Fast Five Flicks

When Rotten Tomatoes sat down to interview Jake for Enemy they threw in a bit of a challenge name his five favorite films.

That's a tough call.

It's not just the movies Jake listed but what he said about them that made it interesting.

First - Searching for Bobby Fisher

"And just the story of father and son and the score is beautiful. It is inevitably one that I am always drawn to, and I think it's filled with hope but also like a real darkness and the beauty of childhood."    

The darkness of childhood- interesting choice of words from Jake.

La Strada - Fellini's La Strada 

" And it's also personally really resonant because my father said after he saw that movie, it was what made him want to make movies, and when I finally saw it when I was a teenager, I understood why. So it inevitably has a resonance beyond the brilliance of the movie itself.

So it was just something that was prominent in your family, growing up?

La Strada? Yeah when I was an infant we were just talking about it. [laughs] No, I just think it sort of tied to that. I mean, I just wonder sometimes if my father hadn't seen that movie and been so moved by it, you know, would he have met my mother? Would my sister have been born? You know, there's a lot of "would-haves" and eventually all of us have found our way into the movie business, so you know, that's just an interesting thing. And you know, you never know how a movie will inspire someone and how it will lead not just one life but many to come. Sort of an interesting idea"

Another interesting choice, because in the past Jake's talked more about musicals and Danny Kaye movies and his mother when talking about movies growing up. Has he ever talked about Fellini before?

And there's someone else that might have influence that choice.  Austin.  Austin's cinephile influence and he's  a huge fan of the Italian directors

Next he picked Jerry McGuire.  But he talked more about Fast Times than Jerry McGuire. Crowe's Fast Times was ground breaking and changed the teen movie genre.  While it was first R rated teen movie and it was most realistic of a teen movie.  Jake did talk about the infamous scene with Phoebe Cates and the bikini.  Yes that scene with Phoebe is one of the best known scene in movies. it is iconic and I don't think a guy under 40 (gay or straight) doesn't know that one.  (And that's true about the video tape thing -  Cameron  say that in an interview)

Fourth Jake picked the Goonies





"
Goonies, yeah. I mean maybe Goonies is better than Jerry Maguire, though I do love Jerry Maguire. Goonies is just like... I have no words for how awesome Goonies is. I happen to be working with Josh Brolin on this Everest movie I'm about to do, and I still geek out. You know, I want him to wear a headband in the Everest movie because it's such an amazing character choice. If I remember correctly I feel like he wore sweatpants over jeans in that movie? I'm pretty sure. I might be wrong about that. And that was a pretty dope character choice as well. Just incredible acting, and the scenes with Chunk still move me. And Butterfinger... Oh wait, no. Snickers? What is it, Snickers? My first crush was in Goonies too: Kerri Green. She was in Lucas. She was in Summer Rental. OK? Dude, she... Lucas is a very formidable... I had such a crush on her. Oh my god. If you see her in Lucas, you'd understand."

Wait a minute Jakey - what happened to Martha Plimpton?  You said she was your crush when your mom did Running on Empty - which around the same time. Did you just ditch her for the auburn curls as soon as you Kerri? Because honestly River seemed to be closer to who you were probably crushing on (and who wouldn't - it was River Phoenix!)

Speaking of auburn curls. Remember who loves the Goonies?  That's right Austy.

It's one of his favorite movies. They incorporated into OTH for him and he's tweeted about it.  I don't think it's Jake who geeked out with Josh over it, but more like Jake's Tall Texan who did.

And finally he picked, Woman of the Year, with Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn.

And Jake gave this gem.

 "I remember feeling very specifically about that movie that I love so much, which is how Spencer Tracy cracks his eggs while he's making an omelet. I will always crack my eggs like Spencer Tracy because of that movie.
[laughs]"

Film Bank

Austin has been a little cryptic about the movie his working on, but has OMG cracked the code?

I just started a really cool film today. I LOVE MOVIES

I am wearing a long wig. I have fake sideburns and the year is 1969. That's all I can tell you about this film right now.

Is he working on "As Cool as I Am", that's shooting in New Mexico at moment?

Based on Peter Fromm's coming of age novel it is the story of Lucy Diamond, the teen daughter of self-centered parents who married too young and never had a chance to experience their youth. James Marsden and Claire Danes play the parents. Sarah Bolger plays their daughter, Lucy. At one point Maggie was considered for the role of the mom and Dakota was one considered for the role of Lucy.

It is and independent film with writer-director Max Mayer heading it up.

It may be way off based, no way to know until Austin says more. But one thing we can ponder is what Austin would be looking like in 1969.


While Austin is working, Jake's counting the change. Jake was seen heading into a bank yesterday in Beverly Hills. High financing or just visiting those treasures in the safe deposit box?

One thing for sure is Jake would have to take off those Ray Bans and show those baby blues for those cameras in there.

Voices Carry

Many have heard of the expression six ways to Sunday

Six ways to Sunday 1. (colloquial) thoroughly, completely, in every way imaginable

But what the hell is Seven Dreams 'til Tuesday?

It might be Julian and Alex's indie film but what does it really mean?

The Top Seven Things Seven Dreams 'Til Tuesday could mean.

7. Misprint actually is Seven Screams 'til Tuesday which is what Brooke Davis(TM) does every Monday night.

6.It's the seven dreams Mark Schwahn had while listening to 'Til Tuesday.

5. That Season 7 is thoroughly, completely, in every way imaginable more delusional than the previous six seasons.

4. It's the number of times proposed storylines for OTH have been rejected by Tuesday for being too realistic.

3. The number of theories on OTH boards about how Austin and Sophia started dating like for real.

2.The number of times the fans have come up with something better for Julian than life with Brooke Davis(TM).

and the number one meaning of Seven Dreams 'til Tuesday could mean:

1. What the main cast does instead of watching the show


Does this looks like a man who's tasted some toasted homemade chocolate bread with a little mascarpone cheese for breakfast?

Back to School

It's back to school time and this time it's Film School for OMG'ers. This is something actors, or a director's son or cinephile could discuss.

Is this the camera that is going to make analog film absolute?

Some think so. This is the Red One ultra high resolution digital camera.

Capable of processing five times more information than any other HD camera and matched with a 35mm PL lens mount, this new technology is considered by many to be the closest thing to shooting on film since, well, shooting on film. If all of Red‘s promises prove true and the around $17,500 price tag (without lens) for the camera, 90% less than the cost of a Panaflex camera, results in a supply that keeps up with the demand, the Red One could become a favorite of independent filmmakers. "It delivers all the dazzle of analog, but it's easier to use and cheaper—by orders of magnitude—than a film camera. In other words, Jim Jannard's, the founder of Oakley, creation threatens to make 35-mm movie film obsolete."

Just as there is a debate about film vs. digital camera for photography, so is the debate for movies. With television production going to High Definition as well, it seems like the digital format is giving movie making a run for its money. But all are not convinced. "It isn‘t that HD is sharper than film, it‘s just that it looks synthetic. Film adds texture, depth and roundness to the image that HD just can‘t do. My first reaction to hearing about Red was that it would look four times more synthetic. Which is alright, if that is the look the director wants.”

What does this technology do to the actors, does it help them or does it make them even more obsessed with their looks when you have technology to bring this type of definition to a huge screen?

But the Red One is getting fans, and not just independent movie makers. "The Red One is being used on at least 40 features. Steven Soderbergh, the Oscar-winning director, borrowed two prototypes to shoot his Che Guevara biopics, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May, and later purchased three for his film The Informant. Peter Jackson, the Lord of the Rings himself, bought four. Director Doug Liman used a Red on Jumper."

Will Liman shoot the Untitled Moon Project on Red?

Can you imagine Jake blue eyes, the ultra bright of the moon surface and space in this format?
Take a look at how you might be seeing Jake in the near future.


skate - shot on red - 120 fps from opus magnum prod. on Vimeo.

“Working with the Red camera brings back the intuitiveness, the fun, the magic of working with film,”

Class dismissed.

And some more Red footage.
Red One Digital Tests Check out the underwater test.

Wired Magazine: The Red One

Innocence (Not) Lost on Anyone

Getting to know more about Austin you find out not only is he a devoted cinephile but a fan of several directors. One of them is Hal Ashby, is best remember by many for his movie, the cult classic, Harold and Maude. Ashby went on to do other remarkable movies during his short career with a later start as a director at age 40, after many successful years as exceptional film editor. He not only did Harold and Maude, but directed, The Landlord, The Last Detail, Shampoo, Bound For Glory, Coming Home, and Being There. He had a streak of films in the 1970's that rivaled his contemporaries, Francis Ford Coppola and Robert Altman.

Ashby's films showed a remarkable visual sense of black humor and irony, a consistency of theme and characterization, and an innovative use of music and editing. There is so much to focus on Ashby with topics on his editing and ironic use of music for future discussions. But there is one theme of many that surfaces in Ashby's films, and probably is the predominate one, the one that I think speaks to Austin.

Ashby's quintessential protagonist is an innocent man-child, who is influenced by free-spirited individuals to overcome the tyranny of a domineering parent figure and break away to gain from life's experience. It is evident in The Landlord, Harold and Maude, and Being There. In his film, Shampoo, we see a twist to the innocent in Warren Beatty's character George Roundy and in Coming Home, Ashby's critical best film, we see the innocence of a wife who has no idea of what is happening in Vietnam. But it is through meeting people and that all his characters find a way to new experience, a new life. When Austin got a role like John, you can see how Austin immediately gravitate to toward the role and went to one of his favorite directors for inspiration.

That break away to gain life experiences is not just on screen either it seems to touch different parts of Austin's life as well. Who's to say, maybe his somewhat love for the 70's came some what out of watching Ashby. Think he appreciates how Ashby created scenes with music as much with acting, often working in poetic irony to each other.

But the one thing that still predominates is Ashby's films are a call for joy and a cry for the triumph of life's experience over innocence. If that isn't the Austin we've seen what is? And that's not to say his journey is over by a long shot.