Lainey calls him “Jonah Hill, 2x Oscar nominee and friend of Leo, Scorsese, and Brange”, but I think Jonah Hill needs a nickname update. Not only because the Brange is no more—who do you think got him in the divorce?—but because Jonah Hill has another tick on his resume: filmmaker. The first trailer for his directorial debut,mid90s,which he also wrote, was released yesterday. It’s backed by A24, increasingly prestigious and consistent displayers of good taste. They releasedEx Machina, Lady Bird, The Florida Project, andMoonlight. Over the last few years, A24 has managed to be in the Oscar conversation, at the least. So for Hill to have his directorial backed by them is not insignificant. It means he’s going to get a Real Director push, not your typical actor vanity project tolerance effort.
Andmid90sdoes not look bad. There is a definiteKidsvibe, between the era and the “youth run amok” story, thoughmid90sis set in the skater world of Southern California, not New York. It also reminds me of Sean Baker’s work, with the naturalistic style and almost documentarian look of it. It’s not a bad first impression. So let’s spin it out. The worst case scenario is that it’s self-important navel-gazing award bait and no one bites, andJonah Hillgoes back to being “2X Oscar nominee and friend of Leo, Scorsese, and Brange”.
But the best case scenario is thatmid90sis really good, and suddenly Jonah Hill isn’t just an actor but a filmmaker with potential. He could be a director we have to take seriously. If that happens, what would be his new nickname? Do we just add “director” to the current mix? Or would that warrant a whole new nickname? And how much higher does he climb up the intolerability index? 2x Oscar nominee Jonah is alreadykind of intolerable. Finally, ifmid90sis a success and Hill becomes a respected director, would that put himabove or below Leoin the wolf pack?
Here's Jonah Hill onKimmellast week.
