44 | DECEMBER 29 • 2022 

CHANUKAH FOLLOW-
UPS, A MOVIE, A 
MUSICAL SPECIAL, 
ROOTS AND MORE 
Here’s some follow-up 
info on my previous “all 
about Chanukah” column. 
First, due to bad advance 
publicity, I said that singer 
Lisa Loeb, 54, played 
the romantic female lead 
in the Hallmark Hall of 
Fame film Hanukkah 
on Rye (premiered Dec. 
18). Yael Grobglas, 38, 
played the love interest of 
Jeremy Jordan, also 38. 
Groglas grew up in Israel. 
She’s a very good actress. 

Overall, Rye was 
surprisingly good. It’s 
schmaltzy, as holiday 
movies almost always are, 
but it was often moving. 

Yes, much of the plot 
was familiar. But that’s OK. 
Rye was a retelling of an 
oft told “Jewish” story. In 
1940, there was the hit film 
Shop Around the Corner 
which “begat” the hit film 
musical In the Good Old 
Summertime (1949) and 
the hit stage musical She 
Loves Me (1963). These 
three begat the hit Tom 
Hanks’ film You’ve Got 
Mail (1999). All of these 
“remakes” stem from an 
original 1937 Hungarian 

play by (the Jewish) Miklos 
Laszlo. Jews wrote the 
scripts and the songs for all 
these “remakes,” including 
Rye. 

Problem: The Hallmark 
Movie Channel (HMC) 
streamed Rye once on Dec. 
18 and I can’t find it on 
the site/app (on-demand). 
However, the Peacock 
channel has it prominently 
displayed among its 
on-demand offerings ($5 
for a monthly Peacock sub). 

On the plus side, I did 
discover Love, Lights, 
Chanukah!, a 2020 
dramatic film on HMC. It’s 
not nearly as good as Rye, 
but not horrible. It stars Mia 
Kirshner, 47 (The “L” Word). 
Next week, I will relate 
a very good news “secret” 
about Kirshner that I 
stumbled on because of 
this film. If you can view 
Love, do so. 

As predicted last 
week: the Chanukah 
Sessions on YouTube 
feature rock stars who 
were recorded at a Dec. 5 
concert. 

Weird news: On Dec. 17, 
Mason Disick celebrated 
his bar mitzvah. His father 
is Scott Disick, 39, a 
“reality” TV series star and 
the ex-husband of Mason’s 
mother, Kourtney Kardasian. 
Kourtney’s sister, Kim, was 
formerly married to Kanye 
West. They had four kids. I 
imagine Kayne didn’t get a 
bar mitzvah invitation. 

Damien Chazelle has 
had a very good record as 
a writer and director. His 
films include Whiplash — a 
modest box office hit that 
critics loved — and La La 
Land, which everyone 
loved. Chazelle got the best 
director Oscar for La La 

and the film won five more. 
(Fun Fact: While Chazelle 
was raised Catholic, he 
went to a Jewish day 
school for four years. His 
parents thought it was the 
best local school.) 

Chazelle is the director 
and writer of Babylon, 
which opened in theaters 
on Dec. 23. The film is 
about the transition to 
talking films in the 1920s. It 
stars Brad Pitt and Margot 
Robbie. Jeff Garlin, 60, has 
an important supporting 
role. Irving Thalberg, 
the head of MGM film 
production in the ’20s and 
early ’30s, is a character in 
the film. 

The film’s score is by 
Justin Hurwitz, 37. He won 
an Oscar for best score 
for La La Land. He and 
Chazelle were Harvard 
roommates. 

Dionne Warwick: Don’t 
Make Me Over is a special 
CNN documentary that will 
air, live, on Sunday, Jan. 1, 
at 9 p.m. It will be available, 
on-demand, starting on Jan. 
2. Of course, it is about the 
legendary singer who had a 
long string of popular hits in 
the ’60s through the ’80s. 
She is still performing. 

Many celebrities will 
appear on the special, 
including songwriter Burt 
Bacharach, 94, and Clive 

Davis, 90, a truly legendary 
record producer and record 
company head who is in 
the Rock and Roll Hall of 
Fame. 

Three hit songs sung by 
Warwick are in the Grammy 
Hall of Fame (“Walk on 
By,” “Alfie” and “Don’t 
Make Me Over”). All three 
were written by Bacharach 
(music) and the late Hal 
David (lyrics). 

By 1979, Warwick’s 
career had stalled. It was 
revived when she signed 
(1979) with Arista Records, 
a new-ish record company 
founded by and run by 
Davis. Davis personally 
guided her career, and she 
quickly had another big hit, 
“I’ll Never Love This Way 
Again.” 
 Finding Your Roots, the 
PBS celebrity ancestry 
show, returns for a 
10th season on Jan. 3 
(check local listings for 
time. Also on PBS app/
website). The “big” name 
guests include Carol 
Burnett, Julia Roberts, 
Michigander Jeff Daniels, 
and David Duchovny, 
62 (he’s the secular son 
of a Jewish father and 
non-Jewish mother). Also 
profiled is veteran character 
actor Richard Kind, 66 
(trust me, you know his 
face). 

CELEBRITY NEWS

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

ARTS&LIFE

IDOMINICK 

Yael Grobglas

CHRISTOPHER PETERSON AT ENGLISH WIKIPEDIA

Clive 
Davis

COURTNEY FROM VANCOUVER, CANADA 

Richard Kind