74 | APRIL 18 • 2024 
J
N

SASQUATCH FEATURE 
FILM; STANGER’S 
MATCHING AGAIN; T.C. 
SOARS

Sasquatch Sunset opens 
“wide” in theaters on April 
19. It is a comedy with some 
poignant dramatic moments. 
It follows four members of 
a Sasquatch (aka Bigfoot) 
family during a difficult, year-
long journey. All the actors 
wear heavy Sasquatch cos-
tumes. Jesse Eisenberg, 40, 
and Riley Keough, 34, are 
the “main” family members 
(Keough’s father’s mother was 
Jewish. Her mother’s father 
was Elvis Presley).
As I write this, there are 
about a dozen pre-open-
ing reviews by respected 
film critics. More than half 
gave it very good reviews 
(New Yorker, Variety, The 
Guardian), while a minori-
ty gave it so/so reviews 
(Hollywood Reporter, others). 
Remember Patti Stanger, 
a romance matchmaker? 
Stanger was the host of The 
Millionaire Matchmaker, a 
Bravo channel show that 
became a big hit in 2009. 
It ran until 2015. Show pub-
licity always mentioned 
that Stanger’s mother and 
grandmother were traditional 
Orthodox Jewish matchmak-
ers. 
I guess the CW network is 
hoping a Stanger reboot can 
work. Her new show is called 
The Matchmaker. It pre-
miered on April 11 (8 p.m.). 
Stanger now has a partner, 
Nick Viall, a handsome fellow 
who was a Bachelor TV show 
favorite. In every episode of 
the new CW show, Stanger 
and Viall help two clients find 
a match. 
Remarkably, Stanger 
remains “marketable” as a 

matchmaker even though 
she is 62 and never has been 
married. She’s the matchmak-
er who won’t commit.
In January 2010, the Jewish 
Journal had a long, gushing 
article about all the prepa-
rations for Stanger’s Jewish 
wedding to Andy Friedman, 
an LA businessman she had 
dated for seven years. He 
gave her a 4-carat engage-
ment diamond ring and, 
Stanger said, he was insisting 
on a 500-person wedding. 
In August 2010, Stanger, 
then 49, said she broke up 
with Friedman because she 
wanted kids, and he did not. 
In 2013, Stanger seemed to 
offer an alternate reason. She 
said that her relationship with 
Friedman “lacked passion” 
and they were just “good 
friends.” After Friedman, 
Stanger had two fairly long 
relationships that didn’t end in 
a wedding. 
Timothée Chalamet, 28, 
is now the darling of the 
entertainment media and, it 
seems, the darling of Warner 
Brothers. He just signed a 
multi-year feature film deal 
with that studio. Chalamet will 
basically be running the show: 
picking his future projects as 
a star and, sometimes, as a 
producer, too. 

His salary was not dis-
closed, but it looks like he’ll 
be paid in double digits. This 

means $10 million or more 
per film. (He was paid $8 mil-
lion for Dune 2 ). The remark-
able box-office performance 
of two movies that Chalamet 
starred in over the last year 
(Wonka and Dune 2) has led 
to a shower of praise from 
showbiz pundits. 
Here’s a sampler of that 
praise: “He’s the it guy; he’s 
another Leonardo DiCaprio; 
he’s intelligent and can play 
any role; his versatility and 
range bodes well for a long 
and distinguished career.”

Chalamet is now filming A 
Complete Unknown, a biopic 
about Bob Dylan. It probably 
will not be a blockbuster, but, 
“in-demand” stars like to pivot 
from “prestige” films (like the 
Dylan pic) to blockbusters. 
Jumping back-and-forth often 
helps a career, overall. 
As I have often noted, 
Chalamet’s mother is an 
American Jew. His father is a 
Protestant who was born and 
raised in France. The actor 
identifies as Jewish but isn’t 
religious. 
Years ago, I wrote about the 
“special nature” of Chalamet’s 
father’s hometown, Chambon-
sur-Lignon (“Chambon”). I also 
noted that Timothée vaca-
tioned in Chambon during his 
childhood summers.
Despite all the publicity 
about Timothée Chalamet, no 
recent article I’ve seen about 

Chalamet even mentions 
Chambon and no interview-
er, I am aware of, has asked 
Chalamet about Chambon. 
Here’s the Chambon story, 
again, with a nice surprise at 
the end. 
Chambon is a small French 
town (fewer than 2,000 peo-
ple) that is predominately 
Protestant. France was offi-
cially a Catholic country until 
the French Revolution (1789) 
and Protestants were perse-
cuted for centuries. 
For centuries, the people 
of Chambon took in perse-
cuted people. During WWII, 
the people of Chambon 
saved the lives of 3,000-
5,000 Jews. Jews were 
sheltered in Chambon, or 
near Chambon, and, in some 
cases, Jews were smuggled 
to Switzerland. Each resident 
made the decision to help 
Jews. No one told them what 
they had to do. 
Chambon is one of just two 
towns to be collectively desig-
nated “Righteous Among the 
Nations” by Yad Vashem. 
The last time I wrote about 
Chambon there wasn’t a 
good film about Chambon’s 
“goodness” on YouTube. In 
the last few years, many have 
been posted. Simply enter the 
full name of the town in the 
search bar and you’ll easily 
find 10 or more good videos 
on this “righteous town.” 

CELEBRITY NEWS

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

ARTS&LIFE

HARALD KRICHEL

Jesse Eisenberg

FRED ROCKWOOD 

Patti Stanger

BY SOMEWHERE IN TORONTO 

Timothee Chalamet

