96 | SEPTEMBER 26 • 2019 

AT THE MOVIES
The big budget sci-fi flick Ad 
Astra opened last Friday and will 
be in theaters for several weeks. 
Capsule plot: Astronaut Roy 
McBride (Brad Pitt) travels 
to the outer edges of the 
solar system to find his 
missing father (Tommy 
Lee Jones) and unravel 
a mystery that threatens 
the survival of humans 
on Earth. The film was 
directed by and co-written 
by James Gray, 50. He’
s 
directed and written a 
number of well-received 
films, including three with 
a lot of Jewish content 
(Little Odessa, Two Lovers 
and The Immigrant).
Opening Friday, Sept. 
27, is The Laundromat, a 
comedy-drama inspir-ed 
by the “Panama Papers” 
scandal in 2015. Millions 
of documents created by 
a Panama City, Panama, 
law firm were leaked. 
The documents showed 
how the firm helped rich 
people worldwide to 
illegally hide their wealth 
from the taxman. The film begins 
with Ellen Martin (Meryl Streep) 
taking a vacation in Panama. She 
gets drawn into questionable 
financial dealings that involve 
two Panama lawyers. The large 
ensemble cast includes David 
Schwimmer, 52, and Melissa 
Rauch, 39. 
The screenplay is by Scott Z. 
Burns, 56, who frequently works 
with Laundromat director Steven 
Soderbergh. Burns grew up in a 
Minneapolis suburb and went to 
a Jewish summer camp. When 
he was young, he was inspired 
by the Coen brothers, who grew 
up in the suburb next to his 
hometown. Much later, Burns 

met the Coens and they talked, 
he said, about (local) “rabbis and 
schools.”

NICE EMMY NOTE
A song written for the now-
concluded series My Crazy 
Ex-Girlfriend won a Creative 
Arts Emmy on Sept. 15. The 
Emmy was shared by its 
three composers: Crazy star 
Rachel Bloom, 32, Adam 
Schlesinger, 51, and Jack 
Dolgen, 40ish. It was the 
first Emmy for Bloom. After 
she won, she announced 
she was pregnant with her 
first child. Her husband of 
four years is comedy writer 
Dan Gregor, 37.
 
NEW SERIES 
Carol’
s Second Act begins 
on CBS on Thursday, Sept. 
26, at 9:30 p.m. It stars 
Patricia Heaton as Carol 
Kenney, a retired teacher 
with two grown children 
who decides to pursue her 
dream of becoming a doctor. 
As the series starts, she is 
a hospital intern. Ashley 
Tisdale, 34 (High School 
Musical), co-stars as 
Carol’
s daughter, Jenny, a 
pharmaceutical rep with an 
upbeat attitude that keeps 
her mother’
s spirits up. 
Tisdale’
s mother is Jewish. 
The NBC series The Unicorn 
also begins on Sept. 26 at 8:30 
p.m. Wade (Walton Goggins) is 
a 45-year-old widower and the 
devoted father of two adolescent 
daughters. As the series begins, 
a year has passed since his 
wife’
s death and he thinks about 
dating again. To his amazement 
— women flock to him because 
he is a “unicorn” — single, 
employed, attractive, with a 
proven record of commitment. 
His friends and family root 
for him — hoping he’
ll find 
happiness again. Michela 
Watkins, (Casual), 47, co-stars 
as Delia, a friend of Wade and the 
wife of Wade’
s best friend. 

Arts&Life

celebrity jews

NATE BLOOM
COLUMNIST

James Gray 

FACEBOOK

David 
Schwimmer

IMDB

Ashley Tisdale

IMDB

Scott Z. 
Burns

IMDB

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