by Nathaniel R
I got a little verbosely carried away whilst answering reader questions so you get two Q & A columns from your last batch of questions. Thanks for playing. This week I asked for a few Star Wars Questions but that's just three of the six questions answered here. Ready, let's go!
TROY: Within the past year Cynthia Erivo has won a Tony, Grammy, and Daytime Emmy for her work in the recent Broadway revival of The Color Purple, making her only one step away from completing the EGOT. Which type of project do you think would giver her her best chance at winning an Oscar?
NATHANIEL: I hate to get nitpicky but technically should Daytime Emmys even count with the EGOT? If you count any old Emmy as towards the EGOT than about 100,000 people you've never heard of who have local Emmies (seriously they give those statues out like candy) are 1/4th of the way to that showbiz goal. It's only Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Lopez, and their fans that would argue that Daytime Emmys count. No shade!
Anyway my dream for Erivo is that they give her either the film version of The Color Purple musical, though I fear they'd just hand it to a bigger less worthy star (like, oh, Jennifer Hudson, who she and Danielle Brooks, the other Tony nominee from that show, both ran circles around onstage) or a film version of Caroline or Change (if they won't rehire the incredible Tonya Pinkins) as those two roles are powerhouse vehicles for a black woman with giant pipes. But any musical role would be dreamy. That voice!
PEDRO: What is your favorite Star Wars character? And your favorite Star Wars actor?
Princess/General Leia Organa. I mean, could there be any other answer? I wish that I could be all mysterious like Yoda and whisper "there is... another" but she's so far ahead of every other character for me. As for favorite Star Wars actor --- do you mean within the films? I think the best performance within the films is (correctly) the only one that got Oscar nominated: Sir Alec Guinness as Obiwan Kenobi. I also love Ian McDiarmid's delicious camp in Return of the Jedi and Harrison Ford in general. The sequels had atrocious acting nearly across the board. In the two modern films thus far the acting has been fine/okay but nothing worth praising in this way.
A truth: After Leia my favorite Star Wars universe characters are all non-humans and in this order: Jabba the Hut, Chewbacca, BB-8, and Yoda (who was once #2 but ruined for me somewhat by the prequels).
MATT: If you could pick a woman to helm a Star Wars film, who would you choose?
Can I say Sam Taylor-Johnson? I shall say Sam Taylor-Johnson. Her work has the refined mainstream glossiness that blockbusters need. Plus the Star Wars universe is notoriously sexless and she might be able to at least suggest with her sensual eye that hankypanky occurs in that galaxy far far away. I'm not saying this solely because of 50 Shades of Grey. If you look at her previous work like her Elton John video "I Want Love" or her great short film "Love You More" or her debut feature Nowhere Boy there's an obvious sensuality that could go a long way toward adding fresh texture to what's already always present in Star Wars.
And as much as I don't like the forthcoming movie The Bad Batch, it shows that Ana Lily Armipour (who brokeout with her amazing vampire picture A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night) can direct the hell out of an action sequence in the desert. That wouldn't be a gift wasted within Star Wars even though Armipour might be. I resist the notion that great directors should saddle themselves with for-hire gigs on franchises but if everyone has to at some point I'd also be curious to see what Jennifer Kent (The Babadook) could do with space fantasy and I think Anna Rose Holmer's The Fits shows she has a true gift for kineticism and movement-based storytelling which might transfer well to the action genre should she have even the teensiest desire whatsoever to go there.
SOMEONE (I'M SORRY I CAN'T FIND THE COMMENT NOW TO CREDIT YOU PROPERLY!): List your 15 favorite costumes in Star Wars movies.
I'm not doing 15 and I'll have to save actual discussions for a future Three Fittings column but here are a few I loved: Padme Amidala's baroque Asian influenced costumes in the prequels -- the only case wherein the prequels "more more more" aesthetic paid off; the seismically satisfying simplicity of all those Darth cloaks; the humble but endearing beigeness of Luke & Rey's desert costumes; Finn and Po's subtextually erotic bomber jacket; and of course Princess Leia's gold bikini. That wave of "retire Princess Leia's gold bikini" columns made me so sad. Outrage culture is enough to make me, well, outraged, sometimes. THE OUTFIT WAS MEANT TO BE OBJECTIFYING. It was an essential element in the narrative and another example of Princess Leia being the absolute shit. She used her chains to kill her oppressor! Princess / General Leia is and was totally feminist, rescuing herself and the men who kept thinking they were rescuing her. She was too serious to laugh at the damsel-in-distress trope, but she was definitely giving it the rolled eye in every damn film.
TYSON: Would you ever want Madonna to act in another film? If so, what kind of film would you want her to return to the cinema in?
You guys! I totally forgot that Elizabeth Banks was in SWEPT AWAY (2002) with Madonna
I'm good with her giving up acting -- it's not for every showbiz giant -- even though I like some of her screen work. If she ever tries it again I hope it's in a short dose cameo type or role where she can poke fun of herself. Other than Evita all of her best screen work involves fun or funny prodding of her own persona (think the documentary Truth or Dare, the short film Star, and the femme fatale/sexpots of Dick Tracy and A League of Their Own).
FOREVER1267: I thought Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte was pretty awful. Do you think it could have been a better film with Joan finishing her role?
I also agree that Charlotte is a mess though I love reading any writing about it as with articles right here at TFE from Manuel Muñoz and Daniel Walber. My answer to this question is an absolute "NO!" though. The best thing about the movie is Olivia de Havilland's against-type performance so that'd be the last thing I'd ever change. For the record, as I've made clear in all my Feud bitching, I love myself some Joan Crawford. That's why I had such enormous problems with Jessica Lange's maddeningly Jessica Langey "Crawford". I want to strangle anyone who wants her to win another Emmy or, better yet, lock them in a room until they've watched at least 5 Joan Crawford pictures and 5 Joan Crawford interviews to see how infinitely misjudged that performance was. I don't demand mimicry (I think I've made that clear over the years) but you have to at least try for the spirit of the person or the general carriage. Lange has been doing this exact same performance FOR YEARS NOW. This star turn didn't have a single moment in it that didn't feel like it was cribbed from a lost season of AHS -- "American Horror Story: Old Hollywood". How many more times can she be praised for playing variations on a vain aging star with delusions of grandeur or obsession with her former grandeur?
YOUR TURN, DEAR READERS.
What would improve Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte?
Who gives the best performance in a Star Wars picture?
What do you hope the future holds for Cynthia Erivo?
Do sound off!