Helping during the Holidays

 During the holidays there are so many opportunities to give back and help those in need. Jake's helping out a couple ways this holiday season.

This past Wednesday, Jake took part in ICAP New York’s Charity Day 2012 representing of New Eyes.

 ICAP "is the world’s leading voice and electronic interdealer broker and provider of post trade risk and information services." (They are part of trading in a variety of markets all over the work) They operate a global network covering more than 32 countries.

On ICAP Charity Day all the revenues and commissions on that one day  are given to charities all around the world.  On Wednesday they gave $ 17.7 million US dollars to charities worldwide.

On the trading floor Jake was working the phones or were the phones working him?

Jake will be giving back to help others again, next Wednesday, by joining in to help out the victims of Hurricane Sandy.   Jake is join musicians, and celebrities  for 12-12-12 Benefit Concert. 

The concert will be broadcasted to over 2 billion people via television, radio,  online and in theaters.  The musical line up includes:  Bon Jovi, Eric Clapton, Dave Grohl, Billy Joel, Alicia Keys, Chris Martin, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Eddie Vedder, Roger Waters, Kayne West, The Who and Paul McCartney

During the live concert,  musical artists and celebrities will take donations via phone for the Robin Hood Relief Fund and assist those throughout the tri-state area who have been impacted by Sandy.

Jake joins others that include Steve Buscemi, Jessica Chastain, Chelsea Clinton, Sean Combs, Billy Crystal, Leo DiCaprio, Jimmy Fallon, Karlie Kloss, Seth Meyers, Bobby Moynihan, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Susan Sarandon, Jon Stewart, Kristen Stewart, Quentin Tarantino, and Brian Williams to help out during the evening.

Share the Spirit  of the Season 

Watch, enjoy and give on 12-12-12  to help others impacted by Hurricane Sandy. 



And Hanukkah is here!

Tonight was the first night of Hanukkah, the Festival of  Lights

Happy Hanukkah!

Wind Sand Surf

Austin might be working in the Windy City but he's thinking about the big surf.

This is really important. help spread the word. - AUS10

 

And Austin spreading the word about Surfrider, gives us the perfect opportunity to share some Surfrider moments of Austin.

 

Civic Participation

Jake didn't stump like he did for Kerry back in the day.  But he did speak his mind on democracy and who he was voting for before the election.

Jake called into the Stephanie Miller show (Current TV) on yesterday and shared his thoughts and feelings about the civic responsibility.

And this weekend Jake is doing something else to give back to those ho serve the US through military service.

Jake will join  F. Murray Abraham, Francois Battiste, Marylouise Burke, Adam Driver, France McDormand, Michael Shannon, David Strathain and others on Veterans'/Armistice Day for a free performance for the military and their family through Arts in the Armed Forces.

Arts in the Armed Forces will present a free performance for the  at 8 PM at the Lucille Lortel Theatre.

It will be an evening of staged reading of selected monologues from contemporary American Plays.

"Arts in the Armed Forces was co-founded by Joanne Tucker and Adam Driver to "bridge the gap between the military and the performing arts communities by producing a series of free performances of monologues, scenes, staged readings and music, for a mixed military and civilian audience." For more information visit www.aitaf.org.

Whatcha' Thinkin'?

Austin is giving back via Clothes off Our Back. But it's not the clothes off his back, but a hat off his head. (well sort of)

Austin joined others in decorating a New Era hat to celebrate New Era's 90th Anniversary and raise money to benefit Alex's Lemonade Stand and Feeding America.

Check out the other hats up for auction.

While some kept with a singular theme. Austin took the chance to put a little bit of everything on his. It's like Austin's Phrenology Cap of Stuff with sunglasses!





Let's start with the frontal lobe.
Tyler Durden is from Fight Club. Green Earth and Ham. (Is Austin saying he's not only green but Seussical too?) And check out the shades - notice what they say? And the X over the mouth.

The Parietal and Occipital lobes. Getting a little scientific with the shout out. A bike and ear muffs. (What's up with the ear muffs?) And a notice to those who can see it, they are being videotaped.
Now getting Temporal.
The right side goes Orwellian. Doesn't Orwellian +100 sounds like an 80's tribute band?
The left side. The Twitter for Two Wheel Tuesday . Call for not using oil. And of course a Blue Tooth. (And that's quite an impressive tooth- sure can't miss it)

So, what do you think he's trying to say?

Double Feature

This past Thursday evening two OMG'ers attended a screening of LaOD at the West 42nd Street Regal Cinema, and are sharing with us their impressions of the movie.

First Feature: Jake on Screen

Big Thanks to Destiny and ROMA.

First, I thought Jake looked really great in this movie, and beautiful in some scenes. I think it's the best he's looked in a movie since BBM. Anne is beautiful too. There are some shots in black and white, and I especially liked the way they looked in them.

I think they both give really good performances. Jake really got to turn on the charm, the charm we see in his best interviews, and sexy to boot. I thought he had really good chemistry with everyone in the movie, including Anne. They are very believable as a couple.
However, I wouldn't call either of the performances Oscar-caliber, in large part because I don't think the movie and the material even began to match the acting.

Jake and Anne were far better than the rather pedestrian, predictable material they were given to work with. They've real chemistry too, lucky for Zwick.

Jake was good throughout and his character, despite being underwritten, was not under-performed. The way he played the character he did have an arc.

I know there has been a lot of chatter about the nudity and sex, and hey, I'm not going to complain about seeing either one of them in various states of undress. I didn't think there was too much of it, and I thought it was in keeping with the movie and the characters.

-- and Jake and Anne's bodies are beauties.

I did like the rhythm built up with their fast and furious sex life though--they seemed to have real fun there. Those scenes of them romping did have a nice feeling to them. One can tell they trust each other as actors.

The other chatter about the movie has been some mixed feelings about the mixed nature of the film, and that I sadly have to agree with. At the end of it all, despite loving Jake and Anne and certain parts of it, I felt like it didn't entirely gel, and that it just isn't that good of a movie. I have never seen an Ed Zwick movie that didn't leave me feeling this way.

We never learn about Anne's back story nor her family life nor get to see her art very much--and losing her ability to create art would be devastating. That is the thing with Zwick--not matter the topic, and he has taken on many hard topics (war films etc.), he cannot seem to convey tragedy or trauma or devastation well. He has a "guazy" style.

The dramatic side and the romance, which I liked. I especially loved all the bits about the industry, and some of the early scenes in particular are strong.

When he did show Anne struggling with her disease those scenes did have sincerity and she was very good. We see little of her manifestation of her disease though; it is more spoken about than shown. I liked that scene of her in the Parkinson's Support Group but she'd have been directed to one of those by her doctor(s) in real life.

But then it kind of turns in part into another movie. I did not buy Josh Gad as his brother, I found some of the things with him creepy, and I felt like everything involving him was an effort to be like--and bring in the crowds who love--Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen and the type of comedies they are in.

The stock character of chubby funny sidekick should only be allowed to be Judd Apatow's territory. A sidekick as a wealthy brother who bore no resemblance to Jake at all was an odd and distracting addition to the film, which has some real problems to start with. The chubby rich brother's wife's role was simply a caricature. The brother for that matter is also a caricature. The actor was not memorable save for being a bit odd looking. Zwick in films cannot handle mixing observational comedy and drama as he did so brilliantly with Thirty Something--for some reason film eludes him. Unsure why this is exactly. He also has Oliver Platt as his long suffering "teacher" as a salesman. Jake is sandwiched between these two men throughout the film. A "highlight" is Jake comes home one night to find his brother masturbating to a home porn film he and Anne had made. It was just sort of gross -- not funny. Zwick's attempts at Animal House-like humor just did not make their marks.

It just did not work with the rest of the movie. A case of trying to please too many people, I think. Like a lot of movies, it got a great start out of the gate, and then kind of ran out of steam in the home stretch.

Ed, why oh why throw in that stupid 1970s-esque orgy party? It was all about as sexy as a rolaids ad. And looked like one too. Pathetic attempt at being cool and sexual--Jake again hold head high during such nonsense. That is it: too much nonsense.

The wonderful Judy Greer once again wasted as the comic relief sidekick. Add her to the list of "deserves better than this film"

I loved the music in the film, except for what I thought was a smary ballad by Vonda Shepperd towards the end of the film, used in an all too typical way.

I forgot the spoiling Vonda Shephard like end-of-the-film music. Totally distracting!! Most of the music was fun though

I think by trying to appeal to a wide audience, I am afraid they will not appeal to anyone. Based on the ages of the people at the screening, they seem to be pitching to a younger audience.

Our audience is the audience the film is geared to 20-30 somethings. They seemed embalmed. We laughed the most of anyone in attendance.

But I don't think they'll be enticed by the 90s setting, music and styles, the social satire revolving around the pharma industry, or for what I would call, for a lack of a better word, those parts of the movie that put me in mind of the movies made in the 70s for a mature, adult audience. I loved that aspect of it, but again, it descended into too much slapstick and Apatow-like comedy as well, and I don't think that side of it, or the mish-mash of styles, is going to appeal to an older audience.


The best section was the social-satire of the Pfizer "Nuremberg Rally" drinking the kool-aid sequence--reminded me a bit of Michael Ritchie there. And that was IT for originality and being "grabbed" for me.

I watched it wanting to love this film--but I simply don't love it. Nor could I really recommend it to anyone I know. Had this been on television I may well have liked this more. Overall, I'd say it has some very good moments but they are not sustained.

I'm just really afraid it will get lost in the holiday movie glut. I hope I'm wrong about how the movie will do. Jake is great in it, and I would like to see him have a hit doing this kind of work, because it would be nice if it lead to his doing something similar, but this time with a good director and a better script.

Jake and Anne deserve, and have earned, far better!



Second Feature : Jake at School

Jake joined Edible Schoolyard founder, renowned chef, Alice Waters along with film producer John Lyons as they joined Brooklyn's Borough President, members of the borough council, Christiane Baker, executive director of the Edible Schoolyard New York project at P.S 216 on Friday for a dedication and kick off of the first (of hopefully many) Edible School New York project.

The goal is to create an experimental educational program to bring children closer to their food sources, to teach them about food, the environment, health, gardening and cooking. And to do so by planting, growing, harvesting and using the food they raise at their school. The first Edible Schoolyard program was established in 1995 in Berkeley, Calif., by chef Alice Waters of Chez Pannisse.

"At P.S. 216, there will be a fruit and vegetable garden, greenhouse and a kitchen." Curriculum for the program is being developed by Columbia University's Teachers College.

Construction for the whole project began in September at a cost $1.6 million project, and on Friday, kids got the chance to play and plant, the first of many foods. Lyons pledges $50,000 to the project and on Wednesday night he and Jake co-hosted a private dinner and auction that raised an additional $77,250.

Edible Schoolyard's goal is to at least 25 schools in New York City, and at least one in every borough participating in the program. Check out more about the project at their website.



Jake had down something similar in the past with Global Green initiative with LA public schools. It is great to see Jake being about to take his passion and interest in cooking and the environment and using it to help make a difference in future generations.

And that smile is great to see again.

Act Dance Give

Jake doing the Macarena at the Mellon Arena made a memory for a lot of extras from the Pittsburgh area on the set of Love & Other Drugs, but that wasn't all that people of Pittsburgh got from that day of shooting.

I don't think this is right

Just go with it.

The Real Pharma may be making the money but the Movie Pharma is giving it away.

LaOD, trying to recruit extras for scenes at Pfizer convention scene at the Mellon Arena found a way to do that and to give back to the Pittsburgh. The production donated money to the Pittsburgh area film office along with the Humane Society, Habitat for Humanity, Big Brothers/Big Sisters and the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, among other groups for each extra that was a volunteer representing one of the designated charities.


The filmmakers made a $50 donation for each extra for the days work. For HFH Greater Pittsburgh that was $550. Sometimes that doesn't sound like a lot but it is amazing how much can be done with it. Every little bit helps for organizations these and LaOD is doing their part during their stay in Pittsburgh.