JUNE 23 • 2022 | 51
A MYSTERY ON THE
RESERVATION, CHARITY
SAVES A RICH LADY, AN
ARTY BIO-PIC
Dark Winds is an eight-ep-
isode psychological thriller
that began streaming on
AMC and AMC+ on June
12. It is based on a series
of bestselling and critically
acclaimed novels written
by the late Tony Hillerman.
The books, and the AMC
series, center on two Native
American reservation police
officers.
Noah Emmerich, 57, has
a major supporting role in
Dark Winds as Whitover, a
burned-out FBI agent whose
career is dying.
It’s nice to note that Dark
Winds is a big hit with critics.
Earlier this year, Emmerich
played another FBI agent
in the Apple TV+ mystery/
thriller series Suspicion.
The first episode was inter-
esting, and the acting was
fine. However, I joined most
critics in thinking it didn’t
provide enough clever twists
to justify watching eight one-
hour episodes.
Loot is a 10-episode com-
edy that begins streaming
on Apple TV+ on June 24.
Molly Novak (Maya Rudolph,
47) lives a dream-like, luxuri-
ous life. She is married to a
super-duper-rich high-tech
billionaire (played by Adam
Scott). Then, suddenly, her
whole life crashes when she
discovers her husband has
been cheating on her. She
goes into a major depres-
sion that is not relieved
when she snares a world-re-
cord $87 billion divorce set-
tlement.
Molly is brought out of her
blues when she gets a call
from Sofia, an employee of
Molly’s charitable foundation
— a foundation Molly didn’t
even know she had. Molly
latches on to Sofia, and the
foundation staff, as a lifeline
out of her depression.
Molly’s new life purpose is
to help others with her rich-
es. Of course, there’s a lot of
humor contrasting the rich
cocoon that Molly has long
lived-in with “the real world.”
Nat Faxon, 46, has a
co-starring, “main cast” role.
He plays Arthur, an accoun-
tant. Faxon has many come-
dy series acting credits and
he was the co-winner of a
best screenplay Oscar (The
Descendants, 2011).
His mother is Jewish, and
he’s secular. Faxon’s mater-
nal grandfather fled Nazi
Germany in 1938.
THE AMAZING
BILLY WILDER
Another refugee from the
Nazis, the truly amazing
director/writer Billy Wilder
(1906-2002), is going to be
the subject of an upcom-
ing “sort-of” bio-pic. I was
excited when the film was
announced a couple of
weeks ago. Then details
about the film came out, and
I’m not so happy. I think the
planned film probably won’t
be of interest to anyone
except the “really arty.”
Who was Wilder? Well,
many say he was the great-
est “all-around” film creator
of the 20th century — the
depth and breadth of his
talents is astonishing. There
is really no way to briefly
convey his incredible life and
his works. But I’ll try to make
you curious enough to read
a long bio online.
He was born Shmuel Vild
to middle-class Polish Jewish
parents. The whole family
moved to Vienna around
1920. Wilder was a journalist
in Vienna, before moving to
Berlin in 1926. By 1929, he
was a screenwriter. The hit
films he wrote or co-write
ushered in a new era of real-
ism in the German cinema.
He fled from the Nazis in
1933 and settled in America.
He learned English by listen-
ing to the radio hour after
hour for several months.
Months after he learned
English, he began writ-
ing really good American
(English) movie scripts for
Hollywood studios. His first
big hit (as a writer) was the
great comedy Ninotchka
(1939). He co-wrote more
hits and was given a chance
to direct in 1942. The
third film he directed (and
co-wrote) was the classic
film-noir Double Indemnity
(1944).
He went on to direct and
co-write classic after classic.
Some were dramas and
many were comedies. Here
are the biggest hits: Sunset
Boulevard, Stalag 17, Lost
Weekend, Sabrina, Witness
for the Prosecution, Some
Like It Hot, The Apartment
and The Fortune Cookie.
He won six Oscars (two for
directing, four for screen-
plays).
The film about Wilder is
based on a novel by Brit
writer Jonathan Coe about
the making of Fedora (1978),
a Wilder film that got mostly
bad reviews when it opened
and flopped at the box
office. Its reputation has real-
ly risen over the years.
Stephen Frears, 80, a top
British director, will helm
the bio-pic. Oscar-winner
Christoph Waltz, a Vienna
native, will play Wilder. Both
have Jewish ties — Frears’
mother was Jewish, and his
wife is Jewish. Waltz’s first
wife was Jewish, and their
three children were raised
Jewish.
In interviews, Wilder was
a funny, smart man with an
infectious joy-of-life per-
sonality. I think a film about
Wilder making a very hard-
to-make film that flopped
almost can’t help but “bury”
the “delightful” Wilder I’ve
seen myself. I hope I am
wrong.
CELEBRITY NEWS
NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST
ARTS&LIFE
GREG2600
Noah
Emmerich
MINGLEMEDIATVNETWORK
Maya
Rudolph
GALERIE POLL, BERLIN
Billy Wilder
in 1989