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I
Meet the couple behind the movie
reviews on our Red Thread website.
Suzanne Chessler
4301 ORCHARD LAKE ROAD ° WEST BLOOMFIELD
248-538-6000
C.RosswaNDs
PLAZA
Contributing Writer
oan and John Schwartz don't
necessarily see eye-to-eye as
wife and husband or viewers
of films, but they do share a passion for
the art of making movies.
All this comes across on video seg-
ments that appear every other week on
the website of Red Thread magazine,
whose print edition appears inside
the Detroit Jewish News on the last
Thursday of every month.
The two, calling upon their experi-
ence in the entertainment industry and
trying to take a humorous approach,
give their gut reactions to new releases
and then separately announce their
bagel awards as Two Jews on Film.
Evaluations go from one bagel at the
low end and five at the high end and
can include a little cream cheese along
the way to suggest nuance.
"We watch all kinds of screenings —
from big-budget films to independent
movies:' says Joan, in her 40s. "We've
been doing this for almost two years
and appear on about six websites."
Recent comments have been given
on The Hunger Games, Jeff Who Lives at
Home and 21 Jump Street.
The reviewers, recently celebrating
23 years of marriage, lived in New York
before moving to California. They actu-
ally were introduced in front of a movie
theater by a mutual friend.
"Our reviews also are about our
relationship:' Joan says. "For the most
part, I like everything, and he dislikes
everything.),
The idea for the segments came from
Amelia Mulkey, the daughter of close
friends of the couple. Mulkey, who
would ask Joan and John about cinema
they had seen and get some laughs
while hearing their responses, suggest-
ed the format for Two Jews on Film.
Joan, who studied psychology at
Brooklyn College before appearing in
New York and regional theater produc-
j
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tions, has done low-budget films as well
as improv comedy.
Her one connection with Michigan
goes back to school years. She spent a
month visiting with friends attending
Kalamazoo College.
John, in contrast, has worked in
Michigan. He was executive producer
of a television program about products
made in the United States.
"We shot the program, featur-
ing Robert Urich, at the Henry Ford
Museum," John explains. "It was
planned as a pilot for a series, but it
became a primetime special."
In other work, John has created the
cult classic films Faces of Death and has
written for various primetime series as
well as movies for Showtime and HBO.
He lists a history of working in reality
television, assuming responsibilities for
writing, directing and producing.
John studied acting at Emerson
College and attended the California
Institute of the Arts. He launched his
career as a production assistant and
worked his way up into larger jobs.
John, in his 50s, traveled to a kibbutz
when he was 16.
"The experience was life-changing in
terms of maturing:' he says.
Both Joan and John believe they
share a creative spirit and deep friend-
ship. Their religious experiences come
through friends who invite them to
holiday celebrations.
As they plan for upcoming reviews
of The Five-Year Engagement (filmed
in Ann Arbor), American Reunion and
Mirror, Mirror, the Schwartzes are writ-
ing screenplays together.
"I write reviews, too," Joan says.
"Sometimes that's my way of getting
the last word." ❑
To check out Two Jews on Film,
go to www.redthreadmagazine.
corn, and scroll down the right
side of the page to the "Video"
section.