52 | OCTOBER 6 • 2022 

TV SHOWS (POLICE, 
GAME SHOW) AND THREE 
VERY DIFFERENT FILMS
The CBS police show East 
New York premiered last 
Sunday. (New episodes 
air on Sundays at 9 
p.m.). African American 
actress Amanda Ward 
stars as Regina Haywood, 
a police inspector who 
has just been promoted 
to lead a precinct in a 
historically poor Brooklyn 
neighborhood that is just 
starting to gentrify. Veteran 
character actor Richard 
Kind, 65, plays Capt. Stan 
Yenko, Hayward’s friendly 
and efficient right hand. 
(CBS posts online the first 
episodes of their new 
series. Free to view.) 
I previously noted that 
Celebrity Jeopardy would 
premiere on Sunday, Sept. 
25, on ABC, at 8 p.m. and 
that the host is Mayim 
Bialik, 46. I also wrote 
that two Jewish celebs, 
stand-up comedian Iliza 
Shlesinger, 39, and writer/
actor BJ Novak, 43, would 
appear “sometime” as 
contestants.
Here’s the problem: The 
list I saw of contestants 
was incomplete. The 
celeb names I saw were 
ones that “leaked out.” I 
now know that the show’s 
policy is to release the 
names of celebrities in 
upcoming games two 
weeks in advance of their 

appearance. 
Twenty-seven celeb 
contestants will appear in 
the nine “first rounds” of 
games (three to a game). 
The first game (9/25) 
featured three, non-Jewish 
celeb players. Simu Liu, 
a Canadian actor, won 
the first game, and he 
advances to a playoff-
round. The other two “went 
home.” 
 I now know that by 
the time you read this, 
Iliza Shlesinger will have 
competed in the second 
episode (aired on Oct. 2). I 
also just learned that comic 
actor Ike Barinholtz, 45, 
will compete in the game 
airing on Oct. 9. Here’s 
hoping one, or both, wins 
and we see them in play-
off episodes. (ABC posts 
all Celebrity Jeopardy 
episodes online for free 
viewing). 
 The Luckiest Girl Alive, 
an original Netflix film, 
premieres on Oct. 7. It is 
based on the best-selling 
2015 novel of the same 
name by Jessica Knoll. 
 Knoll disclosed several 
years after her book’s 
publication that many of 
the horrific things that her 
novel’s lead character 
experienced actually 
happened to her. This 
includes gang rape. I 
mention this last detail to 
let you know that this film is 
for adults, and it is serious 

stuff. It is not an October/
Halloween “spooky” 
mystery film. 

Here’s a summary 
of the film set-up: Ani 
FaNelli (played by Mila 
Kunis, 39), is a smart 
New Yorker who appears 
to have it all: a great job 
at a glossy magazine, a 
killer wardrobe, and a 
pending fancy wedding to 
a handsome and wealthy 
guy. But when the director 
of a crime documentary 
invites her to tell her side 
of a shocking incident that 
took place when she was 
a teenager at a prestigious 
private school, Ani is forced 
to confront the dark secrets 
that threaten to unravel her 
carefully crafted life.
On the other hand, 
Grimcutty, an original 
Hulu film, is most certainly 
a Halloween season 
horror/thriller. It begins 
streaming Oct. 10. Here’s 
the “official” description: 
“A scary internet meme 
called ‘Grimcutty’ stirs panic 
among parents in a small 
town. They think it’s making 
their kids harm themselves 
and others. Then a real-life 
version of Grimcutty starts 
attacking teen Asha Caudry, 
but no one believes her.”
The supporting cast 
includes Alona Tal, 38. You 
may recognize this pretty 
actress, who was born and 
raised in Israel. Tal has 
had dozens of guest shots 
on American TV series 
since 2005. Her film work, 
however, has been in little-
seen, low-budget movies. 
My guess is that given her 
age, Tal plays a Grimcutty 
parent. 
David O. Russell, 64, 
is the director and writer 

of the “star-studded” film 
Amsterdam, which opens 
on Oct. 7. Here’s the 
capsule plot: Three friends 
meet in Amsterdam during 
the 1910s and form a pact 
to protect each other no 
matter what. Fast forward 
to the 1930s and the friends 
— a doctor (Christian Bale), 
an attorney (John David 
Washington) and a nurse 
(Margot Robbie) — are 
falsely accused of murder 
and are forced to seek the 
truth behind the crime. 
Russell, the always-
secular son of a Jewish 
father and an Italian 
Catholic mother, has 
written and directed nine 
films since 1994 and the 
last seven were hits. 
The biggest hits were 
The Fighter, Hustle and 
Silver Linings Playbook. 
Amsterdam is his first film 
since 2015. 
Sadly, the big cast 
has no Jewish actors, 
but I will note that the 
cinematography is by 
Emanuel Lubezki, 57, 
who was born and raised 
in Mexico. He won 
three Oscars for best 
cinematography in three 
successive years (2014-
2016). He’s taken a break 
since then. Amsterdam is 
his first film since 2017. 

CELEBRITY NEWS

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

ARTS&LIFE

ILYA HAYKINSON 

Alona Tal

COLLIDERVIDEO

Mila Kunis

 BY COURTNEY FROM VANCOUVER, CANADA 

Richard Kind

