Arts & Entertainment &About River Days GM River Days, a summertime festi- val sponsored by General Motors, the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy and the Parade Company, returns to the Detroit International Riverfront for a second year Friday-Monday, June 20-23, with fun for the entire family. Live music on six stages, including performances by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Rick Springfield, Michelle Branch, the Verve Pipe and Brian McKnight; interactive games; carnival elements; and activi- ties involving Metro Detroit's fishing and boating community, including the Parade of Lights on the Detroit River at 10:15 p.m. Saturday (anticipated to be one of the largest boat parades in the U.S.) are just some of the activities planned. Visit a tall ship, the Highlander Sea; view as many as 100 different boats and vessels taking part in the Detroit River Cruise; see an exhibition of hydroplane racing and demonstrations of jet skiing; take a one-hour boat cruise on the Diamond Jack; walk your pet in tural centers in Detroit the Pooch-a-Palooza and Windsor, including Pet Walk; get mov- the College for Creative ing in the 5K Saturn Studies, Detroit Public Fun Run — and Library and University cap everything off of Windsor. Juried films Go il Zimmerman with the 50th annual from all over the world Arts Editor Target Fireworks, will be shown during beginning at 10:06 the four-day festival. p.m. Monday. Special activities include a children's Hours are 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday, 10 program of juried films (as well as films a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. shown at the East Lansing Children's Sunday and 10 p.m.-11 p.m. Monday. Most Film Festival) taking place at the Detroit activities are free. For up-to-date informa- Public Library Main Branch (tickets tion on schedules and events, go to www. will be free of charge with registra- gmriverdays.corn. tion at DWIFF.org); and a filmmaking tech fair at College for Creative Studies, showcasing workshops, lectures, demon- For Film Buffs strations and exhibitions on everything from screenwriting and costume design Almost 200 hours worth of independent to stunt fighting and the employment films — including those that have been opportunities available with Michigan's part of Sundance and other renowned new film incentives package for films film festivals — will make an inter- shot in Michigan. national appearance at the inaugural Among the mainstream stars appear- Detroit Windsor International Film ing in the festival's featured films are Festival, running June 26-29 at seven cul- Jewish performers Henry Winkler (fresh off his cameo role in Don't Mess with the Zohan), who co-stars in director Ari Palitz's directorial debut, Unbeatable Harold, based on a one-act Broadway play about an Elvis wannabe in Las Vegas who dreams of becoming the full-time manager of the Wagontrain Steakhouse; and Sarah Silverman, who appears in Certifiably Jonathan, along with other comedians trying to cheer up Jonathan Winters after he loses his sense of humor when one of his paintings is stolen on its way to the MOMA. Of particular interest to Jewish viewers is Refusing to Be Enemies, a made-in- Michigan documentary about 12 Ann Arbor women of Palestinian or Jewish descent and their desire to bridge the gulf that has developed between the two corn- munities. Complete program listings and tickets are available at DWIFF.org. Tickets are $8 per screening; senior and student tickets available for $6 ( Unbeatable Harold will be priced sepa- rately.) FYI: For Arts related events that you wish to have considered for Out & About, please send the item, with a detailed description of the event, times, dates, place, ticket prices and publishable phone number, to: Gail Zimmerman, JN Out & About, The Jewish News, 29200 Northwestern Highway, Suite 110, Southfield, MI 48034; fax us at (248) 304-8885; or e-mail to gzimmerman@thejewishnews.com . Notice must be received at least three weeks before the scheduled event. Photos are appreciated but cannot be returned. All events and dates listed in the Out & About column are subject to change. •MNI I. Nate Bloom Special to the Jewish News Premieres Get Smart, a film remake of the hit 1960s spy spoof TV series created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, opens Friday, June 20. Steve Carel! I) (The Office) stars as bumbling Agent Maxwell Smart, Anne Hathaway portrays Agent 99 and Oscar winner Alan Arkin plays the Chief, Smart's spy-agency boss. Peter Segal (Anger Management) directs and Bernie Kopell, who had a recurring role in the TV series as Siegfried, a hilarious bad guy, has a cameo in the new movie. Kopell, 74, went on to bigger fame in the '70s, co-starring as Dr. Adam Brickner on The Love Boat. Showtime's dark comedy series Weeds, which returned on June 16 for a fourth season, and TBS's My Boys, which began its second 10-episode season on June 10, are bright spots in an otherwise bleak June TV premiere schedule heavy with reality shows. My Boys stars the very cute Jordana Spiro, 31, as a Chicago sportswriter. New episodes air Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. Past episodes are free on the TBS Web site (a DVD 43) L C4 June 19 • 2008 _ Jordana Spiro of the first season also is available). Weeds, airing 10 p.m. Mondays, stars Mary Louise Parker as a non-Jewish sub- urban housewife who has to take up mari- juana dealing when the sudden death of her Jewish husband leaves her broke. Alexander Gould, 14, plays Parker's son, Shane; and the very talented Justin i 't.; Kirk (his mother is Alexander Jewish), 39, plays Gould her slacker Jewish brother-in-law. Albert Brooks, 60, joins Weeds this season for the first five episodes. He plays Parker's character's estranged father-in-law. The first three seasons of Weeds are on DVD, and the first episode of the new season can be viewed free on the Showtime Web site. Newman III Roger Friedman of Fox News, a reli- able source, reports that screen legend Paul Newman, 83, has lung cancer and has been undergoing treat- ment at Memorial Sloan Kettering hos- pital in New York. Newman's only Jewish movie role was as the sabra Paul Newman hero of the 1960 movie Exodus, about the founding of Israel. Newman has maintained a few ties to Israel since, speaking about five years ago to a group of Haganah veterans living in America and opening, later this year, a Hole-in-the Wall camp in Israel for seriously ill children of any back- ground. Fourteen such camps now exist around the world, funded by the Newman's Own charitable foundation. All the net profits of the Newman's Own food company have gone to Paul Newman, personally. In turn, he has given them all away ($200 million to date). Some of the profits go directly to charities Newman picks and some of the money goes to the Newman's Own Foundation for charitable redis- tribution. Friedman writes that in the last three years Newman has quietly turned over his entire $120 million ownership stake in the food company to the foundation. 4 Newman's father was a secular Jew and his mother, a Christian Scientist, tried to get her son to follow her faith. But Newman resisted, remaining aloof from organized religion all his life. He did once say that if he were "really pressed" he would call himself a Jew "because it is more of a chal- lenge." In any case, he is a great actor who's lived a life of personal rectitude and astonishing public service. Oh, Vanity Sexy actress Gina Gershon, 46, is fuming about a piece in Vanity Fair that linked her romantically with President Clinton. Gershon said she's briefly met Bill Clinton three times at public events and that's the extent of Gina Gershon their relationship. Vanity Fair refused to retract, pointing out the article simply said Gershon was one of sev- eral women Hillary Clinton's aides thought might be "seeing" the ex- president. Contact Nate Bloom at Middleoftheroad@aol.com.