Sunday, February 28, 2016

Ten Years After



Academy Awards, 2006: Brokeback Mountain does not win for Best Picture. Countless stories have been written about one of Oscar's biggest and most notorious upsets. It's hard to believe it was 10 years ago. The Academy is probably not going to apologize for its error. But even as we lament what can never be, let's celebrate what was.

The trailer gave hints of how powerful the film would be:



In Venice and Toronto, the promise was confirmed. The movie premiered in the U.S. in December, 2005, to broad critical acclaim.



The lonesome chill that seeps through Ang Lee's epic western, "Brokeback Mountain," is as bone deep as the movie's heartbreaking story of two cowboys who fall in love almost by accident. It is embedded in the craggy landscape where their idyll begins and ends. It creeps into the farthest corners of the wide-open spaces they share with coyotes, bears and herds of sheep and rises like a stifled cry into the big, empty sky that stretches beyond the horizon.

Brokeback was nominated for all the awards in the 2005-2006 awards season, winning almost all the big ones.













But Oscar is the big one. The day arrived, and everyone looked elegant. And happy.





The show opened with a few Brokeback references:



Jake presented a desperate Oscar pitch to watch moves in the cinema:



Typical of the season, none of the Brokeback actors won:





BBM did win for Director, Screenplay and Score:







And then it all came crashing down. (If you watch the clip, you can see a few shots of Jake and Heath clapping for the winners.)

It was a dispiriting end to a wonderful ride. It stung that night and it stings a little still. But time and tragic reality have only confirmed the film's power and strength.



Jake on Oscar Night 2016, at Adam Levine's house:



It was posted on Behati Prinsloo's Instagram with this caption:

Lock up your daughters and wife's! Oscar night just got so real... 🔞 #sohuman

Jake at the Vanity Fair party:





Photo by Nina Hallworth:



And a new Demolition poster:

51 comments:

UltraViolet said...

I'm going to look for more photos from that night but I wanted just to get the post up.

Does anyone have the youtube clip of Jake interviewed on the red carpet, when that stupid ABC reporter asked him if he asks his parents to approve his scripts (paraphrasing).

Sal (the real one) said...

That brought tears to my eyes. Such a timeless, heartfelt film that'll go down in the history books. I feel proud of Jake and Heath for being part of it.

BlueJean said...

Thanks so much for this, UV! Brokeback is still very close to my heart, as you know. I haven't seen all of those clips, so I'll be watching them tomorrow. It's almost midnight here, so off to bed. Have a great time at the Oscars, for everyone who will be watching - I'll read about it online in the morning, I guess ;) Fingers crossed for Leo.

BlueJean said...

P.S. Ten years after and still not another Oscar nomination for Jake... what went wrong? Here's to 2017! ;)

Ann said...

This is such a wonderful post, UV.

Last night I looked up the videos on youtube from that Oscars. It's still upsetting that Brokeback Mountain lost that night but the film has held up beautifully over the past 10 years and is still so loved. That's more important than awards.

And BlueJean I agree, it's a shame Jake hasn't been nominated again. I hope that changes next year as well :)

Mary said...

Thanks for the walk down memory lane even though a painful one BBM still remains my favorite. I won't be watching the oscars.

UltraViolet said...

Hi, Mary! It was a tough night, but BBM endures.

Thanks, Sal, BJ and Ann. I got a little misty myself, especially with that tribute video. I felt bad that the BBM 10th anniversary release came and went and I didn't do a post. So this felt like the last chance!

BJ, I'll try to find some more fun clips you might not have seen :)

I don't know what you mean by what net wrong. It implies that Jake hasn't lived up to something, whereas I think the Oscars haven't lived up to their job. Jake deserved a nomination last year and could reasonably have been nominated at least two other times. So the Academy is what went wrong.

bobbyanna said...

Ten years. Doesn't seem like ten years. Thank you UV, this is a beautiful post and it breaks my heart, too. I do think Heath would be very proud of not only Michelle, but of Jake and all the fine work he has done mostly on his own terms, too. (I have to smile imagining what Heath would've said about Prince of Persia. LOL!)

As artists they were brave and truthful, and made an acting choice for all the right reasons, and created a classic that will last as long as people watch movies.

Extra said...

Beautiful but bittersweet post UV. Can't believe that it's been 10years since that outrage took place.

UltraViolet said...

Added a photo apparently from Adam Levine's house tonight. And a photo from the Vanity Fair party.

#FerragamoVIP | Jake Gyllenhaal wears a velvet navy tuxedo to the #VFOscarParty.

Oops, sorry, didn't see your comments Bobbyanna and Extra. Bittersweet is the perfect word, for the movie and the Oscar night.

As artists they were brave and truthful, and made an acting choice for all the right reasons, and created a classic that will last as long as people watch movies.

Beautifully put, B!

UltraViolet said...

And one more VF party pic.

Piruleta said...

Great post UV. I was late to the party, but it's beautiful to revive, in a way, what was that night for all of them and for all of you :)

Chica said...

I remember that night UV, still hard to believe that BBM lost to Crash.

I only watched Chris Rocks opening last night, the Academy Awards still had a,way to go in addressing diversity.

BlueJean said...

"Jake deserved a nomination last year and could reasonably have been nominated at least two other times. So the Academy is what went wrong."

That was what I meant, UV. And one of those other two nominations (probably): Jake deserved one for his Detective Loki as well - that was such an interesting character. Of course we're all biased, but I truly think Jake has been overlooked in the last couple of years and I don't know why. Maybe it's like Chris Stuckmann said last year: "He's not part of the club". 'Club' meaning the Oscar inner-circle of something like that, I suppose.

Scott said...

Jake is bad ass, he doesn't need to be a member of club that is currently under a not so flattering microscope. Nice accessory Jake, a baby on the arm, lol. By the way those skits were way better than most of the performances nominated.

BlueJean said...

"Jake is bad ass, he doesn't need to be a member of club that is currently under a not so flattering microscope."

I agree, Scott. He doesn't need to and maybe he doesn't even want to.

UltraViolet said...

Rooting for the failure of the attempt to make Jake the new face of all those "Needs an Oscar" memes. The Leo ones were funny, but Jake doesn't need that.

Just added another VF party photo, as well as a new Demolition poster.

Ann said...

Rooting for the failure of the attempt to make Jake the new face of all those "Needs an Oscar" memes. The Leo ones were funny, but Jake doesn't need that.

I agree, UV. I've seen a few tweets that Jake is the new Leo. I hope this doesn't gain momentum.

He looked great last night at the VF party!

UltraViolet said...

There are a lot of tweets about it, but I hope it dies down.

From twitter:

Alexandre Choueiri
President of Armani Beauty, YSL Beauté, Ralph Lauren, Viktor&Rolf, Maison Margiela and Proenza Schouler fragrances for the USA. All views are personal.

How fun is it to get to tell #JakeGyllenhaal that he is my favorite actor at VanityFair after party #Oscars2016


Funny article on the VF party.

Just keep your head above water, man.

Ann said...

Here's an interview with Gary Michael Walters of Bold Films. There's stuff about Jake and Stronger scattered throughout.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/simonthompson/2016/03/02/bold-films-ceo-talks-stronger-superhero-movie-samaritan-and-jake-gyllenhaals-documentary-debut/#7fc619e46943

Anonymous said...

Gary Michael Walters's interview here

GMW: When you look at the people who are exciting me now and you look at people like Jean-Marc Vallee, Denis Villeneuve and Antoine Fuqua and then you realize that Jake Gyllenhaal has worked with all of them in the last two years and then you realize he’s working with Tom Ford and so you then go, ‘Hey, Jake, let’s find projects.’ We’re about to do our second film with Jake, Stronger, about the Boston Marathon bombing, it’s the number two script on the Black List, we have global distribution through Lionsgate and Bold is fully financing. We have an auteur in David Gordon Green who is directing plus Jake is growing into a very savvy producer. It’s really interesting on Stronger that his acting instincts and his producer instincts coincided so we’ve shifted the emphasis on that one for the character’s personal growth and less on his rehabilitation. So now it’s become a love story with the circumstances as the backdrop and that love story makes it more emotional, more character driven and also, we believe, makes it more universal. So this is one of those circumstances where the art and the commerce actually pushed in the same direction. We’re very hopeful on that one. It’s our biggest film to date.

It sounds like it could be not just a financial success but potentially being also awards worthy. Is that something you think about when you look at a project?
GMW: If you don’t make a good film it’s not going to make it to the awards, that’s my opinion. I’ve always felt that good movies are your best business. When you have such an amazing story and such amazing talent and it’s such an inspirational story I do suppose that there’s a huge cache attached to it and nothing would make me happier than to get Michel (Litvak) and Jake and David Gordon Green back into the Dolby Theatre – it would be a dream come true. I don’t think you plan on these things but there are certain movies that we do that are more for commercial purposes, there are some movies that we do that are perhaps more for the prestige and then, in this case actually, it’s an all of the above. There is also a strategic element for us as we have more capital to deploy now than we have ever had and so that is giving me the chance to make films in $25-$35 million budget range which we have not done before.

Is that more concerning for you because the commercial risks you are taking moving into that space are potentially higher because the investment is higher?
GMW: Michel had a very interesting point which is, ‘A good bet is a good bet whether it’s for a dollar or $1 million and a bad bet is a bad bet.’ Stronger was actually presented to us as a co-financing but we stepped up because we were so excited about it and we’ve actually stepped up to fully finance. Lionsgate is only distributing so we believe very strongly in Stronger. That’s such awkward phrasing but… creatively and prestige-wise and commercially and strategically, Stronger is a great template for what we’re going to be doing next. .......

Where do documentaries sit with you? That’s not something Bold has explored yet but are you interested in that space?
GMW: We’re actually doing our first documentary now and it’s through Jake Gyllenhaal. He asked us to do it and he’s very passionate about this story. ...... We are financing our first documentary for Nine Stories, Jake’s production company, and it’s a great story about a photojournalist named Chris Hondros. His best friend was doing a documentary about him and during the course of taping of the documentary Chris got killed in Libya during the rebel wars. That will be our first documentary. And you got that story first, it’s an exclusive.

BlueJean said...

^^^^^^

Very interesting. Thanks guys!

Tweety said...

Very interesting indeed, thanks for the link.
I remember Jack Nicholson's face when he announced Crash instead of BBM :(

Anonymous said...

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCjoC4RI1oD/?taken-by=nina.clare

Maura

Scott said...

He looks so young in that Instagram and just from recent pictures without the slick hair. That hair is just outrageous in a good sexy way. I think he learning to embrace his good hair genes. LOL.

Anonymous said...

Jake, Billy Crystal, Will Ferrell on stage at the CEE (Center for Early Education) 75th Anniversary Gala, Saturday in LA.

Antonia Nicols@antonianicols
25 yards from Billy Crystal, Will Ferrell, and Beyoncé. Jake Gyllenhaal just moved me to tears with a tribute. LA does galas right.

Beyonce sang, Jay Z, Sydney Poitier, Whoopi Goldberg were there too.

Today, at LAX having fun at the security check

Scott said...

Is there a full video of the gala available somewhere? Thank you anon for the video links.

Anonymous said...

No full video, just two snipets from Jake's tribute to Reveta Bowers

Barbara Lazaroff @BarbaraLazaroff
Video is 5 min wish I could post all of uber charming Gyllenhaal's love note to headmaster Reveta #CEE

Barbara Lazaroff @BarbaraLazaroff
Gyllenhaal earnest & sweet #CEE 75th Anniv gala #Shrine 1700 ppl honoring #RevetaBowers #humbleJake bravo

scott said...

^^^^^^

Thank you anon.

UltraViolet said...

Yes, thank you for posting those. I hope someone will post the whole thing. I'd love to hear more.

Here's a little more from the event: How much would you pay to give Jake a bath?

From twitter:

Reason #57 I love living in New York. Walking out of a bar and running into Jake Gyllenhaal, Olivia Wilde, and Jason Sudeikas

Jason SmithVerified account ‏@howaboutafresca
Fox Sports Radio/DirecTV Fantasy Zone
Peyton Manning & Jake Gyllenhaal have the largest heads of any celebs I've ever met. I mean it, they might wear size 9 baseball hats.

So after debate, the Mount Rushmore of Celebrity Large Heads is: Keith Olbermann, Peyton Manning, Jake Gyllenhaal & Bruce Bochy.

NYC said...

Brandon ‏@Brandeauxn 3h 3 hours ago
Reason #57 I love living in New York. Walking out of a bar and running into Jake Gyllenhaal, Olivia Wilde, and Jason Sudeikas.

JustJared.comVerified account ‏@JustJared 2h 2 hours ago
Olivia Wilde has a night out with hubby Jason Sudeikis and Will Forte: http://jus.tj/140a

UltraViolet said...

Jake having dinner in Boston. That place is yummy.

Lots of new Demolition photos at IHJ. Fingers crossed that Fox Searchlight ups their marketing game in the next few weeks.

Office of Nancy Pelosi said...

Jake always looks so great in a tux! In Boston getting ready to film Stronger, I do hope that Fox Searchlight has a great PR blitz for Demolition too it looks really interesting and intense.

Crash is pretty much forgotten but BBM will remain an iconic and important film.

UltraViolet said...

Hi, OONP! hope allis well in DC :)

Here's Jake today:

Jake Gyllenhaal was at United Prosthetics this morning along with some of the crew from the upcoming movie, “Stronger”. “Stronger” is the movie adaptation of Jeff Bauman’s book about his experience surrounding the Boston Marathon attack and his recovery from bilateral above knee amputations.

sassy said...

Another day, another project. http://variety.com/2016/film/news/jake-gyllenhaal-ryan-reynolds-rebecca-ferguson-life-1201723170/

Scott said...

Jake's full dancing scene from Demolition here:

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/03/11/demolition-jake-gyllenhaal-sxsw-exclusive

Sci-Fi sounds promising but I hope the movie has a great script and lucky timing.

UltraViolet said...

Love that clip!

Looks like Jake has made it to SXSW:

Current: EWR 👉AUS. Gonna go sneak into first class and talk to Jake Gyllenhaal.

Just casually saw jake gyllenhal strolling through the airport

UltraViolet said...

Forgot to say that the Ryan Reynolds movie worries me, because RR doesn't have the best track record at choosing movies, Deadpool aside. But the cast sure is pretty!

bobbyanna said...

I feel a little queasy about the RR pic too, UV.

Going to watch the dancing clip right now. : )

(waves to OONP!!!!)

J said...

Not too sure about 'Life' either. Seems a bit generic.

Just finished reading the Demolition screenplay. Quirky read but I didn't really like it, to be honest, even though I very much wanted to! The female characters don't get much respect and the sexual orientation subplot (of Judah Lewis' character) was hopeful and compelling up until one particularly unpleasant scene which was cliché and unneeded.

Still looking forward to seeing how Jake crafted his character. It's definitely gotta be an interesting performance.

BlueJean said...

The 'Demolition' sceenplay? What? Where? ;)

Love the clip! Go Jake!!!

Monica said...

I'm surprised that he's the second option after Ryan Reynolds. WTF

J said...

I saw the script on scriptdrive, BlueJean :) http://www.scriptdrive.net/showthread.php?tid=960&highlight=Demolition

BlueJean said...

Thanks J.! (Jake?) ;) ;) ;)

I had to register, but it worked and I'm able to read it. Part of me wants to read it right NOW - but part of me wants to wait until I've seen the movie, so I won't know what the story (especially the ending) will be like.

I think I'll wait. But I've downloaded and saved it - ha! Thanks again! x

Anonymous said...

Jake isn't the second option to RR. Life belongs to Deadpool's writers, who developped it for RR. Because RR has a schedule conflict with another movie, he is taking a smaller part, with fewer days of shooting, and Jake will be the lead.
Jake is the first option to replace the actor for whom the project was initially created by the writers, on the heels of their $600 million wordwide hit.

Anonymous said...

Waiting for Jake:

Huge line to see my boy @jakegyllenhaal.

Getting asked lots where to find the room Jake Gyllenhaal is speaking at #lifeofavolunteer #SXSW2016

Random guy: "Is this the line for Jake Gyllenhaal?"
Me: "No, this is an escalator."
LOL

Emily ‏@emquig
Waiting to hear Jake Gyllenhaal speak at #SXSW. They just dimmed the lights and are playing sexy music. What kind of conversation is this?

Waiting to hear Jake Gyllenhaal at #SXSW. They just dimmed the lights and are playing sexy music. I think we may now be married.

J said...

Haha, if only BlueJean ;) You're welcome!

That's probably a wise choice - I just couldn't resist! If anything though, I'm more intrigued now to see how something like Demolition translates onscreen.

Anonymous said...

Rebecca Ford ‏@Beccamford
Jake Gyllenhaal and David Gordon Green talk about Jake's career

Jake Gyllenhaal on what draws him to a role: "first and foremost it's the story, more than the role"

Emily ‏@emquig
David Gordon Green is wearing a hoodie, Jake Gyllenhaal a suit jacket. I smell a sitcom!

Bridget Finnegan ‏@bridgee
Grooviest ever. Jake Gyllenhaal!

Virginie Berger ‏@virberg
Who whooo keynote de Jake Gyllenhaal. Le garçon est beau. Pour de vrai (sinon il est hyper interessant aussi)
The boy is fine. For real (he is super interesting too)


Leigh Hughes ‏@leighmhughes
Jake Gyllenhaal Southpaws the sxsw crowd

Andrew Garlock‏@AndrewGarlock
Jake Gyllenhaal dropping some film knowledge at #SXSW2016

KXAN News ‏@KXAN_News
#JakeGyllenhaal at #SXSW talking about his new @foxsearchlight #Demolition. It premieres tonight in Austin.

Overflow viewing for convo with Jake Gyllenhaal at #SXSW2016. His film Demolition shows tonight @ Paramount Theater

Matt Jacobs ‏@tarantallegra
5-year-old Jake Gyllenhaal had a "huge crush" on Martha Plimpton while hanging out on the set of his mom's "Running on Empty." #SXSW

Sam Davidson ‏@perkypeggy
Dashing and funny. And articulate. #SXSW #JakeGyllenhaal

mily ‏@emquig
Woman in audience - a psychologist - told Jake Gyllenhaal he's "a master of playing unbalanced characters."

Anonymous said...

SarahThurmond ‏@SarahThurmond
For a guy who plays such unhinged characters, Jake Gyllenhaal seems like such a nice, down-to-earth guy.

luxy: human disaster ‏@noluxgiven
Jake Gyllenhaal is beautiful and has great words.

Tiffany Tan ‏@Iamtiffanytan
Narrative IS the spectacle. Use tech to drive the narrative. - Jake Gyllenhaal on using new tech in film.

Nate Mancini ‏@natemancini
Narrative IS spectacle. Everybody is their best when the narrative structure works. - Jake Gyllenhaal at #sxsw

Rebecca Ford ‏@Beccamford
Jake Gyllenhaal did defend superhero movies: "I remember when I saw Thor I was really inspired. There’s a reason for myth."

Rebecca Ford ‏@Beccamford
David Gordon Green talking to Jean Marc Vallee and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Scott said...

He looked like he had a great time during the interview but all that hair makes his head look so big making his body look smaller than it is, LOL. Still he's perfect.

UltraViolet said...

LOL - it's a lot of hair. Thanks to everyone for posting tweets and links and sightings.

And thanks for the script link and review, J. I hope you'll like the movie more than the script. It has its flaws, but Jake is amazing in it.

New post.