Preparations, expectations, rumours - and Nailed again?

As preparations are underway in Perth for Heath's funeral, possibly on Saturday, and rumours (completely unsubstantiated) that Jake may be arriving in Australia tomorrow, I thought I'd repost this video that, a few days ago, a reader mentioned that they would like to see again.



One account suggests that a wake will be held at one of Heath's favourite haunts, at a restaurant on Cottesloe Beach. Heath's father, Kim, said in another beautiful statement yesterday: 'that the family was humbled to be "among millions of people worldwide who may have suffered the tragic loss of a child. Few can understand the hollow, wrenching, and enduring agony parents silently suffer when a child predeceases them."


By the way, it's worth reading the erratum at the end of this same article concerning the spelling of a certain actor's name.



Nailed

I saw this notice yesterday and your guess is as good as mine about how reliable this is - and if the possibility that Nailed has a starting date makes it any more certain that Jake will be in it. As far as I am aware, the script of Giant Leap (the Moon Project) is ready to go, and Giant Leap is the only new project, apart from Brothers, that we have actually heard Jake talk about. So, the mystery continues. But we'll know soon enough if this date is true.


'David O. Russell (I Heart Huckabees, Three Kings) has signed on to write the screenplay adaptation of Matthew Quick's soon-to-be-published comic novel The Silver Linings Playbook for the Weinstein Company. Playbook centers on a man who, after a mental collapse, is released from a facility only to find that his wife has remarried and moved on. Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella are on board to produce through their Mirage Productions. Currently, Russell is in preproduction on Nailed, a political satire starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Biel, which he cowrote and will direct. It is expected to start shooting on April 15.'


Includes pictures from IHJ.

Heath and Jake

A hard day - the cause of Heath's death was announced and it shouts out a lack of care from Heath's prescribers, the very people who should have given Heath the help he needed. Meanwhile, Michelle and Matilda arrived in Perth for Heath's funeral which, according to this report, may take place on Saturday.


New York's chief medical officer made the statement that: “Mr Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine," said Hirsch. "We have concluded that the manner of death is accident, resulting from the abuse of prescription medications."

The response from Heath's father, Kim: “Heath’s accidental death serves as a caution to the hidden dangers of combining prescription medication, even at low dosage.”


It's unsettling how coincidences happen, but they do. Jake Gyllenhaal is on the cover of the new Italian Vanity Fair, accompanied by photographs from Mark Seliger's Interview shoot. The interview took place three months ago, when none of us could have imagined how the year would begin. In the interview, Jake discusses the dangers of fame and thanks his parents for protecting him from the film world during his childhood - allowing him a peek but keeping him safe.


It may have felt hard at the time, not to have been allowed to do roles, but now Jake realises 'That was love. Having a child who asks about making a film is like having someone who wants permission to go to a party where everyone is drinking and taking drugs... They wanted to protect me.'

Forgive this translation, it's mine and poor, all mistakes are mine and certainly not Jake's. 'Becoming famous early is dangerous. I have frequently seen actors who have had suuccessful lives come to a bad end. I'm lucky becaue I have a family that helped me to avoid making the wrong steps. The only people who can help you are those who are around you in difficult times.' But as the article concludes, aware of what has happened to Heath, sometimes this is not enough.


Elsewhere, Jake discusses the politics of acting and says that, although he admires George Clooney and Sean Penn, that's not for him: 'I would like to be considered for what I am, with my own thoughts and my own priorities.' Jake talks about how much he enjoyed philosphy at school and how having a Jewish mother and a Christian father made him open to the appeal of Buddhism, which he studied at Columbia. It allowed Jake to break free of a 'cage of rigid rules' and it opened his mind.

Having politely refused to discuss a relationship with Reese ('Are you trying to tell me that you're just friends?' asks the interviewer), Jake discusses love: 'Love is always fundamental to life and to me it's certainly at the heart of my career. But I'm speaking about love in general, not just about the love for one woman.'


'I think that Brokeback Mountain has been the most important experience of my career, which has opened many doors. And you know what's funny? Nobody ever asked me if I was frightened to play a CIA agent. I have taken on serious, controversial characters in my career but only when I played a gay guy was it suggested this might be 'risky', because the public might think I was really gay.'

Jake says that people may not want to speak out for fear of being made a meal of by the public, 'but I grew up in an environment where so many were gay and had no need to hide. Fortunately, the world is evolving: already, homosexuality is much more accepted in my generation. I hope that the prejudices will be overcome soon.'


Jake also discusses his appearance on SNL and the dedication of his opening number to the fans of Brokeback. Jake says that the song title was suggested by his press officer. Jake also enthuses about Italian food, a favourite amongst all his family, and jokes that cappuccino is served for Italian interviewers but the waiter has already lined up the beer for the waiting German interviewer.

As previously mentioned - please excuse all quotations which are the result of my poor Italian and my little better Latin... Thanks very much to a member of IHJ for scanning the cover and the interview.


Includes pictures from Vanity Fair and IHJ.

Jake: Democrats make better lovers

Today is Pancake Day or, as it is known in the US, Super Tuesday. And while we in the UK eat pancakes (preferably with a generous squeeze of lemon juice and a frugal sprinkling of sugar), the people of a sizeable slice of the US go out to vote (preferably for a Democrat). So on Super Fat Pancake Tuesday, it seems fitting to get in the mood and be a little political. Bearing in mind that I'm a Brit with no voting rights in the US, nor a knowledge of either of the Democratic candidates, except that I saw Hillary Clinton perusing the bread section in my local supermarket a couple of years ago and that I seem to bump into her husband with embarrassing regularity (usually while he's out jogging), I'm allowing myself to be led by Jake Gyllenhaal who clearly has some opinions about the qualifications necessary to be a Democrat:



Of course, Jake is a private person and whomever he votes for is his own business, although one can be fairly sure it's a Democrat. It turns out that Jake is on the advisory board for the documentary film Crawford, which tells the story of a small town in Texas (a population of only 700 or so), which suddenly found itself the centre of attention when a new resident moved in - George W Bush. This film looks at what it was like for the citizens of the town to live through the years of the Bush presidency after being shoved so unexpectedly into the spotlight after Bush's arrival at the head of an army of media. Here is the trailer.



The film will premiere on 8 March at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas. The other members of the movie's advisory board, alongside Jake, are Ted Danson, Gideon Lester, Mary Steenburgen, Brad Silberling (of Moonlight Mile fame) and Claudia Well. More than a few of these are well known residents of Martha's Vineyard, for at least part of the year.


While we're talking about Jake and politics, back in 2004 (see the photos at the head of the feature), Jake campaigned for Kerry and Edwards. This included speaking at a rally for students at Carroll College in Wisconson. Here's what the lucky students got to see.



Elsewhere

The Tech - the newspaper of Massachusetts's MIT - has voted Zodiac as one of its films of 2007, mainly, from what I can see, because of Jake. This is what it has to say: 'Jake Gyllenhaal’s roles seem to possess him, and this is certainly true in the murder flick and biopic “Zodiac.” Gyllenhaal plays real life cartoonist-turned-novelist Robert Graysmith, who falls into an amateur investigation of the horrific Zodiac serial killings that took place in the late 1960s. The film is long, truly, but also engaging; it offers the historical gore while also revealing the real manifestations of the investigation in Graysmith’s life. We feel his rightful paranoia, we grow uneasy as his obsession destroys his marriage, and we bite our nails as he happens upon the truth.'


Includes pictures from IHJ.

Jake - 'Hi to everyone on the internet!' The Empire Awards and Naomi's speech

It's been a while since we've watched a video of Jake talking about his films and I was definitely ready to see this, not least because it begins with Jake giving us all a wave and saying 'Hi to everyone on the internet!' For those of you who love to hear Jake speak in foreign tongues, he also says a few French words. For this is a French video, le Fin de l'Inocence, and its subject is Jarhead.



As always, Jake is fascinating to listen to, especially, for me, in these two sections: 'If you has asked me before I made this film, I probably would have said that I'm a pacifist, I guess. But after I think I recognised a lot of aggresion in myself that I didn't know. And the thrill of holding a weapon in my hands and just sort of thinking of killing or being killed, just all those ideas that run through your mind when you're playing a part like this. After that I think I walked the line - I walked the line! But, ultimately, I don't think that war is really the appropriate answer for anything.'


'I hope it's never the end of innocence, you know. I mean, I think that's the thing that keeps me wanting to do like... to keep acting. But I do think that I grew up a lot while I was making the movie and I think that Sam's process - Sam Mendes' process in directing, you know, I think he empowers you and he makes you feel that nothing you can do is wrong. And I think when somebody says that to you, when they say nothing you can do is wrong, you can take risks, you can make choices. That really forces you to grow up. I don't think that it ends your innocence but that definitely forces you to progress and change.'


After watching the UK MTV Making of Zodiac special and listening to the Zodiac commentary with Jake and Robert Downey Jr - not to mention the Making of documentary that is included in the Director's Cut of Zodiac - it makes one realise how very different Jake's experience was making these two contrasting movies. One was perhaps more difficult than the other, with the physical determination and agression necessary for Jarhead perhaps easier to endure than the mental straitjacket demanded by the procedural and verbal Zodiac. And yet Jake responded to both, giving us and his directors two great performances.


The Sony Ericsson Empire Awards - Zodiac's nominations

The Oscars, and the BAFTAs for that matter, may have decided not to acknowledge Zodiac in any shape or form, but Empire magazine (arguably Britain's premier film publication) announced the shortlist for the Sony Ericsson Empire Awards today. This shortlist, which is voted upon by readers of the magazine and its website, moviegoers one and all, lists Zodiac three times.


Zodiac is nominated for Best Thriller and Best Film and David Fincher is nominated for Best Director. Unfortunately no mention is made of Jake Gyllenhaal, or the rest of Zodiac's cast, nor of Rendition. The awards are presented at a ceremony in London on 9 March. You can read the full shortlist here. Good luck Zodiac and David Fincher.


A short while ago, I posted a link to a MTV half-hour special on Zodiac (mentioned above), which was only avaible to watch in the UK. Stephanie at I Heart Jake has now kindly and expertly merged these video files into one and uploaded them so that everyone can enjoy them. You can find it here. Thanks to Twisted Logic for putting the video up on YouTube.


Naomi's speech on the relationship between author and reader

Last Saturday, the Scripter Award was presented at a gala dinner held, rather appropriately and yet incongruously, in a library - the Doheny Memorial Library in Los Angeles. This award 'celebrates the art of adaptation, acknowledging both the authors of the original novel or novella and the screenwriters.' This year's event was linked to the Gyllenhaals doublefold - James Vanderbilt's adaptation of Robert Graysmith's Zodiac was a contender and the head of the selection committee is Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal. Unfortunately, Vanderbilt didn't win, with the award going to No Country for Old Men, which was adapted by Joel and Ethan Coen.


Here is an account of the event, which 'managed to tie the different atmospheres together into a celebratory environment, yet one that was intellectually sober, where one was constantly reminded of the frequent inseparability of the triumphs and challenges of writing and adapting for the screen. In her introduction of the honorees, the head of the selection committee Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal, mother of actors Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal, spoke of the delicate art of "keeping the spirit of the story line intact, while turning it into something entirely different."'


'"Getting inside the intimate relationship an author makes with his reader to create a concrete picture of character and place without disturbing the author's original underlying intent [is difficult to do]," Gyllenhaal said at the event. "No wonder it so often fails. But sometimes it rises to the heights of perfection and provides insight and possibility that the reader alone would never come to."'

Includes pictures from IHJ.

The stars come out for Heath - Rendition's message continues

Yesterday, Saturday, around noon, a private memorial service was held for Heath Ledger on the Sony lot in Los Angeles and it was a star-studded affair, with Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Sienna Miller, Ellen DeGeneres, Lindsay Lohan and Josh Hartnett in attendance.


According to People: 'The gathering also included Ledger's father Kim, industry luminaries and those connected to CAA (the agency that represented Ledger), including Cruise and Holmes, who costarred with Michelle Williams on Dawson's Creek. It comes a week after relatives and close friends – including ex-girlfriend Naomi Watts – paid tribute to the 28-year-old actor at a smaller service at an L.A. cemetery. Saturday's service began around noon on the lot, which is closed to the public. Attendees included Miller, Ledger's Casanova costar, and Shannyn Sossamon, who starred with Ledger in A Knight's Tale. Speakers included [Todd] Haynes, who directed him in last year's Bob Dylan film I'm Not There.'


According to another account, 'The hour-long service included five eulogies, one from Ledger's father Kim and another from his sister Kate, as well as director Todd Haynes...' This report goes on to speculate that Michelle 'Williams and Matilda are expected to fly to Perth for the funeral, as are Ledger's close Hollywood friends, including Brokeback Mountain co-star Jake Gyllenhaal, who is Matilda's godfather.'


Rendition

Although Rendition will shortly be released as a DVD (on 19 February in the US), it has yet to reach the cinemas of more than a few countries. This month, the film opens in Norway, Australia, Sweden and Italy. Today, the film - and Jake - featured in one of Sweden's leading papers, Dagens Nyheter, in an article by political commentator Niklas Ekdal. Thanks to Herman for sending this to me with the accompanying photograph of Jake.


The feature brings the subject of extraordinary rendition to the fore and is a commentary on the use of this practice by the Bush administration. It comments that dictatorships around the world can not be expected to act in the spirit of international law while such activities continue. 'The disregard of human rights in the war against terrorism is worse than a crime. It is a stupidity.' Ekdal concludes by calling the practice an 'historical catastrophe'. Incidentally, Jake is described as 'dazzling'.


Includes pictures from IHJ.

Michelle's statement - Plus pictures of Maggie and duties as a Brothers marine

Yesterday, Michelle Williams made a heartbreaking statement about the loss of Heath, to herself and to their beautiful daughter, Matilda: 'Please respect our need to grieve privately. My heart is broken. I am the mother of the most tender-hearted, high-spirited, beautiful little girl who is the spitting image of her father. All that I can cling to is his presence inside her that reveals itself every day. His family and I watch Matilda as she whispers to trees, hugs animals, and takes steps two at a time, and we know that he is with us still. She will be brought up in the best memories of him.'



Pictures of Maggie

Thanks very much to Beckela for letting me know about these new images of Maggie Gyllenhaal at Photolicious. I find them stunning. Incidentally, Paris, Je T'Aime, a film of vignettes, one of which stars Maggie, is released on DVD in the UK on Monday. Another of the short stories features Natalie Portman.




Being a Marine - On the set of Brothers

Another extra from Brothers has posted an account of what it's like on set, this time as a marine fighting alongside Tobey Maguire as opposed to playing a Taliban and waving a weapon in his face. It's a fascinating glimpse into the boredom, fleeting excitement and even creepiness (being kept in an extras holding pen in an old prison where 30 prisoners had been murdered) that goes into being an extra. Talking of marines...


Includes pictures from IHJ and Photolicious.

Brothers winding down and The Night Before the Oscars

Many of us have been wondering when the filming of Brothers will finish but, thanks to this site, we can see that the cast and crew are now into their last two weeks of filming, at least in New Mexico (just look at those early starts). So shortly, from 12 February, there should be no more disruption for the residents and drivers of Los Alamos. I know that they've filmed at the golf course before, but the mind boggles at what they're to film at the local ice rink - ice skating?


An extra on the film, Mikie the Taliban, regularly posts bits and pieces about his experiences on the set. Today, he had this to say about filming with Tobey Maguire: 'I will say this about Tobey Maguire…he is really into what he does. On frist day on the set, I didn’t recognize him with his short beard as he walked by and said Hello, but later in the day he wasn’t as friendly as I was holding a gun on him. The next day he was in heavy ” injury” make up after a helicopter crash, and was also captured by our very own Taliban band (I was the drummer…just kidding), so he was in character most of the time. As a rule, extras do not engage major talent in any way, even direct eye contact. Try that with Val Kilmer and see what happens…!'



The Night Before the Oscars

The night before the Oscars a charity event, called The Night Before, is held to raise money for the Motion Picture and Television Fund; in other words, it will help many of the people who have lost their jobs because of the writer's strike. It's a private affair, free of press, but it's glitzy and it's been announced that, whatever may happen to the Oscars due to the strike, this event will go ahead.


Here is the list of stars who will be hosting the event on 23 February at The Beverly Hills Hotel: 'Jessica Alba, Jennifer Aniston, Kate Capshaw Spielberg & Steven Spielberg, Nancy & Steve Carell, George Clooney, Cameron Diaz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx, Jake Gyllenhaal, Kate Hudson, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, Tobey Maguire, Jessica & Jerry Seinfeld, Hilary Swank, Christine Taylor & Ben Stiller, Justin Timberlake, Rita Wilson & Tom Hanks, Kate Winslet & Sam Menndes, Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones & Michael Douglas.' There's a name there that catches my attention - I'll give you three guesses...


The writer's strike continues and the star support for the strike continues. Maggie Gyllenhaal's support has been expressed through this video. Maggie's video is No 34.

And finally...

When anyone mentions blue eyes, it's Jake I think of as having the perfect example, and it seems Jake may be related to many of us - a report today says that all blue-eyed people may have had a common ancestor - and possibly a Neanderthal ancestor at that. I did like the title of this article, which calls blue-eyed people 'inbred mutants'. Judging by these blue eyes, I would take that as a compliment.



Includes pictures from IHJ.