Natalie Portman

[Deleted]

Miss Portman first came to my attention in that movie, Leon, The Professional. I thought that she was exquisite like a little China Doll (I think that she was only 12 or so in it). And she was good---a mixture of defensiveness, hostility, and cold intelligence (which by the way, I have yet to see her display in any subsequent role).

I forced myself to watch the first Star Wars trilogy because I like to watch films and I want to have the background material to do so; but that first triology scarred me for the second one. I was in a fantastical sugar glaze during that first episode of the first trilogy---I hated that little square faced boy that played Annakin---what commercial playground for Pie Faced Sick Sweet Sops did Mr. Lucas lure him from with candy? Oh well, don't get me started on Mr. Lucas, the most over-rated and anti-Karma successful director in the last part of the twentieth century...forget that. Nobody can act in a Lucas film (except for Robert Duvall, who can act in a third grade play with unruly children and make it good, witness that THX mess that Mr. Lucas made with him years ago); so I wasn't surprised by Miss Portman's woodeness---no wait, this is Star Wars, Miss Portman's robotic blanks and twitches and shiny, shiny costumes.

I haven't see Garden State. I love Zach Branff---he is the light version of Kal Penn who is also adorable and funny and oddly cute. But the reviews never looked promising---DVD for me later.

So I can't rate Miss Portman's performance there, but I did see Closer and I really like that movie. Miss Roberts did a nice job, Mr. Law quit mugging for a while, and Miss Portman showed some of her Leon prickly personna with her defensiveness. At last, a young actress who is trying to present her character and not trying to be oh so loveable and charming and perky and whatever. BTW: Try this as Alternate Casting---an older Rachael Evan Woods as the Alice/Jane character in Closer---WOW! And yes, Clive Owen is a god. I first saw him years ago in some Brit TV show and I liked. Glad to see that he has finally broken out.

Miss Portman can be an interesting actress with the right material and director (it is always the material, anyway)---away from the plastic surgeon cookie cutter cuteness of most Hollywood actresses (look at Miss Kidman---ugh---no personality...forget that, onward). I hope that she follows that path.

And Miss Portman is one of the three most beautiful (IMHO) actresses working in films today. I don't mean pretty---I mean beautiful, blooming, ravishing. Miss Portman, Winona Ryder (well, I guess that she isn't really working in films these days---but she is still exquisite), and Li Gong (from Raise the Red Lantern and The First Emperor) are just lovely. They all have perfect faces and features. And their brains can be liquid, their faces are Nature's works of Perfection.

[rosetta]

They all have perfect faces and features. And their brains can be liquid, their faces are Nature's works of Perfection.

I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic or not, but if not, I can't help but disagree. I'm a heterosexual female, which means I might not look at Natalie the way a male would, but if you look at her face without the incredible amount of makeup she wears at times, she's actually not that perfect. She has great facial bone structure, but her eyes are actually pretty small and beady.

She also doesn't really look that great when she doesn't straighten her hair or style it. I'm not saying she's not pretty, or prettier than many people, I'm just not seeing the ravishing perfection.

(You might have to drag the URLs to the address box for them to work.)

[nuharoo]

she's not obnoxious, just pretentious. I think she likes the idea of being an intellectual actor as opposed to a celebrity.

No matter how 'intellectual one is, they are still a celebrity. They need the press, and when she supposedly did not pose in Vanity Fair because she would not be on the cover, that is being a celebrity and famehog. As for being an intellectual actor, I highly doubt it is possible. People don't care about her academic awards, they care about her movies, her celeb status.

She should be very careful; the press has been very indulgent toward her and the studios are giving her quite a few choice parts. But that can change with the slightest mistake. She starts getting too snotty about her precious intellect or something else, she'll piss off the wrong people. Remember, her screwing up Star Wars and admitting to not even trying to do is correctly should have been enough to get her skewered on a spike.

[dool]

They all have perfect faces and features. And their brains can be liquid, their faces are Nature's works of Perfection.

Ehhh. I'm not down with that. Call me crazy, but I generally like women who have a little depth and can do something more than be pretty and vacant.

I expect actors to have some semblance of intelligence, an ability to portray characters convincingly, to distance themselves from their own persona to take on someone elses. Hershlag is like a slap upside the head with a cold, wet fish.

Part of her casting in Closer, had to be because of the way she looked and I think that showed. She was (IMO) the weakest in the cast and I wonder if a less 'perfect', but still striking Alice would have given the character a different edge. She had the vunerability down, but that came across as left overs from Garden State.

[agnesnitt]

Jesus Christ- what's her excuse for this performance now?

[topher]

Her excuse is that George Lucas can't direct.

[ratssenoj]

mackiaveli said:

Well I guess I'm in the minority in this thread. But I adore Natalie Portman. I think she is talented, charming, gorgeous, and intelligent. I have liked most of her films. I hope her career has longevity.

I agree, and I have not seen her whore or trash herself for fame or use the art excuse.

What early 20's kid who has had some higher ed doesn't think they know it all? I can't stand being around college kids, they think they know it all. But that's what the education does to them and they are encouraged to think and talk about their feelings and theories.

[rorgg]

I generally like Portman more than dislike her. She was good in Beautiful Girls and Garden State, but good gracious, her acting in SW Ep. 2 was just horrific. Granted, I thought the whole thing was total crap, so maybe I can blame Lucas after all.

Looking at imdb, I don't think I've seen anything else she's been in besides SW ep. 1 (not as irritating, but same issue even so) and Mars Attacks, which... heh, she was in THAT?

[nuharoo]

PORTMAN PRAISES WOMEN IN DEVELOPING NATIONS

I'm a little confused about this.

PORTMAN'S RESPECT FOR POLE-DANCERS

The actress was required to go through a month of lessons for her role as a stripper in the film, and she admits she had no idea how much hard work is involved.

Kindly explain to me please how hard it is to prance and pose on a stage.

"I mean, I just don't understand how those girls (do it). I left and I was bruised everywhere and sore on my arms."

Would someone please, please make her work as a stock clerk in a grocery store in the produce department.

Portman Strips Yet Maintains Mystery

Time for the fun:

Despite playing a stripper in the film, the 23-year-old "Star Wars" prequel actress insists that her she doesn't feel fully mature. "I don't really feel like an adult yet myself, so I don't really think I can play adults.

Then why the hell did you accept the part?

Director Nichols, who previously worked with Portman for a stage production of "The Seagull," specifically wanted this curious mix of youth and sophistication for the role of Alice.

Why would any person want to portray a stripper that has childish traits. Pervert. And strippers are not sophisticated in the sense of being how do I say, cosmopolitan world traveled sophisticates.

Alice changes over the course of several years in the film, beginning as a charismatic pixie-like waif who captures the attention of obituaries journalist Dan, played by Jude Law. After experiencing a bitter betrayal, she inevitably becomes wiser and jaded, yet still keeps an intriguing untouchable aura about her.

From the previews is doesn't seem as if she ages at all. But we can't have that can we?

"She's extremely clever. She's got some secret about her as truly intelligent young women always do," gushes Marber. "She's enigmatic. She's absolutely in the now and she's real. She's quite a one."

The truly intelligent ones are getting an education, not repeating lines like a parrot. Will the freakin' ass kissing ever end?

It's seriously disturbing how the press lauds her as if she's the second coming . There are almost zero crticisms of her.

[dool]

Kindly explain to me please how hard it is to prance and pose on a stage.

Well since you asked.. It's pretty easy to dismiss strippers, but they are basically dancing with only a few breaks for hours at a time and it's a little more than just prancing. How do you think you'd go sliding down a pole upside down, only holding on by your legs? I'd think it's a pretty safe bet I'd end up on my melon with several cracked vertabrae and a wedgie. Most strippers I've encountered are incredibly fit and had been at some stage, trained dancers. I'm not surprised that Hershlag found it difficult.

Topic? I got nada.