74 | NOVEMBER 30 • 2023 
J
N

NATALIE PORTMAN, 
HARRISON FORD AND 
MORE ALBERT BROOKS

May December, a com-
edy-drama, opened in a 
handful of theaters on Nov. 
17 (so it will be eligible for 
Oscar nominations) and 
begins streaming on Netflix 
on Dec. 1. This film is loosely 
based on the late Mary Kay 
Letourneau, a schoolteacher 
who was 34 (1996) when 
she began an affair with Vili 
Fualaau, a 12-year-old stu-
dent. She had two children 
with him before she went to 
jail (1998). She was released 
in 2004 and married the 
21-year-old Fualaau in 2005.
Natalie Portman, 42, 
plays an actress/journalist 
who travels to Georgia to 
interview Gracie Yoo (the 
“Letourneau” character) and 
Joe Yoo (Gracie molested 
him as a child and now he’s 
her husband of 20 years). 
Gracie (Julianne Moore) and 
Joe have adult twin sons.
Advance reviews are very 
good. The film was directed 
by Todd Haynes, 62 (I’m Not 
There; Far from Heaven). 
His mother is Jewish and he 
identifies as Jewish.
On Dec. 1, Disney+ pre-
mieres a new documentary 
entitled Timeless Heroes: 
Indiana Jones & Harrison 
Ford. In the words of a pub-
licity release, “it showcases 
the legendary adventurer, 
and you discover the untold 
story of how Harrison Ford 
became Indiana Jones.”
The documentary 
calls Ford, now 81, “a 
once-in-a-generation actor.” 
It covers his entire life: his 
early years, Star Wars and 
the five “Indy” films he’s 
made. There are a lot of 
new interviews about Ford 

and his work.
Ford’s father was Irish and 
his mother was Jewish. He 
was raised secular and has 
remained so.
Also on Dec. 1, Disney+ 
begins streaming the (Ford) 
film Indiana Jones and the 
Dial of Destiny, which was 
released last July. It made 
a lot of money, but not 
enough to cover its very big 
budget.
Bookie is described as 
a “dark” comedy. The first 
eight-episode season pre-
mieres on HBO Nov. 30. 
Bookie focuses on Danny, 
a Hispanic-American book-
ie who is worried that the 
legalization of sports betting 
will destroy his livelihood. 
The series was co-created 
by Chuck Lorre, 71, and he 
co-wrote all the first sea-
son episodes. Lorre (born 
Charles Levine) has created 
an amazing number of hit 

sitcoms. Here are just some: 
Grace Under Fire, Dharma 
and Greg, Two and a Half 
Men, The Big Bang Theory, 
Mom and The Kominsky 
Method. 
Charlie Sheen has a 
recurring Bookie role, but 
his character hasn’t been 
described in the show’s 
publicity. Sheen’s hiring is 
interesting. Sheen was in his 
eighth season (2011) as the 
co-star of Two and a Half 
Men when Lorre fired him. 
Sheen, then a heavy drug 
user, was fired for his erratic 
behavior — behavior that 
included publicly insulting 
Lorre. 
Sheen has long been 
sober and, in 2021, he pub-
licly regretted his past Two 
Men behavior. I guess he 
and Lorre have made up. 
Geddy Lee, 70, is famous 
as the talented bassist for 
Rush, a Canadian progres-
sive rock band that sold mil-
lions of records and is in the 
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 
(dissolved in 2018). On 
Dec. 5, Paramount+ begins 
streaming a four-part inter-
view program called Geddy 
Lee Asks: Are Bass Players 
Human, Too?
Lee interviews four top 
bassists: Krist Novoselic 
(Nirvana), Les Claypool 
(Primus), Melissa Auf der 
Maur (Hole, Smashing 
Pumpkins) and Rob Trujillo 
(Metallica).
Geddy’s parents were 
teens when they met in 
a Polish ghetto during 
WWII. They were sent to 
Auschwitz and then his 
father was sent to Dachau 
and his mother was sent 
to Bergen-Belsen. They 
miraculously survived, mar-
ried and moved to Toronto. 
His mother pronounced his 
given first name, “Gary,” as 
“Geddy” — and Geddy stuck 
as his name (See story on 

page 70). 
My Nov. 9 column had 
a long item about a new 
HBO documentary about 
Albert Brooks. I mentioned 
Kimberly Shlain Brooks, 
Albert’s wife. I didn’t men-
tion her late father, Leonard 
Shlain, even though I knew 
he was a distinguished phy-
sician and author (see Wiki 
bio online). A JN reader was 
kind enough to tell me he 
grew up in Detroit. He was a 
University of Michigan grad 
and a Wayne State Medical 
School grad. 
By the way, the Brooks 
documentary is very good. 
Watch it and learn how 
Brooks’ humor has had 
a profound influence on 
comedy since the 1970s. 
Saturday Night Live is often 
touted as the origin of “the 
new comedy,” but SNL 
creator Lorne Michaels, I 
learned, was so taken with 
Brooks’ comedy style that 
he wanted his new show 
(1974) to be called The 
Albert Brooks Show (Brooks 
would host every week). 
Brooks declined, and he 
told Michaels to hire rotating 
hosts. Michaels re-named 
the show SNL, which every-
one knows has rotating 
hosts.
And I learned that Brooks’ 
two children, now young 
adults, as well as his wife, 
call him a real mensch. 

CELEBRITY NEWS

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

ARTS&LIFE

WIKIPEDIA/MELISSAA CYBERMELLI@AOL.COM

Albert Brooks

BRIAN TO/WIKIPEDIA

Chuck 
Lorre

WIKIPEDIA/GAGE SKIDMORE 

Harrison 
Ford

