The gospel according to Luke
Mark Hamill returns to the spotlight in The Last Jedi, Chris Lackner writes.
MOVIES
Big release on Dec. 15: Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Big picture: Humanity awaits the much-needed distraction of a new Star Wars — largely to distract itself from whatever monstrous thing Donald Trump tweeted the night before. But make no mistake. The title, The Last Jedi, doesn’t bode well for our band of ragtag heroes in a galaxy far, far away.
Harrison Ford’s Han Solo took “centre nostalgia stage” in The Force Awakens. Now it’s Mark Hamill’s turn. Sporting hobo grizzle and steely eyes, Luke isn’t happy to be found in selfimposed exile on a depressing rock island. Skywalker seems decidedly on the grey side of the force — that limbo land where true Jedi and Sith go to haunt ... until someone reminds them who they really are again.
You’re a hero, remember? You’re a merciless monster, remember? (By the time the credits roll, this giant will be awakened — but to the benefit of good or evil?) The Last Jedi could mean Luke goes dark, Luke dies or Rey (Daisy Ridley) goes dark (expect Kylo Ren — Luke’s nefarious nephew — to make a good pitch). Either way, the title intones that one Jedi is left on the battlefield.
With a Han Solo origin story, and more spinoffs in the works, I’d like to take a moment to pitch the brain trust at Disney the Star Wars movies I’d pay good money to see: SW: Diary of a Furry Kid, covering Chewbacca’s moody teenage years; SW: Castaway, a 180-minute indie film directed by Terrence Malick showing Luke silently brooding on his deserted rock for years, interspersed with artistic cuts of the universe being born and destroyed; SW: Sky City, a caper film set in the Lando Calrissian-run space metropolis; SW: Moon of Endor Kingdom: in which director Wes Anderson examines an oddball, dysfunctional Ewok family.
Forecast: The Last Jedi sure beats watching A Christmas Story for the 500th time because its “a family tradition.” Hamill will prove he hasn’t done much to improve his acting range since Return of the Jedi (1983).
TV
Big events: Gwen Stefani’s You Make It Feel Like Christmas (Dec. 12, NBC); A Christmas Story Live! (Dec. 17, Fox); Wormwood (Dec. 15, Netflix)
Big picture: Stefani leaves no doubt that her team understands the power of marketing. You Make it Feel Like Christmas is the title of this musical-variety special, the title of her new Christmas album, and the title of its first single, a duet with Blake Shelton — which just happened to debut on The Voice, the reality competition they both headline.
Meanwhile, you can also watch A Christmas Story Live! — a new take on the 1983 movie starring the likes of Maya Rudolph and Jane Krakowski, and narrated by Matthew Broderick.
Finally, Netflix enters the world of Wormwood, a docudrama from documentary guru Errol Morris. This six-part Netflix miniseries follows one man’s uncanny, six-decade investigation into the mysterious CIA-related death of his father — which blends real-life interviews with scripted scenes starring Peter Sarsgaard and Molly Parker.
Forecast: Get used to a neverending series of live, musical events. Live programming is the last true thing network TV has left to offer.
MUSIC
Big release on Dec. 15: Eminem (Revival)
Big picture: The real Slim Shady aims for revival just before the holiday season. The mercurial rapper releases 19 new tracks, including collaborations with Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran, Pink and Alicia Keys. No, his anti-Trump freestyle, The Storm, from the 2017 BET Hip-Hop Awards is not on this effort, but don’t expect Eminem to shy away from his new-found political voice.
In his 1999 breakthrough, Slim Shady seemed angry at everything and everyone for no reason.
But in an age of socially conscious rappers, led by the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Eminem’s rage seems trained on the America reflected in the vacuous eyes of the current occupant of the Oval Office.
Forecast: This album won’t be played at your holiday parties — at least not until the sixth glass of eggnog has been downed and your family’s black-sheep uncle decides to deliver a soliloquy in defence of the alt-right. Then you’ll want to crank it.