Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Break a leg!



It's opening night for Constellations, the Broadway debut for costars Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Wilson, as well as director Michael Longhurst.



Photos and reviews:




New York Times:

Who knew that higher physics could be so sexy, so accessible — and so emotionally devastating?

“Constellations,” Nick Payne’s gorgeous two-character drama, starring a perfectly matched Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Wilson, may be the most sophisticated date play Broadway has seen. This 70-minute fugue-like production, which opened on Tuesday night at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater, takes that most elemental of dramatic setups — boy meets girl — and then spins it into a seeming infinitude of might-have-been alternatives. …

The authors of these destinies may have unusual occupations. But it is essential that they register as schmoes like us. Mr. Gyllenhaal and Ms. Wilson, I am happy to report, have seldom appeared less obviously compelling on the surface. Their starlight has been banked and internalized. This means that while we see them as they see each other, we are also allowed to see them as they see themselves — which is as gauche lummoxes.

They are crippled by self-consciousness when they meet and remain so, to fluctuating degrees, even as they grow closer. “Constellations” is about, among other things, how inevitably fraught and imperfect communication is, even with people closest to you. Conversations here, both casual and life-changing (and these aren’t mutually exclusive), are always a matter of shouting and signaling across an unbreachable gulf. …

This makes the play both a treat and a potential trap for its performers. They have a glorious opportunity to keep trying out the same lines with different readings, which is standard practice on a movie set, but seldom in live theater.

But they must also bring the same weight and conviction to every interpretation, or else the play can feel like a virtuoso acting exercise. It’s no surprise that Ms. Wilson, a two-time Olivier Award winner, is comfortable with her role’s demands. But Mr. Gyllenhaal, whose theater experience is more limited, is every bit as persuasive.

They are both fluent in the awkward body language of nerds in love, and in the crossed signals of emotional ambivalence. But they use contrasting and complementary physical vocabularies to balance, gracefully and clumsily, shifts in power and longing, aggression and retreat.

Mr. Gyllenhaal’s Roland, a magnificent work of understatement, is the more naturally inhibited. His default stance is a hunch, with his hands buried in his pockets, and there’s a valiance in his eternal attempts to break through that posture.

Ms. Wilson is more expansive of gesture; you suspect that her Marianne sees her intellectuality as a social handicap, and she overcompensates by being louder and funnier than she needs to be. This makes her all the more moving whenever words start to fail her.

And though “Constellations” is a supremely articulate play, it knows that words inevitably fail, that they are never enough to bind two people together forever. Time, it turns out, is a more effective breaker of hearts than human beings, with all their conflicted intentions, can ever be. This story of parallel universes is universal in every sense of the word.




An early rave from Variety:

Short and sweet and strangely haunting. That’s the quick take on “Constellations,” a romantic two-hander starring dreamy Jake Gyllenhaal and the radiant British thesp Ruth Wilson (fresh off her Golden Globes win for Showtime’s “The Affair”) as a young couple who break through the boundaries of the time/space continuum to explore the infinite possibilities of their love. Although barely an hour long, this baby bombshell by hot Brit scribe Nick Payne (a play that originated at the Royal Court and went on to the West End) overflows with emotional highs and lows. …

That’s all it takes for drama — that, and some killer acting.

It’s inevitable that regional theaters will pounce on this low-maintenance, audience-pleasing show. Single set, two characters, no scenery to speak of — the economics of it are positively irresistible. But anything less than killer acting would be lethal for any future productions, and exactly how many Jake Gyllenhaals and Ruth Wilsons are out there, anyway?

Gyllenhaal has the charm and good looks of a leading man, but he’s also got the acting chops of a chameleon character actor, equally believable as a driven investigative reporter (“Zodiac”), a sensitive cowboy (“Brokeback Mountain”) or an obsessive gutter-press photographer (“Nightcrawler”). Here he gets to play someone whose character changes from minute to minute, and he’s pretty amazing. So is Wilson, now best known through “The Affair” but carrying heavy theater credentials including an Olivier award for “Anna Christie” and one for “A Streetcar Named Desire.” Her style as the brilliant, desperately needy Marianne is mercurial — and enchanting.


The Guardian:

*****
I wish I’d seen Sally Hawkins and Rafe Spall in the London debut, but the director Michael Longhurst has found very fine replacements in Gyllenhaal and Wilson. They have a lovely time playing with the script and with each other – Wilson with her pointy, pouty features and wonderfully manic energy, Gyllenhaal with his bushy beard and earthier charms. He relies perhaps a bit heavily on blokiness and she on intensity, but they ably vary the mood of each new scene. And though the play fixes on physics, rest assured the chemistry is ample. …

It’s a short play – just over an hour – and those in the orchestra seats may feel a little cheated at having paid something like $2 a minute for the pleasure. Perhaps the scenes, taken individually, aren’t as verbally fizzy as they might be (the opening gambit about elbow-licking is silly, while some jokes about midget porn are juvenile), and the overall arc is fairly sappy. Still, that didn’t stop me from crying softly during the weepy penultimate scene and then a little harder during the cheerier final one. And I wasn’t alone in sniffling into my Playbill.

“I have to have a choice,” says Marianne twice in the play. Well, a Broadway evening offers nearly 40 of them. Choose Constellations.


Hollywood Reporter:

A romantic two-hander spun out of string theory, in which the significant moments of a couple's life together are played out in different directions across infinite parallel paths? That sounds on paper like a cerebral exercise, designed to test audiences' concentration while actors flex their muscles. But British playwright Nick Payne's beguiling Constellations is not only a full-bodied narrative, it's a richly affecting experience. That's thanks to the sensitivity of the writing, but also to the warmth, humor and vitality invested in it by Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Wilson, giving two astonishing performances in a production from Michael Longhurst that's as rigorous as it is tender. …

The range displayed by both actors is impressive indeed, and their chemistry unquestionable. Wilson's character is the classic socially awkward brainiac with a bad case of foot-in-mouth disease. She makes Marianne slyly funny but also prickly, defensive and volatile — sometimes guarded and nervous, other times brittle and angry. Her performance is a complex symphony of ever-changing movements.
Gyllenhaal made an admirable New York stage debut off-Broadway in 2012 in Payne's If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet, a less striking study of the chaos and comfort of human relationships. But the actor's work here is in another league, swinging from open to standoffish, from vulnerable to cool, from sweet and shy to charming and self-assured. His ambling physicality in the role is expertly disciplined but appears entirely natural, while his English accent is flawless.
Constellations is the first Broadway opening of the year and it sets the bar high. Would that more plays were as compact and lively, as intellectually and emotionally stimulating as this one.




Huffington Post:

Depending on whether or not you've seen the theatrical device Payne uses throughout the 80-minute intermissionless work, you're likely to respond to it anywhere between greatly awed and slightly less impressed. No matter where you land on that narrow spectrum, you'll be wowed by Michael Longhurst's director of Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Wilson and Tom Scutt's set, which consists only of a raised platform above which hang many balloon-shaped spheres with curlicue ribbons that change colors as Lee Curran's lights hit them. …

From start to finish Wilson couldn't have been more natural in Scutt's abstract environment, and Gyllenhaal matches her scene for scene. His Roland is clearly likable, if not an IQ match for Marianne. His passion for her is equal to hers eventually for him. He's all good-guy affability, straightforward intentions. (His performance becomes all the more impressive when contrasted with his currently Oscar-touted turn on screen in Nightcrawler.)

Another Gyllenhaal achievement is his mastery of a very specific English accent. I've heard many Americans saddled with British intonations (most recently in the revival of The Real Thing), and I'm obliged to say Gyllenhaal's is the best I've heard from a stateside actor--ever.

Curiously, no dialect coach is mentioned in the program, but I wonder if Gyllenhaal sought the assistance of the same person who worked with sister Maggie on her also excellent (and different) accent for the series The Honorable Woman. Or do both Gyllenhaal's simply have amazing ears for accents?

It's always a pleasure to see a drama that starts you thinking about scientific issues all the while remaining deeply human. Constellations is just that kind of delight.




NBC New York: Two Stars Shine in "Constellations"

As it turns out, cues aren’t so necessary. That’s partly because “Constellations” forsakes any linear quality for sheer chaos—some dialogue is repeated once or twice; elsewhere, we see variations on an exchange four or five times. It’s also because the actors are so confident and well-paced (and clearly having fun) that you never doubt how they’re playing any moment.

This isn’t Gyllenhaal’s first time at the rodeo with the playwright’s complex dialogue. He made his New York stage debut 2 years ago in Payne’s “If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet,” produced by Roundabout. Like “Constellations,” that production was helmed by Michael Longhurst.

The actors give true tour-de-force performances, notably when Roland reaches a moment where he may propose to Marianne. Gyllenhaal, reading from a script Roland has prepared, makes his overture with confidence one time; he does it again in a state of sheer terror, his hands trembling along with the paper on which he has scripted his big speech. …

The only real drawback to this kind of story-telling is that it’s something of an effort to ever really attach to Marianne or Roland because, by design, they have so many darn personalities. Payne keeps the conceit to 70 minutes, after which it might have become laborious; as it is, the outcome is pretty muddled, leaving us to wonder if there was a particular social statement the writer was grasping for, but opted at the last moment to back away from.

Not to matter, though. Gyllenhaal and Wilson, with all of their many sides, are a dynamic pairing no matter which direction they're coming at us from.


Talkin' Broadway:

But few — in recent memory, anyway — have packed the breath-robbing wallop of Constellations, the stunningly powerful play by Nick Payne that just opened at the Samuel J. Friedman. Like all the very best works of theatre, it fuses the eternal and the intimate, addressing questions of enormous significance while not letting you lose sight of the deeply human tale at its center. In Michael Longhurst's razor-sharp production (which premiered at London's Royal Court Theatre three years ago, and subsequently moved to the West End), and with two incredible performances by Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Wilson, it epitomizes not just what contemporary theatre can and should be, but also stands as a riveting reminder of just how we should live: as though every moment is the only one. …

Not that either Gyllenhaal or Wilson needs it. Each creates such a dynamic, perfectly of-the-moment person that even the smallest adjustment to attitude, posture, or vocal inflection can instantly transport you to a different place, time, or state of being. Gyllenhaal may be best known for his blockbuster Hollywood films, but, as he also demonstrated in his New York stage debut in Payne's If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet in 2012, he's also a spectacular stage actor. The actor's magnetic charm and firm, supple voice give Roland an unquestionable masculinity, but he plays wounded just as well, and his skin and manner soften gradually as his resolve comes closer and closer to cracking as events start to, shall we say, not go Roland's way. …

The same is true of the play as a whole, which — against the odds — tells a single, complete story of devotion that no god, no fate, and no shifting dimensions can interrupt. Love is like that; so is life, for that matter. And dwelling on the variations you can't experience is to lose sight of the glorious existence you're capable of creating. Constellations may not be the permanent cure for the regret that can burden our lives, but it's serenely beautiful as it proves the restorative, even exalting, necessary of valuing each and every one of the decisions we make along the way.


Deadline:

Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Wilson were at the Golden Globes at the Beverly Hilton the other night even though they’re making their Broadway debuts in Constellations. Mere mortals would chalk it up to the miracle of jet travel but not playwright Nick Payne. He might argue that the stars tumbled in via tesseract—remember A Wrinkle in Time?–allowing them to be in two places at once, even in two different moments at once, which apparently is what Constellations is all about. …

Gyllenhaal proved himself an irresistible stage actor a few years ago in another Nick Payne play, If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet, playing the rude, crude but immensely sympathetic uncle of a fat girl with uncomprehending parents. Wilson won her Golden Globe for The Affair and she has an off-kilter comic sensibility that works beautifully with her grounded co-star. They have great chemistry and charm here, even when saying and doing preposterous things, frequently at the same time. I was rooting for them all the way.

Under Michael Longhurst’s timing-is-everything direction, they work very hard at this repeated-scene business, which can’t be easy. As an exercise in physical comedy, Constellations is a neat trick. But call it a trick or call it an exercise, it’s never much more than either, and a challenge to take seriously. A couple of times I found myself time-traveling to scenes from this theater’s past, hearing the cast of Hair singing “This Is The Dawning Of The Age Of Aquarius” and young marrieds Robert Redford and Elizabeth Ashley in Barefoot In The Park deciding to start over again. Sweet relief.


Newsday:

One danger in describing "Constellations" -- and there are more than a few -- is that Nick Payne's time-traveling, two-character, 70-minute invention will sound like a technical gimmick. Another peril would be to let his way of repeating short scenes with different emphases suggest just an acting exercise. Or worse, upon learning that the action takes place in "The Multiverse" of the "Past, Present and Future" and that a character is a quantum cosmologist, one could be excused for dreading a physics lesson.

In fact, with actors less compelling and unpretentiously appealing as Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Wilson, it's likely that this deeply moving and unpredictable romance would never have made it to Broadway at all. But here they are, making their dazzling Broadway debuts as characters who, despite the brevity of the evening, make us feel as if we have been through countless possible ups and downs in a very real, intimate relationship.


Time Out New York:

****
Beekeeper Roland (Gyllenhaal) and cosmologist Marianne (Wilson) are on-again, off-again lovers: in some worlds on, in some worlds off. Their relationship and its challenges—infidelity, illness, death—vary in ways that sometimes reflect nuances of their behavior and sometimes stem from forces beyond their control (which may not be such different things). Informed by authors like Jorge Luis Borges and Caryl Churchill, Constellations is smart but not dry; its focus is on the personal and emotional, and Gyllenhaal and Wilson reboot themselves convincingly at every stutter and turn. They’re wonderfully multi versatile.


Center on the Aisle:

Constellations is an engaging, well-acted, and thought-provoking new play — featuring the star power of Jake Gyllenhaal and (new) Golden Globe award winner, Ruth Wilson — well worth seeing. British playwright Nick Payne’s latest work is based on the theories of relativity and quantum mechanics. But don’t let that scare you: no knowledge of physics is required to understand and enjoy this riveting two-hander. …

Both Gyllenhaal (who affects a decent middle class British accent) and Wilson (who comes by her plummy British tones naturally) do an exceptional job revealing the nuances inherent in the multiple versions of each scenario. Their performances are finely timed and the two are obviously in tune with each other—a good thing, since neither actor leaves the stage during the taut, 70-minute performance.


Entertainment Weekly:

B-
You may wonder the same thing watching Payne's thought-provoking but flawed 70-minute puzzler. Despite a radical structure—the standout scene is performed in sign-language—it's too much like something we've seen before. The time-is-a-flat-circle conceit has been overplayed in pop culture of late, along with the variations-on-the-same-scene structure that Wilson works so well in Showtime's newly Golden Globe-minted The Affair. Wilson is brilliant, dramatically altering key moments with the tiniest of inflections, and Gyllenhaal brings psychological depth to Roland. But that subtlety is upended by a heavy-handed finale, which is less an emotional breakthrough than philosophical trickery. While you're waiting for Constellations to grab and shake you, it's trying to lick its own elbows.


NY1:

“Constellations,” the British two-hander, is a thinking person's romance. One of the characters is a physicist who talks about string theory and quantum mechanics. But don't be fooled by the scientific jargon. Nick Payne's compelling drama is one for the heart just as much as the mind. …

But if that doesn't blow your mind, the wonderfully fine-tuned performances will. Jake Gyllenhaal - making his Broadway debut - plays Roland as a good-natured bloke. Ruth Wilson - as the brighter half of this couple - makes the attraction very real. And without sacrificing characterization, they both expertly maneuver through each new scene shift, revealing how love, that immutable force of nature, transcends the laws of time and space.

Despite the play's brainy patter, it never feels like it's going over our heads. More than anything else, "Constellations" is a touching love story, a deeply universal one - or should I say, multiversal?


Theater Mania:

Who knew theoretical physics could be so sexy? That's one of the thoughts that flashed across my mind while viewing Nick Payne's Constellations, now making its American premiere at Broadway's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in a production by Manhattan Theatre Club. Of course, anything with Jake Gyllenhaal is bound to be a little sexy. In 2012, the Hollywood hunk appeared off-Broadway in Payne's If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet. Now he's making his Broadway debut opposite Ruth Wilson (newly minted Golden Globe winner for Showtime's The Affair). While their performances are moving and the subject fascinating, Constellations feels oddly unsatisfying. This may very well be the result of Payne's novel but underdeveloped approach. …

Gyllenhaal and Wilson have a natural and idiosyncratic chemistry that feels believable. We never question the authenticity of their relationship as they hop from one universe to the next depicting courtship, infidelity, illness, joy, and heartbreak. There are just so many ways Marianne and Roland could go right, and terribly wrong. Under the steady and efficient direction of Michael Longhurst, Wilson and Gyllenhaal portray them all with commitment and gusto.

These competing scenarios play out on Tom Scutt's sleekly modern (but virtually unusable) set, which is dominated by countless balloons of varying size in mid-flight. Gyllenhaal and Wilson perform on a raised platform center stage, flirting, fighting, and forgiving in much the same way one imagines they did in the rehearsal studio. They never interact with the balloons. Instead, these floating metaphors flash with light (designed by Lee Curran) each time the universe shifts. An accompanying sound effect (by David McSeveney) also plays to signify each new scene. It feels like we're jumping through time and space itself, making these universe shifts crystal clear.




New York Post:

Rarely has quantum physics felt as romantic, as lively as it does in Broadway’s “Constellations.”

The lives of two people, beautifully played by Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Wilson — who just won a Golden Globe for Showtime’s “The Affair” — illustrate the theory of self-contained parallel universes. Each word, each decision creates an offshoot for a new reality, poetically suggested here by white balloons hovering above the stage. …

Director Michael Longhurst’s understated staging helps us differentiate the assorted versions, but the entire show rests on the two actors, both making their Broadway debut.
Gyllenhaal — who starred in writer Nick Payne’s inferior “If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet” off-Broadway — is subtly wonderful in the less showy role. The earthy Roland tends to be the calm sort, though in some variations he reveals petulance and frustration.

But mostly Roland is a sounding board for Marianne, a socially awkward type who covers her nervousness with cringe-inducing bad jokes.

The British-born Wilson is tremendous here. She handles the scene changes with quicksilver agility — her face reconfigures itself as fast as the android in the “Terminator” movies — and she displays a flair for comedy nobody could have suspected from, say, her sociopathic killer on “Luther.”

At times the show feels more like a conceptual stunt than anything else, especially with its conclusion. But Wilson and Gyllenhaal place it in a universe where Broadway vehicles have heart.


New York Daily News:

Jake Gyllenhaal and “The Affair’s” Golden Globe winner Ruth Wilson ace their Broadway debuts in “Constellations,” a compact play with big ideas about life, love and death that is, happily, as brainy as it is sweet-hearted.

Even Tom Scutt’s lovely set, a bare stage below and beside a huge collection of inflated white balloons, packs a poetic touch. And the cast is swoon-worthy. Gyllenhaal is laid-back and ever-genunine as the passive Roland. Wilson, a two-time Olivier Award winner, is sensual and irresistibly carefree — a perfect foil. Together, they have something elusive: combustible chemistry.

Heavenly sparks ensue.


Associated Press:

Boy meets girl — again and again, with different outcomes each time. Constellations may be fixed in our universe, but beneath them, the human race just might be living in multiple universes at the same time.

With impressive ingenuity, Nick Payne's touching, playful drama "Constellations" takes on some big topics — the nature of time and mortality — through his unconventional presentation of a love story set in "the multiverse."

Displaying a sweet chemistry together, Ruth Wilson — who on Sunday won a Golden Globe for her role in "The Affair" — plays a ditzy scientist named Marianne, while Jake Gyllenhaal is Roland, a down-to-earth beekeeper and Marianne's potential new boyfriend. Beneath a haunting canopy of off-white helium balloons, as if on a bizarre speed-date, Roland and Marianne flash through a series of scenes playing and replaying various versions of their encounters that twist into different outcomes. They share awkward small talk, intimate conversations, or truly painful exchanges, taking the audience on a roller-coaster ride through a relationship that might never even have happened.

Despite abrupt scene and mood fluctuations, Gyllenhaal and Wilson perform the tricky repetitions and time shifts with breathtaking smoothness. Wilson expressively signals Marianne's emotions, whether glee or mischief or heartbreaking vulnerability. Gyllenhaal's performance is more opaque, yet he infuses Roland with decency and an earnest desire to communicate with the better-educated, more emotional Marianne.




Financial Times:

The pleasure of the evening lies in the way it is both eminently sensible and completely nonsensical. Details accumulate sufficiently to explain character and plot, while throwing us so off-guard as to make questions of narrative moot...Each segment of the story is replayed several times, indicating that we live in a multiverse, where notions of singular time are redundant, while we must endure the routine of daily life, where split-second differences in timing can spell connection or loneliness...Even in its commendable brevity the production occasionally feels like an extended acting-class exercise. Wilson and Gyllenhaal are tasked with showing us how the slightest shift in emphasis can alter a line's meaning. Wilson has the more commanding stage technique while the approach of Gyllenhaal is more halting and affectionate. Their chemistry is palpable.

USA Today:

Repeatedly in Constellations, the playwright mines the profundity in the most seemingly mundane conversations. Confronting a devastating crisis, Roland asks Marianne several times if she wants a bite to eat; Gyllenhaal, whose performance is as disciplined as it is vigorous, instills the questions with the kind of barely controlled desperation they demand.

Wilson, acclaimed for her stage work in her native U.K., is an irresistibly vital presence, veering from loose-limbed goofiness to earthy sensuality as Marianne seduces Roland with her knowledge of atoms and molecules. Later, when her plight and theirs darkens, she is at once movingly fragile and stoic, assuring him, "We have all the time we've ever had."

Audiences, on the other hand, have only about two more months to see this one-act wonder. Catch it if you can."


Vulture:

Would you like to see a two-hander in which Jake Gyllenhaal plays a hunky but bashful British beekeeper, hemming and half-smiling, while Ruth Wilson, so recently embaubled with a Golden Globe for The Affair, plays a charmingly ditzy astrophysicist? Would you like to watch the pair meet cute at a barbecue, grope their way toward romance, survive infidelity, and face tragedy together? I would; it sounds like an engaging play. Unfortunately it’s not the one now running at the Manhattan Theatre Club under the title Constellations, even though all those things do happen in it. But since Nick Payne, the author, is unwilling to give us that romantic trifle, this delightful, beautifully acted, and infuriating new drama is so much more, and less. …

For the most part, though, the multiverse superstructure turns out to be inexpressive, and so overbearing that it sucks the dramatic nutrition out of the play. That the stories it is meant to support do not in fact wither or get crushed beneath it, and remain quite engaging, is a tribute to Payne’s highly playable dialogue and the immense skill of both actors. Wilson’s Marianne is the more baroque invention, given the brunt of the playwright’s justifications, but she folds that into a canny take on an instantly recognizable type of woman, constantly second-guessing what she says but never what she believes. And Gyllenhaal is terrific (as he was in Payne’s If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet, which played off Broadway in 2012) adapting his subtle movie technique to the more presentational requirements of the stage. (He easily makes lines like “Yeah, no, yeah, I am, yeah,” not just naturalistic but emotionally legible.) Together, and most astonishingly, the two make the play’s innumerable leaps (which replace a normal play’s transitions) in brilliant lockstep, like synchronized divers. Sometimes those leaps happen every few seconds, which however funny it is to watch must be devilish to perform, especially when the mood shifts radically. One bit starts with Roland nearly in tears.












170 comments:

UltraViolet said...

Some good luck tweets:

Break a leg tonight @mrmrlonghurst & @tomscuttdesign ! NYC is in for a TREAT! #Constellations is a must see for all in or near The Big 🍏

Viva Broadway ‏@VivaBroadway 1h1 hour ago
Happy opening night @MTC_NYC's #Constellations!

The BGA ‏@BroadwayGreen 2h2 hours ago
Happy opening @MTC_NYC’s #Constellations! Our GC #RuthWilson is getting some #upcycled flowers!

So excited to see #Constellations opening tonight @MTC_NYC! My mom is totes jealous.

Playbill Vault @PlaybillVault
The first Bway opening of 2015 is @MTC_NYC’s Constellations, starring Jake Gyllenhaal!

Happy #OpeningNight to everyone in #Constellations and at @MTC_NYC!!!

'Happy Opening!' to all on #Constellations #NYC #noglittercanons @DavidMcSeveney @tomscuttdesign @LeeCurran @mrmrlonghurst @poplamp2

AmericanTheatreWing ‏@TheWing 2h2 hours ago
Best wishes to @MTC_NYC's #Constellations on their #OpeningNight.

Opening night for #Constellations at @MTC_NYC !! Break legs ☁️☁️

David McSeveney ‏@DavidMcSeveney
Big love to all of Team #Constellations @MTC_NYC for Opening Night! Good luck! @tomscuttdesign @mrmrlonghurst @LeeCurran

Playbill ‏@playbill
Happy opening to Jake Gyllenhaal, Ruth Wilson and all at @MTC_NYC's #Constellations!

Actors Access NY ‏@ActorsAccessNY
Happy #openingnight to Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Wilson in #Constellations!

Happy opening to the cast and crew of #Constellations! @MTC_NYC #JakeGyllenhaal #RuthWilson #breakaleg

Shop Look Listen ‏@shoplooklisten 6h6 hours ago
Good luck all the way from Adelaide, Australia to @mrmrlonghurst @tomscuttdesign @LeeCurran @MTC_NYC on opening night for #constellations

Break a leg JG #constellations (that's from Malavika :)

Stage17 ‏@stage17tv
Happy opening to the cast and crew of @MTC_NYC's #Constellations!

@MTC_NYC Sending best wishes out into the Multiverse to cast & crew of #Constellations Brilliant show #theatre #broadway

Curtis Brown TFTV ‏@CBTheatreFilmTV
#Constellations by Nick Payne & directed by @mrmrlonghurst opens tonight at Manhattan Theatre Club and we couldn't be more proud!

UltraViolet said...

An early rave from Variety:

Short and sweet and strangely haunting. That’s the quick take on “Constellations,” a romantic two-hander starring dreamy Jake Gyllenhaal and the radiant British thesp Ruth Wilson (fresh off her Golden Globes win for Showtime’s “The Affair”) as a young couple who break through the boundaries of the time/space continuum to explore the infinite possibilities of their love. Although barely an hour long, this baby bombshell by hot Brit scribe Nick Payne (a play that originated at the Royal Court and went on to the West End) overflows with emotional highs and lows. …

That’s all it takes for drama — that, and some killer acting.

It’s inevitable that regional theaters will pounce on this low-maintenance, audience-pleasing show. Single set, two characters, no scenery to speak of — the economics of it are positively irresistible. But anything less than killer acting would be lethal for any future productions, and exactly how many Jake Gyllenhaals and Ruth Wilsons are out there, anyway?

Gyllenhaal has the charm and good looks of a leading man, but he’s also got the acting chops of a chameleon character actor, equally believable as a driven investigative reporter (“Zodiac”), a sensitive cowboy (“Brokeback Mountain”) or an obsessive gutter-press photographer (“Nightcrawler”). Here he gets to play someone whose character changes from minute to minute, and he’s pretty amazing. So is Wilson, now best known through “The Affair” but carrying heavy theater credentials including an Olivier award for “Anna Christie” and one for “A Streetcar Named Desire.” Her style as the brilliant, desperately needy Marianne is mercurial — and enchanting.


I'll be putting most in the main post.

bobbyanna said...

Wow, how great that Variety is giving Jake a rave review. Finally : ) They're not usually that effusive for him.

I hope he has a great turn out tonight.

Jess said...

"Curiously, no dialect coach is mentioned in the program, but I wonder if Gyllenhaal sought the assistance of the same person who worked with sister Maggie on her also excellent (and different) accent for the series The Honorable Woman. Or do both Gyllenhaal's simply have amazing ears for accents?"


Prince of Persia, thank you very much, that's where he began his mastery of the English accent.

UltraViolet said...

Jerry and Jessica Seinfeld among the celebrities at opening night.

We need some photos to go with all the reviews in the post. Almost all positive; some raves.

As I predicted, Ruth is getting the stronger notices. Hers is the stronger character, so it was inevitable. (She is also a stage veteran, but I honestly think the performances are equal.)

Jess said...

Hmmm reading thru the reviews I don't see a trend (yet) of a more skewed reaction toward Ruth's character, just a couple "she shines".

Variety seems more taken with Jake's character. Just my opinion.

UltraViolet said...

Well the NY Times loves them both :) That's the big one:

They are both fluent in the awkward body language of nerds in love, and in the crossed signals of emotional ambivalence. But they use contrasting and complementary physical vocabularies to balance, gracefully and clumsily, shifts in power and longing, aggression and retreat.

Mr. Gyllenhaal’s Roland, a magnificent work of understatement, is the more naturally inhibited. His default stance is a hunch, with his hands buried in his pockets, and there’s a valiance in his eternal attempts to break through that posture.

Ms. Wilson is more expansive of gesture; you suspect that her Marianne sees her intellectuality as a social handicap, and she overcompensates by being louder and funnier than she needs to be. This makes her all the more moving whenever words start to fail her.

And though “Constellations” is a supremely articulate play, it knows that words inevitably fail, that they are never enough to bind two people together forever. Time, it turns out, is a more effective breaker of hearts than human beings, with all their conflicted intentions, can ever be. This story of parallel universes is universal in every sense of the word.

bobbyanna said...

Yaaay for the NYT review, UV!!

And as if that's not enough, Curtis Jackson (50 Cent) is raving about the play on twitter. He was there tonight, too. : )

bobbyanna said...

Yaaay for the NYT review, UV!!

And as if that's not enough, Curtis Jackson (50 Cent) is raving about the play on twitter. He was there tonight, too. : )

Monica said...

These reviews are so good, especially from Variety, THR and NYT.
Thank you, UV.

UltraViolet said...

Isn't it wonderful, Monica?!

"The Affair" reference:

Lots of Lockharts at opening night of #Constellations. Plus one Noah Solloway, there for his Alison

Short video of the bows.

Mary said...

Thanks UV loving all the good reviews. Sure wish I could see it.

Anonymous said...

So thrilled with the positive reviews for Constellations. The NY Times one is a particular gem! Jake should be very proud - he has officially 'arrived' on Broadway . Can't wait to see it in March.

- malavika

BlueJean said...

What an exceptional post! Thanks, UV! :))

Chica said...

Thanks so much UV for gathering all the reviews! I think I'm just ad excited about the NY 1 review than the NY Times review, their On Stage theater review show has a lot of clout.

I'm off to see Constellations tonight!

bobbyanna said...

Have a great time, Chica! Really happy you'll get a chance to see it!

Wow, this is a huge hit! One positive review after another. Good for Jake!! I'm really happy for him!

UltraViolet said...

Broadway.com has some nice photos from the party.

The Daily Mail has some more celeb shots, as well as a couple of nice Jake photos (added to the post).

Added a couple of other photos, as well.

Can't wait for your reviews, Chica and Malavika. And anyone else who goes.

Oh and here's that NY Observer review. The only pan so far. Of course, it's by Rex Reed.

bobbyanna said...

Aww, thanks for the photos, UV! Nice to see Mare Winningham, Jake's "movie mom," at the play along with Julia Stiles and the others.

UltraViolet said...

Old tweet that I keep forgetting to post - from the LA NC screening:

Fantastic NIGHTCRAWLER Q&A tonight with Jake Gyllenhaal Skypeing in from New York to join Dan and John Gilroy.

Of course Gyllenhaal couldn't resist "squishing" Dan Gilroy's head between his fingers from the giant screen behind us.


This woman has a party photo from last night. And a stage door photo from last month.

A Stage kiss shot.

UltraViolet said...

Playbill talks to the Constellations crew:

Wilson was last to the pressroom, seeing as how she had to get glammed for her birthday/opening-night/post-Golden Globe-win party. And, she admitted to being a bit nervous, seeing as how all of her Showtime show-people from "The Affair" took up a whole row in the theatre. However, she appeared to be completely at ease, as if she found a new home in New York City.

"I've got some friends here, but not that many," she told Playbill, explaining that she's become rather close to her Constellations co-star over the last month or so. After her Golden Globe win, she explained that she "had to go and do press just like this, but then I eventually found [Jake Gyllenhaal] in the shadows… We were dancing — bare feet — with his sister… His sister is lovely. His whole family has been amazing to me. They've really welcomed me in because I'm here on my own in New York… They've been amazing. They're a brilliant family."

Although the two didn't get too personal with press at the party, it's been rumored for a month that they are more than just co-stars. Headlines in the Daily Mail, Page Six, E Online and more reveal that the two have been "Cozying Up" to one another both on and off the stage, and on opening night, they couldn't speak highly enough of each other.

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"We didn't know each other beforehand. I met her when we read together for this show, and she is just extraordinary," Gyllenhaal explained with a smile. "She does not suffer fools and is a real beast on the stage and can handle me, and I can handle her. I sometimes think maybe we can't, and that's always the best part, when you're like, 'Wait, can I handle this?' She's challenging me constantly, and I just think she's amazing. I love working with her… In terms of being up there with her and seeing the choices that she makes… I really, honestly, couldn't think of a better partner. It's just great fun, which in terms of work, is what you wish for."
As for Wilson, she said, "He knew from the outset, when he was offered the job, when he decided to do the job, he needed to find someone who he could have that banter with but also that deep trust with… You have to jump from one thing to the other, and you have to be so trusting of each other to go somewhere. If I throw something new at him, he's going to take it and run and throw it back. It's the game of tennis, and it's really quick and fluid, so it's essential that we had that trust. It's essential that we understood each other — that we got on — and he's been amazing at that and demanded truth. He demands truth all the time. It's funny because coming from being in 'The Affair,' and coming up here, I [thought], 'I just want to be free and a bit of a goofball on stage.' I go for truth all the time, but I have never met anyone who has really asked more truth from me, which is interesting. It's been a fascinating process, and I love that in a way. He keeps challenging me every day! I'm like, 'Wait! Let it go!' But he's like, 'You want to make it better and deeper and more sublime,' and that's brilliant."

Director Longhurst admitted, "It's not easy casting a quantum physicist in a rom-com, and you need someone who is formidably bright and playful and fun, and Ruth is all of those things. I went to University with Ruth, and we [worked on] a student play 12 years ago. We were trying to find someone with great chemistry with Jake, and when they read together, it was very clear that was the case. It was thrilling that they could go on that journey together."

Anonymous said...

So girls what do you predict for tomorrow? I go for BP, Original Script and Leading Actor :-). SV

Jess said...

Hi SV

I just wish it was over, nerves can't take it.

Of course I hope Jake gets in, Rene, screen play and maybe Elswit or John Gilroy for a nomination. I am a little wary of Hollywood and the way they do things. You never know what last minute deals were made.

UltraViolet said...

I can't predict. Too superstitious/nervous.

Another great review from the Chicago Tribune.

From the Hollywood Reporter:

Wilson and Gyllenhaal followed their Broadway debuts on Tuesday by partying at Times Square restaurant Urbo, joining a roster of guests that included Jason Biggs, Jerry and Jessica Seinfeld, Kirstie Alley, Julia Stiles, 50 Cent, Dan Stevens, Sam Rockwell, Nina Arianda, Tate Donovan and Josh Hamilton. They were served a buffet of entrees like rigatoni and seared bass, as well as champagne and the night's signature gin gimlet.

Toward the end of the evening, partygoers and friends, including Wilson's Affair co-stars Dominic West, Nicolette Robinson and Mare Winningham, gathered to sing "Happy Birthday" as Wilson blew out the candles on her cake.

"I can't believe she's managed to fit in this weekend and the opening of her play," West said before the show. "I talked to Jake a little bit on Sunday, and I said, 'She's going to be really difficult now, she's won the Golden Globe.' And he said, 'I know, and my sister won as well.' So I’m feeling for Jake."

However, Gyllenhaal said he's grateful for all the success of his friends and family, and to have his work in Nightcrawler recognized and a show on Broadway at the same time has been a "dream come true."

"To make a little film in the dead of night and then to have it get a lot of attention has been extraordinary," he said. "And in the midst of all that, doing this show has been a really wonderful kind of grounding thing. I love this show so deeply. I've been waiting for a year to do it. It's always been on my mind as the most wonderful sense of exploration."...

However, the emotional rollercoaster of the play can be exhausting. How do the stars unwind?

"After every show, Ruth and I gather reporters in a room and we just get interviewed until we're tired and then we'll go have a glass of wine and call it a night," Gyllenhaal joked about the opening night press huddle.

"We spend all of our time together and have for the past two months, almost every moment," he continued, more seriously. "It was actually really funny that both Ruth and I were at the Golden Globes because we've spent every moment together. It was like our only break where we wouldn't hang out with each other."


Note: Mare Winningham played Jake's stepmother in Brothers and plays Ruth's mother-in-law in The Affair.

50 Cent instagram He was the guest editor for the NY Daily News and declared that their 4-star Constellations review was too low. He gave it 54 stars :)

Anonymous said...

Here is some citation of Jake on Ruth and him dating gossip, unfortunatelly the related link doesn't work. I have it form IMDB.

Jess maybe edit is possible, but cinematography will split with Inherent vice, so I doubt, they snubbed him from guild as well. SV

Speaking of the heart, all the gossip magazines are speculating that you and Ruth Wilson are a real-life couple.
[Laughs] I guess that kind of stuff is inevitable when you’re doing a play that demands this type of intimacy. Obviously, I think that tabloid stuff is absurd. I will say that it truly is an honor to be working with her onstage every night.

Tweety said...

The reviews are through the roof, this is awesome! I didn't expect Jake to win the GG but i was thrilled that Maggie and Ruth won.

The pics are wonderful and Jake and Ruth look great together, thanks so much for a fantastic post UV!

Have my fingers and toes crossed for tomorrow!

suvee said...

Hi Ms. UV and all my old friends at GB! This awards season has me thinking of you and how thrilled you must be. I thought I would pop in for a quick visit..... and to let you know that I have a strong feeling Jake will get a BA nom tomorrow. :)
Even tho I have not seen Nightcrawler, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for him! (I think he will get in over either Carell or Oyelowo)
My best to all!

bobbyanna said...

Hi, Suvee!!! So glad you stopped by. These are exciting times for Jake's fans. Hope you get a chance to see Nightcrawler.

I'm thinking about tomorrow morning's Oscar nominations.
Tonight, Scott Feinberg is predicting it will be Michael Keaton, Eddie Redmayne, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Oyelowo, and Bradley Cooper as Best Actor nominees, with Jake in sixth place.

But the Gold Derby aggregate is saying it'll be Jake in the top five, with Steve Carrell in the sixth spot, and Bradley Cooper much further down the list. Of course I agree with Gold Derby's predictions. : )

I have my fingers crossed and whatever happens tomorrow, I am so happy Jake's having such wonderful success this year.

In addition to all the nominations he's already received for NC, all these great reviews for his work in Constellations is just incredible.

Monica said...

Hi, Suvee. Good to see you here!

I think Ralph Fiennes may be a surprise tomorrow. The Grand Budapest Hotel is being well received, if so, then it is likely that he will be nominated for best actor.

suvee said...

Hi Monica & Bobbyanna!
I would love for R. Fiennes to get a nom. I thought he was stellar in GBH. Very difficult role..... comedic, but he still has to create a real person that you become emotionally invested in. One of my favorite performances of 2014.

bobbyanna said...

I'm sending positive karma to Jake this morning...I woke up with a craving for pancakes. I wonder if that's "a sign?"

BlueJean said...

No news yet? ;))

Nervous! :)

Jess said...

"No news yet?"

Hi BJ, I am in the US but I can't bear to watch the telecast this morning. Like you I am too nervous.

UltraViolet said...

Damn It.

Anonymous said...

No, no UV, who got in?

Jess said...

I despise Bradley Cooper and his friends.

Monica said...

Carrel, Bradley Cooper, Keaton, Cumberbatch and Eddie Redcarpet

At least the script was nominated.

Happy for Marion. She really deserves the nomination for best actress.

Jess said...

All I can do I cry for Jake, it is so not fair. Steve Carrell was in all the long but Jake, David and Ralph deserve it over politics and bs. I hope this all comes back to haunt Cooper and his friends.

Daniela said...

Hi girls! time does not come here, but I'm always watching the blog Monica, what happened in the appointment of Oscar?
What is the power of Bradley Cooper? I have not seen it in any list of major awards and is now at the Oscars.
I'm glad jake being recognized, was an Oscar foolish not indicate it

bobbyanna said...

Crap. Double Damn!

Very happy for Dan.

Steve Carrell AND Bradley Cooper?

That really sucks.

I'm so glad Jake is receiving so much praise for Constellations, and that he has SAG and all his other nominations for Nightcrawler.

I have to wonder, WTF does it take to get an Oscar nomination?
Now we have to deal with all the nominees' media crap until 2/22.

Monica I was delighted for Marion Cotillard. Feel bad for Amy Adams, too. My daughter will be upset that The Lego Movie was ignored. : /.

Oh, hell. I think I will get some pancakes, anyway. : (

BlueJean said...

Noooooooooooooooo...

BlueJean said...

Shit shit shit - sorry.

Anonymous said...

Gyllenhaal is out - WTF? That is insane to put Cooper in. I can't believe it. And also from BP. Gone Girl is snubbed at all except of Rosamund. That is incredible disapointment. SV

Anonymous said...

Cooper has 3rd nomination in row with minimum chance to win. It is all about Eastwood as well. No comment...SV

Twitter said...

Gyllenhaal and Fiennes snubbed but Bradley Cooper and that goddamn Alabama Walmart accent gets a nom. F*ck. That.

BlueJean said...

Sigh. I'm disappointed too, SV.

BlueJean said...

We need group therapy here!

bobbyanna said...

I'm not surprised by Bradley Cooper, to be honest. But I'm furious that Steve Carrell beat out Jake.

He didn't do that much in Foxcatcher except stand around looking menacing. Oh. And
he had great make up.

I will never understand the politics of the nomination game.
It seems like it's all about "What can you do for me tomorrow."

Sag Actor said...

Shit. Cooper over Jake and Ralph?
What the hell?? I'm sick of Cooper and Eastwood.

Monica said...

Sad for Jake, but happy for Marion, who didn't campaign. Great performance.

Cooper and his friends

he's doing right, kissing the right ass. Be friends with 50 cent and Jay Z will not make you be nominated for the Oscar.

Seriously, Jake received more than I expected.
I'm happy where we are, even being snubbed, this is a great moment for him. I hope he will do more and more movies, but he needs to increase his profile.

Jess said...

"Gyllenhaal and Fiennes snubbed but Bradley Cooper and that goddamn Alabama Walmart accent gets a nom. F*ck. That."


Lol, I am bothered by the Cooper nomination because of how it happened not because he deserved, he certainly didn't deserve it last year. I am just sick for Jake, it must be really disappointing because he has worked so hard doing smaller movies with lower budgets and less PR and lesser known directors.

Hopefully his next movies will get him in and maybe Cooper will be all fucked out paying his dues that he will not be able to robbed anyone deserving of an Oscar nomination. I am just so angry.

As for Carrell, I have nothing against him because he seems like a class act who may have stole thunder from Tatum's chances in the award season.

Well Harvey get ready and crush them all next season.

Anonymous said...

This is how it looks like, if you don't attend those right dinners with free drinks for Academy mamebers, while you have to play on Broadway. Also GPH has so many noms and Fiennes nowhere, just happy for Marion. SV

Chica said...

Not only were Jake and Ralph snubbed for Steve and Bradley but David Oyelowo was snubbed too for Selma, sigh.

I'm off to sulk, I saw Constellations last night and Jake and Ruth were brilliant.

I will be back with a review after I finish sulking :(

UltraViolet said...

I had a sinking feeling this would happen when I saw some of the big Oscar whisperer not predicting Jake. But I hoped NC would get in and that would make up for it.

Happy for Dan Gilroy but mostly just bitter.

Four guys playing real people and one guy playing himself. A shame.

bobbyanna said...

"...Jake received more than I expected.
I'm happy where we are, even being snubbed, this is a great moment for him. I hope he will do more and more movies, but he needs to increase his profile"

Well said monica. Reading this makes me feel a little bit better! LOL on the "Walmart Alabama accent" Twitter, I agree!

I think for our group therapy we should all eat pancakes to celebrate Jake's great year. And fuck 'em! (I know. I'm obsessed. I mus have dreamed of pancakes because that' the first thing I thought of this morning. : ) )

Anonymous said...

The Oscars are a complete crock of shit IMO. Year after year this seems to happen - if you don't schmooze and kiss all the 'right' asses it seems you don't stand a chance. Bradley Cooper - PLEASSSE give me a break. I agree we need group therapy Blue Jean! Personally I'm boycotting the Oscars. I am just gutted for Jake.

- malavika

BlueJean said...

"Seriously, Jake received more than I expected.
I'm happy where we are, even being snubbed, this is a great moment for him."


I'm with you, Monica. I, too, hadn't expect all this for 'Nightcrawler'. It's just that I thought Jake had a fair chance of being nominated after all this buzz lately.

BlueJean said...

Chica - so glad you liked 'Constellations'! Let that be an "up" after this "down" news!

Sigh.

At least we're all here together, so we can sulk as much as we like.

bobbyanna said...

Well, to state the obvious, there's a lot to be said about connections & political nature of all this. (Harvey Weinstein's not unbeatable.)

To be honest, Bradley Cooper's a good actor. But he also had the good fortune to work with Jennifer Garner in Alias, remain friends, with Affleck too, works with De Niro, friends with Leo, all those people have a long reach and a lot of clout. They spread influence out thru Matt Damon, George Clooney, and all the people they're connected with.

Throw in the Clint Eastwood connection? It's a perfect storm of influence that ripples outward. Also Bradley Cooper is a very energetic networker. He's always out here or his publicist is. So yes, he has a high profile.

I've had a bad feeling about Cooper for a while. I just really believed Jake could take out Steve Carrell. I felt he was the weakest of all the potential nominees. (I guess I should've remembered Capote. : ( )

IMO, Jake & David Oyelowo were robbed.

Monica said...

Jake is on the trending topics.

Monica said...

Exactly, Bobbyana. Cooper has great connections, but Jake should have also since he was born in this industry. Something is wrong.
I expected the nomination for Cooper, Baity role + box office+ Eastwood +friends campaign.
Carrel was surprised, but he has great friends in the industry.

Mary said...

I'm so disappointed can't believe Steve c got a nomination instead of Jake don't understand the voting process at all as you guys say it has to do with connections glad for Dan though. Well Jake has had a good year and I'm so proud of him.

Jess said...

You know what would be great is if Jake won the Sag or dare I say the Bafta? It would make the Academy look so bad.

Anonymous said...

But this is a shit. Because Cooper wasn't the critics favourite at all, and honestly those critics cross US are people whose job it is to evaluate and review movie, so if he is snubbed by all those, so it should whisper us something about the quality of performance and vice versa, if he is nominated in each of them. It is not that I am fan of Gyllenhaal, it is becasue he was supposed to be there no matter what. He was right after Keaton with quality of the performance and all critics just confirmed it.

There is also Gone Girl, they always snub this kind of movie, Fincher was supposed to be in Director category no matter how person he is, instead of Eastwood. Why do they still have a need to price 88 year old man for every movie. Fincher is much better than him. They snubbed GG from Adapted Screenplay, edit, cinematography as well.

I am glad Oleyowo is out as well, because Selma was movie playing on Oscar and compainging ass off with Jolie and Pitt. Positive is also Aniston is out and Cotillard in instead, the same as Grand BH got a lot of love except Fiennes. But then I don't understand BP for Selma, if it is not in any other category except Song. How is this the best movie, with no Guilda before, without director and scrip or actor?

But well for Gyllenhaal it would be help for next year, I believe SP is Oscar bite, but snubbing from this year makes it harder for him. Moreover he may split out himself with Everest or get both, Everest for supporting. But this year was supposed to be break-point. SV

Daniela said...

Seriously, Jake received more than I expected.
I'm happy where we are, even being snubbed, this is a great moment for him."

Really, but I think what surprised most was Jake living outside the Oscar since he was appointed in all (I think) important awards movie .

There is still other awards

Last year was great and we are at the beginning of one that will be even better !!
I hope !!

Jake said...

" I believe SP is Oscar bite, but snubbing from this year makes it harder for him. "


I hope there will be back lash for this year's erroneous play. I just don't trust the Academy any more. It's members are all over the place. I feel like Selma as Best picture was an obligation vote.

Well this time March no one will remember the nominations or who got in undeservedly. I just wish Jake well. The next few weeks will be hard but maybe Jake and Ruth will get Tony nominations this summer and Cooper will be snubbed (no matter how great the reviews are). I know its different categories.

Damn it Jake deserve that Oscar nomination.

Anonymous said...

But you know I have to laugh, because last night I talked to my friend via phone and we were talking about Oscars. And of course I don't care of Animated features, but I just said as a joke, that the biggest worries for me is, if Lego Movie is snubbed, and today I watch it and it si really snubbed :-). SV

bobbyanna said...

SV, I disagree with you on Selma. I think Selma is an excellent movie, and David Oyelowo did a brilliant job. I do not begrudge the fact that Selma got so much attention, and so what if they campaigned to be heard. It was very well-deserved.

In America, The story of Selma is part of our history. The movie was very well done, a powerful, dramatic piece of historical cinema. and, for those who remember those times, a story that needed to be told.

If this was a less self-conscious world, a fair world, we would be talking about Carmen Ejogo, and GuGu Mbatha Raw, and Amma Assante, too.

IMO, the Academy marginalizes themselves and loses credibility, by relying so heavily on their good old boy network.

UltraViolet said...

I'm happy Selma was nominated for BP. And if Oyelowo got in over Jake, I wouldn't have minded as much.

But Carrell just isn't great in a movie that is also not great.

And Bradley Cooper being nominated three years in a row is absurd. I'm sorry. He might deserve it for AS but he most definitely did not deserve it last year.

From AwardsWatch:

Carell/Cooper/Cumberbatch over Fiennes/Oyelowo/Gyllenhaal is just ugh

Now that I'm looking at the list, we could've had one of the best Actor lineups in many years. Instead, we have the worst lineup of the decade.

Anonymous said...

Bobbyanna that's all about taste, I am not into this hero's movie repeatedly get the nominations. I am into movies like Whiplash, Birdman, even Imitation Game or Inherent Vice, GG, GBH. Of course there are many movies, which didn't get nom and they are good. And what I also meant is, why the Selma is BP, if there is no other nomination in important category, what makes it BP then? Vice versa Foxcatcher is not in with so many other nomination. SV

UltraViolet said...

Selma has an almost-unanimous positive score on Rotten Tomatoes and is an apparently very good movie about an important topic. I cringe at what it would have said at this moment in time if it had been left off the Oscar list.

These are, after all, American awards and this is a most American topic at a most divisive time.

Piruleta said...

I did say I couldn't care but I can't help to feel disappointed :( the movie and Jake were doing so well.

Anonymous said...

Four biopics though? Keaton should have a cake walk but watch that he gets snubbed that is unless is old boy network isn't as strong as Cooper's.


That would have been a great line up with David, Jake and Ralph.

UltraViolet said...

I can actually see Bradley Cooper winning.

Monica said...

And if Oyelowo got in over Jake, I wouldn't have minded as much.

Me too. + Ralph Fiennes.

Cooper will make campaign to win + the box office of his film will be great. I can see him winning too, UV.

bobbyanna said...

"I feel like Selma as Best picture was an obligation vote. "

Sorry, "Jake" but I can't let this go unchallenged. If there was any "obligation vote" it belongs to Clint Eastwood and anything related to him.

What happened in Selma 50 years ago, is that people stood up and said, "Black lives matter."

It is not however, the subject matter alone, that gains attention for Selma. it's the way in which the story was presented.

As UV pointed out, Selma got 100% Rotten Tomatoes, and everyone I know who saw it, shares my opinion that it was a very well told story with outstanding acting and writing.

SV, There are only five spots for nominations except in the BP category.

One of the beautiful things about Selma, was not only that it portrays an historic struggle, it is also that it shows the lives of ordinary people and heroic people equally, and does not rob them of their humanity.

Often the stories of people we make into heroes, are very human stories of ordinary people faced with difficulties, who try to over come them, just as they did in the films you mentioned.

UV, you have said it all very well.

UltraViolet said...

I would have objected to Ralph Fiennes getting in over Jake.

Also, I wish people would stop lumping Jake in with Jennifer Aniston. I know we discussed this before and I don't want things to get ugly. But the two movies/performances are not in the same league.

Jess said...

I now Jake will move on and get on with his play.

Sending you a hug Jake.

Jess said...

Oh and they should just do a separate category for biopics in both picture and acting categories.

A biopics role is not acting it's a portrayal. Not much stretching as long as you can mimic.

UltraViolet said...

Dan Gilroy's reaction:

Dan Gilroy, best original screenplay nominee for Nightcrawler: Amazingly, Dan Gilroy, the writer-director of Nightcrawler who was up to hear his name called out for best original screenplay, did not wake up his wife, Nightcrawler actress Rene Russo, to tell her his news. Russo has to present Kevin Costner with an award at Thursday’s Critics Choice Awards but was fighting laryngitis, Gilroy said. “She’s still sleeping. She told me to wake her if there was exciting news but I’m going to give her an extra hour,”he said. For him, the experience of hearing his name was a trip. “I’ve never had that experience before. “You start to hear your name announced, it becomes surreal for a second or two, and then they move on, and you’re left to process the news.” One he processed was his actor Jake Gyllenhaal not receiving a best actor nomination despite the accolades. "I’m probably being very subjective but I thought Jake gave the performance of not just the year, but the performance of any year. He threaded the needle for that character. He deserved every award out there, at least every nomination.” Gilroy is working on a new script for him to direct and said he would tackle that today. “I’ll be able to stay focused (despite the excitement of the nomination),” he insists. “There are always distractions, every day. This is just a bigger distraction than most.”

Love Dan.

Monica said...

Dan Gilroy, best original screenplay nominee for Nightcrawler: Amazingly, Dan Gilroy, the writer-director of Nightcrawler who was up to hear his name called out for best original screenplay, did not wake up his wife, Nightcrawler actress Rene Russo, to tell her his news. Russo has to present Kevin Costner with an award at Thursday’s Critics Choice Awards but was fighting laryngitis, Gilroy said. “She’s still sleeping. She told me to wake her if there was exciting news but I’m going to give her an extra hour,”he said. For him, the experience of hearing his name was a trip. “I’ve never had that experience before. “You start to hear your name announced, it becomes surreal for a second or two, and then they move on, and you’re left to process the news.” One he processed was his actor Jake Gyllenhaal not receiving a best actor nomination despite the accolades. "I’m probably being very subjective but I thought Jake gave the performance of not just the year, but the performance of any year. He threaded the needle for that character. He deserved every award out there, at least every nomination.” Gilroy is working on a new script for him to direct and said he would tackle that today. “I’ll be able to stay focused (despite the excitement of the nomination),” he insists. “There are always distractions, every day. This is just a bigger distraction than most.”

Anonymous said...

Congrats to Dan.

Office of Nancy Pelosi said...

Not surprised with the Cooper nomination but was really surprised at Carrell's nomination.

Jake or David (Selma) should have taken that slot.

Well said UV and Bobbyanna regarding Selma. I saw the film and not only was it moving and well acted and made, it's part of our history.

And there is only 8 nominations for best pic? Why not add Nightcrawler or Gone Girl.

I'm happy for Marion.

Jake has the SAG and Bafta awards and the glowing reviews for Constellations which is great!

I love what Dan said about Jake and congratulations to him for his nomination.

Piruleta said...

I'm happy for Dan, btw and those are really lovely words.

Anonymous said...

I hope Jake's mother visits Gyllenbabble now and then. I think she would like us.

Jess said...

Congratulations Dan, to be fair Jake has gotten lots of accolades for Nightcrawler. So it's nice that Dan is getting Oscar love.

Awards Daily is saying its the smallness of NC that cost Jake the nomination and it did not have enough support. Yeah right that doesn't explain all the guilds that supported it and the SAG members who supported Jake. Yes I know SAG has more than the movie acting branch.

I can't put the fault with Carrell as he was always there its the last minute bullshit that Cooper and his friends orchestrated. Just goes the show Jake may not have the genuine friends or support that we think he has in HW.

Anonymous said...

I think I like the way SAG handles their voting. It seems more fair.

Anonymous said...

Honestly vice versa with Cooper and Carell. Carell is correctly there, he has GG nomination, BAFTA - in supporting and he was always in predictions. There were some critics there as well. He is not that surprise at all. Now I am not saying about performance, just as a possible chance.

Cooper is big surprise, he wasn't anywhere, placed on 9th 10th place in predictions and yesterday no one predicted him for a nomination. Even if he had a support of Caprio and Niro, it wasn't sure he gets in. Just GDA told us something that American Sniper will go better, than was supposed to be before.

So Cooper has clearly bought the nomination, moreover just few actresses and actors have 3rd nomination in row - Glenn Close, Liz Taylor, Al Pacino, Maryl Streep - he is far from them. So some background games played role but I don't believe someone could seriously predict him for the nomination.

All in all it is a scandal Gyllenhaal is out because of him, Jake has all possible awards nominations he could get included BAFTA, GG, BFCA, SAG and won 7 critics, he was right behind Keaton. It is unique and just few people in history maybe 3 experienced snub from Oscars with all these behind the back.

But now all is possible and with Cooper's nom they might think to push him to win over Keaton. I hope this doesn't happen. If Jake was snubbed it should be by Ralf Fiennes not Cooper IMO.

And yes, it is not comparable with J. Aniston, they are different league, I agree. SV

UltraViolet said...

Forgot to say hello to Suvee! It's great to see you again. Jake has definitely ventured outside of his comfort zone of roles the past few years.

I think NC just didn't have a big enough company behind it. Open Road went as far as it could go. Tomorrow, I'll remind myself that this was all so much more than we hoped for when the project was announced and even released.

Hagen said...

I think the lesson for me is not to get my hopes up again for an Oscar nomination. If it happens I'll be happy, if it doesn't I'll be cool with that, too. Some of the nominations look very random to me and it's difficult to make sense of them.

I haven't seen "Selma", but I think it's just dumb to snub Ava DuVernay. Her movie got excellent reviews, but AMPAS missed the opportunity to make history. Her snub makes a headline in Germany's largest magazine. Even worse AMPAS presents twenty non-Hispanic white nominees in the acting categories. And I'm definitely not here to watch Clint Eastwood's version of the war in Iraq.

Rachel. said...

Will Jake be at the awards show tonight?

Anonymous said...

Soooo angry!! I'd been cursing so much at work, discovering that.. my God...

I was ready for Ralph F. (which I loved in GBH), David O... not really BC, such an overrated actor for me... This sucks! Steve C. has strong name and reputation, he hadn't been ever nominated yet and he played a role winking to Academy... and maybe he also 'covered' all the creepiness Academy could stand...

Bobbyanna, can you send me some of your pancakes?

Tina

Ps... Jess, I agree with you: It would be so great if, by reaction, he won all the other awards he was nominated for...

Anonymous said...

Happy for Mark Ruffalo, Marion Cotillard and Rosemund Pike... even if they will never win...

Tina

Ps: also... Meryl Streep, again? Why not Emily Blunt... just for a change!

Monica said...

Joseph Kapsch ‏@JosephKapsch 3m3 minutes ago
EXCLUSIVE: Jake Gyllenhaal Eyed to Replace Tom Hardy in #SuicideSquad http://shar.es/1bpsD7 @TheWrap @TheInSneider

Nooooooooooooooooooo, Jake! Please, Noooo!

bobbyanna said...

Agree, Hagen!

Also agree with you: "I'm definitely not here to watch Clint Eastwood's version of the war in Iraq."

UV, I understand what you're saying about Open Road. But
the Gilroys also have a lot of strong connections it would seem. So I really was feeling very surprised and disappointed about the way things broke.

Critics Choice Awards tonight take place in L.A. So Jake will probably not be there. Neither will Broadway Brad. : (

About SAG: As I understand it, there is a nominating committee, and that committee of SAG members is chosen at random every year, so anyone could be on it.

Then all 100,000 + members vote. This year the voting ends on January 23rd. SAG Awards are announced January 25th. Have no way to gage whether the Oscar nominations affect SAG voting.

Tina I have saved you some pancakes. : ) I get them at Bubby's in SoHo. ; ) Lots of blueberries.

bobbyanna said...

Monica, this is not such bad news?To play Rick Flagg from The Justice League, opposite Jared Leto and Viola Davis, with David Ayers directing.

I honestly think the worst thing right now would be for Jake to sort of disappear, go silent. He could get isolated, confined as he is to the play right now.

I hope they announce ten more movie projects for him in the coming weeks to show that he is in demand, and he is still viable. he needs to keep working!This oversight is just a small glitch in an otherwise great year.... :/.

Anonymous said...

:)

Tina

Anonymous said...

"Have no way to gage whether the Oscar nominations affect SAG voting."

I think it will

Anonymous said...

I am not excited for him to take this role, but I am glad he is being asked for it.

Jake Gyllenhaal said...

It's David Ayers pushing for him and Warner Brothers has been good to and for Jake.

UltraViolet said...

I'm definitely not here to watch Clint Eastwood's version of the war in Iraq.

Ditto!

I have no idea if The Justice League is a good or bad idea. I am happy to see Jake's name floated. It has been disheartening to see the latest Fincher and Bale/Pitt/Gosling projects announced and not hear of anything for Jake.

Still not the prestige deal I think Jake deserves but it's something, I guess.

Not sure Ayer can direct a good movie, sadly. EoW seems like the anomaly.

This is great commiseration. Beginning, eight-minute mark and end. He really wanted Jake to be nominated!

Jess said...

"I hope they announce ten more movie projects for him in the coming weeks to show that he is in demand, and he is still viable."


Jake is always viable as an actor, I like to think he turns down roles we have no idea about. I am just a little worried about the Justice League being a flop. But I can hear the fanboys going Jake should be the Joker because of Lou.

Monica said...

But he can say yes, and I don't want it. This film will unite with the Justice League, right? Months filming these movies will prevent him to do other films.
Look what happened to Andrew Garfield. After The Social Network he only acted in Spiderman movies.
Jake is in a great time to spend months filming comic book movies.

Anonymous said...

But Jake was assigned to do The Man Who Made It Snow, right? So I suppose, once he is finished with Constellation, he should start to work on this. I'd be glad he will make rather this than Suicide Squad. On the other hand I can imagine he gets tired to do heavy drama always, so I wouldn't blame him to make something easier and have some fun.

"maybe he also 'covered' all the creepiness Academy could stand..." Tina this is well said. SV

UltraViolet said...

I don't know, Monica. He has three films coming out next year. If he has time to make one more + Suicide Squad, I think that will be okay. But will Squad be any good?

LOL:

Jake Gyllenhaal really didn't get a best male performance nom for nightcrawler? the academy is smoking crack mixed with bath salts and meth

UltraViolet said...

That was fast. Tickets on sale for Constellations for Oscar weekend.

I was always superstitious about that scheduling.

Looks like the 25th has no performances, so perhaps Jake will go to the SAG Awards.

Unknown said...

Just lost all interest in watching the Oscars.

But it was a great year for Jake, lots of recognition and he will keep on getting better.

Too bad I´m so far from him, I know he misses a god shoulder to comfort him!

Piruleta said...

@ManMadeMoon: Jake Gyllenhaal got Rockwell'd this year. :(

Agree with you, Monica.

Monica said...

I forgot to say that Jake was on Sony's list for Steve Jobs.

But Jake was assigned to do The Man Who Made It Snow, right?

On Sony's list came that jake has nothing after Constellations.

I think the next film of Antoine Fuqua will be Mag 7 with Denzel and Chris Pratt.

suvee said...

Hi UV! Yes, it has been satisfying to see Jake's growth and choice of roles over the past couple of years. He's growing up! :)
I'm really quite surprised he missed an Oscar nom.... seemed like there really was a lot of momentum going his way.
Don't think this is the only reason Jake missed out, but.... I have consistently read that the Academy has an extreme double standard for Best Actor / Best Actress. They can't wait to give an Oscar to the pretty young actress du jour, but they refuse to give one to a good looking young man. Just a bunch of old white men voting accordingly!!

Anonymous said...

Monica according IMDB it is project in development, it doesn't have to happen, but I believe it will. SV

Monica said...

Yep, but not now. Suicide Squad begins shooting in April.

Daniela said...

Paula C. was longing for you, always humorous !! lol

What do you mean SV ??

Anonymous said...

Daniela I mean the project The Man Who Made it Snow. SV

Monica said...

I have to say I am very happy for Marion. It's a great performance, even better is that she was nominated without campaigning.

I liked The Imitation Game. Despite being a safe film is good, great performance from Cumberbatch, the final scene of him with Keira is heartbreaking.

Anonymous said...

I was hoping Jake would be cast in Mag 7 but I guess tptb didn't think he fit.

Jake is always seems to be proving himself to people against those will lesser talent.

Jess said...

"It's a great performance, even better is that she was nominated without campaigning."


There are two ways or more to look at this nomination.

With all due respect I think her nomination likely was due to a split vote amongst the other actresses on the bubble. Just because someone does not "campaign" publicly does not mean there was no campaigning on the down low.

And her nomination kind of dispels the notion that a smaller film's performances cannot get noticed.

Or a combination of both to keep Aniston out and have a more respectful actress in. I'm sorry MOnica but this nomination and the out of nowhere Laura Dern nomination smells of politics as well as Jake's non-nomination.

This is my opinion.

UltraViolet said...

Hello to Paula C and Daniela. I wish it had been happy nomination news that brought you here, but it's good to have friends to commiserate!

You can go here for a poll of Oscar snubs. Jake is currently in fourth place.

Nice of Duncan Jones to tweet. Of course, he had to bring Moon into it.

UltraViolet said...

Some photos of Jake today. It's silly, I know, but it was good to see him smiling today, after the morning news.

Was it warm in NYC?

From last night, Josh Gad was at Constellations. Tonight:

So Mamie gummer sitting in front of me @mtctheatre yeah and her mama Meryl #Constellations @JakeGyllenhal

I think Jake has real, true friends in the business. I don't think Jake cares if Jay-Z can help him with an Oscar nomination or not.

bobbyanna said...

I agree, UV. Jake has solid relationships with his friends. I think it's sweet that today of all days, Meryl Streep showed up to see Jake's play. : ) Classy lady.

I've been reading some of the "analyses" of some of these "expert" journalists. They said there was no deliberate effort, no conscious snub that kept Jake from getting a nomination. I agree with them.

They said Jake may have been in the top five or six, but he wasn't #1,2,or 3, on enough lists to make the cut in terms of how they tabulate the votes. I can certainly see that. it also makes sense in terms of Oyelowo and Ralph Fiennes.

UltraViolet said...

The will call line for #Constellations #JakeGyllenhaal #RuthWilson #hotteststagedoorintown.

That is a lot of people!

Added another video in the bottom section of the post.

Quinton Aaron posting a #TBT photo with Jake.

Another shot from today's stage door.

And LOLOLOL. I've been waiting to see commentary like this all day. Someone needs to get to Photoshop:

Agreed. He should show up as Lou Bloom with a camcorder and troll the whole ceremony.

That would be amazing.

Watching him get in the face of everyone on the red carpet and pissing off ET correspondents or whatever would be priceless.

I'd pay to see Bloom go toe-to-toe with Seacrest.

"The name of my Academy Award is Best Actor in a Leading Role, that's how it should be read and that's how it should be said. When I say that I want this award, I mean that I WANT IT."


Perfection.

Jess said...

"They said there was no deliberate effort, no conscious snub that kept Jake from getting a nomination. I agree with them."

But there was a conscious effort to get Cooper in at the expense of more deserving performances and that cannot be explained away for me.

Ph0enicks said...

Well said, Jess. It can't be explained away for me either.

Anonymous said...

Saint words, Jess!

Ooh, it should be amazing if he showed up somewhere somehow as Lou... LOL

And, can you immagine him and Rosamund Pike presenting an award, as Lou and Amy? ooh, I would pay for it!!

Tina

Anonymous said...

Jess Marion Cotillard is not a politically set into nominees, she won National Critic and has other 6 or 7, she wasn't predicted well just because of Aniston's campaign, where everybody believed she gets in once she hired one of the best expert for Oscar campaign who got King's speech two years ago in. Vice versa, it is true there was no campaign for her, at least the one shamelessly visible. I haven't seen Two Days One Night, but check those people who saw it, everybody says it was one of the most civil and nuance performance from women ever. Cotillard even campaigning would supposed to be there, how she is political choice? There was also Amy Adams there and I believe Hilary Swank and Essie Davis in the play. So I agree with Monica, she is the clearest nomination out there together with Moore. To say she is political is a bit out of picture. If it's not her, it is Amy Adams, SV

Piruleta said...

Duncan actually posted another tweet before:

@ManMadeMoon | Paul Hirsch just informed me Jake G didn't get nominated for Nightcrawler... Is this a joke?!

The full list is plain stupid, and not only because there's just one mention for Nightcrawler, but because some of the other nominees don't make any sense: Bennett Miller for best director but no for best movie? Selma for best movie but they don't care about the director, the screenplay or the actors? No Lego Movie…

BAFTAs did better AMPAS.

Tweety said...

Almost 24 hrs later, I'm still not only pissed that Jake wasn't nominated but David Oyelowo as well. The nominations are a mess imo and make little sense.
Marion and Laura Dern's nominatons were surprises but pleasant surprises unlike the Cooper nomination :(

Anonymous said...

Michael Sheen has complaint about Jake no nomination in Twitter too

Jess said...

I get what you saying SV, I guess my biggest issue with Marion being nominated is that the whole argument about Nightcrawler not being a big movie is ludicrous because Marion's movie is way smaller than Jake in North America.

My point is I wish the pundits would stop with making excuses as to why Cooper got in over actors who gave better performances and were critically acclaim. Selma is not a small movie, it just seems that the director would have gotten a nomination but I get the feeling some deals were made to get the best pic nomination for Brad Pitt and the whole mess with Cooper being in, its a six degrees of separation going on.



The Oscars suck in summary. And if Jake does ever get nominated again for an Oscar then I think I would even question it.

Monica said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Monica said...

Jess, when I say campaign, I mean great campaign, be in everywhere, all the events, all the magazine covers. There was a campaign for the film at the beginning but fail to make the cut in foreign film. Marion was also not expected to be nominated. The love for her was coming from critics. Sasha Stone commented that the critics were important to her nomination. Moreover, Marion was snubbed two years ago for Rust and Bone.

Variety is reporting that Academy members didn't like the performance of Jennifer Aniston in Cake. They think she's better in The Good Girl.

I didn't see Cake, but I don't think that the Academy would refuse to nominate Aniston for best actress because she's not a respected actress. I think her campaign may have turned off some people. I mean, almost every day there was an article about her, even Variety posted something like seven reasons that Jennifer Aniston can win an Oscar. wtf? It's not about being nominated, but winning

David Poland @DavidPoland · 22h 22 hours ago
“Jennifer Aniston Fell to Marion Cotillard” NOT!!! A false narrative created by the media and a genus publicist. Myopia Day!!!



`why Cooper got in over actors who gave better performances and were critically acclaim.

His performance is being praised, and for many he's the best thing in the movie. I still need to see to know if he is great as people are saying.
I think the biggest surprise is Carrel. I've read many comments that he is one note and it's all about the makeup and that Tatum gives the best performance of the film.

UltraViolet said...

David Poland is kind of an ass. I love him for doing those DP30 interviews, but his tweets are a weird combination of condescension and myopia.

Yay, Michael Sheen!

No, no, no. Jake Gyllenhaal definitely got a Best Actor nomination for Nightcrawler. That's just the most prolific typo in history surely?!

And Piruleta, thanks for posting that. Apologies to Duncan. My knee jerked up without bothering to read his tweets.

BlueJean said...

I'm so tired of all these so-called 'politics' at the Oscars.

I know far too little about it to even try to comment on certain nominations or snubs, but I'm still disappointed. I wonder how Jake feels. Isn't that silly? :(

Hugs to you, Jake.

Anonymous said...

Jake was the best thing in Nightcrawler and it was an original character.


It is so much easier to portray a person who already exists than to create a character from paper to the screen.

I am angry and sad as a Jake fan that his works keeps getting pass over because of biopic work that any actor can do.

Monica said...

I didn't know Michael Sheen is on twitter.

UltraViolet said...

Mildly amusing video, but I wanted to see him go full Lou Bloom!

From twitter:

THIS JUST IN: #JakeGyllenhaal didn’t get #Oscar2015 nom. Rumor has it all the actors thought his character was based on them. #Nightcrawler

LOL!

And:

Spotted in #NYC - only #JakeGyllenhaal, tucking into a delicious breakfast at the amazing @Sant_Ambroeus

There's a blurry photo.

I wonder how Jake feels, as well, BJ. And anon, I think we're all a little mad and a little sad. I imagine Jake feels a little of both, but who knows?

I think it will be hard to be on Broadway those nights when he should be somewhere else. But I hope the play will distract him and the audience reaction will make up for it somewhat.

Piruleta said...

Some people say he really missed a great opportunity here because it will be difficult for him to give a performance like that again. That's kind of sad…

While I agree a character like Lou Bloom doesn't knock your door everyday, we just have to take a look at what he did with a character like Loki. I read the script not so long ago and I'm even more impressed with his performance now.

He just needs to keep picking interesting projects.

Jess said...

"Some people say he really missed a great opportunity here because it will be difficult for him to give a performance like that again. That's kind of sad…"


I would say to those people that Jake missed nothing, it was the Academy that missed it, I do feel he was snub on purpose. It's just my feeling, I don't believe the pundits at all that it wasn't a personal snub. The academy is a click of men both old and young; look at the past few years. Jonah Hill has 2 Academy nominations, Brad Cooper 3 in a row? Look for Ryan Gosling and Chris Hemsworth to play the game next year with his new best friends. Dicaprio, Clooney and old school Deniro who is riding the coat tails of Cooper to get relevant parts.


Let's face it these actors are part of a click, a circle and Jake is not part of it and probably doesn't want to be.

Piruleta said...

James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy director, complains about Jake's snub among other things. I agree with most of his points.

Hagen said...

At least Jake is in good companion (The Hollywood Reporter):

Indeed, over the 19 years in which SAG, HFPA, BFCA and AMPAS have issued awards, only 14 performances have ever received noms from the first three but not the fourth [now 16 performances in the past 20 years]: Cameron Diaz for Vanilla Sky (2001), Paul Giamatti for Sideways (2004), Russell Crowe for Cinderella Man (2005), Leonardo DiCaprio for The Departed (2006), Ryan Gosling for Lars and the Real Girl (2007), Angelina Jolie for A Mighty Heart (2007), Mila Kunis for Black Swan (2010), DiCaprio again for J. Edgar (2011), Tilda Swinton for We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011), John Hawkes for The Sessions (2012), Marion Cotillard for Rust and Bone (2012) and, last year, Tom Hanks for Captain Phillips, Emma Thompson for Saving Mr. Banks and Daniel Bruhl for Rush.

Anonymous said...

Jess, yes, smaller movie, but this was lame argument for me. I believe there is also different meter for men a women. From some reason they prefer actors over 40 or around whilst actress may be younger. But particularly this year Jake's snub was huge, because Cooper came from nowhere. I also underrated his campaign honestly I didn't believe he would make it. Caprio campaigned for him, but one day he might regret. After so many Cooper's nominations may happen in the future they will be nominated both and then Cooper will steal the Oscar. I am still fan of Caprio's acting, but I have a feeling academy doesn't award him due to the lack of courage to go to the smaller project and do low budget drama. There is still huge mess around him whilst doing movie. If he feels it as well, maybe this is the reason why ironically he supports movie with bigger budgets and Cooper.

Next year I believe there will be also Revenant in the play. Tom Hardy might get nominated for supporting role with Caprio for leading. There is not better scenario than Hardy wins for supporting and Gyllenhaal for leading. It is just wish, Revenant will be one of another pompous movie with huge response and I am just curious how the academy will handle this movie.

I wouldn't sleep well on Cooper's place, his nomination is campaigned. But also to be fair Academy gave a lot of love to the smaller movies like Birdman, Whiplash, GPH, Boyhood. And as someone said Jake was maybe too creepy for those old men from academy and Pike with Carrel covered it enough. Another psychopath in nomination was too much, so military veteran fits better to their narrow criteria. Jake is done with awards this year, but I hope SP will make it, if Fuqua didn't destroyed it. SV

Anonymous said...

UV hhaha, that video with Jake's reaction from NC is awesome, but I thought they are going to put the scene, how he broke the mirror. SV

Hagen said...

I guess Jake was snubbed because "Nightcrawler" isn't really Oscar bait. Thrillers usually have a hard time getting into the "Best Picture" field. I didn't like "Gone Girl" that much, but it was largely ignored as well. It would be nice if AMPAS members in general were a bit more open minded in that regard. I don't think they meant to reject Jake personally. Maybe one of Jake's upcoming movies will be more right up their alley.

Monica said...

Next year I believe there will be also Revenant in the play.

Next year will be a packed year again. DiCaprio in Renevant, Fassbender in Jobs and Macbeth (Harvey Weinstein), Matthew McConaughey, George Clooney in Hail, Caesar!!, Andrew Garfield in Silence (Scorsese), Tom Hanks in the untitled Spielberg movie, Brian Craston in Trumbo, Tom Hardy in Legend, Robert Redford in A Walk in the Woods, Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl, ...

well, duh

bobbyanna said...

"...I don't think they meant to reject Jake personally..."

I don't either Hagen. I don't think it was deliberate or personal at all.

I also don't mind that Leo and DeNiro supported a close friend, and so did Ben Affleck.

Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway gave a dinner for Eddie Redmayne, and a few years ago Jake hosted a screening of Blue Valentine for Michelle and Ryan Gosling.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and their analysis of why things didn't work out. I agree with UV, Open Road did as much as they could but it wasn't enough.

I also think the AMPAS voting process works against weaker candidates. After all. Jake's wasn't the only superb acting job that wasn't recognized. Jake was on everyone's list. Just not at the top.

Jake has SAG, Independent Spirit,& BAFTA, all of which involve his peers voting for him. He's won over film critics and his peers, & gained critical acclaim and recognition.

He's refashioned his image, demonstrating his incredible acting range. There's a lot of positive buzz for him right now, so much for us, his fans to be happy about.

Jake's at the top of his game. An Oscar nomination would've been great, but it just wasn't his time. I'm absolutely confident he'll get his shot. : )

I'm frustrated and upset about it, but I just know he'll have other opportunities to shine.
Jake's got a lot to be happy about, and I'm happy for him. Now, I'm looking forward to more news about new film projects, too.

Anonymous said...

"Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway gave a dinner for Eddie Redmayne"

I didn't like this news... I thought they would be close to Jake as well... Hope they are feeling a bit bad for him now somewhere...

Tina

Anonymous said...

Maybe Jake didn't ask for help from his friends, or he didn't ask soon enough, and Eddie Redmayne did. I can't imagine Hugh Jackman or Anne Hathaway refusing a request for help. I don't remember if anyone gave a special screening for Jake. He has been very busy so maybe he left it for Open Road to handle, and he didn't reach out to people personally. We just don't know enough of what happens. We are outsiders. All we can do is guess.

bobbyanna said...

Sorry, Tina, I might be mistaken about Anne Hathaway, not sure. I do know that the information about Hugh Jackman was on Just Jared November 4th. I Googled. : )

Anne was pictured at a luncheon for Eddie, but it was to celebrate his Golden Globe win, so it just happened. I don't know if she did anything else to support Eddie.

Anonymous said...

There is support and support. I think actor should promote the movie, but not to beg for an Oscar, it is degrading, I don't see Jake to beg for a support to get closer to any award. And this is what is ridiculous about those campaigns. It is certain actors have in the contracts to promote their movie, go to premiers, give an interviews and answer questions on press conferences.

The rest should be up to critics and academy to find a way to the film and give it any price. Special screenings for academy members smells the same as dinners and bribing academy members to give an award to someone who is campaigning more. I work for corporation, where is allowed to take max. pen from customers otherwise it is taken as corruption and we can be fired from the company, no dinners or Champaign is allowed, money obviously.

This should work in the same way. But to hire experts for Oscars, make up stories, dinners and special screenings for academy members is not correct and I am glad Jake didn't do this kind of "promotion". If another actors want to promote movie of someone else, they can show up on premiers, festivals. You can express your opinion on social networks etc...but in Cooper's case it was more than this. If he is so great, he would win at least some critics across US, but they are too far to be bribed. SV

Monica said...

But to hire experts for Oscars, make up stories, dinners and special screenings for academy members is not correct and I am glad Jake didn't do this kind of "promotion".

Open Road is small, so there's no way to know what would have happened if Nightcrawler was being distributed by Fox Searchlight, Focus or Weinstein Company, which spend millions on campaigns for the Oscars.

Hagen said...

Special screenings for academy members smells the same as dinners and bribing academy members to give an award to someone who is campaigning more.

Special screenings for AMPAS members are business as usual in Oscar campaigns and I don't really mind that. I think there were such screenings for "Nightcrawler", too. But all those expenses for Q & A sessions, screeners and advertisement pay off financially only for few movies. (Wall Street Journal: By October 2014, though, as a new awards season geared up, Sony’s movie chief found an unlikely reason to celebrate. The fact that Sony Pictures had no major awards contenders this year, she told her boss, chief executive Michael Lynton, would have at least one positive repercussion. “We don’t have to spend foolish money,” she wrote.)

Hagen said...

David Ayer will start filming "Suicide Squad" in Toronto on April 15 (My Entertainment World). I'm still very skeptical if that would be the right step for Jake.

Mary said...

I'm unsure too Hagen about it but it's not definite yet.

Bonnie said...

Is anybody else hoping Jake is dating Ruth?

Chica said...

I saw Constellations last week and I can see why Jake and Ruth was attracted to this play. I was blown away with their chemistry and their interactions.

The play is short, just 70 min. and in those 70 min. they shift positions around 68 times replaying their relationship which was both thrilling and exhausting!

The ease and comfort they have onstage is beautiful. It reminded me a bit of the movie Sliding Doors.

The relationship is sexy, funny , sad and oh so clever. A truly original play with incredible performances by Jake and Ruth. Even ig Jake wasn't in this play o would have still loved it.

Chica said...

PS: Even though the theater was small by b'way standards, I think it would work in an even smaller venue. It's a very intimate piece despite all the physics. and cosmic theme.

Anonymous said...

thanks bobbyanna, for your explanation... still find something unfair in actors promoting other actors... however that's Hollywood...

"David Ayer will start filming "Suicide Squad"... I'm still very skeptical if that would be the right step for Jake".
Maybe J. could also consider to take a (short) break... I mean, I can see why it would be great for him to keep doing things... but It's been a tough, full year, with no rest... I'd rather see him refreshing and recharging ideas than getting involved in a project with no energy left...

Tina

BlueJean said...

Thanks Chica, loved reading that!

I'll be seeing the play in my own country in a couple of months. Looking forward to it!

Anonymous said...

Hagen I know it is part of the business, but that doesn't mean it is correct, seems it is so obvious in the last years, that people accept it and don't mind it included you. It is like 100 times written lie becomes be true. If there is any official screening purely for academy members - NC had it in Toronto - it is still different than De Niro organizes special screening for AS, just because he can.

Look in my country there is National Symphonic Orchestra and they are one of the best in the world. Trick is that when they hire new members, musicians, there is some committee sitting and the player/candidate is playing behind the curtain, so they pick the candidate just based on skills he needs, and he is picked based on what they hear only, there is not anything other what takes the attention away.

I can understand that in movie industry it is almost impossible, but I am sure, that nominations would look completely different, if they watch just movies without knowing who is director or producer. Actors are another thing, so it is not possible to avoid, but it is not impossible to send for screenings movies without titles and castings. And the names would be revealed just after their work is nominated and campaign would be forbidden.

I don't know what is so acceptable on campaign, even if Gyllenhaal would do it, I don't like it, for me it is not kosher at all, but I don't remember any year he would do it until now, so barely he changes his mind unless Harvey will do the work instead. So posting the article they spend foolish money is irrelevant, it is known, but what is the point? SV

Piruleta said...

Well, one thing is for sure, I've seen more talking about Jake's snub than the actual nominees. I think That's something positive, it shows that his performance was really loved and appreciated.

Hagen said...

I don't know what is so acceptable on campaign, even if Gyllenhaal would do it, I don't like it, for me it is not kosher at all

I think it's somewhat problematic that some film studios have more resources than others for Oscar campaigns. There's no real level playing field. Though my bigger issue is that AMPAS is heavily biased towards a certain kind of Oscar bait. (Salon: If Oscar voters want to claim that they’re all about cinematic quality and above petty considerations of cultural politics, it might help if they didn’t swoon, year after year, for mediocre inspirational pictures dosed with obvious Oscar sauce.) Initially I was surprised that "Nightcrawler" was in conversation for Oscar nominations at all, because it just doesn't fit into that category. Sadly AMPAS confirmed once again its rather narrow-minded focus on Oscar bait. Other film award bodies are more open minded in that regard.

So posting the article they spend foolish money is irrelevant, it is known, but what is the point?

The point is that film studios sometimes invest in award campaigns just to strengthen their relationships with certain directors and actors, even if the additional earnings due to Oscar nominations often don't justify the considerable expenses for those campaings.

Monica said...

There are pictures of Jake with Edgar Wright on IHJ.

Ph0enicks said...

Monica, where are the pics? I can't find them.

Thanks

Hagen said...

A cooperation with Edgar Wright would be fun.

Latino Review has revealed some plot details of "Suicide Squad". Sentences like "They are supposed to steal a weapon but end up capturing a woman called June, she has a split personality and her evil side is a sorceress" sound more than a bit bizarre to me. But I don't belong to the main target group anyway. Will Smith's Deadshot, Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn and Jared Leto's The Joker are the biggest parts.

bobbyanna said...


It would be fun to see Jake work with him! I've enjoyed his original stuff a lot.

Edgar Wright's also one of the writers who developed the story of Ant Man from the Marvel Comic book character that Paul Rudd is playing.

Monica said...

"You know what film I also liked? I liked Nightcrawler a lot. Jake did it. He’s great in the film." Spike Lee

It would be great Jake in a movie of edgar wright. He's going to direct the film Baby Driver, which seems to be great.

Hagen, I hope he will pass SS. That doesn't sound good for him.

Ph0enicks, enter with your login to see the pictures.

Hagen said...

Edgar Wright's also one of the writers who developed the story of Ant Man from the Marvel Comic book character that Paul Rudd is playing.
Oh OK, I didn't know that. Maybe Jake is interested in that franchise and wants to check out if there's a juicy role that he could play.

Hagen, I hope he will pass SS. That doesn't sound good for him.
I wouldn't mind it that much if he played that role for a decent paycheck. On the other hand it would probably implay that he would have to show up again in future installments of the franchise.

Hagen said...

^^^
I've meant imply (not implay) :)

bobbyanna said...

Edgar is probably sharing horror stories with Jake about the comic book franchises. LOL!

Is the role their considering Jake for (or he's considering) more like a cameo? It seems like the other characters have bigger roles? I am completely unfamiliar with this genre.

I agree about getting a big paycheck but I'd hate to see him locked in to a long term relationship, though it would boost his box office numbers. I think Will Smith's movies always do pretty well.

Hopefully Jake & Edgar are talking about some entirely different project that's divorced from the comic book world. Edgar has always tweeted positive things about Jake, even before NC. : )

UltraViolet said...

Yeah, I want to argue against Suicide Squad but I can't begrudge Jake the paycheck or the chance for some other folks to help with the heavy lifting. I don't want to have to actually see the movie, sadly.

We know Edgar Wright loved NC! And now Spike Lee. Love it.

New post.

bobbyanna said...

Oops. I meant: "Is the role "they're" considering Jake for...etc.