Natalie Portman looks like she’s got another Oscar-level role upcoming in Jackie. The biopic will focus on Jacqueline Kennedy in the aftermath of her husband’s assassination in 1964. This seems a perfect fit for Portman, and she bears a striking resemblance to the former First Lady. The film also stars Peter Sarsgaard, John Carroll Lynch, Max Casella, John Hurt, Greta Gerwig, and Billy Crudup. Jackie opens in theaters on December 2, 2016.
This looks really, really, really good, and also really, really, really depressing, and I’m not in the mood to watch it right now, at this point in the history of civilization. I’m pretty sure my mood will be even worse come December. Maybe I won’t watch the movie, ever, if it turns out to be truly wretched, and makes Jackie look bad. Just like everyone, I’ve always admired her so much. If it’s all a myth, I don’t want to know.
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Well, there’s nothing fun about the end of Camelot and really the end of the American Presidency as an ideal. Portman has to be cast in the right role, but when she gets the right one, she’s as good as anyone and if they’re focusing on the post-assassination period, I don’t think there’s anything there to make her look bad. I also love John Carroll Lynch, one of the most underrated character actors, being cast as Lyndon Johnson. There’s going to be a lot more in December this year than just Star Wars. Studios aren’t getting out of the way entirely, so there will be a lot of options for a lot of moods, and this may go to video for me, but you know the holidays are rough here too so again I’m so grateful for a Star Wars Christmas present to kind of hang my hat on when I get too introspective on what’s no longer there for me.
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I have older relatives who tell me that when they were children, they used to get excited to watch President Kennedy whenever he appeared on TV. Meanwhile, just today I was reading that there are parents who are actually forbidding their kids from watching the current presidential debates. How did we get from there to here? Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
Obviously Camelot was not the image that people believed in back in the day, but in our current age I worry about biopics tarnishing the images of people I admire. Portman is a class act though. I admire her for surviving the experience of being a child actor, for being that rare child actor whose career survived into adulthood, and for taking a break to get a degree in psychology along the way.
It’s great when lots of terrific movies thrive. There was never a year in the history of film when Shakespeare In Love would have qualified as best picture, but in truth I was happy when best picture, director and film were split up between Shakespeare in Love, Spielberg, and Benigni back in 98. The fact that studios are not getting out of the way of SW only means that SW has already become a fixture. It’s a good thing. Honestly Rogue One is all I need as a Christmas gift… well, maybe Rogue One, that new book of Ralph McQuarrie concept art, and the Dark Tower trailer.
I’m sorry you have to cope with so much. My current problems, my current funk… it pales by comparison, by so much. But isn’t it comforting that it’s so easy to hang your hat on Star Wars? The redemptive element of Star Wars was kind of missing from TFA, and I hope that Lucas’s positive message, about no being a slave to your father’s sins, about redemption, and about the way the important people in your life stick around, influencing the decisions you make, even after they’re gone… I hope it all makes its way back into the saga. Like all enduring myths, SW gives us ammunition to make good life choices in the face of all those pesky things that are out of our control, like the rise and fall of evil empires, and DNA.
Be well, know that I am pulling for you, and put up a review of Miss Peregrine soon, as I am curious to know your thoughts.
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Well I definitely need to get to see it. This week has been a bit chaotic, so I haven’t had the chance to go, but hopefully over the weekend. Never dismiss your own problems compared to others; everyone’s are equally important to their own lives and I’m sure a lot of people on this site hit the holidays like an egg on the sidewalk. I think you’re shortchanging TFA a bit. I have watched it at least a dozen times and the fact that it’s my go-to for escapism and feeling wonder right now says a lot. That last shot, man, that last shot offers all the promise in the world. Even if Rogue One is a darker, grittier movie in which its likely the team is going to suffer major casualties in getting these plans, we know what happens because of that sacrifice. Different kinds of SW movies will make the saga as sustainable as the MCU. I expect Han Solo to be a lot more in the vein of the OT, just total action-adventure fun with the vein of seriousness that all the films have. For this story though, that wouldn’t be appropriate. This is The Dirty Dozen of SW from what I can gather. Oh, another thing for your holiday list, JW Rinzler, who did the Making OF books of the OT is doing an identical kind of book for TFA that will be released in November I believe.
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Sorry, it’s not my intention to shortchange TFA. It’s just not my favorite SW movie like I thought it was when it first came out. But I’ve seen it more than a dozen times and I love it beyond love. The themes, the mythic heft… they’re suggested, they’re just not present full tilt. I felt like cheering when Rey held out that lightsaber. It could be the most goosebump-inducing moment of my moviegoing life, at least since the mask came off Vader for the very first time.
I will keep that book in mind.
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Well everything new always seems the best, but you have to put it into context. TFA is #2 for me behind Empire, but each succeeding film changes the way you see the other films so in that way the saga is always living. I wish Lucas could have seen that it did that on its own without having to tinker with them. Jedi for me especially is ruined in parts. But without him, we don’t have any of it, so I’m happy seeing where it goes next and with the new trailer tomorrow. How gorgeous is that poster?
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I can safely say that even if I hated Star Wars I would be floored by that poster. There’s a muted, even subtle quality to it that I love. I wonder if that portends a (relatively) somber film. I’m glad to see Vader pictured. I guess there was no way he wasn’t going to be, but still it’s executed well, and will draw people in.
The special editions helped rope in a new generation. They served a worthy purpose. And if Lucas had drawn the line at just spiffing up the SFX, and maybe adding a few shots here and there that he couldn’t manage the first time around, I would be OK with it. But there was no reason to try and tie the films together more, because they already tied together perfectly. Ask yourself: instead of having Vader yell “NOOOOO!” at the climax of Jedi, wouldn’t it have been more effective if he had simply stayed silent in the resurrection-room in Sith, even when he destroyed it, and the moments had mirrored each other THAT way? I know, I know, I’m preaching to the choir. But all Lucas had to do was release the originals alongside the SE’s, and all would have been OK.
I will always believe that these films are best viewed in the order they were made. And there would be something beautiful about watching film technology evolve over the course of forty years, along with the story. Maybe someday.
In the meantime, try not to let the Jedi SE get to you. I know the dance number is pretty dire but tell yourself it’s just a few moments, and that most of the film is the same. Would you deprive a young child of these wonderful, magical works just because of a minute or two of ill-advised changes? I know you would not, but it helps to actually ask yourself the question.
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