Friday, January 15, 2010

New old Jake

Stephanie uploaded some lovely new/old Jake Gyllenhaal pictures, including a late Christmas present left-profile shot for FL:




Those are from an old People photoshoot. And now we know where IHJ's Jake birthday banner photo came from - it's an outtake from the Mario Testino book:




Brothers continues to open around the globe - in the UK next Friday and apparently in South Africa today, given the number of reviews popping up. The Globe and Mail nails it:

The adage has it that grown-up actors should beware of acting with children or animals, but the grown-ups in Brothers hold their own very admirably against this junior competition. Portman shows with each new film she makes that she is much more than the ridiculously attired but otherwise character-free Queen Padme of the later Star Wars extravaganzas. Here, she seems to be living very convincingly on an emotional hair trigger, and she makes one feel strongly for Grace. Maguire, in turn, demonstrates that he is not just a cutesy Spider-Man; his bug-eyed wastedness may feel a bit too self-consciously actorly in places, but overall it works. Shepard, as the crusty old warrior dad, adds a series of what one might call grace notes.

Gyllenhaal, though, is the most powerful presence here. Jittery and still rebellious when Tommy first comes out of jail, not fully in control of his responses, he lets the character develop subtly and strongly into something rounded and sympathetic. His trajectory is more complex, certainly, than brother Sam's, where the shocks are more in-your-face. In a film aiming for understated realism, with the attendant risk of a slight diffusion of effect, Gyllenhaal holds it all together.


Amen!


Jordan Mechner seems to have done a new round of interviews for Prince of Persia. Some excerpts:

Was the cast required to play the game?
You know, I think Jake Gyllenhaal played Prince of Persia games. He was pretty into it. What’s interesting is that when I was in London to meet the craftspeople – the people behind the set design and costumes and so forth... all the people working behind the scenes. I found that a lot of them were real gamers and they were deeply into the Prince of Persia games.

Gamers are often sceptical when their beloved series hits the big screen. How do you think loyal Prince of Persia fans will react when they see the movie adaptation?
Well, I hope they love it. I do. For me, Prince of Persia is the kind of movie that I’ve always loved – the ones that really inspired me to make games in the first place. It’s almost like an old fashioned, swashbuckling, romantic adventure. ...

Is Jake Gyllenhaal’s portrayal how you imagined Dastan would be in the real world?
I think Jake makes a great Prince Dastan. He looks a lot like the character in the Sands of Time videogame but also he has a lot of qualities that for me has always been a part of who the Prince of Persia is. He’s a warrior, and does incredible stunts and parkour and so forth but he also has a mysterious streak and an attitude and I think a vulnerability that is part of the character’s appeal.




(Photos courtesy of IHJ.)

24 comments:

FL said...

It's not often that I love every single photo in a Jake post. On this post? I so, so, sooo do. It's nice to see that Mario Testino shot in full-sized glory. :-)

Sheba baby said...

Jake looks absolutely gorgeous! I love B&W photography.

Based on that review ,it looks like the reviews of Brothers and Jake's performance are going to be similar to the reviews here. I love that they are singling out Jake's performance.

Thanks for the Mechner interview, he seems very pleased with Jake as Dastan!

UltraViolet said...

Jake does look good in black and white. FL is going to have to do another one of those posts!

This is a funny video - Tobey Maguire apparently did a live chat and he answered this youtubers question. The first one is whether Tobey thinks that he and Jake look alike, and Tobey has an amusing anecdote.

Monica said...

I'm in love with all these pictures, especially the third. Another wonderful work of Mario Testino.

Thank you for the other links!

bobbyanna said...

Love B&W. Thanks for these.

FYI: I noticed that VH 1 has the "Critics Choice" Awards tonight beginning at 8:30, I think.

suvee said...

I saw this yesterday...... it's the last entry. Nothing earth shattering, just a little more Jake trivia.

latimesblogs.latimes.com/season/2010/01/
stuff-heard-around-town-this-week
--everything-seems-to-be-heating-up
-in-anticipation-of-the-years-second-
biggest-awards-w.html

FL said...

Ugh I hate this time of year. Random awards shows everywhere. And I have to watch them all.

To make matters worse, I saw exactly ONE movie that has a couple of nominated actors. And not the actor(s) I wanted to be nominated.

Chica said...

Very nice, love the first photo.

Thanks for the video/link of Tobey UV and what a cool connection between Jake and Peck Suvee!

Chica said...

Thanks for the heads up on the Critics choice awards Bobbyanna, I forgot they were on tonight!

Unknown said...

I'm watching the critics choice awards, I love awards shows.

Maggie G got a shout-out from Jeff Bridges.

Beautiful Jake pictures, thanks for posting them.

bobbyanna said...

I watched them, but it was very painful. Kristin Chenoweth was embarrassing. I actually turned off the sound inbetween awards. Awful show.

Office of Nancy Pelosi said...

The Critic's choice awards was like watching a train wreck, I turned them off too Bobbyanna.

Good thing I have these pretty pictures to wake up to, thanks so much!

Tweety said...

I love these photos, and Jake does look good in B&W photoshoots,, stunning.

I get a bit bored with all these award shows leading up the the Academy awards, I'm glad I skipped the C. Choice awards last night!

The first tweet sounds like she met Jake at some MTV party by reading her previous tweets:

BethDanielle: jake gyllenhaal just laughed at me. made my night!
about 10 hours ago from mobile web

This second tweet responded that she saw Jake at some pre-GG party, probably the CAA party that he went to last year as well:

@jacky_y aww I was at some golden globes pre party. he looked soooo fly!! he just laughed when I asked for a pic lol about 6 hours ago from mobile

Anonymous said...

Source code has a blog:

http://sourcecodefilm.blogspot.com/

FL said...

Oh too bad. I was hoping that Source Code blog would have been "official" or something from Duncan.

If the fan who created that stops by here again, could you make the text easier to read? It's teeny weeny.

bobbyanna said...

Fl, & etc. I'm hoping Duncan Jones' own blog might have some good stuff on Source Code once filming starts. Right now he's pretty caught up in lobbying for Sam Rockwell to get an Oscar nomination for his "Moon" movie. It just came out on DVD/BR, and Duncan's pretty enthused about the success it's had.

http://blog.manmademovies.co.uk/

Wish the fan who started the SC blog best for doing that...but wish they would get some better pictures of JBG.

(I noticed that I sometimes talk/blog in shorthand bcz of Twitter! LOL!)

bobbyanna said...

Forgot: Also wish they would not use the awful Jake fansite they are using! IHJ is far superior. Better pictures, too.

Tweety said...

Jake the cook shopping for cookware!:

kaczanda: Saw Jake Gyllenhaal shopping for cookware at Surfa's. He apparently didn't want to talk about french press's.
about 1 hour ago from Tweetie ·


Rockwell would be a surprise nomination for Moon. I have not seen it but i heard he is fantastic.

Extra said...

Love the new old pics of Jake, thanks UV and IHJ!

It will be interesting to see if Jake attends the GG's or any of the parties since Maggie and Peter are in town to support An Education and Crazy Hearts. It would be great if Jake shows to support Tobey and U2 for Brothers, Lionsgate will have a full table between Brothers and Precious.

Also Reese is one of the presenters, should make for an interesting evening tomorrow.

PS: I agree, the critics Choice awards were crap. The highlights were the tie between Sandra and Meryl, the win for The Hurt Locker for best picture and Bigelow for director, that's it.

Anonymous said...

Since he isn't presenting, I doubt if Jake will attend. Believe it or not, if things between people are "sensitive" their publicists "coordinate" attendance at various events right up to the time of arrival and departure at a party. Reese and Ryan have been doing it for the past three years.

Anonymous said...

JAKE GYLLENHAAL A LA FRANCAISE This made me laugh.

Anonymous said...

Very funny! Now Jake gets two mentions. This one that's a wrong picture, and the correction which comes next. They should probably use two full pages of a lot of sexy pictures of Jake. Because you can't use just one, anyway! LOL!

Josie said...

Jake looks so sexy in these pictures, I really do think he photographs better in b&w.

Thanks for the Merchner interview, he sounds really pleased which is a good sign.

I missed the Critics Choice awards. I used to look forward to the GG's but now to me they are just like the rest of the awards shows leading up to the Oscars.

That is so funny@11:50am, I wonder who that guy is?

That SC blog is a bit "dark" and hard to read, but i'm glad that someone started a blog. The movie sounds intriguing.

UltraViolet said...

That French faux pas is funny. As someone said, this just means Jake will get his own mention in the next issue!

New post :)