Jake has said in several interviews that one of his first crushes was Martha Plimpton, and that he was always was in love Martha, when talking about this childhood crushes. Plimpton was in the Academy Award winning Running on Empty, which his mother wrote.“Watching Martha [Plimpton] and River Phoenix rehearse with director Sidney Lumet in that film — that was a big influence on my life,” Gyllenhaal said.
Running on Empty was filmed in the fall of 1987, with River turning 17 during the shoot in New York and New Jersey. On his birthday, Naomi, who had become good friends with River on the set bought him a set of classic novels after being surprised by the his pronounced lack of general knowledge. "He could read and write and he had an appetite for it but he had no deep roots into any kind of sense of history or literature," she said. "Some of the reason that he was so talented was that stuff didn't get processed through his head or through some preconception of what it was supposed to be." Jake would have been almost 7.
You could almost imagine the hero worship Jake would have had for River. Doing what Jake wanted to grow up and do, beautiful, sensitive, gentle soul, kind, untouched by a lot of the convention that Jake's parents thought was important, creative, empathetic, musical, free spirit, an actor, an artist.
And then looking at pictures of River and the discussion about guys who seem catch Jake's attention, you begin to wonder if in that little list of crushes, somewhere a River runs through it.
From The Great Geek Manual
This Day in Geek History
May 28, 2004
20th Century Fox releases the sci-fi disaster film The Day After Tomorrow, directed by Roland Emmerich and starring Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Emmy Rossum, Sela Ward, and Ian Holm (and Austin Nichols - OMG), is released to theaters worldwide. The film was inspired by the book The Coming Global Superstorm by Art Bell and Whitley Strieber. Produced on a budget of US$125,000,000, the film will gross in its opening weekend. Worldwide, it’s the 40th top grossing film of all time, with total revenue of US$542,771,772, and it’s the second highest grossing movie not to be number one in the US box office, behind My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The film is most notable for the excessive dramatization of the effects of global warming in a quasi-scientific manner. IMDB
Okay, I don't know why this post bugs the shit out of me, but it really does. Martha Plimpton is fucking AWESOME and every bit the talented free spirit that River was. Kind, beautiful, unconventional? Check, check and check. She's an amazing actress on the big and small screen, she has received multiple Tony nominations for her theater work (which includes dramas and musicals), and remains a serious object of lust for many lesbians (including this one). The fact that Jake crushed on her makes him much more interesting than if he'd raved about River Phoenix, the obvious and conventional choice of all young actors who want a little cred (yes Franco, I'm looking at you).
ReplyDeleteI''m not saying that his crush on Martha wasn't real either, but just wondering for River had a much of a piece to the past as she did.
ReplyDeleteRiver and Martha.
ReplyDeleteMartha Plimpton looked like a cute boy
What is Martha doing these days? I haven't seen her in anything for a while. I thought she had tremendous chemistry with River in Running on Empty.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJersey Tom said...
ReplyDeleteI had a huge crush on River. I was devastated the day he died. I cant imagine Jake not having a crush on River.
I think you might be right about a river running through it. That last picture makes me think of Austin in The Informers.
ReplyDeleteAnd whatever he really felt about either River or Martha, one thing is for sure, he wasn't going to admit to crushing on River.
Great comment from Rob Thomas. I'll add one other argument to the mix, the people who use religious freedom as a basis for opposing gay marriage ignore the fact that many churchs and synagogues do marry--or have commitment ceremonies if marriage is not allowed in the state--for gay couples. What about their religious freedom? A woman I saw at the NY rally this week talked about that and her Jewish wedding in California last year.
Oops, forgot to answer Wicked's question. Martha has done a lot of theater in New York the past few years. She always gets rave reviews for it. I'm sure her unconventional for a movie star looks have limited her film work. It's hard enough for women to find roles, let alone someone like Martha.
ReplyDeleteAnd speaking of cookie cutter actresses, I opened my NYT this morning and what should be splashed across the front page of the Styles section but an article on photoshopping and how much it is used to change the way people look, using Reese's recent magazine covers as an illustration. Haven't read the article yet, but it made me smile to see all those photos lined up next to each other, looking nothing like it's a different person in each, and of course none looking like she does in pap photos. I can't imagine she's happy about this little spread. :-D
I don't know if any of you read Greg In Hollywood, but he has up close and personal pics of the LA/WeHo Prop 8 Protest March speakers. I like his site because he's really there in the middle of things and he expresses himself well, IMHO.
ReplyDeleteHello everyone,
ReplyDeleteReally interesting post today. I had no idea who was Martha Plimpton till someone mentione the "Goonies" lol, now I remember the young blond laidy in it.
Though I didn't see " empty" with River Pheonix. I only saw him in this movie ,I don't remember the title right now, with Keanue Reeves. It's surely a bit "cliché" to say that but he looked like James Dean so much, the same rebelious mind and sickly physic.
I guess he is a model for all the youg actors today.
As for Martha, something takes my attention, it's me or she looked like, Kirsten a bit, when she was younger????
She has the german type physically.lol
Elinor, the movie is "My Own Private Idaho" (1991). Strange wasn't it. I still think about it.
ReplyDeleteRiver was so beautiful. A sad death, just like Heath. Talented and gone way too soon. I loved the movie Running on Empty before I knew who any Gyllenhaal's were. It might be a good choice for a future movie discussion. No doubt in my mind that little Jake would have been influenced by such male beauty, even if he was too young to understand it.
ReplyDeleteElinor the movie you are thinking of is My Own Private Idaho. A classic. Great direction by Gus VanSant.
Groups seeks referendum to block DC marriage bill
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJersey Tom said...
ReplyDeleteThe camping scene In My Private Idaho with Keanu and River around the fire will forever be burned into my mind. Maybe my favorite scene in a movie ever.
Dear Ted:
ReplyDeleteUsed to be a regular poster in your A.T. message boards. Reading your Robsten Twi tarts brought back memories of true and educated Brangelina fans. It was wild and crazy! Don't you ever wonder what happened to the awesome group of gypsysoul84, the smart and sassy Ga.Peach...the nice and collected darkangel52 and the fence-sitting MD.123? Can you give them a shout-out to comeback? They would be great examples to your sometimes-unruly Robsten brats. Thanks.
—Baker
Dear Smith-Twilight Showdown:
We should get some good ol' Jake Gyllenhaal regulars in the lineup, too.
Dear Ted:
Has anyone ever guessed Topher Grace as Toothy Tile? I know it's so wrong to be so concerned about someone's sexuality, but damn it, Ted, you've made it into this addicting little game!
—R.R.
Dear Fall From Grace:
I've lost track of all the Toothy guesses, but Topher ain't Tile. Very close, though. In lotsa ways. Like dimples.
There's a site that predicts the news and it had Reeke Marriage by Sept 30 2009 Odds, but it was voided because the odds were too high. I'm confused about the answers and the graph because wouldn't the odds be low? I'm really bad at numbers. Maybe Meg or someone who knows the math and statistics crap I mean stuff lol (sorry!) can explain it.
ReplyDeleteI loved, loved River since I saw him in Stand by me, and Running on Empty was a childhood favourite of mine. River and Martha's chemistry was just amazing in it! And she does look and seem a lot like Kirsten so I guess Jake has a distinct female type as well.
ReplyDeleteThis Day in Geek History
ReplyDeleteMay 28, 2004
20th Century Fox releases the sci-fi disaster film The Day After Tomorrow, directed by Roland Emmerich and starring Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Emmy Rossum, Sela Ward, and Ian Holm,(and Austin Nichols - OMG) is released to theaters worldwide. The film was inspired by the book The Coming Global Superstorm by Art Bell and Whitley Strieber. Produced on a budget of US$125,000,000, the film will gross in its opening weekend. Worldwide, it’s the 40th top grossing film of all time, with total revenue of US$542,771,772, and it’s the second highest grossing movie not to be number one in the US box office, behind My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The film is most notable for the excessive dramatization of the effects of global warming in a quasi-scientific manner.
lane.. sorry that site sort of baffles me too. I think someone set the odds high on marriage, ie a 75% chance of there be a wedding (yikes!) but it was voided because everyone was betting on a no (sensible virtual gamblers) and so too much virtual money would have been lost. It does say that someone can repost the odds changing marriage to engagement / marriage, so it seems that the person who thought up the bet also reconsidered their position once the predictions came in. Sorry I can't be of any more help.
ReplyDeleteTotally off topic and random, I almost got run over by Princess Anne on my way home (well her police outriders anyway). She really is very horsey looking.
I've never seen Running on Empty. I saw Private Idaho when it came out and was underwhelmed, saw it at the NY Film Fest and Rivers and Reeves were there and acting badly (I've forgotten the details, but my gf hasn't, so I'll have to ask her tonight). I should probably see it again as I know some things that didn't register with me years ago have more power now that I'm older.
ReplyDeleteKiki and Martha have looks similar to the men Jake seems to go for too, the interesting question would be which came attraction came first.
I also still think Jake is gay, not bi.
The first woman I was overtly attracted to, in my first year of college, was very similar, looks-wise, to a guy I went out with the summer before starting college. She was gay, and yes, on the butch side, and had no interest in me. But for me the women I have since been attracted to have been nothing like her, and the women I like are nothing like the men I like.
"Elinor, the movie is "My Own Private Idaho" (1991). Strange wasn't it. I still think about it."
ReplyDeleteThanks you , I didn't remember!
I should see it again because I wasn't fully concentrated the first time I watched it. I remember few beautiful scenes like the campire one Tom is talking about but it's a bit confused in my mind. River catched my attention though.
"Kiki and Martha have looks similar to the men Jake seems to go for too"
Interesting!!! Wathever the gender,Jake seems attracted to blond or chestnut brown persons with sweet and youthful faces.
I agree Destiny My Own Private Idaho was a really strange movie but there were some memberable scenes and great acting by River especially. He tore me up.
ReplyDeleteHey Tom, just noticed your new avatar. Cool.
ReplyDeleteQ: We’re almost out of time. Tell us a River Phoenix story that would be good for BUTT. I was thinking of the campfire scene in My Own Private Idaho, and how you didn’t really need to make Brokeback Mountain because you already did it.
ReplyDeleteA: Should I talk about how that scene was done?
Q: Yeah.
A: Um, I’d seen River in Stand By Me, and you know he had that great moment where he was talking about the teacher and he was crying about something unjust that had happened at school. And it kind of put him on the map. So when it came time to shoot the campfire scene in the desert, which was kind of a sex scene, or at least leading up to the possibility of sex, he wanted to put it off, because he hadn’t got to that point yet emotionally with the character. He wanted to wait. So I said okay, even though it was sort of an unusual request. But sometimes I would baby the actors, rather than say, “No, you’ve got to buck up and do the scene.” But when he finally did it, even the crewmembers said, “That was a great scene.” And when the crewmembers say that, you know the actor got it right. The day before we shot that scene he came up to me and he had these napkins that were kind of pasted together with writing on them, and it was a complete mess, I couldn’t read it. And he said they were ideas he had for the campfire scene, and he was showing them to me, and I was horrified, because he couldn’t be rewriting Keanu Reeves’ lines. But he said Keanu was totally into it. So I said he didn’t have to show me, we’d just shoot it and if it wasn’t working we’d go back to the original scene, which was half as long. So the scene ended up slightly different. In the original script he doesn’t tell Scott that he loves him, but he does ask him if he fools around with guys, and Scott says, “Well I only sleep with guys for money.” And River says, “Yeah but we’re out in the desert and it’s boring.” When I wrote the script he wasn’t a gay character. He was a hustler character, but it wasn’t really about love. But River decided to make the character gay and proclaim his love for Scott.
Q: Do you think River ever had a gay experience?
A: Yeah, he had. Bobby Bukowski, the director of photography, said that he had sex with him before and after My Own Private Idaho. I think it said that in Rolling Stone.
Q: And Bobby is completely gay, right. Wow, that’s hot. Because Bobby’s really cute too. I think River – and also someone like Kurt Cobain – they both had this longing to be gay because they both identified with, I don’t know, the outsiderness of it.
A: Definitely. Well certainly Kurt. More so. Because River was coming into it really as a character, but he didn’t have strong or even politically correct opinions about gay life.
link
All quiet on the Mr Witheredpoon front. He must be busy as a bee sewing curtains and bows for his beard's Ojai pig stalls.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of Greg in HW, although I have heard of the blogger. Thanks for the link.
ReplyDeleteI love today's music.
David Hyde Pierce appeared on The View today and revealed that he and his partner, TV producer Brian Hargrove, got married "very quietly" on October 24 in CA just before the Nov 4th vote.
ReplyDeleteThey've been together for 25 years.
He told the View that it made him angry waiting to see what the court would rule about his marriage because he felt "it's none of your business."
This is one reason why it is so important for well-known people to be out--they're going to be able to go on shows and talk about their relationships and put a human face on it. Although it doesn't always work; Hyde an Cynthia Nixon talked about their marriages at the rally I went to a few weeks ago, but in the press coverage it was all about the politicians who were there and the political fight, and not a word about personal stories. It's just another way in which the mainstream media often fails when it comes to the issue.
ReplyDeleteSo true Destiny. The movement lacks a spokesperson. Someone everyone can identify with. Where is the new Harvey Milk. Hopefully someone will rise to the occasion. I don't see how the issue can be won when so many are hiding their natures. This triggers strong feelings for me since my own father changed his name, much to his families displeasure, to downplay his Jewishness. A different time when he did it, but still. My mother was not Jewish so I am not considered "Jewish", though I never hid my heritage for a moment.
ReplyDeletePrairie Girl, thanks for the push. I have been dragging my feet on the email. My job is all emails, 100's a day, so when I get home, the last thing I want to do is email. But OMG is a different story. I promise I will fix this soon.
Love River...hope him and Heath are up there in heaven having a beautiful time...
ReplyDeleteSomeone on wft2 posted a link to this video with Adam and Kris talking, around the 1:17 mark Adam makes a comment about being a top. It's funny, outrageous and sweet all at the same time.
ReplyDeleteAdam's Gay Joke Thank you Destiny, this made my day :)
I love today's music.*
ReplyDeleteThe lead singer, Finn Andrews, is the son of Barry Andrews, one of the founders of the band XTC.
This record, Sun Gangs, is pretty solid but I definitely think this song is the best one on it.
Good, m, I'm glad you weren't irritated with my display of utter lack of decorum. I got to thinking later, "gee, you idiot, what if she don't want to email you, how on earth can she say something like that in front of everybody?!" Anyway, I know how you feel because that's all I do all day, too, is open emails, delete, file, forward, etc, etc. But it's so different when you get one from a friendly source!
ReplyDeleteI've had to alter my walking regime a little drastically for right now. I'm walking like between 430 and 5 on a well lit sidewalk, but the sun is just starting to rise when I'm done. Got my walking stick and at least it's real cool. It's not my park and it's not after work, but sometimes you just have to adapt when you really want to do something. I have a great view of all these chimneys on these villas. In the moonlight this morning, I thought I was in Mary Poppins and Dick Van Dyke was going to pop up outta one of them with his buddies. And for a minute, I was in London! It was cool.
Anyway, have a great morning, got my toothbrush in my mouth and man, that Crest Pro Health is burning up my gums!! ouch
Happy Austin ouch ouch Friday!!!
special, don't you dare change this post til I get my password in here, lol
oh, can't check for errors either, gotta go the way it is. ow..