Jake Gyllenhaal | The New York Observer

The War at Home

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:16:18 -0500

Brothers
Running time 110 minutes
Written by David Benioff
Directed by Jim Sheridan
Starring Natalie Portman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire, Sam Shepard, Mare Winningham

Brothers is the latest in a long string of “back from the war and wish I was dead” movies, following on the heels of the still-fresh and far superior The Messenger. An unnecessary remake of a 2004 Danish film with the same title by Susanne Bier, it’s a Cain-and-Abel...

Morning Memo: Peter Cook's Girlfriend Talks About Sex Tape; Paparazzi Swarm Katie Holmes on Bway; Gyllenhaal Parents Split

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 09:17:03 -0400

Diana Bianchi, who co-stars with Christy Brinkley's ex-husband Peter Cook in a recently uncovered sex tape, claims "she had no idea she was ever being recorded." Meanwhile, Mr. Cook seems to be attempting to blame Ms. Bianchi for the leak: "I have no comment on this crap," he said. "I don't know what she's doing or why she's doing it." [P6]

Paparazzi have been mobbing the Broadway performances of All My Sons, which stars...

Morning Memo: Paris Hilton's McCain Video; Gossip Girl Conflicts With Chace Crawford's Morals; Tommy Hilfiger's Breakup

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 09:20:42 -0400

Paris Hilton has filmed a mock campaign ad responding to John McCain's references to her in his latest campaign ad. In it, she calls the Republican candidate "the oldest celebrity in the world. [NY Daily News]

Writer Jay McInerney says John Edwards's reported mistress, Rielle Hunter, is "a nice girl"; she was the inspiration for the character of Alison Poole in Mr. McInerney's 1988 novel Story of My Life. [P6]

Gossip Girl's...

Mr. Lonelyhearts

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 20:26:29 -0500

A 32-year-old ad copywriter, who sings in a downtown band and has a lot of tattoos, was on the phone from the East Village. His tone was confessional.

“For the last two years,” he said, “I’ve been chasing tail, sowing my wild oats, literally meeting girls and bringing them up to my apartment. And now”—his voice dropped a decibel or two—“I’ve gone three weeks without having sex. And I’m getting this...

Gossip Roundup: Vincent Gallo and Terry Richardson Wish You an Annoying Thanksgiving; Nicole Richie's Turkey-Day Good Deed!

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 09:59:27 -0500

Yawn. What? Right. Here's the gossip round-up for Nov. 23, 2008, Thanksgiving Friday and possibly the slowest news day ever.

An eight-months-pregnant Nicole Richie and her friend, the society disc jockeyess Samantha Ronson, volunteered at a Hollywood soup kitchen yesterday.

Jennifer Aniston recently attended her 20th high school reunion at Rudolf Steiner on the Upper East Side.

Gallerist Larry Gagosian and collector Adam Lindemann are involved in some crack-up over a Jeff Koons which we...

Natalie Portman Talks About Getting Naked

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 11:45:48 -0500

Natalie Portman is insecure at times, the 26-year-old actress said in an interview with MTV, where she also talks about the consequences of her poor professional choices. “I might think I won't be able to do something, but I'll do it anyway, because I've sort of known that failing isn't that bad. Especially with my job, no one gets hurt. If I mess up, it's like, ‘OK, somebody loses a little money,’ which I...

That Old Trick: Jake and Reese Can't Evade Cameras, Even in Costume

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 12:21:06 -0400

Fresh-out-of-the-package lovebirds Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal ran into a little paparazzi action last night while celebrating boo-day with Ms. Witherspoon’s wee tots. Hard as he may have tried, Mr. Gyllenhaal didn’t fool the camera-toting celeb-stalkers with his full-body gorilla suit. The Rendition star’s decidedly less-hairy girlfriend was much easier to spot, however, in a costume that looks something like a marriage of vampire slater Anne Rice and My Fair Lady.

Who’s the...

Is Hollywood Quitting Gay Movies?

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 09:24:50 -0400

Adam B. Vary of Entertainment Weekly asks why Hollywood hasn't put out a gay-themed film since the commercially and critically acclaimed "Brokeback Mountain."

Brokeback was more than a movie. It was a phenomenon that commanded the cultural conversation for months, from Jay Leno to YouTube to the cover of The New Yorker. More important, it proved that straight audiences would snap up tickets to a same-sex romance. Since then,...

Reese Witherspoon Escapes the Perky Curse

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 13:15:43 -0400

RENDITION
Running Time 120 minutes
Written by Kelley Sane
Directed by Gavin Hood
Starring Reese Witherspoon, Meryl Streep, Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard and Alan Arkin

Powerful, shocking and mandatory, Rendition is a disturbing film that should be required viewing for every school and civic group in America, and then the world. They could start at the White House.

The unfortunate title so confused everyone at the recent Toronto...

What’s the Deal With Bubble? Soderbergh’s Experiment Wheezes

Sun, 12 Feb 2006 19:00:00 -0500

Steven Soderbergh’s Bubble, from a screenplay by Coleman Hough, extends Mr. Soderbergh’s convulsively experimental career that took off with his first film, Sex, Lies and Videotape (1989), a sensational hit here and abroad. He bombed with his second, Kafka (1991); rebounded with his third, King of the Hill (1993); bombed again with the failed film noir Underneath (1995), a strained remake of Robert Siodmak’s Criss Cross (1949); marked time with two low-budget avant-garde enterprises,...

Who and What I Liked in 2005: Viggo, Violence, Reese, 2046

Sun, 15 Jan 2006 19:00:00 -0500

While I was trying to decide how I would introduce my customary list of the past year’s achievements and non-achievements, I consulted what I wrote last year—and I was struck by how applicable it was to this year. So simply by changing a few numerals, I can repeat last year’s introduction, secure in the knowledge that 2005’s releases were neither appreciably better nor appreciably worse than 2004’s. I only wish I could say the...

Chokeback Mountain

Sun, 20 Nov 2005 19:00:00 -0500

The already-famous hot gay cowboy sex arrives fairly early in Brokeback Mountain. Without spoiling any of the cowpoking—and really, not since The Crying Game have genitals played such an important and odd role in a plot—it’s safe to share that it’s really fairly graphic and accurate. For Bound, the Wachowski siblings had to recruit sexpert Susie Bright to coach Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly on their girl-on-girl sex scenes, and that was probably the...

The Transom

Sun, 30 May 2004 20:00:00 -0400

'It's Good to Be the King': Richard Lewis on Alan King

That was a Mel Brooks line, and it couldn't have a better meaning nor a better fit than for the comedic master who just retired into immortality. Right up front, my deepest condolences to his family and thousands of friends who really knew and loved him. I'm at home, getting ready to hit the road yet again in this, my 34th year as a...