68 | OCTOBER 13 • 2022 

ILIZA SOARS, ISIS 
“QUEEN” DOC, CREEPY 
ON NETFLIX AND FUNNY 
ON HULU, KID STUFF
Stand-up comedian Iliza 
Shlesinger, 39, is on a 
roll. Last January, she and 
her husband, Noah Galuten, 
had their first child. On Oct. 
2, she was the winning 
contestant on Celebrity 
Jeopardy and will advance 
to the “winner playoffs.” Her 
sixth Netflix stand-up spe-
cial, entitled Hot Forever, 
began streaming on Oct. 
11. On the same day, her 
new book, All Things Aside, 
came out. It’s a mix of mem-
oir and funny observations. 
I’ve got to say that Dis-
covery+ has a very varied 
program line-up. Some may 
think it is a “bit meshugah,” 
but I think there is a method 
to their meshugah-ness. 
If any program seems like 
it will get high ratings, 
Discovery+ will stream it. 
How else can you explain 
a serious documentary, by 
a filmmaker with a decades-
long track record of making 
serious films, being on the 
same channel that is stream-
ing Storage Wars (about 
people fighting over stuff in 
“unpaid for” storage lockers) 
and Dr. Pimple (don’t ask).
The serious filmmaker is 
Ricki Stern, 57, and the film 
is A Radical Life (begins 

streaming on Oct. 13). Here’s 
the gist of Discovery’s 
description: Stern takes an 
unfiltered look at Tania Joya, 
who was married to the 
highest-ranking American 
in ISIS. This is the exclusive 
stranger-than-fiction story 
of two persons hungry for 
power and Islamic suprem-
acy told through Tania’s 
unique point of view as an 
Islamic soldier, wife and 
mother.
When you get down to 
it — Radical is basically 
another true crime story 
with a nice big dollop of the 
ever-popular crazy cult tale. 
Both of those genres get 
big audiences and this doc-
umentary has them both. (I 
see ratings!)
However, sometimes what 
is popular dovetails with 
serious journalism and A 
Radical Life is a quite legit-
imate documentary. Stern 
has been making good doc-
umentaries since 1991. In just 
the last eight years, she has 
made films about the Boston 
Marathon bombing, the 
movement to reverse Roe v. 
Wade, the “Preppy Murders” 
and Jeffrey Epstein.
The Watcher is another 
creepy Halloween-season 
Netflix series (seven epi-
sodes; streams on Oct. 13). 
A family moves into their 

suburban dream home, only 
to discover they are in a 
nightmare. There’s the usual 
bad stuff: ominous letters, 
strange neighbors and sinis-
ter threats. 
As usual, prolific series 
creator Ryan Murphy has 
rounded up a good starring 
cast (Naomi Watts, Bobby 
Cannavale and Jennifer 
Coolidge). Richard Kind, 65, 
who has been landing good 
roles lately, has a pretty big 
supporting part. 
Rosaline, a new 
film, begins streaming Oct. 
14 on Hulu. It’s a comedic 
twist on Shakespeare’s 
Romeo & Juliet, told from 
the perspective of Juliet’s 
cousin Rosaline who also 
happens to be Romeo’s 
recent love interest. Heart-
broken when Romeo meets 
Juliet and begins to pursue 
her, Rosaline schemes to foil 
the famous romance and 
win back Romeo.
OK, you’re thinking the 
writers are taking on too 
much — turning the Bard’s 
tragedy into a comedy. I 
must disagree. The screen-
writers, Michael Weber and 
Scott Neustader, both 44, 
have penned a string of 
films that I respected and 
enjoyed — as do most crit-
ics. Even more amazing, all 
these films made money! 
Some a lot of money.
In 2007, they were inter-
viewed by the Jewish 
Journal (L.A.) just as the 
first film they co-wrote, 500 
Days of Summer, was about 
to open. These former bar 
mitzvah boys “came off” 
as very culturally Jewish. 
Weber was then living with 
his Jewish girlfriend, a New 
Orleans native. A few years 
later, they married in a New 

Orleans shul and now have 
two kids. 
500 Days, a bittersweet 
love story starring Joseph 
Gordon-Levitt, was a hit. 
This was followed by the 
scripts for The Spectacular 
Now, The Fault in Our Stars 
(which made $307 million 
worldwide), Paper Towns, 
The Disaster Artist (they 
got an Oscar nomination) 
and the charming Our Souls 
at Night, a two-character 
Netflix film starring Robert 
Redford and Jane Fonda. 
All their past films, except 
Our Souls, had one or more 
Jewish actors in them. Well, 
this streak had to end — 
sadly, no Jewish thespians in 
Rosaline.
Batwings is an educa-
tional (i.e., good values), 
seven-episode animated 
series for young children 
that premieres (Oct. 17) on 
Cartoonito, the Cartoon 
Network’s block of kid 
shows starting at 9 a.m. 
On Oct. 18, it will begin 
streaming on HBO. There 
are human characters, like 
Batman, and talking cars. 
Nightwing, which is really 
another name for Robin, is 
voiced by Zachary Gordon, 
24. He’s worked steadily 
since 2007 in TV guest 
shots, in a few “live” films 
and in many voice roles. 

CELEBRITY NEWS

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

ARTS&LIFE

 WIKIPEDIA

Iliza Shlesinger

MDB

Ricki Stern

BY GARRY DELLABATE

Zachary Gordon

