All three of the rumored Star Wars, Episode VIII titles blow chunks. (1) Star Wars VIII: Forces of Destiny…what the hell does that mean? Every particle of matter in the universe has some kind of destiny caused by something. The idea that certain forces guide the destiny of this or that is about as interesting as the notion that sunlight is good for flowers; (2) Star Wars VIII: Tales of the Jedi Temple….who wants to hang out in a temple? Stars Wars fans want to hang out on Endor, Tatooine, the latest Death Star and the ice planet of Hoth…places like that; (3) Stars Wars VIII: The Order of the Dark Side…another loser title. Who or what is thinking up these things? A software program?
Imagine that this guy, who’s about 30, has been seen in a couple of highly regarded indie films and has just been cast as the second lead in a new HBO longform. Does he have that X factor thing? Could he make it in our realm? Or was he the kind of actor who could’ve only broken into Hollywood back in the mid ’40s?
I kind of hate peanut butter. I tend to eat it guiltily. I usually hate myself, in fact, after eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I hate the after-odor. But I really despise the gloopy, syrupy kind of peanut butter that they sell for double the price at high-end health food stores. You can almost drink the stuff. The only peanut butter I can half-stand is Skippy chunky.
Holiday trimmings on the Paramount lot — taken after my second viewing of Fences three or four nights ago.
