the same schools and parties, even dating the same actresses and models... "There are all these interesting rumours that fly around about Tobey Maguire and myself and it was so long ago at this point. Our relationship on Brothers definitely was awkward, but respectful as a result," he eventually admits. "Things unsaid went into the process of making this movie. I admire Tobey's career, I always have. But there was undoubtedly competition and people have mistaken me for him throughout the years. But I'm always game for complications, and this was one that Jim helped engineer."'


'Given how critical he is of Sheridan's working style, would he work with him again? "Oh yes, definitely," he says emphatically. And given how difficult Sheridan admits to having found Gyllenhaal to work with, does he think he would get asked back onto one of Sheridan's sets. The question really bothers him. "What do you mean by that? I have great respect for Jim and it's important that you respect someone's work. The work is not always the same as who they are as a person and navigating that is always difficult and there are lots of different egos and personalities in this business," he says, seeming both hurt and defensive.'


'"I don't mean to wear the fact that I like to challenge people as a badge of honour. I think that's something I've moved beyond. I was born into the film industry and all of us grow up thinking we have a perspective on film-making that's different from the job. But only very recently I realised that film-making is a collaborative process. When I was younger I had an idea that I was the actor there to do the job. For somebody who's gotten to the place where they are directing or writing a movie, they have to have a pretty interesting personality to be doing that. So I realise now that I am in service of somebody else's vision and I think it's changed the whole situation."'

I kind of get the feeling that the interviewer was missing the point and fully deserved Jake's 'What do you mean by that?'.


Congratulations to the cast of An Education for their success in the SAG nominations announced today. You'll be hard pressed to find Brothers on the list. There was slightly more success with the Golden Globes and the Chicago Critics Nominations. Includes picture from link.

The Jake Gyllenhaal vs Elmo face off and An Education - A Review

It's been brought to my attention that some people - and I mention no names - are making comparisons between Jake Gyllenhaal and Elmo, even suggesting that Elmo is ahead on the cuteness scale. I would agree that Elmo is undoubtedly hairier than Jake, and indeed redder than Jake, but is he cuter? Is he as good in the kitchen? What does he look like in spandex?



Please note that Leona Lewis, a winner of the X Files or X Factor, when asked about her latest celebrity crush did not go all gooey-eyed over Elmo: 'I fancy Jake Gyllenhaal. He’s hot, and I like tall, rugged guys.' Could Elmo ever be described as 'rugged'?



When Fran of Travis asked people to vote over Jake's hotness, did he compare a shirtless Jake with a shirtless Elmo? Oh no. And many thanks to Aggiegurl for posting a picture of this moment from the On The Road show. And thanks to Gretchen for finding it.


An Education - an interlude

I finally got to see An Education this evening, having had to leave the premiere screening early. It was brought home to me how much the whole feeling of a movie can change during the magical process of film making. I saw a scene being filmed in Oxford for this which would have completely changed the resolution of this story, for us and for the characters. Perhaps this scene wasn't filmed with any serious intention of it ending up in the final cut, but, irrespective of that, I saw it as such and when tonight I saw the closing scene, there was something missing from it. Obviously it's difficult to speak of this without giving anything away of the story and so I won't. But it made me realise how different a film can seem when you've been fortunate enough to have seen a part of it filmed.


As for the finished film in the theatre tonight, I wasn't entirely sure about it. I thought Carey Mulligan and Alfred Molina were fabulous (making me very keen to see Carey in Brothers and Alfred in Prince of Persia) but Peter Sarsgaard's casting proved an oddity for me. He was sexy and urbane and looked every inch the part when out on the streets of London and Paris. And yet, as soon as Peter moved indoors, for me, he was out of place. The accent didn't seem quite right, the humour was uncomfortable - the seduction of Jenny less believable, more awkward. Peter is a superb, charismatic actor and I'm still waiting for him to have the role he deserves. This was a step forward for sure. A giant step for Carey.


It's always strange seeing your hometown in a movie and Oxford is a character in its own right in An Education. I rather liked that and I'm very thankful it brought Peter and Carey here. I'm looking forward to seeing how this film, and its actors, does in the awards season. Could we see Jake and Peter competing for the same awards?

Includes pictures by IHJ, WDW and BBMISwear. Guest appearance by Elmo.