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