48 | MARCH 12 • 2020
Arts&Life
celebrity jews
AT THE MOVIES
In 2012, the low-budget indie film
Beasts of the Southern Wild was
the surprise hit of the year. This
magical realist story about how a
young girl survived a major flood
won many major awards and
scored four Oscar nominations.
Benh Zeitlin, now 37, received
nominations for best director and
best adapted screenplay.
His second film, Wendy, is a
wildly reimagined telling of the
Peter Pan story. In Zeitlin’
s version,
Wendy is kidnapped and taken to
a mysterious tropical island where
no one grows old. Advance reviews
are mostly good. As with Beasts,
Zeitlin is highly praised for the oth-
erworldly atmosphere he creates
via photography and sets, and criti-
cized for uneven storytelling. Zeitlin
directed Wendy and wrote the
screenplay with his younger sister,
Eliza Zeitlin (who also was the
production designer). Their parents
(father, Jewish; mother, Protestant)
are both folklore experts and col-
lege professors. Benh had a bar
mitzvah. (Maple Theater, Bloomfield
Township; Landmark Theater, Royal
Oak).
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
is about two teenage cousins from
Pennsylvania who travel to New
York City following an unplanned
pregnancy. The film was directed
and written by Eliza Hittman, 40.
It received universal good reviews
when it played Sundance (100% on
Rotten Tomatoes) and was given a
special Sundance award for “neo-
realism.”
NEW STREAMING
The Plot Against America is a six-
part HBO series that starts March
16. It’
s based on the novel of the
same name by the late Philip Roth.
The novel and series posit an alter-
native American history. Franklin
Roosevelt is defeated in the 1940
presidential election by Charles
Lindbergh, the famous aviator who
was, in real life, a xenophobic iso-
lationist. Lindbergh turns the nation
toward fascism, tinged with more
than just a little anti-Semitism.
The impact of Lindbergh’
s policies
is told via its effects on a New
Jersey working-class Jewish family
called the Levins in the HBO series.
The story is mostly told through
the perspective of Philip Levin, a
10-year-old boy. The cast includes
Winona Ryder, 48, as Evelyn,
Philip’
s aunt, and Morgan Spector,
39, as Herman, Philip’
s father. The
series was co-created by David
Simon (The Wire), 60, and he wrote
or co-wrote four of the episodes.
If you are older, share this view-
ing tip with young friends and show
them how hip you are. On March
2, the New York Times published a
long profile of the unlikely career
of David Burd, 32, AKA rap star
“Lil Dicky.” A Jewish guy from
Philly, he got good grades and
went to work for an ad company
after college. But then he made (in
2013) a comedic rap video that got
millions of views on YouTube. Hit
albums followed and now he has
a semi-autobiographical TV series
called Dave (began March 4 on FXX
cable; also on Hulu).
NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST
ANGAL FIELD
/FOCUS FEATURES
Director Eliza Hittman on
the set of her film Never
Rarely Sometimes Always,
a Focus Features release.
TURKEY BURGER WITH FRIES
Served on a whole wheat bun.
(
Add Cheese:
$8
.6
9
) $7.99
VEGGIE BURGER WITH FRIES
Served with honey-mustard dressing
on a whole wheat bun. $7.99
26200 W. 12 Mile Rd.
Southfi
eld, MI 48034
(248) 353-3232
ramshornrestaurants.com
THE FAMOUS IMITATOR
BURGER WITH FRIES
Double Decker! Two 1/3 pound patties,
grilled with cheese, lettuce, and our special
sauce on a toasted sesame seed bun.
$9.49
PURCHASE
TI
CKETS
TODAY!
DSO.ORG/NEI
GHBORHOOD
OR
313.
576.
5111
TICKETS
START AT
$25
($10 for students
and kids)
MADE
POSSIBLE
BY
THE
WILLIAM
DAVIDSON
FOUNDATION
2019-2020
CONCERT
SERI
ES
Kahchun
Wong,
conduct
or
Kimberly
Kaloyanides
Kennedy,
vi
ol
i
n
MUSSORGSKY
A
Ni
ght
on
Bal
d
Mount
ai
n
MOZART Violin
Concerto
No.
2
TCHAI
KOVSKY Symphony
No.
5
TCHAI
KOVSKY’
S
FI
FTH
SYMPHONY
Thu.,
Mar.
19
at
7:30
p.m.
in
Southfield
Fri.,
Mar.
20
at
8
p.m.
in
Clinton
Twp.
Sun.,
Mar.
22
at
3
p.m.
in
Beverly
Hills
ASK
ABOUT
PREFERRED
SEATI
NG
DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
PRESENTS
$10
ti
ckets
f
or
veterans,
acti
ve
mi
l
i
tary,
and
f
ami
l
y
dso.org/military
KAHCHUN
WONG