by Nate Bloom
Ford is Indy One Last Time; Chalamet is Dylan; Schumer’s Special
Opening June 30 is “Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny.” It is the fifth and final “Indiana Jones” movie and everybody associated with the series, like STEVEN SPIELBERG, swears there will be no more “Indy” films.
You can find the plot of this almost-certain blockbuster anywhere. So, I will omit it here. Of course, it wouldn’t be an Indiana Jones film if HARRISON FORD, 80, wasn’t playing archeologist Indiana Jones. As I have noted before, Ford, 80, is the son of an Irish Catholic father and a Jewish mother. He’s always been “very” secular.
Here’s a Ford “fun fact” I recently came across. He serves as a General Trustee of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA). It’s the oldest and largest American organization devoted to archaeology. Ford informs the public about three of the AIA’s missions: public awareness of archaeology, the prevention of looting, and stopping the illegal antiquities trade.
“Dial of Destiny” was directed by JAMES MANGOLD, 59, and he co-wrote the script. Mangold has directed a lot of hits, including “Walk the Line,” “The Wolverine,” “Logan,” “3:10 to Yuma,” and “Ford v. Ferrari.”
Mangold’s father, artist Robert Mangold, 85, isn’t Jewish. His mother, artist SYLVIA PILMACK MANGOLD, 84, is Jewish. It is fairly clear that James is secular and a UK Jewish paper says he’s referred to himself as “half Jewish.”
In 2020, Mangold said that he would direct a bio-film about BOB DYLAN, entitled “A Complete Unknown” (referencing a line from the Dylan hit, “Like a Rolling Stone”). The pandemic put the film on hiatus until last April, when Mangold said that filming would probably start this August. However, the writer’s strike may affect that schedule.
TIMOTHEE CHALAMET, 27, is set to play Dylan. He’s a good choice for many reasons. He’s a good actor; he says he can sing; he’s Jewish, like Bob; like Bob, he has natural “Jewfro” curly hair; and, as I will explain, he and Dylan have a similar career arc.
The film will almost certainly focus most on the period 1962-1966. In 1962, Dylan was 21 and an unknown when he made his first album. By 1965, he was internationally known and highly respected. He was called “the voice of his generation.” In 1965-1966, he made the jump from top folksinger to rock star.
Chalamet was just 21, and almost unknown, when he co-starred in the hit film “Call Me By Your Name” (2017). Other hit films followed, including “Dune” (2021) which grossed $400M and made Chalamet not just an indie film star, but a blockbuster film star (a “Dune” sequel will open this November).
I have to mention that Chalamet’s sexy androgynous look and fashion taste has made him a fashion icon worldwide. Vogue and GQ gush about him constantly. Chanel and Cartier have signed him to big endorsement deals.
In just five years, he went from an unknown to an international star — and like Dylan, this all happened from age 21 to 26. It seems likely that Chalamet’s very rare parallel experience will inform his portrayal of Dylan.
Somehow, I missed writing about AMY SCHUMER’s new Netflix stand-up special. The special began streaming on June 13.
The upside is that I got a chance to see the special before writing about it. There was a lot of amusing things in her set, but only a few bits that were both really amusing and insightful. I don’t want to spoil the bits for you — but if you think, early in the set, that the humor is less than “crackling,” it’s worth sticking around for three quite good spiels: one about going to a party at a rich blind man’s house; a deserved take-down of Hilaria Baldwin, Alec Baldwin’s wife (You’ll learn why she’s another George Santos); and Schumer’s comments about her beloved husband, who is on the autistic spectrum.
I have a close friend who is a “high functioning” autistic person. So, I recognized how right Schumer’s comments were. She didn’t make fun of her husband. She cogently explained that some of his “autistic conduct” was funny and perfectly logical if you understood his thinking.
Schumer, 40, explained that her husband’s condition was called Asperger’s Syndrome, but that term, she said, “Was dropped when it came out that Dr. Asperger had Nazi ties.” She then added: “I hate when that happens. [Nazi ties revealed.] Like some of our neighbors, lately. Can we please love Jews? There aren’t many of us left.”
Ain’t that the truth.
