You can lead Jake to water..

...but you can't make him go in the drink! Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon at the beach in Malibu on Sunday. Reese is appropriately attired in a bikini. Jake is covered up as if he's at the North Pole.

Okay, I exaggerate. But Reese in a bikini and Jake in shorts and a t-shirt, no matter how good he looks, is the reverse order of desired undressedness.


A concerned good Samaritan, seeing how cold Jake is, given the near-freezing Malibu temperatures, donates his blanket to the Keep Jake Covered cause.


Jake stares in wonder at the ocean, but decides he likes it better on the other side and that he'll wait to be back on the East Coast before going for a swim!



Struggling mightily, given the weight of his clothing, Jake valiantly arises and to begins to move out of the oceanic danger zone.



Jake is happier and happier as the ocean recedes, and so do our chances of seeing him out of that t-shirt.





Reese warns him they aren't out of the woods yet, and they look ahead to their seemingly unattainable goal - the waterfree parking lot!






And on and on they walked, dogs afoot and dog doo ahand (at least, I'm guessing that's what Jake is carrying so carefully). Where they stopped, nobody knows.

Okay, enough carping. It's great to see Jake so relaxed. I hope he enjoyed his day in the sun...

But is it wrong to hope that there were other paps on the beach, one of whom might have caught Jake pre-covered state?

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An interesting article in the NY Times about an author who hoped to use independent financing (hedge funds and the like) to get his book made into a movie. Once flush with opportunities, the tide has turned and he's having trouble getting the money.

It's fascinating in the light of Nailed's troubles, but also because the writer imagined Jake starring in it. (It's funny how often authors cite Jake as the person they want to star in their movie adaptations.) One of his managers had to set him straight:

Despite the strong interest — Mr. Sanghoee also had a Canadian investor offering to put in the entire $15 million, with caveats — most investors were reluctant to complete a deal until they saw a cast list, even a tentative one. Mr. Sanghoee toyed with approaching Mr. Gyllenhaal, but Brillstein vetoed the idea.

“Everyone thinks that what they wrote is genius,” said Mr. Khanna, of Brillstein. “I’m here to tell Sanjay that certain things he wants are never going to happen.”

With Mr. Khanna’s help, Mr. Sanghoee hired two casting directors who had worked on movies like “The Good Shepherd” and “Coyote Ugly.” They came up with a list everybody thought was realistic. For the role of the investment banker, they would go after actors like Ryan Phillippe and Matthew Fox, according to a business plan that Brillstein helped develop. Winona Ryder and Claire Danes were possibilities to play the reporter.

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New Jake/Reese picture from the weekend:


(Photos courtesy of IHJ.)