Arts&Life

celebrity jews

48 | OCTOBER 17 • 2019 

AT THE MOVIES
The documentary Where is My 
Roy Cohn? opens Oct. 18 at 
the Landmark Main Art Theater 
in Royal Oak. The title refers to 
President Donald Trump’
s report-
ed lament about former Attorney 
General Jeff Sessions. Trump 
thought Sessions should be a 
ruthless protector of his interests, 
like his former business lawyer 
Roy Cohn (1927-1986). 
Most people know Cohn 
for his role as chief counsel to 
Sen. Joseph McCarthy during 
McCarthy’
s Communist witch 
hunts in the ’
50s. Far fewer know 
that Cohn, a closeted gay man, 
had a big hand in getting gays 
ousted from federal jobs in the 
early ’
50s. The film also covers 
his years in private practice 
(1960-1985), when many famous 
people hired Cohn because he 
was a “bulldog fixer.” 
The film’
s website describes 
his tactics: “Always attack; 
never admit blame or apologize; 
use favors and fear to ensure 
support for your objectives; 
expertly manipulate the media 
to gain advantage and destroy 
your opponents; lie shamelessly, 
invalidating the idea of truth; 
weaponize lawsuits; evade taxes 
and bills; and, most importantly, 
inflame the prejudices of the 
crowd by scapegoating defense-
less people.” 
Zombieland 2: Double-Tap is a 
sequel to the exciting and funny 
film Zombieland (2009). All the 
original stars have returned. In the 
original, Jesse Eisenberg, now 
36, starred as Columbus, a nerdy 
guy who has cleverly avoided 
becoming a zombie. Eventually, 
he meets up with three other 
survivors, played by Abigail 
Breslin, Emma Stone and Woody 
Harrelson. The four eventually 

bond and, as the film ends, they 
stave off a big zombie attack. 
The original film, which had a lot 
of wry humor, was a big critical 
and box-office hit. The sequel 
finds the quartet meeting up with 
four new survivors, one of whom 
(“Madison”) is played by Zoey 
Deutch, 24. (Opens Oct. 18).
Ruben Fleischer, 44, who 
directed the original (his first 
feature), returns as the director 
of Double-Tap. Since 2009, 
Fleischer has directed two other 
big box-
office hits: Gangster Squad 
(2013) and Venom (2018). Paul 
Wernick, 47, who co-wrote the 
original, co-wrote Double-Tap. 
By the way, about two years ago, 
Breslin disclosed that her pater-
nal grandmother was Jewish. 

JEWISH JOKE TIME
I don’
t want to ruin it by re-telling 
the jokes here. I will just describe 
them without giving away much. 
First, there are two Jewish jokes, 
both about the Holocaust, in 
episode #4 (this season) of the 
Netflix series Comedians in Cars 
Getting Coffee. They are told 
by non-Jewish comedian Ricky 
Gervais to host Jerry Seinfeld, 
65. Gervais does not claim credit 
for writing these jokes. Neither 
joke is offensive. The first one, I 
would say, is “insightfully amus-
ing.” The second one is so pro-
found that it really isn’
t a joke in 
the conventional sense. Seinfeld 
was so stunned by the power of 
this joke that he said, “That is a 
novel in a joke.” 
The second joke, or very witty 
remark, occurs about 30 minutes 
into Between Two Ferns: The 
Movie (an original Netflix film). 
Host Zach Galifianakis catches-up 
with actor Paul Rudd, 50, and 
peppers him with some Jewish 
questions, including “Are you a 
practicing Jew?” See how Rudd 
responds to this question. 

NATE BLOOM
COLUMNIST

© Universal City Studios LLC and Amblin Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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