arts & life

A still from The Outrageous Sophie Tucker

Comedians Dick Capri (left) and Stewie Stone in When Comedy Went to School

Something For Everyone

The JCC's Lenore

Marwil Jewish Film

Festival presents a

diverse collection

of films.

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The film poster from

Magic Men

Celebrity Jews

Nate Bloom

Special to the Jewish News

BIG SCREEN/LITTLE
SCREEN
Happyish, a comedy/drama,
premiered on Showtime on
April 26
(watch the
first episode
for free on
the Showtime
website). The
series was
created and
co-written
Auslander
by Shalom
Auslander, 45, who grew up
in an Orthodox home. He has

66 April 30 • 2015

Elizabeth Applebaum

Special to the Jewish News

0

n one day, you can ride

along with a 78-year-old
Greek widower and his
Hasidic rapper son in their search
for a magician.
On another day, you can watch
with wonder as men and women
who haven't communicated for
years begin to sing and dance,
thanks to the power of music; or
come to understand the true mean-
ing of the word "terror" when you
witness a young Jewish man kid-
napped by an anti-Semitic gang.
And on yet another day, you
can follow in the footsteps of three
senior-citizen bank robbers and
their determined leader: a 12-year-
old boy.
A good movie can "make you
believe in possibilities again:' New
Yorker film critic Pauline Kael has
said. "... An actor's scowl, a small
subversive gesture, a dirty remark
that someone tosses off with a
mock-innocent face and the world
makes a little bit of sense:'
The Jewish Community Center
of Metropolitan Detroit's 17th-
annual Lenore Marwil Jewish Film
Festival runs May 10-21, opening
a door for anyone to experience,
to laugh, to wonder, to sit on the
edge of his seat and say: "I cannot
believe it!"
"We're reaching a younger audi-

written a collection of short
stories and a critically praised
memoir (Foreskin's Lament), a
funny and subversive chron-
icle of his grappling with his
faith and community. Both he
and his wife, Orli, also raised
in a religious Jewish home, are
estranged from their respec-
tive families. Auslander, how-
ever, is still connected to his
general Jewish background.
The lead character of
Happyish is Thom Payne
(Steve Coogan), a 44-year-old
advertising man whose happy
life is thrown into disarray
when his 25-year-old female
boss arrives and he's made to
feel like last year's car model.
It's unclear from advance
publicity whether Payne

ence this year by working together
with Repair the World:' says Film
Festival chair Eric Lumberg of the
group that brings together Detroit
volunteers, nonprofits, schools and
organizations to address critical
social issues: It is fitting that they
will screen the film The Starfish
Throwers — the story of three
individuals who saw suffering and
hunger in their communities and
did something about it — in their
Detroit offices.
Likewise, says Lumberg, "Having
[new] partners like NEXTGen, the
Downtown Synagogue, Chabad in
the D and Moishe House also is
something new and excitine
In the beginning, there will be
humor.
This year's Film Festival opens at
2 p.m. Mother's Day with a movie
sure to make moms (and everyone
else) laugh. When Comedy Went to
School is the story of the comedic
greats ... Jerry Lewis, Sid Caesar,
Jerry Stiller and many more who
got their start at the resorts of New
York's Catskills (aka the Borsht
Belt). There are the jokes ("Why
do Jewish divorces cost so much?
Because they're worth in, the
personalities and the remarkable
stories, like the kid who was a soda
jerk, an insurance investigator
(who lost $40,000 of a company's
money) and dental assistant before
honing his talents at the Catskills
and becoming a legend named

Danny Kaye.
On Sunday, May 17, the Film
Festival presents Magic Men, a
charming film that tells the story
of an elderly Holocaust survivor,
Avraham, his Hasidic-rapper son
and their curious adventures while
searching for the man who saved
Avraham's life. Magic Men was
directed by Guy Nattiv, who will
appear along with his wife, actress
Jaime Ray Newman, a Farmington
Hills native and Hillel Day School
graduate, when the film screens at
Patron Night. Nattiv and Newman
will attend a pre-glow at 6:30 p.m.,
followed by the film at 8 p.m. and
a post-film talk-back hosted by
Nattiv.
Also making an appearance
at this year's event is Nancy
Spielberg (sister of director Steven
Spielberg), producer of Above &
Beyond, showing Monday, May
11. The film tells the story of a
group of American pilots who
volunteered during Israel's War of
Independence and helped lead the
country to victory (see "Above And
Beyond" on page 65).
Two other remarkable true
stories on film include Alive Inside
and 24 Days. Showing Monday,
May 18, Alive Inside is the winner
of numerous audience awards and
chronicles the lives of individu-
als, many with Alzheimer's, who
have come back to life thanks to
the power of music. 24 Days is

is supposed to be Jewish.
tive roles as
However, a recent profile of
Iron Man and
Black Widow
actress Kathryn Hahn, who
plays Thom's wife, Lee, made
are Robert
it clear that she is a Jewish
Downey,
character – who grew up in
Jr., 50, and
a religious home and is now
Scarlett
mostly estranged from her
Johansson,
family and her faith. Still, Lee
30. Downey,
tries to introduce her young
whose father is of Jewish
son to the basics of Judaism.
descent, is becoming "more
Note: Look for Ellen Barkin,
Jewish" as time passes: He
61, in a big recurring role as
calls himself Jewish more
Dani Kirschenbloom, a head-
often; his wife of 10 years,
hunter who works closely with
Susan, 41, who he credits with
Thom and has a sardonic take
his sobriety, is Jewish and
on the tough world of adver-
their two kids are being raised
tising.
Jewish. A recent book reveals
that Downey is, in common
A blockbuster-to-be sequel
to the 2012 Avengers movie,
parlance, "3/8 Jewish" – it's
Avengers: Age of Ultron, opens long been known his paternal
May 1. Reprising their respec-
grandfather was Jewish; now

the story of Ilan Halimi, a French-
Jewish citizen kidnapped in 2006:
The French Ministry considers
24 Days so important it requires
schools throughout the country to
show the film to students.
The Lenore Marwil Film Festival
also will present some of the
world's most endearing films, like
Hunting Elephants, starring Sir
Patrick Stewart, about of a group of
elderly bank thieves and their fear-
less 12-year-old leader, and Orange
People, about a fortune-telling
grandmother in Israel's Moroccan
community; inspiring movies, like
Brave Miss World, the true story
of a beauty queen who becomes a
leading spokeswoman for victims
of rape; and thought-provoking
films, like Sweets, about an Arab
businessman whose decision to
open a candy story has extraordi-
nary consequences.
Among the 27 diversely out-
standing films to be shown, a few
more highlights include Marvin

Hamlisch: What He Did for Love;
Theodore Bikel: In the Shoes of
Sholom Aleichem; The Outrageous
Sophie Tucker, and Road to Eden:
Rock and Roll Sukkot. All films
(unless otherwise noted) will
be shown at the Berman Center
for the Performing Arts in West
Bloomfield. For more informa-
tion and a complete schedule, visit
jccdet.org or theberman.org, or call
(248) 661-1900.

❑

we know his paternal grand-
mother had a Jewish mother.

TIDBITS
Back in 2004, TV and (now)
web journalist Katie Couric,
58, revealed for the first time
that her mother was Jewish,
although she, herself, was
raised Protestant. Perhaps
Couric disclosed her back-
ground because she was then
engaged to Tom Werner, now
65, a prominent (Jewish) TV
show creator and executive.
Now a reliable source tells me
that Couric's current spouse,
investment banker John
Molner, 52, whom she wed
last summer, is Jewish. This is
Couric's first marriage since
she was widowed in 1997.

❑