Pharmaceutical salesmen, Masculine looks, machismo and sentimentality

Jake got one of his more manly looks with a shaved haircut for "Jarhead" (2005) directed by Sam Mendes

Jake Gyllenhaal goes errands out and about in L.A. on 27th May 2011. He is sporting the semi-shaved haircut he got to work on his next film "End of Watch" (2012)


"Jake Gyllenhaal is good at making characters likeable, so when the film opens with his character Jamie getting fired from his job after seducing a coworker, you already somehow like him (and his ridiculously expressive face).

His successful younger brother gets him a job with Pfizer (a leading pharmaceutical company) and the film properly begins.
Love and Other Drugs is based very loosely on the memoir of pharmaceutical salesman Jamie Reidy, and the film has this at its core throughout. He meets Maggie (Anne Hathaway), a sufferer of early onset Parkinson's disease, while desperately trying to sell an alternative Prozac to jaded Dr. Knight (Hank Azaria).

Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal as Maggie Murdock and Jamie Randall in "Love and other drugs" (2010)

While Maggie gives a realistic look at living with a degenerative disease and drug-dependency, Dr. Knight comes from another angle and encourages the audience never to be a doctor (juggling 50 patients a day, insurance companies and lawyers).
Source: www.film-news.co.uk


"May's upfronts — where networks announce their fall schedules to advertisers — there was a pattern: sitcom after sitcom about how today's men are besieged and need to rediscover their masculinity. Among them are How to Be a Gentleman, in which a metrosexual writer hires a trainer to dewussify him; Last Man Standing, with Tim Allen as a sporting-goods-company executive beset by girlie men; Man Up, in which a group of male friends worry they've lost touch with their inner warriors; and Work It, in which two guys dress in drag (à la Bosom Buddies) to land jobs as pharmaceutical reps.

But maybe men, in TV and life, would be better off letting go of some old ideas of masculinity. Charlie Sheen's meltdown — all that aggression and Darwinian gamete spreading — was old-school manhood taken to its farcical extreme. And it fit the themes of his sitcom, Two and a Half Men, about the bachelor-pad exploits of his alter ego Charlie Harper.

Still of Ashton Kutcher in What Happens in Vegas (2008)

Demi Moore (in Balmain) and hubby Ashton Kutcher (in Calvin Klein Collection) at GQ’s The Gentlemen’s Ball held at NYC’s Edison Ballroom on 27th October 2011

So it was telling that the biggest sitcom announcement of the upfronts was CBS's replacement of Sheen with Ashton Kutcher, a guy who started his career as a model, is monogamously married and looks like he uses styling products. Probably nice-smelling ones!
However Two and a Half Men changes, Kutcher's nice-guy public persona already marks a different idea of alpha maledom from the violent torpedoes of testosterone that made Sheen such a headache for CBS. Tim Allen and company may beat their chests, but in the real world, sometimes it's better to man up by manning down". Source: www.time.com


"Francis Ford Coppola's 1985 adaptation of the novel by S.E. Hinton was full of tough thugs and mean mugs — and plenty of leather jackets. The Greasers, a gang of poor, wrong-side-of-the-tracks boys played by Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez, Ralph Macchio and C. Thomas Howell, live in Tulsa, Okla., where they have to fight to keep their territory from being overrun by the Socs (pronounced soashes). The Socs are wealthy, preppy jerks who don't understand the plight of the Greasers.The two groups clash repeatedly and one of those clashes results in a fatality, sending two of the Greasers on the run. While the film is chock-full of machismo and bravado, it's also tinged with the sentimentality and philosophical edge that made the novel a teen classic". Source: www.time.com

“One Day” new UK trailer (starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess)

The story follows Dexter (Sturgess), a spoiled rich TV host and Emma (Hathaway), a politically minded, insecure, working class Yorkshire girl, who meet on the same day, July 15th, for the 20 years after they share a one-night stand together at university. Certainly, the drama is much more deeply felt in this recent trailer but problems still abound. Hathaway’s accent is kind of dreadful, the dialogue remains clunky in spots and we’re still not seeing what will elevate this past your standard romcom.
But we’re hoping this is just a of case of the film getting marketed to bring in a crowd and that the final result is something a bit richer and more dynamic than films of this ilk.

“One Day” opens on August 19th.

Jake Gyllenhaal having lunch at L'Ermitage in Beverly Hills

Jake Gyllenhaal having lunch at L'Ermitage in Beverly Hills on 27th May 2011. He had a haircut in a salon in Studio City.

Jesse Eisenberg in "30 Minutes or Less" trailer

More 30 Minutes or Less Videos

Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Aziz Ansari, Danny McBride, Nick Swardson and Michael Peña, the film centers on two white trash fledgling criminals (McBride and his lapdog lieutenant Swardson) who kidnap a slacker pizza delivery driver (Eisenberg) and force him — by ticking bomb — to rob a bank. Ansari plays Chet, the history teacher best friend of Eisenberg’s character who has his shit together, but gets roped into the kidnapping. Peña plays a gangster character who becomes a significant problem in the second act of the screenplay. And so far, there’s only the barest hint of a plot here and more troubling—as was suggested by some feedback we received from early screenings—Ansari, as funny as he is, looks a bit uneven opposite Eisenberg. That said, his reaction to the bomb-strapped Eisenberg coming to his school made us laugh out loud. Source: blogs.indiewire.com

Stills of Jesse Eisenberg and Aziz Ansari in "30 Minutes or Less" (2011) directed by Ruben Fleischer

Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 50/50 trailer video

Directed by Jonathan Levine, the story centers on Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a young man living a great life. He has a job that he's passionate about, works with his best friend (Seth Rogen) and has a stunningly beautiful girlfriend (Bryce Dallas Howard). Then he goes to the doctor and finds out that he has a rare for of spinal cancer that has left him with a 50% chance of survival. This world totally rocked by the news, not only does he have to deal with the effects of his disease, but also how it affects everyone in his life.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt at the 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards - Press and Backstage on 16th January 2011

Though the film isn't due out until September, a few weeks ago I was invited to a screening of the film 50/50, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Anjelica Huston. After the credits began to roll, I was certain that I had just watched one of the best films that will be released in 2011. Source: www.cinemablend.com

Jeff Conaway (R.I.P.) and Charlie Sheen: living in fantasy worlds

"CHARLIE Sheen has reportedly spent $1 million on call girls in the last year alone.

The troubled Two and a Half Men actor is allegedly “obsessed” with young porn stars, and has been supplied with “hundreds” by Hollywood madam Rita Hernandez in the past year alone.
Porn icon Ginger Lynn Allen with ex-boyfriend Charlie Sheen

“I’ve known Charlie for years and I arranged girls for him. He was obsessed with young, new porn stars and they had to be aged 18 to 24, no older,” Rita said.

Charlie Sheen with ex-wife Denise Richards at the Undercover Brother premiere held at the Loews Cineplex theatre in Universal City Los Angeles (30.05.02)

Charlie Sheen and Natalie Kenly at the Chateau Nightclub & Gardens at the Paris Las Vegas hotel on May 1, 2011 in Las Vegas

“He’d call me from Vegas, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, wherever and whenever he wanted them.

Charlie Sheen and ex-wife Brooke Mueller attending the 60th Emmy Awards at Nokia Theatre Los Angeles, September 21, 2008

“Charlie really upped the ante in the last 12 months. He seemed to order many more girls because he had split with his wife.

“In the end he was so jacked up on cocaine, pills and alcohol that he couldn’t even have sex. What he was doing to himself was quite sad.”

Bree Olson (Charlie Sheen's ex-goddess) making a tv pilot for Playboy (May 2011)

The 30-year-old adult star — who met the 45-year-old actor at a party four years ago — also admitted “self-destructing” Charlie has been living in a “fantasy” world.

“What was most astonishing was that one minute he’d be partying hard with these girls and the next he was off filming his show. I can’t believe how well he could ¬function when in private he was self-destructing”, she said.

“Charlie was out of control. He was living his fantasy, an almost X-rated version of his TV show. But these girls weren’t his friends, Charlie was paying for companionship". Source: startingrumors.com

""Vikki Lizzi's lawyers are still in court trying to get her back in there so she can say no to pulling the plug", an inside source told E! News late Thursday. Last year, Conaway spoke to E! News, sounding upbeat while rehabbing from hip surgery, but admitted he was still struggling with addiction.
John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John and Jeff Conaway in "Grease" (1978) directed by Randal Kleiser

"I'm not gonna be really happy until I'm drug-free. You can't imagine how badly I want this. I spent a good part of my life on substances, alcohol, pot, cocaine, and I've just had it".
"I don't want to live in a fantasy world," said Conaway, who copped to being under the influence of painkillers at the time of interview. He said at his worst, he was taking as many as 54 OxyContins a day". Source: uk.eonline.com


John Travolta and Jeff Conaway in "Grease" - Greased Lightning
UPDATE: Jeff Conaway passed away Friday afternoon, his family confirmed to TMZ. The actor, 60, was hospitalized on May 11 for what was initially thought to be a prescription drug overdose. (It was later revealed that Conaway was suffering from pneumonia and sepsis, a dangerous blood infection.) He remained in a comatose state for over two weeks, until his death. Source: www.usmagazine.com

Kristen Stewart in MTV 2011 Skit

Kristen Stewart in MTV 2011 Skit: Jason's first surprise visit takes him to Kristen Stewart's salon, where KStew gives him a once-over and deadpans, "You're not my hairdresser." But despite that, she hands over the reins on her hairstyle to a clearly unhinged man, which would be completely and totally crazy except for the part where we can kind of picture her doing it in real life. Girlfriend is awfully low-maintenance.

Waiting for David O. Russell's "Nailed", "All the boys love Mandy Lane", etc.

Amber Heard plays Mandy Lane in "All the boys love Mandy Lane" (2006)

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane: The debut of Jonathan Levine, who later directed the marvelous The Wackness, and who has high-profile cancer comedy starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, and Anna Kendrick due to be released later this year, screened this horror flick first in 2007 at the SXSW film festival, and most recently, at the 2010 International Comic-Con.
But, the film — which stars Amber Heard — is still sitting on a shelf, and at this point, may never be released.
It’s not too hard to find, however, as I did a couple of years ago, providing this review: Levine has taken the slasher film blueprint and, without necessarily doing anything particularly original with it, has created a dead teenager movie that you can appreciate not for its campy gloriousness, its machete gore, its body count, or the T & A. In fact, he’s done something I’d never even considered before: He’s crossed Friday the 13th with … Heathers. Actually, the film’s scribe, Jacob Forman, should get credit for the ’80s mash-up, but it’s Levine that sells it.

Jessica Biel in a Revlon ad

Nailed: The temperamental genius, David O. Russell, who quits as many projects as he directs (most recently, Uncharted and before that, Pride & Prejudice and Zombies), began Nailed even before The Fighter. The film centers on a waitress (Jessica Biel) who gets a spike lodged in her head, and when she can’t get it removed because she doesn’t have health care, she heads to Washington, D.C., to quarrel for health rights. There, she befriends congressman (Jake Gyllenhaal) and from what I understand, there’s a lot of sex involved. Shooting started and stopped several times, as financing dried up. Apparently, there’s only a few scenes left that need to be filmed.
Directors David O. Russell and David Fincher speak onstage at the 63rd Annual Directors Guild Of America Awards Feature Film Symposium held at the DGA on January 29, 2011 in Hollywood, California.

There are reports that someone else has edited their own version of the film, from which David O. Russell has dissociated himself. Other reports suggest that the film will be buried for good. It’s too bad, as Paul Reubens — who was in the film — had some very nice things to say about the leads, according to The Playlist:

“And I’ve never seen anybody be so successful with something that complicated [as Gyllenhaal was].
And Jessica Biel is literally—I hate this word, but I can’t think of another word to use—is like a revelation. She’s so incredibly good in the movie, and again, no one’s ever seen her do anything like this… This is like an ingenue. It’s almost like Dorothy in The Wizard Of Oz.” Source: www.pajiba.com

Jake Gyllenhaal wants to feel comfortable with a woman, annoying mothers

Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal in Rome where they had a Italian Gelato (Ice Cream) on 20th October 2007

"The Hollywood hunk, who dated Reese Witherspoon for three years and was recently linked to country singer Taylor Swift, has discussed what makes him feel attracted to women.
“It is just important for me that I can feel comfortable with a woman instantly?" he told the German edition of In Touch magazine.
Jake Gyllenhaal as compulsive womanizer Jamie Randall in "Love and other drugs" (2010)

The 30-year-old heartthrob also shared a secret, revealing that sometimes the women in his family can be a little annoying.

Maggie Gyllenhaal and mother Naomi Foner at AARP Magazine's 9th Annual "Movies for Grownups Awards at The Beverly Wilshire Hotel on February 16, 2010

Jake, whose older sister is actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, joked that he expects nothing less from his female relatives, as they love to know everything about his personal life.

“Sometimes my mom and my sister can be a bit annoying. We are just a family, that's enough," he laughed". Source: www.musicrooms.net

You're orbiting within the atmosphere? Moron." -Raj

To start "The Roommate Transmogrification", Leonard and Priya are fooling around in Raj's apartment so he's forced to listen to their Star Trek fantasies through the door. Disgusted -- rightfully, I might add -- he heads to Howard's to look for a safe haven. When he's turned away (by Howard's still-annoying-as-shit mother), he knocks on Sheldon's door and crashes there for the night (after signing some paperwork and release forms regarding Sheldon and Leonard's infamous roommate agreement). This sets up the plot for the rest of the episode: Leonard moves in with Priya and Raj moves in with Sheldon". Source: wwww.hollywood.com