Tag Archives: Natalie Portman

“Lady in the Lake” Trailer and Poster

Apple TV, episodic, mystery,

When the disappearance of a young girl grips the city of Baltimore on Thanksgiving 1966, the lives of two women converge on a fatal collision course.

Maddie Schwartz, played by Natalie Portman, is a Jewish housewife seeking to shed a secret past and reinvent herself as an investigative journalist, and Cleo Johnson, played by Moses Ingram, is a mother navigating the political underbelly of Black Baltimore while struggling to provide for her family.

Their disparate lives seem parallel at first, but when Maddie becomes fixated on Cleo’s mystifying death, a chasm opens that puts everyone around them in danger. From visionary director Alma Har’el, Lady in the Lake emerges as a feverish noir thriller and an unexpected tale of the price women pay for their dreams.

“Lucy in the Sky” Trailer, Clips & Poster

science fiction, ,
The poster captures my attention like the moon captures Lucy’s attention.

Directed by Noah Hawley, Lucy in the Sky takes us on Lucy’s journey from outer space to Earth and the ever-changing reality of life through her eyes and soul.

Brian C. Brown and Elliott DiGuiseppi co-wrote the screenplay with Hawley adding final touches. The movie trailer spirals in different directions, and it’s hard to connect to the story in general.

I didn’t recognize Natalie Portman, who plays Lucy Cola, at first. Her makeup and hairstyle design molded her astronaut look. Joe Hamm stars as her husband, Mark Goodwin. He seems to be her anchor and tries to save her from after returning to Earth from a life-changing mission in space. She begins to slowly unravel and lose touch with reality. Of course, the question is why is she losing touch with reality.

It appears Portman is gravitating to themes where the main character ventures to another reality or altered reality. Like her appearance in Annihilation where she enters the shimmering to find out what happened to her husband and coming to terms with self- discovery of her failing marriage.

The digital version of the movie is out on the streets. The package includes deleted scenes, director’s journey, and four featurettes on the making of the film.

Lucy in the Sky cast includes Zazie Beetz, Ellen Burstyn, and Dan Stevens.

The next trailer is called “Trailer C” and delineates the story more. It looks like Portman’s character goes rogue, and the story gets dark. It’s unclear who is the bad guy — Hamm’s character or Portman’s.

I noticed in the credits that Reese Witherspoon is one of the producers of the movie.

“Vox Lux” Trailers and Poster

drama, music, , ,

Written and directed by Brady Corbet, Vox Lux seems to be a convoluted story about a  pop star, played by Natalie Portman.

The real story begins in 1999 when teenage sisters Celeste, played by Raffey Cassidy, and Eleanor, Stacy Martin, survive a seismic, violent tragedy.

The sisters compose and perform a song about their experience, making something lovely and cathartic out of catastrophe – while also catapulting Celeste to stardom. Now it’s 2017, and the 31-year-old Celeste, which is now played by Portman, is a mother to a teenage daughter of her own and struggling to navigate a career fraught with scandals when another act of terrifying violence demands her attention. Jude Law plays her husband, and I am not quite sure if this movie has some comedy elements based on the movie trailer.

Corbet is an actor who is getting his feet wet as a director.  He acts more in movies than writing and directing.  With big names like Portman and Law, he may shine on this feature film.  I look forward to seeing movie clips and interviews with the director and actors.

The trailers take the movie to a whole new angle or level.  We see more of the relationships between all the characters. I am wondering if this movie is in flashbacks – not linear. The second trailer tells us more about the story – caustic and funny.

The movie trailer shows sharp cuts and quick shots.  I am reminded of  Oscar winner Birdman starring Michael Keaton.  The chaotic life of a pop star instead of the chaotic life an actor.

“Annihilation” Trailers, Featurette, Poster

based on a book, horror, science fiction, ,

The poster is pretty but doesn’t say much about the movie. If you read the book, you know what you are in for. We just hope it is a worthwhile adaptation.

Written for the Screen and Directed by Alex Garland, Annihilation is based on the novel by Jeff VanderMeer – Southern Reach Trilogy.  The movie stars Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, Tuva Novotny, and Oscar Isaac.

Slimmer Featurette interviews Natalie Portman and Jennifer Jason Leigh and offers more insight into the storyline.

It’s good to see Jennifer Jason Leigh in this movie.

I watched the movie last night on Prime. Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and the rest of the cast are fantastic. Gina Rodriguez is making a name for herself and starring in several movies of late.

The special effects held its own because I know it’s all green screen. The story is visceral, so without reading the book, it’s hard to track what is real and what is imagined. Each character holds a difficulty close to their chest, which sends them on this “self-destruct” mission.

The creatures the women encounter on their mission brings a horrific layer to the story. They are trying to get to the lighthouse where all their answers will be found. But, that doesn’t happen, which is paradox that makes the movie weak.

The movie is based on a trilogy, and the ending indicates there is more to come. I am curious if that will happen based on the box office returns.

“Song to Song” Trailer and Film Clips

drama, music, romance, , , ,

Directed by Terrence Malick, who brought of The Thin Red Line and The Tree of Life, brings his filmmaking style in this modern love story set against the Austin, Texas music scene, two entangled couples—struggling songwriters Faye, played by Rooney Mara, and BV, played by Ryan Gosling, and music mogul Cook, played by Michael Fassbender, and the waitress whom he ensnares, played by Natalie Portman, —chase success through a rock ‘n’ roll landscape of seduction and betrayal.

I am curious how this will play out with Malick’s style of artful and non-sequitur cut ways he uses to tell a deep and meaningful life of his characters.

The Andy Warhol styled poster is pretty cool and does convey a modern twist of Pop Art and its crazy, eschewed pop culture.