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This article originally appeared yesterday in Nathaniel's column on Towleroad. It is reprinted here in a slightly longer version
[Please read with the John Williams Star Wars theme blaring in your head…]
In the first trailer for The Force Awakens (aka Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens but we’ll go with the shorter title). Han Solo famously announced…
Chewie we’re home.
You’ll be happy to learn that it wasn’t just a well placed trailer byte but a promise to audiences that the film actually delivers on. I can state unequivocably that the The Force Awakens is the best Star Wars film in 32 years. That might sound like a backhanded compliment — for what could be worse than the 1999-2005 prequels? — but it’s meant with great affection just like the film in question...
David Poland on why certain films overperform or underperform come Oscar time. Much of this is both true and frustrating. Why couldn't Warner Bros see what they had in Creed for example? Comics Alliance on the fan campaign to make Iron Fist an Asian hero in the new tv eries. So far Marvel/Netflix has rejected the idea which is just maddening since the origin story is pretty racist in modern context. The Envelope interviews Julianne Nicholson who was so so good in Black Mass Word and Film An interview with actress Ileanna Douglas (we've missed her) about her new memoir "I Blame Dennis Hopper: And Other Stories From a Life Lived In and Out of the Movies"
The Guardian Peter Bradshaw picks his favorite films in multiple categories Variety Guy Lodge's top ten list. It won't surprise you to hear that it's a good read. And Joy and Magic Mike XXL are on it keeping things provocative. Pajiba John Krasinski is on his way to a Chris Pratt like reinvention. Trying to keep up with wife Emily Blunt perhaps? Variety Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette reprised their famous roles at Jason Reitman's live reading of True Romance. How fun. The Playlist says Jennifer Lawrence is going to play Robert De Niro's dad in the next David O. Russell film. Now they're just purposefully antagonizing us now, right? Awards DailySpotlight takes the Las Vegas Film Critics prize for Best Picture Daily HeraldMad Max Fury Road takes Best Picture from the Chicago Film Critics Association AV Club Sean Penn to play Andrew Jackson in an HBO miniseries. Sadly it is not a remake of the Broadway musical "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson" but we'd rather see that! ...albeit with its original Jackson, Benjamin Walker in the lead role
Off Cinema Rolling Stone Readers Poll of the 10 best songs of the year: Adele, Madonna, Drake and more Boing Boing Matt Haughey is a genius -- he started photoshopping dildos where guns were in photos of GOP candidates and it's both funny and satirically pointed The Daily Beast best TV shows of 2015: UnReal, The Knick, Empire and more...
Star Wars ♫ give me more Star Wars...Nothing but Star Wars ♬ don't let them end... Thrillist unearths a time capsule of photos from the premiere of The Phantom Menace (1999). Dakota Johnson is just a baby! Pajiba "a serious discussion of which original trilogy Star Wars character is best in bed" Hilarious. The gif game is strong with this one. (I agree with the rankings pretty much but I'd still do Luke.) Screen Crush on the diversity of casting in The Force Awakens
Today's Watch Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) honored Kirk Douglas on the floor for his 99th birthday! It's always shocking when someone in Congress does something cool but apparently this Cohen fellow is a good guy with a strong civil rights record so there you go. But mentioning a screening of Trumbo in DC? That movie's reach has been such a surprise this month.
ICYMI we sang the praises of New Zealand actor Dean O'Gorman who plays Kirk Douglas in the movie here.
... please enjoy this photo of JJ Abrams sharing a twizzler with Chewbacca.
This is not a still from the movie but will give you a feel for how much JJ Abrams loves Chewbacca. It comes through in the movie, trust! (Our review will be up sometime tomorrow but in short: it's good family entertainment fun and nothing like those awful awful prequels!)
Also here's Oscar Isaac singing that silly Star Wars theme song. Quoth Katey...
This video makes me want to throw my underwear at the screen ."
We weren't allowed to say this for fear of screening crashers but as you're reading this I'm probably watching the credits crawl at the end of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. More soon obviously.
The past week has been just crazy with awards announcements and it's easy to drop usual columns on accident but I can't not share these choice tweets that amused on actressexuality,.
Clue, Sir Patrick Stewart, Golden Globes and a lot of Star Wars silliness after the jump...
When Darwin wrote The Origin of Species, he really skimped on explaining the whole gays-and-actresses thing
Daily Mail Tim Burton's type is hilariously permanent. Now he's on to Eva Green who fits it like a T New Yorker The brilliant Emily Nussbaum on sexual consent and PTSD on Jessica Jones and its Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 6 reflections DGA Chris Nolan interviews Quentin Tarantino about The Hateful Eight which will now enter wide release on January 1st instead of the 8th. Slate reflects on what the Star Wars franchise is given that it's not "sci-fi" Variety has a few old FYC and congratulatory ads for Star Wars from the 70s. Good stuff Vanity Fair today's celebrities all want to be Han Solo
News The Black List If you've got some free time you can wade through Hollywood's favorite unproduced scripts. List was just announced today. ColliderMad Max Fury Road may return to theaters in a black & white version -- Miller's original intention before they opted for super saturated color. Variety Brad Pitt's satire War Machine wraps shooting in the United Arab Emirates. Tracking Board Warner Bros is moving forward with a Speedy Gonzalez feature, date TBD. (He was my second favorite of the Looney Tunes as a child, after Pepe Le Pew... but they both have cultural stereotyping issues. How will they walk that line?) Variety Melissa McCarthy is nearly free of Mike & Molly
List Mania Slant picks the 25 best films of the year from 45 Years through Chi-Raq and on to Mad Max: Fury Road. But since Carol is way down at #19... What? Los Angeles TimesBrooklyn tops Kenneth Turan's otherwise alphabetical top ten Indie Wire critics poll for the year with Mad Max & Carol fighting for supremacy. Fassbender & Rampling take the acting prizes Pajiba celebrates the best 'comfort movies' of the year - not particularly challenging but great watches from your couch in your jammies: Cinderella, The Intern, and more... AV Club on the best film scenes of the year including Creed's continuous shot boxing match and lots of interesting and unexpected choices -- yay for including "Summer in Ohio" from The Last Five Years
Today's Watch If you've got a free two hours you can watch all six previous Star Wars movies at once? It's an art installation.Click on the image if you wish to do this craziness.
Friday, December 18, 2015 at 4:30PM 
