32 | JULY 30 • 2020
AT THE HELM OF A
HUGE STREAMING HIT;
FREDDIE’
S BIG SHOES
Greyhound, a new big-budget
film starring Tom Hanks (who also
wrote the film), began streaming
on Apple TV+ on July 10. It had the
largest debut audience in Apple
TV+ history and is now a summer
streaming blockbuster. The title
refers to the code name of a WWII
U.S. Navy destroyer that escorted
cargo ships crossing the Atlantic.
These cargo ships and their war
ship protectors were the subject of
many Nazi sub attacks. The action
centers on a three-day period in
which all the Allied ships have to
cope with many vicious attacks
from a so-called “wolfpack” —
four Nazi subs teamed up together.
Reviews are mostly positive.
Hanks plays the captain of the
Greyhound, and some critics
kvetched that the script didn’
t
flesh out Hanks’
character
enough. However, praise was
universal for way the director,
Aaron Schneider, 55, shot the
film’
s action sequences and
how he kept the film “taut.”
Remarkably, by using a variety
of new special effects, Schneider
was able to make the film with-
out a single scene actually being
shot in the water.
I was only recently able to con-
firm that Schneider is Jewish. Bio
was scarce because even though
he has long worked in Hollywood,
he has directed just one other
feature film (the well-received,
2009 black comedy Get Low).
After Greyhound began streaming,
there was bio coverage in the
local media near where Schneider
grew-up (a small town near
Peoria, Illinois). It mentioned that
his father is Delwin Schneider,
and that he is a 91-year-old
Korean War veteran.
Online family history records
disclosed that Schneider’
s parents
are Jewish. By the way, Aaron
credits Billy Crystal, 72, with giv-
ing him great advice. Thirty-five
years ago, he was an unhappy
college sophomore. He was
studying engineering but wanted
to get into film special effects.
By chance, he met Crystal on a
Florida beach and told him his
ambition. “A very nice” Crystal,
Aaron says, told him to go to film
school. Schneider says that “go
to film school” was not common
advice 35 years ago, but it was
the right advice.
The Show Must Go On: The
Queen + Adam Lambert Story is
a documentary now streaming on
Netflix. Lambert, 38, first rose to
fame as an American Idol finalist
in 2009. Not long after the Idol
finale, he was interviewed by Gail
Zimmerman, then the arts editor
of the Jewish News. He told Gail
that he was raised in his mother’
s
Jewish faith, and she told me that
Adam couldn’
t have been more
charming (find the interview in the
archive at djnfoundation.org).
In 2011, Lambert began peri-
odically touring with the surviving
members of the rock band Queen.
He is their lead singer, and that
role inevitably leads to compari-
sons with the late Freddie Mercury,
the band’
s legendary lead singer.
The film covers this “issue” and
much more. Lots of live concert
footage.
Arts&Life
celebrity jews
NATE BLOOM
COLUMNIST
Gail Zimmerman and
Adam Lambert
JN FILE PHOTO