Standing Room Only

That's what it was tonight in Boston for a screening of Jake Gyllenhaal's Source Code, followed by a Q&A with director Duncan Jones. FL and I were lucky enough to attend. It was by far the most crowded sneak peek I've ever been to, and we were worried we wouldn't both get in.

But we did, very happily. And we got to enjoy a great movie with a great performance from Jake. Duncan Jones was engaging, witty and seemingly very happy to be there, answering questions thoughtfully and humorously.

As you can see from this Making Of video, Duncan and Jake are game for anything, and Duncan conveyed that. But he also takes movies seriously, and the film is a true reflection of his - and Jake's - attitudes. (Thanks to Monica for the heads up on the video.)



There was not a lot new in the Q&A but there were some interesting observations from Duncan:

He revealed that they shot the movie in chronological order, so as not to even further confuse the process or the participants. He and Jake will be doing an audio commentary for the DVD. They moved the film setting from NYC to Chicago for "sensitivity reasons." He made special use of The Bean sculpture because he thought it was unique and extraordinary.

When urged to produce his next movie in Boston, Duncan replied that he thought you had to get a "special visa from Ben Affleck" to do that.



This photo does not do justice to how good Jake looks in a flight suit.

Oh, wait, it was FL who said that.

Jake looked very good and played the part very well. The praise for his performance is well deserved.

The movie seemed to get a very strong response. There was lots of buzz as people were leaving, with cries of "Awesome" heard from some of the fanboys. Lots of chatter and questions as people filed out. This was definitely a crowd pumped to see the movie and excited to hear from Duncan Jones. They seemed to get what they didn't pay for and more.

Personally, I loved it. Many of the shortcomings I noticed or feared from the trailer were not present. This is not a favorite genre, and I was worried at the beginning that it wouldn't engage me. But I definitely got sucked in by the Source Code and can't wait to go back.

Feel free to ask any questions. If I can't remember, FL probably can!

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Jake with Tony Toscano of Talking Pictures:



Jake talks to AMC (theaters, not the movie channel):



Jake talks to Bonnie Laufer from Tribute Canada. Not as hilarious as their PoP interview but still fun:



Jake on Extra, talking about edible gardens and trying not to talk about bathroom photos:





(Photos courtesy of IHJ.)

Junketing Jake

It was Source Code junket weekend in Los Angeles with Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan and Duncan Jones doing the rounds of international, national and local press. Sounds grueling for the main players, but for some of the interviewers, not so much:

I highly recommend sustained eye contact with Jake Gyllenhaal to brighten anyone's day.



Yeah, I could see the appeal in that.

The video interviews are trickling in. First up, Jake talking with an old junket friend, also named Jake:



Here's Jake with a reporter from unWiredTV:



Jake on Access Hollywood, talking about Anne Hathaway's hosting the Oscars, as well as his next movie:



And here he discusses working with Michelle and why he won't share his Quebecois accent:



Jake on the movie in light of real events:









A couple more treats from SXSW - the full Q&A session from the premiere:



I posted a link to this interview last week, but I hadn't noticed that you can listen to the audio. It's a roundtable interview, and it's fun to hear Jake's voice. It is spoiler-full, however, so listen with caution. Jake's enthusiasm for the film is apparent; I love how he describes a crew member's reaction after one pivotal scene. I wonder if he was able to sustain it through this whole weekend of questions.

SXSW: The festival that keeps on giving

A couple of new Jake Gyllenhaal interviews done during SXSW. the first was done before Source Code's premiere. Jake talks about his affinity for science fiction and whether he had to learn all the science in the movie:



In the second, Jake has an outdoor sit-down with Ben Lyons and talks about fainting for his art:



They were at Gourdough's, apparently a famous Austin doughnut trailer. Jake ate a sinful looking concoction, but that was shown only on the news and isn't on the tape. In the E! News interview, Jake talked about how being an uncle made him think more about family and food. He touched briefly on the Edible Schoolyard program.

More from E - Jake talks music. Adele, Civil Wars, the Boss and Tibetan bells:



Jake talks Oscar hosting:



Jake likes to ride:



Source Code reviews continue to be good. It has a 75% tomatometer rating at Rotten Tomatoes. And Richard Roeper gave it an A, calling it the best movie he's seen in 2011.

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The contrast between these two random Jake-with-stranger shots amused me.

Two men and a couch

And a videocamera and a reporter. Anne Thompson conducted an interview with Jake Gyllenhaal and Duncan Jones the day after the premiere of Source Code at SXSW. In part one, the pair discuss how the movie came together, different approaches and different ideas.



In Part Two, they discuss being contemporaries and collaborators.



The final part is the shortest:



It's fun to watch their interplay. There does seem to be mutual respect and affection.



In this interview, Jake reveals that he hadn't seen the final cut of the movie until the Austin premiere. He also talks about the different versions of the Source Code:

What were some of the other endings?

There was a big question about the order to the endings. I had all these weird ideas that someone could appear, or something could happen, and Duncan would always go with these ideas that I had. He would be like, "Can we get—find somebody in a suit! Get that guy off the street!" And we would do a take like that. So hopefully on the DVD you'll be able to see things like that.

But there were alternate versions of every scene. Every source code has an alternate version, initially a different choice made by me.

Yes, let's hope the DVD is jam-packed. Unlike the sort weak L&OD DVD release.

And who knew Popular Mechanics does film stories?

(Photo courtesy of IHJ.)