JUNE 24 • 2021 | 41

SEA MONSTER TEENS
AND A DATING COMEDY
Luca, a Disney/Pixar animat-
ed fantasy film, was released
for streaming on Disney+
June 18. The film is set in the
1950’s Italian Riviera. Luca
Paguro, 13, the star charac-
ter, is a sea monster curious
about the world above the
sea. Despite warnings that
the human world is danger-
ous, he decides to explore
a nearby Italian port with his
best friend, Alberto. Alberto
and Luca can disguise them-
selves as human.
The film centers around a
growing friendship between
Luca and Giulia, a (human)
Italian girl (voiced by Emma
Berman, 12). The supporting
(voice) cast includes Maya
Rudolph, 48, as Daniela,
Luca’s protective (sea mon-

ster) mother, and Sacha
Baron Cohen, 49, as Uncle
Ugo, a sea monster who is a
cousin of Luca’s.
It’s likely that Emma
Berman is Jewish or “part”
Jewish, but as with many
child actors, little biographi-
cal info is available. She was
raised in California and her
parents are Russian immi-
grants.
Luca’s original screenplay
was co-written by Jesse

Andrews, 38. He’s best
known for his acclaimed
debut (2012) novel, Me and
Earl and the Dying Girl.
Like Luca, it is about three
teen friends. In Me and Earl,
the teens are high school
seniors, not sea monsters.
Still, teens are teens, and
Andrews has a real gift for
capturing the authentic voic-
es and emotions of teens.
Me and Earl and the Dying
Girl was made into a quite

good film of the same name
in 2015. The novel had a lot
of Jewish content (two of the
three main characters are
Jewish).
Good on Paper, an original
Netflix film, began streaming
June 23. The capsule plot:
stand-up comic Andrea (Iliza
Shlesinger, 38) puts her
career first for years. Then
she meets Dennis (Ryan
Hansen), a seemingly perfect
guy: smart, nice and success-
ful. It’s not really a spoiler
when I tell you things don’t
turn out well for Andrea and
Dennis. Shlesinger wrote the
film, and she’s happy to tell
anyone that her screenplay
is based on a real-life horrific
(and hilarious) dating experi-
ence she had.
Shlesinger, who has had
five Netflix stand-up specials,
is out of the dating pool now.
In 2018, she married top
chef Noah Galuten, 38, in
a Jewish ceremony.

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A scene
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The Jewish Federation of Greater Toledo (JFGT) is seeking a Director
of Philanthropic Services (DPS) to be part of its Endowment team.
Reporting to the Director of the Toledo Jewish Community Foundation,
a division of JFGT, the DPS will provide operational support to the
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Director of Philanthropic Services